Fall in Central Park and a Baby Photo Session

November 10, 2015 in DSLR, Photography, NYC

Autumn in Central Park is absolutely dreamy. While the spring produces cherry blossoms, bright green leaves, and vibrant blues, purples, and pinks, fall is its own kind of beauty. It's like nature's last hurrah before winter, the trees releasing their final pigment of color before all of the leaves fall off. Strolling in the park, bundled up in a beanie and scarf and thick sweater, the ground is golden with leaves and the crisp air is something magical.

It's been a very slow progress into cooler weather this fall. There have been extremely sunny days that only require a light sweater, interspersed with a cooler day every now and then. I am absolutely loving it! It's that beautiful in-between stage, where we are right on the cusp of winter and all of the holidays, but not quite their yet.

This past weekend was so busy, but so much fun! My parents flew into New Haven, CT on a layover, so we drove up and met them for the day on Saturday. We explored the Yale campus and the few shops and restaurants around the area. On Sunday I met up with one of my good friends from high school who was visiting, Amber, and her sweet 9 month old baby boy Benji. (I am in LOVE!) We got cookies from Magnolia Bakery and then ate them on a picnic blanket in Central Park. I took some mommy-baby photos, and he is just the cutest nugget ever!!!!!!! Overall, it was a lovely busy weekend with gorgeous weather and good food and great people.

Cinnamon Sugar Scones

September 05, 2015 in Breakfast, DSLR, Recipes

Greetings from Vermont! We are here for a long weekend getaway in the gorgeous Vermont countryside. It is absolutely stunning! We are staying at the most incredible renovated barn/loft through airbnb, and last night I saw the most stars I've ever seen in my whole life and felt like crying--it was so breathtaking. I never realize how much I miss seeing a full night sky until I see one again. We also saw alpacas and cows and horses. I'm definitely not in NYC anymore (and that's totally okay with me right now)!

These scones are easy to make, and don't require any complicated ingredients. They are similar to my blueberry scones recipe here. Not too sweet, they are best served warm and with hot coffee or tea!

Cinnamon Sugar Scones (Makes 8)

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
5 tablespoons cold butter, cut into chunks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk
2 tbl. ground cinnamon
1 egg, beaten, for egg wash
More cinnamon and sugar for dusting

Directions: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Whisk together all the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Using a pastry cutter or knife, cut in the cold butter. Mixture will resemble course bread crumbs, and it is okay if the butter is not fully blended into the mix. Make a well in the center, and pour in milk. Fold together gently with fork.

Move dough onto a lightly floured surface, and mold into a sphere, about 3/4 inch thick. Using a knife, cut in half vertically then horizontally. Then cut those halves in half again, to make 8 equal sized triangles.

Using a spatula, move the triangles onto a greased baking sheet. Dough should be very sticky. If it loses shape just use fingers to coax back into a triangle once on the baking sheet. Top with egg wash, and dust with more cinnamon and sugar.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the tops are golden. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

P.S. I made a Facebook page for my blog finally! Give it a like to see new posts 😊.

Cantaloupe + Watermelon Agua Fresca

August 25, 2015 in DSLR, Recipes, Drinks

After The Gift abruptly ended I immediately started reviewing my life and thinking if there was anyone I had been mean to in high school. Then, I began quizzing Kyle if there were any creepy people from the past who may have a grudge against him. Then we laughed because--we went to the teeniest tiny school where everyone was basically friends! We're totally safe. ; D

We ventured to Times Square to watch it because literally zero theaters were playing this movie, and it was at first a horrible decision because we arrived at the movie 45 minutes early, and not wanting to venture into Dante's Inferno that is Times Square, we sat in our seats waiting for the movie to start, finishing our popcorn and soda before the movie even began. Bummer. Our interests were piqued to see this movie because A) all of the other movies out looked so boring, and B) I actually saw Rebecca Hall on the streets in the West Village. She was just as smiley and nice as her character in the movie too, probably thinking no one would recognize her because she thinks she's not that famous, but I did and I can say she has big dimples when she smiles. Now that I'm the creeper-stalker here, I think overall the movie was pretty good, and had an interesting twist at the end.

The next day the "August heat wave" continued, and while our apartment swelled up with a blanket of warm thickness and our fruit ripened quicker than normal, I pulled out our new blender and whipped up the most refreshing + cold afternoon refresher. It was extremely satisfying, cold, lightly sweetened, and contained summer's best fruit for beating the heat (watermelon).

Melon Agua Fresca (serves 2)

Ingredients:

2 cups cold, overripe watermelon
2 cups cantaloupe
juice of 1 lime
1 cup water
5-6 ice cubes
2 teaspoons honey

Directions:

Place ice in blender and crush. Add fruit, water, honey, and lime juice and blend until all ingredients are smooth.

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