My Favorite Things RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE, Nana B Stuff (Toy Hunt), Euna Mae's Double Chocolate Blondies and NEW YORK CITY

Good Sunday evening!

May has come and gone so quickly this year. I didn't find the time to post more than twice during the entire 31 days, but I'm hoping I will be a much better blogger during the month of June.

We'll see!

My Favorite Things RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE

1. I love a new cookbook called Love Welcome Serve - Recipes That Gather and Give. It is written by Amy Nelson Hannon, and it is all about hospitality...

Which is something I am striving to "do better" in my older age.

I highly recommend it, not only for the great Southern recipes, but also for the tips and secrets to becoming a more hospitable hostess.


2. Roxie told me about these. Aveeno Nourishing Hand Mask gloves are quick, easy and make your hands feel especially lovely.

I would use them every single day (multiple times), but there's that money "thang."


Nana B Stuff

Toy Hunt

RT loves matchbox cars.

Adores them.

One day when I knew he was coming over, I took his box of matchbox cars which I keep at my house, and I hid 30 of them in the hallway and three other rooms.

I didn't hide them in hard-to-find places.

I hid them for a two year-old fellow...

And he was thrilled.

Thrilled, I tell you!

What's that phrase they use when little kids are happy?

"Squeals of delight!"

Yeah.

Definitely had some squeals of delight that afternoon!











Euna Mae's Double Chocolate Blondies

You will need the following ingredients:

2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9" x 13" pan with baking spray.

2. In a medium mixing bowl (preferably with a pour spout), combine the flour, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon. Whisk together to combine. Set aside.

3. If you're using salted butter, reduce the sea salt by a little to compensate.

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the softened butter, packed brown sugar and sugar on low speed at first to incorporate; then cream at high speed for a few minutes. It should be light and fluffy. Scrap down sides as needed.

5. Reduce the speed to low, and add the vanilla and one egg at a time, mixing until combined. With the mixer still on low, add the flour mixture a little at a time. Mix until incorporated. You'll have more of a dough than a batter.

6. Using a heavy wood spoon or utensil, stir in chips and nuts by hand.

7. Spread dough in the prepared baker, and bake in the center of the oven for 29 minutes. No more, no less. Remove from oven and allow to cool at least 10 minutes before cutting into squares.

RANDOMNESS - NEW YORK CITY - That's right. I got on another airplane with The Chick and my cousins, Amy and Monica, and we flew to New York City. (Once again, I was not the least bit nervous, so I'm hoping, hoping, hoping my prior nervousness 31 years ago will continue to be a thing of the past!)

I don't think I've ever been to a new city before that was so familiar...

And that was part of the fun of being there. Seeing all of the things I have been seeing all my life up close and personal.

Wait a minute!

I take that back.

I had the same exact experience the first time I went to Disney, and although New York was fun and interesting and exhausting and so, so, so big...

Disney was, and will forever be, magical.

I guess New York City was, and will forever be, non-stop sensory explosion.

Yeah.

That sounds about right to me.

I'm going to share some pics and captions with you in no particular order of when they happened during our four-day stay.

Please know that is not how they will appear when documented in our 2019 Family Book. In fact, also please know that every minute detail will be listed and discussed ad nauseum for future generations of Faulkners to read... And they will no doubt wonder what on earth was wrong with their Great-Great-Nana-Enchanting-Belinda.

And that's okay, because I won't be around to have to deal with it!

But I digress. Here is our NYC trip in a very long nutshell.


We found these picture ops on our way to Times Square.


Little did I know...

EVERYTHING in NYC is a photo op.










It appears by the blowing hair, we are making significant progress on our double-decker bus tour...


But that would be a little misleading.

I don't know if you have heard or not, but there's a little traffic problem in NYC.


We stayed in a lovely hotel called The Riu in Time Square.


This will always be the perfect Girls' Weekend hotel in my mind.


Not only because the rooms were purple, but also because it was SO cute!


I loved Rockefeller Center.

LOVED IT!


The Summer Garden Cafe' is located where you usually see the ice skating rink in the winter. We ate there before we went to the Top of the Rock one night, and it was delicious and lovely.


Also, going to Top of the Rock at night did not disappoint.

Walking around in a little bit of rain did not disappoint.

And The Empire State Building lit up in the background did not disappoint.

One day we went to The Color Factory Museum in SoHo. It is a very hard place to describe, but I will try.


Simply put, they have free snacks as you go from room to colorful room, activities (art, ball pit, spinning, etc.), tons of photo ops and free Machi Mexican Ice Cream as you enter and wait your turn to go through. (Another hard thing to describe… Machi Mexican Ice Cream. Amy and I liked it… the girls did not care for it.)

The ice cream.

Not the museum. We all liked the museum!







It took a little over an hour to go through, but they do not rush you at all. Also, The Color Factory is a traveling museum and will be leaving NYC in August going who-knows-where. (Probably Birmingham. HA!)


We walked across Brooklyn Bridge, and it was absolutely beautiful.


In the middle of the bridge, we came upon three men and a small crowd of people. Each of the men had one, two or three boa constrictors wrapped around their necks, and people were paying them to have their picture made with them.

