Date Night: Ice Cream for dinner

Last night was our "official" date night for the week. After Brad was done with work, we headed over to the Bethlehem Steel Stacks to check out the farmers markets. We found what we needed, and some things that we didn't. Like ice cream. For dinner. Well, for me, anyway.

The farmer's market (with the old Bethlehem Steel factory in the background): 

 OwWowCow homemade organic mint chocolate chip ice cream. Incredible. Seriously, I ate this for dinner.

Brad mid-bite:

Apparently neither of us were very photogenic yesterday:

 There was even live music at the market:

After the farmer's market, we stopped at Horns so that Brad could get some real food (apparently ice cream for dinner doesn't quite do it for him). I enjoyed some french fries (what a nutritious dinner, right?). We ended the night by running a few errands.

Tonight we've got a double date on the agenda, followed by another weekend full of picnics. Yum!

See ya soon,
Nikki

Friday Date Night + Weekend Picnics

On Friday afternoon, Brad and I headed to the Hershey area for the Dave Mathews Band concert! I had gotten tickets for Brad for his birthday, and we were very excited about the concert. After a quick drive and a lovely (hot!) outdoor dinner, we headed over to the stadium. The band that opened for them was called The Head and the Heart, and was fantastic. Apparently Dave Matthews discovered them at a show in Seattle and invited them on tour. How cool is that?

We had great seats in the stands, close to the top. Lucky for us, there was a bit of a breeze blowing since the temperatures were near ninety degrees.

The band ended with "Ants Marching" and we were able to make it back to the car just as the rain started. There was lightning flashing during the last third of the concert, but we made it back to the car just in time.

After sleeping in on Saturday (since we were out pretty late on Friday), we headed to Brad's mom's house for a picnic. Danielle and Meredith were in visiting from Buffalo, and we spent the afternoon eating, laughing, and lounging by the pool.

After church (and a workout) on Sunday, we spent the afternoon relaxing. We headed to Brad's grandfather's house in the early evening for another picnic. The food was absolutely delicious, and we spent part of the evening hanging out in the backyard. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of either of the picnics, but you'll just have to trust that we had a lot of fun.

Until next time,
-Nikki 

Sweeney Todd

Last night, Brad and I had the chance to double date with these fine folks:

 Say hello to Dave and Elissa!

We had tickets to a production of Sweeney Todd, which was part of the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival at DeSales University. The show featured the incredible Dee Roscioli, who we got to see perform last month, and really was outstanding. Before the show we enjoyed a picnic on the lawn, which is apparently a tradition with theater-goers of these productions. The show was great--and only runs until July 1 (so if you're in the Lehigh Valley, you should definitely check it)--and the company was even better. We had a great time and spent most of the night laughing. Thanks for a great night, Dave & Elissa.

Now, Brad and I are off to a concert. Catch you later this weekend!

Blessings,
-Nikki 

Anniversary Date Night at Bolete

What a busy weekend! We returned from our trip to Mexico and hit the ground running. Thursday night was a baby shower for Keith, Megan, and Baby K (heeyyyy guys!), Friday night was a surprise party for one of our Fuse friends, Sam, and Saturday included a Zumba class, lunch with Brad's mom and step-dad, an afternoon nap, and a date night at Bolete.

Bolete is a great restaurant that uses local ingredients. It was actually named one of the top 105 hottest new restaurants internationally by Conde Nast Traveler Magazine. Brad had been dying to go there, and we were very lucky to receive a gift certificate as an anniversary present.

We started with some oysters (OK, Brad ate those), and I ordered some truffle fries (Chips & Dip according to the menu). Brad had a fried green tomato with lobster salad (I just ate some of the lobster) and some of the most delicious rolls that I've ever had.

Our entrees:

 I had the scallops with homemade gnocchi and non-mushy peas.

Brad had the prime rib with potatoes and greens.

