Good Friday

In New Zealand, Good Friday is a public holiday. What a beautiful thing! To celebrate, our friends Rob and Lindsay invited us over along with Johnny and Helina to partake in the tradition of hot cross buns. These were the first hot cross buns that I have ever had (which is unheard of), so I figured it required some documentation:

And I can see why they are an Easter tradition down here, they're delicious. After some great tea, buns, and company we had to head off because we needed to eat this:

Yum! Our team mate Sarah cooked an Easter dinner for us including the Indiana favorite, chicken and noodles. She and Ryan had been dreaming of this day for a long time, and it finally happened. And the whole team was there to participate as well :)

Daniel is enjoying the feast!

And Leigh was eating so fast he's a bit blurry.

Anyway, it was a fantastic day with delicious food. I'm so grateful to get to spend Easter with great friends when we aren't able to be with family.

a date

There was a new, famous, highly sought after restaurant that opened up the coast. We decided to make the afternoon of it, and check it out.

A few of the Christmas trees are still in bloom, which is a treat, since most were finished blooming by the time we got back from Thailand.

We took the train up the coast.

All the way to Paraparaumu.

To have....Wendy's! Ha, this is a new thing in Wellington, and it's very exciting!

Chili, fries, burgers, chicken...and a frosty of course!

So delicious. And the sunset on the train ride home was beautiful.


Yes, I realize this is the second time I've posted about going to Wendy's in less than a year. We aren't even big fast-food people, but you've got to embrace the little things :) Another little piece of America right here in Wellington.

the Grocery store

We've made a few trips to the grocery store, and it's interesting to see what some of the differences. One of the main things that stood out are some of the crazy prices on produce.

For example, $9 for a kilo (less than a pound) of grapes. Grapes are really cheap at home, who knew they were a hot commodity in NZ. How exotic, from California!

And bell peppers, $8 or $9 a kilo...

And the big whopper, $18 for a kilo of cherries! No thank you...

Ha, just a little peek into this new world :)

Thanksgiving Part II

Jackie had us over the week before we left for a little post-Thanksgiving shindig. We had each missed our annual bible study Thanksgiving, so we thought maybe we would cook one up ourselves (you have to take advantage of any Thanksgiving you can get!). Instead of the traditionally Turkey, we actually had a rotisserie chicken, which was yummy.

Afterwards we played a little super nintendo...super mario world and donkey kong. And almost beat the game in one night...

Nights like this make me sad to leave.

Thanksgiving

We had two very delicious thanksgiving dinners this year. We were blessed with such great times with our families and with some amazing food :)

Purdue v. Ball State

We headed up to West Lafayette on Saturday for the football game! Ryan's brothers go Purdue and Ball St, so it was fun to go see the rival schools.

It was pretty good game, Purdue won! It is always great to be back up in West Lafayette, and we always try to stop by some of our favorite food and coffee places. We met up with Brad Martz, and his beautiful girlfriend at Vienna (hello vanilla latte! yum!). Afterwards we stopped by Kara and Ryan's house to see their new puppy. So adorable. We had dinner at Von's Dough Shop, the calzones are just as delicious. Although, Ryan and I were quickly reminded how we gained weight so easily in college... And lastly, every trip to Lafayette should end with a bonfire and hot cider at the Speichers.

Some things never change :)

Behind on recipes!

I have been coming across quite a few delicious recipes lately and I haven’t been sharing!  So sorry, but here is a start:

German Pancakes.

I used to love these when I was little, and they are best with homemade syrup.

 http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/German-Pancake

Hot Corn Dip.

I brought this to a cookout, and it was a big hit.  Very very good!

 http://www.ourbestbites.com/2010/02/hot-corn-dip.html

Creamy Pesto Alfredo.

For all of you with basil plants that grow much faster than you can eat, give this a try to use some of it up.

 Pesto Sauce

Roasted Tomatoes and Cipollini.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/09/roasted-tomatoes-and-cipollini/

Not New Zealand related…

So, right now you can buy Milano cookies in the dollar bins at Target!  Um, yes please!

the State Fair

Corn dog anyone?  Ryan and I made a quick stop by the State Fair Saturday night to take a little break from packing.  And to grab some snacks :)

Oh and why not have a huge statue of the American Gothic painting?

