Looking Back on Our Cabo Vacation.

Hello! We had a wonderful vacation, but it feels good to be back here (finally!). I shared a few photos on Instagram while we were there, but I didn't look at everything all together until this past weekend.

Here's a peek at my Top Ten (warning - lots of sunshine, beautiful food, ocean views and selfies 😊).

Hands down the best photo of the two of us, taken at the beginning of a sunset sailing cruise on Monday evening. This is at Land's End - the Pacific Ocean is on the other side of that rock behind us.

The best sunrise (with my favorite morning beverage - the cappuccino was perfect), Tuesday morning. 

My favorite evening spot. This bar looks out over the pools and the ocean and at night, they light the fires. The evenings there are around 60 degrees ... the fire felt good!

You can't swim in the ocean, so we spent our days at the pool. Just beyond the pool you can see the tops of the umbrellas on the beach and the ocean. Pretty much my favorite day spot!

I also read a lot ... and finally got to Louise Penny's latest - LOVED!

Here's the view from my balcony pilates studio. Coming back to my living room has been tough!

The sunset on our cruise was amazing.

We chose the resort (Le Blanc Spa) because the food was supposed to outstanding. It was. Every meal was beautifully presented and it all tasted delicious. Coming up with favorites was hard!

Prettiest dessert. A deconstructed Crème Brûlée, from the French restaurant.

Best new thing I tried. An egg white omelet filled with vegetables and goat cheese.

Best take on a favorite snack. Chips and guacamole.

Best take on a favorite cocktail. The Negroni XXI at the Fire Bar, made with hibiscus infused vermouth and pineapple infused Campari.

Coming back to salads and lean protein and "plain old wine" hasn't been easy!

We both took a lot of video, too - here are my favorite 48 seconds.

Sigh ... and now it's Monday (but at least it's not snowing!) ...

I'm looking forward to catching up with all of you over the next few days.  Here's to a great week!

Throwback Thursday | Thirty-four Years.

On Sunday, Marc and I celebrated our 34th anniversary and he shared a few two-of-us throwback photos on Instagram. A few were actually new to me and I asked him to send them to me. 

from the cover of our wedding album

engagement photo - fall, 1983 

November 19, 1983 

2001

at Katie's wedding - a favorite!

this summer - and technically three of us :-)

So this will be our 35th Thanksgiving together as a married couple. We spent our first Thanksgiving in Cancun (honeymoon) and I don't remember much about Thanksgiving dinner that year except that it was a hotel buffet. The next year, though, we were in Illinois, visiting my parents.

previously shared in this post - more knitting history!

Since then, we've spent every Thanksgiving with family ... mine, Marc's and eventually "ours". This year, we'll be getting together with family later in the weekend, but today, it's just the two of us (again). I opted out of a traditional meal - instead, we're having turkey sandwiches and a few sides ... likely in front of the television. I think we're both looking forward to it!

We have much to be thankful for ... and the two of us together is definitely a big part of that.

Wishing you and yours a most Happy Thanksgiving!

Weekending.

I thought it was going to be a quiet weekend at home, mostly alone, because Marc was playing in the club's member-member tournament. But Friday afternoon, he shared the itinerary with me - a Kentucky Derby Party Saturday evening and "Championship Shootout with dinner" on Sunday afternoon!

I was glad we had plans to eat in Friday with margaritas and fish taco salads.

Saturday, while Marc played 27 holes of golf, I played around with my "hat collection"

and ultimately decided on this one.

It worked great with my black and white dress.

Sunday, while Marc played another 18 holes of golf, I washed my summer hand knits.

And then we met at the course to watch the shootout. Two of our friends made it to the final hole. The championship was decided by a chip out, which was really exciting; our friends came in 3rd place overall.

Dinner turned out to be pizza, my favorite, but not Marc's - so we didn't stay long. It was nice to get home early. I made popcorn and we watched Hidden Figures. Have to say, the movie is good, but the book is much, much better!

Holly is always happy to have a lap!

How was your weekend?

Weekending City Style.

...begins of course, on Friday. We set out in the morning under clear, chilly blue skies and headed down to Chelsea.

First stop was Cookshop for an early lunch. We started with burrata and it was the best we'd had. That toast was spread with roasted garlic and the cheese was nestled into a wild nettle pesto.

After lunch we headed to the High Line. This was our first visit and wow! what a great space. also WOW! it was windy and cold. 

We got off at Chelsea Market and made a bee line to Ninth Street Espresso.

We wandered around the market for a while to warm up. What a fun place it's turned out to be! On our next trip, we'll definitely plan a meal-time stop, hopefully on a weekday so it's not so crowded.

