Birthday blog - 30th bday celebrations!

Good evening all. I hope August has been as good to you as it has to me. I have been so busy the past week and a half celebrating my birthday. I was lucky to have so many little events to look forward to. First was the lovely arrival of my sister Michelle to kick off the celebration. We met at LGA on Thursday night and were quickly transported to the farm by my trusty car service. We arrived and sat out back with Adam and had some wine and beers to kick off the weekend. At around 2:30am with decided to call it a night with some Advil chasers. Next day we were off to the city for breakfast with Nicole Feig and my standard tour of the city. We went (window) shopping on Madison, bought a few things at Saks, then drinks at the MoMA! At the MoMA we had a drink called the Devil in White! OMG! White Whiskey with a beautifully sweet Vermouth and some cherries. So amazing. (Waiting on pictures from Michelle)

Then we headed to none other than Gramercy Tavern for a late lunch and a bit of wine (Weingut Trapl St. Laurent 2007) it was fantastic. After lunch was a milkshake at the Stand. Michelle had been mentioning this place for months so we checked it out. It did not disappoint. We had the Toasted Marshmallow milkshake. After all this we felt a bit ill and needed to walk it off. So we walked to Soho for a bit more shopping and called it quits. On our way to the train we met with Danielle for a beer to send us on our way back to Pound Ridge. (Waiting on pictures from Michelle)

We went home and freshened up a bit to head to dinner with my cousin Anna (coming in from Jersey) and Vanessa (from FL). We headed to one of our local spots Moderne Barn for a grand dinner and then followed up on the porch again with Champagne and beer. (My stomach and liver were crying for help!) We had a great time, it was so fun to be able to share our home with family for the first time.

The next day I let Adam sleep in and the girls and I went on a tour of Bedford with the sole intention to stalk Martha Stewart. I drove the ladies by Martha's place and they were just as excited to see it as I was for the first time. It is unreal. She has everything so perfectly taken care of, I can only imagine the army it takes to keep her house up. (BTW, this is what we can see from the road.) After stalking 101 was over we headed to local spot # 2, Meetinghouse for brunch. After brunch Anna took off to home and we headed into Manhattan for dinner and drinks with friends.

Ladies in the garden


First stop was Jimmy's # 43 for a fabulous southern gritty dinner and beers then to Stanton Public for drinks. It was such a great time but so exhausting.

First picture of the night (Danielle and Vanessa)


With Michelle


Arriving at Jimmy's


Complete with an Owl cake (Surprise from Adam!!)


Fun with the Owl cake


Sexy gift from Caroline and Matt


A few more random pics of all the wonderful people that came out.

Wednesday night...in DC

So I have been super lazy about blogging. I have been working in DC and have not had any time to blog. I have been working long hours but looks like things will be getting better soon. I totally miss Adam while I am away! :-(

I am heading back to NY tomorrow which makes me really happy. Adam and I are going to relax at home this weekend. We discovered the Bedford Movie Theater a few weeks ago and I love it! I think there maybe a movie in our plans this weekend depending on the weather.

We had some visitors a few weeks back. The Feig's drove up on a Sunday to spend some time at the farm and to grab brunch. We had such a lovely time with them, it was so fun to see Emma play and enjoy the playground...discovering the area. I hope they come back again soon.

Adam and I discovered a new trail really close to our house. We did a 5 mile hike 2 weeks ago. It was really great, we went early in the morning to avoid the heat and the bugs. I plan on doing it again soon when it rains more to see some of the waterfalls that were dried out.

Last weekend we went to Long Beach to see Matt and Caroline. We had such a great time there also. It was so relaxing to go to the beach. It is a little odd going to a beach in NY for me being from FL but I think Long Beach is pretty nice and would totally return. It was a short drive for us to which makes it much more appealing.

The next few weeks will be busy, I have family coming up for my 30th birthday and will be celebrating with family and friends. I will document Michelle and Vanessa's visit! I am so excited.

Good night and talk soon!

xoxo!

I am attaching a few pictures but I will upload our nature walk pictures this weekend.

At the Bedford Fire Department - Emma was getting loads of attention.

Emma in the playground

Our neighbors house we just discovered. It is ridic! I am in love with it and the waterfall.


And just because this is an amazing pic of John Ham from Sunday's Mad Men!

Good morning! Happy Friday!

