Bethancourt Study Mode

Check out my new weather icon to the left of the screen. As of this writing, it is 70 degrees and sunny in Philly. I met a friend for lunch and we took tortilla wraps to the park. Rittenhouse was teeming with all sorts of people and we had a pleasant time visiting and people watching. Even the mail men were out enjoying lunch in the park. I decided I really do like Spring and will miss it when we head back to TX.

Kyle and I were discussing packing a dinner picnic and heading to the park. We made some yummy turkey burgers last night that would transport well. Kyle helped me out by preparing most of the patties, taking great care to make sure each was of equal size. I was impressed with the end result. Last time I made turkey burgers it seemed there was an abundance of burgers and whatever I used to spice up the burgers wasn't worth ever repeating again. This time the flavor & texture was just right and we didn't end up with enough patties to feed a small army. So I think Kyle should be in charge of dinner from now on since his food tastes better & he understands portion distribution :)

I haven't written much lately because our little family has, frankly, become quite boring. Kyle is studying for finals which start on Friday. I work all day and then come home, work out (which is a new part of the routine), fix dinner, & then I buckle down to study myself. My first Arch. test is on Wednesday. That little sucker just snuck up on me so quickly! I've been taking practice exams and am not doing as well as I hoped....I'm becoming disillusioned. This weekend our house will be a super nerdy study zone!

Chocoholics in Hershey, PA

It was just another another road trip weekend. Our friends, Dee & Chris, came down from Connecticut to visit us. Although it was dreary and rainy, we still managed to do everything we planned. Somehow it seemed that we were eating the entire time? Upon their arrival, we immediately took them to Rita's for some famous Italian Water Ice & Mistos. Saturday we went to Hershey, PA and took a little Disney-like tour of how chocolate is made (complete with animatronic singing cows).


Towards the end of the tour they drug you by pumping chocolate scent through the air system, something snaps and you go crazy with the need for chocolate?! At the end of the ride, they dump you out into a store that sells every Hershey candy product known to man. And since we'd been hypnotized with chocolate air, the four of us scattered like rats and headed for the sweets, only to regroup with armloads of candy. Needless to say, the car ride from Hershey to Longwood Gardens (the 2nd destination of the day) made me feel like we were a bunch of renegade 7 yr-olds who just struck it rich on Halloween night....somehow Dee & I were too busy stuffing our face with chocolate that we totally missed the giant sign telling us a Pottery Barn outlet was in the vicinity. And would you believe our husbands both saw the billboard and conspired to keep quiet until we had passed the store. RASCALS!!

Longwood Gardens was (of course) the second destination and I took lots of pictures again. Surprise, surprise, I know....The tulips were out in full force....

Click here for the pictures

This morning we toured the historic area and had a YUMMY cheesesteak before they headed back. So all in all it was a great weekend despite the rain!

A Recipe For Disaster

Well it's been a good week for me I must admit. I'm sort of light on the work load (for now) which is well deserved after a brutal couple of weeks there. As of today Kyle has officially wrapped up classes! Finals are still looming for the first week of May so he's got some studying ahead but it's goodbye to Year One at Wharton-Land. HALLELUJAH! I can hear the angels singing. And that popping noise is me ferociously drop-kicking this academic year into the soon-to-be very distant past.

Today is also a very special day because it is my dear husband's BIRTHDAY!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!! Last night Kyle went up to NY to see his brother, Phillip, who was in town for work. They went to The Old Homestead restaurant for a celebratory dinner where Kyle had a Kobe Beef Burger. I'm sure everyone has heard Kyle talk about the legendary Kobe beef he had in China (I believe it was??). Yes, he indulged quite well for his birthday. I, on the other hand, ate cereal for dinner and then, with a big heart and grand intentions, attempted to make an angel food cake (Kyle's favorite) from scratch . Oh, what a miserable mess. I 'm not sure where it all went wrong but it turned out to be the densest, most flattest angel food cake ever. As I peered in the oven I was expecting it to rise and get all fluffy at some point.....that never happened and I retrieved a ridiculous-looking cake from the oven....the tiniest thing you've ever seen. The recipe called for a strawberry cream filling which I made but apparently since my cake was in miniature, I had about 4 times more filling than my little cake could hold. Yet another kitchen disaster. We'll taste test it tonight but my expectations are in the gutter.

Our friends Dee & Chris are coming into town for the weekend. We visited them when we went to Newport, RI last month and now it's their turn to visit us. So much for keeping the cake humiliation between me and Kyle, now I have to share it with others!

I had problems posting the pictures in this blog so see the pictures on the blog below. The severely retarded cake measures 7" across and about 1" tall....that's a matchbook in the first picture, for reference....

A Recipe For Disaster (Cont....)

Spring Fever!

Kyle and I have officially been diagnosed.....

