home in viking heaven

Hello my sweets, how have you been? I apologize for my blog negligence, I was simply enjoying the pleasures of home. I hope you didn't mind ;). My hometown is Valhalla, otherwise known as the heaven of the Viking warriors. It is small, it is quaint, and yes, our school mascot is a Viking. Fierce, I know. Most of the time I take advantage of it's proximity to the city, a quick train ride or drive, but this weekend I decided to stay put.

Last night that meant that my friends and I went to the train station in "the village." It's a restaurant housed in a few old train cars. I had a pumpkin ale and a vegetarian sandwich as we reminisced over high-school and the time since then. Unfortunately, I went home and fell asleep almost immediately after, missing the post-dinner fun :(.

And still I managed to sleep in ever so slightly this morning. First thing on my mind upon waking? Breakfast. I made my first pumpkin oats of the season, complete with almond milk, banana, and almond butter. 'Twas scrumptious as expected. 

Afterwards I did my yummy yoga routine. It was at this point that I came to the conclusion that I am much more flexible than Colby (the puppy) but at least he tries. Dog humor, ha, hilarious.

Following our work out, I quickly put my face up and drove to pick up the boy from the train station. I was so happy to see him, and see how beautiful the weather was!

Our first order of business was taking the dogs for a walk at Cranberry Lake. We enjoyed it almost as much as they did. Seriously, there were so excited they were practically the ones dragging walking us.

Then we went to Jean-Jacques, my favorite French café located appropriately in the town of Pleasantville. I had the usual - an avocado wrap with tomato, lettuce, and sprouts.

I can't believe I have never taken him there before! My friends and I always meet here for late-night coffee or brunch or anything really because it's so gosh darn cute. Where's your usual friend & foodie hangout when you're home?

Being as it was his first time, it's no surprise that he could not resist the pastry display.

And try he did, an almond croissant to be exact (good choice, my love). He was raving about it, but just to confirm (I'm all about accuracy) I had a few amazing bites of my own too.

How could I not love all things French? I mean, really.

Fast-forward about five hours through a grocery shopping run, and a boy to medical school drop-off, and I was back home again for dinner. A personal highlight for me was the veggie loaf. 

Our table spread also included a spinach salad, sausages (ick) and whole-wheat pasta. I don't know if you've picked up on this yet, but my family and I are big into Italian food. It probably has a lot to do with Valhalla and the surrounding towns, there are enough authentic Italian restaurants and bakeries to make anyone's head spin.

Oh. And there was wine. I never remember this being a habit in my house when I was younger, but ever since I've become "of age" my dad always insists on it. Who I am I to complain? ;)

For dessert I helped myself to homemade pumpkin butter with pears and apples. My mom's sweet friend made a delicious batch for us and it has been very much appreciated. I'm not sure about her secret recipe, but I found a great bloggie alternative.

And that leads us to now, some down time with the fam before I head back to Syracuse tomorrow. This is a photo of Marie in our school store about four years ago, I spoke with her for an hour on skype last night. I miss her so much, it's as if not a day has passed since we were sharing a room! Even though I won't be visiting her City of Lights any time soon :( I will be back in the Big Apple come next weekend. Miss Leslie and I have big karaoke plans ;) more details to come.