It's been an alternately strange/awesome 48 hours around here, culminating in some festive red velvet cupcakes and pairs figure skating (if the Winter Olympics could be my Valentine, it would happen). A friend who lives down south sent me a box-mix for red velvet cupcakes, since I can't find it around here. It came with a mix for cream cheese frosting, but I didn't feel like getting out my giant standing mixer, so instead I decorated with some cut-out hearts and confectioner's sugar.
The mix made 5 cupcakes, and even though it wasn't quite as delicious as the queen's recipe, I will take the ease and smaller portions of the mix any random Sunday night when I just want a sweet fix.
After a lot of debate about what to do this Valentine's Day, we ended up having a low key but delightful weekend. Last night I completed the circle by asking E to marry me (yes, you read that right -- more details forthcoming), and he said yes, not unexpectedly. We made a delicious dinner and actually cleared off the dining table and ate there, WITH lit candles, instead of hanging out on the couch and watching an episode of whatever TV show we're trying to catch up with at the moment (right now it's Modern Family).
This morning we got up and went to brunch at a bar down the street, and everything was amazing. The entrees were the perfect breakfast/lunch and traditional/edgy mix, and the mimosa I had was great. E got an egg and cilantro sandwich that he cannot stop talking about, so that's usually a good sign. After brunch we headed into Manhattan to enjoy the nice weather (it was around 40 and not windy!) at the Central Park Zoo. I hadn't ever been to the CPZ before, so I was pretty excited. I was impressed by the enclosures and the animals that were on view, and the way the original zoo structures have been adapted was pretty cool. I think the polar bears were the stars of the day, but the birds in the rainforest house were a very close second.
They also had Snow Leopards on view that were stunningly beautiful (except for when one relieved itself in front of us), and we got to see a sea lion feeding as well! There were quite a few other folks enjoying a day outside in the brisk air, and I am excited to go back when the weather warms up.
Unfortunately the rest of the day wasn't as exciting. When we got back out here, we went to shovel out the car from the snowstorm we had this week, and luckily found that the sun had done about 90% of our work for us. It pays to procrastinate, kids! Then we went to Target spontaneously, along with everyone else in Queens, and ate our Chinese food leftovers when we got home. Throw in some more Olympics coverage, and we're back to where we began -- cupcakes!
I hope everyone had a safe and happy VD! It wasn't a monster truck rally, but we had a lot of fun, and the stuff we did suited us just perfectly, so I am completely content.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment