tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87637704925582919662024-03-14T07:36:14.901-04:00Project OneThing: Grabbing Life By The Clam HandleNickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-37081600660368245942015-02-09T22:15:00.000-05:002015-02-09T22:15:23.493-05:00Cheese #2: Fromage FacileEasy cheese!!<br />
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No no, luckily not cheese in a can. I'm sure that would be far from easy to make, require more than 4 natural ingredients, and generally just be disgusting.<br />
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This on the other hand was simple, low cost and quite delicious. Also, my lovely husband surprised me with a new fast-reacting and easy-to-read thermometer AND the correct cheesecloth, so this time around was much easier and more successful than the craziness that was my ricotta-making experience.<br />
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This fromage facile called for milk, cultured buttermilk, lemon juice and salt. That's it! You start by slowly (holy crap, soooo sloooowllllyyy) heating the milk up to 175 degrees. Once it comes to temperature, you stir in the buttermilk and lemon juice and take the pot off the heat. You pretty much instantaneously see coagulation.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My kitchen has weird lighting for this sort of jazz.</td></tr>
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I let the pot sit undisturbed for 5 minutes, came back and gave it a stir, and then poured the curds and whey into a cheesecloth-lined strainer. Below you see what it looked like immediately after pouring the cheese into the colander, and then how the cheese looked after having had drained for about 5 minutes and had salt stirred in. Also, I finally remembered to pick up some Malden sea salt crystals and it was a good move. I love the texture and flavor, and like that I can finish a cheese with the pretty crystals. Kosher salt is fine and all, but this is obviously superior. <i>Obviously.</i> </div>
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Oh, I doubled the recipe, so I had enough curds to make two formed cheeses. One half went into a plastic wrap-lined ramekin for a few minutes, and the other half I shaped into a log on parchment and rolled in herbes de Provence. </div>
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And tadaaaa, here they are in their unmolded/unwrapped glory:</div>
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Overall, I was pretty happy with the results. I do think I need to try a different colander next time around, as I feel like the curds were still a bit too wet when it came time to form them, but luckily everything turned out ok and they held their shape. The cheese itself, when cool, was ever-so-slighly firm, had a clean, milky flavor and was nice and creamy. We sliced the herb-rolled log and just bit into it, but the plain cheese was a bit creamier (I think because the log sat in the fridge in parchment, which drew out some excess moisture) and lended itself to dipping. One snacky afternoon I covered the remainder in salsa and scooped it all up with torilla chips, Don't mind if I do! <div>
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So, yaay, fromage facile! I would definitely make this again. Even my husband--disliker of soft cheeses--liked this one, as did our almost 2-year old. </div>
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I have two cheeses left in the "creamy and spreadable" chapter of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/One-Hour-Cheese-Mozzarella-Paneer--Even-Burrata/dp/0761177485/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423537747&sr=8-1&keywords=one+hour+cheese" target="_blank">One Hour Cheese</a>. See you soon!</div>
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Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-73163309451704005242015-01-14T14:57:00.001-05:002015-01-14T15:00:14.142-05:00Cheese #1: Meyer Lemon RicottaAfter more time than I intended had passed, the stars aligned and I finally had everything I needed and could take the time to make the first "actual" cheese in the book. <div>
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This recipe was for Meyer Lemon Ricotta. Traditionally ricotta is made with whey (the leftover liquid from milk after you separate the curds during cheesemaking), but you would need a ridiculous amount of whey to make even a slightly significant amount of ricotta. So, this recipe uses milk and cream, and Meyer lemon as the acid.</div>
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Mmm. Ever try those <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sen-Yuh-Farm-Science-Co/dp/B001JH93BU" target="_blank">Miracle Fruit Tablets</a>? To me, Meyer lemons taste how real lemons taste when you're "on" a miracle fruit tab, haha. Delightful. </div>
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Anyway, the instructions were to combine all three ingredients and gently heat it, stirring here and there to prevent a skin from forming on top and the milk from scorching on the bottom. Once steam was rising from the top I continued stirring and temped the mixture every few minutes until it reached 190 degrees. During this time coagulation was occurring. Theoretically, at least.</div>
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Unfortunately, the amount of coagulation you see above is pretty much the most I got. I guess this could have been a temperature issue, or a milk issue. Or maybe my lemon wasn't quite acidic enough? </div>
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Once the mixture reached 190, I removed the pan from the heat and let it sit undisturbed for 10 minutes, This allows the curds to release more whey. After the 10 minutes passed, I poured everything into a cheesecloth-lined strainer set over a bowl and let it drain some more. Luckily during the 10-minute sit there was a tad more separation, so that was a bonus for me and my cheese.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the background you can see D's grain mill, loudly grinding away. I was also making chicken stock, so it was a pretty food-hippie day.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">After 10 minutes of draining, I had to gather the cheese up in the cheesecloth and give it a squeeze to get out any addition whey. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">What. A. Debacle. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I had a few issues with this for various reasons. First, the cheesecloth. I stupidly didn't listen to the author and tried to use regular cheesecloth, not fine cheesecloth for cheesemaking. I just doubled it over and crisscrossed two pieces, but in doing that it not only made the cloth not porous enough, but cheese was oozing out of the areas where the cloth was crisscrossed and doubled (but really, quadrupled) over. Uuuugh. So with much annoyance and mess, I managed to get the ricotta into a new piece of cloth. But because I had coagulation woes, the fine curd of the ricotta was just passing through the larger holes of the cloth in big plops. What the heck. Finally, I was able to just double over some cheesecloth and basically get some whey out. Whew! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Note to self: Do not make more cheese before correct cheesecloth is acquired. Also, get a thermometer better suited to cheesemaking.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Next, I gently stirred in some sea salt and there I had it, Meyer Lemon Ricotta cheese (kinda)! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">As you can see, the cheese is still pretty wet and is a bit too creamy, but I've got to say, it tastes pretty good. The ricotta is fairly sweet and very rich. I have another lemon and plan on zesting it into the cheese to give it a little zing and maybe cut the richness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So, not a huge success, but it wasn't a total let down. I may try this recipe one more time to see if I can get better results. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Again, the book I'm working my way through is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/One-Hour-Cheese-Mozzarella-Paneer--Even-Burrata/dp/0761177485/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421265081&sr=8-1&keywords=one+hour+cheese" target="_blank">One-Hour Cheese </a>by Claudia Lucero.</span></div>
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Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-73617569463384370432014-12-29T21:32:00.000-05:002014-12-29T21:32:07.703-05:00Hey, it's been awhile, yada-yada-ya. NEW PROJECT My job has been related to cheese for more time than I'd like to think about or admit. But that being said, I love cheese. Being a foodie (god, can we come up for a different word for that?) I of course love eating cheese. But I really love to learn about cheese; sucking up as much knowledge about varieties, processes, terroir, science and the like as I can.<br />
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I've been wanting to make my own cheese for quite some time now. For Christmas, my lovely guy gifted me the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/One-Hour-Cheese-Mozzarella-Paneer--Even-Burrata/dp/0761177485/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1419905206&sr=1-1&keywords=one+hour+cheese" target="_blank">One Hour Cheese</a> by Claudia Lucero. I've only had it for 4 days, but it's great so far. The writing and recipes are not only delicious-sounding but are clear and uncomplicated. In the introduction there's a recipe for a 30-minute cheese, and yesterday I made it. Because, duh.<br />
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I've made mozzarella once from a kit, and it was not a very good experience. We had quite a bit of uncertainty due to the instructions, and our resulting cheese was rubbery, weird-tasting, and never really broke down in your mouth. But making the 30-minute cheese--which was basically a farmer's cheese--was the total opposite. It was easy to make and best of all, really delicious. Here, look!<br />
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I slowly brought some milk up to a slight boil (this was the longest part of the recipe), lowered the heat and added some acid (I chose to use apple cider vinegar), causing the curds to begin separating from the whey, which you see on the left of the above photo. I lowered the heat a bit more and continued stirring for a couple more minutes. Then I drained the cheese really well, added salt, pepper and a few pinches of herbes de Provence et voila! There you have it on the right--my first successful cheese!! Eating warm, freshly made cheese is the best. This farmer's cheese is firm, ever-so-slightly squeaky to the tooth & really quite delicious. Woohoo!<br />
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My plan is to work my way through the book, making one cheese a week. I'll share it here because it (in theory) keeps me going. And I like writing, so there's that added bonus too. Plus, you know you love reading about cheese. Right? Right?!<br />
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Right. Til next time.<br />
