Thursday, July 22, 2010

Rhode Island Getaway

Two weekends ago John and I were blessed to be able to take a mini road trip to Newport, Rhode Island. We left NYC on Saturday morning and arrived in Newport around 4pm, after a leisurely drive.
We stayed at the Marshall Slocum Inn, a beautiful bed and breakfast in the heart of one of Newport's historical neighborhoods. 

Our room at the Inn was decorated beautifully.

It had a cute sitting area.

At first, John was concerned by what he thought were the "bathroom facilities."  
I think he thought I'd signed up for a weekend of true colonial living.  The real facilities were just fine.

After getting settled at the Inn, we wandered around Newport until dinner.  We had dinner at a really fun seafood restaurant.  We shared the best clam chowder I'd ever had, clam cakes, and a salmon burger.  Yum!

Halfway through dinner we realized that John had made a grievous mistake in his apparel for the day.
A complete stranger approached us and commented on how brave John was...  We were confused.  Then, we realized that Rhode Island is Boston  Red Sox territory.  John had spent the entire afternoon and evening wearing his Yankees t-shirt.  Oops!  I had no idea East Coasters took baseball so seriously.

The next morning, we enjoyed a home cooked breakfast on the patio of our B&B.

It was sunny and quiet.  It was such a pleasure to enjoy our juice and coffee outside!
Then, we ate yummy, fluffy French toast.

After breakfast, we packed up and toured town.  

We saw "Breakers," a massive seaside mansion built by Cornelius Vanderbilt.
We walked along the ocean.
And watched the surfers.
This poor guy lost his board on the rocks.
Then, we headed back home.  John was an excellent driver.
This is a bridge we passed on the way home.  The picture doesn't fully capture it, but it felt like we were driving directly into the clouds!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Dinner with Adrienne

John and I have really enjoyed having my sister, Adrienne, live in New York.  When Adrienne and I lived together in Seattle, Adrienne would ALWAYS cook for me.  While I thoroughly enjoyed mooching off of her generosity, I think Adrienne worried I would never excel in the domestic arts..  

Now that we're both living in New York, a curious role reversal has occurred.  I cook 7 days a week, and Adrienne, being a busy MBA student, hardly cooks at all.

What's great about this situation is that John and I can lure Adrienne to make the 45 minute trip down to our apartment to share dinner together.  

Adrienne came over for dinner last Monday and brought her camera with her.

Here are some of her photos.



I made pan-seared chicken with cheese tortellini and peas accompanied by a spinach salad.


What a great sister!


John thoroughly enjoyed his brownie.  Adrienne took this photo to taunt our dad.  He LOVES brownies.  Don't you wish you had one of those right now, Dad?


John and I are looking forward to welcoming another sister to NYC in mid August!  It's going to be great fun.  We reflect often on how blessed we are to have family near us, despite the fact that we are both living so far from where we grew up.