Merry Christmas 2010

The Crew at Woodberry Kitchen
Robin, Jordan, and Val Lookin' Hot
Kenny, Keith, and Daniel Lookin' Handsome
Daniel and Robin Christmas Morning

The Colts Tree

Reggie Opening his Stocking

Sam excited about his new toys

Blankets for the Homeless

Daniel, Robin, Gary, and Sandy "Blanket Delivery Team"

Merry Christmas! We can't believe the holiday season has come and gone so fast. This year we spent Christmas Eve at a new restaurant, Woodberry Kitchen. It has a rustic ambiance with a "farm to table" style menu. We have been there twice before but Christmas Eve was the best experience to date. We spent the evening with our good friends: Jordan, Keith, Val and Kenny. By now, those of you in Indy must feel like you know them...we tend to do a lot of fun things with them that end up on the blog. Anyway, the meal was perfect and if you can't spend the evening with family, great friends are the next best thing!!!

Christmas Morning came upon us and we were so blessed by all of our family and friends. We had way more under the tree than we deserved. Thank you all so much for your gifts! Reggie and Sam also had toys, treats, and bones galore! We made breakfast (puff pancake with fruit and syrup...yumm), started up the new Keurig and relaxed for a few hours. Then our friends Gary and Sandy arrived to go out and deliver blankets to the homeless. This year, with the help of Gary and Sandy, we were able to pass out 18 blankets and $180 to those in need on Christmas. We hope to grow each year even if it's only by one blanket. This is one of our favorite things we do each year. The people we meet are inspiring and joyful. We enjoy being able to spread a little Christmas cheer and hopefully impact the lives of others living in Baltimore City. In short we had an amazing Christmas. Thank you to our Friends and Family for being so wonderful. To those of you we don't see everyday we miss you and hope to see you soon!
Peace and Love!

Holiday Dinner Party

The Gang after a few glasses of wine :)
Rachel, Jordan, Robin, Val
Scott, Daniel, Keith, Kenny (Reggie's trying to get a drink)

Taking a break from Catch Phrase

The Table

The dinner party gang got together this weekend to celebrate the holidays and Boy was it a party! Dinner was a huge success! We started with a creamy pumpkin soup that had a hint of bacon and cinnamon croutons. The second course was a Cape Cod Chopped Salad with bacon (you can't go wrong with bacon), apples, walnuts, arugula, blue cheese, and homemade citrus vinaigrette. The third course was a Trio of Mushrooms...a wonderful mix of portobello, shiitake, and oyster Mushrooms with cream and demi-glace over bread (thank you Gary and Sandy). The main course was pork tenderloin with teriyaki sauce, truffle mashed potatoes and an asparagus tart. Last but not least, the dessert was a white chocolate cheesecake with Merlot-soaked cranberries and a macadamia nut crust. Yummmmmmm!!!! We always have so much fun when we get together. It’s a healthy mix of food, wine, laughter, and...did I say wine??? Can't wait until next time!

Thanksgiving in Paris

The City of Love!
Us at the top of the Eiffel Tower
Visiting Notre Dame Cathedral
The Arc de Triomphe was only a few blocks from our hotel

Standing in the Champagne Vineyards

Walking along the Seine River

Visiting the Louvre Museum

Watching the snow from our hotel window

Yum, Escargot and Haricot Verts

Oh the macaroons!

We spent our Thanksgiving holiday doing what we love, traveling and eating! We were so blessed to be able to spend a week in Paris, seeing the sites and experiencing a wonderful city. We arrived early and weren't able to check in, so we dropped our bags and went straight to the Eiffel Tower. We couldn't stop taking pictures! It's so amazing to be so close to something that iconic. Once we had our fill of picture taking we sat at a cafe and had our first French meal. Daniel had ham and eggs and I had citrus crepes! Oh how amazing it was!!! We were finally able to check in so we took our things to our room and got settled. What we loved about staying in one place for the entire week was, it felt like we lived there. We tried to integrate into the culture and take it all in. That night we had our first dinner in Paris and it was one of our favorites. Each meal was special for a different reason. Some were great because of the food, some because of the ambiance, and some were special because of the servers (we had some fantastic servers in Paris!) Each day we woke up and hit the streets for the entire day. Some days we walked and walked and walked, others were spent in museums and cafes. We would come back to our hotel each evening around 5 or 6, rest for awhile, and then head back out to dinner around 8 or 9. That was the only way we were able to stay out so late with those crazy parisians.

