I wanted a fun, happy image for such a cold and blustery day in Northern VA. Tomorrow I leave to spend a few days in GA so I have a lot on the to-do list today. Chores, playing soccer, lifting weights, then going to work for a few hours. I would love to watch some football but I don't think that is going to happen.
I am also in desperate need of new jeans as my only pair is holey and not fit for public consumption. I can't do GAP jeans but does anyone have a suggestion for where to find some good, not too expensive jeans?

Happy Birthday, Dad!

I think we have one of the best dads in the world. Some of my favorite memories...setting up trains under the tree at Christmas...carving pumpkins when we were little...watching dad graduate with a phd from UGA...going to UGA/Ga Tech games together...our family holidays...dad driving several hours and back on a week night to watch me play soccer in college. We love you dad!

baking day

Last Sunday my friend Katherine and her sister came over for a baking day. I picked up tons of apples when I was in NH a few weeks ago and I wanted to use them up. We made bourbon apple cake, apple pie with Katherine's special recipe, and apple sauce with a recipe from my sister Sarah. The applesauce is delicious - I've been eating it all week. My roommate helped me demolish my half of the apple pie pretty quickly and I brought most of the bourbon cake to friends at work so I wouldn't be tempted.

Here's Sarah's applesauce recipe:

3 TB butter
6 Macintosh apples, cored, peeled and chopped
1/4 c sugar
1 ts cinnamon 1/2 ts nutmeg 4 TB water Combine all ingredients in a saucepan
and cook over medium heat until apples
become very tender, about 30 minutes. Applesauce may be left lumpy or pureed
with a handblender to become smoother.

It serves four but I doubled it so I could have enough for friends. Enjoy!

i'm a little behind...

Sorry, loyal readers, but I had a tough week last week and wasn't able to do much of anything. I hurt my neck playing soccer last Sunday and have been almost completely out of commission since...
I will recap, starting with last Saturday...My friends Kevin, Susan, and I ran the Charlottesville 10k last Saturday am in the pouring rain. I stayed at my friend Jordan's house on Friday night and she kindly woke up early to drive me to the start and cheer us on to the finish. After the race we had breakfast at the Bluegrass Grill and Bakery (313 Second Street, SE; 434-295-9700) which was conveniently featured in the NY Times "36 hours in Charlottesville" just the day before the race! The food was excellent. I had scrambled eggs with sausage, cheese, spinach, and onions, and split a short stack of pancakes with Kevin. Yum.
Sunday morning I had a soccer game, followed by the 2nd annual pumpkin carving contest at Susan's house. The neck injury didn't show up until Monday am, so I was pain-free for the carving and other activities. I carved a raven with quotes around it for my entry in the contest. Unfortunately the judges were not English majors and did not understand my carving but I still liked the end result.
Mon-Fri. I was pretty miserable...I think I headed a ball the wrong way on Sunday and I was in pretty sad shape the rest of the week. I went to a chiropractor on Friday and am 80% better. I don't know exactly what he did but the pain immediately went away and I was able to play two games this weekend and did some extra cardio this morning, too. I will be back to weight lifting early next week.
I am currently watching the Colts/Pats game and hoping the Colts win for the sake of my pick 'em league...