Even though we were stuffed, we had heard great things about the desserts (thanks, Dave!) and decided to give it a try. 

Brad went with the butterscotch pudding--I had a bite, and it was delicious!

I chose the chocolate truffle cake with homemade caramel and caramel corn. It was unbelievable. 

We had a great time, and the food was absolutely incredible. Today was spent at church and Fuse, and Brad is just about to arrive home after an afternoon on the golf course.

Blessings,

-Nikki

Date Night + A Double Date

It's crazy how life can get so busy so quickly! This was another one of those weeks that just flew by! Luckily, Brad and I were still able to spend some quality time together. Brad was out of town on Tuesday night, and I was able to have dinner prepped and ready to go when he got home on Wednesday evening. After a delicious salmon and quinoa dinner, we took a quick walk around the neighborhood and then went to check out YoFresh, a new self-serve frozen yogurt bar in the area.

Our verdict: delicious! Just watch out, those bowls are huge (and easy to overfill!).

On Thursday evening we were lucky enough to have a belated birthday celebration for Brad at the Savory Grille with the Guinans. Dinner was fabulous, and the company was even better. 

Pre-dinner photos

Just for the record, one of the only "rules" of date night is that no cell phones are allowed. Last night we did have to make an exception so that Brad could guide our dinner guests to the restaurant. 

For dinner, I had the scallops:

 And Brad went with the pork:

Everyone was in agreement that their meals were delicious. My favorite may have been the homemade mint ice cream (with mint fresh from their garden), which had swirls of caramel and chunks of pineapple. It's a combination I never would have put together, but was surprisingly delicious.

We've got more fun planned for the weekend, so there will be lots to catch up on. See ya later!

-Nikki

From Mud Run to Gala

Happy Monday!

Here's a quick recap of our weekend activities. Friday evening included a trip to the gym and a quick dinner at Paese-Mio, our favorite local pizza shop. The rest of the evening was low-key on the couch, since we knew that we had a busy weekend ahead of us.

Saturday morning was Race Day! Brad and I decided to run a race organized by Faith Church to support their mission teams, and also to honor a member of the church who passed away earlier this year. It was a great race with over 100 participants. The course was very hilly (and wet and muddy from all the rain we've had). We had a good time (OK, I enjoyed being done with the race more than I actually enjoyed running, but you know what I mean).

 This was my favorite part of the morning: a trip to the Emmaus Bakery after the race. This doughnut was almost as big as my head!

Oh, and I did come in second place in my age group (Brad was shocked!)

After an afternoon of errands (including a trip to the farmer's market), we got ready for our second big event of the day: The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival Gala. 

On our way!

 At the event: 

We had a really great time, and ended up meeting some really amazing people. The highlight of the night was a performance by Dee Roscioli, a Lehigh Valley native who played the role of Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway. Very cool!

Sunday was spent at church, Fuse, and a ladies tea party with some women from the church. Brad was able to spend some time with the Grizz while I was with the ladies, and we rounded out the weekend with dinner and a game of Jeopardy. 

What did you do this weekend? 

Double Date Night + Memorial Day Weekend

We've been really busy this weekend--and unfortunately, I don't have many (read: any) photos to document our travels. Here was our weekend, in a nutshell.

Friday: A double-date date night with some great friends. We had a delicious dinner at White Orchid, played some intense miniature golf (and boy, do I wish I had some pictures of that!), and finished off the night with ice cream. Absolute perfection, and tons of laugh.

Saturday:  We were up early to volunteer at a local 5K, spent some time getting Brad's car fixed, and then headed to Lancaster to attend LCBC and see Nick get baptized. We spent the rest of the evening celebrating and catching up with great friends before heading back to the Lehigh Valley.

Sunday: We started the morning with a run, and got caught in the rain about halfway through the run. We were already soaked, so we finished our run before heading back home. We got cleaned up, Brad prepped a salad for lunch, and we headed to Brad's mom's house for a picnic and some pool time. We spent the afternoon in the sun before heading home to spend the rest of the night relaxing.

