Days 11-14 of Awesome

Ah, the slump. It has happened!

 The last few days have pretty much just been full of working & preparing for our camping vacation to Vermont. Let's see...we had D's grandparents over for dinner (which we owed them from Christmas), visited with my parents & pups for a tad, had a banjo lesson, & I bought some fun new sunglasses, a scarf (yes!) & t-shirts....Yeah.  Whew. These last few days sure have been jam packed with amazing awesomeness. In all seriousness, things have been busy & simultaneously boring, but there have definitely been some nice things sprinkled throughout.  And I'm on the last episode of My So-Called Life, aagh!

We leave for vacation today, so here's to fun stuff in the next few days!

Here's a cute picture of Lucy to make up for the boringness of this post. 

 The Loveliest!!

Day 10 of Awesome

After a rollicking good time at work, I headed to my friends' house for some quality hang out time. I hadn't seen some of them in over a month!! Lame. It was lovely to see everyone for awhile. I helped them figure out what colors to paint some rooms, plus I won two games, yes!

Also, yesterday Fang Island's new video for their single Sisterly premiered on MTVu. Here's the link:  http://www.mtvu.com/music/fang-island-sisterly/    GO WATCH IT NOW! NOW, I say!

Oh, hey, you're back! Isn't the video so fun? And how 'bout that song?? Share it, & then go to your local record store & buy Fang Island's albums. Then see if they're playing a show near you! You'll want to high five the crap out of everyone you know, you'll like Fang Island so much. Need added incentive? My lil brother is the drummer, so this is all out of sisterly love, not annoying promoter-y whatnot. But still, you should totally do what I said ;)



(pssst...do it!)

Day 9 of Awesome

Today's awesome thing is brought to you by the letter "D" & the color "pinkish-red."

It's time for another fruit tasting, kids!

 D: "Whoa, it looks more like a dragon teste."

Last week I bought a dragon fruit (aka pitaya) & then promptly forgot I even had it. Oops! Luckily, tonight I remembered & it was still in fairly good shape, so D & I tried it out.

 

 It's really pretty inside.

It smelled good, sort of like a cross between weakly fragranced kiwi & pear. In true fruit-trying style, I look like crap in the following photos (read: passion fruit tasting) because this was about 30 minutes after I got home from work. Bad hair, tired face, sweaty patina. Anyway, you've been warned.

Onto the tasting!

 Hesitantly skeptical.

Being brave because Lord knows I've eaten freakier things (heart, tongue, blood, etc...all delicious, btw)

 Judging...

 Eh.

When asked how it was, I told D, "I'm whelmed by it." Which really is the perfect phrase. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't overly good, either. It tasted like an extremely bland, slightly sweet kiwi, basically. I was definitely into the crunchiness of the seeds, & I liked the texture of the fruit which was juicy yet...potato-ish? Like, it was sort of dry in that it broke easily, but it was definitely juicy too. 

 It was good enough that we both ate our entire halves, which yielded this innard-esque skin.

It also seemed to give us each of touch of madness. Just kidding, we're normally weird.

So, hey, sure, try it out. It's alright. 

Hurray awesome fruit tying!!

Days 7 & 8 of Awesome

Day 7:

Tuesday suuuuucked. Well, not totally.

I had my banjo lesson, which went alright. I admittedly haven't been practicing enough, & then I get annoyed when I mess up. It's kind of my thing. But my lesson was definitely better than my last (which was immediately after work, on a day that i had been up since 5:30am. never again!), & a couple things finally clicked for me. Also, my banjo teacher has a cute cat & she licked my finger. Meow!

After my lesson I went to work & closed, then came home, stayed up for a bit & then went to bed so I could be up at 5:30 to be back at work at 7am. Oh joy! So, that was my "awesome" Tuesday. But yay for me finally wrapping my head around some banjo techniques, right?

Which brings me to Day 8:

As I just said, I worked 7-3. I actually like that shift, because it flies by & then I actually have the whole day to do things. Often times when I open, by the time 9pm rolls around the only hint that I even worked that day is that I'm a bit sleepy. Not feeling like you worked is always a plus!

After work I lounged for a bit, then started on dinner. The nice part of Wednesday was that for the first time in a few weeks D & I were able to cook & eat dinner together, no interruptions. It was lovely. Then we went out for a scoop of ice cream. Yes! I wrapped up the night by falling asleep while covered in blankets & reading in a nicely air-conditioned bedroom. Ahhhh!

