November Treats and Good Eats

November came pretty quickly this year. In fact, all of autumn went flying by. I love the east coast though because it doesn’t end up snowing (if it even does) until January or February. So most of the fall is still pretty warm.

Work has been great at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The other day we ran up to the rooftop to get a shot of this beautiful sunset. 

I documented time and history by getting a screenshot of my phone on 11/11 at 11:11 p.m. Pretty proud of myself for that one.....and I was ready to plug in my phone too with 3% battery power left.

You can’t go through the beginning of fall without making some sort of soup. I made my mom’s yummy chicken noodle soup and devoured it over the following week. I also learned how to make sweet potato rolls found here. They were so soft and yummy.

We tried out some new fun restaurants during the month of November. The first was Clyde’s in Georgetown and the setting alone was wonderful. We shared a cheese plate with cheese from local areas and I got a sweet potato and cheese ravioli while Kyle went with the meatloaf.

We also tried a well known neopolitan pizza restaurant that was pretty amazing. Pupatella is what they call the place and the best part is watching them make the pizzas right before your eyes. Every time I drive by this place it is always crowded and now I know why. 

The beginnings of Christmas snuck up on us when we decided to go see the National Harbor Christmas lighting with friends. I didn’t complain much because I got a $25 gift card to a cute little boutique right where we were standing. 

I’ve fallen in love with this beauty right here and love coming for date nights.

We had another killer sunset at work.

The first snowfall of the year happened the day before Thanksgiving. It looked quite charming with the row houses across from my work building. It gets me all excited for the holidays!

The Fine Taste of Gelato

What we thought had been a frozen yogurt obsession has now died out and been completely replaced with GELATO! Neither Kyle or I have been to Italy where I've heard the real good stuff is, but we've found a couple of places to hold us over until we get a chance to hop across the pond. 

The first is Boccato! Found in a barely lit, urban/hipster coffee lounge, they never disappoint us with their variety of flavors and willingness to let us try every single flavor until we are positive we know what we want. 

The ice cream master himself, determining if the Double Chocolate is up to par. 

Lounging in the lounge afterwards, which is filled with antique furniture and random art.

** Side Note**

If you ever find yourself in Arlington, visit Bocatto for dessert but go to Uncle Julio's for dinner.

Get their Salsa Blanca and New Mexico Red Sauce Chicken Enchiladas. You won't be disappointed. 

**End Side Note**

Our next gelato beats all other types of frozen treats I've ever had. The thing that really drew Kyle and I to this place is their use of fresh ingredients.

Oh Pitango...you are so pretty.

A FEW of their flavors listed on the wall.

Where the magic happens before the REAL magic (gelato entering mouth) happens. 

Apparently Pitango is a big deal. Washington Post says so. 

Pitango is special because it imports nuts from Europe and milk/cream products straight from local farms in Pennsylvania. It's the real good stuff.

Kyle's masterpiece consisted of three flavors - Milk & Honey, Hazelnut, and Crema - because he is BOSS when it comes to knowing ice cream flavors. The Crema is a rich cream with a slight cheesecake flavor. SO good. Here I wasn't fast enough to capture Kyle's "I approve, thumbs up" endorsement. 

I got the basic Vanilla and Banana (which tasted like they had just creamed together bananas in the backroom with a little bit of sugar and gave it to me). We very much approve of Pitango and hope to make it back there someday when we can afford such luxuries (gelato uses the good stuff so it's usually more pricey than other desserteries).

Leaf Me Alone Right Meow

The best part of having this guy during the fall was watching him play in the leaves. Kyle was out raking leaves and he started jumping and playing in the piles. We had a little too much fun watching him play. I think he liked the ability to camouflage himself under the leaves and attack whenever he wanted to. Thanks for the entertainment Boo Radley! 

I love seeing his little tale poke through the leaves behind him.

A cat who thinks he is a dog pretty much! 

You Can’t Teach a Cat New Tricks…Or Can You?

I think Kyle and I have both been surprised by how much we have grown to love this little guy. He is quite the amazing cat and has proved to be a good investment (haven’t seen a single mouse this winter…yet). He's even started to learn some tricks but will only perform them with evidence of treats nearby. He also continues to sleep in the weirdest positions. 

 One night he was playing with a bag and kept tossing it up in the air
with his teeth and pouncing on it again. Eventually, the bag won.

 One day I came home and Boo just had to sit on my shoulders while I made dinner. It was nice to have a little cooking companion. 

 We bought him a brush because he started to get a little fluffy and he’s gotten to the point where he will go over to the brush and meow letting us know he is ready for it.

He likes to come in and purr really loudly until we stir and then he begins a slow soft meow every few seconds. It’s nice when we are ready to get up but not so nice at 4:30 in the morning.

He also likes to sit up on the rice cooker and watch me make dinner.
I also like to think he dreams when he is sleeping.

Again, helping me cook in the kitchen and being quite photogenic.

And with the brushing. See, he loves it. This little guy is spoiled
but we are glad he keeps us company and make us laugh.

The BIG 3-0!!!

I wanted to do something really fun for Kyle’s birthday. The fall is so fun on the east coat because with all the trees, the changing of the leaves is beautiful. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be fun if I booked a ziplining tour right before his birthday so we could see the leaves?!” I got on and found a discounted price and scheduled it for what I thought would be a nice fall day on November 8. Slowly, I noticed the temperature outside dropping down and by the time our zipline tour came, it was pretty cold. To make it even more fun, the only tour available was the one for 8:00 in the morning. Once we were sure we had bundled up as best as we could, we stepped outside and got going. Once the sun came out, it really wasn’t that bad and I was happy to see there were still a few leaves waiting to fall until we had come up to see them.

Kyle turned the big 3-0 this year so I threw a little get together for Kyle’s birthday and invited all of the friends we’ve made so far. We were so happy to see almost all of them come over! I made the pumpkin dream cake that we discovered last year.  It’s always all I can do to not eat the whole thing! Happy Birthday my love. So grateful to have you in my life! Oh…and I guess Boo is happy you are in his life too.