Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Massachusetts, part 2

I just realized that I'd forgotten to talk about the rest of my trip!

On Sunday, the Woods and I went to Chunky's, a "cinema pub," to see The Brothers Grimm. It's a fun experience - I wish we had a theatre like that at home!

We hung out in the evening, popping in the DVD of a personal favorite - Shrek 2, and eating homemade watermelon sherbet. (yummy stuff!)

Yesterday, I drove home, but not before making a brief stop at Building 19 in Burlington. A bargain girl like me cannot resist such a stop! And, of course, I arrived in NJ with 12 1-liter bottles of Polar Seltzer... how could I be there and not buy some? :) Unfortunately they didn't have all of the flavors that you see at the website, but they did have a new one I'm curious about - pomegranate. And I'm still wondering about mint, but that one will have to wait until I find it in stock. Maybe I'll just have to take another trip soon!

And before I forget again, here's a link to pictures from Saturday. Don't you wish you'd been there, too? ;)

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Daisy, Harry and Charlotte

Hello from Massachusetts! After a slight snafu this morning in terms of helping Mom with the stupid phone system at work (which ended up not working anyway! grr!) I headed up here and after a short time, the Woods and I headed into Boston. First was a quick tour of the Otis House, where Becky works. It was both educational and enjoyable!
Next, we wanted to go up in the Helium baloon in the Common, but it was too windy, so instead we went to eat at a place called B.Good, which is an unusual eatery in which I enjoyed an Asian chicken sandwich. Since it was still windy and the baloon was unavailable in such weather, we went to the Skywalk at the Prudential Tower - I'd never been! It really is a beautiful view, and I reccomend the children's audio tour instead of the adult one - much more entertaining and informative!
After that, we wandered down to the Hatch Shell and found ourselves a surprise - a teenybopper concert with Jesse McCartney. Picture a large crowd of screaming girls of various ages (and their parents) and all that entails. Then you might have an idea of our excitement. (The title of my post comes from the names we chose to scream out when Jesse asked everyone to introduce themselves simultaneously),
After all the pop music we could handle, it was back to Beverly to watch Ray, via Netflix. A very good film, and not just because I am a music person. Very strong.

After such fun, I am tres tired. Enough for today! More tomorrow...

Thursday, August 25, 2005

mid-week update

Hi there! :) Just figured I'd drop in a few lines about my past few days...

Tuesday was tremendous fun, although sticking to the plan wasn't completely in order! We left here around two-something and made fine time down to G.A. - to find it quite crowded. We decided to leave the park and come back as it was getting dark in the hopes that the crowds would dwindle. This meant a sidetrip was in order, so we went to Turkey Swamp Park, and wandered around a lovely trail there.
Back at the (amusement) park, it was still crowded. We managed only one coaster - the Great American Scream Machine (a G.A. classic), because everything had 60-90+ minute waits! We wandered some and then decided, instead, to get some food. So off to a quite-late-night dinner it was, then to the beach and slurpees.
Wednesday brought some more gorgeous weather and the opportunity to spend some time in the sun! We went to Point Pleasant (check out the "surf cam"!) and wandered around, playing Skeeball, going to the Fun house, eating Fried Oreos (see below!), and seeing the rehearsal for an outdoor orchestra concert (Opera favorites, with soloists) that was last night!

A very fun few days - a necessary break from the "real world" for some adventures. :)

...and before I forget, a few words on commenting. I love getting comments on my blog. Keep doing it - they make me happy! Sometimes I will respond to the person either verbally or via email, sometimes I'll respond to comments in the form of a post, and lately I've been commenting back, in the comment section, below the person who commented in the first place.