<br />Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-56022896415772111722013-07-11T23:12:00.003-04:002013-07-11T23:12:44.489-04:00New Things: Pregnancy, Labor & Delivery! But basically, hey, look at what my belly did.As I write this my 10 week old son is laying on my lap, asleep, with his arms over his head & his right leg bent with the knee up in the air with his foot resting on the left leg's ankle. He's wearing a grey romper with a red, white & blue pirate face on it, & is half heartedly sucking on a green & white pacifier with a bird on it. It's raining outside & Lucy the Cat is sitting like a loaf of bread near the door, though she was just on the ottoman at my feet. So, basically, he's the most adorable, life is pretty good & motherhood is surreal. <br />
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I'm not sure that I'll share the birth story that I wrote; I may want to keep that for us only & not share it with the masses. And while I have some new mom stories & whatnot, my main purpose in writing & sharing today is to show my belly progress photos.<br />
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I've always liked seeing the progression of a pregnant belly, so gosh darnit, I'm gonna do one! These were taken at a pretty irregular interval; mainly whenever we realized that it had been awhile since taking a snapshot of ye olde belly, or if it was a holiday. Some of these were taken after work & before bed, so be there's definitely some frazzliness. Plus, hey, I was pregnant so cut a lady some slack. Here we go!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I may have been getting a little delirious at this point. This was my due date!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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And the next day, April 26th I went into labor, but I didn't realize it until about 6pm. By 11pm (after eating burgers & fries with friends & taking a shower) we were at the hospital ready to have a baby, & at 3:12am on April 27th, Finnegan Walter was born!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fresh & new! It's so insane that this little guy grew inside of me. Love!</td></tr>
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Life is a crazy whirlwind, guys. Enjoy it!</div>
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<br />Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-17154456427768302962013-04-18T14:34:00.001-04:002013-04-18T14:34:27.852-04:00This blog needs some prunes!Welp, so much for finishing up those 31 Days of Awesome. And, you know, updating any other time since mid-August. Ah well. Someday, perhaps, I will get better with this blogging thing. <br />
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Anyway, here's some fun stuff I've been up to since my last update. I'll try to keep it in chronological order (for my own particularness, really)<br />
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-We went to Vermont for our yearly "camping" trip. I say "camping" because while it used to be legit roughin' it camping (in Maine), it is now wonderfully cushy camping in a mobile home with electricity and running water and a fridge and not only an ATV, but a golf cart. And our cars are within sight, not a mile hike down a craggy mountain inhabited by a crazy hoarder of a lumberjack. And we don't have to worry about eating meat that might be spoiled, due to it being stored in an ice-filled cooler for two days. Anyway, it's great fun, & this arthritic old lady likes not having to climb a mountain with a 50 pound pack on my back & junk in my hands. We had good times with friends, enjoyed the outdoors, a dip in a lake in New Hampshire, great food, fun games & ATV vs golf cart races. Which resulted in a tipped-over ATV. Sshhh, everyone was fine! <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The whole lot o' us!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">-A week after returning from Vermont, D & <span style="font-size: small;">I found out that we <span style="font-size: small;">would be welcoming a baby! Holy crap!! This explained the constant sleepiness & napping I enjoyed i<span style="font-size: small;">n Vermont, plus that random spell of nausea I experience<span style="font-size: small;">d in the car. Oh, & that insatiable hung<span style="font-size: small;">er</span>, which is hard t<span style="font-size: small;">o balance with con<span style="font-size: small;">stantly </span>feeling like barfing<span style="font-size: small;">.</span></span> Ah-ha! </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">-<span style="font-size: small;">As part of his birthday gift, I gave D a gift certificate for surfing lessons, a lifelong dream of <span style="font-size: small;">his. <span style="font-size: small;">We<span style="font-size: small;"> headed to the beach on a nice <span style="font-size: small;">August morning & he did really well for a first timer! It was fun to watch, too. Here he is <span style="font-size: small;">being awesome:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlkpFobCwoTCLRGQ1YtwAcVRYfHx8z8XUiuIkF6D6z-pQyTenRiLM-okB8OTUpJBGSWrUPUB-OGqQkg0E6ISi5zisk7DJIHBfHMi3rUMzGFAxfMdTo9YdhP0vYrtrcgIJ4EK8mWoNnL98P/s1600/IMG_4905.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlkpFobCwoTCLRGQ1YtwAcVRYfHx8z8XUiuIkF6D6z-pQyTenRiLM-okB8OTUpJBGSWrUPUB-OGqQkg0E6ISi5zisk7DJIHBfHMi3rUMzGFAxfMdTo9YdhP0vYrtrcgIJ4EK8mWoNnL98P/s320/IMG_4905.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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And here he is being adorable:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieajkAcbg0AtB0mGwUiyGBzh4XtU-XObvRqYvt80vca7rg0jhWqsFUIS6Ztm_EGg15EOXPlQoqDHp4Dj4srrZZ3wLui66iZVvnIbM7RTbiPIUHTMXRnDRjJ-5vrZ5OLaQrS-1F4SPvwTlD/s1600/IMG_4970.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieajkAcbg0AtB0mGwUiyGBzh4XtU-XObvRqYvt80vca7rg0jhWqsFUIS6Ztm_EGg15EOXPlQoqDHp4Dj4srrZZ3wLui66iZVvnIbM7RTbiPIUHTMXRnDRjJ-5vrZ5OLaQrS-1F4SPvwTlD/s320/IMG_4970.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
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After surfing (& me baking in the sun), we were starving & headed to Crazy Burger for a lovely pre-birthday breakfast on the patio. Oh, summertime.<br />
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-We took an archery class! It was pretty awesome, despite the fact that I accidentally let go of the string at a bad point & in a bad position, resulting in some intense stinging & gnarly bruises on my forearm. I wasn't that great at it for a first-timer, but it was fun & I'd love to do it again. <br />
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-We had our big August birthday bash! D planned a fun scavenger hunt, made a delicious cake & also got us an Allie's donut cake:<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">It was loosely a turkey, he had written on it, "I wasn't the only one getting stuffed that November." Dirty!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">-I literally wore a lot of hats on my actual birthday! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">I was also secretly pregnant, mwa-ha-haaa! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">-<span style="font-size: small;">We went to King Richard's Faire & D got to be FiF<span style="font-size: small;">i in Jacques ze Whippeur's show:</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">It was pretty hilarious. And it brought much joy to D.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPFRMWxP_GZiopGENDEIqXZxqYf6aMhRZ4piAVYkDpeBpFNonXtdcuIh0McVUfkYSMHtqO3yj2guBaUkZg3TtFGbf6IPTp8NEjY2dYXa4gEQck5R5DKHx4iW2ea_m-XgpgPC2vjkk83Z_9/s1600/2012-09-16_12-36-34_499.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPFRMWxP_GZiopGENDEIqXZxqYf6aMhRZ4piAVYkDpeBpFNonXtdcuIh0McVUfkYSMHtqO3yj2guBaUkZg3TtFGbf6IPTp8NEjY2dYXa4gEQck5R5DKHx4iW2ea_m-XgpgPC2vjkk83Z_9/s320/2012-09-16_12-36-34_499.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">We also enjoyed the King's Nuts!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">-We had our first ultrasound<span style="font-size: small;">! We had that on <span style="font-size: small;">a Friday & by Sunday we had told our parents & some near & dears. It was overwhelming & fun & memorable!</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjx3uWw3NnsxmnpnwlYCCR3WdVTZO9581L4gwr2QinpZxtbSfgk367Or0VZOuDEv2BZPRawbEzP1mv6LXuqVz8VdjUSIuKBU_EidQkEhIxHhDIzq_3PbwurB4oR6TdXG85epDqph5FzahF/s1600/2012-10-10_18-10-21_663.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">-<img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjx3uWw3NnsxmnpnwlYCCR3WdVTZO9581L4gwr2QinpZxtbSfgk367Or0VZOuDEv2BZPRawbEzP1mv6LXuqVz8VdjUSIuKBU_EidQkEhIxHhDIzq_3PbwurB4oR6TdXG85epDqph5FzahF/s320/2012-10-10_18-10-21_663.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">WHOOOOOA!</span></div>
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-Had D's cousins over for their yearly fall sleepover. We went to a corn maze, wandered through a pumpkin patch, carved jack o'lanterns & watched cider get pressed:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1jCDYcZOHp43nrh6X67C0jJhrgc_9aYJrwl-JHbFrSL9w6B7vu21u5uCoxmnIeFrxZQusXbx0fQtPKt-JpxaZpH1weh-wRAPU9xgglObc3v8mJNOIIVEeSjuAphhohtGuEzqedjE-OOcv/s1600/2012-10-13_14-07-35_44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1jCDYcZOHp43nrh6X67C0jJhrgc_9aYJrwl-JHbFrSL9w6B7vu21u5uCoxmnIeFrxZQusXbx0fQtPKt-JpxaZpH1weh-wRAPU9xgglObc3v8mJNOIIVEeSjuAphhohtGuEzqedjE-OOcv/s320/2012-10-13_14-07-35_44.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">D made me hold this pumpkin in front of Pumpkin.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">-For our anniversa<span style="font-size: small;">ry we headed back to Vermont (a different part) for a <span style="font-size: small;">day & a half of relaxation. We went to the Ben &<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>Jerry's Factory, a maple syrup factory/store/museum & stayed at a really nice inn on a lake. It was really nice to just get away & <span style="font-size: small;">be lazy</span>. </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPzZ9RhRDM1YpvXt8xIe-VOBvACfWyvyVelys5oqB0A7H2SQHrPwJfB09cxSXGL2g-vdCsimFYutZArtAfQGy1Vly_1KHvChyphenhyphenQmG1Drvdgkw2ngBYWl39koC9-BCw4EKudbYNrdQNS4lem/s1600/IMG_5123.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPzZ9RhRDM1YpvXt8xIe-VOBvACfWyvyVelys5oqB0A7H2SQHrPwJfB09cxSXGL2g-vdCsimFYutZArtAfQGy1Vly_1KHvChyphenhyphenQmG1Drvdgkw2ngBYWl39koC9-BCw4EKudbYNrdQNS4lem/s320/IMG_5123.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Our view was beautiful! I have better photos, but the files are in quite the state of disarray at the moment. Sadface.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Alright, so <span style="font-size: small;">t</span>he above was written in the middle of January. It is now April 18th. Aiaiai. <span style="font-size: small;">I honestly don't have it in me to backtrack from October (OCTOBER!) events t<span style="font-size: small;">hrough to current events...So I won't. It's my blog & I<span style="font-size: small;">'ll do what I want!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">But hey, guess what? My due date is a week from <span style="font-size: small;">today</span>. Let me <span style="font-size: small;">type that again. OUR BABY IS DUE IN ONE WEEK. Like, seven days. <span style="font-size: small;">Or anytime, really. </span>Th<span style="font-size: small;">is is craziness. <span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here's a photo of me<span style="font-size: small;"> from the beginning of April, looking tired & frazzl<span style="font-size: small;">y haired in Pumpkin's newly finished room. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiplmxXnfnKrIA97o_vcAVg9RFC4cYnDt9kPZL_J1mRoEUCkC0lW03tISQGxm1-ZbdVB8uglgasoag-uu8WS0wdvOCnc70UtBR46ck8ROAHfbyv3M7SkVs-EcS9MmlX3KOQMJ2Bd2NGJNFd/s1600/IMG_5527.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiplmxXnfnKrIA97o_vcAVg9RFC4cYnDt9kPZL_J1mRoEUCkC0lW03tISQGxm1-ZbdVB8uglgasoag-uu8WS0wdvOCnc70UtBR46ck8ROAHfbyv3M7SkVs-EcS9MmlX3KOQMJ2Bd2NGJNFd/s320/IMG_5527.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Well, there you have it. A blog post. It's nothing stellar, but I wanted to at least get it out there. I'm sure with impending motherhood (<span style="font-size: small;">yowsas</span>!) I'll be pretty busy, but maybe I can try to pop on here for less epic posts...& I'll try to not make them all baby<span style="font-size: small;">-related. I'll throw some cat stuff in there too ;)</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">This year's definitely gonna be full of clam handl<span style="font-size: small;">es</span>! <span style="font-size: small;">And some will be covered in poop.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'll leave you with that image. Thanks for reading! </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span><br />
