in with the new

Labor Day Weekend Away

We spent the weekend in a cabin in Bryson City. It was a nice retreat, a little getaway. No internet, very basic cable, a chair swing, rockers, a hot tub, a nice view and big side yard for playing borts. We were very close to downtown Bryson City, whose main attractions are the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad (which we didn't not partake because the trips are 4.5 hours long) and (not far) tubing (which we did not partake because it was too cool).

We got there Saturday afternoon and didn't leave the house all day. We played sports in the side yard. We rocked on the porch. We had some beer (I had "red beer - Mike's Hard Lemonade) and hung out. Will made an awesome dinner, filets stuffed with pesto, scallops, and string beans with a nice red wine.

Sunday morning we lazed about. We ate yummy quiche that Will whipped up the night before. We were greeted by the cabin owner's dog, Zeke. We didn't know his name until later, so we called him "Jonesey".

When it was time to get dressed, Mason was upset because I there wasn't a blue shirt to wear with his blue jeans and blue socks. He didn't want to get dressed in anything else. We promised him we would buy him a blue shirt in town, and he let us dress him in all green. (Note to self... have Mason choose his own clothes for future trips.) After breakfast we checked out Bryson City. It was a quiet, old, and kind of sad town. It looks like it could use some love and a lot of money. We gave it a little bit of money when we bought Mason that blue shirt.

We headed to Deep Creek, a nearby tubing/waterfall place to see a waterfall. The hike was only .3 miles, all uphill. It was a little rough for me pushing the jog stroller, and a little rough for Will, he pulled his hamstring playing softball last week. It was worth the effort. There was a little bridge in front of the falls and a bench to rest on.

We headed back to the cabin after that for lunch. It was another gourmet adventure. We made sandwiches with pesto, manchego cheese, prosciutto and sopressata. We called it a "Pestoletta". Special lunch dessert was a no-bake chocolate cheesecake I whipped up the night before.

Then we sat, laid, rocked, read, checked out the view, hot tubbed, baseballed, and creeked (ok, threw rocks in a creek) the afternoon away.

Dinner Sunday night was pretty special, too. Ribs, cheesy grits and sauteed tomatoes. We ate good at that cabin! When we got up today, we packed up and went home. It was a really nice trip, but it's so nice to get back to our home. Bye, mountain cabin!

Home Sweet Home!

Our trip to NY is over. It's nice to be home, even though it's STILL too hot to be outside! I won't be complaining in the Winter, when I CAN go outside! The trip was GREAT. I got to see a lot of friends and eat at yummy restaurants... PS 450, Penang, Red Cat, ñ, 'inoteca, and Ruby Foos. The last night I was there, I finally got to spend time with Will. We went out, an d watched the Yankee game. Will's friend Dave came into NY from LI to hang with us. It was a fun drunken night, that ended in a diner (more eating!).

Now we're home, and after all that eating, I've started South Beach. I'm doing well on it. The first 2 weeks are hard, no carbs, except vegetables. No sugar, no bread. So far so good. I'll post the weight loss (if any) at the end of the first week (next Monday or Tuesday). Wish me luck!

New York Visit

Our first week in NY has been SO great! I've had dinner with my friends three times already! I have three more (at least!) planned for this coming week.

Will and I went to my friend Susan's wedding this weekend. The bride wore sparkly red shoes. It was a REALLY fun time. We also popped in on our Long Beach neighbor to spend some time. Her baby is just over a year now, and getting so big and teethy! We saw our house. The yard is gone, it's all decked, and there's a pool, and a tall fence hiding all of that.

We are having a great time during our NY visit.

New York

We're in NYC for a week and a half! We flew to JFK last night. I've been smiling since we got off the airplane! It's nice to know we can come back here and have a NY experience. I am looking forward to seeing a lot of my friends while I'm here. I already have 4 dinner reservations and 2 visits in LI planned!

Last night, Will and I had drinks and dinner with Heather. It was so fun to see her! I will get to see her most days I'm here, when I'm at work, so yay! Tonight I'm seeing my fun college girlfriends. We're going to sit in a tent at Penang. Fun and YUM!

Will and I are staying in my company's apartment for most of this trip. It's a decent place, comfortable enough, and 2 blocks from the office. It's so nice that they have this for their employees! This weekend we are staying in LI. My friend Susan is getting married. It is going to be a fun wedding.

Thanks, Mom and Dad for watching the puppy! And thanks, nice neighbors for taking in our mail!!!

Rome

Just poking my head in to say hi! This is our last full day in Rome. Tomorrow we go to Montepulciano, in Tuscany. On my birthday!

