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It was the last day in Lake Lure so we hung around town. We did some “gem mining” in town, which was fun but didn’t really last very long. We ate lunch at Medina‘s and they are known for their cinnamon bun. Everything is homemade so you know I really love that! It was all delicious and the people were very nice. I wish we discovered this place sooner on our trip!

We stopped by the Flowering Bridge, gardens along a 150 foot bridge that is no longer used for cars. It was beautiful and so many butterflies! I tried so hard to capture some on my camera but wasn’t very successful. It was a real hot day so we decided to go in the lake. I was a little hesitant since it was kinda all gross and spider webby when we checked it out the other day. I’m glad we did! We spent about 2 hours in the lake when we saw the clouds descend. We made it back to the cabin in time before the downpour.

password is secret

The Lake from Lisa on Vimeo.

I’m not sure how long the downpour lasted but soon the sun came out! We wanted to go check out the town of Hendersonville, the woman at the Visitor’s Center told us it was similar to Asheville but not as spread out. By the time we got there, after a stop into Wal-Mart, most of the stores were closed so we couldn’t browse. They did have a bunch of painted bears along the street. We had dinner at Flat Rock Wood Fired Pizza. We got a little confused at first because the sign actually said West First Wood Fired Pizza. Oh my gosh, it was DELICIOUS!! We started off with this awesome spinach, goat cheese and artichoke dip. I filled up too much on that as they gave bread with the dip. I know bread makes sense since it is a pizza place. Sienna got a regular cheese pizza from the kid’s menu that was the same size as our pizza! I got a campari (roasted garlic olive oil base, tomato slices, garlic and fresh mozzarella-with balsamic vinegar reduction and fresh basil) and Yves got a prosciutto (aged parma ham, fresh mozzarella, & fresh arugula on crushed tomato sauce.) We were stuffed but Sienna had room for dessert! Homemade ice cream sandwich, which was actually ice cream between 2 brownies! Oh my!

So we headed back to the cabin with full bellies to get our things together to start the 2nd half of our vacation tomorrow! Myrtle Beach!

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During spring break, Yves and Sienna went to Jamaica for a week. This has been the first time I have ever been alone in my own house for that long! I was giddy and nervous about it. Mostly giddy! For reasons I’m sure you can figure out. I was nervous only because Sienna has been back and forth with the separation anxiety. It wasn’t as constant as it was when it first started but did still rear it’s head occasionally. Even the morning that they were leaving, she woke me up by saying that she wasn’t looking forward to going on the trip because I wasn’t going. I told her it was okay to be sad and it was okay to miss me because I was going to miss her too. But know that when she comes back, I will be here waiting for her.

Well, things were smooth sailing as soon as I dropped them off at the airport! Amazingly there were absolutely no issues, at least that is what Yves told me but I believe him. We made sure we didn’t Skype because I’m sure that would have set her off. Since Skippy had just passed, I was a little sad and out of it. I was still looking for him at his spot whenever I walked into a room. I busied myself with cleaning and a bit of purging. I took some photos of some items I wanted to sell. The first thing to sell was my beloved Nintendo DS and all the games. Honestly, I thought that wouldn’t sell at all! Then I had seller’s remorse especially after the woman who bought it told me how much it was going for. Boy, she got a steal for it! But I keep reminding myself that I haven’t played it in years and at least now it is getting some use (from a 4 year old boy!! WHAT?!) Anyhow, during this week besides cleaning, I went to the Museum of the City of New York, met up with Joy and Pete for dinner, finally went to Mistuwa in NJ and went to see The Grand Budapest Hotel with Starr.

Met Joy and Pete for dinner at a Japanese place on 14th Street for dinner. I forgot the name and I forgot to take photos! Boo!

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What a great month March was for Sienna! Besides turning 7, she found out she made student of the month for February and her science project got into the fair! And that’s not all! After the fair was over, she came in 3rd place for her grade! She was very happy about that. Also in March was the show her class did for assembly (which she very much enjoyed doing, future on stage, perhaps?). It was called “Adventures in the Land of Video Games.” You can guess what it was about. It was really cute. I was able to get a really good copy of a video of the whole play from another parent.

