Philadelphia

I have been thoroughly scolded for the lack of posts. My apologies. We've been pretty busy and when I say busy, I mean lazy. This past weekend we had a superbowl party at our house and I drove to Philadelphia for my best friend Megan's 25th birthday bash. Megan has recently been in 5 weddings, including mine, and it was especially fun chatting with her other married friends. Many of them have already bought houses and all of them already sent out their thank you notes, oops.

In other news, we found some fun frames and have started to collect photos for our staircase gallery. We're driving to Philly again this weekend for my Grandmother's birthday, who wants cash for more sessions with her personal trainer!! Yes, my grandmother...

Last weekend, I met up with my oldest friend Lynda. We hunted deals at the Main Line Closet, http://www.jlphiladelphia.org/?nd=closet. Most of my friends have moved back to the Philadelphia area from their post college adventures. Matt and I are thinking of moving to Philly, VT, NY and perhaps Boston.

Life Plans

Matt and I have been looking at some homes in midtown & downtown Harrisburg. We are also thinking of moving and changing our lives drastically. We shall see.

http://www.greenstreetproperties.net/house1.html This is our favorite because it's the perfect mixture of old and new. Perhaps I shouldn't be advertising it eh?

I think only 3 or 4 people know about this blog, but I apologize for the lack of posts. Matt and I drove to Philly to celebrate my sister's birthday. I made homemade bread and 2 trays of whole wheat lasagna. Evy, my niece, giggled for the first time! It was well worth the trip. In other news, I am now officially Sarah Bruemmer Lyke. I said goodbye to Sarah Louise.

The List

We made our own categories and picked our favorite choice. It's like a Best Of List with only one vote and/or option. Lucky you!

Sadly, in Harrisburg the Olive Garden was picked as Harrisburg's best place for fine dining. We think it's unfortunate that many people eat at chain restaurants instead of venturing downtown. There are many locally owned, extremely reasonable restaurants to choose from.

BRUNCH ($$$)
Mangia Qui
http://www.mangiaqui.com/
Mangia Qui is our favorite brunch location. All of their food is done perfectly. I recommend the Asparagus Tomato Timbale or any of their Eggs Benedict variations. Try their delcious fresh juice bellini's too. Mangia Qui also has Harrisburg's only authentic tappas bar and a good but more expensive dinner menu. Outdoor seating with views of the Capitol also make this especially fun in the warmer months.

BREAKFAST ($)
Roxy's Cafe
Located on the corner of 3rd and State Street, this restaurant offers a lively atmosphere and views of the Capitol. It is always packed but the food is cheap and always tasty.

MEXICAN LUNCH ($)
Neato Burrito
If you're hungry and enjoy creating your own selections, Neato Burrito offers a plethora of options. The only downside, in my opinion, is the staff is a bit arrogant when you create a "bad" burrito. http://www.neatoburrito.com/

SANDWICHES ($)
Cafe Fresco
Cafe Fresco uses fresh ingredients to create some of our favorite sandwiches. The smoked turkey and brie is wonderful.
http://www.frescocentercity.com/

PIZZA ($)
Mercado's Pizza
Located on 3rd or 17th street, Mercado's has some of the best pizza ever.

AMERICAN ($$$)
The Firehouse
The atmopshere of this rennovated fire house makes dining at the Firehouse an experience. The food selection is mouth watering. I recommend their mojhitos. http://www.thefirehouserestaurant.com/

ITALIAN ($$)
The Zephyr
We like to eat in the outdoor courtyard, as the bright red interior walls and black booths can be a bit alarming. Their homemade sangria and pastsa dishes are good. Order the woodsmen and their cheesy bread. http://www.thezephyrexpress.com/

JAPANESE($$)
Fuji Do
Shady looking from the outside, Fuji Do's is actually a very fun dining exeperience. It is located on Paxton Street across the street from the entrance ramp to 83. When you walk in they will wash your hands with a warm cloth and immediately give you cucumber salad. You can watch them make the sushi. The sake and sapora are good, but the sushi is what brings us back. I recommend getting "Rock'n Roll" and an order of miso soup.

MEXICAN DINNER ($$)
Herby's
This is by far the best mexican I have eaten in Harrisburg. Their food doesn't leave you feeling like you ate a bucket of grease and the food is authentic as is the interier and much of their clientle.

MIDDLE EASTERN ($$)
2nd Street Kabobs
Family owned and fairly new, 2nd Street Kabob is a unique restaurant. The owner will greet you himself and bring out the strongest coffee you will ever taste. Also, their menu options are very flexible and he brought us several free extras for us to try. I recommend sitting outside, because the interior is a awful peach color. www.dineoutharrisburg.com/2nd-street-kabob/

VIETNAMESE ($$)
Vietnamese Garden
This restaurant was a first date for Matt and I, paired with a movie at the Midtown Cinema (which is next door). They serve vietnamese coffee, scrumptous spring rolls and many reasonably priced, fresh dishes.

