Tornadoes and Treats

Unbeknownst to me, Central Virginia was/is under a tornado warning until 8pm this evening. Being that I frequently check the weather (mostly due to my outrage towards VA temps--it's in the 80s people!!), I knew we were bound to experience rain and quite possibly thunderstorms. But tornadoes? I hadn't heard! Not until I was on the elevator on my way down to my car when I received a text message from a friend warning me to take cover, big storms were on their way. I had just heard a couple rumbles of thunder and by the time I made it to my car I was being pelted with heavy rain. Although a bit nervous (I've been scared of thunderstorms since I was a child), I pressed on and drove out of the parking lot to the traffic light. The traffic light was out. The winds had now increased tremendously, the rain so heavy one might have thought the Hoover Dam unleashed atop my car. I couldn't see anything except the traffic lights now completely horizontal and blurry headlights. I was panicking! Literally shaking. Was I going to get sucked up into the abyss? Or would my car just flip and I'd suffer? I called my dear husband to wish him a good life without me, but per usual he didn't answer (only this time his phone was acting up, so he's innocent). After I miraculously got out of the left-hand turn lane and circled back into the parking lot, I called my friend Bevin, the text messanger. She was reporting the weather to me as she watched it live on the TV. I was indeed in the midst of extremely hazardous weather. Listening to her advice, I hung tight in the parking lot (in fear) for 15 more minutes until it seemed to clear.

Wouldn't you know 5 minutes later the sun was out.

But the stress from my commute home quickly subsided as I opened the unexpected package that awaited me on my doorstep. My dear mom sent Jeremiah and I Halloween goodies! Wishing your mom was that cool? Thought so. She knows that at 24 and 25, we can still appreciate Halloween festiveness. And I love how she doesn't just send an obesity-sized bag of 'fun-size' candy. No, she has cute bags, with the perfect confections--gummies for J, chocolate for me--and handmade bat name tags. If you denied your wish for a cooler mom now, I know the veil has now been lifted from your eyes.

And P.S., they should really rename king-size candy bars to fun-size and rename those little teases to unsatisfying. Amen?

What the Heck is a Hokie?

This past weekend the Link clan headed to Radford and Blacksburg, VA to celebrate Debbie's 50th birthday 10 months late. Last December we promised the tried and true Virginia Tech alum a trip to see her Hokies play at Lane Stadium. So Friday night, after Ben arrived from Philly by train, the three of us drove west to Radford, the city where Jeremiah lived for the first twelve years of his life, to meet Deb, Chuck, and Caroline. I always love a chance to get a glimpse into Jeremiah's life before me, and enjoyed hearing the stories and seeing the sights of him as a young buckaroo. On Saturday, we packed in the van and starting tailgating around 10am for the game at noon. A couple other family members (who are season ticket holders) have a tailgating spot just around the corner from the stadium, a huge plus. The perfect weather and a Hokie win made for a great afternoon. We spent the night again on Saturday and made the three and a half hour trek back to Richmond earlier today.

Wedding Weekend

This past weekend Jeremiah and I took a trip up north for my dear friend Lindsay's wedding. The Franks and the Koehlers have been close friends since our parents went to high school together. Lindsay and I grew up together which made her wedding so special to me. She and TJ couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day and everything seemed just perfect.

After the lovely ceremony, we headed to the reception site for cocktails before dinner began. Those poor, poor butlers. Or, if they are paid by the number of trays they clear, they were the luckiest butlers in the history of butlered hors d'oeuvres. Either way, whenever in eyes reach of the Koehler family they were bombarded. Cameron and Jeremiah were literally following their scents in order to get their fingers on as many pigs-in-a-blanket, scallops wrapped in bacon, beef wellingtons, and duck with caramelized onion as they could. It was disgusting. This morning, Cameron determined he may or may not have downed 15 pigs and probably ate an entire duck. Delicious. Free drinks and food is a dangerous scenario. "I wonder how much money I saved..." said my tank of a brother, reflecting on the amount of beverage and food he consumed at one single event. Jeremiah justified his gluttonous behavior with the 'workout' he got in from all that dancing. If you've ever seen that man move, you can understand why he's currently resting on the sofa, sorer than he was the first day he lifted a free weight.

Moving on.

You may or may not know my sister is a top-notch pastry chef. She somewhat recently attended The French Culinary Institute in Manhattan and has been rocking people's culinary world ever since. She's done dozens of side gigs, including graduation and baby shower cakes, cupcake bonanzas, cookies, eclairs, cream puffs, and several other delicacies. Lindsay and TJ's wedding was her first wedding cake debut and boy did she hit that one out of the park. I mean really, this girl is talented beyond belief. This is by far the best cake I've ever seen in the flesh, and probably one of the greatest cakes I've ever see pictures of. And let me tell you, after planning my own wedding, I have seen a lot of cakes. See all those flowers? They're made out of gum paste. Yes, she made each individual flower. (My mom and I learned this with her this past spring break from the same woman who taught Buddy, the cake boss) Not only did it look good, it tasted incredible, too. Chocolate cake with coffee buttercream and pound cake with vanilla buttercream and raspberry something-or-other. Hire her for your next special occasion.

But don't hire me to help transport--that was way too nerve-racking!!

'Twas a wonderful weekend with family. Enjoy some down-time entertainment at our table from Cameron and Aaron--so dark it's almost painful, bummer.