Cuddle Time

We both like to cuddle with Buster but I think I'm a little more gentle than Rob. Here's his idea of cuddling with our precious pooch:

Talk about a headlock!

My First Flat

As a lover of high heels, I wish I could say this post was about my first pair of flat shoes. But alas, it's about my first flat tire, which I got the day before we were supposed to leave for our trip to Florida. Luckily, Rob came to my rescue to put on the donut and drive me to Firestone where they fixed it.

Among his many comments that day, he asked how I didn't know I was riding on a flat. Here's my reasoning:

1. This was my first flat tire. I didn't know what it was supposed to feel like but I knew something was wrong so I made an appointment at the dealership for the first available appointment - that Saturday 
2. I don't walk around the car and check my tires
3. Taking care of the cars is supposed to be Rob's responsibility (I can get away with that one since I have been good about making his favorite foods lately, including rice balls and onion rolls)
4. We were going on five days with a black-out and getting ready for a trip. I had more on my mind than checking my tires
5. I clearly need to review my owner's manual. I had a light go on in my car, and naturally I thought it was my check engine light so I called the dealership for an appointment. At least now I know what the tire light is supposed to look like, which is clearly nothing like the check engine light.

I'm chalking this up as a learning experience.

Buster's Birthday Weekend: Fail

I always like to do something special for Buster's birthday, Oct. 29. Among the highlights, I always like to make sure he gets a variety of yummy treats, a special dinner, and most importantly, family time where he is the total center of attention.

This year his 7th birthday fell on a Saturday. It started off with a rabies shot (very bad day for the town to hold this.. didn't they know it was my little boy's birthday?) To top it off, a freak October snowstorm was coming up the east coast and was threatening to dump over a foot of snow in our area. I was bummed because I wanted to take Buster on a long walk by the Delaware Water Gap that day but he enjoyed playing in the fresh snow. As long as he was happy and I was spending time with my bud, that's all that mattered to me. We were just missing "daddy" who was running around for Halloween stuff with our niece and nephew.

Part of the birthday plan was to have a nice steak dinner with Rob and Buster, but unfortunately that idea went down the drain when we lost power at 6pm. In the 4.5 years we've lived in our townhouse, we rarely lost power for an extended period of time but this freak storm decided it was going to knock out power in millions of homes throughout the tri-state area, resulting in us not having heat or power for five long days. There were so many trees down it seriously looked like a hurricane tore apart our neighborhood. Some were even split down the middle from the weight of the snow and leaves. It was also pretty freaky driving through areas and not seeing any lights. It reminded me of the movie "Contagion" where everyone evacuates their homes in the hopes that they can survive.

We toughed it out at home for the first two nights but since the temperatures were dropping and Rob was getting the onset of a stomach bug we called around for a hotel room, where we were able to stay on Monday and Tuesday night. Since I wasn't going to leave my little birthday boy alone all day when I was at work, and then again at night while we were warm in a hotel, we packed him up and brought him along. He was such a good boy! Not one bark or accident for the few hours he was there. I think he was just thrilled to be warm and with us, although by the second day I think he was getting tired of being shoved into a duffle bag and covered with a blanket:

Day 1: Very excited for heat and lights             Day 2: That's one pissed off pup!

After checking JCP&L's website dozens of times throughout the day, keeping in touch with friends in the area, and checking Facbeook constantly to see who was bragging that they got power back on, I was elated when I found out we got our power back late Wednesday night. I swear, I never would have thought I'd be that happy to clean my fridges or my house. All in all, we had to dump a few hundred dollars in food, including the fresh filet migons from Omaha Steaks that I was going to make for Buster's birthday dinner. Luckily, I was able to save some frozen items since a good friend up the street had power and let me store food in her spare freezer.

Hopefully Buster's 8th birthday will be better than his 7th. Sorry, little guy, for your birthday being an epic fail. At least we were all together!

  

Kitchen Time: Homemade Onion Rolls

In my quest to make some of Rob's favorites and challenge myself with some recipes, I made some homemade onion pocket rolls on Sunday. I made the dough from scratch with our Cuisinart Bread Maker.



They came out pretty good!

4 Years Ago..

Thanksgiving wasn't the only thing we celebrated this past Thursday. The 24th also marked our four year wedding anniversary! It's crazy how quickly time flies.

Thanks for four amazing year, Rob! I can't wait for many more to come with you xoxo

My Two Boys

Some photos of my boys over the years.. just because they're cute :)

After Buster's 7th Birthday

Buster's first bath

During the Dorm Days: Rob (with hair) and "baby" Buster

Homemade Rice Balls.. Coming Right Up!

After Hurricane Irene wiped out areas in New Jersey and caused millions in flood damage, it left us searching for a good Italian deli in the area. We don't order that type of food a lot but it's definitely a treat when we get some of our favorites, including speciality sandwiches, homemade mozzerella and rice balls - which are number one on Rob's list.
Since we didn't have a lot going on last weekend I got ambitious and made the rice balls. Although it wasn't hard to make the rice mixture or the meat mix that goes inside, I will admit actually putting them together was a bit of a challenge. However, once I got in the groove it went well and they came out great!

One of the rice ball trays

One of the many Rob devoured

'Tis the Season

A few months ago we finally broke down and invested in a Keurig. Rob has wanted one for a while but I held off since I was dreading having another giant contraption in the kitchen and tons of coffee pods filling my pantry. I also have to admit that I really feel the buzz of caffine if I have a cup, which limits me to drinking coffee in the morning - unless I know I need or can be up late at night.

Since I really only drink coffee at work I was very curious to try the flavored pods they have, including the limited edition Pumpkin Spice. I love its great flavor and how it can really give you that autumn "feeling." If you haven't tried it I'd highly reccomend picking up a pod or two.

Now I just need to find a coffee pod that puts you in the holiday spirit. I'm having a hard time believing that next week is Thanksgiving and that soon we'll be putting up our Christmas tree. How are the holidays here already?!