Hello everyone! It's been a long week for me. I hope everyone enjoyed our special guest blogger! I know Adam enjoying doing a post and I have heard from a few of you asking for regular updates from the Brit. (Thanks a lot!) It is funny getting his perspective on things and a bit of a sanity check for me.

I have been traveling a bit the past two weeks. I have been to DC twice using all sorts of transportation. Needless to say I have been on planes, trains, and autos a lot in the past 7 days. I am currently...you guessed it...on the train!

DC is a great town so I shouldn't complain. I could be in Oklahoma City or Indy or something. No offense to people that live in those cities. We are staying at the W which is right across from the White House. I forget how beautiful DC is and then I go for a business trip and I get excited to be there. A big difference with NY is that DC is quite sleepy at night. I go to dinner at 8:30 or 9 and places are empty. Again no complaints, nice to be able to sit without waiting an hour at a great restaurant. If anyone has any suggestions let me know.

Adam will be traveling next week to San Francisco, so it makes me feel a little better that he won't be home alone all week.

Adam and I plan on heading for a long hike this weekend at the Ward Pound Ridge. This will be our first adventure there. I also hope to clean the house a bit (boo!) and use the grill a bit this weekend. Eating out all week makes me want to cook! I will post some pictures from the Ward this this weekend or next week. I won't make any promises.

Have a great weekend!

XOXO

Who needs water anyway? Special Guest Blogger Adam Denny

First, maybe last (lets see what the boss says) of my blogs. Its been bouncing between 95f and 100f last few days, grass has gone from green to a sad yellow/orange, the hydrangea is dehydrating, even the squirrels have sunstroke. Luckily we had the Culligan chaps round to fit a flash new water system, luckily they spent 7 hours
installing it yesterday and luckily they managed to bollox it up. So no water! Apparently the nob-end plumber is coming round in 1 hour to fix it so a shower is in sight. Mari is talking at I type and reading this weeks Time Out 3D edition "Adam our house is kind of 3D" ..yes Mari it is.

As Mari mentioned we had a brilliant 11.5 days with my mum and dad visiting, most of the time was spend in the garden (although we did shop in Manhattan, wine taste in the North Fork of LI, watch footie in Greenwich and drive passed Stamford (through necessity, what a eye sore of a pit Stamford city centre is, 'oh yes, lets pop in quick mart deli for lunch', behave please).

So the photos below, most are in the garden. Please note the father and son effort at chopping down a dead tree using an axe (very much in the style of The Waltons). this quick job took over 4 hours over 2 days and only accomplished creating a area of extremely danger. The tree is now leaning only held by a neighboring tree. Once it eventually falls (hopefully missing the house, car and us) I'll send it over to dad as a kinda thank you gift ;P

Ok, still no nob-end plumber, time to use the car's window wiper spray as a make shift angle shower.



Laters

July.... that was fast!

Hello! I am back from a very long break. I hope our not too exciting adventures were not missed much. We have been very busy all summer with travels and visitors but it looks like things should be quiet for a few weeks (I am sure this will change). It has also been so hot the past few days that my internet at home has not been working. It was 104 in Pound Ridge yesterday which is CRAZY! I have never been this hot.

We had Gill and Colin (Adam's parents) stay with us for about 2 weeks, they went back to the UK yesterday and will be missed. I can't believe they handled the weather so well with the lack of proper AC in our house. It was fantastic having them over, we all had a great time and got so much done around the farm. In the past 2 weeks we (Adam and Colin) have been able to remove a lot of useless trees and bushes from our property as well as planting lovely new flowers and vegetables. The garden looks so much better now we just need to maintain it. I will post pictures tomorrow and I believe Adam will be writing a ("Special Edition" lol!) post too.

Gill and Colin also bought us a lovely grill (picture coming tomorrow) that we used a ton while they were here. It is much better cooking outdoors when it is this hot. It is a Weber Genesis and it is amazing. It is so easy to cook when you have a great grill. I wish I would have known this earlier in life.

I am almost at Grand Central but I will let Adam blog about the Denny visit. All I can say is that the Gill and Colin know more of our neighbors than we do and they are famous at the Northstar too!

Things I have recently discovered

So I don't have a lot to say about the house at this time. We are just saving money to begin fixing her up. I had the Culligan man at our house last night giving me the lowdown on installing a neutralizer, softener and filter (all needed). Needless to say the house needs a ton of work.