Monday: It's only a little after 11:00 a.m. on Monday, and our plan is to spend the majority of the afternoon at the pool.

Happy Memorial Day, and thank you to those who served!

Blessings,
-Nikki

Date night + Weekend Travels

Whew--it's been a long time since there has been a Nothing but Nelson update. Here is what has been going on around these parts...

Last Thursday night was date night. Our date this week included a three and a half mile run (our fastest to date), dinner at Yocco's (Brad's choice), and a little bit of shopping.

On Friday morning I made the trip to Northumberland, and Brad followed a few hours behind me. We spent the afternoon hanging out, enjoyed dinner and rounded out the night with a trip to Lewisburg for ice cream...and ducks. 

 Mom and Dylan

The ducks

Saturday started with a run at the marina, followed by a delicious breakfast. After hanging out for a bit, Brad was in need of a trip to the Squeeze In. If you've never been to Sunbury, the Squeeze In is a legend. It's a small restaurant (I use that term loosely) that serves hot dogs and chocolate milk. There are only three or four stools in the whole place. If you're ever in the area, you should check it out. 

After our visit to the Squeeze In, we had some special visitors come by: 

These pictures were borrow from Denyel's Facebook, since I don't know what I was thinking and didn't take any. We spent some time with Denyel and Brinley--isn't she adorable? (I'm talking about both of them!)

Saturday late afternoon and evening included some errands, visiting with some family, and a dinner outing with my little brother. 

 Apparently Brad and Dylan have a very similar fashion sense...

...and the sun was really bright behind me!

Sunday morning started bright and early! Brad headed back to the Lehigh Valley, and Dylan, mom and I hit the road to Steubenville, Ohio! Dylan has an internship there for the summer, and my dad was in a golf tournament all weekend, so I decided to make the trip. 

We spent about five hours driving through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and ended up in Ohio. We got Dylan moved in, did some shopping, and camped out in his new apartment for the night. We were in Ohio for less than 24 hours before getting up early on Monday and heading home. It was a long few days of travel, but really nice to spend time with family!

So, there was our week and weekend in nutshell. See ya soon!

-Nikki

Workout Wednesday is back!

Yesterday marked the return of workout Wednesday. After a relatively busy day, we decided to make a trip to the gym before our weekly date night.

We had good intentions of doing something different for date night. We really did. Our plan was to visit the Allentown Art museum to see their exhibit on Rock and Roll. Unfortunately, the museum closes at 5:00 p.m. during the week, which makes it difficult for us to get to. The zoo also closes at 5:00 p.m. So, to The Burgery Company it was. :) We had been there one other time, but unfortunately, I didn't take any photos this time. It was delicious.

After dinner we stopped at a RedBox to pick up a romantic comedy to watch when we got home. We apparently didn't do enough research, because the movie that we picked was terrible (FYI: It was called Reality of Love. Don't watch it). We literally didn't even get 10 minutes into it before Brad had enough and we watched an episode of Psych instead. We were also able to catch an episode of Modern Family, which I think is hilarious.

That's about it for our date night and Workout Wednesday. Until next time!

-Nikki

Thursday Night Date Night

Our Thursday night date night seemed to be a pretty "typical" date night. Since we have an extra special weekend planned, we decided to keep things low-key with a standard Nelson date night.

Gym.Dinner.Jeopardy.Ice Cream.

I think we're falling into a rut.

After a shoulder workout, we made a delicious dinner of chicken, Brussels Sprouts (heyyy Aunt Barb!) and teeny tiny potatoes.

We played a game of Jeopardy before making the trip to Creamery on Main (you thought I was going to say that we went to Premise Maid, didn't cha?)

 Thanks for the ice cream, Andrew! ;)

Yesterday was the first day of our weekend celebration, and it turned out to be an action packed day! We're heading out for more fun now, I'll give you an update soon!

