August adventures

August had been a pretty fun month. Here's some of what I've been up to the last few weeks.

I just love farmers markets lately. I didn't know we had any near us - but apparently they are all around. I've been to ones in Montclair and Fort Lee. The fruits and veggies are so good!

Randi and I made this awesome cake - Paula Deen's Bobby's caramel cake - and it was really the best cake ever.

I took a couple days off so Randi and I went up to Hyde Park to see FDR's home.

Everything pretty much looks the way it did in 1946, when Eleanor signed the home over to the government.

This garden is over a hundred years old and was really beautiful. FDR, ER and their dog Fala are buried there.
You can also visit the library & museum where there's a lot of family and presidential memorabilia.

And Randi hung out with the Roosevelts.

We had lunch at the Eveready Diner right up the road because it was on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives.

The next day we took mom to the shore for her birthday. We hung out in Point Pleasant. The weather was nice but the ocean was too rough.



And you can get a chocolate and mint swirl cone! We had these after some lunch on the boardwalk.



I went to a baby shower for my friend Steph. She looks so cute!

One of Steph's friends made this. It was so cute! And inside was a little bucket filled with more clothes on a clothesline.

Then on Sunday, we had a little bbq at my brother's for my dad's birthday. My nephew is seriously getting huge. He's 4 months old now, rolling himself over and he's got a heartbreaker smile. He is one happy kiddo. I made spinach artichoke mac & cheese - a recipe my friend Tania posted on FB - and a cucumber, orzo and feta salad. Good stuff!



Last weekend I picked up my friend Becky's daughter at the airport and got her back to NYU. I was playing with my phone while I was waiting and took this pic. Gotta love New York's bravest.

And after I stoped at Taim for some really great falafel. This was another Food Network trip. The restaurant's owner lost to Bobby Flay in a throwdown.

After all that, I headed to the Rover. Open mic is one of my favorite things about Sundays. I love then end of the night when the guys just get together and jam. Sometimes they play covers, rock out or just make up silly songs. You never know what's going to happen.

And one of the guys has been bringing a bunch of maracas, tambourines, a fun thing called a vibraslap and other easy instruments for the audience to play. I played the egg.

I worked the day shift again this week, so I hung out a lot with my sis. We had dinner at Blue Moon with our Aunt Lorraine and cousin Melissa and her boyfriend. Then we decided to visit Melissa at work the next day at a great little coffee shop. We also went to see Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which I just loved. If you like comics, video games, graphic novels - it was fun to see one come to life in this movie.

We've had really cool weather this week. I was wearing long sleeves most days. I usually don't mind, but I think I'm going to be sad to see summer go.