Our dear Aunt Lynne likes to point out when things come full circle. She might point it out in our situation: two years ago we set off from New York on an adventure with no clear end destination. Now that we find ourselves back in the city, we've been able to regroup with our community here and gather together a plan for the next chapter in our lives. Here's a recap of what we've been up to since January...
Start, beginning January 2010. We land in a sunny San Jose, CA, after spending many snowy days in Cleveland.
We visit friends, Ken and Eleanor, and traverse the vineyard dotted hills with them, tasting lovely California Reds.
We shared a hot pot on our last night in Sunnyvale. It was delicious.
We walked around San Francisco and enjoyed the amazing selection of fresh foods and coffee at the Embarcadero. We picked up some chanterelles for dinner along with a lovely bunch of dried lavender.
The night was shared with good friends Eric and Jan and new baby Kylie.
Having a drink with the guys.
We said goodbye and drove down the California coast towards Big Sur. California is amazing.
We stayed at an old Norwegian Inn called Deetjen's. Good food + great wafts of pine and cedar pouring through the air.
Deetjen's wasn't far from the coast where we found this majestic spot.
We spent the day driving South on PCH until it was time to head east towards Bakersfield.
There, we were greeted with warm hugs, enchiladas and tamales. Ah, we've missed you!
Here's Teri with Grandma Nellie, Mom, Aunt Jenny and cousins Brandi and Natalie.
Natalie, Teri, Brandi and Bo.
The next day Grandma gave us a lesson on how to make tortillas.
With Mom and Dad Beene, we drove up to Yosemite and spent a few glorious days there.
Then we flew north to Seattle to visit our Gaines family and newest addition, Nicholas Edwin.
We were able to spend a whole day together down by Pike Place Market, and the weather cooperated as well!
John, Faith, John, Lucy, Li'l Matt, Nicholas, Mo, "AnTeri" and "UncaMatt".
Playing hid n seek with lil Matt
Here's Faith peering in the window of the orginal Starbucks cafe.
Neighborhood hunting with Maureen
We had a delicious Greek salad in honor of our time in Athens
Olympic Mountains, Puget Sound and ferry boat
Hiking in the Bloedel reserve on Bainbridge Island, WA
The view from the ferry boat deck looking East towards Seattle
Inside the Seattle Public Library designed Rem Koolhaas
Faith and Teri in the heart of the Library
After Seattle, we stopped through Cleveland en route to NY. We stayed with Maureen's parents. A scroll for Grandma Beanie, by Lucy.
Landing in NY, we stayed at the beach in Westhampton, and visited friends Mike and Misha in the city.
Beautiful sunny early February...
But more snow was on the way....
Also arriving in NY in February- Zachary James, our friends Ray and Lisa's baby boy!
Just ahead of a second snow storm, we left the North East and went to New Orleans. Matt took a work related course there. It was nice and warm.
Breakfast consisted of buscuits, eggs, and of course, gritts.
Bloodys on the veranda...
Whilst Matt was in class, Teri also took a cooking class and learned to make Pralines, gumbo and jumbalaya!
Teri visited Cafe Du Monde for world famous chickory coffee and beignets, in all their doughnutty powdered sugar glory
They tasted like this...powdered sugar glory....
The French Quarter was very charming
On our last afternoon, we had a picnic in the Audubon Park. We enjoyed cold beer and Shrimp Po' Boy sandwiches.
Then it was back to the cold, grey winter of New York
To brighten things up, Teri joined with her old dance teacher for a performance sponsored by the Alvin Ailey dance studio
Now, like the city relaxing into Spring, we're taking a step back to breathe and wonder about what will come next...
They really do throw fish at Pike Place Market in Seattle.
We enjoyed gourmet street cart dumplings (like you do in Brooklyn!) and took the long route to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. 
We all were starving from pounding the hipster pavement, so we were set to leave when we see these guys walk up right behind us... 
...and they had pizza!
All four of us quickly devoured their leftovers and headed for a new "IT" restaurant in the city. BTW--if you find yourself in New York anytime soon, Motorino really does have delicious pizza.
I know what you're thinking, but it was supposed to be the best fried chicken in town. And there's a huge waiting list to get a reservation. And you have to check the website to book a reservation at 10am for a spot a month away! And you needed at least four people. So, we assembled a party of eight and chowed down on a triple-fried-heaping-mound-of-chicken-dinner.
