A journey back east

Another wedding took us out to the East Coast last weekend. My good friend and roommate from college, Eileen Budd, married Matt Clark at a beautiful wedding in NJ/PA. It was great to see the Villanova crew and I tried to party like I was back in college. I had a rude awakening on Sunday morning that I'm too old for that! Congrats Matt & Eileen - it was great to celebrate with you guys.
We took advantage of being close to NYC and spent two days sightseeing in the city. Andy had never been to Manhatten before so we tried to see all the sights. We did lots of walking and luckily the weather cooperated, as did Nick (most of the time). We got really good at changing diapers on park benches!
On Sunday, we walked through downtown past Ground Zero and watched the sunset at Battery Park. Sara and Steve met us to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and have dinner on the other side. We saw the lights of Times Square late on Sunday night. Monday morning, we got up early and headed up to Rockefeller Plaza to see the Today Show. Nick had his first TV appearance on the show with several camera close-ups and an interview with Al Roker! He's on his way to stardom! With the paparazzi not far behind (yeah right), we headed north to Central Park which was picture-perfect this time of year.

We visited the Museum of Natural History and finished up our visit with a trip to the top of the Empire State Building. With tired feet, sore backs, and a sleep-deprived baby we headed back to the West Coast.

Another family vacation

With no big plans last weekend, combined with our inability to sit still, we packed up the car on Saturday morning and headed south. Having never seen the southern part of the Oregon Coast, we decided it would be fun to explore. We drove south to Corvallis and headed west, connecting with Hwy 101 at Newport. We stopped in Florence to have lunch with Andy's cousin, Pat Dunphy, and then explored the sand dunes just south of town. There are not many times in my life when I wish I had an ATV, but this was one of them! We camped for the night at Umpqua Lighthouse State Park and enjoyed some great seafood in Winchester Bay. Andy ordered perhaps the biggest oyster shooter we've ever seen. Secretly, I think he prefers the little ones at the Corbett Fish House! We woke up to a sunny day on Sunday and soaked up some rays at a beautiful beach at Sunset Bay. Andy was brave (or stupid) enough to jump in. Nick and I opted out of that adventure and decided to stay warm instead. Just south of Port Orford, the fog and drizzle set in. We hiked down to a deserted black sand beach at Sisters Rock - it was amazing. It's crazy how you can be a mile off of 101 and feel like you're in the middle of nowhere.

We pitched a tent just north of Brookings at Harris Beach State Park and prepared to get soaked. Lucky for us, the rain held off and we woke to find ourselves nice and dry. Monday we enjoyed a great hike through a redwood forest along the Chetco River. We drove south to the border before turning back north through Redwood National Forest on our way home. It was a beautiful trip!

What's cooking...

There has been a lot of cooking going on in the Nardecchia kitchen over the last four months. I love that I finally have time to enjoy cooking. I guess I'm a full-fledged stay-at-home-mom, at least for the next few months! Andy, don't get too used to it. I like to make things that are easy AND good. I'm all about simple ingredients, not too many steps and lots of flavor. Here are some of my favorite recipes at the moment:

Grilled Halibut with Lemon-Basil Vinigrette: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/649

Chicken Tortilla Soup (with a few modifications, like throwing in frozen chicken breasts and adding black beans - this has to be the easiest recipe ever): http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Slow-Cooker-Chicken-Tortilla-Soup/Detail.aspx?src=etaf

Winter Squash Soup (with a few modifications, like roasting the squash first, adding a little cinnamon and nutmeg and omitting the sugar): http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/2997

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies (back by popular demand from last fall): http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/dessert-recipes/pumpkin-whoopie-pies/article.html

Where did the time go?

October 12, 2008. That makes our little man four months old today! That's one-third of a year. Where in the heck did the time go? I say that, yet it's hard to imagine life without him. Life without diapers, without bottles, without colorful toys littering our floors. A time when we could go to bars, when we stayed up past 11pm on a Friday and when we got to sleep all night long. Well, maybe I CAN imagine those days (and occassionally long for them during those 4am feedings). But I wouldn't trade it for the world. Nick is so much fun, especially now that he smiles and giggles and interacts. We started swimming lessons last week and when he got dunked, he didn't cry or nothin'! We've had a blast showing him the world, from the car, from the Baby Bjorn, cruising in the Bob and riding in the Burley. We know it's only going to get better. He's got a personality and he's learning how to communicate. It's so cool to watch him learn. Other parents always tell me how fast they grow up, and I'm starting to understand what they mean.

Huyen & Steve's Wedding

Ah...weddings. So fun yet so many. They are always a blast, always unique and we are lucky to have such fun and loving friends. The 2008 wedding circuit included a trip to Denver for the wedding of Huyen Hoang and Steve Pham. Andy and Huyen were classmates in dental school. We had a great time and not only got to see all of Andy's dental school croanies but also got to spend some quality time with the fam and other friends. Nick had seven, count them, seven, babysitters for the night (Mimi, Papa, Amy, Richie, Addie, Coop AND Brady). What a lucky boy!