Getting back to blogging

"The Tomato Journey," was posted well over 14 months ago and while yes a lot has been happening since then it is still a bit embarrassing that we've let the blog slip so far down the list of "things we really need to get to."

BUT, we've made a commitment to be better (that's the first step right?, making a grand proclamation). We've made some improvements to the design of the blog and added a way to subscribe by email (see widget on right).

While 14 months is a really long time here are a few highlights:

September 18, 2010--Made it official













October 3, 2010--Returned from our amazing honeymoon in Spain











Then there was the first holiday season as "The Laurs," which was a fantastic series of dinners and parties with family and friends. In January we learned that we were EXPECTING our first baby and have spent the last 9 months preparing for his arrival. We're naming him Charles Patrick Laur, after both of grand fathers (Charlie and Chic) and my dad (Pat). More posts to come on the experiences of preparing for his arrival!

Also, in 2011 we've been a part of several of our friends' and families' fantastic wedding celebrations. YAY for weddings :)

• Sharyn & Jason Grove
• Yvette Meyers & John Laur Sr.
• Laura & Ryan Grubb
• Maggie & Matt Kramme
• Brooke & Ashley Murphy
• Lori Smyth & Malinda Davis
• Lauren & Sunny Bhatia

Looking forward to sharing our updates once Charlie arrives!

The Tomato Journey

So as crazy as this probably is to believe....until a few months ago I had never eaten a tomato on a sandwich (voluntarily at least). See, I always had this "thing" with eating tomatoes...I had no objection to ketchup, marinara sauce, tomato sauce, etc. but I absolutely wanted nothing to do with raw tomatoes on my salads or sandwiches, it was the texture that was the hold-up.

But, over the past year I've been slowly getting closer to eating tomatoes...I've now become somewhat obsessed with Green Tomatoes...the best I've had so far is the BlueStone appetizer: fried green tomatoes with jumbo lump crab and this lemon beurre blanc sauce, a close second however is the Miss Shirleys appetizer: fried green tomatoes with a lemon-herb aioli.

While fried green tomatoes were a step in the right direction, they weren't really solving the issue! In April, John and I had an awesome weekend getaway in St. Micheals where we stayed with my Cousin Gwenny and her husband Dudley at their amazing home. We choose that weekend in particular because it was the annual St. Michaels Winefest.


On Saturday night, Dudley made BLTs for dinner...now up to this point I'd always preferred the "Bobbie" version of the BLT--BLMC (Bacon, Lettuce, Mayo, Cheese). But I decided it was now or never...I was going to try eating raw tomatoes! OMG--it was SOOO good! This was a game changer, I now loved tomatoes on sandwiches! Now I wanted them on every sandwich and couldn't get enough...the next weekend when John and I went to pick out our vegetables for our 2010 garden we decided on YES (you guessed it) a tomato plant along with peppers and cucumbers.

Why, am I choosing to share this story of my tomato journey now...well because, lastnight John and I had our very own BLTs, made with our own home grown tomatoes :) You can see the play by play of pictures below including Chelsea even getting some crumbs (which is not a normal occurrence) -- after all it was a big moment for HouseonStrathmore!

The Story Behind the Save the Date

By now you should have received your Saved the Date in the mail. For most Baltimoreans, these two iconic figures are easily recognizable - but for those who don't know, let's fill you in, and later we'll tell you the the personal touches we put on the characters and a bit of our family history involving the two figures that adorn our save the date.

The Characters

On the left, representing Bobbie is the Little Utz girl. The rosy cheek cutie is the face of a local brand of potato chips, Utz Chips. Through all of our googling, we could not find much information on the origin of the Little Utz Girl, but we did find that she does write a blog and has a Facebook page, go ahead and become a fan.

Over on the right of the Save the Date, representing John is the one-eyed, mustached icon of Baltimore, Mr. Boh. Mr. Boh is the mascot for National Bohemian Beer or Natty Boh as it is referred to here in Baltimore, the place where the beer was first brewed. Mr. Boh is easily the most seen face in all of Baltimore and represents a damn fine beer!

Getting Them Together

We can not take credit for being the ones to put these icons together. It was an ad for Smyth Jewlers (the some spot where Bobbie's ring was purchased) shouting the slogan "Where Baltimore Gets Engaged."

The ad is prominently displayed in Baltimore, just a few blocks away from where Bobbie and John first lived together. The billboard was an obvious influence. It was often joked that the two characters would make great Halloween costumes for us.

Personal touches

For, us we loved the concept of the original Smyth ad, but certainly wanted to add some pieces of our personality. That's when we put Maid of Honor Katie O'Connell to work. Using her great graphic skills, Katie was able to add these personal touches to the save the date.