Here’s a video of the family singing to Sienna. I love the big, huge smile on her face! Password is birthday.

Happy Birthday Sienna Family from Lisa on Vimeo.

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Snow day from school in early January! Password is snow

Mini snow hill from Lisa on Vimeo.

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Sienna got a few more gifts but I didn’t want to overdo the post with photos of her and her presents! LOL! As usual, a wonderful day filled with family, friends and great food and wine!

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Just a little sad that the holidays are over. Sometimes I do stress to get everything done but in the end, I always enjoy this time of year as everyone and everything is so festive. We ended up not doing the house lights this year OR seeing the Rockefeller Tree but that is ok. I am happy just being able to be with our friends and family.

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I think this is the third year in a row that we attend Thanksgiving festivities at the Bald residence. Not a lot of photos, too busy enjoying myself!

A great Thanksgiving and lots to be thankful for! Looking forward to having them over for Christmas!

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Last weekend, I went on a mini East Coast road trip with my friend Joy. This would be the first time I was every away from Sienna overnight. I don’t know why this was the first time, I guess I just never had (or made) the opportunity to do this.

We left Saturday morning and I had done some research on good places to eat. I’m on a never ending quest to find awesome homemade corned beef hash (the best being what I ate in New Orleans at Quarter Moon restaurant, pre Katrina so don’t even know if it is still around!) We made it to O’Rourke’s diner around 11:30. I eagerly ordered a side of hash and since I already had eggs that morning, decided to go for something sweet and got Babka French Toast. Honestly, I would not order something so sweet for breakfast but this was technically lunch.

The Babka French Toast was super yummy! They make the babka on site as well as some bread they put on the table for us. Their spicy chocolate banana bread was delicious! I was disappointed in their hash. It tasted dry but I wonder if it was because it was late in the morning. Joy got the casino omelet (no photo) that had crab meat and bacon inside. Tasty!

I liked this bridge we encountered as we left the diner. One of the few non food photos I took.

We made our way up to Seabrook, NH and stayed at the Holiday Inn Express, which is actually the same one me and Sienna stayed on our way up to Maine last year! It was over 90 degrees so it was HOT! After checking in, we decided to head over to the Kittery Outlets 15 minutes away. I’m not an outlet person but figured hopping into air conditioning would be ok. I ended up buying a nice dress for a late July wedding!

For dinner, with Yelp’s help, we went to Robert’s Maine Grill. I had my first raw oysters and they are delicious!

We enjoyed everything! For entree, I got pan fried cod and little neck clams. Joy got grilled scallops and we shared a side of brussel sprouts with bacon. No room for dessert!

I took a quick dip in the pool after we got back to the hotel and then we just hung out in the room for the rest of the evening. The next morning we had the hotel breakfast before heading to Wal-mart (have to hit a Wal-mart when we are out of NY!) Yves will be proud to hear that there was a Joann’s fabric store in the same shopping complex that I DID NOT GO IN!!

So the main reason I chose Seabrook, NH was to hit either Markey’s Lobster Pound or Brown’s Lobster Pound. They are right across the street from one another and both have good reviews. I’m sure going to either one would be good so we chose Markey’s only because they were on the same side of the street we were driving down. MMMMMM!!!! This is what we shared; lobster roll, crab cake (ok, that was all me), fried oysters, fried calamari and steamers. Enjoyed it all but the steamers were my least favorite as the large ones were not as tasty as the smaller ones. The fries were a sorry state as they barely looked cooked and I love a good fry but really, you’re not going there for fries!

Since we had time to kill before being able to check into Mohegan Sun (Joy’s contribution to the weekend trip), I thought we could be more touristy and check out Portsmouth, NH. Got some yummy ice cream at Annabelle’s, caramel cashew cluster and mint summer night’s dream. It’s a cute little town but honestly, all those port towns look very similar to me (Bar Harbor, Port Jefferson, etc).

