Roseland Polo

The Significant Others Support group for med students went to the Roseland Polo match yesterday. Roseland Polo is part of King Family Vineyards. Their tasting room is conveniently open on Sundays, so Michael and I arrived early to check out their wines. The service was wonderful and the wine was delicious. It was a much more positive experience than the tastings we did on our honeymoon.

The vineyard is in Crozet which is west of Charlottesville so it's much closer to the mountains. It's beautiful, and if you come visit me and you like wine and have 5 dollars I'm totally up for going back.

I cancelled and then uncancelled the SOS group event because of the weather. We drove through some rain but the weather ended up being perfect. Cool and overcast. My friend Jessica and her family came out to the match. I forgot to google polo and I didn't have much of a clue about the rules and how the games works. I did get the general idea and it's a pretty impressive sport.

I was definitely looking forward to the divot stomping after hearing about my sister's exciting polo divot stomping adventures. I thought they were going to be larger and that it would require some serious stomping. It was fun nonetheless.

Take Me out to the Ball Game... and the Natural History Museum

Yesterday we went to D.C. to attend the Nationals vs. Braves game. We drove to the metro station and took it to the Mall where we picnic'd.

Here, Michael enjoys snacking on a Perry the Platypus fruit snack. The kids in the elementary schools seem to think he is my namesake.

We went into the Natural History museum to use the restroom and I realized how awesome it was and that I'd never been in it. I had to take a look around before we left the city, but we needed to get to the game. The highlights of the game were the president's race, where Thomas Jefferson smoked those other guys, and the hot dog we ate from the Ben's Chili Bowl stand.

The game was kind of slow. I don't blame them. It was so hot. I was happy to hear that the crew that rode with me wanted to leave before the end of the game and that they were down with going back to the museum!

T-rex skull

This picture kind of cracks me up.

The not so woolly mammoth

I'll be adding the following to my wish list:

These were gifts from Napoleon I to his second wife Empress Marie Louise. I'm thinking I have plenty outfits to go with these already!

These were worn by Marie Antoinette! There is about a 6 carat difference between them.

The Hope Diamond is out of its setting because it will receive a new temporary setting. Apparently the museum held a contest where you could vote online from 3 new settings. In the display case the diamond moves to face each direction. Right before it turns there is a bright light shone on it. It is so very nice and sparkley. Here's a link that will tell you about its mysterious red glow.

What a long but super fun day in the nation's capitol! I'm so glad we got to make another day trip there.

Inner Tube Water Polo

Inner tube water polo is back! We have so many things to look forward to in the fall. Michael's team has played all four years. It's pretty funny to watch the players but it can also be intense. I want them to go all the way this year. Last year they had to forfeit because of stupid med school rotations getting in the way. Psshh.

They crushed the first two teams they've played. That poor first team of freshmen. They didn't know what hit them. They literally didn't even know the rules. So at half time during the second game the ref told Michael's team that they needed to back off of defense because the team they slaughtered the week before COMPLAINED. THERE IS NO CRYING IN INNER TUBE WATER POLO! I wanted to bribe her with one of the cupcakes I made and brought for the team.

Books that will make your other books jealous

Let's talk books. Specifically these clothbound Penguin classics designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith. I need them. The link takes you to the first series but be sure to check out the second series (on the left). NEED. I've seen them at Anthropologie and O'Suzannah (and Amazon.com). Madame Bovary wasn't reprinted. This makes me sad and it also makes me remember that I wanted to add it to my Goodreads.com "to read" bookshelf. Annnnd done.

**In unrelated news, check out the tea towels on her site.

How fancy would you feel reading one of these books? Super fancy. How green with envy would your other books be? Using the shades on this blog for reference I'd say somewhere between British Racing green and Myrtle.

I saw these leather bound classics at Barnes and Noble. I really love the Grimm's Fairy Tales book. I don't know that I would enjoy reading Jane Austen novels out of one giant book. Plus those clothbound books...

Becky Homecky

With the first tiny hint of fall weather my crafting drive kicks into full gear. I'm really not sure if the two are correlated, but let's just go with it. I'm working on a scarf for my uncle using yarn that my aunt sent me a year ago. It's going pretty quick since I'm working on it during our James Bond movie marathon. I'm wondering which will be done first- the scarf or the movies. Time will tell.

This is the first time I have more than one project on needles. I started Theo's sweater last December and thinking I made a mistake I put it aside to work on this year. When I picked it up I discovered that I had only missed the directions for the previous row of knitting and it would be easily remedied. I have been working on this project during knit nights, of which I attend three. Some knitters from the Thursday knit night at The Needle Lady (which is every week now) have started a knit night on the fourth Tuesday and the Significant Others Support Group is now crafting on the second Wednesday. Needless to say Theo is thrilled. Actually he is really good about trying it on, but then he wants to attack the ball of yarn and run away.

