september in new york.

Remember in March when I announced with much aplomb that Andy and I would be taking a belated anniversary trip?  Well, in true Abramson fashion, we've cancelled the trip.  I'm somewhere between heartbroken and okay with it.

Truth of the matter is that we're really not in a situation right now where we can just run off for a week and pay for an entire week of hotels and lobsters (no matter how "cheap" they are).  Plus, I've heard that Maine is pretty cold in September, which makes me feel really good about my decision because who wants to eat a lobster roll by the ocean and have to wear layers?  No thank you!

Speaking of layers, we're still going to New York with my in-laws, as planned.  And that means one thing -- New York in the fall!  Well, early September/technically still summer but fall schmall!  It's been exceptionally breezy and fall like this past week in Chicago (summer schmummer?) and I've been online window shopping for new clothes for my favorite season like mad.

New York Times t-shirt, Dolce Vita Booties, J Brand Jeans, Foley + Corinna Purse

Thinking I all of the above for our trip to New York, don't you?

noms.

A few weeks ago I posted that Andy and I were test driving a CSA to do our part locally and be more conscious about what we're putting into our bodies.  I have to admit, it has been incredibly fun so far!  

We got quite the haul from our first box which consisted of four pounds of ground beef, one pound of ground pork, two t-bones, two pork chops, eight bratwurst, two pieces of chicken breast, an entire chicken, and one dozen eggs.  Sorry if the picture of meal freaks anyone out, but for me personally (which is what this blog is all about anyway), it's important to me to share this -- we're being good people here!  

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We've also been going to the farmers market every Saturday morning to stock up on our produce for the week.  Above we have the makings for gazpacho as well as some squash and fancy pants mushrooms.  Question: Does anyone else hate gazpacho?  Andy loves it and loves making it but there is something about the cold chunks I just cannot get past!

We've always been big planners when it comes to meals, but having $100+ of frozen meat in our freezer has made us become even more stringent about keeping to our plan. This weekend we used our CSA chicken breast and eggplants from my father-in-laws garden to make the most delicious eggplant parmesan stack.  You're looking at a layer of breaded eggplant, a slice of mozzarella, a slice of tomato, a slice of prosciutto, a piece of chicken, topped off with another slice of mozzarella (duh) -- that's seven layers of heaven.



* Bonus points if you can spot Sprocket's photo bomb.

book challenge update (part ii).

Welp, I don't have much to report.  Since my last update I've only successfully completed ONE book.  Oy!  As previously predicted, I quit reading Empire Falls after many weeks and very few pages.  No offense Mr. Pulitzer, but it just didn't do it for me!

What did do it for me though was Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple.  I tend to like to describe things with a single word or phrase, and if I had to do that with book number eight I would say that Where'd You Go, Bernadette was a real gem of a read.  In other words, I loved it.

This review by Janet Maslin of The New York Times sums it up perfectly: "Comedy heaven.... This divinely funny, many-faceted novel...leaves convention behind. Instead, it plays to Ms. Semple's strengths as someone who can practice ventriloquism in many voices, skip over the mundane and utterly refute the notion that mixed-media fiction is bloggy, slack or lazy.... The tightly constructed Where'd You Go, Bernadette is written in many formats-e-mails, letters, F.B.I. documents, correspondence with a psychiatrist and even an emergency-room bill for a run-in between Bernadette and Audrey. Yet these pieces are strung together so wittily that Ms. Semple's storytelling is always front and center, in sharp focus. You could stop and pay attention to how apt each new format is, how rarely she repeats herself and how imaginatively she unveils every bit of information. But you would have to stop laughing first."

So, eight books down, FIVE to go.  Think I can do it?  I sure hope I can.  Next up is The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, which I started way back when Andy and I started dating and I visited Chicago for the first time.  Now that I actually know the layout of the city beyond Mohawk Street, I'm ready to devour this fan (and critic) favorite.  Right along side the bestseller I'll also be reading Waiting to Be Heard, the Amanda Knox memoir -- it's for book club but I'm confident enough to say that I'm not so secretly excited to read it.  And then after that one, I'm planning on picking up Divergent, which is said to be the new Hunger Games (need I say more?).

I've been loving this "challenge" so far and can't wait to successfully complete it -- fingers crossed!