Check out the Utz girl and notice her Diet Coke shirt.

Bobbie endorses the Diet Coke product like NO other product. It makes up the majority of her favorite beverage - sing it with me "Captain and Diet, tall glass, but just a single, with 2 lemons."

Now check out Mr. Boh. Yup, old school Chuck Taylor Converse shoes. Easily John's favorite shoe and perhaps favorite article of clothing all together. In fact, every year for John's Birthday, Bobbie gives John a fresh pair, always black low tops.

Family History: The Laur - Mr. Boh Connection

Mr. Boh has shown himself a lot in John's life. John's Dad, Mr. John, has always had his father Charles' "Chic" beer mug. The mug features a Mr. Boh on the outside and a surprise Mr. Boh the pops out from the bottom of the mug.

While I have never seen the mug used as a beer mug, we hear that the mug was mostly used in the Laur house as the place to store the ping pong balls in the basement.

Family History: The Kemp/O'Connell - Utz Connection

Story about Family getting and giving UTZ chip tins

If there is an O'Connell/Kemp family gathering, whether 2 or 20 people, you can guarantee the presence of Utz potato chips and sour cream and onion dip. The Utz are so popular in their family that they have even shipped the tins, full of deliciousness, all around the country, mainly to make her Aunt Kitty's day.

Getting "Magnetic"

We were always really into following the trend of having our Save the Date put out as a magnet. Maybe its because we love food and being on the fridge is like home to us. Who knows.

Best Man Troy Laur was able, through magic, voodoo or some kind of odd super power able to get use a killer deal on getting the Save the Date printed on magnet. It is thanks to him that we now get to live side by side with some of our other favorite couples.

In Memory of Sebastian Bach, the Tortoise

Last night the House on Strathmore suffered a major loss. Sebastian Bach, the Russian Tortoise who lived with John for a number of years, has passed on to the great under the bed storage container in the sky.

Sebastian was given to John as a birthday gift and named after the great rock singer and leader of the rock group Skid Row. Through his lifetime Sebastian shared with John many great adventures including a summer in Ocean City and moves all over the state of Maryland.

Memorial Services will include a burial in the yard of bamboo behind our house as soon as weather allows and in the spring time we will dedicate a section of the garden in Sebastian's honor.

In closing, Sebastian, we all will remember you:

Merry Christmas from John and Bobbie 2009

Here is our Video Christmas Card for 2009:

Click Here if You can't see the video

Yes, 2009 ended with a bang - us getting engaged. Click here for more about our engagement.

AND for more Holiday fun, John put together Christmas Cards for 98 Rock and WBAL and Bobbie is in a New Years Card for Towson University's DECO

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Engagement

It all went down on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009. John managed to get Bobbie to come to the corner of St. Paul and Biddle Street in Mt. Vernon Baltimore, the spot where John and Bobbie first lived and fell in love. Across the street were many members of our friends and family. Here is the engagement from their perspective:

Click Here if you can't see video

Long story short, Bobbie said "yes" and there was much rejoicing! 2010 will be a busy and FANTASTIC YEAR!

And for those who care, here is a picture of the ring.

Hamilton-Lauraville Tuesday Market at the Connection

On Tuesday, Bobbie and I decided to hop on over to the 4500 block of Harford Road for the Hamilton-Lauraville Tuesday Market at the Connection. The Market has grown quite a bit since its first days just about a month ago. Now there are about 20 to 30 vendors offering all kinds of local food and products. We decided to skip out on the dinner we had planned to enjoy some of these local flavors. Not only was the food tasty, but it was pretty cheap. We had 21 dollars and were able to have these meals:

Bobbie:
- Fresh Mint Lemonade
- 2 Chorizo Tacos from one of our favorite area restaurants, Clementine (we also hear their expanded restaurant should be open sometime in the next week or two)
- Frozen Fresh Fruit Slushy thing

John:
- Fresh Mint Lemonade
- Chilled Cream of Asparagus Soup
- A Killer Brisket Sandwich from Chef Mac’s Louisiana Cuisine.

I was very excited to hear from Mac himself that he would be opening a Louisiana style restaurant where the Alabama Bar B Que used to be.


With all the food purchases done, that left me with $5 left over to donate to the true highlight of the Market: the talented St. Veronica's Youth Steel Orchestra pictured here:

I wish I would have had my flip camera to film them, but I was able to track down this video. Good stuff. The band, as detailed on their website, is a program called Pan in Community and it “uses the medium of the steel drums to re-direct the young people of our community into positive social and behavioral ideals.” Find out more about these guys at http://www.paninthecommunity.org/

Good times had - we hope to catch you out at the next Hamilton-Lauraville Tuesday Market at the Connection. It happens everyweek between the hours of 4pm and 8pm.