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Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-87394059643250311402012-08-15T11:28:00.003-04:002012-08-15T11:28:38.774-04:00Days 11-14 of AwesomeAh, the slump. It has happened!<br />
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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! <br />
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We leave for vacation today, so here's to fun stuff in the next few days!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Here's a cute picture of Lucy to make up for the boringness of this post. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> The Loveliest!!</span></div>
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<br />Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-19823930345682795102012-08-11T10:46:00.001-04:002012-08-11T10:48:54.517-04:00Day 10 of AwesomeAfter 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!<br />
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Also, yesterday <a href="http://fangisland.com/" target="_blank">Fang Island</a>'s new video for their single Sisterly premiered on MTVu. Here's the link: <a href="http://www.mtvu.com/music/fang-island-sisterly/" target="_blank">http://www.mtvu.com/music/fang-island-sisterly/ </a> GO WATCH IT NOW! NOW, I say!<br />
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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 ;)<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(pssst...do it!) </span>Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-84077557206500037832012-08-10T00:03:00.001-04:002012-08-10T09:49:00.752-04:00Day 9 of AwesomeToday's awesome thing is brought to you by the letter "D" & the color "pinkish-red."<br />
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It's time for another fruit tasting, kids!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">D: "Whoa, it looks more like a dragon teste."</span></div>
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Last week I bought a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitaya" target="_blank">dragon fruit</a> (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.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">It's really pretty inside.</span></div>
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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.<br />
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Onto the tasting!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Hesitantly skeptical.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Being brave because Lord knows I've eaten freakier things (heart, tongue, blood, etc...all delicious, btw) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Judging...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Eh.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">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. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">It was good enough that we both ate our entire halves, which yielded this innard-esque skin.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">It also seemed to give us each of touch of madness. Just kidding, we're normally weird.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">So, hey, sure, try it out. It's alright. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hurray awesome fruit tying!! </span></span></span></span></div>Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-57579888448707210762012-08-09T23:12:00.001-04:002012-08-09T23:12:08.734-04:00Days 7 & 8 of Awesome<b>Day 7:</b><br />
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Tuesday suuuuucked. Well, not totally.<br />
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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!<br />
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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?<br />
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Which brings me to<b> Day 8:</b><br />
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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!<br />
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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!<br />
<br />Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-16041558932785635032012-08-09T11:50:00.000-04:002012-08-10T09:50:19.177-04:00Day 6 of AwesomeAnd awesome it was!<br />
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Monday night we went to see <a href="http://www.mumfordandsons.com/" target="_blank">Mumford & Sons</a>--AMAZING.<br />
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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 <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=marcus+mumford&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=FdsjUPD4HMjn0QH5koDQDA&biw=1280&bih=628&sei=F9sjUI6HMaLk0QHYooGABQ" target="_blank">Marcus Mumford</a> (yes, i'm creepy) is kinda dreamy, so that's an added bonus. Me being excited for this show was a huge understatement.<br />
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Apparently the show was the fastest selling show in <a href="http://www.ppacri.org/" target="_blank">PPAC</a> 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 <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=cape+cod+sharks&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">Cape Cod</a>. 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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! <br />
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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.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The band totally unplugged</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;">& sang</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;">"Timshel"to the almost silent crowd. So cool. What's up, great acoustics! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> The set was really simple & pretty, too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Unfortunately I haven't yet been able to get the videos I took off my phone, but go <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/newtribalfilms/videos" target="_blank">here</a> 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. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">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* </span></div>Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-85793241060369661202012-08-06T10:51:00.001-04:002012-08-10T09:49:27.516-04:00Day 5 of AwesomeSunday 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 <a href="http://snoopysdiner.com/" target="_blank">Snoopy's</a>, our favorite diner. Tomato, spinach, cheddar & sauteed onion omelet smothered in Frank's hot sauce? Don't mind if I do!<br />
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And then I went to work.<br />
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Ugh. It was a boring & ridiculously hot day. I'm definitely dreading the upcoming long week.<br />
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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?<br />
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<br />Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-81753645381643001402012-08-06T10:45:00.000-04:002012-08-10T09:46:07.328-04:00Day 4 of AwesomeOn 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.<br />
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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:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCvbzItjNYvxwz9Pke678Kw93CYb44IRVcBZqQdYiwh8_yTsALMYnECcbBd97XFzOLuRBj_4nCGNfNJ5wJ8ddkJEXadIqCYtGC-wjWo_qfe7c-0e27qST8hzt21ZJXO6kIFEtmbPYIPBCM/s1600/strip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCvbzItjNYvxwz9Pke678Kw93CYb44IRVcBZqQdYiwh8_yTsALMYnECcbBd97XFzOLuRBj_4nCGNfNJ5wJ8ddkJEXadIqCYtGC-wjWo_qfe7c-0e27qST8hzt21ZJXO6kIFEtmbPYIPBCM/s320/strip.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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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!<br />
<br />Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-30173861886749324862012-08-04T12:12:00.003-04:002012-08-06T10:22:19.442-04:00Day 3 of AwesomeYesterday D & I headed to<a href="http://lakecompounce.com/" target="_blank"> Lake Compounce</a> with our pals Gina & Kate & a fun, hot, sweaty, slightly (totally) damp time was had by all.<br />
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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!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu-sCkZphoQjEqRoCgm9CGGB81XEJaiu72YWB4Z-7zxV8nZfwHagXATr2G7LG0MJC7LosEgKTr47d0K5HFoRrZHbK58_Oi8o99jqBQqO4W2ksAtS9cr7tQcxhRxWIl-DAkGd3CEPFbLpqN/s1600/metal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu-sCkZphoQjEqRoCgm9CGGB81XEJaiu72YWB4Z-7zxV8nZfwHagXATr2G7LG0MJC7LosEgKTr47d0K5HFoRrZHbK58_Oi8o99jqBQqO4W2ksAtS9cr7tQcxhRxWIl-DAkGd3CEPFbLpqN/s320/metal.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Metal coaster!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><br /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span>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!</div>
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<br />Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-22764980799791189162012-08-02T22:55:00.000-04:002012-08-02T22:55:01.012-04:00Day 2 of AwesomeToday was a fairly mundane day.<br />
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.<br />
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So, how 'bout that awesomeness?<br />
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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??<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBCZp-XDb9OmQ3alYDiKwWtiQPiPLGFW60d8XD10yLkSEnWb1iunhn6GrfSvajHm1SyWfA8d6wXHqQE5vQtzN1HYFsW7zDhfl24G6MAeDkX2MP0EbHhOEGCY_fdmdXf2sncpxiT0rTvjkK/s1600/egg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBCZp-XDb9OmQ3alYDiKwWtiQPiPLGFW60d8XD10yLkSEnWb1iunhn6GrfSvajHm1SyWfA8d6wXHqQE5vQtzN1HYFsW7zDhfl24G6MAeDkX2MP0EbHhOEGCY_fdmdXf2sncpxiT0rTvjkK/s320/egg.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Look at that yolk! Yay free-ranging!</span></div>
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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! </div>
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<br />Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-90073256380528516042012-08-01T22:52:00.001-04:002012-08-01T22:52:27.083-04:00New 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.<br />
