Family Affair, Part 1

This past weekend I headed to CT for a little cooking and catching up with my Cousin, Elana and her Hubby, Frederick.

I started my long weekend with new boots and a midnight showing of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows part 1.  I think that both the boots and the film are fantastic. I don't care what people say :)

I took Thursday and Friday off and it was just what I needed. Shaking up the schedule is a very good thing!

Thursday morning I tried to sleep in, but my Sister texted me at 8:00am...which threw a tiny crimp into my plans since I knew I'd be up until at least 3AM.  It also created a no-nap theme that lasted through Friday!

I took the subway in...went straight to the shoe store...and there was only one pair of the boots I'd been stalking for over a year. Success!

Then Sara and I caught up, caught dinner, and were off to the cinema! The movie was playing in every theater on the floor and we were surrounded by assorted crazies in costume...and some who we thought were in costume (awkward!). We were giant kids for the night and it was so much fun!

*** 

After a great night at the movies (and  4 hours sleep) I was picked up by my cousin's lovely husband and deliriously chatted away until we got to CT, which was difficult because I was rapidly losing my voice...damn you seasonal allergies and dry air! I tried to shake my Harry Potter hangover for the rest of the day by attempting a nap in a very cheery bedroom.  Not very nap inducing...so I gave up.  Then, after my iPod died,  I tried to turn on the big TV.  It was like trying to operate a space station! It took a few instructional texts from Elana to sort it out.  Then I kicked back on the couch and enjoyed the fact that I didn't have to be anywhere or do anything. I laid around...ironically watching the TV Guide Channel. You can take the girl out of The Guide...

Then Elana came home and we were off to the market!

Stop and Shop is always a bit surreal (so much real estate...and space!) But we plowed through our shopping list and headed back to the house all ready to start our cooking extravaganza.

Me and Mount Tomato

Our Booty

The Friday night menu: 

Pizza with red onions and rosemary...

Shitake and baby bella mushrooms in a red wine tomato sauce:

(We rolled the store-bought dough [sorry!] with some of the rosemary and drizzled it with heavenly olive oil):

Take some mixed greens and halved grape tomatoes:

Add in some pesto-clad butternut squash:

And, voila! An autumn salad to die for!

The pizza in progress:

Dinner time!

We sat around the table, in front of the fireplace, with our meal and wine...The Lion's Share weekend in CT had begun!

XO