I now realize why people up here get so excited about Spring. It becomes the topic of conversation that the trees and flowers are blooming. Never really paid attention to this in Houston but here it's like a little gift to see flowers fighting to come up out of the ground and being able to wear sandals again. All you want is to be outside and enjoy the mild temperature.

I was definitely feeling on edge yesterday so after work Kyle and I took a much needed break, grabbed a Rita's and walked aaaalllll the way down to Penn's Landing (at the Delaware River) which is a good mile and a half from our apartment. We explored the historic area called Old City and meandered through the cobblestone streets of Society Hill (this is where the older homes of Delancey Street are). The oldest homes (probably in the whole nation) are in these neighborhoods. Almost every house has a plaque by the door or in the window that tells who built the house and who lived there. The oldest house we saw was built in the 1730s! That's before the signing of the Constitution! We happened upon the former home of President James and Dolly Madison. What's so funny is that you can see inside the homes and regular people live in them now and most of them are updated very nicely. It's still a very prestigous part of town (as it was then) but it is also makes you feel like you've stepped back in time. There are horse drawn carriages trotting down the street giving rides so it really does feel like another era.

I was disappointed that I didn't have my camera because the flowers and trees that lined the streets made the scene even more quaint. I am disappointed it has taken us so long to discover this area but I'm glad we know about it now. We'll just have to take more evening walks. Needless to say, I was zonked when we came home 2 hours later. I still had some studying to do for my architecture exam and I was fighting to keep my eyes open.

Here's a good link about Society Hill

Discovering Delancey

Last night Kyle and I had a great evening. Kara invited us and a few others over for a fantastic Easter dinner. She made stuffed flank steak, mashed potatoes, beer bread and a chocolate cheesecake that was to die for! Since it was such a beautiful day, we dined outside on the patio of Kara's landlord's home. Kara lives in a separate 4th floor apartment of a Univ. of Penn. professor's historic Delancey Street brownstone. Kyle and I walked down Delancey Street 8 blocks, from where we live all the way down to Kara's place and were so excited to have discovered such a lovely residential street! See this picture of a portion of Delancy St.

All these homes were built around the time of the Civil War in the mid-1800s. As we walked back home at dusk we caught glimpses inside these million dollar homes. Some of the super ornate furnishings and architectural details inside the homes were fascinating. A lot of the homes had been updated but still retained their unique 19th century charm. Most had window boxes with colorful flowers blooming which just made them even cuter! It was so pleasant out and we enjoyed the leisurely stroll. Apparently, Delancey is one of the oldest streets in Philadelphia. We were touring Delancey west of where we live however the homes to the east are even older, built in the 1700s and some of those homes are historically preserved. Kyle and I are going to explore those homes too in the next few days. With all this cold weather behind us I think we have a lot more exploring to do in the evenings!

Here's an article with more on the history of Delancey Street

Happy Easter! and Rachael Ray Tries to Maim Me

Hi there! I hope everyone is having a Happy Easter!! We had a church-wide brunch this morning. I made Granny's Egg Casserole Recipe that turned out to be a hit. Kara dyed 2 dozen hard-boiled eggs upon request from Ms. Bobbie (the lead elder spokesperson/coordinator/appointed grandmomma & die hard Philly Eagles fan of the church body). Ms. Bobbie is a character. She usually sits in the row in front of us and is usually picking on Kyle b/c he is a Dallas Cowboys fan and frequently claims jealousy when Kyle gives me big kisses at the greet-your-neighbor portion of the service. We love Ms. Bobbie :) I worked in the nursery this morning and we made paper crosses with the kids and had an Easter egg hunt.

So last night was busy with laundry and house to-dos since I've been away and working crazy the past 2 weeks (deadline is OVER! hallelujah!). Kyle picked out a recipe from my Rachael Ray 30-minute cookbook and we went to the store to get ingredients. The recipe called for a jalapeno. I decided to gut the jalapeno of the seeds to make it less hot.

7:30 PM: I scraped the seeds out over the garbage and proceeded with the recipe.

8:30 PM: We're eating dinner and I feel my hand burning a little. I mention to Kyle that some jalapeno juice residue must still be on my skin. Ha ha...that silly jalapeno is pretty hot.

9:15 PM: We come back from Rita's and I mention again to Kyle that the burning seems to be oddly intensifying.

11:20 PM: I start preparing the egg casserole for tomorrow and notice that my hand is still pretty hot but I'm broiling bacon so I'm just probably hot all over.

12:10 AM: As I lay in bed my hand seriously feels as if it will spontaneously combust. It's so uncomfortable. It was the worst feeling and I couldn't sleep. I tried to ignore it for a while but it felt like I had placed my hand palm down in a skillet coated with oil! Horrific

12:45 AM: I try a few different home remedies. Slather my hand in butter, pour milk over my hand, wash my hands repeatedly, wrap a washcloth around my hand....all only provided temporary relief until the fire came back

1:15 AM: I decide to check on the Internet for there must be someone else in the world who has run into this and found a remedy. I find one person used profanity to describe the pain, another person claimed their burning sensation lasted 3 days! After reading a bunch of different commentaries I decided to rub my hands raw with baking soda. Since it's a mildly abrasive cleaning agent I thought it would get the embedded traces out of my skin. I then squirted lemon juice on my hand and halleluja it worked! The burning went away. It was about 2:30 AM before I finally made it to sleep.

