Gone Fishin' and Making Boston Cream Pie Strata

I grew up in Puerto Rico and in Florida, so I am sad to admit that up until a couple of weeks ago, I had never been fishing.  Never.  I have wanted to go for a long time, and I hinted, and hinted and hinted this fact to Robs, but we just hadn't gotten around to it.   Well, earlier this summer I found out that you can go fishing in Central Park!  So instead of continuing to hint, I finally asked Rob if we could go fishing at the Harlem Meer in the Park.  We went on a beautiful day near the end of September.  It was so sunny but not hot, and it was just so relaxing.  I think it's a little funny that my first fishing experience was in Central Park, in New York City! Next Spring, when we are in Florida, I think it would be fun to try to go fishing too.

Harlem Meer

Catch and Release guide

Robs and I getting ready to fish.  Wasn't it such a gorgeous day?

It was so relaxing, just sitting there with our fishing poles.  It felt like we were on a lake somewhere, I kept thinking, I can't believe that we are doing this in Central Park.

It was a great first-time experience for me.

Later that afternoon, I made a Boston Cream Pie Strata for the monthly dinner party we enjoy with the Thomases and Birds.  In September it was Jessa & Richard's turn to host.  Jessa continued to dazzle us with two recipes from Bread and Wine,  Breakfast Quinoa and Homemade Bread.  Meghan brought a great apple and cheese appetizer and I found my dessert recipe from Pinterest (of course).

The recipe called for graham crackers layered with vanilla custard (which, I made from scratch -- that's a Friends reference for ya!), topped with chocolate frosting (also made from scratch).  It was SO good.  The recipe said that I could have used instant vanilla pudding and pre-made frosting, but that the effort in making these items from scratch would really pay off, and it was true.  The smell of the custard as I made it was amazing.  Just thinking about it again, I couldn't agree more.  If you try this, make everything yourself! 

Building the layers...

Top layer, minus the chocolate frosting!  Why didn't I get a shot of the finished product?  Lesson learned, I just need to make this again, I guess?

Fall Appetizer

Apple Garnish for Jessa's Fall Cocktail.  Happy Fall, Y'all!!

Oh, what's this interesting picture?  That my friends, is a GINORMOUS crane, driving north (aka, wrong direction) on 2nd Avenue, right in front of our apartment.  Oh, the joys of the Second Avenue Subway construction.  It will be worth it in a few years, right?

~ Drea 

Dumbo Smorgasburg, Maelee Sitting, Sunday Fundays, Keeping Busy

Checked off one of the many things I have been wanting to do from my Bucket List that seems to continue to grow with every day we live in NYC. In early September, we went to the DUMBO Smorgasburg (spelled intentionally with the "burg" for Williamsburg) with Scott & Katie.  It consists of a fabulous selection of food from local vendors and takes place every Sunday in Brooklyn Bridge Park on the waterfront.  Check out this view, we were right between the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge.  We went around the Smorgasburg once before deciding what to eat, so we could check out all of the selections.

Gorgeous shot of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Grabbed the Maple and Bacon piece of "Jack's Chedbred".  It was that perfect balance between savory and sweet!

This is a great shot of one corner of the Smorgasburg.  You can see the Manhattan Bridge in the background.

After selecting our food, we scoped out a great spot along the water, and enjoyed the great weather and delicious lunch!

That Thursday, we had Barry & Brandon over for dinner.  Barry gave us that dining room table after he lived with us for a couple of weeks because he wouldn't be needing it anymore.  It's perfect because when it's just me and Robby, we have a small square table, but when we have friends over it expands to a larger rectangle.  Thanks Barry!

Friday night, we spent the evening with this lovely little lady, Maelee!  We spent the evening reading books to her in silly voices and making puzzles.

Rob, Maelee and Parker

Saturday Night we went to a performance of Jane Austen's Persuasion, performed by the Chicago Chamber Orchestra.  A friend of mine that I have known since the 9th grade was in the performance. It was such a treat to go see her perform!  In the picture above, she is seated at the piano.

Rob and me with Gretel after her performance.