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!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxbEQIPQklds4zSGeH_4oyBVBCRrtrJyVnCiauSiGkDY_Cry_cidos9bQhSS-vnisdt6_Yf8lzDcwQBgfa_FI8SuYeNY7HKtimYYk_HZGcaIJ52tE5Z9yIMCgGdNnmH_r3qUn-cWmELoch/s1600/MattFoley4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxbEQIPQklds4zSGeH_4oyBVBCRrtrJyVnCiauSiGkDY_Cry_cidos9bQhSS-vnisdt6_Yf8lzDcwQBgfa_FI8SuYeNY7HKtimYYk_HZGcaIJ52tE5Z9yIMCgGdNnmH_r3qUn-cWmELoch/s1600/MattFoley4.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ya gotta have a P.M.A.</span></div>
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<b>Day 1 of 31 Days of Awesome--</b><br />
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 <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108872/" target="_blank">My So-Called Life</a><b>. </b>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. <br />
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<br />Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-41187941704026436162012-08-01T22:25:00.001-04:002012-08-01T22:53:49.773-04:00New 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.<br />
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Until this past October.<br />
(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!)<br />
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After seeing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWSz_PAfgNc">Beirut</a> at Lupo's (they were amazing--go see them!) D & I took a stroll down the street to finally indulge in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haven_Brothers_Diner" target="_blank">Haven Bros</a> greasiness.<br />
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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.<br />
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So, yeah, I finally went & you should too!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8uAQ_4k-XJmKaKFd3PnfCbPsw1n5MUT_lapKtU0mqrqqxpu3x9luY2YE4-nfcttHPCiz50UyLDg9pROTaEmb5D5Hz2ypADb6077IwEvukckeq63UToZCqHSp_6mz0qRCb6NRPczkMMhk2/s1600/2011-11-26_20-05-19_21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8uAQ_4k-XJmKaKFd3PnfCbPsw1n5MUT_lapKtU0mqrqqxpu3x9luY2YE4-nfcttHPCiz50UyLDg9pROTaEmb5D5Hz2ypADb6077IwEvukckeq63UToZCqHSp_6mz0qRCb6NRPczkMMhk2/s320/2011-11-26_20-05-19_21.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Beirut!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ-213wwCR6FlMR2DjJBA8tb6iiwvGaVpUF21T08iH1tHR1FHkQpp0vwvz2Zrl_dR7ty0ZsdpcC4o1FXLSB9Cd1nlCo2S-_m5JdijED7nJHImBJtN1Zhnp5YDagE7GMyjA1Soby6YRKhIp/s1600/2011-11-26_21-27-05_616.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ-213wwCR6FlMR2DjJBA8tb6iiwvGaVpUF21T08iH1tHR1FHkQpp0vwvz2Zrl_dR7ty0ZsdpcC4o1FXLSB9Cd1nlCo2S-_m5JdijED7nJHImBJtN1Zhnp5YDagE7GMyjA1Soby6YRKhIp/s320/2011-11-26_21-27-05_616.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Proof! Also, holy crap my hair was short!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIs4XfiFCBAPd3CG93askrQIgz7T4vcoBYgMTalZI23pBVYLs6elrk9Ir2foFUB2OvMkxlZXiFgJVBC8j045ifjzAatKIuqFUVyFt97w-KDHakMVXlKIVHcl2SC9WyaVXgK6rYu_BWUwf3/s1600/2011-11-26_21-33-49_289.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIs4XfiFCBAPd3CG93askrQIgz7T4vcoBYgMTalZI23pBVYLs6elrk9Ir2foFUB2OvMkxlZXiFgJVBC8j045ifjzAatKIuqFUVyFt97w-KDHakMVXlKIVHcl2SC9WyaVXgK6rYu_BWUwf3/s320/2011-11-26_21-33-49_289.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Behold the weird lady and her grilled cheese.</span></div>
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<br />Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-58199618770443362012012-06-05T21:35:00.003-04:002012-06-05T21:35:38.039-04:00New 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!<br />
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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!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgodea-1Dz22HxNaROmRKO6rhYH7FA8pRD_Uh54gOFDIBszzjYALMYNcfUAU6kqFS3yC8ARD0v0MYnyVeIWk81GQHcLy5Ad_P76uEeS-XyBlGM_Ishm3wfPGKZVpt_n6j_ez2S2B62V2p4I/s1600/2011-10-08_21-39-52_489.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgodea-1Dz22HxNaROmRKO6rhYH7FA8pRD_Uh54gOFDIBszzjYALMYNcfUAU6kqFS3yC8ARD0v0MYnyVeIWk81GQHcLy5Ad_P76uEeS-XyBlGM_Ishm3wfPGKZVpt_n6j_ez2S2B62V2p4I/s320/2011-10-08_21-39-52_489.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">We pushed the two full size beds together to have one mega bed to rule them all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJGK0lPAaIgmvYbVyMLOQO8rlP-fC9Wo3byQPWRxdQITcC8is4G6p87qJ802UVTU-H4TbNJ61FO4suhL3ztMrorJ200UkXYfKkgJdq7T99wI2D76Y5u3ZBNLrqcr2l51nmMrDk_b9tKoO5/s1600/DSC04858.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJGK0lPAaIgmvYbVyMLOQO8rlP-fC9Wo3byQPWRxdQITcC8is4G6p87qJ802UVTU-H4TbNJ61FO4suhL3ztMrorJ200UkXYfKkgJdq7T99wI2D76Y5u3ZBNLrqcr2l51nmMrDk_b9tKoO5/s320/DSC04858.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Our first morning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Yesh.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisaxcKmfF_TtThGxsiL_kkiixTEdEnSNT2CLmMYhqfvWuO8V2mCDoyjDnU1VPbMro5AoCewwauIWF2qTwbXHpbDqRDE3hDILO3qOLUgtGCQ1H7b22iy7OR62v-c2mGllB6C4lQ9R_MRXch/s1600/2011-10-12_09-31-41_329.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisaxcKmfF_TtThGxsiL_kkiixTEdEnSNT2CLmMYhqfvWuO8V2mCDoyjDnU1VPbMro5AoCewwauIWF2qTwbXHpbDqRDE3hDILO3qOLUgtGCQ1H7b22iy7OR62v-c2mGllB6C4lQ9R_MRXch/s320/2011-10-12_09-31-41_329.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> English breakfast!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Hogwarts. It was really,really 'effing cool inside.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0AXlV1dbuHI4t72v34l67SHOT4KQ9eYOrcDXEq0JHRuLwoJ9MfDeLWLnkiEATi6ArcYtmn8J0mRbzqyWjAj-aQ6aYT66dATg3gaZLU7rYxKKHUTi-2D8lNkbqV0gmpOR7ETLz1XDjOopg/s1600/DSC04976.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0AXlV1dbuHI4t72v34l67SHOT4KQ9eYOrcDXEq0JHRuLwoJ9MfDeLWLnkiEATi6ArcYtmn8J0mRbzqyWjAj-aQ6aYT66dATg3gaZLU7rYxKKHUTi-2D8lNkbqV0gmpOR7ETLz1XDjOopg/s320/DSC04976.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">I couldn't get enough of the skyline.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">We survived breakfast with the pigeons!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Aw shucks. Our second wedding anniversary dinner.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Starting a night in Disney following a day in Universal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Day at the beach with the family.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">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! </span></div>
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<br /></div>Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-28659539900463840372012-05-22T23:14:00.003-04:002012-06-06T10:43:45.731-04:00New 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!<br />
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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!<br />
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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.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Tacos at Pinches, across from Chateau Marmont. Not pictured: the lengue (tongue) taco. Verdict of tongue taco: best one we had!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Miss Patty's Barn in Stars Hollow. Geek freakout!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Batmobiles!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">I was really pumped to see that we were on Route 66. Someday!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Us on the Santa Monica pier. Gorgeous!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Feet finally in the Pacific!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Requisite Marilyn Monroe handprint shot. Germs!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Alissa & I get awkward at Amoeba...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">...and in the hills, pointing to the Hollywood sign.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sound of Music Singalong!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">How we (read: mostly I) felt the during the Singalong. The bottle+ of wine helped.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">I forgot that we snuck a picture in the VIP waiting room. Don't tell!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">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!</span></span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzVhq-jMR74pxadiF6ieTbT_kIuk7VJ0mV07A1kT4oENRDknZBjBe11tB48RTLmhHSTQJv2YJh7bwRuIEgAQg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span>Edelweiss during the singalong. MAGICAL!!!</span></div>
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<br />Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-68633593657480499532012-02-01T22:45:00.000-05:002012-02-01T22:58:15.898-05:00"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.<br />
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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.<br />
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But here it is, February Second of Two-Thousand and Twelve. <b>2012</b>. 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.<br />
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But, yeah. <br />
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This blogging thing.<br />
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It's ON.<br />
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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.<br />
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Til next time (REALLY THIS TIME!)<br />
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xo<br />
N<br />
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PS--I've recently happened upon this blog: <a href="http://www.aartipaarti.com/">http://www.aartipaarti.com/</a>. 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!<br />
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PPS--Feel free to hassle me for new posts, if you're that dedicated. I can use the harassing! <br />
