Lexington Market – Baltimore, MD – July 2009

One of the cool parts about living in the Northeast, right on the Chesapeake Bay is the seafood. Since we arrived, we’ve had the chance to try some seafood that was way out of our budget in Memphis, but up here it’s VERY affordable. In our first week here Jeremy stretched his culinary wings and made steamed mussels, sautéed scallops, and broiled lobster tails! Needless to say in the next four (maybe five) years we’re going to be spoiled on good seafood.

One of the other food related jewels of our new town is Lexington Market. The only place that I know of that you can purchase Alaskan king crab, raccoon, or marsh rabbit all at the same vendor stall. See below for proof!Lexington Market is also the home of Faidley’s Crab Cakes. They are a Baltimore icon known by all as the home of the best crab cakes in Baltimore. The smaller ones are regular crab cakes and they’re made out of the claw meat. The bigger ones are lump crab cakes and they are made out of meat from the body. These are so good but they’re really rich! Oh and don’t you dare ask for tartar sauce! The Hub did and was scolded by an old man that mumbled while he walked away “I bet you put A1 on your steaks”!

In addition to inexpensive seafood, Lexington Market plays host to a ton of other types of market vendors, from fresh beef, sausage, and poultry, to produce, and just about any kind of baked goods you could imagine.

Note to Reader: I haven’t yet mentioned the three best parts about Lexington Market, so here goes.

One – We can take the metro to the market!

Two – We got everything you see here for under $8: 2 peaches, 2 plumbs, 2 nectarines, 3 forth of July cup cakes, a GIANT peace of German chocolate cake, and one GIANT apple turnover (not pictured).
Additional Note to Reader: The apple turnover is not pictured because in the short time it took me to get the camera out to document our loot, the turnover had mysteriously disappeared and the Hub looked like the cat that had swallowed the canary or the apple turnover in this case.

The third best part about Lexington Market is the people!!! This market houses the most eclectic and diverse array of people. If you are at all a people watcher, you could get your self a cup of coffee, find a centrally located place to sit and you could easily spend all day long watching all the odd balls walk by! It’s AWESOME!!! I have a feeling that this place is going to yield at least a few blog worthy stories. Yay!!!

Till next time,
Bon Voyage!

One Week – June 2009

So today marks one week until I go back to work. I’ve been blessed to be able to take three weeks off before I start my new job.

Note to Reader: Same company, TOTALLY different job.

So in celebration of my last week of housewifedness (if that’s even a word), below is the schedule I’ve been strictly adhering to… unless I change my mind and decide to do something else.

5:30am - Wake up with the Hub – This is a practice that started at the beginning of medical school in an effort for us to keep the same schedule and thus see each other a little more. Now it is a force of habit combined with the fact that I am an extremely light sleeper.

5:45am - Make coffee (for the Hub) and hot tea (for me).

6:30am - Ship the Hub out the door with pager, cell phone, metro pass, iPod, hospital i.d badge, and a kiss. Oh and I almost forgot, the 9 lbs of mail from the previous resident of our home, all marked “Return to Sender – No Such Person”!
Additional Note to Reader: When moving, please, for goodness sakes, CHANGE YOUR ADDRESS!!! Not only is it important that you actually get your mail, which includes the bill for your Fredericks of Hollywood credit card account, your Comcast, and cell phone bills, and your subscription renewals for fine living, Cosmopolitan, Readers Digest, and Guns and Amo magazines, It will also keep the future residents of your former home from lugging your mail up the 39 stairs from the mailbox to the front door, wasting their black Sharpie marker, and then lugging all that mail back down the steps to the out going mail box.

Note to Self: Verify that you indeed submitted your Change of Address form with the USPS as well as all those that bill you.

6:30 - 10:30am - rite outside on the deck in a happily uninterrupted writing trance. Sometimes this goes long, maybe as long as noon or 1:30pm depending on how far in the zone I am.

10:30 (or whenever) - Lay out at the pool reading The Time Traveler’s Wife and soaking up all the sunshine I can stand, which is a lot! Additional Note to Reader: One day I will tell you about my theory on how laying out is almost as healthy as working out.

2:00pm - Shower, eat, catch up on e-mail, and blogs, and clean house, while deciding what to make for dinner. Tonight is dinner with the residents, so I don’t have to worry with that, so maybe a nap, but tomorrow I think maybe a pot roast. Mmmmmmm!

3:00pm - Run to grocery. I must point out that grocery shopping used to be an all day event because we lived 30 min from the good grocery stores, but now, we are between .5 and 2.5 miles from EVERYTHING!!! So when I say “run to the grocery” I literally could run there if I so desired.

4:00pm - Cook dinner

6:30pm - The Hub’s home!

