Germans, Phantom, Shrimp and Casio Keyboards.... only in New York!

Matt's school has an exchange program with a school in Germany (near Cologne). The American students went to visit them during the February break, and the German students are here in the US now. Among other things, such as going to classes and hanging out with students, they have been doing a lot of travel so that they could see as much as possible while they are here.

Yesterday was no exception. Matt was asked to chaperone the trip at the last minute and was luckily invited to have me come along as a "guest" chaperone as well. So we headed into the city for the day with 20 American students, 20 German students, 3 German teachers, the President (of the school) and his wife, and a partridge in a pear tree. ;)

Our first stop was Grant's Tomb. I hadn't been there in years! We weren't there long, but it was nice to see again. I wish we had been able to take the students to Riverside Church, which is right across the street. It is a beautiful place, and I've been in the belltower!! Unfortunately, people are no longer allowed in the Carillon. So sad.

Our next stop was to the USS Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum. Again, I was there when I was very young, but it has been completely refurbished, even leaving New York Harbor in order to do so! We were there for only about an hour, but it has whetted our appetites to return, and so we will!

After that, we went into Times Square, where the kids were allowed to wander a little bit in order to see the sights and have a quick lunch before a matinee. Teachers all ended up eating at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company on a very tight schedule. It was a fun experience-type of place, and the food was pretty good, too. We sat by the window and were able to see the goings on in times square, which is always entertaining!!

After lunch, we all met the students in front of the Majestic Theater... to catch a matinee of The Phantom Of The Opera. It's not a personal favorite, but still - I take theater experiences when I can get them. The story is a bit creepy in my book, but I suppose that it's a "classic Broadway experience" for German students.

Once the show was over, we headed down to Chinatown for some quick shopping, then walked over to Little Italy (which is right around the corner, for those of you not as familiar with NYC) to eat in a place called Puglia Restaurant on Hester Street. It was amazingly crowded with other large groups but we feasted and sang along with Jorge, the resident musician. He is such a lounge lizard with a dinky Casio Keyboard... but it's all in good fun! Matt, Jens (one of the German teachers) and the school's president all got up on chairs and danced!

This is not our group, but it's a hint of what he gets people to do with his "Napkin Song" (which you can get on iTunes if you're interested!!)

Once our meal was finished, we all headed back to the bus and home again. It was a very full day, and I was appreciative of the opportunity to tag along. It was fun to play tourist for the day!

Sailing away, four months from today...

(Oh, how cute! That rhymes!)

Yeah, so that means the HONEYMOON IS BOOKED!!! WOOOOO!
We're doing the cruise thing. Easy-peasy, fun-in-the-sun relax-fest. I know we'll both be fried, so it will be good to do as much or as little as we want, and I couldn't be happier.

So yeah, this means that the wedding is less than four months away. YIKES!
I'm excited, of course, but there is still so much to do.
Here's a list... if you see anything I need to add, please comment and let me know!

Church: check.
Officiant: check, I think. We need to re-confirm after our first choice wasn't able to do it. :(
Reception venue: check.
Sushi: check. :)

Florist: check. Soon will meet to see pretty samples!
Photographer: check.
Engagement photos w/Photog: Not yet. But soon. :)

Dress: check. Just need to have it bustled. All else is perfect!!
Shoes: check... maybe. Still looking, but have something in the running.
Veil: check, although I might be looking for a new tiara.
Hair: getting a haircut on Wednesday. Will talk to her then. (Cross fingers she or someone she works with is available!!)

Bridesmaids: check. :) Three awesome friends.
Bridesmaids "dress code": check. They have options, which what I wanted to do. I hate uncomfortable bridesmaids... been there, done that.
Mom's dress: Possible check. We have at least one option.

Transportation: NEED TO GET. I assigned it, but don't know if it is being dealt with. Grr.
Rings: NEED TO GET.
Church music: NEED TO GET. Anyone know a good classical guitarist for cheap?
Reception Music: Possible check. Not sure.
Invites: picked out. Need to sit down and order.
Hotel room block: NEED TO RESERVE. Gotta get up there with mom ASAP.
Registry: One done (BB&B), one to go (Macy's).
Groom's Gift: NEED TO GET. Have an idea, though.
Bridesmaids gifts: NEED TO GET.

I'm sure I'm missing some big things here. Let me know what they are!!

Bring your straight jackets...

... 'cause we're gettin' married at the LOONEY BIN!

S E R I O U S L Y.
(you just can't make stuff like that up!!!)

So yeah. Our reception place? Very nice. People are great. Food was fantastic. The view? Beautiful. The buildings on the way in were very interesting, and in varying states of disrepair, which was intriguing for a curious and adventurous couple.

The sign at the exit lists a place called "Letchworth Village." I have now come to know that this is also referred to as "Letchworth Village for the Feeble-minded and Epileptics." So before we go further, I know that feeble-minds and epilepsy do not "looney" people make. But you get the gist.
It has not been active for over 10 years, and the pictures on the sites at the bottom are pretty amazing.

