A Weekend With Family in NY

October 19, 2019October 21, 2019 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 9 Comments

This past weekend I got to travel – by myself – to New York! My brother was in town from Berlin and somewhat last minute I decided to get on a plane to see him and my parents.

It was such a good decision – I hadn’t been home since Christmas and it was great to see my family and also get in some quality time.

The weekend started with a quick stop in the City to see Jane. We were able to grab a quick lunch and catch up before I caught the train up to Albany with my brother.

Friday started off with a run around my old neighborhood. I saw cows and even caught my brother who was out for a bike ride!

That afternoon, we went to the Hyde, a nearby museum and old house. It was a GORGEOUS fall day in the area, but chilly.

And the museum was really cool – they had a Picasso exhibit going on, but you also get to see the interior of the house, which is preserved since the family lived there in the early 1900s.

Friday night, we went out to dinner in Saratoga Springs. I had an AMAZING grilled octopus dish.

Saturday, we decided to escape town and go for a hike in the Catskills. My brother, mom and I got in the car and after a kinda long car ride, got to the bottom of the trail at the mountain. After hiking up, we saw some amazing views.

The trees were all yellow and orange.

Then, we climbed up even further — you can see the house down below right where I took the picture above.

That night, we had tickets to the Albany Symphony Orchestra! It was a great performance at the beautiful Palace Theater downtown.

Unfortunately, that was the end of an amazing weekend. I hadn’t spent time with just my parents and brother in several (8? 10?) years, and it was just what I needed.

Questions for you:

When was the last time you traveled by plane?
Do you live near your parents? Siblings?

The Family Visits CLE

September 10, 2015September 8, 2015 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 2 Comments

What a wonderful weekend.

My family was in town. That’s right, my parents AND Greg were all in Cleveland for the long weekend, and it was glorious. The weather was gorgeous, we had some good eats and we got in some quality time.

Some highlights from the weekend …

Greg got into town Thursday, so we had dinner and ice cream together.

ice cream

Friday, my parents came in. We had dinner in Uptown – starting with an amazing meal at L’Albatros and then dessert at Coquette Patisserie.

pre-dinner with the parents in Uptown

dessert at Coquette!

Saturday morning, we walked to Hingetown for tea and coffee. Then it was off to the West Side Market to pick up groceries.

kombucha on tap=happiness.

Saturday also included a walk down to the lake and dinner along the river.

fam photo by the water

pre-dinner drinks along the river

My parents left Sunday after brunch, but Sunday afternoon, I went with Greg, his friend Zac and his friend Christie to a winery.

brunch. because this post doesn’t have enough food photos.

Winery!

After the winery it was time for the closing night at Blossom! Another great performance by the Cleveland Orchestra AND fireworks.

The group @ Blossom

Fireworks!

For Labor Day, we did as any good American and did NO Labor. We hit the beach!

beach day

And for dinner, we celebrated B and his brother’s birthday. With cupcakes, of course. (These were made by my niece and nephew – how cute!)

cupcakes

Tuesday was our last day off before Greg and Zac left. Naturally, we started the day with a run. It was 81 degrees, something the San Fran boys were not used to, so I could actually keep up with them! We finished 5.6 miles at under a 9 min/mile pace, so I was pretty pleased.

bridges

We had a low-key last day. We enjoyed some Restore for breakfast (my fave acai bowls/smoothies/toast) and then spent the rest of the day chilling at a coffee shop in Tremont.

smoked salmon toast. BEST. (and I love acai bowls with almond butter!)

All in all, it was a great weekend in Cleveland. The weather was great (I don’t mind 80s :)), and it was fun to show my brother and Zac around and see my parents. Why can’t summer never end?

Some questions for you:

Almond OR peanut butter? If you had to choose one …
Do you like kombucha? Ever had it on tap?
What’s something great you ate over the holiday weekend?

Thankful Thursday: For Family

May 22, 2014May 21, 2014 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 1 Comment

My brother graduated this week from college. My brother, whom I remember being born (we’re 7 years apart) is graduating from college. How does that make me feel?