The next morning, after church, we walked home along Lexington, which had been converted into a Street Fair.  Love these!! It went on for about 20 blocks!  We were joined by Richard & Jessa who we hadn't seen since before their anniversary trip to Europe!  We enjoyed having them come over for a homemade brunch of Hickson Breakfast Potatoes, Eggs, Fruit Mimosas, coffee and Cinnamon Roll Waffles.  Yes, you read that correctly, Cinnamon Roll Waffles!! They were delicious and so easy to make!! Here's what you do: 

Just grab a package of cinnamon rolls from Pillsbury and cook them on a waffle iron for a couple of minutes.  

Once they're ready, top them with a drizzle of the icing that comes in the package, and voila!  

I can't say enough about this easy, delicious meal.

Me, Bess & Jessa

Rob, Bess and Rich.  

In addition to our delicious brunch, we watched a lot of football... and so started the wonderful tradition of Sunday Funday!  What is Sunday Funday, you may be asking yourself?  An open door of awesome friends, coming over, hanging out and watching football at our place.  I absolutely love getting to have the apartment filled with friends every week after church. 

Later that night, we got to visit a little bit more with Gretel.  We stopped by the Wrap Party after their final NYC performance of Persuasion.

Meanwhile.... our families were having a Sunday Funday of their own in Miami!! I absolutely loved getting these pics from our families as both my side and Rob's side got together for dinner at La Carreta.  It was like a min-reuninon from our trip to Puerto Rico.  (Eli and our niece Addi in the pic above.)  

Abuelo, Bob, Addi, Donna, Eli, Mom, Mark, Tio Gerald (visiting from PR), Mark, Crystal and Titi Michi (also visiting from PR).

Later the next week, I went all the way out to Northern Long Island... trust me it was far... for a client call for work.  It took about two and half hours to get there, but lunch was so worth it... we went to the Cheesecake Factory.  Y'all, there are no Cheesecake Factory's in Manhattan.  I typically only get to enjoy a meal at one when we go back to Florida.  Take a look!  Yuummmmm!

After another two and a half hour commute back, the night was topped off with a wonderful reunion for me. I had a ladies night with Leilani and Vane.  Lani was visiting from Florida for a convention.  We have all known each other since the 9th grade as well.  Spending the evening catching up with them was just perfect.  I am so excited for Lani as she and another friend of ours, Lisa embark on opening a fashion boutique in Miami.  For as long as I have known Lani, this has been her dream!  I also can't wait to celebrate with Vane, who is getting married next March in Miami.  So many things to be thankful for in the lives of these dear friends!

After dinner, we met up with Carlos for a bit.

We also made some more progress unpacking that week.  Bessy enjoyed a nap in the sunshine in our living room.

We bought some gorgeous mirrors that had been made from repurposed windows.  You can see the latch and hinges still.  They are a great, unique touch for our bedrooms and match really well with the dressers we have already!

Bess helped as I organized all the books.  Katie and Erin inspired me to color coordinate the books on our shelves.  The finished product is so nice, can't wait to show you soon!!

September starts off right

Rob surprised me and asked for a Saturday shift to be covered for him on Labor Day weekend.  This was so helpful because we got to paint the ENTIRE apartment.  My wonderfully talented friend, Katie is an interior designer.  She helped us pick out the perfect neutral cool color: Benjamin Moore, Feather Gray.  The night before we painted, we spent the evening with Katie and Scott while Scott's parents were in town.  Scott's mom, Pat gave us great advice for painting the trim, she said to get a small angled brush.  She was so right, it really helped!  

So after a fun morning in the park with Bess getting to play off leash, and brunch at the Barking Dog, we set to work.  We spent all day painting and the result is so great!  We painted every wall except the section around the mantle.  It's a nice, crisp accent wall.  

We did take one break on Saturday.  We had a delicious and filling dinner at Dos Caminos in SoHo with our new friends from Colorado, Angie and Mike.  We followed that up with ice cream courtesy of Mister Softee!  Can't believe this was our first time grabbing this delicious soft serve ice cream this summer.

The next morning, we went up to the Hudson Valley for a fun day trip.  My coworker, Erin lives in Cold Spring and had invited us to come up and visit her and her boyfriend Ed.

Me and Robby by the Hudson River in Cold Spring.

Ed made us delicious "Migas" for dinner.

Then we took a turn playing a game by Legos, called Creationary!  Think Pictionary, but you build things with Legos instead of drawing.  I think my Awesome-in-law, Mark would have fun with this!

