Date Night.

I scheduled a night on the calendar (google calendar =) for a 'date night' - for us to grab some time amongst the packed holiday events to do something in the holiday spirit in London.

The conversation went something like :

"fun! what are we doing?"
"ice-skating - at the Tower of London"
"ahhh- do you know how to ice skate?"
"you don't?"
We have known each other for about 8 years now....

And this year I've learned at least two new things about my husband...


1. his voting record

2. That ice-skating was not a regular occurrence in his holiday schedule...

until now.

We had a reservation during the last time of the night. The rink was not too full, the views of the Tower were amazing, and neither of us fell.

It was a Christmas Miracle!

Thanksgiving in Vienna!

In an effort to see a European Christmas Market and make the most of what would have been a typical 4 day weekend in the US, we booked a quick trip to Vienna for Thanksgiving, with time to get back for golf & rowing over the weekend.

We stayed in the Museum Quarter, and arrived on Wednesday night. We walked through the city, discovering a small tent in the middle of the museum square with a DJ and lots of people drinking gluwine in steamy cups in the cold.

The decorations around the city were amazing - and these little huts selling hot drinks were sprinkled through out the city. We had dinner at the wine bar at Meinl am Graben and walked through the Christmas market.

On Thursday we went to the Leopold Museum where we saw some amazing huge Klimt's. Then our friends Laura and John Charecky, (we met them through Kevin and Kerry and who amazingly live on the same street as us in London,) joined us in the afternoon.

We celebrated Thanksgiving together, with an amazing 8+ course menu, and plenty to be thankful for.

As the 4 of us missed our families tremendously on this holiday, it was truly a blessing to be together and to celebrate the holiday together in this city where it was, and was not Thanksgiving.

All pictures are here!

A walk in Hampstead Heath...

I had the most beautiful day a few weekends ago. TJ was playing golf, and I had come home with an afternoon to myself after an early morning rowing outing.

It was one of those crisp autumn days and there were just a few hours of day light left. I chose to go on a walk through the Heath with the reward of a late lunch.

Since we moved to this neighborhood last winter we have experienced this vast woodland in all the seasons.

Austere in winter
Flourishing in spring
Verdant in summer
Glorious in autumn

I try and run in the Heath at least once a week - and I always leave it thinking how amazing it is to have this amount of nature in the midst of this busy city.

It feels so typically 'English' to walk here. So many people use it as their back yard - dogs are running around, kids and couples fill the paths.


During this season of thanks - this afternoon reminded me of all the things I have to be thankful for -

this beautiful city
celebrating time alone
my sweet husband
our families
our friends
travels and adventures
After almost 2 years - discovering this park really makes me feel at home.

It was so nice to grab those quiet hours before the busy holiday events start.

I finished the afternoon at the Wells, with some mulled wine, and smoked haddock on champ with a mustard sauce. YUM!

All of the pictures from this walk are here.

Culinary Barcelona - Part 3

And the last part of our trip ended with an 8 course tasting menu at Cinq Centits.

We are not normally the types to write about and take pictures of each course of a meal...(usually the flash gives us away and we are too busy enjoying the food.)

But I could not resist with this lazy, extended lunch. The highlights for me were:


The most amazing 'Lemon 5 ways" dessert...

A yummy chocolate, salty-ness...

Tuna with vanilla and smoked tomato broth...


This caramel foam...


And my favorite, grilled octopus.


We finished after a few hours, and were the last customers in the restaurant. We walked out, pleasantly full and with big smiles!

Culinary Barcelona - Part 2.

The second stage of our culinary adventures in Barcelona was an afternoon spent trying Spanish wine at a small wine bar owned by a couple, (my dream) and at a more corporate Torres wine bar.

We then joined my co-workers at a small tapas chain (Origen 99,)for some good cheese, olives, and bread rubbed with tomatoes and garlic. Barcelona is the perfect spot for rambling around, grabbing a glass of wine and some food and moving on before committing for too long....yum!

Culinary Barcelona - Part 1.

At the end of my two weeks of work in Barcelona, TJ came to spend a long weekend. We started one of the best culinary weekends of our travels with a stop at a modern, popular place for pinchos, (small snacks that are typically on pieces of bread.)

A huge part of our love of travel comes from finding great restaurants, and enjoying local food. This place was a perfect mix of modern and traditional atmosphere. The food was all displayed at the bar, and you just pick up the items you want, save the toothpick and at the end of your stay they count the number of toothpicks you have and that is what you are charged.

It allows for locals to pop in, grab a couple of pinchos, a glass of wine, beer, or Txocholi and then continue on with their night. (Txocholi is a Basque lightly sparkling crisp white wine that for some reason is poured by holding the bottle at about shoulder height and the glass with your arm extended, thus pouring from a great distance and creating a bit of a spectacle that some bartenders excel in.)

When we were there, there were some sweet well-dressed older Spanish couples that popped in, some tourists and a bunch of locals. Out of all the countries we've visited, I think we've had the most frequent 'local' experiences in Spain. It's so nice to just follow their traditions, and wind up in these places where we clearly stand out - but can try and blend in to the background and truly experience a bit of local life.

