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Sunday, March 30, 2008

NYC meets Vienna

New_museumCan't believe it's already Sunday evening again. Somehow time tends to fly even more over the weekend. Went to NYC yesterday for the day. First we checked out the new New Museum which opened on December 1st. Definitely an interesting place, very modern. On the 7th floor they have a Skywalk where you can go outside and have neat views of the city. We took some pictures, if you want to see them just click here.

After the museum we headed to Brooklyn to try Cafe Steinhof, an Austrian restaurant I found online. I am always excited when I find Austrian restaurants. :) I really enjoyed the place (very hip/funky cross between NYC and Vienna) and the food was very yummy. I had soup, Wiener Schnitzel (with cucumber salad and parsely potatoes) and Malakoff torte for dessert. Oh and Gruener Veltliner (white wine). Heaven!

Today I tried to do a little spring cleaning, got all my spring deco + candles out and got rid of some other clutter around the house. Right now I am burning "Cucumber & Cantaloupe + Honeydew Melon Swirl" in the bedroom, "Green Grass" in the livingroom and "Mediterranean Cypress" in the kitchen.

Mail update. Tomorrow a letter are going out to: Lotte/Denmark. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Carmen/Malta, Alex/Germany and Jetta/Finland.

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Sunday, March 23, 2008

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence1_small_2Went to Providence, Rhode Island yesterday for a nice day trip. It's about 2 1/2 hours from where we live so not so bad. Had never been to Providence before so it was nice to explore a new city. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to going back when it's a little warmer out. We went to the art museum and then walked along Benefit Street which has some really nice historical houses. Afterwards went to have lunch at the Trinity Brewhouse which was very yummy. Walked around Providence Place, a big mall, and then headed back home. Definitely a very nice day. If you want to see some more pictures just click here.

Today we ran some errands, went grocery shopping and I spent the afternoon redoing my webpage with my spring layout. Can't believe it's officially spring now, just wish the weather would cooperate and get warmer so it would actually feel like spring as well.

Mail update. Tomorrow letters are going out to: Caroline/Scotland and Fiona/Scotland. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Jetta/Finland.

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Sunday, March 16, 2008

Another week gone by

Catbook3And it's already Sunday evening again, time sure flies. Had a nice weekend though. Went into work for a bit on Saturday but managed to get out in the early afternoon. Headed over to the mall where I was able to pick up a few bargains. I was also very impressed with the new look the mall seems to have now. Renovations started in 2007 but it seems like things are really changing now. The whole place just has a much lighter and airier feel to it now. I love the potted plants and couches everywhere.

Today was a pretty lazy day. The weather has been kind of dreary so it was a good day to stay in and have lots of tea. Read some more of the book I started a day or so ago ("True Believer" by Nicholas Sparks), wrote a letter and caught up on some email. Pretty relaxing day.
We will head out to Bluu in a little bit. It's one of our favorite new restaurants around town. They have some of the best sushi and pizza. Yumm. :)

Mail update. Since my last update a letter went out to: Tizz/Denmark. Tomorrow letters are going out to: Steff/ME and Charles/TN. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Caroline/Scotland and Jetta/Finland.

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Thursday, March 13, 2008

Food obsessed

Chicken_rice_smallSo it's my day off today (whenever I work Saturday I get a day off during the week). I set the alarm for 9:30 a.m. but of course didn't manage to get up right away. Instead I was lying there thinking about what I could make myself for lunch. I am guessing that means I am truly food obsessed. ;) I eventually got up around 10:30 a.m., took a shower, had some tea and then went to make some food. I ended up making a chicken breast butterflied open and stuffed with sliced turkey, shredded cheese and basil, then put together and sprinkled breadcrumbs all over. Browned it in a pan, then put in the oven for 15 min and added some freshly grated parmesan. Had some some brown rice topped with parmesan alongside of it. Very yummy. (took a picture so you can see my creation *g*)

Can't believe that it's already 2:30 p.m. Since lunch and doing the dishes I mostly just surfed the web. Will probably have some more tea in a minute and catch up on some of my mail. Can't complain though, it's a nice relaxing day off. Plus Nicola's tea arrived today. I was so excited when I saw the mailman with the package coming towards the house. :) Here's a picture of all the tea.

Mail update. No letters have gone out. :( Received letters from/still owe replies to: Charles/TN, Steff/ME, Tizz/Denmark and Caroline/Scotland.

Posted by Hanna at 02:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Whittard's = Love

Whittards_boston_2I am so excited right now. *g* As some of you probably know I am totally in love with tea. I have lots of tea at home and work and am always on the lookout for new teas to try. One of my favorite tea stores is Whittard's in the UK. It's a big chain that has stores all over Great Britain. So whenever we are in England I always make it a point to plan a visit to a Whittard's store so I can stock up on more tea. :)

I was running low on my teabags (I use loose tea at home and teabags at work) so one of my friends, Nicola, in England mailed me some tea from Whittard's. So at some point next week I should receive a package with 6 boxes of tea. Yay. :)
And if that wasn't exciting enough, I just checked the Whittard's website and saw that the store in Boston is now open. It's their first store in the US. They also have a store in San Diego now and are opening a couple more. So exciting. :) Guess where we are going for a daytrip in the spring ? Yes, Boston. :)

Not too much else new I suppose. The week went by fairly fast. Had a new employee starting on Monday who seems to have settled in very well. Very glad about that. Other than that it's the usual stuff at work. Went to another German meet-up in West Hartford, CT on Thursday which was fun.
This weekend has been a pretty lazy and relaxing one. It was pouring all day yesterday so the perfect day to stay home, relax, drink tea and write letters. Today it's sunny but very windy and cool. So another good day to stay home. Been catching up on some things around the house.

Mail update. Since my last update letters went out to: Jessica/DE and Becki/MI. A letter is going out tomorrow to: Lotte/Denmark. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Tizz/Denmark and Caroline/Scotland.

Posted by Hanna at 03:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Bronx Zoo weekend

Polar_bear_smallToo bad that it's already Sunday evening again .. somehow weekends just fly by way too quickly. Saturday was spent organizing my closet and putting together my new shoe rack. It pretty much took me all day but my closet now looks very nice and organized. All my shoes are on the new shoe rack and I have two storage trunks for my other odds and ends stuff. It's really nice. Loving it. :)
Last night we watched "Clerks" and "The Bourne Ultimatum" which were both very good. I love all the Bourne movies.

Today we had breakfast at a local diner (I had a very healthy but yummy egg white mushroom, spinach, broccoli and onion omelette) and then headed to the Bronx Zoo. I have lived in this area for almost 7 years now and have never been to the zoo in NYC so we thought it was about time. It was a nice day for it since it wasn't too cold and sunny. It can get so crazy busy in the summer months so a nice winter day was a perfect day to go.
After the zoo we went to White Plains to have a late lunch/early dinner at Legal Seafoods. I had wood-grilled shrimp with brown rice and a super yummy chocolate pudding cake for dessert. We used the money my parents gave me for Mike's birthday so in addition to being yummy it was also pretty much free. Yay. :)

Mail update. A letter is going out tomorrow to: Celia/MA. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Jessica/DE, Lotte/Denmark and Becki/MI.

Posted by Hanna at 07:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack