Dining Delights | Peaches Prattlings

{April 20, 2016} Going home…mmm never tasted so good!

Today we bid farewell to Washington, DC and hello to NYC.

We left Washington after a little shopping trip, loaded up the car and away we went. We were going to go to my dad’s house in NY to spend the night and then drive back to Boston tomorrow. That’s what they did going to Boston, overnight at dad’s then on to DC.

We got to dad’s house after a relatively smooth trip, a few pit stops and one for lunch. ACS had already decided where he wanted to go for dinner, Denino’s pizzeria and tavern, best pizza in NYC!

I did not partake in the fabulousness that is Denino’s, I had a salad. My thinking was that I had a slice of pizza last week in Atlanta, I wasn’t sure at that point if I would be coming with them, so there you go, they had a slice of heaven and I had a salad, yum.

Now…no boo-hoos for me! After dinner it was across the street to Ralph’s for some cremelata, I figured if I was going to knowingly eat something that was going to mess with them, it had better be worth it! Oh…it was!

It was great to be back home, feeling nostalgic and getting to enjoy a bit of our childhood.

Very sweet dreams tonight!

{April 14, 2016} Waffle House…GA511 Hero…Dinner

Another jam packed day!

The day started early, but that meant breakfast! And breakfast in the south means…Waffle House! The All-Star Breakfast. What could be better? Nothing!

On the way home we stopped by the package store, ST needed some supplies for the weekend and I picked up a few things for some people I know, wink wink. After we got back to the house, I packed up my stuff, loaded the car and headed to Starbucks to get some work done for a few hours.

On the way to pick up RJS for our dinner date with JCT, I had something happen for the first time ever. I ran out of gas! On the highway! I knew I needed gas yesterday and thought I’d get it today and totally forgot. So, all of a sudden the car starts stalling, duh! I managed to get the car from the hammer lane to the right shoulder! Whew!

I called ST and he reminded me about GA511, they send the State Farm HERO units out. They asked where I was, that was easy! Mile maker 111 in 85S. Could I have stopped in a more perfect spot??

The truck arrived and the hero himself, so to speak, put one gallon of gas in the car and made me feel better, he did the same thing himself last week!

After my hero left, ha ha, I found a station, got gas and headed to pick up RJS. We had a bit of traffic to sit in, so lots of time to catch up!

We made it to dinner, had a great time with JCT, laughing, catching up, we’ve known each other, this October, 7 years! Wow! We met on the same day on a new project and became instant friends, we met ST on that project as well. Pretty cool, huh?

After dinner, I drove RJS home and we caught up some more, talked plans and dresses and stuff. Eventually I realized it was late and headed to JCT’s house for more catching up, just the two of us.

When I got there, she gave me the new “sleep” hat her mom made me, totally rad!!! Don’t you just love it! Mom rocks!

Maybe one day I’ll actually be able to make something like this!

I love being spoiled by two amazing moms! JCT’s and SDL’s, they make me feel like one of theirs, thank you!

And now my friends, it is time for sleep. Repacking in the morning and off to the airport for the next great adventure! Thanks everyone for making this week fabulous!!!

And a very happy happy birthday to one of my best friends! MM! live it up, it’s your day! Xoxo

{April 9, 2016} We have a SIX year old in the mix!

What? She just got here, how can she be six? Where did the time go?

Today is a very special day! Miss A turned SIX! I imagine you guessed that from the title. Wow, six! And what a day we had for that very six year old.

Ready, here we go, you might need a nap, we were busy!

The day started a like early, there was a bran muffin with raisins for a breakfast tease. Over breakfast I asked if she had any advice for MGS who turns six next week.

Then it was up to get dolled up! Black riding pants, pink tutu, white long sleeve top, sparkle t-shirt proclaiming “I was born to sparkle”! and cool boots.

She was put together and out the door we went.

First stop…horse riding, with a blinged-out helmet, a little extra being with a tiara on her helmet. Do you see DIVA on the back? Oh yeah! She was fabulous!

Not to mention, the entire staff sang happy birthday! Awesome!

