Feast of the Seven Fishes

Pin It now! For Christmas Eve this year, Michael cooked us a feast, literally.  As an Italian tradition, Christmas Eve is all about fish and seafood and a lot of families make a big feast of fish stew, baccala, stuffed clams, etc.  Michael made EVERYTHING (and I made the salad - yeah, I helped!).

Appetizers

Bacon-wrapped scallops

Mini crab cakes

Steamer Clams

Lobster and Fish Cakes

Shrimp Cocktail

Soup & Salad

Fish Stew

Mixed Green Salad with Apples and Candied Walnuts

Main Course

Crab Stuffed Halibut

Lobster Ravioli with Lobster Wine Sauce

There were only six of us and there were certainly more than seven fishes, but we ate everything (even though the meal lasted over five hours) and were beyond full.  We ended the night with a mouth-watering raspberry and chocolate mousse cake from Martha's Country Bakery.  I liked how Christmas was quieter this year with less traveling.  It gave us more time to drink, talk, eat, and be merry. 

Our Weekends....Lately

Pin It now! Driving under gorgeous skies to NJ to celebrate Pete's 40th birthday. His sister added a few signs on his lawn to make sure everyone knew it was his birthday.

The dumpling eating contest was in our hood this year.  The men's winner ate 74 and the women's 46.  Gross!

Bellydancing with neighbors.  Neighbors opening a new Italian cafe with coffee and delicious pastries.  It was a soft opening this weekend and the official opening day is coming really soon.

Spending a beautiful afternoon brunching and shopping with my sister.

Our Weekends....Lately

Pin It now! Driving under gorgeous skies to NJ to celebrate Pete's 40th birthday. His sister added a few signs on his lawn to make sure everyone knew it was his birthday.

The dumpling eating contest was in our hood this year.  The men's winner ate 74 and the women's 46.  Gross!

Bellydancing with neighbors.  Neighbors opening a new Italian cafe with coffee and delicious pastries.  It was a soft opening this weekend and the official opening day is coming really soon.

Spending a beautiful afternoon brunching and shopping with my sister.

Staten Island Block Party

Pin It now! A couple of weeks ago, we headed out to Staten Island to my sister-in-law's house for a block party.  I'm not sure how it's taken me 7 years to finally go to one.  Let me tell you, it was fun!  There was an inflatable water slide set up right in front of her house.  It was gigantic and unfortunately only for the kids.  The night became even more fun when one of M's cousins "forced" us to do lemon drops.  After that, it was hula hoop contests, DJ'ed music, silly string mayhem, and good old family time.  There was also a lady walking up and down the street with a cart full of silly string, poppers, light swords, whistles - you name it, she had it...at 3x the price.  The kids kept buying and running back to their parents (or grandpa) for more money.  Smart lady...

My Famous Brother

Pin It now! My brother's company made Crain's Fast 50 list and you can spy a second of him at minute 2:14.  It's pretty cool...here are others that made the rest of the list.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Lately

Pin It now! Sorry everyone, I was gone for the last few weeks (if you didn't already notice!).  I was overwhelmed and unmotivated, a terrible combination for someone who blogs.  I kept reading through other blogs that are over the top fabulous and I wanted to be just as creative, but everything I put together seemed blah and forced.  I felt like I lacked direction, so I stopped writing (to spare you too!).  I'm back, I think...Let's just get back to what I know and like to do and not care how pretty it's all supposed to be because at the end, what you love is what is best.

So what's been happening lately... Kentucky Derby at Maison Premiere, our ridiculously relaxing vaca in the Dominican Republic, BBQs, wonderfully hot days for the Memorial Day weekend, the best fried chicken dinner at Brooklyn Star, Madison Square Eats, having my semi-homeless sister as a house guest for a couple of weeks, finally putting up the perfect Etsy Brooklyn prints in the entryway, two weddings in Long Island, Cafeteria with Alysse, Turkish with the NJ girls, less buying and more spring cleaning, and saying good-bye to the house we grew up in.

Chinese New Year

Pin It now! Chinese New Year...twice at a neighbor's apartment, once at ours (where I made everything except the Peking Duck), and lastly at my cousin's (new and gigantic) house in NJ.  We better have a lot of good luck this year.

And I can't stop watching this New Year Shuffle that Lorraine sent me.  I already jump up out of my seat whenever I hear this song and having it used for a dragon dance makes it that much better.

The Dice Game

Pin It now! Last week, while we were at my cousin's house celebrating Chinese New Year, my cousin busted out the dice game.  Every year he takes out the game, makes sure he's the dealer and steals plays with all of the kid's red envelope money.  It always starts with quarters and then progresses to dollar bills.  You would think that statistically (I'm just guessing, I have to no idea about statistics) the house loses, but it's never the case.  I know I shouldn't condone gambling, but for such a simple game, it's hours of fun.

Cacao Bar and Tea Salon at MarieBelle

Pin It now! My Mom, sister and I met up today for lunch, shopping and hot cocoa.  I had to go into work earlier in the day and had an early appointment, but it's great to be out and about shopping in the city on a weekday.  I love to be able to spend time just with the girls and I'm always reminded how lucky I am to have a sister.  I know I've said it tons of times, but even though she's much younger than me, she always tells it how it is and is the ultimate reality check.
Our shopping adventure today...We started out in Chinatown, did a little jewelry shopping for Christmas, headed north to Soho, and then ended our shopping with a delicious pitshop at MarieBelle's Cacao Bar and Tea Salon.  They don't have your normal Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate.  Their drinks are pure melted chocolate, and it was wonderful!

Happy Mother's Day

Pin It now! happy mother's day mom! you are the mother that i hope to strive to be one day. you're strong and confident. you're the rock that everyone leans on. you're always the person i call when i need someone to talk to. i love that.

to my mom and all the moms out there, i hope you know that you are loved and appreciated. xoxo

{{brunch at bread tribeca with the roth and tai families}}

The Importance of Family

Pin It now! michael's uncle stevie passed away on tuesday. he was sick for awhile, but it's still such a hard loss. we had seen him on thanksgiving at cousin michele's house and i'm so glad we spent that time with him before he passed. i wish i knew him better, but hearing all the stories from his family has given me greater insight of how loving and loved he was. you could see what an great guy uncle stevie was by the way his grandchildren expressed their emotions for him. i would have expected michael's cousins (uncle stevie's daughters) to be hysterical, but it their young children that cried their hearts out. it also touched my heart when his 5 year old granddaughter alexa pulled me over during the wake and started reading me letters she wrote and how much she missed him.

although we hang out with some cousins from his dad's side, there are relatives on that side of the family that for whatever reason we don't see. i met two aunts and a bunch of cousins for the first time and realized that there were so many people who fell out of michael's life after his dad passed away years ago. it always takes a funeral or some tragedy to bring people back together, but whatever the reason, these past two days showed us that family is one of the most important things. even if it's just sitting around the dinner table remembering all the stories we had together, spending time with family is something we should all find time for.

we'll all miss you uncle stevie...