Signs of Spring

Today was a perfect spring day. Here are a few signs that spring has finally appeared in our neck of the woods!

The crocuses are in full bloom.

The magnolias are flowering.

The tulips are finally starting to poke their heads out of the ground.

But the real sign that spring has sprung is that outdoor projects are in full swing. The gazebo that we put up last spring was a casualty of this year's long winter. Instead of buying a new one, my husband decided he'd attempt to build a pergola from his own plans. I have great faith in his abilities and I'm sure it will be wonderful once it's done, but for now, THIS is the state of our deck. Yikes!

I'll keep posting as progress is made. Hopefully by next weekend our backyard won't be quite such a disaster area.

Scenes from the weekend

Today is April 14 which means that Spring started a few weeks ago, right? Well, you wouldn't know it from the view outside my front window this morning.

Not exactly the Spring-like weather that we're used to seeing mid-April. That's why I decided to do a few things to help me feel a little better about this sad situation. 

I had a bunch of lemons which I placed in one of my favourite blue and white bowls.

And speaking of blue...

Take a look at my newest purchase. The bag's turquoise interior and daffodil yellow lining just make me happy. 

I painted my nails with Crazy for chic, the brightest pink I could find. 

We opened up the last bottle of wine from our trip to Italy and pretended to be sipping it from a sun-filled patio.

I read the May issue of Style at Home cover to cover and dreamt about gardening and outdoor entertaining. 

And the very best thing about this weekend are the tulips that my husband brought home for me. I love tulips and, if I can't see them growing out of the ground, the next best thing is admiring them inside my house!

Escape

I have not been a very consistent blogger lately. The long winter we've been having in Ottawa has left me feeling lethargic and uninspired...quite blah actually. But today the winter blahs are gone thanks to a one week escape to the sun. My husband and I started going away for one week holidays during winter a few years ago; sometimes with the kids, sometimes without. This year I felt the need for the getaway more than ever. The last few months have not been the easiest for me and I had been feeling quite frazzled and physically exhausted. The week away could not have come at a better time. 

During our little vacation I didn't do much other than lay out in the sun or the shade to read, eat delicious food, drink mojitos, take long walks on the beach and, surprisingly, run.  I say "surprisingly" because I have never been a very good or consistent runner, but for some reason, I enjoy running barefoot with the sound of the ocean cheering me on. After the second day, I started looking forward to our 4 o'clock runs on the beach. 

We went sailing twice. The water really is that clear and turquoise coloured.

The absolutely stunning infinity pool. 

We had a few of these burgers. I didn't think I would like egg on a burger, but they were quite delicious.

Last walk on the beach before returning home. 

Many hours were spent doing absolutely nothing under these cabanas.

After a week of this routine I'm feeling strong again and ready to face the real world. Bring it on world... but no more snow please, I've had just about enough of that!

In a New York State of Mind

Those of you who have older teenagers know how difficult it can be to spend time together as a family. Lately, I'd been feeling as though we had all been going in different directions and it was time to find a way to reconnect. The solution: a quick four day trip to one of my favourite cities in the world, New York City!  

We drove from Ottawa to Poughkeepsie, in New York state, and then boarded a commuter train all the way in to Grand Central Station. It was a comfortable and interesting 1 hour and 45 minute ride along the Hudson River. I highly recommend this manner of travel...much more civilized than driving into the city yourself. 

We arrived in the late afternoon with plans to settle in and then go to the pizza place which I had found earlier on Trip Advisor. 

We arrived at our hotel in Murray Hill and went up to our room, opened the door and found this:

We joked that rock stars had been there before us and had trashed the room. No, it was simply that the room was scheduled for a complete cleaning and the front desk had not been informed. It all worked out because we were then re-assigned to a gigantic suite up on the 36th floor. The views from the two large windows were simply stunning and we spent a fair bit of time looking out those windows at the magnificent city all around us.

View out to the East River.

After all the excitement we were all very hungry and headed out to find our restaurant. We walked for a long, long, long time as apparently I had underestimated the number of blocks to San Matteo Pizzeria. Luckily when we finally got there, there was one table for four available. Very lucky because as soon as we sat down people started coming in looking for a place to sit and they were turned away. I'm so sorry that I forgot to take pictures of the place. Everyone around us spoke Italian and the owners seemed to know all the patrons. There was soccer memorabilia hanging on the walls and the tv was turned to the soccer channel, of course. We felt like we were back in Italy! And the pizza, ah the pizza, was absolutely delizioso. We all had different pizzas and no one was disappointed.

The next morning we headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We visit this museum every time we're in New York. In fact, Amélie always says that she wishes she could live inside the museum! The collections are stunning and there is always a cool new exhibit. This time it was Matisse.  Too bad we weren't allowed to take pictures. 

We also saw a few new things this time such as the Highline. Have you heard of this? The High Line is a public park built on a freight rail line above the streets of Manhattan. 

Walking down the Highline

Located on Manhattan's West Side, it runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to West 34th Street, between 10th & 11th Avenues. Even in February it was an interesting walk but I'd love to go back and explore in the spring and summer.

That same day we also visited the Chelsea Market. This is an enclosed urban food court and shopping mall. An interesting fact about this place is that Chelsea Market was built in the former National Biscuit Company factory complex where the Oreo cookie was invented and produced. It was a cool place to visit for lunch but the only problem was that we weren't the only tourists who had decided to visit at lunchtime. The place was packed!

Walking through Chelsea Market...desperately looking for a place to sit and eat.

On our last day we did a bit of shopping, walked some more, took the subway and just soaked in all the special New York City energy. But the best part of the trip was spending time with my (almost) grown-up kids and reconnecting with them. Mission accomplished.