Day 6 of Awesome

And awesome it was!

Monday night we went to see Mumford & Sons--AMAZING.

I *love* this band. LOVE. I've had Sigh No More in my top three rotation of albums for over two years. I know the album by heart & I never get sick of it. It inspired me to start learning the banjo. And Marcus Mumford (yes, i'm creepy) is kinda dreamy, so that's an added bonus. Me being excited for this show was a huge understatement.

Apparently the show was the fastest selling show in PPAC history. We found out the day after tickets went on sale that there even was a show, & of course it was sold out. Crushed. Devastated! When I heard the news I was on a ferry & kinda wanted to jump off the boat & into the whale & shark infested waters of Cape Cod.  BUT (there's always a but...or a butt), D's fabulous aunt hooked us up with great tickets--17th row center, don't mind if I do--& there was much rejoicing.

The place was obviously totally packed & there was such good energy in the theatre that I knew the audience was going to be so into it. There's nothing that annoys me more than being in a mediocre audience. I mean, people were screaming & clapping & cheering for the two opening bands.

So, anyway. Mumford & Sons was so.good. Incredible! The set was pretty & magical, the band was talkative, funny & charming & the music was nuts. They were so, so amazing. Loud, perfectly harmonized, beautiful. During the last song Marcus Mumford broke a guitar string & while playing like a maniac was simultaneously tuning his other strings to make up for the broken one. What!

I'll stop talking. Below are some shots I took with my phone. I still haven't quite mastered taking a non-blurry photo with my phone at a concert (what with all the lights), so please excuse any ickiness.

The band totally unplugged & sang "Timshel"to the almost silent crowd. So cool. What's up, great acoustics!

 The set was really simple & pretty, too.

Unfortunately I haven't yet been able to get the videos I took off my phone, but go here to see two videos D took at the show (& feel free to explore his other uploads, there's some good stuff on there!). I'll edit this post with my videos when I can actually get them off one device & onto another. 

Wrap up: Mumford & Sons is the best. I encourage you to listen to their music (new album in September, too!!) & if you ever get a chance to see them, do it!  Thank you, Mumford & Sons, for just being you. *rainbow*

Day 5 of Awesome

Sunday was one of those nice, lazy Sundays that I relish. Woke up in a comfy, cold bed after a goodnight's sleep. Watched a little Adventure Time with D & then we went out for breakfast at Snoopy's, our favorite diner. Tomato, spinach, cheddar & sauteed onion omelet smothered in Frank's hot sauce? Don't mind if I do!

And then I went to work.

Ugh. It was a boring & ridiculously hot day. I'm definitely dreading the upcoming long week.

So, the best part of my day was the bread of the sandwich that had work as the meat. Breakfast & time with Derrick beforehand, and a gluten free homemade whoopie pie & True Blood (which we're both very close to abandoning) afterwards. It's the little things, right?

Day 4 of Awesome

On Saturday the fourth, after 7+ years & 3 children, our friends Brian & Bill got married! It was a nice day & we're very happy for them.

While I was obviously excited for them & their little family, I was *really* excited to see that they had a photo booth at the reception! D & I strolled over, chose our props & here's our strip:

That's their little boy Dominic (i think) in picture two. All I know is that it was dark in there, a wee one with a big hat & glasses wandered in, took a photo with us & wandered back out, lol. Derrick totally rocked the monocle AND the eye patch in picture 3, that's for sure!

Day 3 of Awesome

Yesterday D & I headed to Lake Compounce with our pals Gina & Kate & a fun, hot, sweaty, slightly (totally) damp time was had by all.

My favorite ride there & possibly of all time is Boulder Dash which is a huge roller coaster that goes through the woods & alongside the lake. It's insane. Much like this picture of us!

Metal coaster!

We went on a bunch of rides, drank slurpees & free water & rootbeer out of sippy cups, sweated, screamed a lot & had a nice, soggy day. Yay fwends & summer!

Day 2 of Awesome

Today was a fairly mundane day.
I slept in a little, puttered around the house & then headed to work. I've been home about an hour now, & I'm just lounging & hoping to get to bed on the early-for-me side.