So that's my story. Stay away from ge-lap-enos.

Karaoke Kyle

So have you gotten to know The Slowsky's yet? I mean, the Speed Bump Picture Collection(!) ....are you not rolling on the floor with those captions?! What a riot. Speaking of riots....check out our friend's blog regarding a St. Patty's day spelunking adventure in Newport involving Chris and my dear husband Kyle. Alas, the allure of the sea was overpowering for these two.....got a little too close to Mother Nature. One, closer than the other.

I've gotta pack tonight. Headed to NY again! I am so ready for this weekend. It will signal the end of the Tyranny of Work era (for now, at least).

I've been studying for my architecture exam too. super boring. YAAAAAWN! Reading about contracts and stuff. I have all these contractual documents I'm told make up the majority of the test questions. fabulous. Too bad I'm not fluent in Legalese so it's making things difficult here. I find myself re-reading things several (thousand) times.

Rita's is open for the spring and of course Kyle and I can't get enough. We got our fix tonight since I'll be out of town for the next few days. It's addictive, I tell you.

Kyle tells me since I'll be out of town tomorrow night he's going to attend his class' Karaoke party. Okay! I have never EVER seen or imagined Kyle karaoke-ing and now I'm going to miss this once in a lifetime event. Apparently, my husband turns wild in my absence! But he deserves it because in a few short weeks the first year of this MBA program will be over and we will be halfway through our time here...HALLELUJA! HALLELUJA!

I'm off to pack my flight attendant rollie suitcase. You'll hear from me in a few days, dear readers!

The Slowskys

I'd like to introduce you to Bill and Karolyn Slowsky. If you live in an area where Comcast Cable is not available you probably don't see these commercials but they sure crack me and Kyle up. They are a married turtle couple that prefer DSL to Comcast because DSL is obviously much slower, thus preferred by turtles. I'm adding their blog to my list because I just love it so much.

Here's the website:
www.theslowskys.com

I would first visit the link that says "Watch Us on TV" so you can see the commercials and then visit "Bill's Speed Bump Collection"
Hilarious.

Our New York Abode

Here are pictures of our place in NY. It looks much better in person but it'll give you an idea. If you're reading this and are surprised that we have a place in NY read the blog below from yesterday regarding the weekend's activities.

This is a picture of the entry hallway and kitchen. The bathroom is behind the kitchen.

Here is the right wall of the kitchen and part of the living room....

Here is a view from the bedroom through the living room towards the kitchen. Basically the apartment is a big rectangle....

Here's a view of the bedroom, with curtains that you can close off from the rest of the apartment....

What City Am I In?

WHAT A WEEK?! It's been a whirlwind. Lots of news:

I went to NYC on Tuesday expecting to come back Thursday but they decided to keep me another day until Friday. And then I scheduled a last-minute apartment viewing on Friday night so Kyle came up and we stayed with some friends since we had a show to see Saturday afternoon. Phew! I was so unprepared to be away from home and from my hubby for so long!

We scheduled a bunch of apartment viewings for Saturday morning before our show. This morning was a cold and rainy nasty morning. We went to our first appt. and were excited about the location (super close to the subways), really liked the couple that was subleasing, and the apartment was furnished nicely and it was clean. This was the 3rd (best and cleanest) apartment I had seen and the 1st Kyle had seen. We found out the price and were immediately excited because it was less than what we were expecting to spend. We left and decided we would take the place. We called the guy back not 5 minutes later and there was already someone else looking at it! QUICK, Bethancourts: Take Action!

After the other people left we hussled it back, left a deposit, and the deal was done! We successfully navigated the New York real estate market and have a sublease for our summer in NY! It's an adorable little brownstone on a residential street located between Chelsea and Greenwich Village. Near Union Square, 1 subway stop from Kyle's office and a few subway stops from my office. It's cute and perfect for the two of us for the summer. We are SO glad that is taken care of. It was so time consuming to schedule appointments and since I've been working from 9 AM to 10 PM there was no chance of scheduling appointments for the days I was in the city for work. That task is crossed off my list!

We went off to see Three Days of Rain with Julia Roberts. I would have to give it a C+ I suppose. It was average. Seeing Julia Roberts on-stage was exciting. And one of the guys from Alias, Bradley Cooper, was in the show as well. It was fun to see real movie/TV people up close. The show was kind of serious and the characters were a bit crazy. Hard to explain but it wasn't what I was expecting. The second act was definitely better that the first act. So that's all. I'm pooped. Goodnight.

Here are pictures of our trip to Longwood last weekend.