Birthday and Mountain Fun!

My mother's birthday was last Friday, so I decided to make dinner for her on Thursday night for the big reveal of her special birthday present!  Grandfather and I have been cahoots for 2 months or so trying to order some cognac boots my mother fell in love with.  They came about 2 weeks ago, and my mother was so surprised because she didn't think the boots would arrive for another month or two.  I was very proud of myself for finding the boots for her, and also for making a fancy dinner!  Since I'm still learning how to cook, this was pretty gourmet for me.

Video of my mother opening her birthday boots!

Menu:

Aperitif: Prosecco (to celebrate my mother buying a little condo in Southern Pines!)
Appetizer: Cantelope & prosciutto (one of my mother's favorites)
Entree: Balsamic-glazed pork chops, roasted beets with horseradish quark (quark is sold at Whole Foods!), & roasted okra
Dessert: Mexican chocolate pots-de-creme (EASY!)

Cantaloupe & Prosciutto

Roasted Beets

Mexican Chocolate Pots-de-Creme

She immediately put the boots on!

Having my mother and Louise over for dinner was only my and Kyle's second dinner party.  I want to be better about having people over, because it is a lot of fun and more enjoyable than going out to eat (in my opinion.  Although y'all know I love to eat out because other people are better at making food than me (for now!)).

On Friday, my mother and I headed to Boone/Blowing Rock for a weekend in the mountains!  We stayed in the same cabin as Kyle & I did when we went to the mountains for our anniversary.  We had great fun driving on the parkway on the way into town, partially due to all the butterflies fluttering around!

On Saturday we watched a great sunrise, ate lunch at ODB (excellent as usual), went on a perfect little hike, right in downtown Blowing Rock, and then did some damage in the stores in Blowing Rock.  I don't know how we've been going to BR my whole life and never knew about the Glen Burney Falls hike just off of the main street in BR.  Check out the hike HERE!!  

Moses Cone manor in the fog.

We had a great lazy Sunday morning - it was foggy and drizzly up the mountain where we were staying, so we had the screen doors open to listen to the rain while we drank our coffee.  I was so happy and relaxed because it was so serene!  We very slowly made our way out of town with another lunch at ODB and a great stream stop along the parkway.  When the clouds finally lifted, we had great visibility of the mountain range!  The mountains were almost an electric blue!

I made a cairn!

Dubarry advertisement

Olivia's cairn

Parkway bridge

Absolutely G O R G E O U S

I'm lucky to have a great mother to travel with me!

Goings-On

Hey y'all... it's been a minute since I last wrote - sorry!!

There is not a lot major going on, but I will fill you in on the small things!

A while ago I mentioned that "Steve the Raleigh Dog Trainer" came by the house to help me train Sienna.  It did not work out and Sienna's issues did not improve, even after several weeks of trying his methods.  After speaking with a few trainers in the area, it seemed like most of them recommended leaving her with them for a few weeks for training, just because the root of her problems was that she was focusing on the dogs, and not the human walking her.  I could have done it in private lessons, but it was more cost effective and quicker to have her stay with the trainer for two weeks.  Based on the recommendation of my friend Deb (thanks Deb!!) who shows Norwich Terriers, I sent Sienna to Adam who runs Defined Obedience (website HERE).  We had a consultation with him and he was very straightforward and knew his stuff.  From my brief experience with Steve, I found that dog trainers are a lot like horse trainers - there are a lot of them out there, and very few are actually good.  I have full faith that Sienna will be the most mannerly pup on the block when I see her next Thursday.  One week down, one week to go!  I miss her so much.  She is so funny and I miss snuggling with her.

Email Adam sent me on Sienna's first day (she hates that her bad teeth are showing)

In other news related to Sienna, I've had an ongoing issue of her being very itchy, so last Tuesday, before she went to training, we went to the dermatology department at the NCSU vet school for a thorough exam.  Before going to the vet school, I took Sienna to three different vets about the itching and they told me three different things, so I decided I wanted a more reputable vet to see her, and there is no better place than the vet school.  I had such a great experience at the vet school.  They told me bits and pieces of what I'd heard from the other vets, but also new information that tied everything together.  They created a cohesive plan of action based on what they saw from Sienna's behavior and a variety of skin tests they performed while she was there.  It was a 3.5 hour appointment, but SO worth it.  I have no doubt that we will also get all of that business sorted out as well.

News about me:  Since March I've worked out at this new gym, Raleigh Barbell, started by the family friend of a girl I work with.  It is strength and interval training and I love it!  It is more challenging than running, and I am seeing more results.  It is a small group setting, with usually like 3-4 people in my sessions, but it definitely has a personal trainer type feel because Jackson, who owns the gym, focuses on each person's strengths and weaknesses.  Somehow though, I strained the flexor muscle of my first rib (weird, right?) and I have to take 2 weeks off with ice/ibuprofen and its killing me!!  I actually miss working out because Raleigh Barbell is so much fun!  Check out the RB website HERE!!  Also, there is currently a Groupon for a month of unlimited sessions which you can see HERE if you want to come work out with me (and my mother)!!!

