Long Island

The 4th of July usually goes like this:



Road trip to the Martilotta plantation in Long Island where we are showered with hospitality and home cooked treats.








Sample Cutchogue's finest wines.

Spend time at the beach.





Experience the night life (and air-microphone).

But the best part, of course is being together!

I'll miss you this weekend Martilotta crew! Happy Fourth!

Happy Birthday Carlye

This picture is still one of my favorites of Carlye (taken from a previous birthday celebration at Jimmy's, of course). The side pony is bound to come back!

Happy Birthday GF!

Who is Afraid of the Dark?

So I had one of those embarrassing freak out moments this evening. I was in the Hoodbridge late night, working in the back part of the basement when the lights went out! Thanks to every scary movie I've ever watched, I immediately assumed that someone was breaking into the house to kill me and had cut off the electricity. After flailing, tripping over every item in the basement, and running out the back door and around the house through overgrown shrubbery, I was relieved to see that the entire neighborhood was dark (because surely that meant I was safe). Needless to say, the scene of my bolting out of the house is now comical. Luckily there was a flashlight in the car, and I bravely went back into the house, grabbed my keys, and high-tailed it back to Arlington.

On a less scary note, I sold my parent's bedroom set tonight. It's so darn outdated, but it was the first thing they ever bought. I think it's going to a good home.

Swiss Baked Chicken

Brian made SBC last night. This has been his signature "date dish" since highshcool and he has really perfected it. See below for his recipe (which he has passed on to Matt).

Panties will drop within a 3 block radius of the stove this is cooked in...

1. I generally cook 5 or 6 decent size chicken breasts (boneless) in a glass dish.
2. Mix 4 cans of cream of chicken soup and 2 cups of white wine in a separate bowl. (the amount of white wine I use depends, basically you want it to be a creamy mix that has a fair amount of white wine in it without being too runny. Remember the sauce will get more runny as it cooks.) I usually add some black pepper to the sauce to spice it up a bit, but that's your call.
3. Pour some of the mix in the bottom of the pan to coat the bottom.
4. Place chicken in pan
5. Cover each piece of chicken with swiss cheese. (I use 2 slices per piece of chicken b/c I like cheese)
6. Cover the chicken and cheese with the remaining sauce mix.
   Sprinkle Italian bread crumbs on top
7. Place pats of butter every couple of inches on the top.
8. Bake at 350 for about 35-45 minutes. Cooking time depends on the size of the batch and size of the chicken. Make sure the chicken is done before you serve it, else the panties come back up.

On another note, I mentioned to Brian that I started a blog and he reminded me that about a year ago I had to ask him what exactly a blog was...doh!

Sailing

I can't believe I parted with these sweet shades!

Thanks to everyone who made my 'Moving Sail' a success. I have the best friends!

*Cindy, your pricing and organization skills are stellar. Thanks for all the research you did...so much that you talked me into keeping more things.

*Lis and Ang, Friday night was a blast. I love that you can make anything fun! And, your translation skills were essential. Gracias!

*Anna, you made me think twice about lots of items!

*Rachie and Sal, thank you for your long distance support.

*Sara, I was inspired by your marketing recommendations, although the 'Kids Korner' didn't get as much love as I anticipated.

*Mrs. McD, I am still bummed you put my dresses in the Lupus bag :(

*Murph, the coffee run was clutch.

*Brian, again I'm sorry I tried to sell your Oakley's.

*Kelly, I appreciate you clearing your weekend for me and your on-call availability.

*Laura, your home baked goods were fabulous!

*McDowells and Jared, thanks for keeping some of our things close by with your purchases.

*And Matt, thank you for always being there.

First Day of Summer

This was a much better concept when I was in school.