Wow…I can’t believe it’s been so long since I last posted. A lot has happened since that last post. My husband and I went to Europe for a month, packed up and sold our house, and moved across the country so he can start medical school (his first day is actually today!). And that’s not all…

Remember how I told you we were moving to Mississippi?

We are now living in Washington state! What a whirlwind! Shortly before we left for Europe we got a letter of acceptance from Washington, and we decided while on our trip that it would be a better fit for us. We looked online to find a place to live, and a little after a month after we landed back in the U.S., we drove nearly 20 hours across multiple mountain passes with a 24-foot moving truck and a trailer with my car on the back! We love our new place so far, and have already made some wonderful friends. Which leads me to a quick overview of the notable things we ate this weekend:

On Saturday night we went over to the home of one of Todd’s classmates, whose wife I had actually met at a family orientation earlier. We had hit it off even before we knew our husbands had already been dubbed the “twins” of their class!

Here are the delicious spring rolls our new Washington friends made us. We had peanut dipping sauce and quinoa on the side, as well as smoked salmon, cream cheese, and capers on Wasa crackers for an appetizer, with fresh peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream for dessert (I had seconds and the hubby had thirds–we love us some sweets!!). We had a great time and are now thinking about what we want to make when we have them over for dinner at our place! Any suggestions?

After dinner last night we had something we’ve been looking forward to for a whole year now: Big pieces of the top of our wedding cake! We wrapped it up very well, so it still tasted delicious for our first anniversary. I had some caramel praline ice cream on the side, and it was just as good as I ever could have imagined it would be!

For dinner earlier, we split some ahi tuna sashimi at a local restaurant, then I had an Asian sampler with pork dumplings, fried spring rolls, and tempura shrimp (it ended up being pretty soggy and greasy but it was fun to try anyway). The hubs had his usual staple, a big cheeseburger and fries.

One last picture: This is my hubby and I after his White Coat Ceremony this weekend. The flowers aren’t actually ours, but some he asked to borrow from a classmate just for a photo!!! The next couple of years will be tough because he will be so busy with school, but I am very proud of him and know he will do extremely well.

That’s all for today. Next WIAW will be devoted to some of our most favorite and most unique European eats from our trip!

Now again, my question for you: What are your suggestions for a fun dinner party menu?

Keep in touch and keep it real!

Justine