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<br />Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-84071044767232723572011-09-05T21:02:00.013-04:002011-09-06T00:57:26.480-04:00New Thing #18--31 Days of Fun, Days 22-31<span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 22-26</span>:<br />You guessed it. Slacked, have no recollection or written account of what I did, probably did nothing cool. Wahwahwah, worst blogger ever. Moving on.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 27:</span><br />On this day we had our big August Birthday Bash! Three of our friends (plus me!) all have a birthday within a week of each other, so four-ish years ago we started having a big birthday party for all of us! Derrick is the best & really took the reins on this party & planned an awesome relay race that led into a photo scavenger hunt throughout the surrounding towns. My team came in third of four, but I got a kick-ass, creepy cat statue, so all is well in the world.<br /><br />Highlights of the relay race & scavenger hunt--a friend puking up watermelon into our sink, flipping off a car full of friends as they tried to take a surveillance-type photo of us for points, taking a big group photo with strangers who were having some sort of party in front of their house & the series of ridiculous shots we took on the town beach. Yay!<br /><br />After all that fun nonsense we all gathered in the cellar, which D had set up like a theater with rows of seats (adorable) & reviewed everyone's photos for point tallying. Then the night continued on as normal, with lots of food, laughs, drinks & gifts.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDevM3pj4-f2DzXKIHtUuhc4vSgII6UPAjuAHBNazPdl3D4866wI6AtUMBDAhd56eWK-K2S1rou7d2Fj5L4bc_Q3F5E1juv77esLPE_CEGNh0EJJZ5LJ0l0hwuZamANdRxvc6EmYs8pO1j/s1600/IMG_3299.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDevM3pj4-f2DzXKIHtUuhc4vSgII6UPAjuAHBNazPdl3D4866wI6AtUMBDAhd56eWK-K2S1rou7d2Fj5L4bc_Q3F5E1juv77esLPE_CEGNh0EJJZ5LJ0l0hwuZamANdRxvc6EmYs8pO1j/s320/IMG_3299.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649096763772564898" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">D made this delicious chocolate hazelnut cake--mmmm! This is one of the very few photos we took that night--whoops.<br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 28:</span><br />Due to the approaching hurricane (later downgraded to tropical storm)<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My2u2QyvyF4">Irene</a>, the day of the party was unfortunately quite dreary, which cancelled our plans of having the party outside with a fire, torches, badminton & the like.<br /><br />The day after the party D & I woke (after 4 hours of sleep) to a loud bang. We never figured out what it was, but we were up. The rain & wind was picking up & after a short while we lost power. Luckily we have a gas stove, so I made pancakes & we basically lounged for the rest of the day. We worked on a puzzle that we last worked on probably about 2.5 years ago, we napped, we read, we ate, we listened to our battery powered radio, we napped some more.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3dfn9ta2Mavant_-U2xWO8G0Kz1iK4uLfXFlMfPvMpnCiD40JNNQkvqKHaR_EFTUWcuwAm2_MkazCUUOvtb8yw8tOxYmPU61tXtj3bCKvXJu-qJKfG1kBC8fFzGzRVHt_FnBEyuNQl3z/s1600/IMG_3316.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3dfn9ta2Mavant_-U2xWO8G0Kz1iK4uLfXFlMfPvMpnCiD40JNNQkvqKHaR_EFTUWcuwAm2_MkazCUUOvtb8yw8tOxYmPU61tXtj3bCKvXJu-qJKfG1kBC8fFzGzRVHt_FnBEyuNQl3z/s320/IMG_3316.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649097418909038242" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">At 7:30am D braved the outdoors to take in the mail we forgot to take in the previous day--we were worried the wind would make the mailbox fly open.</span><br /></div><br />Some time around 6pm or so the weather had quieted down & we decided to go for a drive to get out of the house. I was lazy & chose to go out wearing what I had been wearing all day, which were essentially my pajamas. Normally I am anti-pajamas in public, but I figured they looked kinda sporty & it was a tropical storm, dude! Rules need not apply, amiright?<br /><br />Our neighborhood fared pretty well, but just two roads away had some serious damage, mostly in the way of large branches or trees that were no longer standing. We moseyed on down to the beach & watched the crazy ocean for awhile. The big waves were coming fast & on a diagonal, leaving only about 10 feet of actual beach free of water (though it sometimes was covered by particularly big waves). Nuts!<br /><br />On the way home we stopped to get some ice to pack our fridge & freezer & geez, it was eerie out. You don't realize how much noise & light is generated just by electricity & gadgets until it's gone. We got home, lit about 300 candles & went about making dinner & sorting out the fridge & ice situation. After some aggravation we finally sat down to watch an episode of <a href="http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/sunny/">It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia </a>on our charged laptop & not 5 minutes went by til the power came back! It was a slight bummer because it was nice being free of electrical distractions & sort of camping out in our house, but it was a relief to know that we'd have power the next day. Oh, roughing it!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7iZie33cFR9t_a9AmHRh4Ri-ODg_uKA2Sj3VEzlk0-YbXakz1p3KDk2cw9OrcPMZl0nXki4G52mg9tcowGOdMxn0DPQynmtQ3d6sGBIG66Rk2-Uj3Lm5_Msjj47GYWLwHDHQm9euSd4E5/s1600/IMG_3325.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7iZie33cFR9t_a9AmHRh4Ri-ODg_uKA2Sj3VEzlk0-YbXakz1p3KDk2cw9OrcPMZl0nXki4G52mg9tcowGOdMxn0DPQynmtQ3d6sGBIG66Rk2-Uj3Lm5_Msjj47GYWLwHDHQm9euSd4E5/s320/IMG_3325.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649098005389911666" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">My cutenesses! Lu enjoyed the stormy weather like any awesome cat would.<br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Days 29-30</span>:<br />See days 22-26.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 31:</span><br />Something fun that I've never done before is turning 28! Holy crap, that's old. I donned my new polka dot dress & prepared for the day, feeling spunky & happy.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDY0zJ85AsKClFI82ElH5rug393b-kdde_B4fd_Gjpg0bOHtqo5GMnG18e2pruLNzy3-9uxEnyhFf_AVoQmK3ZJ0o4cLoxs8q0RKNgvwMjytxciKJaNhRm1rOF84Nu8X1aRzeKB_HJLVJP/s1600/IMG_3332.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDY0zJ85AsKClFI82ElH5rug393b-kdde_B4fd_Gjpg0bOHtqo5GMnG18e2pruLNzy3-9uxEnyhFf_AVoQmK3ZJ0o4cLoxs8q0RKNgvwMjytxciKJaNhRm1rOF84Nu8X1aRzeKB_HJLVJP/s320/IMG_3332.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649098487071970786" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">My birthday self-portrait for birthday #28. My hair still looked pretty good from my haircut </span><span style="font-size:85%;">the previous day, nice! </span><span style="font-size:85%;">(growing out my hair is on hold, as waiting for hair to grow is boring) </span><br /></div><br />D was lovely enough to take the day off with me, & we finally went for breakfast on the patio at <a href="http://www.crazyburger.com/">Crazy Burger</a>. So. Freaking. Good. Zucchini latkes? A grilled cinnamon bun?? A GRILLED CINNAMON BUN!?! Good gravy, that was tasty.<br /><br />We popped back home to gather some things & headed over to <a href="http://www.riparks.com/beaverta1.htm">Beavertail</a> for some relaxing time by the sea rock climbing,ridiculous photo shoots, sea glass hunting, basking in the sun & getting our clothes wet from playing in the gorgeous water too much.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLTcmfdVn65iMBb2jP_lNl7pWa218q6Jp49NrHj2bzO4YT-j5n7gzKnKraQbYuO47dLEa-OBBTiGT9srAAxSCBOfrTLJbBhu5opljhWmEom0QTDhXLt9tfnprM6AFv3PnIFuk2AiDDK6C/s1600/IMG_3349.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLTcmfdVn65iMBb2jP_lNl7pWa218q6Jp49NrHj2bzO4YT-j5n7gzKnKraQbYuO47dLEa-OBBTiGT9srAAxSCBOfrTLJbBhu5opljhWmEom0QTDhXLt9tfnprM6AFv3PnIFuk2AiDDK6C/s320/IMG_3349.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649102107008424386" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Evidence of our silly photo shoot AND my new dress. Leggings were added at the beach as I didn't want to recreate the great butt flashing of birthday 2010.</span><br /></div><br />One of the first things we did was head up my favorite rock, which forms a sort of platform & seating area. First I noticed this:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg61ivh-hR6JoB02Y3lfh_A8VpVBJ4lDfMncJwoGH15EWS8fP2qdE0ppPrCxwGeLliB71UM0XD0m9j0Yda9ojj_g7tq2tp2hoBqWvz9WnDhT8XLN2xSvIY6btUiUGHs0rSV1NmcZIHCAXOi/s1600/IMG_3340.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg61ivh-hR6JoB02Y3lfh_A8VpVBJ4lDfMncJwoGH15EWS8fP2qdE0ppPrCxwGeLliB71UM0XD0m9j0Yda9ojj_g7tq2tp2hoBqWvz9WnDhT8XLN2xSvIY6btUiUGHs0rSV1NmcZIHCAXOi/s320/IMG_3340.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649099785641515538" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Seagull crab snacklings, I presume.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;">And then I noticed <span style="font-style: italic;">this:</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisjpXaTUv_2DNdtdlt1XUVIJAKOE_WGXwFiYb2phXurQNrt53_nEAeKtJNd4YMfXWr5L_nbZY9tjD6prkyxAM-99LNrIPj0sRpBcBipfnaUko0SAjum1LIJXb_INA6Njtj9iWKCKGIPGgr/s1600/IMG_3338.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisjpXaTUv_2DNdtdlt1XUVIJAKOE_WGXwFiYb2phXurQNrt53_nEAeKtJNd4YMfXWr5L_nbZY9tjD6prkyxAM-99LNrIPj0sRpBcBipfnaUko0SAjum1LIJXb_INA6Njtj9iWKCKGIPGgr/s320/IMG_3338.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649100256428943378" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Whaaaat?? It's like a seagull saw an owl's pellet, got jealous & decided to make one that was even more badass. Seriously, this was about the size of a golf ball, & while I didn't touch it (gross), it seemed to be made entirely of shell & bone. Crazy!! Up til my birthday I didn't even know seagulls made pellets; what a treat! </span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3qaiz4AAEVXXN2Um7ikDQcDzOTXmxgEEnHgOO_FEibCS7PAlmsctM4fY1Z_wORX0S-NpuTZ7-pD3y1jaUqeb8aB46Kne47Vcv_tF0jrJJvTNalWPz7f8r078YAztQGFXO4NfetW49zuy/s1600/IMG_3361.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3qaiz4AAEVXXN2Um7ikDQcDzOTXmxgEEnHgOO_FEibCS7PAlmsctM4fY1Z_wORX0S-NpuTZ7-pD3y1jaUqeb8aB46Kne47Vcv_tF0jrJJvTNalWPz7f8r078YAztQGFXO4NfetW49zuy/s320/IMG_3361.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649103093837835858" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">It was such a beautiful day; pretty ideal in every way, really. You can really see how the waves have carved out gentle ridges in the rock. Love!</span><br /></div></div></div><br /><br />Afterwards we had a few people over for a little family-feelin' cookout followed by s'mores around the fire. And I got presents!<br /><br />I was given a lot of fantastic things for my birthday (funny t-shirts, pretty jewelry, books & a bunch of Lush stuff to name a few), but two took the prize. Derrick, being the mastermind that he is, not only got me an amazing<a href="http://youtu.be/1jn3KCZEqxc"> banjo</a> (which I have been pining over for quite some time--pictures to follow), but he also booked a trip for he & I to go to California! In three weeks!! We'll be visiting my friend & her boyfriend & going to a <a href="http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/tickets/performance-detail.cfm?id=4591">sing-a-long of the Sound of freakin' Music at the Hollywood Bowl</a> (ohmygodicannoywait!), along with attending a taping of the Ellen show, hopefully getting a behind the scenes lot tour(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stars_Hollow">Stars Hollow</a>!), sticking my feet in the Pacific Ocean & eating a lot of good food! It's going to be soooo fun & I cannot wait. I've been kicking myself for all 3-4 years that my friend has lived out there for never actually making a visit happen, but now it is thanks to my leetle husband.<br /><br />And as August & my birthday passes us by (it has always been so bittersweet), so does my sort of successful 31 Days of Fun Project. My posting record wasn't great, but it was better than it normally is. I hope you enjoyed my mundane fun times & I hope to wow you with a few better clam handles in the months to come.<br /><br />If you'll excuse me, I have to go pretend to understand & study chemistry. Ugh. I am so screwed.<br /><br /><br />PS if you're good at chemistry, help!Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-39019888362422973532011-08-21T20:18:00.003-04:002011-08-21T20:59:13.435-04:00New Thing #18--31 Days of Fun, Days 20-21<span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 20:</span>
<br />We found out that the strike was over!!! D said he's never been so happy to go back to work, ever. It is definitely a relief, & here's hoping that they don't go back on strike if the company decides to suck again. So, yeah, awesome.