BREW PUB ($$)
Appalachian Brewing Company
belgian's upstairs abbey bar http://www.abcbrew.com/

WINE BAR ($$$)
The Red Door
This is where Matt propsed to me! I really enjoy their changing wine selection. They usually have good Montepulciano. http://www.reddoorwinebar.com/

IRISH BAR ($$)
McGrath's
We love their salmon fish and chips, i tend to get quite tispy whenever I'm at McGrath's. http://www.mcgrathspub.net/

FOOTBALL BAR ($)
Midtown Tavern
They have a huge screen to watch football and a very lively crowd to fight with. They have some Troegg's that we like and the traditional tavern fare. www.dineindie.com/MidtownTavern

Our Home

I thought I'd post some photos of our first apartment.
The living room.

The futon is very comfortable and open for visitors!

Kitchen

Matt's family usually has Chili on Christmas Eve. This year, his family came to our apartment and Matt made Chili for everyone. If you are wondering what his apron says: "One Good Man." Its from a local tea store called One Good Woman. http://www.onegoodwoman.com/. It's a bit pricy but if you can think of a tea flavor you want to try, this is the place to find it. My favorite selection is their hibicus mint tea and matcha green tea powder. You can purchase two times the amount of matcha green tea for the same price at Trader Joe's, which I hear is opening a branch in Harrisburg.

The dining room, set with the Lyke family holiday tablecloth and Matt's grandmother's dishes.

I love being a part of family traditions.

Above are some of the flowers Matt surprised me with for my birthday and below, breakfast in bed. What a guy.

Favorites from St. Thomas

Free milkshakes
Havana Blue Snapper
St. John

Snorkeling Reef
Sea Kayaking in the Bay
Sunset at Magen's Bay

Creative Outlets

We received so many cookbooks that I keep finding excuses to entertain. So far, we've had people over for hot buttered rum and appetizers, burritos and margaritas, chili night, and home made soup and rasberry salad. Tonight is guy's night at Appalachian Brewing Company so I'm having some lovely gals over for homemade pizza and crafts. I promised to save him some BBQ chicken pizza.

I like to experiment with crafts and fool around with various art forms: jewelry making, painting, furniture decorating, mosaics, photography. Tonight, I'd like to paint some picture frames to make a display for our staircase. I'm thinking a warm gold or apricot color to compliment the red and yellow in the living room. We'd like to put pictures of family and friends in the frames along with some the "artsy" cards we got for the wedding. Here's an example of what I'm thinking. Minus the trophies. I'll post the final project.



Painting is one of those things that I missed when I was living in a one room apartment. Now that we have more room and a basement, I'd like to start painting again. My sister and I worked at an inner-city camp together in Philadelphia. Here's a painting of one of my favorite kids, Natisha. All the neighborhood kids called her "big baby", even though we tried to discourage it. We found out later that they had a good reason. Her parents told us she was old enough for the camp, but she was only 3 years old. She had eyes that were far too sad for her age.


My job is emotionally draining a lot of the time. Using my hands and being creative recharges my soul. I would write more about my job, but I promised myself I wouldn't use this blog to pour out my frustrations. We'll see how long that lasts. Matt and I went for a walk outside over our lunch break.

Wedding Shots

Matt's extended family (most of them)


out front of the church


the toast





The wedding party


State Street


My immediate family



The flower girls

The Honeymoon is Over!

Matt and I left Harrisburg for 8 days in sunny St. Thomas. It was a bit commercialized for our tastes, but the hotel was fabulous and we weren't complaining about the food, or the private beach, or chocolates on our pillow 2 times a day.

Here's a view of the hotel, Frenchmen's Reef. If you look closely you can see the towel hut, where many guests are lured into time share presentations with the promise of a free dinner cruise. Not us!

Marriot Hut Man: "You interested in hearing 'bout our new time shares? Free dinner cruise."
Matt: "Hold on, let me ask my wife."

Marriot Hut Man (to both of us): "How much do you make?"

Matt: "Umm.. $45,000?"

MHM: "Okay, so that's you. And what about your wife?"

Matt: "That's our combined income."

MHM: "Only?! Only?! No, it can't be. Are you sure?"

Matt: "Yes, we're sure. Thanks."

MHM: "Must be $75,000 at least."

That was the moment Matt and I realized we weren't rich enough to get free stuff. We thought it was pretty funny.

Matt and I are lucky enough to have family who contiually bless us with their love and generosity. My brother and sister-in-law paid for everything! Thanks Dave & Heather! We'll post more pictures later of our adventures in St. John. If we were to go to the Virgin Islands again, we would camp on St. John. It is 2/3 National Park. Anyone have a sail boat? Right.

This was taken from the ferry into downtown Charlotte Amalie. It's 20 degrees in Harrisburg right now.

New Beginnings

Matt & I were married on December, 8 2007 in downtown Harrisburg, PA. This picture was taken on Front Street outside our church St. Stephen's Cathedral.

We both work at a Paxton Ministries and live in Bellevue.

http://www.paxtonmin.org/