To respond to Marisa's comments from the previous post:
1. Fried Oreos are really yummy. They are like Zeppoli with Oreos in the middle. The Dough gets all crunchy and hot, and the Oreo inside gets all melty. Cover those babies in powdered sugar (which ends up all over you, especially when eaten outside on a windy day!!) and they are very good. The only place that I know that makes them is on the boardwalk in Point Pleasant, right in the whole Jenkinson's area. But a serving of five Oreos is enough for two people, in my opinion, so I'd say order one serving and then if you're loving them and want more, get more.
2. I don't have a digital camera, but I plan on taking a pic of the sweater tonight. I'll hook up with someone with a scanner and try to post it so I can show it off. I'm quite proud of my accomplishment! :)

Monday, August 22, 2005

Fun and busy-ness ahead

This week is going to be busy. I'm going to hit the ground running and have a lot of fun while I do it!

Monday in iteself, doesn't quite call for fun. I have to go to the dentist for a checkup. But I'll call it fun if he says that I have no cavities, since I get sparkly clean teeth, a toothbrush and some floss in the process.
Tuesday will be fun. I'm going to Six Flags! Woo hoo! Screaming my head off!
Wednesday also will be fun. The shore is calling - skeeball, ocean, fried oreos (supposedly amazing?) and whatnot. Hurrah!
Thursday... well, don't know yet. Maybe recovering from the past two days. Or maybe some more fun... only time will tell.
Friday brings the possibility of lunch with a friend and the subsequent passing off of my latest knitting project to her little cutie, Lauren Grace (see a cute pic of her in the archives!) and such an outing would definately be considered fun.
Saturday and Sunday will find me trekking up to the north shore of Massachusetts, to see these fun folks.

...so, if you don't hear from me much this week, you know why. I'm busy having fun! :)

Friday, August 19, 2005

Jeeps Rock!

Jeeps rock. Woo hoo for Jeep!! (Not that I'm biased or anything!) Too bad I couldn't be a part of this - it would have been tres cool, although mine is "Garnet Red" not "Lipstick Red." Alas.

Jeep article MENC article

Jeep Flag from Camp Jeep 2005 Posted by Picasa

(Jeep people, if you're ticked off because of my use of this image, let me know and I'll remove it. I just throught it was really cool.)

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Love and Roller Coasters

Today, my friend Marisa posted about the subjects above. I agree with her musings, although I am sad to hear her vent. :(

To briefly comment on the subject(s) myself, I will state that I am in favor of love. Sure, it can be hard sometimes, but the gifts that real love gives tip the scale every time. It comes in the shapes and forms of many different people in our lives, sometimes surprises you, and helps to make us all better people - perhaps the people we are meant to be. I say we all try to gather up as much as we can, although not to keep it selfishly, but to give it to others! :)

...and on the subject of roller coasters, I must say that I am in favor of them as well. I'm not picky - all shapes and sizes, wooden or steel, flipping or not. In fact, I hope to visit some of these coasters next week. Yay. :)

Monday, August 15, 2005

My weekend

Friday, I didn't really do anything, at least not memorable. (?)
Saturday, I did some crazy cleaning in the oppressive heat, and then spent the rest of the day having fun - Matt and I had lunch at the Iron Horse, then decided to go and have some fun at Sportsworld (indoor. A/C. need I say more?) - but ended up on two interesting distractions on the way. The first caused us to follow a sign that said "Albums - $1". We found the street and house, and walked up to an open garage. In it was nothing but a table with two boxes. The large box held a collection of records. The small box was labeled "Album money." We left with two. Then, still on the way, we found a second sign - this one for a tag sale. We decided to take another chance, and ended up at a rather fascinating house. It looked like it was a comfortable size from the outside, but upon inspection it was found to be huge! The stuff was all over the house, so we were able to explore bedrooms, living areas, an interesting game room and retro basement. Another stack of albums were loaded into the car, along with a few other items such as some really old-school cameras and old board-games. Then it was off to the most challenging 9 holes of mini golf I've played yet! Sportsworld's course is inside, which puts it on a smaller scale than most, but they make up for it with evil terrain. Between that and the puppet-style bowling game, a good time was had!
Sunday afternoon brought some errand-running for Matt, but I ended up tagging along for fun. We ended up at the very crowded PPP, and wandered and accomplished what was needed just as a huge storm rolled in. After some Mongolian Barbecue for dinner, we hung out a bit before calling it a weekend... a good weekend. :)

