the perfect saturday

well this weekend was just marvelous...it was low key, full of catching up with my besties, beautiful scenery, great convo, loads of love and some vino! one of my best friends came down from boston for some much needed "tripod" catching up (there are 3 of us, so we're like a tripod...get it?). we had big plans for a big weekend of catching up, drinking, and partying; we caught up...1 out of 3 ain't bad right? we didn't fail at tackling the three by choice, we really tried hard; we got decked out, hit the town, had a few sips of wine at dinner and called it a night...we tried. saturday we woke up to breakfast in bed by the boyfriend, damn he's good! it was super legit too; homemade stuffed french toast from scratch with strawberries and whipped cream. around 11 am the tripod headed out for a much needed catch up date and it was perfection. side note, life gets busy and 2 of us live in nyc while the other is in boston so it's not everyday we get to sit down together. but we make it our mission to meet up as much as we can and when we do we pick up right where we left off and spend hours (no exaggeration) on filling each other in on literally everything! and after we were done catching up the boyfriends met us and it was so amazing watching them bond because well...they're stuck with us. "if you wanna be my lover you gotta get with my friends".

this time i chose our date spot and not to toot my horn it was a freaking perfect. we went to wave hill a real life "secret garden" right in my backyard here in the riverdale section of the bronx; it is what i imagine heaven to look and feel like. you couldn't even imagine experiencing the beauty and tranquility that wave hill provides so your guaranteed to be blown away if you visit. there are gardens on top of gardens hidden between secret trails and behind greenhouses all just waiting to be discovered. it is the perfect place for any occasion but i would only share it with a loved one be it a parent, sibling, partner, and/or friend because it really is just that special. fellas, take your ladies here i promise she will love you forever (so long as you aren't an asshole)! wave hill is the perfect place for love and a proposal (::cough cough:: ::louder cough cough::). do yourself the favor and enjoy the beauty of nature, it's worth it!  

"just love each other"

recently, i was chatting with one of my best friend's about love and relationships and how me and the boyfriend were going at it over nothing! literally the smallest things were bothering us and that was adding a stress on us. i opened my email to some words of wisdom from this wifey and momma of two:

"it's hard. life is hard. two completely different people trying to be one is hard. relationships are hard, they are work and anyone who says different is wrong. one thing that has helped us (referring to her relationship) in the past is to just love each other. and i know that seems easier said than done but it works. you both need to agree to just love each other. so when he does something that drives you crazy and vice versa...just take a minute, take a step back and just love. let the reason you guys fell in love triumph anything else. it works. you have to learn to suck things up and give in. and i say you because we as women, we don't budge. we hold grudges, we throw low blows, we have attitudes, we want want want! it's what we do. it's not wrong, it's us. but it doesn't work when you are trying to untie and be one with another person. our selfish attitude doesn't work. it took me a very long time to learn that and i'm still learning. it took a lot for me to give in, for me to apologize and especially for me to bite my tongue. i am not perfect in any way but i try and so does he and i think that's why we have made it so long. just love each other!"

homemade pasta made with love!

on valentine's my love walked into the house with a gorgeous orchid and a bag of groceries, only good things can come from those two things! see my boyfriend is kind of a big deal in the kitchen, homeboy throws down; he can be handed a kit-kat bar, soy sauce, and chicken and make absolute magic happen!! i learned he could cook about a week after i cooked for him (scrambled eggs and pancakes), he asked me what my favorite breakfast dish was and 20 minutes later a beautiful garnished plate of strawberry stuffed french toast was served...yes he even garnishes the plate! he loves to cook and he's damn good at it so he does the cooking over but i started getting annoyed when people would laugh at that set up so i told him i wanted to learn! lesson one took place on valentine's day and like any other starter course we kept it simple.

homemade fresh pasta! here are the directions and some pictures, prepare to salivate:

ingredients:

• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of pepper
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• rolling pin

pour the flour on a clean dry surface. make a well in the center of the flour. crack the two eggs into the center of the well and add the salt, pepper, and oil. break the eggs and mix them together and slowly incorporate the flour until the dough starts to come together. sprinkle some more flour on the counter to prevent the doe from sticking and some on a rolling pin. roll the dough until it's flat and thin. roll up the dough (like a fruit roll up). with a knife cut the dough into 1/4" strips.  unravel the rolls and you will see the linguini shape form. place the pasta in boiling salt water with a little more olive oil. cook for 2-3 min toss with you favorite pasta sauce and enjoy. (click the pictures for the slideshow)

believe it or not it was super easy, quick, and ridiculously delicious...say farewell to pasta in a box! we opted with a vodka sauce and shrimp to go with our pasta but you can do whatever tickles your fancy! oh and those rolls of bread, he made those; yeah like with yeast, flour, and an oven! i'm one lucky gal! but he gets love too i made him this pancake the next morning! :)