After horses, off to brunch, remember, the muffin was the breakfast snack! We stopped at IHOP. The girl could out-eat me in a skinny minute! Eggs, pancakes with strawberries and whip cream and because it’s her birthday, ice cream sundae, more strawberries and whipped cream.

And to top it all off, they sang happy birthday!

After breakfast head to the Blue Ridge Mountains to an apple orchard for a tractor show. We got there just in time to see the pink tractor. Then we went on a tractor tour around the orchard, very cool. They grow 52 different varieties of apples!

Back inside to shop and maybe get a snack…maybe. ha ha! Butterscotch pudding, vanilla pudding, 1/3 of a banana, peach pie with ice cream. Full yet?

We took a stroll in the meadow and by the lake, very picturesque!

After a while, time to leave. Heading back, it was about dinner time, and we found a Cracker Barrel, chow time! Chicken-n-dumplings, coconut cream pie with whipped cream. Oh my!

More singing and silliness!

Then back home for bath and bed. That sounds like a great idea!

Happy birthday Miss A, you wonderful, finny, silly, goofy, bright, loving little person. I’m so happy you’re in my life and I’m in yours.

Good…night!

{April 2, 2016} What a day! Karate…Volunteering…Red Nose…Dinner…Movie

I was thoroughly refreshed after four hours of sleep, but would it be enough? I was spending the day with my sister’s family, you know, a marathon!

I happened to wake up on my own at 8am, greeted the girls, had waffles made my ACS, he and MGS went off to gymnastics and EJS, GES and I went off to karate. After EJS went into class, my sister and I went over to Walgreens to pick up a prescription and then what do you do while you’re there? Why…walk around and look at deals, of course! And we found some good ones!

Including red noses for everyone! Do you know about Red Nose Day? This year it’s May 26th and every red nose product [red noses, bracelets, sun glasses, headbands with pompoms] purchased helps to fight kid poverty. “What’s poverty?” asks the nine year old when we picked her up and I gave her her very own red nose. So I explained.

I explained while we were on our way to Cradles to Crayons. This is a volunteering event that GES and EJS have participated in several times and I did once, I’m not sure if you remember me telling you about it. This is where people bring donations to the local high school and then the volunteers sort everything from clothes to books to toys. There are stations everywhere! We ended up in toys, counting and cleaning. Do you know how hard it is to count puzzle pieces when people ask you questions!

If an item is all in one piece, functioning and in good shape, it goes to donation, if it’s not the best, maybe it’s a coloring book that has one or two pages drawn on, or a pair of shoes with some scuff marks, it goes to Salvation Army. There were over one hundred kids, of all ages, and parents volunteering. It’s a very cool event and collect so many items that it helps so many kids.

What they do: Cradles to Crayons provides children from birth to age 12, living in low- income and homeless situations, with the essential items they need to thrive – at home, at school and at play. We supply these items free of charge by engaging and connecting communities that have with communities that need. https://www.cradlestocrayons.org/

After volunteering, EJS chose to go to the bagel shop, so she GES and I got bagels, took them home and enjoyed them in our jammies and sweats on the couch! ACS and MGS got home from lunch, well, ACS came in, MGS was having a great nap in the car, which was safe, dry and warm in the garage, ACS even brought out a blanket for her. She hasn’t napped like that for a long time, she was probably out there another two hours after they got home.

There was playing and hanging out until it was time for dinner and we were meeting another family, well part of the family, at the local Japanese Steak House, Fuji for fun, food and fire! Then off to Orange Leaf for frozen yogurt and home for night-night.

As the girls were falling asleep, ACS and I channel surfed, it was quite interesting, a documentary on drugs, March Madness, the Final Four and Pawn Stars, yup, interesting. He went up, GES came down and the two sisters watched the movie Sisters. It was just as funny as I remembered and I may have laughed so hard I peed in my pants, that funny!

I told you…marathon! It’s been quite the day and now it’s time to drift off to sleep, I hope. My goal is to fall asleep before 4am, who’s with me! Pleasant dreams my friends!

Cradles%20to%20Crayons

{March 27, 2016} Hello, My Name Is Doris…I’m in vegan heaven…and I’m exhausted!

