Home again, home again

I have always felt that one of the best things about getting away is the coming home.

I love coming home.

The trip I took this past weekend to NYC and beyond had been in the plans for the past two months. It was to have been a sort of blogging get-together with eight friends I’d made online and had already met. Four of them were to arrive by train and were coming from VA. But after the horrible weather, and the train closure, they couldn’t make it.

And I was beginning to think that I wouldn’t either. By Friday morning our driveway still hadn’t been plowed, and cabin fever was beginning to set in. So I made a call and rented a car for the weekend, having them meet me at the bottom of the driveway.

My husband devised a way to pull my bags without getting them wet and the whole ordeal wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be.

And the trip was wonderful.

First I went to Daryl's, then we met my son for a late dinner at Calle Ocho on Columbus Ave. in the Upper West Side. This was our dessert, a Cubanito which is a chocolate hazel nut mousse with a peanut butter crust over Cuban coffee ice cream. It was a beautiful finish to an extraordinary meal.

My new favorite salad. Ever. Ensalada, which is golden and red beets with garlic oil, topped with Spanish goat cheese and arugula. This salad made me so happy which its extraordinary combination of tastes. Very satisfying.

The following morning we headed out into the city. It was cold and beautiful and different. We had a couple of things we wanted to pick up to take with us on our next journey which was an hour north into CT to see two other friends, Lauren and Annie.

More to come tomorrow.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend, my friends.