The one darkspot on the weekend was my poor Mommy - she fell at work on Thursday and has been miserable and quite sore. A trip to the ER on Saturday assured us that she didn't break any ribs, but that doesn't mean she's not in a lot of pain. Bruised and sore and generally feeling icky is not fun! :(

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Shopping, eating, playing, movie-ing

My friend Alisa and I hung out this evening - she had a random day off of work, and so did I! (Well, perhaps mine wasn't so random in the sense that all of my days at the moment are sans work!) We met up and headed out to the local mecca of money-spending and wandered a bit before eating at Dave and Buster's and playing some games. It has become something of a habit with us - lately, we've gone to enjoy meals and play games there on several occasions. She is the queen of video poker, let me tell you - in today's visit alone, she amassed over 1000 tickets! Impressive! I, supposedly, think too much and don't just play on impulse, as she does - which means I end up with far fewer tickets to redeem.
Then it was off to wander a bit more before going to see Must Love Dogs, which was a cute chick-flicky-date kind of movie, which strangely enough came with a 1 month free membership to perfectmatch.com - they are prominently featured in the film. The movie was cute and I enjoyed it, but if one is wanting to see a movie about people falling in love and the internet, this one is by far superior. (Not that I'm biased!) :)

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Feel like you just don't fit in??

...well, do I have the book for you! I was shopping at one of our friendly local B&N stores on Sunday, and found an irrestistable book on the super-bargain-clearance table. Although I have read only the first few pages, I am confident to recommend.... Think You're the Only One? Oddball Groups Where Outsiders Fit In by Seth Brown. It takes you through various groups, societies, organizations, etc. of people who are a little quirky in their interests. Here are a few of the groups represented in the book. Trust me, it is worth a read (and a laugh!), and you might find yourself a new group of friends in the process!

One of the highly funny things about it is that one of my friends, Marisa, bought the exact same book on the exact same day for the exact same price... a whopping 99 cents! Woo hoo! We rock! :)

Saturday, August 06, 2005

Moody

Frustrated. Stressed. Worried. Tired. Scared.
Grumble.

Thursday, August 04, 2005

Island Adventure

Perhaps the first word of the subject makes you think of locales like Bermuda or St. Thomas... but that would be incorrect. I mean the island of... Manhattan. However, it was during tropical-like weather that the island adventure did occur, so in some ways it isn't that far off!
Yesterday afternoon, I was invited on an adventure to the city. After taking the ferry in (my favorite way to get there!) it was into the underground to take the subway to Ft. Tryon Park, and since we didn't see the bus, we walked through the park, up to the Cloisters. (Aside - the gardens in the park are lovely, as are the views of NJ!) I haven't been to the Cloisters in years, and it did not disappoint! It is so beautiful, so peaceful and contemplative. We actually felt like we'd somehow made a wrong turn and traveled much further when we entered one courtyard and the only voices we heard were speaking in French! From there, it was back to the subway and all the way to the other end of the island to the village, to Peanut Butter & Co. What an extraordinary place! They make the PB right there and serve it in a bunch of creative ways. I enjoyed a Peanut-Butter-Cup sandwich - wheat bread, crunchy PB and nutella. Oh, bliss! :) I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the Elvis sandwich, complete with bacon, which was Adventurer Matt's choice. (hey - don't turn your nose up at it until you've tried it!) After such fun, it was off to the Strand for a quick browse and then to a debate - Is America a Meritocracy? - down in SoHo. It was put on by Jinx, an Urban Exploration group. Certainly was an interesting topic - the concept being something I'd never stopped to think about. I sat on the fence of the issue for most of the debate, finally deciding that no, I don't think America is a Meritocracy. (Meritocracy: government controlled by those with the most merit to do so.)

An enjoyable adventure was certainly had, and contained much fun and many surprises. But then again, I'm a sucker for random fun, surprises and anything involving Nutella! :)