Two friends asked me to make plush animals for their baby mobiles. Taking on these projects and the amount that I've been subbing already makes me think I won't have time to sell ornaments on Etsy this year. I've started the prototype for the scottie dogs which will have to be machine sewn. I'll show you pics of the finished project. My friend sent me some super cute fabric to use!

The mobile animals were on hold for a bit when I got the idea to make these towels for my bestie Leah's birthday. I got the "vintage" towels from Jo Ann. I sewed rick rack along the bottoms. I love rick rack. Also, who knew satin stitch (the stitching on the R) was so easy? I love it and it's so pretty. I feel like my kitchen towels need some jazzing up now.

I told myself I wasn't knitting Christmas presents this year, but I found so many projects that are perfect for so many people! Is it already past the middle of September?!

It's The Sauces

Famous words from my mother while dining at Mr. B's in the French Quarter. You can't eat at Mr. B's and be unhappy. The service alone will make you feel special. You look at the menu, getting excited about the possibilities. You wait for your appetizer and break off a piece of that warm crusty bread. You can't imagine how it could get better than that bread. But it does. And you talk about it throughout the meal until you finish your Mr. B's coffee an hour and a half after you sat down and can't move anymore because you're a little tipsy from the Tito's gimlet and that glass of wine.

This is why we love to try the recipes. It's more than food. It's an experience. And making these recipes together is as good as it gets when you're 1000 miles away from the real thing.

Mr. B's Royal Street Salad

Paneed Chicken and Alfredo

Emeril's Delmonico White Chocolate Creme Brulee

Recent Craft Projects

I just realized that I don't share much of my crafty projects here on the blog. I have a couple knitting projects on needles (a scarf and a sweater for Theo) and several in line for Christmas. The air is cooling off and I am thrilled for knitting weather!

Here is my sister's wedding shower present that I recently finished (the shower was last December). I drew the letters and used iron on adhesive backing then sewed them by hand. I tried to use my sewing machine but I can't do curves. Hopefully they stay together. I think they turned out cute. Of course the cupcake one is my favorite.

And here are a pug and a horse for our niece Frances and our nephew Andrew, respectively. Barbara Prime is the designer for these two patterns. All of her patterns are so precious. I really want to knit all of them. Especially the hippo and the alpaca! These were super fun to knit and I see many knit stuffed animals in my future.

Charlottesville Derby Dames

Michael was thrilled that I wanted to go to the roller derby bout last Saturday. It was only interfering with LSU's first game of the season. No biggie.

I, on the other hand, was really excited to check it out. We missed the last one that I knew about and this one was closer since it was only about 35 minutes away. The bout started off kind of slow but once the skaters got warmed up and I finally figured out how the game is played it was really fun. I hope they have a better beer selection next time.

From the Kitchen

Last week was an adventurous cooking week. I tried something new every day thanks to Martha Stewart.com. I stumbled upon fast and easy chicken recipes. Here are the ones I tried (please excuse the terrible photos):

Spinach and Brie Chicken with Tomato Orzo. It was yummy except I think I don't like frozen spinach.

Lighter Sesame Chicken. I think next time I will add some sriracha hot sauce and more sesame seeds.

Chicken with Artichokes and Angel Hair. I added mushrooms and used whole wheat pasta.

Greek Chicken Cutlets. Cooked these on the George Foreman. The green is mint. So... they were interesting. I mean they were good but I didn't realize that Michael doesn't like raw tomatoes (neither do I hahaha...), olives, or mint. Soooo... this won't be cooked again. The great thing about this recipe was the leftover mint. I couldn't let it go to waste so I found a mojito recipe. I love mojitos and this recipe was perfect. I thought it would be more difficult but it's not. I muddled the lime, mint, and sugar together in my glass then I added the rum then the club soda and kind of mixed it and then added ice. Using my martini shaker just made it all messy and the sugar stuck to the inside of the shaker. I like to suck up sugar granules and pieces of mint through my straw.

Bow tie Lasagna. Or as I like to think of it- fancy shmancy hamburger helper. This one is from a few weeks ago. It's from Tasty Kitchen which I think is a project of Pioneer Woman. Anyway it was quick and a nice change from spaghetti.

Sweet, Sticky, and Spicy Chicken with Sesame Green Beans (from Real Simple.com). Yum yum yum! As I put the two tablespoons sriracha hot sauce into the sauce mixture I thought hmmm maybe this is a bit much. The flavor was great but it was HOT. Needless to say Michael loved it. I always make sure he isn't putting in too much spice when he cooks. We'll definitely make this again but I'll be cutting down the hot sauce.

Mmmmm. Michael's family's carrot stew. So so good. No link for a recipe here. I think we're gonna look into getting a crock pot because we are seriously craving his aunt's drip beef.

We had some cooler weather and I broke down and made chicken tortilla soup last night. Michael will eat soup at any point in the year. I want soup weather! I know I'll be taking this back come January.