Another wonderfully talented friend of mine, Erin, invited Katie and me to a Girl's Night Out in Nolita.  I felt so "New York" getting to go to a private party at the Linhardt Design jewelry gallery.  (Erin is a designer, she makes accessories and invitations for weddings, and pretty much anything else you can think of.  Check out her website Erin Braun Design.)

Something that was a big prayer request as we searched for an apartment, was that we would find a place large enough for hosting.  I am so grateful that we have pretty much been able to do that right from the start.  Barry was able to live with us for about 3 weeks, and since then we get to have him over for dinner almost every week.  It's great that now we actually have room so that friends and family can stay with us during their visits.  The same weekend as the Girl's Night Out, a great friend of mine, Phil, from back when I was in Youth Group at Calvary Chapel Ft. Lauderdale stayed with us.  He and his wife were in town for about 10 days celebrating their anniversary and needed a place to stay for one night.  I'm bummed I didn't get any pictures of them while they were here, but still it was so cool.  

Our first apartment in the City was charming, but it was teeny tiny and on the fifth floor of a walk up.  We enjoyed the neighborhood so much, and missed it while we were living in New Rochelle, but 5K didn't exactly scream hospitality... we couldn't even have more than about 2-3 friends over at once. Are you coming to the Big Apple for a visit?  Let us know if you need a place to stay and hopefully we can have you stay at our place.  (To our NYC friends, come over any time!)

Around this same time, my Abuelo fainted and spent a couple of days in the hospital.  Thankfully he is feeling much better, but please keep him, my Mom and my Sis, Eli in your prayers.  Rob's parents went to visit Abuelo, and Eli snapped this great picture of him smiling as he looked at pictures of my niece, Addi. I love it so much!

Dinner Parties, Salsa, Rooftops and More Dinners

We started rotating hosting dinner every month with our friends the Thomases and the Birds.  Our first Dinner Party was at the Birds and it was delishhh!

The ladies: me, Jess & Meghan... in height order, ha!

The guys decided to play PIG, minus the basketball and court, with a pingpong ball and glass vase instead!  Not sure what was going on in the picture below, but it was part of the game.

The appetizer was courtesy of Jessa, and Oh Em Geeeeee it was delicious.  She has been cooking through the book, Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist.  I have been reaping the benefits of her quest as she has shared many delicious recipes with me, and these Bacon Wrapped Dates did not disappoint.  Needless to say, after having this delicious appetizer, I added the book to my Amazon wish list.  (See what I did there? Easy link to the list for Donna and Mom, haha!)

Meghan made a risotto, with steamed veggies and goat cheese and we ended the night with home made ice cream (also on my wish list now as a result of this dinner - I have no shame!).

As you know, we love dancing Salsa, and it was so fun to give our friends Nate and Lauren a little intro lesson.  They caught on quick!!  (Sorry for the blurry shot!)

Kara, who was my roommate for three years in College lives in Brooklyn and is a Doctor at SUNY Downstate.  She has a busy busy schedule, so it's always great to see her.  On this particular Saturday morning, we enjoyed a Rooftop brunch at 230 Fifth as we celebrated our friend Alana's birthday.  One of my favorite things about living in the City is that we get to have regular visitors and it was so nice to see Alana who was visiting from Florida.

Kara and a sweet shot of the Empire State building behind us.

Me and the birthday girl!

AKA for life! (Alana, Kara, Andrea!)  The palm trees on the rooftop are from Florida, which was such a nice touch, since we all met in Miami.

Later that night, we volunteered at Ronald McDonald House and made dinner for the families.

Brett and Robby... where's Erin? Hah!

Oh, there she is...  Couldn't see that lovely smile.

Me and Erin

Robby and Ali!  Going to miss this Southern Belle when she moves to ATL this month.

After church the next day, the guys did their annual Fantasy Football Draft.  So I thought it would be fun for the ladies to get brunch.  We went to Yorkville Creperie, which had such a great ambiance and delicious, filling crepes!

Mmmm! Nutella filled crepe with strawberries and bananas.

After Barry moved downtown, we have kept our tradition of weekly "family dinners" going strong.  We get to see him every Thursday.  What a fun surprise that he brought cupcakes from Two Little Red Hens. 

They are definitely as good as they look here (Brooklyn Blackout, Peanut Butter Fudge Swirl and Boston Cream).  We all decided that Brooklyn Blackout was the winner.  After our dinners, we usually meet up with everyone at Biddy's Pub for trivia night. (So fun!)  We've won a couple of times so far!