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<br />I then went to work, tried a $40 per pound cheese, headed home, called 911 because of an accident on 95, swung by Target & then went to work on catching up with these here blog entries. Not bad, not bad.
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 21:</span>
<br />We went out to breakfast because, yay, no strike! We can do stuff again! We saw our favorite waitress & she informed us that she knows our friend Shannon. Oh, Rhode Island! Afterwards we did some errands, which included getting a delicious peach pie at <a href="http://www.schartnerfarms.com/">Schartner Farms</a> to share with Tristan & Laurel, as they were coming over so Tristan could hook up our outdoor speakers for us. It all looks & sounds great, so yay! Now we don't have to blast music from the parlor when we want to listen to music while we're outside. A plus, for sure.
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<br />While I waited for dinner to cook I tied up some of our cayenne peppers to dry on a string. We planted a cayenne pepper bush in our garden this year, & holy hell do we have a lot of cayenne peppers. What's cool is that once they're dry we'll be able to make our own cayenne powder. Cool! Behold my rudimentary cayenne bundle, which is currently hanging over our kitchen sink.
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Tg4WnYzFWTpbQi_s9l8OCq_wQgkatXe0xlPmBOoYjAuVdfl94_Lht21yFC_V2Dbt_8zEhbJqhUbQLu9eC7NMLzWvcnZNpo1_KINyPDv9SbvA5MrmlEpzRRkvqhh3_4l0Ius5GD0t0rN0/s1600/IMG_3296.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Tg4WnYzFWTpbQi_s9l8OCq_wQgkatXe0xlPmBOoYjAuVdfl94_Lht21yFC_V2Dbt_8zEhbJqhUbQLu9eC7NMLzWvcnZNpo1_KINyPDv9SbvA5MrmlEpzRRkvqhh3_4l0Ius5GD0t0rN0/s320/IMG_3296.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643476810915618162" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Disregard the overall crappiness of this picture, along with the window in need of a wash. Look at the peppers we grew!
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<br /></span><div style="text-align: left;">What I didn't know & have learned is that cayenne peppers only turn red after you pick them & they start to dry. Huh! The plan is to add to this string as we pick peppers. It's gonna be huge, dudes. Huge.
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<br />Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-32513129241289974172011-08-21T01:09:00.003-04:002011-08-21T20:19:44.709-04:00New Thing #18--31 Days of Fun, Days 15-19<span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 15:</span>
<br />Not much happened. I went back to work (drag) & the second week of the strike & picketing started for D. Good times, good times. I do think, however, that we watched a bunch of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CV91pS-KDI">Psych</a> episodes while folding laundry. So there was that!
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 16:</span>
<br />Rinse & repeat. Add excessive worrying about the strike & there you have it. Ick.
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 17:</span>
<br />I was off this Wednesday & after D picketed we headed out to <a href="http://www.riparks.com/eastmatunuck.htm">East Matunuck</a> & met up with his aunt & "little" cousins. We spent some time in the water (it was super seaweed-y that day!) & caught up with the family. It was a much needed relaxing time in the sun by the ocean.
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<br />Also, we did something that was really hard. We resisted <a href="http://www.crazyburger.com/">Crazy Burger</a>. It was murdah! But we were good doobies & opted to save our pennies--not knowing how long we'd have them--& instead made super yummy falafel at home. Behold, thrift & control!
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 18:</span>
<br />See days 15 & 16. I'm pretty sure I'm really boring. Maybe I said something crazy & hilarious to Lucy the cat, though. In fact, I'm sure of it.
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<br />Oh! I tried canary melon at work. It was pretty good! Really sweet & juicy. I've been on a bizarre melon kick the last few days. Bizarre because other than watermelon, I've never really like melon all that much. However, today I noticed that after my two slices of cantaloupe my throat felt kinda weird. Hmmmm...
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 19:</span>
<br />After work, I swung by the library to pick up the book on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qigong">qigong</a> that I reserved. While there I perused the books-for-sale shelves & picked up a Roald Dahl children's book for myself & a Goosebumps by RL Stine book (holy nostalgia! they also had a Fear Street book) for D for a total of $.50. Nice! Additionally, I renewed my human-animal interaction/psychology book (super interesting so far!) & paid part of my ludicrous $5-6 late fees. Oops. Vacation makes you forget about due dates & stuff. Head hung in shame, I drove home.
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<br />After lounging around for a bit & nearly dozing off, the boy & I decided to head out to the beach. This time we went to <a href="http://www.charlestownri.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7B74AE02F6-35B3-4D40-BB19-332CA1956158%7D&DE=%7B535D71A2-0E3F-454E-95F0-8BA74D1AC79F%7D">Charlestown Beach</a>, which was suggested to D by a co-picketer. We got there late so we luckily didn't have to pay to park, & the beach was populated but not overly crowded. The sand was super soft (compared to the coarse sand of East Matunuck that I love anyway) & there was quite a drop-off to get to the water. There is also a pretty epic view of <a href="http://www.blockislandinfo.com/">Block Island</a>, which looks deceptively close from the shore. We laid on our towels (forgot the blanket in the car because we were both space cadets yesterday) & read for awhile. Ate some cantaloupe. I fell asleep in my book & woke to D piling sand in the bend of my knee.
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<br />Mr. Husband chose to go in the water, but by this point it was about 5:30pm, the air had cooled & the water felt frigid to me, not refreshing (I really am getting old). So I people-watched while D swam around like a cute-cute (sorry).
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<br />Later, we headed home, showered the sunblock & saltwater off of ourselves, made a quick dinner & headed to a friend's to play some games. One game in, though, I was struck with my random lady plague, turned white as a sheet & had to be whisked home by my loving husband. Bummer! At least my team won the one game of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Endless-Games-Identity-Crisis-Game/dp/B001DU95PC">Identity Crisi</a>s we got to play.
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<br />Once home I crawled into bed & watched about 7 minutes of <a href="http://www.cornergas.com/">Corner Gas</a> (we are huge fans of this odd & entertaining Canadian show) until I fell asleep & stayed asleep 'til 10am this morning. Aaaaaaaah :)
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<br />More coming soon, I swear!
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<br />Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-43779804826330188112011-08-20T23:07:00.016-04:002011-08-21T00:48:49.093-04:00New Thing #18--31 Days of Fun, Days 8-14Holy crap, can you say "worst project do-er ever"?!? Shameful. Tsk, tsk, tsk. I'm so behind on posting that I don't even remember what I did on certain days (because I also managed to forget to write stuff down). Also, some of these are kinda lame. Ok, without further ado, let's go!
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 8:</span>
<br />I made refrigerator pickles with our own garden-grown cucumbers!
