Birthday Bonfire

I Believe In Nashville

Is it Friday already? This week flew by! I've been nursing some kind of gnarly upper respiratory infection though, so my days have been full of tea, soup and sleep. And I have a pretty full weekend of working at Free People ahead of me! I'd only been there for a few hours a week lately, but I miss the store and I'm picking up shifts like crazy. On top of my full time job.. grant me strength! Today is the best I've felt since... last week, though. And last week was really fun, so I wanna talk about it!

Andrew's birthday was on the 13th and he was very happy with his new bike, chocolate pudding pie and decorations :) That morning we picked our friend Terry up from the airport and had lots of fun for a few days! Terry enjoyed the Natchez Trace bridge as much as we do.
 
 
We went to Bongo Java near Belmont. Andrew got a chai latte, I got an iced pumpkin spice latte, and Terry was on a black coffee kick that day. Bongo Java was pretty rad and reminded me of one of my favorite cafes back on Long Island, so I enjoyed being there. Plus the lattes were delicious and we will totally be back. I was really pumped when we walked up to Bongo though, because next door was this cute little house turned vintage & handmade store, Local Honey which I'd already heard so much about. The boys went for a little walk while I browsed and inevitably fell in love.

We ventured downtown that night for some dinner and drinks, and Live on the Green featuring The Wallflowers! (90's, Bob Dylan's son, One Headlight, you know). That was a great time.

 
The next night, we ventured into East Nashville and did dinner on Eastland Ave. at The Wild Cow. It was SO GOOD. The Wild Cow is a vegetarian restaraunt, and the boys got sandwiches while I got the Far Eastland bowl with a side of the hummus of the day, which was jalapeno. Delicious. I can't wait to go back and try the buffalo grinder & the Philly.
 
Goes without saying that Terry loved The Wild Cow as well.
 
Mmmm.. I almost forgot about my ice cream cone appetizer at Jeni's. I'd heard people talking about the goat cheese & red cherry flavor and had to sample it, because I like to live on the edge, obviously. It was so good and I needed more of it immediately.

The rest of the weekend was pretty low key. We had a pasta night at home before Terry left and drank a lot of wine while watching Wet Hot American Summer. It was really great having him visit! It gave us an excuse to go out and eat, which is something we don't do very often because we try and save. The explorations were the most fun! I'm kicking that goal's butt!


xo, Corinne

Fall Festivities!

I have been seriously slacking.

The end of summer was pretty uneventful, however. I was right smack in the middle of a big transition, or a few transitions rather. But here I am, new job, positive outlook, and ready for fall. A friend of mine recently compared me to the ever changing season, and though some might think that sounds unstable, it's not. It's great. Every year around this time I can really mark my growth and I see more improvements through slightly more constructive behavior. Things are good. I am happy, really and truly. Das it.

Last weekend, Andrew and I along with a few friends went to the Long Island Fall Festival. I've gone every year for the last five. It's definitely an indication of summer's end, and it's a lot of fun. Festival food, rides, and craft vendors (that SADLY, I did not get to browse this year, since we went on Friday night before they arrived. But it's cool.)

Lauren, whose wedding is so soon and I'm so excited about it!
Babe.
Mozzarepa? So much yes.
(I don't even care that the Gothamist article decided to add "copious amounts of fat" to the ingredients. Shit's delicious.)
Fall favorite!

Matt!
Some friends we made while walking around the park.
So, autumn is officially here.
What are some of your fall traditions?
More of mine to come. (Note: Very craft heavy!)

sapsuckers saturday

for the first time in what felt like forever, i had the weekend off from work, and took full advantage of it with a bunch of friends. on saturday, we drove around and found some out of town garage & estate sales (it still amazes me what iPhone apps can help you do). i picked up some fun stuff, but really i love these trips because i, for some reason, thoroughly enjoy rummaging through people's garbage.

afterward, we headed to centerport to the vanderbilt estate and planetarium! we watched a light show that used songs by the beatles as inspiration and then we roamed around the grounds. the vanderbilt estate is a super interesting place. it's incredible what people used to do with their money. lots of freaky taxidermy and beautiful architecture.

after spending half the day entirely too active for long island's recent heatwave, we were all starving and met up with some more friends in huntington for dinner. with the help of yelp (once again, iPhone to the rescue), we all agreed to try sapsuckers (which was especially exciting for me because new restaurants give me more to do now). it was awesome! thanks yelp!

the menu was short but sweet, with some creative takes on old favorites and a bunch of vegetarian options. sapsuckers is well known for their beer selection also, and half of the restaurant is actually a bar. i decided on some summer blend of dogfish head (the. best. beer.) and the veggie burger,

which was less burger, more chopped spinach and artichoke and mushroom and sheer deliciousness topped with melted cheese and a tomato slice. oh man, it was great.

then, chris had a groupon for a dozen free cookies at a chocolate shop nearby called chip'n dipped. like a good dad (my cell phone service is under his family plan), he let all six of us choose which kind we wanted. i, being me, chose chocolate chip.
and it was yummy, as all cookies should be.

the rest of the night was spent in a swimming pool and in port jefferson eating the frozen goods of our choosing (i went with my tried and true red mango). i slept like a baby well into sunday afternoon.
next entry: cake pops and trader joe's thai!

another kale recipe and some pretty things

this weekend i made kale chips, thanks to a suggestion by my friend lee ann. the entire process took under a half hour and the outcome was crunchy, salty deliciousness (that's good for you!).

here's how:

preheat your oven to 300°
mix 1 tbsp. into about 6 oz. of washed and dried kale (bite size pieces with the hard stems removed)
the recipe i was given called for sea salt, but now i'm reading up on recipes that involve vinegar and/or herbs and spices. i'll be experimenting more next time, which could very well be tomorrow because kale chips are so easy and fun to make.
spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet. i used wax paper as lining for easier clean-up.
bake for TWENTY MINUTES. not one minute longer, or you'll be using kale flakes to feed your fish.
and there you have it!
i promise, this snack is perfectly legal and will not help music sound any better or treat glaucoma.

here is the adorable funfetti cake that andrew's mama and sister baked for baby giovanna's first birthday. due to unfortunate work scheduling, i was unable to help with the actual baking of this cake (baking is my favorite). however, i shed some creative light (the round cake for the crown to rest on, all me) and my idea was greatly appreciated. they did a great job, this cake was a hit! especially by giovanna.
this is the way any princess should eat her birthday cake.

last night, andrew and i went to our friend max's to hang out with these people,
we ate hot dogs and alcoholic whipped cream. it was cool.

after work today, my sister and i had a coffee & thrift date. today's findings were a brown leather/gold guess watch, a j.crew dress that's going to transition well from summer wardrobe to fall wardrobe, a banana republic cardigan for $1.50!, some slate gray silk shirt, and two really ugly framed needlepoint patterns because i'm a sucker for stuff like that.
the day that i can afford an authentic norman rockwell will be a good one.
finally, after coming home for five minutes, i decided to take the point and shoot camera andrew recently found for me to the flowerfield at the avalon preserve. the field is so beautiful this time of year and it was really nice just to be out walking and clearing my head. maybe i'm a loner, but these are my favorite times. here are some photos i took with my phone, and then that's it i promise!
bye!