6:45pm - Dinner!!!

There’s a country song called “You’re Gonna Miss Thiss" by Trace Adkins that says exatly what I'm feeling. Although I think after a month or two, or three, or maybe even four, this might get boring, for now I can confidently say that I’m gonna miss this!

Till next time,
Bon Voyage!

39 Steps - June 2009

There are 39 steps between where I park my truck to where I wipe my feet on our welcome mat.
Note To Reader: These are actual stairs, not lengths of measurement!)

I’ve been climbing these steps for a week now and everything from my thighs down hurts. I’m a runner gosh darn it! I’m supposed to be in shape! Needless to say, after these next 4 (maybe 5) years we are going to have some rockin’ legs!

Check them out! Today skinny bird legs…

Tomorrow maybe THESE!!! (Hey a girl can dream!)

Till next time,
Bon Voyage!

Rumblings as We Settle In - Owings Mills MD - June 2009

The Hub: From the kitchen - “I need the colander.”

Wandering Lili: From amidst a pile of boxes in the bedroom - “Well than get it.”

The Hub: Still in the kitchen - “I don’t know where you put it.”

Wandering Lili: Still amidst a pile of boxes in the bedroom - “Look in the cabinet under the wine glasses.”

The Hub: Now turning circles in the kitchen - “Where’s that?”

Wandering Lili: Beginning to climb out of the pile of boxes in the bedroom - “Beside the stove.”

The Hub: Banging pots and pans (indicating he is on the wrong side of the stove) - “Not there.”

Wandering Lili: Still climbing out of the pile of boxes in the bedroom “The other cabinet beside the stove. The one on the….”

***BIG Crash as the wander falls inside… Yes, INSIDE a wardrobe box!***

The Hub: Looking up from the cabinet, still on the wrong side of the stove - “You okay?” – small pause - This is the one under the glasses and it’s not there:”

Wandering Lili: From inside the wardrobe box - “Wine glasses not regular glasses. Look on the other side of the stove!”

The Hub: Cabinets closing and opening - “Found it!”

Wandering Lili: Still inside the wardrobe box - “Glad to hear it.”

Note to Reader: I freaking LOVE moving!

Till next time,
Bon Voyage!

Please Stand By! - June 2009

As life is a bit of a wild ride right now, I wanted to let all who are interested know that I'm still alive and well.

12 - 15+ hour days
plus packing
plus traveling for work
plus the fam coming in for graduation
plus life in general

All of these things have kept me away from the blogesphere for far longer than I would like. I do have several fun posts in the works, so in the famous words of my co-worker Kevin... "Please "Stand By", I'll be back soon.

Till Next Time,
Bon Voyage!

Regalia - May 2009

Note To Reader: Merriam-Webster Defines this as

1: royal rights or prerogatives

2 a: the emblems, symbols, or paraphernalia indicative of royalty b: decorations or insignia indicative of an office or membership or

3: special dress

Additional Note to Reader: Definition #3 is the one we’ll be using today, except it’s not really a “dress”, but rather a special “outfit” for a special occasion.

Today the Hub added this to his wardrobe. He refused to model it for the blogesphere before the big day, but alas, those pictures will come soon enough, like it or not.

So back to the outfit…

This fancy robe will be his attire for pretty much the biggest event in our lives since we got married 4 years ago. Now as I sit with my laptop amidst the box fort we're building in the dining room I'm not quite sure where the time has gone. As a warning the next several posts will be full of heart felt goodbyes to my family and friends, because it's really not healthy to keep all that inside, but I digress...

For now, I find humor in the fact that on Friday my Hub will be, according to Merriam-Webster, wearing a "special dress" on his special day!

Till next time,
Bon Voyage!

A Love Letter to My Dream Computer - May 2009

Dearest iMac,

I hope this letter finds you well. I wanted to take a quick moment to let you know that I've been dreaming of you. Since the moment we met, I knew we had a connection.

I know that my actions in the last 2 years haven't proven my love for you, with the whole purchasing a PC thing, but you can't take this as an indication of my genuine affection towards you. You are where my computer heart lies!

For about 4 years now I've admired you through shop windows and have watched your popularity grow. Sometimes the only times I get to see you are in the commercials on apple.com, which makes me feel like a total stalker. I've watched as your screens got bigger and your processors have grown stronger. And here I am patiently waiting for my turn.

I need you to know that you are the computer of my dreams, and even though it may take a little longer than either of us wants to wait, I will make this dream a reality. Until then we'll have to survive on love, and being able to admire each other from a far. We'll have to embrace these chance encounters in dark computer labs and there's always the utopia of the apple store.

With all my computer love! - Wandering Lili

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!