Little Italy...

...or Lil'illy as we've started calling it. :P 

We just took an afternoon and evening to walk around, drink some wine, and eat some amazing food. As an appetizer we had Mozzarella in Carozza (bread stuffed with fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese and bruschetta tomatoes, flour dusted and flash fried and finished with balsamic reduction). J ordered Linguine alla Scoglio (shrimp, scallops, mussels, and clams tossed with linguine in a spicy tomato sauce) and I had the Panzerotti alla Zucca (panzerotti pasta filled with pumpkin, ricotta, cinnamon, nutmeg, and parmesan sauteed with butter and sage then topped with chopped walnuts). It was all fantastically tasty. :)

Welcome to Little Italy!

Night falls...

J in Little Italy.

Osteria D'amadeo, where we went for a pre-dinner drink. Two Pinot Noirs: $6.00 (plus tip!)

La Tavola.

The main course.

La Tavola: detail.

The end of the evening.

Fell's Point

 J and I have our first set of days off work (without travels planned) since we temporarily relocated to Baltimore. We decided that we would make the next three days about Baltimore. We have different places we would like to visit every day and the first was Fell's Point. We took the Water Taxi over (instead of walking) and then visited Koopers Tavern (Grouper Fish N Chips, Beer), The Horse You Came In On Saloon (a Jack Daniels bar/"Baltimore's Original Watering Hole"), Duda's Tavern (crabcakes!!!), and Slainte Irish Pub (we met up with friends...and tried more food).

On the Water Taxi, departing at Canton.

Detail of the road, Fell's Point.

Bond Street Wharf.

J took this shot of me. Fell's Point.

The brilliant fall colors in a small neighborhood park.

Kooper's Pub. Beer sampler and pumpkin pie martini.

The Horse You Came In On Saloon (and their supply of Jack Daniels).

Fell's Point at night. :)

Charm City

One of the streets in our neighborhood,
decked our for Halloween with pumpkin.

J and I have been enjoying our time in Baltimore. Here is a quick bit of photos to show you some of the sights we've been able to scope out (we haven't been around much). We are hoping to spend time in Little Italy, Fell's Point, and other neighborhoods this week since it will be the first period of more than 4 hours at a time we will have in Baltimore since we've moved here temporarily. :P
I will take more when we explore those areas, but for now here's a little taste of our beautiful neighborhood.

Part of the Korean War Memorial
located near the water.

Inner Harbor.

US Frigate Constellation.

The masts of the Constellation.

J: Anchors Away!

Our favorite neighborhood watering hole. ($13.00 steak night!)

Every now and then Jonson (she's so cute!) will be home and J and I steal
her for most of the day to go walking around the neighborhood and the parks.

What's new!

I know I've been quiet around here lately but I have a really, really good reason: earning my wings. 

I am officially living the life of your friendly, jet-setting flight crew.

Training was stressful at times but mostly it was a lot of laughs. My favorite part was meeting the completely wonderful and amazing people who I am happy to call my friends. I can't wait to see them out on the line!

My first overnight (operational experience): Burbank!

J presenting me with my wings.

+15 Wings of Adventure ;)

Blue Lake

Today, J and I did another hike with our friend Casey.

Yes, we are going a little hike-crazy.

This hike was the hike to Blue Lake from the Mitchell Lake Trailhead in the Brainard Recreational Area outside of Ward Colorado. It culminates at Blue Lake which sits in the middle of a ring of peaks. It was windy and cold when we arrived but we enjoyed the view and found a sheltered area out of the rock found everywhere along the top.

J has more pictures because the whole hike was beyond beautiful and so lush and green, but he still has to go through his. This is one I took and sums up the spot...

Click to enlarge.

Once again, I only tracked the ascent, so total mileage was 5.2 miles.