It makes me feel so grateful, lucky and so thankful to have such an incredible family. So for this Thankful Thursday (perhaps my first one?) I want to thank my family. Warning – a short sappy post follows.

Greg and me at his high school graduation

So thank you to my brother — I’m so proud of him – for all he’s achieved in college and beyond … and so excited for him – to start this next chapter of his life, because we all know that life out of college is not easy, but the challenges it presents us really makes us who we are. Despite being nearly a decade younger than I am, there are so many ways in which I look up to him and am inspired by all that he does.

7 years apart – Greg at my college graduation

And of course my parents – for always supporting me and my brother, despite how difficult our decisions have been for them. It is thanks to them that my brother and I are who we are today. I could write a post all about how thankful I am for them – and I know I’ve done it somewhat before – so this post will end with that.

This year – my brother’s graduation. We all look the same, right?

Hope you’re all having as much of a great week as I am and are feeling thankful today as well.

Some questions for you:

What are you thankful for?
Any graduations coming up or just happen? Congrats!
What day of the week was your graduation on? Mine was on a Monday – Greg’s was on a Tuesday and Wednesday!
Where is your alma mater? Do you stay involved? Boston College – Go Eagles! Not as much as I’d like to -B and I are both part of the local alumni association but we haven’t done much with the group in some time.

Chicken Sausage, Quinoa and Goat Cheese Stuffed Squash

November 14, 2013November 14, 2013 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / Leave a comment

When my brother Greggypoo came and visited for the weekend (he loves when I call him that) we decided to spend some time cooking a dinner together. Of course, since it was a Saturday, we went the West Side Market to pick up fresh produce first and see what would inspire us. The only request from my brother? He wanted something fall-like, and delicious, of course. Something fall-like? What says “fall” more than squash? And since B and I have been eating quite a bit of roasted squash lately (2-3x a week), I decided to try something different – stuffed squash.

Greg cooking!

This recipe was really good. Both B and Greggypoo cleaned their plates and declared they were full. I served the squash with some sweet cornbread, which I made for the second day this week. Because the cornbread recipe really is that good. I may have to share it soon!

Chicken sausage quinoa and goat cheese stuffed butternut squash

Chicken Sausage, Quinoa and Goat Cheese Stuffed Squash

Here’s what you need:

2 medium butternut squash
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
1-2 tsp vegetable oil
4 ounces fresh italian chicken sausage, casing removed
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 cup chopped Spanish or yellow onion
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
3 garlic cloves, finely diced
3 ounces goat cheese
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder

Here’s what you do:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Cut squash in half lengthwise and remove seeds; place cut sides facedown in a baking pan filled with 1 inch hot water. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until squash is soft or done.
While squash is cooking, prepare stuffing. First, make the quinoa. Boil the chicken broth in a medium saucepan. Once boiling, add quinoa. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.
Remove sausage from casing and add to a nonstick pan. Cook sausage for 5-7 minutes, using a spatula to evenly cook and break up the meat. Once meat is no longer pink, add Italian seasoning, onion, pepper and garlic. Cook 5-7 minutes or until onion is translucent. Stir in quinoa and put heat on low, cook for another minute or so.
When squash is cooked, remove water from baking dishes and turn squash so cut side is up. Mix filling with goat cheese, and fill each squash with the same amount of filling. Sprinkle squashes with cumin and chili powder. Bake squashes for another 15-20 minutes.

collage - Chicken sausage and goat cheese stuffed butternut squash - i crashed the web

Chicken sausage and goat cheese stuffed butternut squash - i crashed the web

Something about Siblings – A Weekend in CLE with My Brother

November 11, 2013November 11, 2013 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / Leave a comment

This past weekend my brother visited me in Cleveland. The last time he came to see me on his own was more than 3 years ago – I was living in Lakewood, had somewhat just moved to Cleveland and well, it was WAY too long ago. I try to go visit him and stay with him on campus (he goes to Columbia) pretty much once a year – but I’m getting too old for his college lifestyle. The last time I visited him we didn’t go out until nearly midnight – I’m almost 30, which is waaay too old to be going out that late. I had to seriously rally and drink a Diet Dr. Pepper just to pull myself off the blowup mattress in his dorm room.

