52 weeks of downtown lancaster:: week 13

I'm way behind. I've missed a million weeks. But instead of posting a million weeks' worth of downtown Lancaster this week to catch up, we're just going to pretend I never missed any of those weeks and just pick up where we left off and keep it rolling from there, okay? Okay. So that puts us at week 13, which happened to fall on May's First Friday.

I'm sure most of you are familiar with the First Friday idea- shops, galleries, museums, theatres, et al, all stay open late, give out free wine, and sometimes have special deals. Traffic is a mess and restaurants are fully booked, and it's shoulder-to-shoulder in every shop, gallery, museum, theatre, et al, because everyone from the 'burbs comes into town for the night. Usually, I avoid this insanity because I live so close to everything and I can just wander down whenever I feel like it, but it was such a nice night on Friday that one of my good friends and I decided to venture out in the craziness.

We went late, so (thankfully) much of the craziness had died off and we could navigate around pretty easily. And then it appeared the sky was going to open up and pour down on us, so we ducked into Crush Wine Bar to have some wine and cheese. All-in-all, it was a good way to unwind on Friday night after a nutty week at work.

All photos taken with my iPhone.

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52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster is my photo project for 2011. It's meant to keep me creative and posting about a consistent topic on a weekly basis. And I'm also pretty hellbent on to getting the word out that there's more to Lancaster, Pa. than Amish buggies, farms and outlet shopping. View the rest of my 52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster pictures here.

All pictures taken by me, unless otherwise noted.

weekend recipe:: scrambled eggs with ricotta and dill

I stumbled upon this recipe on Epicurious and it called for fresh chives. Since I didn't have fresh chives in my herb garden, I substituted fresh dill and it was really tasty and really easy to make. If you like dill, I highly recommend this. The recipe is below (my modifications are in italic).

Ingredients
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel or coarse kosher salt plus more for sprinkling
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup fresh ricotta cheese
4 1/3- to 1/2-inch-thick slices whole grain bread, lightly toasted and buttered with fresh dill butter

Instructions
Whisk eggs, dill and salt together. Spray pan with non-stick spray (or melt one tablespoon butter in pan). Scramble eggs until fluffy (don't fry or brown the eggs). Remove from heat and mix with ricotta cheese. Place on slices of toast and top with more fresh dill.

View the original recipe here.

shopping list:: la vacation

In just over a month, I'll be packing my bags and leaving on a jet plane for sunny LA. It's been over a year since I've been to California, so I'm ridiculously excited. And of course, I need some new wardrobe stuffs (mostly because I want some and partially because a lot of my clothes are starting to get too big- big yay!). I'm always cold when I visit California, so lightweight cargo pants, a breezy striped top, and a versatile cardi are a must. As for the shoes and jewelry, well...a girl can never have enough of those, right?

{Shop} fig.1: russet shore bracelet by seashore glass, fig.2: perfect storm boro lampwork glass ring by the venerable bead, fig.3: mooring line top, anthropologie, fig.4: bronze curator cardigan, madewell, fig.5:XL stella rose gold silver dial watch, fossil, fig.6: the whistlestop sandal, madewell, fig.7: christa cargo pants, abercrombie & fitch