Finally, I had a super fun dinner last night with my little, Emily, and sisters Rachel & Kristina last night for a French meal!  I made crepes, Rachel made baked Brie, Kristina made killer coq au vin, and Emily made melon & prosciutto!  It was several great hours of fun and friends!  Love y'all!!!!

I Spy a Road Trip in My Future

Bad news - Kyle's mom is moving to Nashville.

Good news - (other than her promotion; the reason for her move) I get to go to Nashvegas soon!

Kyle's mom left today for her new home in Tennessee.  I am mostly happy for her, although selfishly, not so much.  I actually think I am more upset about her leaving than Kyle!  Ha!  He is the logical one, and knows he will see her soon.  I know I am going to miss Sunday dinners and her sense of humor and everything else in between.  I wrote her a card the other day and it was super sappy and I cried (ha big surprise) so I don't want to go there again.  I just hope Cindy has a great time in Nashville, grows as a person, and comes home to Ralz in a few years.  

Future Momma-in-Law & Momma O

Cindy & I and the engagement partay

Chamonix

Hey y'all!  I arrived at work this AM and saw Chamonet.com posted a lot of photos submitted by followers.  Some of the pictures are really impressive, and out of 29 pages, I saved a few of my faves I just had to share!

Coming down from the Arete du Aiguille du Midi

On top of the world

Sea of clouds over the Chamonix Valley (my fave I think)

Dusk in the Valley

Flying up the Aiguille

Sunrise in the Valley

The moon and the Midi

Sunset on Mont Blanc

Early morning at Millpond

Perfect evening

Chamonix peaks

Sommet du Bonheur (Peak of Happiness - I love that)

Summer Flying

Sunset in the Valley

Visions des montagnes

PS I just figured out how to do captions on the photos - makes life a little easier!

Nostalgia

I bet you guys get tired of me talking about food and France all the time, but here is some more!

Tomorrow is the day in which I returned from France, one year ago.  As much as I dreaded May 19, because it was the day all my friends left me, I think I'm dreading tomorrow even more, for it is the day I left France.  It is just crazy because I don't feel like I've been home for a year already.  How quickly time flies!  I've done so much in that year - graduated, got a new job, got a dog, and lots of smaller events in between!

My last night

On top of the sadness that I've been away from my second favorite country for almost a year now, I'm also missing being at the Blowing Rock horse show this year.  My family and I have been there every summer for as long as I can remember, and while I did not go last year either, all the jet lag made me miss it just a little less.  It is really hard to be at a desk this week, having not even sat on a horse in 2 months, and see all the updates on social media of all my friends in another one of my favorite places in the whole wide world.  #postgradproblems

Coro and I at BRCHS 2011

Wahh I'm so depressing I know!  Anyways, to try to combat all these sort of negative emotions I'm feeling this week, I've decided to think more seriously about what I want to do with my life, that I will enjoy on a day to day basis, but will also allow me to have the means to be an Amateur Owner hopefully in 5-10 years.  I have a lil idea in mind, but I don't want to get into that until I talk it out some more.  Daydreaming is going to get me through this week and next week!

Finally, the food portion of the blog!  This is a very happy note... The pickles from last weekend turned out wonderfully!  I think next time they need a little more of a kick to them, because I love spicy pickles, but really good on the whole!  I ate them with burgers with chipotle gouda cheese and a balsamic bacon onion jam, and I was in absolute heaven.  Lordy, I love food!  It wasn't very pretty, so I didn't take a picture, but just know it was awesome!

I promise I will try to not be such a Debbie Downer in the future.  I'm just wallowing a little this week...

pickles

It was a very foodie weekend for me.  I tried making refrigerator pickles last night, using a recipe I found from Pinterest, but I have to wait 5-7 days before eating the pickles, so I can't tell you how they turned out just yet.  It was pretty cool though, because I didn't know you have to use specific cucumbers when making pickles, but I lucked out when I went to the Farmer's Market on Saturday and everyone was selling "pickling cucumbers."  The pickles were super super easy to make - it was actually harder to find enough jars for the pickles than it was making the pickles themselves.  I think Kyle & I are going to make burgers sometime next weekend and have the pickles with the burgers.  I will make sure to tell you how they turn out!

In the meantime, here is a link to the recipe I used: Refrigerator Pickle Recipe (although I just used red pepper flakes instead of jalapeno)

Date Night

I did very little today, other than run errands, but it was awesome.  Kyle and I decided it was time for a date night, because its been a while since we had one, but I've really been wanting to have a wine & cheese night, so we stayed in and did that instead of going out like we usually do.  It was wonderful, we ate our wine, cheese, meat, etc then started watching Cloud Atlas (so confusing, I don't recommend it), halfway through we took Sienna on a nice walk around the neighborhood, and then finished the movie.  It was a wonderful relaxing night in.

Farmer's Market spoils from today

Sienna looking a little worried, yet so cute

Wine, summer sausage, cornichons, olives, and mustards

Yum

Mmm cheese!  The one in the top right was my favorite, top left was Kyle's favorite.  Also, the blackberries I bought at the Farmer's Market today were awesome!

My favorite cheese!

Shout out to Andy, Kyle's grandfather, for making the beautiful wood cutting boards our food was on!