Greg and me the last time he came to see me on his own

Anyway, this weekend turned out to be a pretty a relaxing weekend with my brother. We both had work to do (he more so than I – a thesis plus hundreds of pages of reading … oh college!) so there wasn’t much going out. But it was great to just hang out with him and do everyday things with him. I hope he had a good time and it’s not another 3 years before he comes back to Cleveland!

Friday included some working at a coffee shop, some vegan food at The Flaming Ice Cube and some dinner at Noodlecat.

At Flaming Ice Cube

Some of our awesome food from Friday is below (not pictured – appetizers or main course at Noodlecat, pumpkin cookies, my PUMPKING beer, Buckeyes or zucchini bread):

From top left, corn chowder from Flaming Ice Cube, Soba Noodle Salad from FI, Braised Beef Bun from Noodlecat, Pesto Burger from FI

Saturday, B and I started our day by going for a leisurely run outside. I was having a hard time breathing for some reason, but it felt SO good to just be having a relaxing run – no racing. Then we decided to head to Tremont for some coffee and pastries, and holed up in Loop to do some work.

A little work in a coffee shop

We of course enjoyed the fall colors that are still here and took a few pictures in the park while we were hanging out in Tremont.

Greg in me in Tremont

Then we hit the West Side Market to pick up groceries for dinner. We bought some butternut squash, chicken sausage, peppers and onions. And made an awesome dinner together of some goat cheese, quinoa and chicken sausage stuffed squash – recipe coming soon 🙂

Chicken sausage and goat cheese stuffed butternut squash - i crashed the web

The finished product.

Greg is cooking!

Saturday night included some more studying (I’m an awesome study helper. Just ask Greg. He’ll probably remember 3 more Russian vocab words thanks to my mad studying skills) and some deep chatting / thoughts about the future and me passing out from a corn bread coma pretty early.

Sunday meant dropping my brother back off at the airport 😦 I was sad to see him go, but am so excited to see him in just over a month for the holidays! After the airport, B knew I was sad to see my brother go, so he took me to Starbucks and then to the park for a fiveish mile walk. It was another great fall day in Cleveland and it was great to walk among the colorful leaves.

Yes, I took a selfie.

weekend walk with b

Hope you had a fabulous fall weekend as well!

Friday Five: How Is It November Already?

November 8, 2013November 6, 2013 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / Leave a comment

Friday !! Friday !! YAY !! Can you sense my excitement? It seems like it’s been forever since I updated you on my life – and instead of spending a long time doing that I’m going to just show you FIVE things. And then go off and enjoy my Friday. Sound good?

Okay. Here’s what’s happening. Sorry in advance for the complete randomness.

1. I’m still LOVING the fall colors in Cleveland. Seriously – it’s NOVEMBER already and even though it was 65 degrees earlier this week, Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Anyway, just look at these trees. Oh, and my cute nephew too:

fall colors

oliver and the tree

2. B, Mary and me did a 5k last weekend and I got a PR! My goal was to finish in under 25 minutes – and sadly I didn’t make it 😦 My finish time was 25:23 and I finished first in my age group! Yes, it was a small race – but I got my first 1st Place medal!

PR and first place

3. My new favorite dinner slash food combo? Sushi and champagne / prosecco. Yum. WHY have I never had this combo before? Thanks to my fave Cleveland sushi place Sushi 86 for fulfilling my addiction.

Rainbow roll and Danny’s BLT from Sushi 86. And prosecco

4. Do you know A Great Big World? Do you watch The Voice? They are two of my current favorite things – and they CAME TOGETHER this week. One of my favorite A Great Big World songs is Say Something. And Xtina performed it on The Voice earlier this week. If you don’t know A Great Big World, you must check them out. My brother introduced me to them / Ian Axel a few years ago (I found the email – January 2010) and they have been my jam for a while now. Enjoy!

