...restaurant week...

Restaurant week, how we love thee... Arizona Restaurant Week reconvened this week, and we couldn't be more excited. It's a fabulous week long "event" where guests are able to partake in 150 participating Arizona restaurants finest fare at a special discounted price. Each restaurant offers a three-course dinner menu with signature dishes you can select for $19, $29 or $39 a person. Great deal right? We wouldn't call ourselves foodies by any means, but we definitely enjoy great food, drinks, and of course ambiance. This week long event is something we look forward to every year and if you haven't participated in this annual event, put it on your to-do list for next year.

This year we tried two restaurants, Modern Steak with the fam and Noca to celebrate our 6 month wedding anniversary. Both restaurants didn't disappoint, leaving us with our bellies full and satisfied and a great night behind us. Here are a few photos from the nights....(please disregard the bad quality, we only had the iphone to use)



[the beautiful front]

[starting the night with drinks, retail therapy for me and beer for him]



[ i just love the decor, i could live in here]

[amazing bread, there is bacon baked into it]

[the best dessert, peanut butter cup]

[mikis with his dirty bird]

[celebrating 6 months of marital bliss with drinks, noca royale for me and dirty bird for him]

[homemade cotton candy, every meal is better when ending it with cotton candy]

[the sweet treat they send you home with]

xoxo,

R+M

...under the weather...

I don't think there is anything I hate more than being sick, it ruins your plans and makes you just feel awful! Unfortunately, some bug has gotten to me, so this week I found myself spending Tuesday at home, playing nurse and trying to show this bug it's overstayed its welcome. In between hour long naps and self-medicating I was able to get in a few episodes of Jerseylicious and Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane. I know, not the best entertainment choices, but at least it made the day somewhat laughable. So I wonder, how do you spend your sick day's?

[my tools for recovery]

[my guilty pleasure, the cure for a sore throat]

[my sick day companion]

xoxo,

R+M

...celebrating kristina...

This past weekend we celebrated a friend's birthday who is near and dear to our heart, Kristina! We initially were co-workers (rachel & kristina), but quickly became close friends and our lives have been intertwined ever since. This year we wanted to celebrate Kristina's birthday in an extra special way, since she was out of town for her actual day. We started with dinner at Jalapeno Inferno, then headed to Wolfley's Neighborhood Grill for drinks and ended the night at Blue Martini Lounge (a.k.a cougar town). It was the perfect night of fun, friends, drinks and of course dancing. Kristina, I hope you had a great time ringing in 29. Thank you for being an amazing friend and including us in your celebrations.

Now for the photos...

[the dinner location]

[dinner to kick the bday celebration off]

[make a wish]

[the girls]

[cheers to another year]

[the boys talking shop]

[andrew busting a move]

[giving some birthday love]

xoxo,

R+M

...showing our thanks...

I (rachel) am very lucky to work for a company that allows it's employees to take time out of the work day and volunteer in their community. Today I joined 15 fellow co-workers at Packages from Home, as a way to remember September 11th and thank those who are fighting for us in the middle east. Packages from Home is an organization that sends care packages of simple life luxuries such as beef jerky, jelly, peanuts, etc. to troops currently active in the war overseas. Giving up just a few hours of my time was honestly the least I could do, and it made just as much of an impact on me as it will on the troops receiving these packages. If you want to learn more about Packages from Home or how you can contribute to this worthy cause, click here.

Here are a few photos from the day...

[stuffing the packages]

[a place for everything, and everything in it's place]

[the fruits of our labor]

...happy rosh hashanana...

Society likes to define our marriage as an "interfaith" one (he is jewish and I was raised catholic), but we look at it as two puzzle pieces that fit perfectly together. Initially when we started dating it was definitely different being with someone who didn't celebrate the same holiday's as you, or even have similar church memories. I can recall the first time I was going to meet Mikis' parents, and was scared to death they were going to hate the blonde haired catholic girl, thankfully I was over-reacting and they couldn't have been more lovely and accepting. Now we look at it as a just another attribute that makes our relationship unique. We think of it as a positive; it allows us the opportunity to participate in many different religious and cultural holiday's, and truly let's us experience the best of two worlds. Today we are celebrating the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanana.We will be celebrating by enjoying dinner with the Troyan family and close friends. We thought you could join the celebration with us by making one of my fav Rosh Hashanana sides-Noodle Kugel.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound wide egg noodles
• 1/2 stick butter, melted
• 1 pound cottage cheese
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 6 eggs
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup raisins

Directions  

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Boil noodles in salted water for 4 minutes. 

Strain noodles from water. 

In large mixing bowl, combine noodles with remaining ingredients 

and pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish. 

Bake for about 30-45 minutes, when custard is set and top is golden brown.

Enjoy!

xoxo,

R+M