Next we headed to Pottery Barn and then made a quick stop at Lion Brand for Sara to pick out a color for a new afghan. All that cold wind wore us out and we headed back to our apartment via Union Square (where I finally saw #blueskyblooms!)

We got cozy with our books, took quick naps and then had fun with Yelp figuring out a fun place to go for cocktails. We had dinner reservations on the Upper East Side, so we looked around there. Lo and behold we found The Penrose. Super fun on a Friday night. We had cocktails and a cheese plate and enjoyed lots of people watching. The Upper East Side has changed a lot in the five years since Katie lived there!

We walked to dinner at Seamstress. I have no photos of the food, but it was all delicious. Sara said it was her favorite meal of the trip and I'd have to agree (we set a very high bar in that regard!) I did get a few photos of Sara, certainly my favorite dinner companion.

Saturday we packed up, checked out and headed to the Upper East Side to meet a friend of mine. We had brunch at Isabella's and I did take photos.

smoked salmon omelette for Sara

and smoked salmon platter for me

Then all too soon, it was time to go (and raining!) We shared a cab to the airport...and flew our separate ways home. The only bright spot about getting home late on Saturday was getting to see this guy (and his mama!) on Sunday!

I can't wait to go back - or really anywhere - with Sara. She's such a fun and easy travel companion. Maybe next time she'll manage tickets to Hamilton and invite me along!

Thursday in the City.

The weather has been a lot better than I thought it would be. Sara didn't even wear her coat yesterday and the rain was just off and on showers in the afternoon. We spent most of the rainy time sitting at this cozy table with the Times crossword (which mostly stumped us, but we'll try again today), a delicious meal and a few glasses of wine.

Then we walked down to SoHo and did a little shopping. Sara bought shoes (Supergas) and I bought yarn (three skeins of the newest Linen Quill to knit Tails).

We decided to head back to the apartment to relax a bit before the play. Stopped into Dean and Deluca for snacks. Totally appropriate that we had our little picnic with an episode of Sex and the City (and yikes! I can't believe that show is almost 20 years old!!!)

The play was in a very cool theater in NoHo. This was my first Off Broadway show and I'd love to do it again. The setting is so intimate and we had great seats. The play was fantastic, too!

We ended the evening with fun cocktails at the Stanton Social Club,

the perfect ending to a wonderful day.

Today the sun is shining and I think we're going to check out the High Line. It's fun to have no plans...

A Quick Hello.

...from Central Park.

We walked (and walked and walked some more). And now we're enjoying a little down time to rest up for dinner.

more soon...xo, M.

p.s. I feel like my voice is getting better (but Sara says I'm imagining it :-)

Date Night.

...(ish?) Marc's company Christmas party was Saturday night. It's the first dress-up event we've been to in months (actually, maybe nineteen months? yeah, that's how long Katie's been married and we missed last year's party) and I treated it like a full-on date night.

Fun thing about empty nesting (with a husband who likes to play golf on the weekends) is that I have free time on Saturdays. I started early with Lauren and a chilly walk, a healthy lunch and a nap.

Then visited the Bobbi Brown counter for a "smokey eye" lesson, which Christine stretched into a full-on make-up session (and Ann Taylor for stockings, because yikes, I own very opaque tights but nothing suitable for a cold night out!). I told Christine that when I win the lottery, she's visiting every morning to do my make-up. (along with Carla to do my hair). She tried a few new things, but mostly showed me how to use what I own. One of the "new things" was a lipgloss - Kir Sugar. How appropriate for a holiday party!

I got home in plenty of time to finish my hair, dress, take a photo - and post it to Instagram.

The party was a lot fun. Marc made a point of introducing me (and telling me the "backstories") which was really nice - it's been three years since I've been to a company event - and the company has grown a lot since then. We sat with his team at dinner and it was great to put faces with names ... and connect with the folks Marc sees every day. Bonus points for great food, good wine...and a co-worker who took our photo on the way out.

It was after eleven when we got home. I'm glad I went. and Marc was too. Maybe it was a real date night, not an "ish"?

 

 

Throwback Thursday | The Early Years.

...yesterday was our anniversary. Hard to believe it's been 31 years since we said "I do" and shared a very public kiss after two neat bites of wedding cake.

And maybe harder to believe we started dating when I was 16 years old! That's a lot of years together. I'm sure I have a photo from that first fall (but I'm not sure where it is), so instead I'll share this one. It was taken at Marc's sister's wedding, summer 1981.

Early years indeed!

 

wordless wednesday.

he gets it.

...this message was waiting for me when I got home from knitting yesterday (a few hours later than usual because the girls made a wonderful birthday party for me!)

so this is what he'll see when he comes home tonight.