5. Speaking of my brother – he is in town visiting me from NY! I’m SO excited to have him spending the weekend with me. What should we do? What should I show him in Cleveland? It’s been WAY too long since I’ve seen him.

Siblings 🙂

Questions for you:

Clevelanders – what should I show / do with my brother while he’s in town visiting?
Anyone have any races this weekend? Recent PRs?
How often do you see your siblings?
Do you like it when your favorite bands from a few years ago hit the mainstream spotlight?

Weekends In My Second Home – New York (Part Two)

May 14, 2013May 13, 2013 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / Leave a comment

Friday night I had planned on staying with my brother in his dorm room. I did it last year, and post-dinner we had just hung out, chatted and gone to bed, which is kinda what I thought we were going to do this year. I was wrong! This year, Greg wanted to take me out with his friends. I’m clearly not in college anymore. His friends were meeting at 11 p.m. to go out … yes, 11, which is later than I typically go out now. We went to a bar only a few blocks away from campus, a bar that gave out free shots of anything (including tequila) if you friended them on Facebook. And then it started pouring out, and none of us had umbrellas. You can tell from those last two sentences how my night was. It was a good time – I enjoyed meeting my brothers’ friends, partying like a college student for one night and getting stuck in the rain.

this is what happens when Greg and I hang out

Saturday morning we woke up pretty early (sleeping on a dorm room floor isn’t easy, even if you have a blow up mattress), and Greg suggested we go for a quick, short run while he waited for his laundry. Another impromptu, unplanned run in New York? Score! After the run, we enjoyed breakfast and then it was time to say goodbye as my parents and B were on their way to pick me up to visit my grandma while my brother studied for finals.

Grandma, dad and me

My grandma lives in an assisted living home with a lot of other elderly people. It was SO nice to see her – it’d been a few months – but it’s always hard seeing her living there, as opposed to the apartment I saw her in when I was growing up. I hope that when I’m old and if I’m living in an assisted living home I take advantage of all the activities they have. Posted in the elevator I saw the schedule for the weekend included crafts, live music, a morning walk, and even some fresh-baked apple pie BEFORE dinner.

After visiting my grandma we headed back up to Albany and went out to a really delicious dinner at a Turkish restaurant. My parents went to Turkey last year to visit my brother who had an internship there over the summer (see how cool he is?) and I’m convinced that since then they enjoy Turkish food more. Anyway, I gobbled it all up before taking any photos because I was so hungry after smelling the warm apple pie cooking all afternoon. I fell asleep on the couch at home (see, this time home means in Albany!) after a tiring but relaxing day.

Mother’s Day Brunch

Sunday I woke up and my parents were getting ready to go for their usual hour and a half walk around the neighborhood. I decided to join them, but go on a run first and meet them halfway. For some reason (perhaps fueled by the amazing Turkish food?), I ran faster than I normally do – my MapMyRun app clocked me at running 4.75 miles in under 42 minutes! After my faster-than-usual run, I found my parents and enjoyed a leisurely walk home with them.

Check out my splits for the run! I’m not typically this fast unless it’s a race.

After our walk/run, we went out to Mother’s Day brunch in downtown Albany. We had reservations at Justin’s on Lark Street, which had a great breakfast and live piano music. I enjoyed a latte, some cornbread and a great brunch of eggs over easy, french toast, bacon, potatoes and toast. I was starving (again!) and finished it all. Post-brunch, the weather looked nice, so we headed over to Washington Park where Tulip Fest was going on. The Tulip Festival happens every spring in Albany and features live music, food vendors, family-friendly activities during the day and other activities at night, and even the crowning of a Tulip Queen. We only had time to walk around for a little before it was time to head back home, pack and head to the airport.

mom dad me tulips

As always, it was sad to leave my parents and head back to Cleveland. But it was such a beautiful weekend and I had such a good time, which made leaving easier. I hope everyone had a great Mother’s Day weekend as well!