Since I don't have a lot to discuss I figured I would right about general stuff I discover recently (disclaimer: This is new to me but may be old for you) that I really love. I might throw in a few good recipes that I have been experimenting with, etc. This is my ode to Martha's "Good Things" we can all it "Mari's New to me Things".

1) Greek Yogurt (must be Fage)
I know everyone has been eating this forever but I finally tried it and I am kicking myself. I don't understand how something fat free can be creamy. The texture if great and you can add preserves, honey, sugar... I have been using it instead of mayo in egg salad and I am sure it would be great with chicken too. It can be used on anything, I am in love.

2) Tuna packed in olive oil (go for line caught)
I always hated canned tuna. It's because I was eating the stuff packed in water that taste like cat food. This is a huge difference. I love it with pasta and pesto or by itself.

3) Shellac nail product
Nail color that last for 14 days. It works like magic and I am very happy to not have to worry about my manicures. This stuff is not harmful to nails like gels are. Check the link and find a salon that carries it.

4) Papaya
So yummy and good for you.

5) Freshly made Papaya and Coconut juice (thank you Barcelona)
Not sure how this was made but I am going to be experimenting and will provide a recipe, it is a life changing juice.

6) Sea salt and olive oil over chocolate ice cream

7) FIOS on demand exercise (on demand anything really)

8) Captain Lawrence Beer
Seriously awesome craft beer made in Westchester. They only sell by keg and to restaurants (website lists where to find). Try the smoked porter. I will be getting a keg for my birthday.

9) YSL Mascara bye bye Dior Show
No smudges and last all day.

Back to blogging

Hello! After my long break I am back. My hand has improved a lot but typing is still a challenge.
We had a wonderful honeymoon, it is surreal to be back after 15 days away. We have been home a week and I am finally caught up on bills and laundry. Here are a few pictures from our trip.







I will post more as I edit them and put them in order.

The trip was fabulous we started in Santorini which is one of the most magical and amazing places I have been too. It is like Venice in it's unique beauty. Every morning I would wake up and think it was a dream. Here is the morning view.



After Santorini we headed to Spain for the Fiesta de Amor! Spain was very warm and beautiful, it is always great visiting a place where you can speak the language. The wedding was perfectly planned, with a great wine tasting to kick off the weekend and a trip to the Alhambra. After the wedding we spent Memorial day poolside at Cazulas and headed to Barcelona with the newly weds and Brian and Tara. That is when the fiesta de food began. I love Barcelona and I hope one day I can spend more time there. I think it's one of the best cities in the world. We took a day trip to Sant Pol de Mar to visit Carme Ruscadella a 3 Michelin star restaurant. It was an experience of a lifetime. The amazing architecture, markets and food rounded out the trip. I will post more on that and pictures soon.

Well that's all for now, I will update again this weekend.

xoxo!

Off to Greece

I still can't type but we are off today! I hope I can type when I return. Ciao

Garden pictures

A few pics from the weekend since I can't type...

Injured Arm pic

Injured

I am injured and I cannot type. I have sprained or strained my left wrist and only have one functioning hand. I hope to be better midweek. I never knew how much you need both hands. The emergency room doctor is confident I will be better tomorrow but I am feeling pretty down and upset. I pray I am better before Thursday when we go to Greece. Talk soon, I hope on better terms. :-(

Quick update

So I have been told that my blog has been missed... thanks Karolina. I will be back tomorrow with a full post and some new pics. I was away at a funeral so I have not been able to post. Tonight I have dinner in the city with Danielle and Brian visiting from California so I am most excited. I hope I am not hung over tomorrow! :-)

xoxo,
Mari

TGIF!

Hi there!

I have been really quiet all week. I have nothing interesting to report. It has been a slow week at work and home. Adam and I are just trying to get a bunch of things done before we leave on May 20th. Sorry to be so boring. Here are a few pictures from the weekend highlighting how green our yard is. In the picture with the house you can see the hot tub, I will get one this weekend without it to show the difference. Last night when we got home the yard was glowing with the sunset. Amazing!







Have an amazing weekend, I will trying to post something interesting with the house. I hope to soon have an update on the septic situation so that should fun! :-)

Lazy Sunday!

So I am trying to survive my allergy attack today. I am not feeling so great but the beautiful weather is helping. I have been locked inside all morning but I am going to venture out in a bit. This morning has been productive, the horrible eye sore of a hot tub has been removed. I am very grateful that Adam brokered a deal to remove that horrible thing. It took 3 hours this morning to remove.

