Another weekend down...

Wow. We're now in the last week of January - I can't believe it!

Evan and I had another great weekend here in Smaltimore (yes, Smaltimore - the locals call it that because it's so small - which we've come to realize, it is!). Katie Madsen, my dearest friend, was in College Park, MD for a few days, so we were able to see her on Saturday. We spent time touring University of Maryland's campus with her and Josh Alvarez - who also went to UNL and ventured out to the East. It was wonderful.

I decided that Sundays are my baking days and I love it (and I think Evan enjoys what comes of it!). Yesterday I made pretzel chocolate chip cookies - yummy!

My dad will be out in D.C. for a few days in early February. We're hoping that everything works out, and we'll be able to see him. My mom and him made it back safely from their travels to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - they had a great time.

Enjoy the last week of January - February here we come (bring on the Winter Olympics!).

We have fallen in love...

With NEW YORK CITY! And I truly mean that. Evan and I decided that in the next few months, we are going to take advantage of our location on the East Coast. There are so many cities that are close to us - we feel we need to visit as many as possible. First on our list was New York City...a mere 3 hours away! We bought bus tickets from Mega Bus - a really cheap option.

We loaded up on the double-decker bus at 6:30 in the morning on Saturday and headed to NYC. They literally  just dropped us off in the middle of the city. It was pretty amazing. And we fell in love in an instant. Seriously. We first walked to Cafe Grumpy - a great coffee shop that Evan heard about from one of his professors. Best drinks we've ever had - probably because they use a $30,000 coffee grinder!! Next we wandered around the Financial District, Greenwich Village and NYU's campus. We ate lunch at an authentic Thai restaurant - a place that I wouldn't have chosen by looks alone - but it was delicious! And thanks to Evan for exposing me to new things! We then took the subway over to Brooklyn and walked back to NYC. The view was amazing.

End-of-the-day highlights included CRUMBS, Bryant Park (for those Project Runway fans!), Central Park, Rockefeller Center and Times Square. By the end of the night, we both felt that we could definitely live in New York City. Who knows what the future holds, right?!

EDIT: just realized the pictures I posted are mainly of food. oops. :)

Below: In Central Park

Below: CRUMBS - Red Velvet and Baba Booey (peanut butter/chocolate)

Below: Bennie's Thai Cafe

 Below: Evan's latte at Cafe Grumpy.

Hairspray, Sunday & Chicken Cacciatore

I received two free tickets to Hairspray at The Lyric Opera House from Urbanite, so Evan and I got to experience the musical in all its glory last Friday night. We went to a production of it while it was in Lincoln two years (Evan surprised me!) and I've been in love ever since (with the musical and with Evan!). When we found out we were moving to Baltimore last spring, I couldn't help but bust out the chorus to "Good morning, Baltimore!" Needless to say, I'm a fan. Friday night's showing was absolutely terrific, and we appreciate having had the opportunity to go.

Sunday was just as wonderful - I love Sunday mornings! We got up early to head to Trader Joe's and got our grocery shopping done. We stopped by Starbuck's for some coffee (thanks mom, dad and Grandpa Rogers - all who gave us Starbuck's gift cards!). After we got home and unloaded the groceries, it was time for church. All in all, a great morning!

I can't believe it's Wednesday already - this week is flying by. Although Evan hasn't officially started classes back up, he has been working with his team on their project. So we're both back into the routine of everything.

I'm looking forward to dinner tonight - a new recipe! Chicken Cacciatore in the crock pot - I'll be post the recipe and pictures on my food blog later this week. I'm excited to get home tonight and not have to worry about fixing dinner - it will already be done! Hope everyone's week is going well.

Happy 2010!

Happy New Year, everybody! We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season - we sure did. We left one blizzard and experienced another one right away, once we got to Nebraska. Our 2 weeks at home was absolute bliss - and much needed! Although the snow cancelled a few of our family Christmases, we were able to see everyone. Evan was finally able to meet his nephew, Garrison...it was great! We also had two weddings to attend, so it was nice to see some college friends.

We got back to Baltimore on Monday - it was sunny and the snow was all gone! We're just trying to get back into the swing of things. We can't believe we've been here for almost 7 months, and that it's already 2010 - time keeps going by faster and faster!