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOMRTuenvIu8d9ws7ZdIB_c5t1xKwrdKjGQi3mHPQxExhyphenhyphenRu1MPwzL4WCEIN6VKZtwjAcBGnN8xlLbuiq9QYXWma_tYkQnM_gZKuKX0xPHKIb9TJCC95x-KUBXkesQbGI-vHkT49xUH5wY/s1600/IMG_3127.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOMRTuenvIu8d9ws7ZdIB_c5t1xKwrdKjGQi3mHPQxExhyphenhyphenRu1MPwzL4WCEIN6VKZtwjAcBGnN8xlLbuiq9QYXWma_tYkQnM_gZKuKX0xPHKIb9TJCC95x-KUBXkesQbGI-vHkT49xUH5wY/s320/IMG_3127.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643141677712542226" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Behold my fancy crinkle-cut knife in the foreground. First time using it for pickles. It made me stupidly happy.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;">Unfortunately, I wasn't totally into these pickles this time around. I thought they tasted weird. Their taste bummed me out, despite the cuteness of their crinkles. D liked them though, but maybe he was just being a darling husband, because there's still a metric buttload in the fridge. It's totally possible he was, because that's what he is all the time, anyway. *smush*
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<br />Also, while watering the plants in our backyard I noticed that the bird's nest on the crook of our gutter that had been vacant since after the spring birdies left is once again occupied with red-breasted robins. Yay! So cute.
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJARrV6g1r5JVbZXLFRiIvXVETeSuIyA9S5PigSYol0FVzVxkxoYpgoUFXTQppNo4WVYoHH77hvIXLqDf0rOPHHgmZm1is50sTE9hhPWzzd1s_2cDIRFumPk9uLKSIDD_nviOWpGpGTa5n/s1600/robenfeeding3_000%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 303px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJARrV6g1r5JVbZXLFRiIvXVETeSuIyA9S5PigSYol0FVzVxkxoYpgoUFXTQppNo4WVYoHH77hvIXLqDf0rOPHHgmZm1is50sTE9hhPWzzd1s_2cDIRFumPk9uLKSIDD_nviOWpGpGTa5n/s320/robenfeeding3_000%255B1%255D.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643162899441195986" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">We have tons of these in our backyard. I chose this photo (not my own!) because the bird looks hilariously indignant.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 9:</span>
<br />Had our monthly girls' night at my friend Crystal's house. (Hi, Crystal!) It was nice eating mostly bad-for-us food, drinking wine & catching up on happenings & gossip with the ladies. We had missed the prior month's gathering & a good night was had by all! There was also the added fun of colorful conversation & quotes regarding pregnancy, labor & all sorts of other lady business. Here, here!
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 10:</span>
<br />This day was spent working & coming home to clean & pack for our weekend trip with friends to Vermont. Ayup.
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 11:</span>
<br />D & I were Vermont-bound on this day. Neither of us had ever been to Vermont before! Isn't that nuts?
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<br />We were staying just over the New Hampshire border & drove through <a href="http://www.nhstateparks.com/franconia.html">Franconia Notch </a>to get to our destination, which was our friend's uncle's winter mobile home on a country road. I hadn't been through the White Mountains since I was about 13, and it was really nice to make the drive as an adult. Holy crap, is it gorgeous. It's nice to be able to appreciate it now.
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT712UtX1KRld8lSQawEmixFX8BDBN3mlPYnc09XiblCMM2z8JZSp7YaODuyBJxOUEP7vUR9S9xTED5OVUMmDsOdQ4JZhy9u53EVmrqZnMn_HqCP-OkICNFgxW1Qewlow-hIfOpDCfVc4x/s1600/IMG_3135.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT712UtX1KRld8lSQawEmixFX8BDBN3mlPYnc09XiblCMM2z8JZSp7YaODuyBJxOUEP7vUR9S9xTED5OVUMmDsOdQ4JZhy9u53EVmrqZnMn_HqCP-OkICNFgxW1Qewlow-hIfOpDCfVc4x/s320/IMG_3135.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643146862408146002" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Here's a through-the-window-of-a-moving-car shot I took as we were nearing the park. </span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;">While on the road you pass the historic site of what was once the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Man_of_the_Mountain">Old Man in the Mountain</a>. RIP Old Man, RIP.
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<br />Once we arrived at "camp," we got settled, mingled, relaxed & tore through some trails with the ATV. Oh yes, the ATV. It was my first time ever on one, & let me tell you, it's pretty frightening at first.
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFAcH9mD8WW_SeEQcXhVmoRB73UIHIEuQayq2FGNH_yN4q0wpTLPSuNsDQ7y7LVY6MU-MDgSwaRJ6qHnJExZM5o28ie0BmQ-z8eYyuYgPTsWAbpxkHK9Y84n1MxVz5nT9RwmW59tUXjT_1/s1600/atv.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFAcH9mD8WW_SeEQcXhVmoRB73UIHIEuQayq2FGNH_yN4q0wpTLPSuNsDQ7y7LVY6MU-MDgSwaRJ6qHnJExZM5o28ie0BmQ-z8eYyuYgPTsWAbpxkHK9Y84n1MxVz5nT9RwmW59tUXjT_1/s320/atv.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643150763293565682" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Here I am on my first ATV ride with Tristan. Photo by Kyle.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;">It's also really, really fun. It's startling because you feel really high up on the vehicle, in addition to feeling fairly unsafe while zipping down a narrow, bumpy as hell dirt "road" lined with large trees, ditches, rocks, puddles & not-super-far-away hilly cliff-like things. All of those things also make it exhilarating.
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<br />I drove it a couple times too, & holy crap is that fun. I took it out onto the main road shortly after the above photo was taken (& by taking it out on the main road, I mean I missed the turn off trail back to our plot of land) & brought it up to almost 40MPH uphill. Good times!
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<br />Also, ATVs turn Derrick into a little, maniacal boy. Also fun!
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 12:</span>
<br />It was Friday morning, & we woke smelling of the prior night's campfire. After spending some time in the woodsy Vermont air, drowsily reading by the still-smoldering fire, Derrick & I made a big breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon & toast for everyone. Afterwards, we took our morning constitutional to become one with nature & aid digestion.
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<br />On this!
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpUtxpB5siwPmLCM2zdQ1-XVRhX8ZUvaH-o1c3E_jv1ZNsm7Wm_8Cfamx4gpgAsKFcJJWo0IzChY_R0vNNNemQlnpkXS_NF7bUDkFu3jSFMf0KUVNjHvMaPw7hPn21qPWBUHWXUkCcoSP1/s1600/cart.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpUtxpB5siwPmLCM2zdQ1-XVRhX8ZUvaH-o1c3E_jv1ZNsm7Wm_8Cfamx4gpgAsKFcJJWo0IzChY_R0vNNNemQlnpkXS_NF7bUDkFu3jSFMf0KUVNjHvMaPw7hPn21qPWBUHWXUkCcoSP1/s320/cart.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643153100172260626" border="0" /></a></div>
<br /></div>We also had a golf cart to play around in! It's pretty funny how driving vehicles that are not actual cars is still super fun as a "grown up." We all had a blast using this thing, & it came in handy for the multiple golf cart vs ATV races/apple battles that were held in the yard.
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<br />D & I were saying how much we'd love to have a golf cart someday, but how it would probably get out of hand & we'd use it to make the 60-foot trip to the mailbox.
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<br />Also on this day we went to Littleton, NH to go to a big candy store & get lunch at the <a href="http://www.littletondiner.com/ordereze/Content/2/PageDetails.aspx">Littleton Diner.</a> It's been featured on the Food Network's 50 Best Breakfasts. It was so cool inside (I forgot to take a picture like a ninny) & I had a locally stone-ground buckwheat pancake, which was featured on the show, because hey, it's supposed to be really good! And it was delicious. Nutty, a little chewy & smothered in VT maple syrup. Please sir, may I have some more?
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 13:</span>
<br />After spending the entire morning & a couple hours of the afternoon lazing about & reading under the apple trees after a breakfast of pancakes, some of us got antsy. So most of us piled into a car & headed to nearby NH Forest Lake. After a whirlwind of a trip, which included me in the most uncomfortable "bitch seat" in a car ever & getting "lost" on a steep, winding dirt road in the middle of the woods we finally got to our destination.
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhduWpIpzVZqzVvIMstJzRdawnBgbBnkgHmHhvN-MnesT-bjuIY5r6NVVWeAkSd0fTs7Nr_xrnAMJarmH0F9yWAfEYreCarGx2MhlYJbPrxg8KLcxu9gneoKtiDoHiCNbyftwI03jGkoJo8/s1600/IMG_3260.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhduWpIpzVZqzVvIMstJzRdawnBgbBnkgHmHhvN-MnesT-bjuIY5r6NVVWeAkSd0fTs7Nr_xrnAMJarmH0F9yWAfEYreCarGx2MhlYJbPrxg8KLcxu9gneoKtiDoHiCNbyftwI03jGkoJo8/s320/IMG_3260.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643157370113312082" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">D'aaaaaaaaaaaaaw!</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;">Oh, right. The view.
<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipvIkjU4Zjl5E9Aaghkm5S9Fv6LJ1MYa9quEl93MhUhJ_vhFat4If5hkO_D9HD_kpPaWI7bSai0g6u5Z35azSAjTi_7Qou1Iad7DCC5W6C6AvbwWNriIhvof2VNd2Sz1QToCC_utsG0keC/s1600/IMG_3280.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipvIkjU4Zjl5E9Aaghkm5S9Fv6LJ1MYa9quEl93MhUhJ_vhFat4If5hkO_D9HD_kpPaWI7bSai0g6u5Z35azSAjTi_7Qou1Iad7DCC5W6C6AvbwWNriIhvof2VNd2Sz1QToCC_utsG0keC/s320/IMG_3280.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643158375691047554" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Right?? Also, that dog was adorable.</span>
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivsQtNgL4zoRcXzbpicVof1rKJ6-nJTs882cffyZ0sd4gSpkhcE5WI1ClWthbpLD-vp3WY8zL5ydR1nF2vGp-3spehdabjvFKMY58Wkl7PsfBs9iPhNkdfFJUY-hpLrqcjVch6Ce68Gw6C/s1600/IMG_3265.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivsQtNgL4zoRcXzbpicVof1rKJ6-nJTs882cffyZ0sd4gSpkhcE5WI1ClWthbpLD-vp3WY8zL5ydR1nF2vGp-3spehdabjvFKMY58Wkl7PsfBs9iPhNkdfFJUY-hpLrqcjVch6Ce68Gw6C/s320/IMG_3265.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643158800999374498" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Agent Cooper, is that you?</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;">The day was pleasantly warm but not hot, so despite having my bathing suit with me I wasn't planning to swim. But after sticking my feet in the cool, amazingly clear water I decided that I just had to go in. I was only in for about 10 minutes (which was enough, it was cold!), but it was lovely & I'm glad I made the effort of getting & changing into my suit & all that business. Beauteous!
