Slumdog Millionaire - Date Night

'Twas date night on Friday for The Mrs. and I. We had a delicious dinner at Avalon Restaurant in West Chester. It's the kind of place that reminds me why we only frequent independently run dining establishments. We were offered a brand new appetizer after being told the chef just whipped it up moments earlier, trying something new, and had the 3-man waitstaff come back to sample it before they pitched it to hungry patrons. It was a potato pancake stuffed with pancetta and asiago cheese served with plum mustardo. It was fantastic! The salt of the bacon combined wonderfully with the mellow sweetness of the plum. Unbelievably cool. That's the kind of culinary experience one never receives in a big box restaurant where the kitchen doesn't have the flexibility to create on the fly.

Afterwards we caught the last showing of Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle's (Trainspotting) newest film. What a fantastic movie about dreams, destiny and rising above expectations. Boyle pieced the film together using dozens of flashbacks until the final 10 minutes when we stay in the present. The result is a beautiful piece of cinema that is as breathtaking as it is dramatic.

The Retreat at Tree Gap -The Ideal Woodstock Hideaway

Nestled into the Catskill Mountains, just down the road a spell from the historically unique Byrdcliffe Arts Colony, sits a private getaway so charming and devastatingly comfortable that your body and mind will ache for just one more early morning to snuggle under a quilt atop the over-sized window seat with a cup of fresh ground coffee in one hand and a fine work of literature (or in the Mrs. case a Nicholas Sparks novel) in the other. This dreamy location is referred to as the Retreat at Treegap.

It is so incredibly close to the "downtown" section of Woodstock (an easy 3 minute car ride or healthy stroll downhill) yet it's far enough away from the hustle and bustle, of which there is a surprising amount, of the famous hamlet that you feel as if you and your mate are the only people on earth.

Breakfast is home cooked and served in-room. Morning one consisted of fresh fruit, muffins, breads and biscotti with tea, cider, jellies. Morning 2 was our choice of eggs, french toast, and the shallot, chevre, herb omelet that I ordered. It was served with crunchy grilled think bread. Yummy!

If you're so inclined, the Retreat at Treegap provides free Wi-Fi and DirectTV with a nice flat panel television. I was able to watch MSU crush the Irish on Saturday while the Mrs. finished her book. Simply a perfect Autumn afternoon.

If you're heading up to Woodstock to relive the 60's or to catch Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble (OMG! haha...how amazing. If you love The Band, Dylan, etc. spend the $150 per person and see Levon play in his home - it's unreal) and you're looking for a great place to stay while there you should consider The Retreat at Treegap - Megan and Joan will take good care of you during your visit.

Money Well Spent, but Spent None-the-Less

In the span of 10 days we've spent $300 on a more-complex-than-expected dryer duct cleaning, $140 on Maytag fridge service and $150 on a new tire for our little car because I got a flat on Monday night. There's nearly $600 we didn't have...a nice start to living on one income! It's because of these expenses, along with an uncomfortable monetary feeling I had since I saw it advertised at $100 per person, that we did not attend the NFL Films event last night at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute. They were honoring Steve Sabol of NFL Films and the event was hosted by voice of the Eagles Merrill Reese and one of my personal favorites Ray Didinger (one of the smartest football people I've ever heard talk). I'm sure it was fantastic.

It was the first time since becoming professionally unemployed that I've had a big financial decision to make - the whole "but I really want to go" balanced with the unavoidable "but we don't have [fill in large dollar amount here] to go to it". It sucks but that was and is the known trade off when I left my job last month.

We are splurging this weekend though, as the Mrs. and I celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary in Woodstock, NY. We're staying at a beautiful looking bed and breakfast, having dinner streamside at the Bear Cafe and attending Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble on Saturday night. The weather up there is to be in the high 30's at night!

'Tis going to be an amazing weekend with my lovely bride.