At Mohegan Sun we were able to book a massage for 8 pm. Joy went to gamble and I went to the hot tub beforehand. It was so nice and relaxing! The massage was heavenly and always hate it when it’s over as it seems to go so fast. There were quite a few dining options offered in the casino/mall. After the relaxing massage, we headed to Frank Pepe‘s Napoletana pizza, another place I had on my list. Their original location is in New Haven, CT. We ordered the White Clam pizza and original pizza with anchovy. I enjoyed both of them as I am a fan of thin crust. They were both a tad salty which I know is the nature of anchovies.

The view from our floor.

Inside the mall/casino

For breakfast, we went to Hash House a Go Go, a place Joy encountered in Vegas and marveled at the size of their portions. She did not lie! Joy ordered the chicken and waffles and I had to get their original hash with eggs. All was delicious! The hash was shredded and I’m not sure how I feel about that. Still thinking about it. LOL

The journey home on Monday morning included a stop at Bishop Orchards. A place Joy will never let us forget about since this was the place with the fabulous peaches. They have changed! From a small little orchard to a bigger market! Because of traffic, I did not make it in time to pick up Sienna after school. I had a little ordeal with the pick up but basically Jessica and my mother in law picked her up.

All in all, a very fun getaway! Just wanted to note for documentation that Sienna cried when we skyped. Saturday night she was sad and had wet eyes. Sunday was full fledged crying! Yves said she was basically fine the whole time except when we skyped. I guess seeing me was too much! I was feeling guilty about not making it in time to pick her up after school since I promised her I would be there. I wondered how mad she would be but turns out, she was ok and just wanted to play! You never know how upset she will be about things. Usually things that I think won’t affect her so much, she is over the top about and things I worry and guilt about are not a big deal! Sigh! Will I ever figure it out?

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Yves’ cousin, Samy, and his wife Sabine came for a visit last week from France. They live in Brittany, by the sea. This was Sabine’s first time in New York and they did all the usual touristy things. I met them for the first time on Wednesday. My dad came over to watch Sienna and I met everyone at the restaurant, Da Andrea. It was a wonderful time! The food was delicious and the 2 bottles of wine were devine! Sorry I don’t have any photos of the food but I do remember that I got the tower of grilled vegetables with goat cheese for appetizer, the squid ink taglioni with fresh clams for entreé and chocolate gelato for dessert. Samy and Sabine are such good people and it was very easy to talk with them. They sent us off with loads of crepés for Yves and a huge box of macarons for me! And a cute outfit for Sienna. So generous! They were leaving Saturday night so we invited them over our place so they could meet Sienna. We took them to Brooklyn Bridge Park. It was a super windy day, up to 60 mph! But sunny! We had lunch at Bubby’s, where I had one of the best sandwiches I had in a long time (THE PILGRIM – roasted turkey, cranberries, stuffing and cream cheese on housemade sourdough bread)! We walked around a bit but probably not as much as we could have because of the wind. Then, before heading back to the house, we swung by Coney Island just to show them. I felt it was colder by then so it was a super quick trip. Back at the house, we had coffee and cocoa and the banana bread I made that morning. Yves drove them to the airport with promises of visiting them in France soon. They will be back in August with their son and entourage so we will be seeing them again in no time. Sienna enjoyed their company as well and said to me that it was very nice that they came.

MMMMM macarons! NOM NOM NOM. They are all gone now.

Group shot!

By my favorite bridge

Sienna’s point of view! (I should have given her a camera for the day!)

Sienna and Sabine running

On the wall

Squinty by Coney Island

We sent them off with some gifts of our own. We bought a Brooklyn t-shirt for Simon and a notepad with a colorful Manhattan skyline on the cover as well as a couple of handmade items. I made Sabine an S pendant and a set of NY coasters from my photos.

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