So, how 'bout that awesomeness?

There wasn't a lot of it, however I *did* make a perfect hard-boiled egg. Doing that always makes me a bit proud, even though it's super easy. Plus it was an egg from our lil hen Rose (Nylund) (UGH i still have to write the damn post about getting the damn chickens), so that's pretty cool, right??

 Look at that yolk! Yay free-ranging!

Also, we've both had the pleasure of dunking our other hen Dorothy (Zbornak) in a water-filled kiddie pool over the last few days. It's kinda hilarious. She's broody & apparently one way to try to break her broodiness is by lowering her temperature via cold water. Needless to say, she totally *loves* it. Bitch is crazy, you ain't gonna get no chicks!

New Thing #22--31 Days of Awesome! And, Day 1 of Awesome.

So, my faithful readers--all 14 of you--may remember that August 31st is my birthday. And last year for my birth month I did 31 Days of Fun, in which I basically tried to do something fun & blog a blurb about it each day. I kinda sucked at it.
But basically, the point is to try to have more fun, fab times & when that fails, to at least stop for a moment & try to realize that good things happen every day. Even tiny ones!

Ya gotta have a P.M.A.

Day 1 of 31 Days of Awesome--
Today was an early, busy day at work & I didn't get enough sleep last night, so its been kinda rough dragging through it. However, tonight I've spent a lazy night mostly hanging around & finishing up watching the entirety of My So-Called Life. Only 3 episodes left! Watching it really brings me back to sneakily watching this show when my mom wasn't home or was making dinner--she thought it was a tad mature for me, which I, at my current ripe old age, now agree with. Oh maturity...or the semblance of it, at least.

New Thing #21--Haven Bros.

Somehow--SOMEHOW--I have lived in Rhode Island for my whole life, a mere 25 or so minutes away from one of the country's oldest diners-on-wheels without ever eating there. I've passed by it dozens, even hundreds, of times. Never a step inside. Never a bite taken.

Until this past October.
(ok, i know this is getting really ridiculous. but i have a list of things that i've wanted to mention on here & this is one of them. and i swear i'm almost done that list!)

After seeing Beirut at Lupo's (they were amazing--go see them!) D & I took a stroll down the street to finally indulge in Haven Bros greasiness.

It was pretty greasily awesome. From what I remember I got a grilled cheese & split some fries with D as we sat on the chilly steps of Providence City Hall, still reeling from the Beirut show of our dreams.

So, yeah, I finally went & you should too!

Beirut!

Proof! Also, holy crap my hair was short!

Behold the weird lady and her grilled cheese.

New Thing #20--Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

Every October we like to take a vacation because a) we love the autumn & b) we celebrate our anniversary. We don't always go anywhere major, but this past October we decided to go to Florida (eh) to visit Harry Potter land & Halloween Horror Nights(yay!). We came *this* close to cancelling this vacation & I've gotta say, I'm glad we didn't. It wasn't our normal sort of thing, but we had such a good time!

While in Orlando we: pretty much lived in Harry Potter World & the Three Broomsticks, dealt with some torrential (TORRENTIAL!) downpours & wet pants, went on the Jaws ride (D's first time) just weeks before it was closed forever, transformed D into a little boy on the Jurassic Park ride, drank copious amounts of butter beer & pumpkin juice, went in some really insane & awesome haunted houses,  experienced some very frustrating transportation issues, went to Disney World for a night of wholesome Halloween fun (in stark contrast to the Halloween fun at Universal) & spent a day with my aunt & cousins!

We pushed the two full size beds together to have one mega bed to rule them all.

 

 Our first morning.

 Yesh.

 English breakfast!

 Hogwarts. It was really,really 'effing cool inside.

I couldn't get enough of the skyline.

We survived breakfast with the pigeons!

Aw shucks. Our second wedding anniversary dinner.

Starting a night in Disney following a day in Universal.

Day at the beach with the family.

So, yeah. It was a lot of fun doing the touristy FL thing with D! It was our first time doing this sort of thing together, & it was great geeking out over Harry Potter World  & Halloween Horror Nights together. Seriously, if you are a nerd for Harry Potter OR over the top, scary, in your face haunted houses, I highly suggest checking them out. Also, I was THE target for people trying to scare me. It was bonkers. Spending a night in Disney was fun too--it really is so gosh darn magical!  I'm lucky to have him as my travel buddy, & he is so fun to go on rides with--he went on Space Mountain for the first time ever & I could NOT stop laughing. Yaaaay! Good times!

New Thing #19--California!

Rather than blabber out a bunch of excuses, let's get to the meat, shall we? ("I've got the meat, Jack.") Comment if you know that that quote is from!

Seeing that I'm quite a bit behind in posting, my plan is to briefly describe the highlights/lowlights of said new thing & throw in some photos. Badabing, & all that. Onwards!



Back in September we went to California. LA to be exact. This was the trip that D surprised me with for my birthday! Things we did: ate lots of great food & drink (tacos & currywurst & Cuban pastries, oh my!), cruised on Mulholland Drive, drove all around LA & took a trip to Santa Monica & frolicked in the Pacific, hung with friends, met a mobster, took a backlot tour of Warner Bros studio, went to a taping of the Ellen show, walked around Hollywood & went to the Chinese Theater, stopped in Amoeba Music where we saw James Spader (our one celebrity sighting) & my brother's band's album for sale, & went to the Hollywood Bowl for the most glorious viewing of the Sound of Music ever. It was amazing. All of it was great--we actually both liked LA way more than we thought we would, which was a pleasant surprise. D still talks about moving there! I'd really like to go back for another visit, & see more of California, stat.

Tacos at Pinches, across from Chateau Marmont. Not pictured: the lengue (tongue) taco. Verdict of tongue taco: best one we had!

Miss Patty's Barn in Stars Hollow. Geek freakout!

 Batmobiles!

I was really pumped to see that we were on Route 66. Someday!

Us on the Santa Monica pier. Gorgeous!

Feet finally in the Pacific!

Requisite Marilyn Monroe handprint shot. Germs!!

Alissa & I get awkward at Amoeba...

...and in the hills, pointing to the Hollywood sign.

Sound of Music Singalong!

How we (read: mostly I) felt the during the Singalong. The bottle+ of wine helped.

I forgot that we snuck a picture in the VIP waiting room. Don't tell!!

Holy crap, it was really hard to pick some pictures to post. We had a great time! I cannot thank our lovely host Alissa, or my super amazing husband D enough. Thank you! Yaaay!

 Edelweiss during the singalong. MAGICAL!!!

"That gum you like will come back in style"

Hey, remember that time I had a blog that I updated (fairly) regularly? No? Don't worry. My own memory of it is but a blip on the horizon.

After my last post, things got sort of busy. D & I headed to California for about 5 days, came home for about 3 weeks & then shot on down to Florida for part of our vacation. Then came autumn, & Halloween & a freak snowstorm that just barely spared our party, trying to practice my banjo,Thanksgiving, normal life, Christmas & the eleventy stops that go with its wonder, New Year's Eve, etc etc etc. You get the point. Everyone knows that sort of busy-ness, & on the few occasions that I carved out time to actually write something, I found myself completely uninspired after only a paragraph or two, or technology worked against me & I--defeated--gave up on the idea of blogging for another one, two, three weeks.

But here it is, February Second of Two-Thousand and Twelve. 2012. Whoa (in keaun voice, of course). I'm sitting in my (mostly) clean kitchen, have Tom Waits' newest vinyl spinning, a charming cup of spicy tea brewing next to a few flickering candles while my dear little cat toddles between my feet & her shiny & new water fountain, being fluffy & cute & weird.

But, yeah.

This blogging thing.

It's ON.

I'm feeling newly inspired/frustrated, which is giving me fuel. In the next few days-ish, expect to see some posts. While I'm absolutely still sticking to my "new thing" format, I think I may write in here a bit more, too. Not just when I'm doing something totally new. Because, let's face it, I don't get out as much as I'd like, & sometimes I find myself stretching for new things. "Ooh, I ate unfrosted mini-wheats--Quick! Where's my blog?!" Yeah. Lame.

Til next time (REALLY THIS TIME!)

xo
N

PS--I've recently happened upon this blog: http://www.aartipaarti.com/. Aarti has a show on the Food Network & she's pretty delightful. I want to cook every recipe she posts, wear flowers in my hair every day & be friends with her. Enjoy!

PPS--Feel free to hassle me for new posts, if you're that dedicated. I can use the harassing!