#421

Weekend Round-Up

Tom arrived late Friday night, about an hour behind schedule. This was his first trip Upstate since the summer, and it did not disappoint being in the low teens/single digits overnight. It was also the first time that Tom and I had together that did not involve family obligations, fever dreams courtesy of H1N1, or residency interviews. Therefore I decided to go big (instead of going home):

Not the best picture, but I pulled two wedding registry place settings out of their boxes (where they will live for the next six months until Tom and I finally find a place to cohabit together), as well as the champagne flutes my uncle gave us. I made a bittersweet chocolate and pear cake (the maiden voyage of our Kitchen-Aid mixer, love) and buttermilk ice cream (the maiden voyage of our ice cream maker, double love). We traded Hanukkah gifts over a bottle of cava (a set of cuff links for Tom that he had given to the groomsmen but forgot to order for himself, and Super Mario Brothers for Wii for me). You can see the yummy Fairytale brownies that Lynne sent for Hanukkah in the background, too. Lazing over his sparkling wine, Tom said he'd like every Wednesday night to be as elaborate as this one. We'll see...it only took me 6 hours of baking (plus cleaning plus shopping) to pull it off.

Saturday saw a late start and then it was off to the mall to poke around. We came up empty-handed (fortunately). Then it was off to the Strong National Museum of Play to see the Lego exhibit and play a few rounds on their 100+ vintage arcade games. Tom was psyched. I was psyched about the couples' massage that followed. We stumbled out of the sauna room and luxurious showers to dinner at Good Luck (in my wedding shoes, wedding lipstick, and new dress) for a celebratory wedding dinner of sorts. We swung by Wegman's for Peet's coffee for Tom, and then the dreaded Walmart for a second Wii controller (hopping at 11 PM at night). Finally, bedtime at 2 AM after several hours of Super Mario Brothers, me confused the whole time by the two-player experience. (I kept thinking I was Tom's character on the screen!) Ah the joy of being married!

On Sunday, we made latkes from a Zabar's recipe, accompanied by homemade applesauce and tart raspberries.




I love our wedding china - just plain white dishes, but the perfect proportions and a bluish glow in the winter sunlight. I broke my 4 cup coffee carafe last week, so it was back to making coffee the high school chemistry way (plastic filter and papers) and it's interesting how confusing our new coffee mugs are. No matter how consistent I am with the boiling water I pour through the filter, I wind up with a different sized amount of coffee each time. We hoped in the car to the outlet mall, where I scored the perfect black coat at J. Crew for 75% off. Then it was off to Duff's for chicken wings. Home to shop luggage (we're currently vibing on this Briggs and Riley bag), play a few more hours of Super Mario Brothers, and comb through our wedding gifts. I must have been seriously high when I registered because things were so confused. (That's a story for another tiime.) The score of the wedding appears to be these Japanese Woodworker knives, courtesy of my grandmother and aunt. Then off to bed at 1 AM.

Up at 4 for Tom and 4:30 for me to drive to the airport for a 6 AM flight back to New York City. I stumbled home for an hour more of sleep and then up for a residency interview at my medical school. On to dermatology clinic at 10 AM, and the week starts anew...