Yup, that about covers it.

You know how when you’re not feeling well and you stay in bed and day or two and then you feel like you’re fine and ready to conquer the world? And you know when you do that you realize that you’re nuts and probably should have stayed in bed? Yup, that’s me. Go figure.

The Nyquil and Dayquil have been great, making me sleepy and stay in bed, getting up every once in a while to stretch the legs, make tea, you know how it goes. So, today after being in bed almost two days, I figured, why not, time to go out. Away I went.

I took the train to the movies, ulterior motive…the theater was near Chinatown, guess what I’m going to do later!

I went to see ‘Hello, My Name is Doris’, staring Sally Field. I must admit it felt a little weird not having popcorn, but I was saving room. The movie, I loved it. It was charming and sweet and loveable and awkward and funny and well, A+!

Sally Field plays Doris, an older woman who just lost her mom, they lived together on Staten Island and she commutes on the SI Ferry into her job in NYC.

Really enjoyed it, a lot of fun, good supporting cast. I love seeing Tyne Daly as a foul mouthed, on occasion, radical.

She meets the new art directorat her company and develops a crush. She’s sixty something [or as Naomi Judd once said, sexty] and her crush…let’s just say…isn’t.

She daydreams and fantasizes she isn’t ready to act her age, her clothes are fabulous, all mish mosh, mismatched and fabulous, cat-eye glasses, saddle shoes. I totally see me in the future, just without the fake hair. C’mon, friends who have met me, you can see it, can’t you?!

The tag line “She’s not ready to act her age”. Totally get it!

After the movie walked a few blocks to Chinatown, I knew exactly where I was going. When PSM and I went to Chinatown for New Years Eve we saw it and I know I would go back sometime.

My Thai Vegan Cafe, ‘Authentic Thai cuidine, unique vegan preparation’. Really good, I can’t remember the last time I had wonton soup, yum! It’s nice to go somewhere that I don’t have to ask what the base is on the soup or if there’s anything I can’t eat in something. Wahoo!

Now, I’m back in the apartment, eating a slice of vegan NY style cheesecake. Mmmm.

And…I’m eating it in bed because I am officially tired! I may have overdone it, but it was all worth it!! I may pass out before I finish eating!

{March 19, 2016} Wow, can those 9 year olds can party!

Today we had a party for one EJS, who turns NINE tomorrow.

What a day we had! I got to GES’ house, hugs and kisses all around, then it was off to Karate with EJS, she really is getting stronger with her kicks and punches. She was even called to the front row of the class, that is not a common thing for lower level students, that’s what she told us when class was over. The Master instructor called her out after class to tell her how well she did. Go EJS go!

Then back to the house, make rice crispy treats, never knew how easy they are, butter, rice crispy cereal and marshmallows.

A few errands and then the girls started showing up. Thirteen in total with EJS and MGS, oh my! It was a great mix of girls, some from school, temple, book club, family friends and camp, very nice.

Since they were from different places, not everyone knew each other, I had all the girls sit in a circle and we played an ice breaker game to get the girls to relax, laugh and maybe learn each other’s names. It worked a little, by the time they started the festivities, the girls were laughing together.

We started in the dining room with instructions, we were having fun with food.

They started with decorating their own containers with markers and stickers.

Next, on to the fun with food… first, they were making candy sushi! We made two different sizes of rice crispy treats, blocks and long thin pieces. Then take a Swedish fish or gummy worm and either roll it in the longer thin piece or put it on the block, then wrap it in fruit roll up like seaweed. How cool is that!

Next was melting chocolate and crumble cookie pieces to pour into molds and then after they harden in the freezer, wrap them in foil for their own candy bar.

Lastly, we had different flavored puddings, whipped cream, cookie crumbles, Graham cracker crumbs and mason jars to put it all in, with labels hand made by each girl.

Perfect timing, as one group of girls left a station, they went downstairs to play, then, after we finished taking the chocolates from the freezer, it was time to sing and eat ice cream cake. Pure perfection! Parents started showing up just about that time.