Froyo anyone?

So there is this new frozen yogurt place that just opened downtown and, lets just say, I’ve been a frequent customer.

(with graham cracker crumbs, heath bar, and mini M&Ms)

The place is called Yogulatte, and it’s located on Mass Ave.  You fill your own ice cream cup with the amount you want and add your own toppings!  Oh, and the ice cream is pretty much fat free!  Anyway, if you’re close, check it out :)

St Louie

To continue the summer tour a la Midwest, this weekend I was down in St Louis to visit a good friend from college, Ms. Katie Lindborg.  I hadn’t seen Katie in months and I owed her a visit! 

I arrived Saturday morning and we went to get some delicious crepes, which sadly I do not have a picture of.  But they were so good.  We spent the rest of the day seeing some of the sights, starting with the art museum, which is free.  And then headed to the zoo, which is also…free! 

While we were in the penguin exhibit, which has real snow, one of the birds jumped into the water and totally soaked me.  The punk.  It was funny, but I definitely smelled like fish the rest of the day.

Katie and Katie!

Later that night (after taking a nice nap) we got ready and headed to dinner at a rooftop restaurant.  It was delicious, and the perfect evening to be outside.  We were joined by some of Katie’s friends, and they were a blast.

After dinner we went to the Chocolate Bar.  Yes, a bar that revolves around chocolate and desserts!  What a fun weekend, thanks Katie!

Long summer weekend

Don’t you just love long weekends!  It was such a great weekend of spending time together and enjoying the summer.  The last few weeks have been very busy (with something I haven’t yet announced on this blog, and no, it’s not a baby.  it’s a huge change for us, and I’m not good at keeping secrets so I’m sure you’ll find out soon!) and it was good to relax and be together without having to run out the door every 5 minutes.  I’m so thankful I have a husband that values quality time together and having a healthy marriage :)

So, with that being said, he surprised me on Saturday and took me up to Chicago for a baseball game!  The Reds (yay!) were playing the Cubs (boo!) at Wrigley Field, and it was a beautiful afternoon.  I love baseball and had never been to Wrigley before, so it was a lot of fun, even though the Reds lost. 

(tourist Katie)

Afterwards we grabbed lunch at a restaurant in Wrigleyville and then headed out to do some shopping.  We walked and walked and walked through Wrigleyville, Lincoln Park, and Lakeview (people from Chicago are probably rolling their eyes at my lack of Chicago knowledge right now) until we found…Molly’s!

Oh my goodness, it was like cupcake heaven.  I read about Molly’s here, and talked Ryan into walking the several miles to get there :).  And luckily for me there was a Threadless store, American Apparel, and Urban Outfitters on the way as bait.

  

Needless to say, the cupcakes were delicious!  While walking back towards our car, we decided that while we were in the city we should probably stop by Michigan Ave and say hi to the Gap.  After walking along Michigan Ave and the Riverwalk back to our car once again, we decided to call it a day and head home.  One of my favorite days in Chicago yet!

As for the rest of the weekend…we had a great cookout with friends and went to see fireworks Sunday night.

 

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July and made some great memories!

Cupcakes

Saturday was my 25th birthday.  25.  That sounds old!  I know it’s really not, but I feel like 25 just jumped out and surprised me.  Since Ryan was down in Nashville already for the wedding, I headed to Cincinnati to celebrate a little in the morning. 

my crazy parents,

and sister.

We went to the BonBonerie, a cute little bakery in Hyde Park to pick up some sweets.

My dad, being a crab, with an appropriate cookie!

The perfect birthday cupcake

Thanks guys for a great birthday!

best morning at work, maybe ever

So this morning, in celebration of a new Trane (HVAC stuff) marketing campaign we are rolling out, the marketing department treated us to Starbucks drinks down in the kitchen.  Awesome!  Here’s my iced vanilla latte in our new mugs.

And then I had a caramel frappuccino :)