And since there are no food photos in this post, I’ll leave you with what B and I enjoyed for dinner after we got off the plane late Sunday evening for dinner – Vietnamese.

I ❤ Vietnamese Food

Some questions:

Do you live in the same city as your parents/siblings? If not, do you visit them often? My family is all in New York, but I try to get out there a few times a year. I also love hosting them in Cleveland!
What time is too late to go out at night? No time – but I think getting ready to go out at 11 p.m. is too late for me now. I guess I’m getting old!
Do your parents work out or have a work out routine that they stick to? Yes! They have for as long as I remembered. We would go to the YMCA as a family when I was young or go on long walks. Which is probably why I have always felt the need to stay active and get in a run or some other activity every day.
Do you enjoy brunch food? What’s your favorite? I typically enjoy the more savory brunch foods like eggs – I don’t really like pancakes, waffles, french toast, etc.

Weekends In My Second Home – New York (Part One)

May 13, 2013May 13, 2013 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 2 Comments

I love New York. For those that don’t know, I was born in New York City and lived there until my parents moved up to Albany where I grew up before living in Boston, and eventually where I am now – Cleveland.

I always talk about “going home” when I go to back to New York. But when people ask me where “home” is, I say Cleveland. It sometimes seems like I don’t know where home is – but I’m fine with that. Having multiple homes makes it easy to feel at home at a few different places. And this weekend I had booked tickets to spend Mother’s Day with my mom at home – in New York City and Albany. Unlike my last impromptu trip home a few weeks ago, this time B was joining me!

Thursday night, B and I left Cleveland and flew into NYC. Right from the airport, we took a taxi to meet up with B’s friend Jared (who says he reads this blog … Hi Jared!) who was out with his coworkers and girlfriend, celebrating his last day of work. Jared has been working as a high-powered NYC lawyer pretty much since he finished law school, and his coworkers threw him a goodbye bash at a whiskey bar in Hell’s Kitchen, On The Rocks. The lawyers had been there for quite some time and were having a good time when we arrived, suitcases in hands. We stayed, had some drinks, and joined in the celebration before calling it a night and heading back uptown to Jared’s place.

On to Friday. B and I spent Friday sightseeing It was great! Jared lives on Central Park West and I was able to start the day with a 3.7ish mile run (per my MapMyRun App as seen below) through Central Park, which was beautiful, as you can see. I knew that as soon as I laced up my sneakers and went outside that it was going to be a good day – days starting with runs are always better.

central park mapmyrun

Post-run, B and I walked downtown to Rockefeller Center to meet my best friend Jane for lunch. Jane is pretty awesome (obviously, she was my maid of honor) and after getting a degree in city planning/urban development, she moved to NYC to find a job – she’s now living in Brooklyn and temping downtown. We enjoyed some delicious sandwiches, walked around a bit, and then B and I left Jane to do some more exploring.

brian and me rockefeller

one of my bffs who lives WAY too far away – jane!

From Rockefeller Center, we walked to one of my favorite places in NY, Eataly. We didn’t buy anything this time (too full from lunch), but I loved seeing all the people enjoying the gelato and smelling all the delicious food.

From there, we headed to One World Trade Center. I had been by there after 9/11 but before the memorial was being built so it was my first time seeing what had become of the area. We didn’t check out the memorial though – I don’t think I’m ready for that.

one world trade center

From there, we walked to South Street Seaport to get a view of the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a beautiful day and we sat for a little bit (my feet were tired!) and I bought a bag of candy to help enjoy the view (candy makes everything, even existing gorgeous views, better).

Pretty sure he doesn’t like posing for photos but humors me

Then, we headed to the Financial District so B could check out Wall Street. B had never been to Wall Street and enjoyed checking out where the original wall used to be (isn’t it crazy to think that NYC used to end all the way down there?!) and the Stock Exchange Building.

Look, it’s a map of Ohio!