Blessings,
-Nikki 

No-Workout Wednesday

Yesterday was workout Wednesday again...except that it wasn't There WAS workout Friday, workout Saturday, workout Sunday, and 1/2 of a workout on Tuesday (we got through about half of the exercises before a massive headache got the best of me and I couldn't take it any more--no worries, I'm all better now).

Wednesday was scheduled to be a long day for both Brad and myself. I was at an event all day for work, and Brad had a late meeting scheduled. I was planning to teach a private Zumba class and we agreed to meet at home later.

By some divine intervention, my class didn't happen and Brad's meeting got canceled. Instead of workout Wednesday, we decided to make it an impromptu date night and head to Horns in Bethlehem for dinner. We've been there a few other times, and I really think that it just keeps getting better.

 Brad described his chicken club sandwich as "life-changing."

These are seriously the best fries that I have ever had. Fries with truffle oil, sea salt, and chives. 

A closer look at Brad's sandwich. 

Tonight we're off to dinner with some friends. I tried a new dessert recipe to take along, and if it gets good reviews, I'll gladly share. See ya soon!

Blessings!

-Nikki

Week in Review

Remember when Brad went to California and Nothing But Nelson wasn't updated for a while? Well, that's kind of what happened again. Brad was able to spend most of last week at a conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, enjoying views like this:

I didn't do too much while he was gone, so there wasn't much to report on. Luckily, my work schedule was much busier than usual, so the days the Brad was away went by quickly. I did have the opportunity to teach a private Zumba class, which ended up being a lot of fun. I went to growth group on Tuesday, and Wednesday I worked late after taking an afternoon trip to Jim Thorpe. Brad came home on Thursday, and we enjoyed dinner at home and caught up on Castle.

Friday was our "date night" which turned out to be a typical Friday night: a trip to the gym, dinner at Paese-Mio, and ice cream at Premise Maid. We attempted to watch an episode of Psych when we got home, but ended up falling asleep and waking up when it was over. What a wild Friday night!

Actually, McGee was the only one getting crazy around here!

This morning included a run outside--we're starting to get ready for the race in Milwaukee. Here's to hoping it goes better than last year.

Enjoy your weekend!
-Nikki

Weekend, Workouts, and Date night

It's been a while since I've given you an update, so here it goes--all in one post!

On Saturday afternoon Brad and I took a hot yoga class at Lehigh Valley Yoga. This was my first attempt at hot yoga, and it was definitely quite the workout! They are having a special on hot yoga class on on Saturdays and Sundays at noon, so if you're in the Lehigh Valley area, check it out.

My mom and dad arrived on Saturday afternoon, and we spent some time catching up (and watching our wedding video) before heading to Paolo's in Northampton for dinner. All of our meals were delicious, and Paolo's serves some of the biggest portions that I've ever seen! I ate my entree for dinner on Saturday, Brad and I shared some leftovers for dinner on Monday, and I finished it off for lunch on Tuesday. I got four meals out of one entree! If you see my mom and dad, ask them how their leftovers were ;).

On our way home we made a stop at Premise Maid for dessert. Check out these photos:

Yes, those are the Blues Brothers.

Sunday included church, Fuse, a trip to the grocery store and a stop at the gym. Monday was a crazy kind of day, which included a Zumba class for me. We were able to get in a crazy leg workout on Tuesday, and I can still feel the results of walking lunges--they were killer!

Since workout Wednesday technically happened on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, we choose Wednesday night as date night. We've decided to take turns planning date night, and this week was my turn. We started with a picnic in the living room (OK, so we really just ate dinner on the floor, but it was fun), followed by some Wii Jeopardy (because we're really that cool).

Today also included a surprise lunch date at Wegman's before coming home to get some more work done. We've both got a few things to do before a quick workout and an evening with friends.

Until next time,
-Nikki