Here is a picture of some of the equipment that was needed to remove the hot tub.


Next we move on to the barn. Here are some before and after pictures of the inside the barn now that we have finished painting.

Before:

After:

Before we moved in:

After:


Here is a picture of our lovely weekend guest Patricia, I was showing her the guest house!


We had a great time with Patricia. She and I went around Bedford to some of the small shops in Scotts Corner and Bedford Green, we then headed to Cross Creek to check out some antique shops (Yellow Monkey Antiques). We also just lounged around the farm, got some sun and relaxed. Later in the evening we went to the Cafe of Love in Mount Kisco for dinner. The restaurant was fantastic even with it's cheesy name. The service and food were served with a lot of passion maybe that's where the love comes from. I hope she enjoyed our little home and town. :-)

Well that's all for the weekend. I hope my allergies get better and the week goes by quickly since I am cleansing!

Hump Day

Hello there. So once again I have failed on my promise of new pictures. They will be posted some time this week. The past few days have been cold and raining so we have been hoping that the plants stay alive in "Pepper's Garden". What is up with this weather?!!? By the way, our home is name "Pickle Farm", not sure if I shared that before. If you should send us any mail please include Pickle Farm in the name. ;-)

Last night when we got home Adam spent an hour or so cleaning the barn. It is finally looking better with the floors cleaned and the paint job finished (If you ever need a great, affordable painter in the Westchester area, let me know). I basically sat on the sofa eating pasta, ice cream and watching "Mad Med" while Adam was cleaning. I love that show, other than the lack of civil rights and respect of women it was such an amazing time to live through. I really think I would have fit in nicely, I am always a fan of day drinking to get through the day at work. Anyway, I felt like a princess last night while Adam cleaned! Many thanks to Adam for making our home look more respectable.

I am staying in the city tonight while Adam is away again on business. This doesn't usually happen so often. Patricia is my gracious host tonight. I believe Patricia is coming for a visit this weekend, so I hope to repay the hospitality. I hope she is ready to pull some weeds (just kidding). I am hoping we can enjoy the warm weather, do some antique window shopping and have some time outdoors.

I will be back at Pickle Farm on Friday so pictures will be posted then or on Sunday.

Wet and cold

That is how I am feeling today. It has been damp since Sunday morning and it doesn't seem to change until Wednesday.

Adam and I had a great weekend. After I got over my super hang over on Friday the weekend started great. I went out to dinner with Nicole and Emma. We had so much fun! Emma is such a little lady it is unbelievable. She is so smart and cute! She is quite a flirt too, all of the bus boys loved her. I was amazed how well she communicated with Nicole and me. Nicole and I also caught up. It was so great to spend time with her. She looks amazing! Gives me hope and inspiration to be a hot mom! Anyway our dinner at Rouge Tomate was really wonderful. Nicole had the halibut and I had the trout dish. Emma had a little bit of everything. :-) After dinner I got on the train to meet Adam while he had a bite to eat. We caught up on his trip and set the plan for the weekend.

Saturday morning I went for my first run around the hood. It was more like a power walk with a bit of running. It is really hilly in our area so my body needs to adjust. My shins are really feeling the elevation this morning. Later we went to Home Depot to buy some gardening supplies and a few plants. It was a wild experience that in all my years of Home Depot outings nothing can top this. It was the biggest cluster 'F' in the world. The traffic in the parking lot was not moving, horns were honking, I was feeling claustrophobic and sick. Honestly it was a nightmare and we must remember to never return there at 11 am on a Saturday.

Moving on... Adam has been coordinating the sale or removal of the 1990's hot tub that was once home to many groovy parties at our home. There are many 1990's relics in our home, which if working will soon be on Ebay. You will be able to bid on a smoke machine and a disco-lighting machine that are currently in the barn. I am thinking they had some pretty trippy parties! An interested person came over to take a look at the hot tub and we are hoping he will be taking it in the near future. It is a total eye sore and home to many a wildlife I fear.

After the hot tub guy left Adam and I started pulling weeds and clearing off some land for my herb garden. I have never seen so many weeds in my life, it was shocking. We cleared a patch that 5 ft by 3 ft and it took ages. There were tons of little worms and critters in the soil, not sure if that is a good or bad thing. Please comment if you know. We planted chives, basil, oregano, jalapenos, red peppers, and rocket. I am really excited for the peppers! I think we should name the herb garden, please leave suggestions in comments!