After that, we hit up Chinatown. I was tempted to buy a bag of strange dried stuff (ginger, scallops, plums, unnamed fish) from a shop we stopped in, but we were on our way to dinner and I had just bought a bag of candy. It was such a gorgeous day and walking around was exactly what we wanted to do.

Chinatown

By then, it was time to meet my brother in the West Village. We headed back up the island and getting to the area a little early, sat down for afternoon drinks at Bobo. My brother joined us, bringing with him flowers! He had brought me tulips. How sweet, huh? Anyway, I had a lovely ginger mojito and my brother had a lemon-rosemary gin beverage. It’s still weird having my brother order drinks in bars – he just turned 21 and I’m not used to it.

siblings!

After drinks, we headed to dinner, and B headed back uptown to meet up with Jared again. Greg and I had a great meal at a BYOB French restaurant, Tartine, in the West Village where we ate outside. We shared two salads – one warm kale with butternut squash, the other fennel and asparagus with avocado and ricotta salata – and then the special entree – an almond encrusted halibut with a creamy polenta and asparagus. And of course, since it was BYOB, we enjoyed a bottle of a French wine that B and I had picked up along the way.

As we were leaving dinner, I had one of my first celebrity sightings – we saw Hugh Jackman! It was awesome. We actually were about to head to the train and ended up following Hugh for a few blocks. I was literally one foot behind him and could’ve touched him at one point. It was surreal! I wish I had taken a picture … but you would’ve just seen the back of a guy in a white polo shirt and a blonde woman and a small pug dog, so you’ll just have to trust me. And instead, enjoy this photo that I did NOT take:

I did not take this photo. 😦

To Be Continued …

And in the meantime, some thoughts to ponder:

Do you enjoy impromptu runs? Or do you prefer to plan a route ahead of time?
Have you ever had a celebrity sighting? What did you do?
Where do you call home? Do you have two homes?
Have you tried any of the dried scallops or other fishes from Chinatown?

Birthday Cake Batter Cookies

April 2, 2013April 20, 2013 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 2 Comments

My brother’s birthday is in about a week and he’s turning 21! I can’t believe my baby brother is finally turning the big 2-1. So, to help him celebrate from afar (sorry Greg, I won’t be in NY with you for another month or so), I made some birthday cake cookies in his honor!

I’ve made “cake batter cookies” before – but the recipes I’ve found tended to be mostly just cake batter and came out thin and tasting a little too much like raw cake batter for my liking. This recipe is definitely a keeper- it’s a mashup between a regular chocolate chip cookie recipe and cake batter cookie recipe. The result is a delicious, chewy, perfect cookie.

Have a birthday cake coming up? Or just want an excuse to make delicious cookies that taste like cake batter? Here you go!

Birthday Cake Batter Cookies

Recipe modified from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Here’s what you need:

1 ¼ c. all-purpose flour
1 ¼ c boxed yellow cake mix (I had leftovers from the birthday cake truffles)
½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ sticks butter (3/4 c), room temperature – I used 1 stick of low fat butter and ½ stick regular unsalted
¾ c granulated sugar
½ c light brown sugar
1 egg (I used ¼ c Egg Beaters)
2 tsp vanilla
½ c chocolate chips
½ c white chocolate chips
1/3 c rainbow sprinkles (I had Christmas sprinkles that I used, plus added some stand alone blue sugar crystals)

Here’s what you do:

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cake mix and baking soda. Set aside.
In a large bowl of a stand mixer (like your KitchenAid), cream together butter and sugars on medium speed. Combine until well mixed.
Add in egg and vanilla until creamed.
Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients, approximately ½ c at a time. Mix until evenly combined, careful not to overmix.
Using a spatula, fold in chocolate and white chocolate chips and sprinkles.
Refrigerate dough overnight, if possible. If you’re short on time, cover dough and place in a freezer for about 30-45 minutes.
After dough is chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Drop rounded tablespoons of the dough onto a baking sheet, prepared with Pam.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are slightly brown but centers are still soft.
Cool cookies on baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. My batter made approximately 36 cookies.