Created by My Tracks on Android.
Total Distance: 4.20 km (2.6 mi)
Total Time: 1:43:46
Moving Time: 56:35
Average Speed: 2.43 km/h (1.5 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 4.46 km/h (2.8 mi/h)
Max Speed: 6.48 km/h (4.0 mi/h)
Min Elevation: 3201 m (10502 ft)
Max Elevation: 3461 m (11356 ft)
Elevation Gain: 372 m (1221 ft)
Recorded: Tue Sep 13 10:03:46 MST 2011
Activity type: Blue Lake


View 2011-09-13 10:03 in a larger map

Hanging Lake/Spouting Rock Trail

On Monday J and I drove up to Hanging Lake Trailhead, just a few miles east of Glenwood Springs as we have been chatting about going for a while now.

Turns out it is one of our favorite places in Colorado!

We only GPS'ed the first half to conserve battery, so our total distance was closer to four miles.

Thanks to J for his contributions to the pictures. :)

Total Distance: 3.15 km (2.0 mi)
Total Time: 1:14:19
Moving Time: 17:07
Average Speed: 2.54 km/h (1.6 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 11.04 km/h (6.9 mi/h)
Max Speed: 13.70 km/h (8.5 mi/h)
Min Elevation: 1845 m (6053 ft)
Max Elevation: 2211 m (7255 ft)
Elevation Gain: 486 m (1596 ft)
Max Grade: 36 %
Min Grade: -4 %
Recorded: Mon Sep 12 11:01:52 MST 2011
Activity type: Hanging Lake


View 2011-09-12 11:01 in a larger map

Halibut with White Peach-Tarragon Salsa

This is adapted from the book Bringing It Home, a collection of recipes from American chefs by Laura McIntosh.

As the last of summer is winding down...here is one of the last light, summer-y dishes for this year! 

The original recipe calls for you to dredge the fish in flour and pan fry it. We baked it, as we tend to do.

Ingredients: 3 white peaches
1-2 tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped
3 limes
1 tbsp cracked peppercorns
12 ounces halibut fillets (we used frozen)
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1/2 shallot, diced fine
2 tbsp butter, divided

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place frozen fish fillets in a buttered 9x9 pan and salt and pepper to taste. Cut up 1 tablespoon of butter into small pieces and place on top of fish evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes until fish it cooked through and flakes.

Cut peaches in half and remove pit, slice half into segments and place in medium bowl, add tarragon, lime juice, and peppercorn. Lightly toss together. In a small saucepan saute the shallot in the remaining tablespoon of butter. 

Plate fish with shallots on top. Serve with salsa. 

Engagement Photos

These were taken the day before our wedding in Golden along the main street, Clear Creek and the history park, and at the softball fields. Since we were married the next day the wedding pics kind of overshadowed these. ;) Mad props to Chrissy for all of it!

Most of my favorite poses and shots ended up being in the black and white. Hope you enjoy!

First Wedding Anniversary: Oregon Coast

J and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary this weekend at the Oregon coast, with the majority of our stay in Depoe Bay.

The trip included:
-An uneventful flight to Portland
-A beautiful drive to Cannon Beach where we walked the main street and ate lunch on the beach
-An adventurous drive to Depoe Bay which included stops at the Tillamook Cheese factory (surprisingly fun!)
-A fantastic B&B room with a hottub on the porch overlooking the bay - you could hear the buoy bells and the seagulls - and J rocked at spotting seals/sea lions!
-Also: our goal is to now own a Tempur-pedic mattress...so restful!
-Awesome: Fish n Chips at an Irish pub across the streets with drinks to match
-Walking the strip of shops in Depoe Bay and enjoying Italian sodas and clam chowder
-An exploration of the Fogarty Creek area and the beach the creek ran through
-An elegant dinner at Tidal Raves (J had five different types of  fish and seafood by the end of the day)
-Of course, there was breakfast every morning!
-Thanks to Google Maps, our trip back to Portland was more "fun" than was cared for, but we made it to our flight and the crew was a hoot. :)

Thanks to J for these pictures!

J on Cannon Beach with Haystack Rock in the background

J standing calmly on a ledge along HWY 101. It's quite a sheer drop...

I chose to sit :P

The bridge over part of Depot Bay and the small town in the background...the harbor is beyond

Depoe Bay

Fogarty Creek area. The beach there was really interesting...the sand was large and a creek ran right in to the ocean!

1year of marriage, 3.5 years of hanging out <3