Attached are the pictures of our efforts. They usually upload our of order but I think you can figure it out. Yes I am drinking a beer in on of the pictures, it was well deserved at the point. Enjoy! Tomorrow I will discuss Sunday and post pictures of the barn before and after paint job!

Thursday fun day

This week has gone by so quickly. We went to the Northstar last night for a drink and quick bite. I have been busy wrapping up small details for our honeymoon, we are so excited. We rented a car for a drive from Madrid to Toledo and then to Almunecar for Karolina and Lech's wedding. It is going to be such a blast. I will do a honeymoon post soon to let you know our plans. Needless to say we are happy that air travel in Europe is returning to normal.

Adam left this morning for a quick trip to San Francisco. Since he will be gone over night I am staying in the city. I am too scared to stay home alone at this point. I think I would be okay staying there alone in a few months but not yet. (I know I sound lame). I am taking the opportunity to meet up with friends for drinks and dinner so I have a really full couple of days ahead! Tonight I am going to a Gruner Veltliner wine tasting. Gruner is an Austria wine I have been drinking since 2004. I discovered it while I was living/staying in San Francisco, I feel like it was quite affordable back then but prices increased with its temporary trendiness in 2007. Anyway, you can still purchase at a decent price. The wine is generally green and peppery with nice minerality and perfect for spring. Tomorrow dinner with Nicole and Emma! :-) Should be fun.

Jaime is finishing up painting this weekend and Adam and I are gardening and having the hot tub removed. I will be taking lots of pictures and uploading them since I have been so boring this week. I can't wait to show off the finished barn and living room. I think it will be great when we pull the carpet off but that is a job that will have to wait.

Have a happy Thursday!

Monday...again

This weekend went by too quickly. I usually say that every Monday but this weekend was really short. I think the fact that I spent 5 hours at the hair salon on Saturday didn't help. It was also cold this weekend so I didn't spend much time outside. :-(

We finally picked up our mail! We had a ton of it. Some good, but mostly bills and annoying things we didn't want to deal with. I got a new yoga DVD which was great, I did it yesterday and I am feeling the pain today. I will be using it a lot to get in shape for our honeymoon in 4 weeks! I am so excited. We are leaving on May 20th for Greece! (More on this later)

We had Jaime the painter come over yesterday. The man is amazing. If you need a painter in Westchester he is the man. He applied primer to the barn and finished the rest of the room Adam and I started. He is so quick and clean. There were no drips or anything. He is also very polite and quiet. I hope we can use him for other things around the house. He will finish the barn this weekend so I will post before and after pictures. I have to say even primer is an improvement for the green the previous owner had on the walls.

Adam played soccer yesterday with some new friends (acquaintance) at Bedford town park. He had a good time but I think he was the youngest player. I think he plans on making it a weekly or at least bi-monthly activity. I am glad he is working out and making friends, now it's my turn. I feel a bit antisocial at the moment but it is still chilly outside and I have not met anyone yet. We do have a few friends at the Northstar our new local. They make a mean martini, Adam and I have been popping in for a drink once or twice a week.

I have been cooking a lot lately, thanks for the great markets around us. I went to the Scotts Corner Market yesterday. They get fresh seafood in daily from Fulton Fish Market in NYC. I bought some shrimp and made us pesto pasta with shrimp and broccoli. I am not sure I will go there for all of our shopping but definitely for our seafood. I also stopped by the town farmers market (which is not really a farmers market) and bought some crunchy chocolate chip cookies from Mrs Larkins. They were delish, Adam and I finished the bag while watching Up.

Well that's it for now. Sorry this is so boring and no pictures.

xoxo,
Mari

A few additional pictures!

On the train home in the bar car (or is it cart). It is really odd. There are booths to sit and relax in and lots of banker chatter. There is a strange mural on the wall with an old looking stagecoach. I guess to remind us of the humble beginnings of metro north and Westchester county. ;-)

Lots of men wearing their Fest in this 60 degree weather (Fest - (n) a mix between a fleece and a vest, sleeveless. Usually has a zipper and is worn only by men. These men live in Connecticut not NY and usually drive an old model Range Rover. They have names like Topper, Spencer, Chapin or Nathaniel.) I can keep describing but I don't want to be rude.

On to the picture show! First are of us in the backyard, the wilderness walk and the front of the old house.