After most of the girls left, five stayed behind, four were spending the night, was doing a sleep under, she would stay until bed time and then go home.

The girls put on their pj’s, watched Paddington then headed upstairs to set up the sleeping arrangements air mattresses and sharing and floors and mommy and daddy’s bed, play a game, while they waited for the sleep under to head home and one other girl to come back.

By now, it was almost 10pm and I headed for the hills, or at least my place and my furry kids [and yes, they did exactly what I said they would].

Tomorrow, more fun with family and a birthday dinner.

I told you those nine year olds could party!

{March 8, 2016} What did you do for dinner?

I went to Canada!

One of the things I love about traveling for work is trying new places to go and eat. I did that tonight.

Today I was teaching at a hospital right by the border, so, what to do for dinner…head in the direction of Canada, ask border patrol for a suggestion, Strada West it was.

I traded with the agent, she gave me toys place and I told her about Manis/Massages and Martinis, fair trade.

Eat and sip is the tag line. Do they cater to vegan and gluten free, yup! Had a seat at the bar, ordered a side salad and an eggplant sandwich on a gluten free bun, a good one! It had avocado, lettuce, peppers, some really bitter greens and brie. I took a chance on the brie, I’m surviving. The hand cut fries were really good, brought the rest back to the valet at the hotel.

Back to the border, nothing to declare and on to the hotel to relax and talk to you.

What does tomorrow hold?

{March 7, 2016} Too cool, need to find this in more places

Tonight I did something different and fun.

I went to a place near my hotel called The Chocolate Bar. It’s a bar/restaurant that specializes in chocolate, as you might imagine. Drinks, food, dessert.

Mondays they have a promotion, Martinis abs Manis, buy a martini, get a free mani, fabulous? Yes! Wednesdays is Martinis abs Massages. It’s a hook and a gimmick, but it worked! Worth it, oh yeah!

They need to do this in more cities!

I found out about it from someone in one of my classes today, she was meeting a friend there herself. I had been wanting to go, I know, I don’t like chocolate, but I was curious.

I got there, ended up seeing the girl from class, we chatted while she word for get friend. The menu was extensive, well, the chocolate menu that is.

I ordered my first martini ever, chocolate and peanut butter. It tasted like a Resee peanut butter cup, except with vodka, um, not my thing, but I tried it. So I got a hot chocolate with amaretto, better. They had virgin martinis, but they were made with milk, oh well.

If you bite the ends off the chocolate stick, you can use it as a straw! That was tasty!

I ordered sweet potato fries with three sauces for dipping sauces, dark chocolate, which had a kick, rosemary butter and maple mayo, that was the best. I keep trying things, like chocolate to see if I like it, you know, tastes change! Not in this case!

Then I ordered a salad, very-berry, it was good, lots of berries and nuts in a giant martini glass! Tasty!

They had Willy Wonka in a loop in the bar, along with the I Love Lucy episode in the

chocolate

factory and some

episode of Sponge Bob selling chocolate on in the bathroom.

There were some interesting people at the bar while I was there, always fun to people watch.

Then it was my turn for a mani. The girl who did it talked 90 to nothin! She was very nice and chatty and when we talked about travel I asked if she traveled a lot, yup, to Florida and NYC all the time, but she wants more. I think she did a great job, it’s very dark green with a gold party nail, St Patty’s day is coming up, maybe this will give me a touch of luck!

Back to the hotel with my leftovers, way too much food! The valet and front desk were happy!

I wonder what my next adventure will be!!

{March 5, 2016} What a day!!

It started early, ended late, lots in the middle, perfect.

It started early because my sleep is messed up. 3:15am, 4:30am and finally, I gave up at 6:20am and got up. Well, didn’t get up and out of bed, just no more sleeping.

I got up, dressed and headed out to meet PSMs sister-in-law and nephew for brunch not too far from them, because after we ate, we went back to their place and I got to visit with Mollie! She looks great, she’s lost a little weight and still the same lovable, sweet dog she always was.

She ran around, was excited to see me, then she was done, it was time to lay in the sun, I totally get that!

After our visit, I headed to see if I might catch GES and the family at home, I did. It was a whirlwind visit, well, I walked in add they were getting ready to go out, here and there. I picked up some stuff, dropped off and headed out.

I went to the Art In Bloom exhibition at the local library, amazing! Each piece had an assignment a piece of art to be created and then reproduced in flora, amazing!

Then it wad back to my place to drop off groceries, yup, did that somewhere in between!

Got a text from KAB, what I sent her for the baby shower made it! Go amazon prime! I can’t wait to see pictures!

Caught up with HH on the phone, then headed out for GNO, or Girls Night Out, for those of you not in the know. JB, SB, LI, KM and I sent to a pretty good Mexican restaurant, El Sarape in Braintree.

We had a blast! After waiting a while for a table, and we had a reservation, the place was packed! We got our table and then cane close to closing the place down. We looked at our watches and it was 9 then all of a sudden it was almost 11pm, not bad.

We caught up, laughed, drank, ate, laughed, talked about planning girls weekends, it was great! There were only a few times I was lost since they have all known each other for years, but they filled me in on stuff. Such a great time!

Back home, take care of some stuff, talk to to you and now on going to crash. Tomorrow is laundry, straighten up and head out…back to Buffalo.

G’night!

{February 28, 2016} What a weekend!

As promised, my weekend, I’m more awake now!

I got to Colorado on Friday, found a hotel, chilled out, talked to you and crashed out. Apparently my body thought I only needed about four hours of sleep, wide awake at 4:15am, seriously?

I finally got up about 5:45, dressed and breakfast and out the door by 6:20am, at AM’s house to get my skis, head up to the mountains. What a view, breathtaking, peaceful, calming, I’m glad I had the opportunity to live in Colorado and go back and visit.

I decided to go to Breckinridge for the day and I’m so glad I did, beautiful weather, never got very cold and warmed up towards the end of the day. It was about 60 when I left.

I got to the top for my first run of the day and woosh, away I went. There was good powder, groomed and smooth. It really was a pleasure being out there, I am definitely a west coast over east coast skier. I’m more confident there than back east and that’s ok, everyone has their skills and what they’re comfortable with. Some people are east over west, that’s why you see those bumper stickers “Ski the East “.

I took a few breaks, including one for lunch. I accidentally spilled two drops of vegetables soup on my goggles, it got into the foam so every time I pulled them down, I smelled soup! Especially when I pulled my face guard up! Had to wash them pretty fast, I couldn’t take it!

In all, I skied for about four and a half hours, it was invigorating and exhausting! I didn’t even have to trick myself into the last run!

I left Breck and headed to AM’s house to visit with him and the family. I love spending time with his wife, N and their daughter A, she is a spitfire and adorable.

We chatted for a bit, then headed out to their favorite local sushi restaurant, at least I think it was a favorite, they knew the staff, which is nice and they were happy to see the family.

We had a very nice dinner, she drew me this picture on the back of a sushi menu. Isn’t it fabulous! You know it’s going on my fridge!

Back to the house, the younger A went to bed and A, N and I watched Lucy, interesting. It was great to hang out with them. Over dinner and beyond, we talked about movies, Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Star Trek, and more and more and books and… It was a lot of fun, I’m looking forward to next time.

Back to the hotel, chilled a bit, barely talked to you and then passed out, as you know.

This morning, I got up leisurely, it was nice, breakfast and eventually head out. I visited my storage units, got some stuff and headed to the airport.

I had enough time when I returned the car, then sat on the bus for about 10/15 minutes waiting to head to the airport. My bags made it by the skin of their teeth, but they made it. They made it to my first stop, Minneapolis, but somehow got routed wrong and they didn’t make it to Buffalo with me.

Luckily…I left a bag with the hotel last week because I didn’t want to take it with me and I’m so glad I did! The Delta luggage agent gave me a kit that had a t-shirt, tooth brush, the essentials. Good thing, my jammies and essentials are still in flight! They should be here tomorrow about noon. I’m just glad I have something to wear to teach class!

And now that are caught up, I will say goodnight and pleasant dreams.

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