Plus Spanish wine is the close I've found to Californian. Their reds are full-bodied in the same style as Californian Zinfandels, and the whites are not as austere as French or Italian and are more rounded and approachable.

Ahhhh- but learning Spanish continues to elude me and not make it on the daily to-do list. I vastly increased my Catalan vocabulary this trip, in most part due to a friendly staff member at the hotel who kindly introduced a new word or two each morning. But I still walk into a restaurant and shop, and stand in awkward silence for a moment or two while I anxiously struggle to remember how to say 'Hello, good morning.....excuse me, sorry....do you speak english.....errrr.....please.....ahhh....thank you?!?"

I'll get there.....

Halloween - Greenwich Village

The Halloween party in the Village is famous - Kerry and Kevin warned us that their neighborhood would get quite packed...and it definitely lived up to the expectations.

I had the honor of having dinner with this crowd.....

I couldn't contain the giggles.....

4 tries + 35 years + 5 Boroughs + 26 Miles = #10

New York Marathon:

My idea was to celebrate my 35th (ouch) birthday by running the New York Marathon and 'being home' with friends and family.

I knew I'd automatically get in to the race, (unlike 80% of the people who try,) as one of the clauses of the massive lottery entry system is that if you fail in the lottery pick for 3 years in a row, on the 4th year you automatically got in.

We came into the city a few days earlier, kindly stayed with Kerry and Kevin, spent plenty of time with Kathy and my mom and Mary, I got my hair-did, shopped a bit, visited the expo, marvelled at the Halloween parade in the village, ate well and often and was in bed, resting by 9pm on the night before the race.

The alarm went off at somewhere around 4am - and I was on a bus towards Staten Island by 5am. The army of buses and volunteers were amazing - and I began the 5 hour wait to start in a corner of a tent, with thousands of other runners, wrapped in garbage bags and old sweats, listening to ipods, sleeping or my case, reading magazines. Oprah kept me company as the sun rose and I headed toward the start as part of Wave 2, at 10:00.

The start and initial run over the Verrazano bridge gave me goosebumps. There were fire boats in the water, with large sprays that reflected the light and produced huge rainbows. People were stopping and taking pictures and there were lots of cheers and clapping. I was almost immediately out of breath...more from emotion than exertion and knew I had to relax and enjoy myself.

I have been so very blessed in my life, to be surrounded by family and friends that have always been my cheerleaders. But on this day - the entire city of New York, along with my family and friends that travelled to be with me - were all one huge cheering crowd. In previous races, I've had one or two people out on the course that I knew - and for the past few races, TJ has been sweet enough to travel with me, and have entire weekends taken up by my running. This time he was joined by my fabulous friends and family - whose faces I searched for throughout the entire race! I could not stop smiling the entire time.

I have never felt better, (mentally) in a race. My body on the other hand was a bit beat up. I tried to think of the charity I was running for, (NASS) and how people suffering from this condition feel this way all the time. Every day....every step.

I am blessed and tried to power through it. The first half was strong, and I was at goal pace and finished it under 2 hours. I saw TJ and Kathy at mile 17? Lauri, Karen, Stacia (and Christine in spirit) a bit later on, followed by Kathy, TJ, Kerry and Kevin, (right off of a flight from Richmond,) and finally my mom and Mary at the finish. I took place in numerous high-5's with little kids, met eyes with hundreds of people cheering 'GO NASS', thanked tons of NY police, firemen, and water station attendants and finished with my hands high at 4:23. Not my best time - but by far my best marathon.

The day was not over - as TJ sweetly planned a fabulous dinner at Otto. We ate Mario Batali pizza, amazing antipasti, and had some fantastic wine. I couldn't stop smiling as I looked around at everyone there. This is a day that I will never forget.

I am tremendously blessed and lucky to have the support I do. I only have to sit quietly to still hear people cheering me on. (I sometimes need such motivation on cold, rainy Monday mornings =)


The challenge and the energy running requires may be a selfish one, but it actually motivates me to be stronger in my relationships. - Joan Benoit Samuelson

Once A Year...

Somehow between college......

when I got to live with, see, and talk to them every day, review every detail of every important and not-so-important topic, spend hours talking and dreaming of the future and thoroughly review each outfit before walking out the door....

and now.......

where days and months go by without being able to talk, and our visits together require long plane trips and quick weekends.....

we have not changed.

I spent a weekend in New Orleans with Jen, Ami and Shannon and we continued the conversation that seems to have started those years ago in college. Nothing and everything has changed in our worlds - there are now 5 children, 4 husbands, 7 houses, and a lot of years between us, but even though the topics may be a bit different, the immediate connection is the same.

We had fun in the French Quarter, went for a smooth, leisurely cruiser bike ride, ate some po'boys, dined with Emeril, shopped, took a ride on a tram, and voluteered in the 9th ward.

We left the weekend, thoroughly exhausted and thoroughly happy.

All of the picture are here!