Tomorrow we are meeting family that we haven’t seen in a long time for lunch.  I will surely bring my camera and get a bunch of photos.  Hope everyone has a great weekend.  Make the most of it ya hear!

: ) Marina 

I bought this cute, little pouch bag the other day from a woman at Pottery.  Her daughter was on a mission in Cambodia and she brought back all this stuff to sell.  It’s cool to know that in some small way I helped a woman in a small village so far away.

Spent the entire day at the pottery studio yesterday.  It was the last day to throw stuff.  The session is wrapping up and now we only have two weeks to finish up anything that needs to be trimmed or glazed.  I managed to throw a pitcher and a mug.  The pitcher is my biggest piece yet.  I need to think of a cool glaze combo that will do it justice.  Pictures of the finished product will definitely be posted. 

This is a picture of my friend Marion trimming a beautiful bowl she made.

This past weekend was all about family.  Saturday, we met my cousins at Grandma’s house.  We have the unpleasant task of cleaning it out.  It’s definitely hard to go through someone’s things.  It was sad and I have to say it hit me more today.

Sunday we saw Craig’s family for Brunch.  His cousins were there with their cute little girl.

We got to spend time with Craig’s brother and girlfriend, Grandma and Aunt & Uncle too. It was really fun and my MIL and FIL did a great job at hosting.

Thank you guys!

Last night, Julie and Samy invited girls only to their house for a special dinner.  It was a dinner to thank some of Mom’s special friends for giving her so much support when Gram passed away.  It turned out to be spectacular.  I’ll get right to the pictures….

Raw scallop with grapefruit and ginger crackling.  Sprinkled with sea salt.

Seared scallop with red pepper sauce (for those who didn’t eat raw).

Red pepper with black olives, swiss and sour cream (for those who didn’t eat shellfish).

Potato leek soup with black pepper Crème fraîche and olive oil drizzle.

My personal favorite…
Potato pancake topped with mushrooms, spinach, dill and cipollini onions.

Braised short ribs with parsnip celery puree.

Buttermilk panna cotta with blood oranges and raspberry sorbet.

To finish this beautiful meal, Julie made authentic Moroccan Mint Tea in this gorgeous tea pot.

It was a dinner to remember.  Thank you Samy and Ryan (a chef friend that helped) and Julie. 

Samy’s Grandma passed away yesterday and our hearts go out to Samy and his family.  ((hugs)) 

Doesn’t he look so grown up here? I can’t believe he is the same kid as this little peanut…

Where is the time going?  It was only 20 months ago!

I almost missed my train but once I met up with all the girls it was smooth sailing.  We ate at a great French restaurant called Maison.  I had the Crisp Duck Confit.  It was really good.  Oh, and so was their coffee and fries.  Out of the nine of us, a few headed to the theater to take part in the practice lesson they were offering.  They learned a bit of tangos.  We then all grouped again and went in to see the show.  It was rather different.  A lot of modern choreography (which I don’t normally go for) but there were some numbers that really stood out.  This one girl, Rocio Molina made the show for me.  Her movements were beautiful. You can check out her website here.

Off to the City Center tonight to see Mujeres with the girls from class. I go every year and it’s always exciting.

Check out WMI (World Music Institute) - it’s worth it!

Here is a happy, goofy shot of Melinda. This was taken at my Aunt’s cabin in Montrose, PA.

Click on the picture to view larger in flickr and to view all the rest of my photos.

We had a great weekend full of Birthdays. Saturday was Joey’s day and Sunday was Johnny’s day. They both turned 1. Ben really had a ball at both parties. I will post more pictures soon but right now I don’t have my camera

Thanks again Jill, Joe, John and Vesna for inviting us!