Summer Recipe #5: Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars

Check out what I made!

Don't they look delicious?!

Well, they definitely are!

My mom found this recipe (via FB I think) and gave it to me to make it for this past weekend. Nick came home and brought two friends with him so it was perfect timing to make this sweet treat. 

It was really easy to make.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars 

Ingredients:

1 32 oz cookie dough roll

3 packages 8 oz cream cheese

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 eggs 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Spread half of the cookie dough on he bottom of a greased 13x9 pan. Mix together the cream cheese, egg, vanilla, and sugar until when blended. Spread the mixture on top of the cookie dough. Top the cream cheese mixture with the remaining cookie dough. The best way to do this, is flatten the dough into circles and place on top. Back for 45-50 minutes or until the middle is settled. Let cool and refrigerate. Enjoy :)

First Trip to Philadephia

Wednesday and Thursday, Mom, Chris, and I made our first trip to Philadelphia. Just one trip right after the other. I love it! 

The main reason why we went was for Chris to check out Drexel University. He's going to be a Junior in the Fall, he's getting so old! We took a tour of the university which was nice, but exploring the city that evening and the next day was my favorite!

Wednesday evening we took a Duck Tour. So much fun! We took a WWII vessel on land and water to take a tour of the city. We scratched the surface of the city and saw all the highlights. My two favorite parts of the ride: 1. Answering the joke "What time do ducks set their alarm? At the quack of dawn!" haha I got it right and won a duckie! 2. Doing the chicken dance!

Chris and I before the ride 

Pennsylvania Railroad (Monopoly anyone?)

Art Museum. Steps "Rocky" ran. 

Beautiful Catholic Church 

City Hall. So Cool! 

Betsy Ross House

On the water...

Mom and I at dinner 

The next day we took a tour of Independence Hall and saw the Liberty Bell! It was pretty awesome to stand in the same room as all those that signed the Declaration of Independence. 

Courtroom (Middle cage is where the accused would stand during the entire trial, that's where the name "standing trial" originated)

The room where it all happened!

 LIBERTY BELL!

Before heading out we stopped at the Redding Terminal Market to gawk at all the amazing food! If it were lunch time we probably would have stopped to eat something. Really cool place and I would recommend checking it out if you are ever in Philadelphia. 

Biggest shrimp I've ever seen!

On our way home from Philly, we stopped at my great aunt's house. That was my first time meeting her and it was finally great to meet her and chat for a little bit. 

Have you ever been to Philadelphia? What was your favorite part?

Revisiting the Breakers

The second day that Kevin was here we went to Newport, RI for most of the day and then Mystic, CT for part of the evening.

I love Newport! It's such a beautiful city with lots of character.

First I had to take Kevin to the Breakers, which is a mansion (HUGE= over 100,000 sqft) from the guilded age owned by the Vanderbilts. I've been there before, but had no problem revisiting because it's pretty awesome. It was an audio tour and I learned new things that I didn't remember from the last time. It was a gorgeous day and we took lots of good pictures.

After visiting the Breakers we ate a restaurant that had a patio that was on at the International Tennis Hall of Fame. We sat outside in beautiful setting and enjoyed lunch. Afterwards we headed to the Newport Storm Brewery. We were able to try four different flavors. My favorite was the blueberry flavored one. 

Before leaving Newport, we walked down to a point of the Cliff Walk. Looked at the lovely water, took a picture, and then it was off to Mystic, CT!

Mystic was quite busy! We looked at the edge of Mystic Seaport, which was closed that late in the day. Then we ate at the famous Mystic pizza place. After we walked around, ate some ice cream and enjoyed relaxing in the town. What a good day!

Day Three: NYC

Day Number 3 with Kevin we headed to NYC. 

This is what we did....

1. 9/11 Memorial

2. Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge

3. Hung out along the water in Brooklyn

4. Went to the The Paley Center for Media. Which was really neat! They have hundreds of thousands of tv shows and radio broadcasts from the past to today. 

5. Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral

6. Dinner in Little Italy and checked out the old St. Patrick's 

Mulberry Street 

7. Top of the Rock!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Fourth of July! 

...a few days late. 

I've been busy these past few days because Kevin came to visit for 5 days. I had a blast! On the fourth we went to Boston. It was a long day, but a great one!

To begin the day we went to Sam Adams Brewery which is southwest of downtown Boston. The guy who gave us the tour was pretty cool and funny. A lot of it went over my head because I don't understand all the stuff on how to make beer. We got to smell and taste the ingredients which was neat. After the tour we tried three different types of beer.

1. Boston Lager (original)

2. Summer Ale- thought this one was the best!

3. IPA

We were able to keep our glass too! 

After the tour and tastings we took a "party bus" (just for the ride) to Doyle's, a famous Irish restaurant in Boston.  Several movies have been filmed here including 21 and Mystic River. Also, some Boston police shows. Since we visited the Brewery, we got a free glass! I tried the Cherry Wheat...let me tell you, best beer I've ever had! 

Doyle's

After lunch we made our way around Boston and went to some of the highlights of the Freedom Trail. We took a short tour of Paul Revere's house. 

Paul Revere's House

Bunker Hill

Bar along the way where they plotted the Revolution

Faneuil Hall 

Sight of the Boston Massacre 

That afternoon we also walked around Harvard's campus. It was a beautiful day. Couldn't have asked for better weather.

Before dinner we cleaned up and then headed to an Italian restaurant. It was quite delicious. Then it was firework time! YAY! 

It was a great day :) And I'm happy to be dating a great guy for one year now!

Flying into July

Happy July! June flew by!

This is a little old, but I went flying with my brother Chris a few weeks ago.

He's been taking flying lessons for over a year now and I finally was able to fly with him. It was pretty neat. The instructor was also in the plane. He flies a 172 Cessna. It was a two door, four passenger. That day he was practicing touch and gos. That is when he flies up in the air, does a loop, lands, and immediately goes back up into the air. I love looking over the land to see the houses and buildings when flying :)

So I'm being kind of cheesy with the title of the post, but I named it flying because this month is going to fly by! I have so much going on. This week Kevin comes to visit, next week a short visit to Philly, then Mackinac Island with Kevin, and then Haiti to conclude the month!