Quiet

The view today from my comfy chair by the window.

It is snowing like crazy here today and it's a good thing that I had the day off because the last thing I want to do is go outside! I like these kinds of days as I feel like they give me permission for doing what I like best: snuggling in with a cup of tea and a good book. Aaahhh...paradise. For some reason I feel like sharing one of my very favourite books with you. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain is, in my opinion,  brilliant. You may have heard of it as Quiet is a New York Times Bestseller and the author is well-known for doing a Ted Talk on the subject. If you are an introvert yourself or if you have a spouse or a child who is, you MUST read this book. 

I did the test at the beginning of the book to find out if I was an introvert (even though I already knew the answer to that). Turns out I am introverted with an ability to be extroverted in key situations. In other words, even though I value and crave my alone time I am capable of appearing extroverted when the situation calls for it. At work, for example, or in social situations I don't have trouble making conversation with lots of people, it just means that at the end of a very social day I'm really quite tired and need to be by myself to recuperate. 

I only wish this book had been written years ago when my children were starting school. If this book had been available when they were younger I might have presented every one of their teachers with it at the start of the school year and kindly asked them to read it. That way I might not have had the same conversation with each of them during parent-teacher meetings from kindergarten to Grade 12. The conversation essentially goes like this: Your son/daughter is such a great kid. He/She is so polite, kind, listens well and is respectful towards the teacher and the other kids, BUT they don't participate enough in class. Really? Why did that matter so much to the teacher? The author explains that it is because teachers find it easier to teach what is called the extrovert ideal. Essentially, most teachers find it less work to teach the rowdier kid who lifts his hand to ask lots of questions (even the non-relevant ones) than the quiet, introverted child. Go figure.

Thanks in big part to this book I feel that there is a paradigm shift coming and the introverts of this world are starting to be valued for their gifts. After all, introverts are the thinkers and listeners of this world. I think Susan Cain says it best when she writes: "The next generation of quiet kids can and should be raised to know their own strength." Yay Susan!

Dinner with the Venetians

This weekend we were very happy to have our Venetian friends over for dinner.  My very first blog posts were about our trip to Italy. You can find my post about Venice here http://eastendgirl67.blogspot.ca/2012/10/venice.html

I am not the most confident cook when it comes to dinner parties as I am always worried about the timing of things. When should I put the roast in? And what about the veggies? If I put things in the oven too early they will get mushy or dry, but if I wait too long I'll still be fussing in the kitchen when our guests arrive. I would much rather be having a glass of wine and catching up with everyone. 

This time I made things easier on myself by choosing an entire dinner party menu from the January issue of Real Simple magazine. The menu was easy to execute and the best part is that the article gives the reader a timeline to follow for a memorable, stress-free evening. And it worked! The food was good and I was free to chat away before sitting down to dinner.

I took some pictures of some of the dishes and then forgot to take pictures of others. Oops! So my solution was to photograph some of the dishes which are featured in the magazine. Sorry if they're blurry!

Carrots with spicy olive-lemon oil.  Steam 3 pounds of carrots for 6 to 8  minutes. Meanwhile, heat 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1 lemon (thinly sliced), 1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives and 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper in a large skillet. Add this mixture, as well as 2 tbsp. fresh flat-leaf parsley, salt and black pepper to the carrots.

Herb-roasted pork shoulder. Very easy. Simply rub the pork with garlic, fresh rosemary and sage, 2 teaspoons of salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Roast for 3 hours and voilà!

The menu called for polenta but, instead, I prepared my tried and true roasted baby potatoes with olive oil and fresh rosemary.

Winter greens with fennel and croutons. Radicchio, Boston lettuce (I was supposed to use escarole but couldn't find any), fennel and home made croutons. Toss with olive oil, red wine vinegar, Kosher salt and pepper.

And the pièce de résistance...A vanilla cake with lemon icing baked by my daughter, Amélie. The menu from the magazine called for something else but we decided to go with this simple but delicious cake. The recipe is my great-grandmother's and a family favourite. Amélie played around a bit with it by substituting the icing's almond flavouring for fresh lemon juice and adding lemon zest to decorate. Absolutely yummy!

Our friends brought some lovely hostess presents. This stunning piece is from Murano. 

And they also brought this gorgeous bouquet of roses and hydrangeas. Fresh flowers in the middle of winter make me so happy.

It was a wonderful evening and we loved catching up with our friends from Venice. Now I'm looking forward to our next dinner party! 

Surfer Girl

January is the time for resolutions. Mine this year is pretty much the same as last year's which is to keep trying to do things that scare me. I find that as I get older I am also getting braver in many ways. Last spring, I overcame a very big fear which I would like to share with you. 

I have always been fascinated by the ocean and been interested in surfing but was not brave enough to try...until last spring. That's right, at the ripe old age of 44, I took my first surfing lesson with my husband. It was so, so hard and I almost abandoned several times but I'm glad that I didn't. One of my proudest moments ever was when I caught my first wave. 

It seemed really easy on dry land. Not quite the same in the actual ocean, with big waves coming at you!

I spent way more time in the water than on the board. After my umpteenth tumble, one of the instructors took pity on me and helped push me back into the surf. And after many, many attempts...

I rode my first wave! That, my friends, is the look of pure joy.

And then, I wiped out... 

again... 

and again!

Then the sun came out and I found my stride.  

And after a few more hours, the lesson was over and we went back to the hotel, bruised and battered and exhausted, but so very happy to have been surfers, if only for one afternoon

Happy, tired surfers.