Baltimore Road Trip Extravaganza

Liang and I had an adventurous trip to visit some friends who have moved to Baltimore for a medical residency. The drive out wasn't too bad at all (after we got out of Pittsburgh traffic of course). When we got in our friends showed us around their new house, which is super adorable! And OH the rooftop deck :D
Up on the deck they pointed out all their neighbors they've met and told us a little about their neighborhood community, which sounded SO amazing. Apparently, the area they live in is known for the roof top decks - so much fun! I was so happy to hear that they found a nice neighborhood they could fit right into and make fast friends :) and all the activities Mansi is involved with, that girl impresses me to no end! I do not know where she gets the energy, but I could use a serving of it :D

After the grand tour we walked to Nacho Mama's, where I got to experience a pulled pork quesadilla (which is mouth watering, trust me)

Giant, no?

This puppy not only had the pulled pork, but jalapeno mac n cheese and a couple cheeses within it's crispy tortilla topper. It was a monster, as you can see. To wash it down we were going to try a hub cap margarita, but we arrived after the cut off time to order one. So, instead we ordered the locally popular National Bohemian beer (90% of distribution is in the Baltimore area), otherwise known as Natty Bo. This may be the most fun and interactive beer I have had in a while. Why? Because the cap provides hours of entertainment for drunk people trying to work out the puzzles, plus there's a guy on top with an awesome mustache! haha

I am digging the 'stache



The beer was tasty for a light beer, plus it gets bonus points for being fun. The next morning we got up and went to a local park to walk around and find a place to do our book club. We found the perfect place to enjoy looking at a whole bunch o' ducks (plus a few geese), and shade for my sake haha. It was so nice to be able to enjoy each others company since we hadn't seen them in so long. As I've never been part of a book club before, I wasn't sure what to talk about. But Mansi had discussion questions and I feel more prepared to better participate in the next meeting. Later, we headed out to Little Italy where we had some brick oven pizzas (mouth watering...) and then onto a gem of a place called Vaccaro's. Can I just say the array of Italian desserts was amazing. We got a mix of cookies, a piece of Tiramisu cake, and a chip and dip (cannoli shell chips and cannoli filling) to share. Next visit I will definitely be buying an assortment of cookies and cannoli.

The Harbor was a happenin' place! All kinds of vendors and people. A neat guy was painting beautiful pictures on all kinds of items, like cardboard and planks of wood. Very artsy :)
I was amazed at the size of the Barnes & Noble at the harbor. The old building was more charming and had more character it seemed like to me than the newer more modern buildings (that's just me).

That night we got to eat at what Liang was hunting for, and I had heard so much about, blue crab!!!! I have never had it before, but boy is it involved eating haha. I will say that eating with a mallet was way more fun than it should be. I had fun, but it was Liang who destroyed the crabs with superior focus, so she should get all the credit for this table of devastation!

I'm glad I got to experience that, with a professional :)

The next morning we got up and went to a famous breakfast place, Blue Moon Cafe, and (very patiently) waited in line so we could experience the food that everyone has been talking about. I got the captain crunch french toast, which is topped with whipped cream and fresh cut fruit. I didn't even need syrup - it tasted so good (thinking about it is making my mouth water just a little bit!) Liang got her fill of crab by ordering the Maryland Eggs Benedict, which is Eggs Benedict with lump crab meat.

 Delicious :)



Soon after breakfast we headed out back to Pittsburgh, but the drive wasn't too bad on the way back either. Once we returned, Michael took a picture of us to remember our happiness at the end of our voyage (I must have been tired with my eyes closed and all hehe).

Our trip was fantastic and I can't express enough how awesome it was to see our friends and hear about how they're doing. I can only hope next year rolls around and that David and I do half as well in adjusting to our new city as well. We already have our next traveling book club meeting tentatively planned, so when they come visit us, Liang and I will have our work cut out for us to make the trip as much fun as we had, but we can't wait!

Marathon Relay 2013

This year, we decided to do the marathon relay! The sun was out, all of Pittsburgh was out to cheer the runners on, and we finished the marathon in 4:07:51!! 

Thanks to all our family and friends who came out to support us! 

Bedford Fall Festival 2012

A few weeks ago, we trekked out to Bedford to attend the 48th annual Bedford Fall Foilage Festival. We really lucked out on the weather, and it ended up being a cool 50-some degree cloudy day that held off on the rain until we were leaving. Score!

So we wandered around for a few hours, taking in all the sights and tastes, and loading up on treats to haul back for our husbands' enjoyment!

Of course we had to get some fair food! Liang got a buffalo burger with peppers and onions, which she wolfed down too quickly before a picture could be obtained. Shannon enjoyed a gigantic and tasty gyro (pictured above) and we shared the humongous order of cheese fries. We'd originally planned on getting some sweets like funnel cake, but after all that food, we found ourselves too stuffed for dessert!

So we collected dessert to bring home instead. We picked up some cinnamon roasted almonds (there were stands everywhere and they smelled so good!), fudge, caramel corn, and apple dumplings.

Also we found the fresh cider press! Shannon had promised to take a gallon home, so we waited in line patiently as these guys worked at a furious pace at this old-timey cider press. You can see the pile of apple mush on the pickup truck in the background. While we waited, we sipped on some hot spiced cider they were selling by the cup on the side. So tasty and warming on the chilly day!

We can't wait to go back next year! It's such a large event, full of interesting sights and yummy food!

And lastly, Liang's trophy finds on this trip:

Cookie cutters! Especially the BUFFALO cookie cutter! Woohoo! You can bet you'll be seeing some cut out cookies in the near future with some of these beauties!