Full Force
The past month has been an absolute blur, and I’ve been meaning to write – and feeling guilty for not – an update for a while now and just haven’t had the motivation, on the rare occasion time wasn’t too scarce. It hasn’t been all busy and stress…really. We’ve managed to have a lot of fun in the past couple of weeks – by ourselves, with our friends, etc. It’s just a really wild time at work and we’re making some pretty explosive changes in our home life and Ted’s work life that are requiring careful attention and diligence. But aside from all of that, here’s what we have been up to since May 23rd (which feels like an eon ago, am I right?):
– ZooBrew! We went on a cool Friday evening that was threatening rain, and it turned out to be just perfect because it was nice and cool but it didn’t rain, so it kept the massive crowds away that made our trip to ZooBrew last year rather difficult to enjoy. ZooBrew is on select Friday evenings during the summer for adults ages 21+. You buy a few beers, walk the zoo, and enjoy the animals with your pals…sans kids! Awesome. And the sea lions and lions were super active and vocal, which we loved! While we were inspecting the snow leopards, I leaned over a short, stubby tree and heard tiny muted chirping. I parted the shrub’s leaves to discover a nest with three baby robins in it. When we backed away from the nest, mama robin waited until we were at a safe distance, flew into the nest, dropped some grub to her babes, and flew off. It was such a cool moment, and a really nice, relaxing way to jump-start Memorial Day weekend after a crazy week at work.
– Saturday we got some contract work squared away in the morning, hit the public market for lunch and came home with a gorgeous bundle of asparagus, and two cartons of the most plump, juicy, and flavorful blackberries. In the afternoon we ran around the city doing some Birkenstock sandal shopping and other errands, and finished off the night with stargazing and pinpointing constellations out on our back deck.
– Sunday we drove out to Williamson to play a round of mini golf, swing at a few buckets of balls on the driving range, grab an ice cream cone at a sweet little ice cream stand, and drive back along the lake with the sun shining and the wind blowing through the open windows of Ted’s truck. I also whipped up the most decadent (yet easy!) rhubarb cheesecake…that I am still enjoying over a week later. I used this recipe, which is incredible. I added a few drops of orange bitters and some instant tapioca pearls and, if you love rhubarb, I’d highly recommend doubling the amount of it in the recipe to 6 cups for a more equitable rhubarb-cheesecake ratio.
– Monday (Memorial Day) we spent the day at Hidden Valley Animal Adventure, about an hour and 15 minutes outside Rochester. We went on a wonderful safari ride through the property where we got to pet (and feed! and pet!) water buffalo, zebra, longhorn, ostrich, and a bunch of other awesome animals! It was so great! And the weather was amazing! We shared a water buffalo burger at the lodge (no, not from the water buffalo who live at the ranch), which is lean and juicy and slightly sweet, along with some honey butter sweet potato fries, and we enjoyed the petting portion of the ranch where we cozied up with a camel, baby goats, donkeys, a mini horse, bunnies, a tortoise, and some screechin’ peacocks. We discovered that tortoises love to eat dandelions…and that I love to feed tortoises dandelions! And cuddle goats and longhorn! It was a fabulous way to spend the day together. I have a bunch more pictures that I’ll post this week.
– Wednesday I met my wonderful friend Kristen for ice cream cones (coconut almond crunch, you have my heart!) at the rustic-chic Pittsford Farms Dairy. It was so great to finally catch up with her and have some dedicated girl time. I came home and Ted grilled the most delicious, succulent steaks for us on the grill. Total perfection of a Wednesday!
– Thursday we hit up a small town carnival in Mendon in support of the local fire department. A big band was playing some jazzy music, I got a basket of fresh buttery clams and salted potatoes, Ted got BBQ pulled pork and coleslaw, and we walked around, watching everyone enjoy the rides, which we would have happily ridden if we weren’t so convinced they’d make us instantly puke up our dinners. Carnival rides are a little harder to stomach once you reach your mid-20s.
– Friday Ted and I met our friends Chelsea and Andrew at the Red Wings baseball game. We ate nachos and hot dogs and peanuts and calzones, we talked, we watched baseball and fireworks and had a totally fun and lovely evening with them, as we always do!
– Sunday we walked the pier at Lake Ontario and did a few laps around the park.
– And Monday I met my wonderful friend Shawnda for dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant in town. The food was completely divine (and utterly enormous), and we’ve vowed to return soon because it was so delicious and great to catch up since we’ve both had so much going on lately. We split a vegetarian combination plate and two lamb dishes and talked for about two hours. Pretty much what every Monday night needs.
So, in a nutshell, there’s all the fun we’ve been having lately! Looking back, I’m kind of amazed we’ve actually been able to fit all that in with everything else we’ve had going on!
Whew!
How’s your life been lately?
