life according to iphone

summer life lately...from my iphone's pov

hope you're all enjoying your summer as much as i am!

summer is here to stay!

i have spent the last couple of months enjoying my summer and neglecting my blog. we have had such a great time this season and have been super busy in a very good way. just a bit of summer catch up...

we had a camping weekend with friends in the catskills...

rob and i spent july forth weekend in different countries. i was with my sister on an eco-adventure in the dominican where we swam, and hiked, and jumped, and slid while rob nearly killed himself playing with fireworks on a lake trip with his high school pals.

biking, hitting the pool and beach days have consumed most of our other free time.

the biggest news is that we have moved into our new garden apartment we have had a blast cooking outdoors, getting our hands dirty in the garden, and entertaining. thanks again to my parents for the awesome grill!

dominican republic sisters' weekend day 2

dominican republic sisters' weekend day 1

our forth of july sister's weekend in the DR started out rough. our late night flight out of JFK was delayed and we didn't arrive in puerta plata until 5am! the hiccups didn't stop there. at our resort (this was my first and probably last all-inclusive trip) we were told that they were overbooked and we would have to go to a hotel down the street! what? infuriated! i argued and pleaded with them to give us a bed to sleep in for one hour (we were being picked up at 7am for a snorkel and sail trip). finally they showed us to a room with no air conditioning and no outdoor window. we were grateful for a place to nap and were assured there would be a lovely suite ready for us later in the day.

we managed to crawl out of bed, don our bathing suits, and grab a coffee. so tired.

we rode in the back of a safari truck to meet our catamaran. the family of five who rode with us spoke no english and stared us down the entire day. super creepy. i'm pretty sure the sixty year old man and the teenage boy were hitting on us in an unfamiliar language.

there he is! he found a prime seat to look straight at us! the boy is to his right.

we snorkeled, jumped off the boat, and played in the water when it rained. rum punch was plentiful and a dance party started with the crew on the sail home. all while 'you know who' watched from a distance.

back at the resort we ate a quick, awful mexican dinner and practically sleep walked back to our new ocean front, enormous room.

sunday dinner

most sundays the husband and i cook dinner together and most sundays we invite andrea (my sis only lives three blocks away). we usually invite her with no expectations but she typically brings a wonderful salad to add the the deliciousness of the meal. this sunday was no exception...

andrea's summer salad did not disappoint with arugula, strawberries, walnuts, and goat cheese...all organic and we dressed it with olive oil and amazing creamed vinegar we bought in italy.

rob and i made roasted lamb for the first time... 

it was scrumptious, easy, and we have tons of left-overs. the prep time was quick so we just sat back and waited for it to cook to perfection.

we rubbed the 6lb leg of lamb with fresh lemon juice

coated it with 8 diced garlic cloves and about 3tbs chopped fresh rosemary, in the oven for 30 minutes at 400 then down to 350 for an hour. next time we will do 45 minutes (we like it a bit more rare).

we reduced the 'tid-bits' with red wine, chicken broth, extra rosemary, chives, and onions for a nice sauce before serving.

what are some of your favorite sunday dinners?

kick off summer

we have been so busy...away living it up in italy! thanks so, so much to my in-laws, jeanne and pat for giving us an amazing family vacation! i will eventually do a travelogue to share more details but for now a little catch up...

back in ny for only 24 hours rob, pat, anne, and i were together again for a memorial day bbq on pat's rooftop.

perfect sunset, burgers, steak fajitas, bratwurst, salad, fruit, blue moon, dancing, dance offs, good times. 

this weekend we recruited our bicycle tour guide (dustin) and set out to ride the cyclone at coney island.

it was a bumpy ride but relatively scenic. we caught the first whiff of sea air which rob really enjoyed. ocean air is good for the soul and...so it the diversity and craziness in coney.

dustin!

we had a few beers at ruby's while relaxing and people watching then we headed to the cyclone! 

dustin was sure his hat (an italy gift from anne) would stay on but of course it flew off on the very first hill. luckily, it landed right in my hand (see the above pic)! the ride was wild, very rough, and hilly. we were on a bit of an adrenaline kick from the ride and could not stop laughing about the hat... 

a few extra pics from the day taken by the amazing hipstamatic photog, anne p.