Bluff Point

The weather was so beautiful this week, that I decided to snap a few photos of the kids on my iPhone 7.  It was ridiculous trying to get them still, so I captured most in motion! By the end, Harebear wasn't having any of it!

Legoland Boston

When planning for Jaiden's birthday, we asked would he like a party, or to take one friend somewhere special.  He said I want to take a friend to LEGOLAND!!! 

I'm all for this because birthday parties stress me out--and usually are overwhelming for the birthday child.  So we hit up Legoland Boston today with his closest friend.  But first, tickets.

I am the most frugal person I know--so one of the things I do before I buy tickets to any place on earth is to search online for coupon codes.  There are a ton of websites that do this--so I just google exactly what tickets I'm looking for + "coupon" or "code" and 97% of the time something legit pops up.  If all else fails I call the place and flat out ask--do you have any specials going on right now?   Most of the time they will hook you up.

So this morning I found a code, but couldn't figure out how to add it online--so I called Legoland Boston and turns out my code didn't work. I asked do you have a code that does?  She says "let me check" and BOOM. I have 4 free child tickets worth $92!  $92! That is insane--just by asking.  If you are planning to go to Legoland Boston this month, try this code: 169904.

Field Trip

Today I chaperoned Jaiden's first school field trip to Scott's Yankee Farmer (on his birthday!). Having to keep track of four darting and dodging 4-5 year olds was amazing and terrifying!  I kept telling the teacher God bless you--you do this everyday!  

It was interesting to see the difference between the girls (sitting and listening intently) and the boys (bouncing and bopping, chatting and wiggling) and to realize oh--it's not just my kid who is like this--it's a 4-5 year old thing!  Harrison was backpack chillin...because you know Harrison--he just chills. 

It all started out by following a bus full of excited and anxious kindergarten and first graders through the enchanting fall foliage along the back roads of East Lyme.   Once we arrived, Farmer Scott and his wife loaded us all into wagons pulled by tractors on a tour of the farm, where the kids learned about different apples, squashes and gourds and were even able to pick our own! We finished up the day picking apples and enjoying a picnic lunch.  

2 things I learned about being chaperone:  have a safe word (come back to me when you hear cheerios!), and hold hands!

Hello Fall

Summer has always been my favorite season – – my skin drinks up the sunshine like honey and I get to hit the beach at least a few times a week.  I'm pretty sure that's why I chose to go to school in Florida and moved to Southern California right after I graduated.  Now that I live in Connecticut--I realize summers in New England are especially nice. The long days, barbecues with friends, endless beaches to visit, polo matches,  impromptu block parties with our neighbors, and soft serve ice cream at locally owned spots with the boys (Twisters!) are our family's traditions--and many of my friends are teachers, so I can play with them more too!

But one thing I never thought I would say, is that fall here takes the cake!  The mild temperatures, breathtaking fall foliage, and endless seasonal activities truly make it a special time of year.  This is when we tell people to come visit! Every year we break out our fall layers and the Roses go apple picking at Scott's, we hit up Clyde's Cider Mill, I take some me time (with girlfriends) and hit the Jonathan Edwards Winery Harvest Fest (with Sugar live!) and of course we pick out costumes for Halloween. Which is basically talking lil J out of being spider man yet another year!

Fall is also the craziest time of year for me, because Lil J's birthday, my husband's birthday and our anniversary all hit in a 4 day window.  Talk about planning ahead! Okay, let me get back to that planning.

Happy fall!

iSail

Today I sailed this boat.  All by myself! And I'm super proud of me.  I promised that I would do at least two things a year that scare me--and this is the second. Because if you fall in, the water is cold and it's filled with jellyfish.  Two people fell in today – –but I wasn't one of them!

The sailing class is at the Mystic Seaport-- it is every Sunday from now through the beginning of November.   We start out on these little boats and sail around the Mystic River--and the weather today was about 62°.

The day started out with a lesson on the parts of the sailboat with our instructors Wes and Bob.  We then put the boats together, carried them out to the water, hopped in, and one by one--pushed off into the water!

What things scare you, that you may secretly one day try?  

House of Rose Eats: Curry & Fig Deviled Eggs

Y'all I had the BEST deviled eggs in my life last weekend at the HavPlenty brunch party at The Cecil in Harlem.  I HAD to recreate my version of these as soon as I got home.  They turned out so bomb.

First, do you know how to boil an egg?

Ingredients

12 large eggs

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon fig jam

2 tablespoons curry powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

chives

Preparation

Prep: 45 Minutes

Cook: 25 Minutes

1. Place your eggs in a pot large enough to hold them with some space remaining. Fill pot with cold water and cover eggs by 1 inch. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Once they come to a rapid boil, turn the burner off and let your eggs sit, for 12-15 minutes.  

2. Fill a large bowl with half ice and half cold water. Transfer eggs to ice water and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Crack each egg and return to the ice water. Remove shells.

3. Cut each egg in half lengthwise and remove yolks. Add yolks to a large bowl and mash with a fork. Add mayonnaise, curry powder, jam and salt. Mash until blended and smooth.

4. Use a small spoon to fill each egg white with equal amounts of filling. (Or use a ziplock bag with a small piece of a corner snipped off to pipe filling.) Garnish each egg with a chopped fresh chives.

5. Enjoy!

How do you make your deviled eggs? I'd love to hear your recipe!

Brunchin' In the City

I don't think I know a single person that doesn't love a good weekend brunch!  I think pre-fall is the perfect time to visit New York--so I caught a train and went for a visit for the day.

My girlfriends and I went to HavPlenty brunch at The Cecil in Harlem, since my friend Lauren Grant of The Grant Access always puts on a good event.  I had the absolute best deviled eggs that I've ever had--so much so that I recreated the recipe with my own spin on it as soon as I got home.  I posted the recipe.  The original was yellow curry/black currant with chives--the perfect balance of sweet and savory.

It just so happened that the African American parade was right outside on the next block--so we got to hit that up for part of the afternoon too.  Where are you brunchin' this weekend?

Mind The Gap

It has been 6 years since I have come back to this blog, which I started as an almost newlywed upon being advised by my wedding website web designer friend. "You should start a blog so people know the behind the scenes stuff, you know?" So I wrote a few posts and thought that nobody really seemed interested. A couple years later, I found myself living in small town Connecticut-- married, freezing and bored. So I started another blog about my adventures of exploring my interests and my new life as a young responsible adult. It was called The Modern Renaissance Woman. It was great--I was writing about topics I was passionate about, and chiming in on current events, fashion, travel, exploring new skills like wine tasting and cooking and being a wife. I got lots of interest and fast, but pretty soon it felt like people went from suggesting, to asking, to commanding that I write about things they wanted to hear about--and I didn't like that. Plus I found out I was expecting my first child, so I decided to put that away until I had the time. So in the past couple years my cousin Charlie (we call her Cha Cha --pronounced Sha Sha) has been consistently telling me how she loves visiting us from the city (New York) and how I need to be blogging again. No! I tell her--I'm all set. That brings me to today. 6 years, 2 kids, a new job, a new house and several adventures later--here we are. I've decided to go back to my original space and just start posting about what I love again--what adventures I try, how I figure out this mom thing and housewife thing and balancing myself thing. I think exploring our humanness and all that we encounter could be fun to share. So here goes--my experience as a Rose--take 2.