For Valentine’s Day I thought it would be best to steer clear of the crowds. It is rare these days for Nick and I both to have a full night off together so we both thought it would be nice to enjoy dinner and a movie at home. I took control of the meal, while Nick was in charge of dessert.

I wanted to make something a little more special. You know, not the typical weeknight meal of burgers or tacos. I came upon a brilliant idea of recreating the delicious meal we enjoyed in Tampa, FL at Bella Cafe. The pear sachets in saffron cream sauce were really to die for. So I embarked on an adventure of recreating this delectable dish. Though I had a few setbacks, I am confident that my dish was pretty close to the original. Practice makes perfect though, so stay tuned!

This past weekend we celebrated Dianna’s upcoming wedding with a Bridal Shower. This was the first of many exciting events to come in the next few months. Along with the bridesmaids, Dianna’s mom planned a lovely afternoon brunch for Dianna and her closest ladies. Even a few of Di’s best college friends made the trip up from downstate to help celebrate!

Dianna has a larger bridal party, so it was nice to have the afternoon to spend together before the Big Day. We were just missing two bridesmaids who live out of town, however this is one of my favorite moments from the day.

For Cara’s birthday, she decided she wanted to head north to her old stomping grounds and spend a few days skiing. Back in high school and college she used to be a ski instructor with her Dad, in fact her Dad still is! Liz and I took a day off work and met Cara and her husband Chris up at the mountain. It was a great day! We had beautiful conditions and being that it was in the middle of a non-holiday week, we basically had the mountain to ourselves.

After lunch we were hit with some fresh snow. It made for awesome skiing! At the top of the mountain, Cara and I stopped for a quick photo in front of one of the more difficult trails. We refrained from taking a run down, well mostly because of the CAUTION sign. Not to mention the fact that this was my first time on a mountain in about three years. I was not quite ready for such difficult terrain. This picture really just shows how hard the snow was coming down at this point. Still a fun, memorable shot!