A tour of Champagne was also on the agenda. We walked the vineyards and then spent the morning with a small champagne producer, Madame Godme. This was probably one of the most amazing moments of the trip. There we were in Champagne, France, drinking Champagne with the producer herself, listening to her talk about her Champagne house and how they make their particular cuvee's. It was a fantastic experience, once in a lifetime for sure. We then went to lunch in Reims where we had yet another amazing meal. After lunch we visited a large Champagne house called Mumm. It was a different experience as Mumm is a very large and commercial Champagne house. While it wasn't as intimate, it was just as interesting. Their cellar was beautiful and we learned a lot about how Champagne is made and what makes Champagne different from other sparkling wines.
We definately fell in love with Paris, and the entire experience was wonderful. We could go back over and over, and each time have a completely different experience from the one before. That is what makes Paris so special!

2010 Fall Football Team 'Jordan's Mexicans'

Getting Ready to Play
The Team

Offense watching the defence work

Half Time

The girls kicking butt!

The big thing to do here in batimore is to join the Baltimore Sports and Social Club. www.baltssc.com . It's an adult intramural sports club. Our good friends Keith and Jordan are a part of a team and we were lucky enough to join their existing team. Currently we are undefeated at 7-0 and have one more game till the playoff's. We have been kicking butt and taking names! Go Mexicans!

Robin's 29th B-day

A Pretty Hot 29 Year Old :)
Kenny, Val, Me, Daniel, Keith & Jordan..the BFF's.

Daniel surprised me by taking me to SALT a small neighborhood restaurant I have been wanting to try. He also invited my two favorite couples in bmore to join us. We had such a great time. The food was good, but the company and drinks were better. Oh and the duck fat french fries were to die for. Here is the restaurant link so you can check it out. It's a really cool place. http://www.salttavern.com/ . Some of my favorite memories of the night were... (1)Quote from Val "are they face cheeks or butt cheeks". (2)Laughing so hard it hurt my stomach more than the P90X ab ripper. (3)"Dessert gate"...what's up with Keith not wanting dessert, was he sick? (4)Kenny starting to sing Happy Birthday and getting the whole restaurant to sing with him, while he serenaded me like an opera singer. And lastly (4)Daniel's wonderful toast. I really have the greatest husband and friends in the world! It was a wonderful Birthday!

Labor Day Senecal Retreat

The Senecal Crew!

It has now become a tradition to spend labor day at Daniel's Dad's house with all of the Senecal crew. This year was one of the best years ever. We hung out, did a little swimming, cooked some s'mores and just enjoyed the time together. Can't wait till next year!

Fingerlake trip...New York's Wine Country

Robin and Daniel on the Dinner Cruise
The group at Red Newt Cellars
Robin and Daniel enjoying the lake view.

The group savoring the last stop of the day.

Limo...riding in style!

Our hotel, Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel.

Could also be Senecal Ake :)

Grapes, Grapes, Grapes!

We spent the weekend on Seneca Lake with Lynn and Chris (Daniel's Mom and Step Dad) and family friends Chris and Ken. Were were celebrating many things. Lynn's 50th Birthday, Ken's 54th Birthday and Chris and Ken's 18th wedding anniversary. We decided to celebrate by spending the weekend touring New York's wine country. Friday we arrived in Watkins Glen and spent the evening on a Seneca Lake dinner cruise. What a beautiful way to see the lake. On Saturday we had a limo take us on a wine tour. We went to about 8 winery's total and were able to collect some great wines from each stop. That evening we met for dinner and spent our last night by the fire pit. It's always great to go someplace new and celebrate what's important! Can't wait to go back!!!