Recent happenings

I feel like I haven't done many blog-worthy things lately (unless having water pouring in my ceiling or dealing with a cat that hates me are blog-worthy stories) or have just been lax about taking pictures. Either way, here are some recent events to fill time:

Last Saturday I accompanied Kurt to the Ohio State bar in Times Square to watch the Buckeyes take on Illinois. It wasn't much of a match-up (Ohio State won) but it is generally fun to watch the games with other fans. (I will have to document our next trip to the Auburn bar and compare!) We generally will meet a couple of Kurt's football friends there--which is a whole different spectacle apart from the game.

After the game, we swung by Bryant Park. I admit I have never been there on an unprogrammed day. I've been when they set up the ice skating rink in the winter and when they show movies in the summer and gazed in longingly when they used to have fashion week there. I have never seen people just hanging out in the grass and sitting on tables. It was a nice, sunny, breezy day and the park was packed.

After a few moments at the park, we caught a train from Grand Central Station to (gasp!) leave the city for the afternoon. An architect Kurt's firm often works with was hosting an Oktoberfest party at his house in Mt. Vernon just north of the Bronx. He's been hosting this party for 20+ years and has definitely taken that time to perfect the festivities. It was such a fun time. He brews a couple kegs of his own beer and everyone brings delicious food. I apologize for the piecemeal panoramic. I didn't take near enough pictures but wanted to show the party. It doesn't do their setup justice!

Then on Sunday, Kurt and I decided to make dinner at Kurt's apartment (lovingly named 731). Well, Kurt decided to make dinner, and I was available to play sous chef. We were about to tackle an unknown culinary project, so it was going to be 1.5 bottle of wine night. Kurt, Erik, and I went to town on a leftover bottle of 3 buck Chuck in the Martigs' signature wine glasses. You can take the boys out of the country...

Our media: pumpkin fresh from the farmers' market.

Kurt went to town slicing it up and cleaning out all the guts. It reminded me of many Pumpkin Carves during my time at Auburn. My roommate from freshman and sophomore years was obsessed with pumpkin seeds. She would accompany me to the architecture building and collect her spoils from the mess of pumpkin innards strewn about the courtyard. I'm not sure what the Martigs did with the seeds from this little guy but we baked the rest in the oven after a light coating of oil, salt, and pepper. The result was...good. Not great, but I think it has a lot of potential. I look forward to more pumpkin and squash experiments through the fall.

We paired our roast pumpkin with this prosecco Kurt had been saving. It was gifted to us by Darrio, Kurt's first host father in Italy, when we visited this summer. It was the same wine we drank during our lunch that day and I couldn't help dreaming about being back there. Fall and winter in NYC are hard for me. Once the weather starts getting cool, I am a sad girl. I long for sandals and sun dresses and loathe wearing socks and coats. (The South ruined me!) Hopefully my memories of our lovely European summer will help me through the hard times. Or maybe I'll go off the deep end around mid-January and up and move to some Mediterranean island! I hope it is a mild winter.

Oh, and in other news, I've introduced Aubie to catnip. He seemed pretty pleased with it, until he spilled it all over my floor, that is. It kind of killed the magic for the both of us. I'll save stories of how he hates me for another day...

I've got an architecture party coming up tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have lots of blog-worthy things (at least photos) to post after that! Stay tuned!