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 14:</span>
<br />On this day we headed home. You know how it is heading home from a vacation? No matter how short of long it is, ugh. Just ugh. You're sad to be leaving & you aren't looking forward to the voyage home. You just want to BE there! Luckily, the trip back to RI wasn't too bad (I was helped by candy & a brief nap), & singing Mumford & Sons on the winding highway through the mountains didn't hurt either. Once we got home we made a quick dinner & vegged, all the while trying to get our cat to not hate us for leaving.
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<br />Though, before we left VT we took a drive down the road from the campsite, to a farm that had a sign boasting their own maple syrup &<a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?q=belted+galloways&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=vyf&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1280&bih=574&tbm=isch&tbnid=1FjjLr4nF7uf6M:&imgrefurl=http://www.homestead.org/VictoriaVarga/BeltedGallowayCattle.htm&docid=dYAcX4ztfe6Z3M&w=502&h=377&ei=1YlQTpvYGdO00AG-7OTwBg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=831&page=2&tbnh=121&tbnw=160&start=18&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:18&tx=33&ty=65"> belted galloway</a> cows, one of my favorites. We drove around their property looking for a sugar shack, cows, a farm stand or any sign of life, really. We found only a cute piece of property where no one was home but a slightly-too-skinny horse (grumble) & a lovely li'l donkey. No one was home & no syrup was to be had, boohoo!
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<br />Stay tuned...
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<br />Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-70771003250155817502011-08-08T13:35:00.005-04:002011-08-08T14:42:18.714-04:00New Thing #18--31 Days of Fun, Days 3-7I'm backed up already, oi vey! I'm the worst. Ok, fun(ish) attack starting now!
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 3:</span>
<br />On this day I FINALLY signed up for my Chemistry class *grooooooooooooan*
<br />I need to manage a C for these credits to transfer over to URI & then I will officially get my degree & slap it up on the wall next to D's. Also, this was my first venture over to the Knight campus of CCRI & it is the ugliest building on the planet. Take a look!
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFY63h8IgIjjjqmEqc04F2Kkg_dW-bc88FP0kKUTDrFNuInhacNXsVpMpMWFYppCh3069QlltnNbHVzs71msUFE8tCJmAqF33Xyd_nC4lqbV51Ll3G3rheCkvzFx2VFbh3ld99nEiusbfE/s1600/CCRI_Knight_Campus.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFY63h8IgIjjjqmEqc04F2Kkg_dW-bc88FP0kKUTDrFNuInhacNXsVpMpMWFYppCh3069QlltnNbHVzs71msUFE8tCJmAqF33Xyd_nC4lqbV51Ll3G3rheCkvzFx2VFbh3ld99nEiusbfE/s320/CCRI_Knight_Campus.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638541713561997074" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">This is from the Wikipedia page.</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:100%;">A friend told me it is supposed to be a boat? All I know is that it is horrendous & imposing as you drive up the road & the inside is dank, dreary & outdated. Hopefully it houses easy Chemistry classes!</span>
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<br />Afterwards I made a Spinach Orzo, a recipe of my Mom's that she used to make a lot when we were kids. So good & heartwarming, & D loves it too!
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 4:</span>
<br />Um, I worked. It was a crappy day. Afterwards I got a nice hug from D though!
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 5:</span>
<br /><div style="text-align: left;">I worked all night, came home & made a bowl of homemade kettle corn. This time around I remembered to use my Dad's technique & voila! Best batch I've made in a long time....so I ate it all. D came home late from a friend's house & he was all hopped up on blue Mountain Dew. I chased him around the house at midnight while he laughed like a maniac. Aw, love! How am I supposed to resist a goofy guy as cute as this, anyway?
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<br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaTH-nPQxsIaSfmybGxCNOUYDGUHvMntFj2rKk-BIMWNE19VNWmMaBY26wfaS25QZhQ0fMjDRm86aK72XOuXcD1OdMb6PRvlPreOMmZT9EG6cYxk_abYvh7LfJ_n2R_GSeXqeqZfReW2iv/s1600/IMG_2344.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaTH-nPQxsIaSfmybGxCNOUYDGUHvMntFj2rKk-BIMWNE19VNWmMaBY26wfaS25QZhQ0fMjDRm86aK72XOuXcD1OdMb6PRvlPreOMmZT9EG6cYxk_abYvh7LfJ_n2R_GSeXqeqZfReW2iv/s320/IMG_2344.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638553586114286674" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 6:
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></span> </span>After talking/obsessing about our cats for a couple hours, I randomly sang this song at work, much to the amusement of my co-worker: "Stick it in yer butthole, fart it on out!"
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<br />Later, we went out to Mexican with friends, where we spoke of in-utero babies & made a plan to bring lots of stuff to make mojitos when we go camping. I also made my requisite Polish comments. Or jokes. Good-natured jokes!
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 7:
<br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></span></span></span>Yesterday was D's first day of picketing for the strike at work. Of course it poured buckets on the poor masses & he came home soaking wet & exhausted. Being close to anyone on strike is a first for me, & when it is this close to home it is scary. Hopefully it gets resolved quickly & favorably. If you are a customer of Verizon, <a href="http://http://www.cwa-union.org/news/entry/45000_workers_on_strike_at_verizon#.TkAs92HfiSo">get the facts</a> & make your opinions known to the company. Any little bit helps.
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<br />In brighter, less heart palpitation-inducing tidbits, I took the pouring rain as an opportunity to don my plaid galoshes & splash in puddles as I ran a couple errands. It is strange how fun that can be!
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<br />Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763770492558291966.post-11971716525530377062011-08-05T09:40:00.006-04:002011-08-05T10:21:04.641-04:00New Thing #18--31 Days of Fun, Day 2Day 2 of Fun was all in all a great day (minus the $95 "speeding" ticket I got in front of my grandparents' house), but the main awesomeness was a trip to the zoo with my cousin Marissa.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7iVGzLTzWEfyV9HJcIXwGfzmGgl52QZrBIJq8b4hWBCOxM_tbsjg3H4nEdfzo23A5W1pImVdcmDCZ0xKvRJMmJAva0OnXG9mq0WZduMvoiqBPxHUCvPkrg3-vP0bMM12IIkzdsK_Y2ude/s1600/IMG_3059.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7iVGzLTzWEfyV9HJcIXwGfzmGgl52QZrBIJq8b4hWBCOxM_tbsjg3H4nEdfzo23A5W1pImVdcmDCZ0xKvRJMmJAva0OnXG9mq0WZduMvoiqBPxHUCvPkrg3-vP0bMM12IIkzdsK_Y2ude/s320/IMG_3059.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637375407868642514" border="0" /></a><br />After having a brief conversation about sloths, we decided we both wanted to go to the zoo. So we did! It was nice spending time with Maris (especially because I missed her birthday) & it was lovely seeing my animal friends at the zoo. Great day!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga6lriJ4M6MQVEq6xjgSmZCNx8yplmiIc00MYnSE8EtgQj5kp6szGkDavfrR2HGi9Hh1Hb5KcaWGCXwRmwKVJbHTtvLhdXqoxE3HHrlZV0_R6sUVjiobop7F6p3aEf5leBYw3I7EhgyBZR/s1600/IMG_3108.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga6lriJ4M6MQVEq6xjgSmZCNx8yplmiIc00MYnSE8EtgQj5kp6szGkDavfrR2HGi9Hh1Hb5KcaWGCXwRmwKVJbHTtvLhdXqoxE3HHrlZV0_R6sUVjiobop7F6p3aEf5leBYw3I7EhgyBZR/s320/IMG_3108.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637376333918144674" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">I also came home with a new pet. Meet Lucy's new best friend!</span><br /><br /></div><br />The remainder of my day was filled with small but lovely visits with other family members & friends, & buying a $70 jacket & $40 skirt for a grand total of $36. Score!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZurl-cO9Ei4S07xvSVX4OnC7mgYDYaPPhgNKMa7p-VZ1X_Pkkk0iCsAkouNarHixAfVZVLW4Jfi0vRNT0sYdT7xaOynn0JpilhIMLyhX6-17fYP3ruSJNf386_1OeuauS_-rRYHzuOypj/s1600/IMG_3064.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZurl-cO9Ei4S07xvSVX4OnC7mgYDYaPPhgNKMa7p-VZ1X_Pkkk0iCsAkouNarHixAfVZVLW4Jfi0vRNT0sYdT7xaOynn0JpilhIMLyhX6-17fYP3ruSJNf386_1OeuauS_-rRYHzuOypj/s320/IMG_3064.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637375851286636082" border="0" /></a>Til next time!<br /><br /></div>Nickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10031981744130258398noreply@blogger.com0