We had to pass by them to continue our walk, and with the crowd on the bridge it was a little too close for me. Also, I didn't just "snap" a quick pic, because I didn't want a man with three boa constrictors wrapped around his neck chasing me across the remainder of Brooklyn Bridge for $20.


The walking part of the bridge is divided in half… one-half for pedestrians and one-half for bicycles. They are serious about staying on your side of the line, too.

Amy was almost taken out by a bicycle.

And just so you know, that isn't the opinion of the "exaggerating" Enchanting Belinda.

EVERYONE noticed how close Amy came to becoming a handlebar ornament on a New York bike!

We are fortunate she is still with us.

NOTE FROM ENCHANTING BELINDA - That last sentence may be considered a bit of an exaggeration...

But only a bit.


We did see a Broadway play at The Music Box Theater.


Dear Evan Hansen was wonderful. The music was beautiful and the story was sweet and timely. It wasn't a typical Broadway musical, but we'll always remember it as our first.


After the play, we decided to try New York Pizza and stopped at Pizza Café less than a block away from our Hotel. We each got a huge slice, and since there was no room to sit, we walked to a pink-lit courtyard at our hotel and ate under the NYC stars. (The girls drank Fantas.) It was kinda perfect.

And, yes...

Our hotel had a pink courtyard to go with the purple bedrooms upstairs.

Perfect for girls, girls, girls.


On our last day in The Big Apple, we took the Harbor Cruise. Everyone knows a cruise or tour is only as interesting as the tour guide. We weren’t 100 percent sure of our guy until about five or six minutes in, and then he let his personality out and a good time was had by all.


We saw the Statute of Liberty up close and personal. We saw the NYC Skyline. We saw Governor’s Island AND all three of the main bridges in NYC (Brooklyn, Manhattan and George Washington – BMW). It took about two hours, and by the time we were finished, we were relaxed and we knew where we wanted to have dinner on our last night in the City.

We made 8:15 reservations at a restaurant called Havana Central which we had walked past earlier in the week. There had been live Cuban music and a lot of laughter, and it just looked fun.

Both girls ate mango-glazed salmon (?). I had a vegetarian casserole with sugar cane-coated chicken mixed in (which makes me think it wasn’t really vegetarian). Amy ordered paella. Everything was so good.

There were all kinds of people in the restaurant (young and old), and when the live music started, an older man (perhaps 90-ish) came to the front with an older-not-as-old-as-him woman and they danced (salsa) together. Amy and I weren’t sitting where we could see very well, but the girls had a front-row view. When people in the restaurant gasped, Monica told us the man had dropped, but had come right back up.

This led us to believe he had dropped on purpose.

Then he danced with another lovely older-not-as-old-as-him woman.

Then all three of them were dancing at once.

We did notice his yellow shirt (which had been buttoned almost to the top when everything started), became more and more unbuttoned as the evening progressed.

I will say it was very entertaining and not at all risque'. (Mainly because of him being 90-ish, I think.) We were basically just filled with admiration and a little in awe of his "talent."

We will remember him always, too, I think.

I am going to leave you with our "in order" itinerary of NYC just so you know we did it justice during our four-day stay.

WEDNESDAY

Margarita Grill (Lunch in Time Square after we dropped our bags off at the Hotel until check-in time.)
Times Square
FAO Schwartz Toys
Bryant Park
6th Court Shopping
Dinner at Ellen’s Stardust Café

THURSDAY

Lunch at Authentic NYC Hot Dog Cart
911 Memorial
Dear Evan Hansen
Dinner at Pizza Café
Dessert at Amorino’s (Gelato)

FRIDAY

The Color Factory
Lunch in SoHo at Savore'
Brooklyn Bridge
Dinner at Summer Garden Cafe'
Top of the Rock
Dessert at Magnolia Bakery

SATURDAY

Central Park (Amy and Monica)
The Met (Amy and Monica)
Lunch at Food Kitchen (Roxie)
Harbor Cruise
Statue of Liberty
NYC Gift Shop
Dinner at Havana Central
Times Square for one more visit
Disney Store on Times Square

You will notice on Saturday morning, Amy and Monica and Roxie went a couple of places without me, and I can explain that. I truly can.

You see, when not on the hop-on/hop-off bus, we did an inordinate amount of walking in NYC. So much so, by Saturday morning, I was more than a little weary. (Also, keep in mind I am ten years older than Amy and 35 years older than Monica and Roxie, so Nana needed a little down time on Saturday morning to be able to finish off NYC with a bang on Saturday night.)

It pains me to say it, but once again, it appears that I am old.

However, I will ask you to check with anyone on the trip and ask them if I was whiny or needy during Wednesday, Thursday and/or Friday of the trip.

As per our agreement, and a signed Disclaimer by all three, they should corroborate my story.

If you hear otherwise, I would appreciate you letting me know.

I think it was a great trip. We made once in a lifetime memories, and as far as I can recall, there was nary a disagreement or difference as far as traveling styles.

And we all know that is a rare and wondrous occurrence.

Not unlike seeing a unicorn!

I hope you and yours have a lovely first week of June. I'll be back in a few days with some other pics, stories, recipes, etc. to share.

Take care, and I will talk to you soon.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda

"Sometimes you might feel like there's no one there for you, but you know who's always there for you? LAUNDRY. Laundry will always be there for you."

"Common sense is like deodorant. The people who need it most never use it."