We have seen some great things, while in Sorrento, we went to Pompeii and Capri. Capri is a beautiful, hilly, rich island. We went into the Blue Grotto there. The bus rides were adventure rides! Pompeii... full of neat old stuff. Amazing, the technology the Pompeiians had. Computers should have been invented long before the 20th century on their schedule!

We've been walking and walking around Rome. It's been so great. We've already taken about 300 pictures... I will post a lot when we return to the US!

Ciao!

Italy Plans

We booked our flights for Italy! We fly out May 28, and leave June 17. We have 2 hotels booked. In Montepulciano, we are staying here. That's our third stop. It's an apartment in a Tuscan hill town. We found it on Fodor's forums. In Sorrento (our first stop) we are staying here. We will be there 4 nights. From Sorrento, we can take day trips to lots of neat places, Capri (by boat), Positano (by bus on curvy road), Pompeii, and Amalfi.

Now we have to book Rome, Florence, Venice and (maybe) Cinque Terre!

Dove e Italia?

Will and I are planning a trip to Italy! We will be going the first three weeks of June-ish. It will be a nice vacation before we start our new FL lives! My parents will watch puppy (thank you!!!), and my dad is pretty excited about it.

Last night we picked all the towns we will stay in. We will fly to Rome and immediately go down to Sorrento. Form there we can visit Naples, Positano, Capri and the ruins from Mount Vesuvius (Pompeii and/or Herculaneum). Then we will go to Rome and walk our feet off! Then we will rest our feet in the Tuscan countryside, in Montepulciano. They're famous for wine, and that's what we'll be doing there, drinking wine! Next up is Florence. We will walk our feet off there, as well, and we can also take day trips to San Gimignano and Pisa. Then we'll go to the Cinque Terre, and stay in Vernazza. It will be a good rest after the walking our feet off. Last we go to Venice. We may take a day trip to Verona or Murano (where the glass is from), but who knows.

We have been taking Italian lessons! I bought a basic CD, by Pimsleur, at Barnes and Noble. It has 10 half hour lessons on it. We can greet people, ask where  something is, ask if people understand le Italiano or le Inglese. It's fun to do the lessons!

Halloween Fun!

As previously reported, we went to NOLA for Halloween weekend. We ate really well! The food highlights...

• Acme Oyster House on Thursday - raw oysters, crawfish boil, & seafood gumbo


• Cafe du Monde on Friday morning for the beignets and Cafe au Lait


• Mother's on Friday - gumbo, oyster po' boy, spinach (I thought I was doing something good for myself... I wasn't!), fried seafood, and an awesome bloody mary


• Acme on Saturday - raw oysters, chicken/andouille sausage gumbo, smoked sausage, a PEACEMAKER


• Central Grocery on Sunday for an AWESOME Muffuletta while sitting on the river

On Friday night, we met and hung out with badass bikers. They were so cool and (did I mention...) badass. They were from Louisiana and Colorado (Denver). That was fun times!

We had such fun with our travel companions! They were SO good at dress up! Here we are on Saturday night, a little goth, a little S&M...

And on Halloween night, we were girl scouts...

With REAL DEAL sashes!

And "Old School" movie characters...

So, we ate well, drank well, walked around a LOT, talked to fun people, took a lot of pictures and had a TON of fun! Woo, Nawlins! A link to the photos is up there in the left column! Enjoy!

Ode to Halloween

Haiku for Halloween...

The only thing that
Could make Halloween better
Would be good presents

I love dressing up
Cat Woman, Girl Scout, Crack Ho
Vampire Slayer

Nawlins Halloween
Is going to be more fun
Than monkey barrels

We leave in a week
Po boys, muffuletta, Mmmm
Pattys Hurricane

We watch Bourbon Cams
Count the days to Bourbon Street
Debauchery, Yay!

I haven't mentioned before that we are going to New Orleans for Halloween. We made the plans many moons ago. I cannot wait. This is our second NOLA Halloween and our fourth visit to the city. I am going to have 2 costumes, goth on Saturday and Girl Scout on Sunday. We have travel companions, so I will have another girl scout in my troop 666. Yay!

I changed the colors of the weblog in honor of my favorite dress up day, and Fall in general! Here's a screen cap to see for all eternity...

All Dressed Up

Will and I went to his fraternity's 50th anniversary on campus reunion celebration this past weekend (whew, that was a lot of words!) at High Point University. I am so happy that he wanted to share his fun weekend with me. It was great to meet his college friends. There was a lot of talking and laughing and beer.

Saturday was the formal that I typed about last week. Here we are, in all our dressed up glory!

Here is the badass cuff that my friend Heather made for me. Don't stare too long at the crooked, stubby fingers!

Will gave me a tour of his campus. It's small and quaint and full of brick buildings. They just finished a brilliant fine arts center. Here are some regular and (fine) artsy photos. (Click on any to see it larger)