slow mornings

it's rare that we don't have to fly out of the house first thing in the morning.  we had a moment to have a slow morning one day last week and we took advantage of it by staying on our pjs a little longer and making individual dutch babies with cinnamon sugar and strawberries in our mini cast iron skillets.  we used this recipe which we first made 5 years ago.

fingers crossed for a few more slow mornings!

have a great weekend!

love, laurie

fall flowers

we have this plant outside our kitchen window that blooms white every august.  as soon as september starts rolling around, the white flowers turn a pink color before they dry up in late fall.  i love watching them change from white to pink.  they're so pretty!

love, laurie

patriot day

we had the opportunity to visit ground zero six years ago in september, just after the 12th anniversary of 9/11 and it was a moving experience.  the waterfalls and the reflecting pools that sit within the footprints of where the twin towers once stood are a lovely tribute, and the freedom tower is quite a site to behold.  our thoughts and prayers go out to anyone who lost a loved one on this day 18 years ago.

love, laurie

fall cuddles

when the weather gets cooler leko loves to cuddle even more than normal.  of course i don't complain one bit about that!  kitten cuddles are the best!!!

love, laurie

"paint it back - the history of the rolling stones"

we kicked off our fall show series at our theatre on friday night with a rolling stones tribute band called "satisfaction the international rolling stones tribute band presents paint it back - the history of the rolling stones" . . . wheph, it's a long title, but it was a great band!

i've been planning this show for nearly a year, so it was great to finally see it happen.  everyone loved it!  here are a few of the photos i snapped on my camera.  you can see the whole album with all of my photos on our theatre's facebook page here.

onto the next show!

love, laurie

lounging around

i was working around the house the other evening and realized it got quiet.  i was wondering where on earth leko got to and started searching for him.  much to my surprise i found him lounging around up on top of a set of drawers.  it was surprising because he's rarely ever up there.  silly guy!

we're kicking off the fall season in our theatre tonight with a rolling stones tribute show.  fingers crossed!

have a great weekend!

love, laurie

it feels like fall

on saturday afternoon after we came home from the italian festival, ryan turned on the tv for a little bit to watch some of the penn state university football game since his parents were at the stadium attending the game.  he turned his fun hue lights to psu blue, opened the doors to let the fresh crisp air blow through the screens into the house, and lit our new apple-scented candle.  we couldn't believe how much it felt like fall!  after the game, we took a nice long walk outside to enjoy the perfect weather.  it was a nice way to spend the last day of august.

since sunday was september 1st i just couldn't resist breaking out the pumpkin puree to make some fall treats.  i made a loaf of pumpkin bread and some really yummy pumpkin pasta too!

happy september!

love, laurie

la festa italiana 2019

my favorite tradition is visiting our local italian festival each year on labor day weekend.  we love the great food, the atmosphere, and the memory that it was were ryan and i went on our very first date back in 2004.  this festival is like a religion to me, it's totally my happy place!

we headed down to the italian festival on saturday afternoon (wearing my la festa t-shirt) to have some lunch.  we went at the perfect time because the weather was awesome and it wasn't crowded at all!  on sunday night we went back down for some dinner and the fireworks, and then we went back again on monday for lunch with our parents!

^this double-crust pizza was so good!  it was filled with cheese and fresh tomatoes, and topped with rosemary.  yum!^

^we watched this homemade gnocchi being made right in front of us!  what a project to make homemade gnocchi in such a huge quantity for four days straight!  the gnocchi were light and melted right in our mouths.  the sauce was delicious too!^

^we always love sharing a pizza fritta (fried dough), but this year we tried something different from a new stand . . . mini pizza frittas.  they were so good!^

^we brought our folding chairs and shared some pizza while sitting and waiting for the fireworks to start.^

^it might not look terribly attractive in the photo, but this flakey chocolate croissant pastry was so very good (and messy)!^

let the countdown begin for next year's festival!  ;-)

love, laurie

. . .

previous trips to the italian festival: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

a trip to sight and sound in lancaster

we kicked off the long labor day weekend early on friday by taking the day off work and heading down to lancaster with our families.  we all met up for lunch at a great restaurant, went to sight and sound theatre to see their newest show jesus, and then had dinner at another great restaurant before heading home.

it has been 7 years since we were last at sight and sound, so it was really nice to be able to go again.  sight and sound's shows are always a treat, but this one was especially incredible.  it's a must-see if you are anywhere near the lancaster area!

a few pictures from our day . . .

love, laurie

happy labor day!

happy labor day!  we're thrilled to have the day off work today and hope to get a chance to rest up with this guy who is in love with sitting on top of damp kitchen hand towels on the kitchen counter.  what a silly little man!

labor day always seems like the end of summer to me, and i'm sad to see summer go, but i do love the fall weather!

have a great monday!

love, laurie