Carole King Sang it Best -- "Back to California"

So after 10 wonderful wonderful years in Northern, Virginia, I'm headed back to the land of my youth. California. I leave in two weeks to make the drive across the country. It'll be 10 days of high adventure on the road and then I'll be back to the homeland.

Look, I went to Switzerland and Italy!

I would be in Ireland right now, but . . .

Easter Dinner

We had a wonderful Easter Dinner, complete with a hot crossed buns, ham with a blackberry rum sauce (AMAZING), strawberry bunny cake, lemon meringue pie, great friends and food comas.

BEST.SEATS.EVER!!!

So we got a special treat yesterday. In opening week of the baseball season, I was offered the BEST.SEATS.EVER at Nats Ballpark -- first row, right behind the dugout. I took Jimmy and my friends Christy and Bryan, who are also siblings. SIBLINGS night at the ballpark!! We were in conversation distance (or yelling distance in Bryan's case) of the ball players. Jimmy went early for batting practice and when we showed up, this is what he had aquired for himself. He is such a great brother. He not only gave me one, but he also gave a little kid one as well, only keeping one of the hard-earned balls for himself.

Bryan, who is the hugest Phillies fan ever, brought us all t-shirts to wear -- and even got a ball for himself that had been flipped over the dugout after beeing "touched by all of [his] favorite players".

A few more pics from the night.

"I LOVE THIS TOWN"

My friend Rachel and I went for a walk/run yesterday and these are just a few of the pics I took with my little camera phone. In the illustrious words of Winston Zeddemore, the 4th and last of the Ghostbusters, "I LOVE THIS TOWN".

The Cure for What Ails You!

I think I've just discovered baking therapy. Last night I got home from work, a little beaten down and worse for the wear. I pulled out my mixing bowl and pans and proceeded to make a huge batch of chocolate banana bread, peanut butter chocolate cupcakes and coconut chocolate cupcakes. And VOILA, I felt renewed and had dozens of baked goods to show for it. The best part is that I'm allergic to wheat so I can pawn them off on everyone else!!

So for any of you looking for a cure for the blues, here's a perfectly amazing recipe to try.

CHOCOLATE BANANA BREAD

1 cup margarine, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
6 bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup lite sour cream
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. In a large bowl, cream together margarine, sugar and eggs. Stir in bananas and vanilla. Sift in flour, baking soda and cocoa; mix well. Blend in sour cream and chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a loaf comes out clean.