I'm itching to go with my camera... I got a teatnus shot less than a year ago...

Take a look:
Still Mirrors: Photography by Stephen Miller
Opacity: Letchworth Village
Hudson Valley Ruins: Photography by Rob Yasinac
Designed Breakdown

Great Big Fun in NYC!

Friday night was spent at the Nokia Theater in the heart of Times Square to see Great Big Sea!

From Great Big Sea @ Nokia - Sept 19

They did two fantastic sets, with the entire concert being around 2.5 hours of singing, dancing and fun. You know you've had a great time when you spend the next two days with a raspy voice from constant singing and sore shoulders and arms from all of the clapping! We finally got our copy of Fortune's Favour, their newest CD, and Matt got me a signed picture of the band. Cool!

From Great Big Sea @ Nokia - Sept 19

The only sadnesses of the day were two... first, there were supposed to be five of us instead of three. Due to two of our number being students at the moment and have classes on Friday nights (oh, horror!), they were sadly not in attendance. The other sadness was a selfish one... I had my little camera with me and I knew the batteries were failing, and they completely died about two minutes into the second set. I would have kept shooting, but sadly could not and didn't have time to buy batteries beforehand. :(

Alan singing From Great Big Sea @ Nokia - Sept 19

Sean (my favorite picture of the night!) From Great Big Sea @ Nokia - Sept 19

Bob playing the accordion From Great Big Sea @ Nokia - Sept 19

They put on a great show and didn't disappoint! I wish more of the US knew about them... if you've never heard them, check 'em out! They have something for everyone!
The rest of the pictures are here... Great Big Sea @ Nokia - Sept 19

BackPost 7/01/08: Corning Museum of Glass

I've been meaning to get up the pictures from the trip we took right after school let out, but they have been on the back burner... at least here's a start!

Matt and I went to the Corning Museum of Glass while in upstate NY with Matt's parents. It is an AMAZING museum! We spent the good part of a day there - seeing exhibits, wandering, having lunch, and my favorite thing - making a blown glass ornament! What a fun, fun place. I totally recommend it to anyone and everyone. Truly something for all can be found there!

Blowing my brains out?

TD looks Jumbo-sized!

Beware! Scientific content!

Lots and lots of cool exhibits to see.

The photos from the day are here.

BackPost 7/30/08: Annie's House!

First thing I should say - Matt is awesome. He remembered that this was a place I wanted to go and made it happen. So cool. Major brownie points. :)

On our last day at the shore, we took a little drive over to Monmouth University, the school where Marisa spent her undergraduate years. Years and years before I ever met her, though, I knew this place. I just knew it as Daddy Warbuck's house in the movie Annie.

Wilson Hall, as it is known at Monmouth, is the actual house (interiors and exteriors) that were used for the film. The house is in the midst of being refurbished, but it is still the same on so many levels. We walked into the great hall, I looked up at the ceiling, and had a moment of awe - my childhood dream come true! So so beautiful. Despite the oppressive heat, we rambled throughout the entire building (including sneaking into original and amazingly beautiful bathrooms!) and I took tons of pictures, all of which you can see here.

Of course, I wanted to play the organ (see it next to the stairs?) but it was locked.

I was an Annie fanatic as a kid.... I knew the movie by heart, could sing and dance my way through the songs (on vinyl, baby!) to the point where I thought I was Annie for about a month! How my parents put up with me refusing to respond to my name (and referring to them as "Miss Grace" and "Daddy Warbucks!") is a feat of parenting I didn't know was possible!

Me... Then. Is this why I still go through times of wanting to dye my hair red?
I especially love the shining, glowing locket around my neck!

Me... now. Can I tap-dance down the stairs, now, Matt?

So yeah. This was a bit of a big deal to me. :) So, so cool.

BackPost 7/26-30/08: A few days at the shore

After the craziness of the workshop I attended (and a lot of other things, too), it was time for a little R&R. We spent the weekend - plus a few more days - down at the shore, and it was WONDERFUL.

On the rainy Saturday, we went bowling, and experienced four power outages while there! Lucky for us, though, the guy in charge was hanging out near us and he was persuaded to take us on a tour of the pin setting area! SO COOL! (Pictures)

Bowling with my "Male Harem" :)

Matt and I also went to Jenkinson's for a bit one day - to play skeeball and eat boardwalk foods, not burn in the sun!

TurtleDuck loves the ocean!

On the last day of our trip, we got up super early to see the sunrise at the beach - something I've wanted to do for a long time. It was hard to get up so early, and was cloudy and hazy, but still beautiful. Well worth it, and something I'll do again!

The calm before the craziness of a hot summer day!

It was a fun time, and I hope I'll get back again once before the summer is over. The ocean calls to me! (more pictures)

BackPost 7/23/08: Marisa & Eric & Monster Golf!

Our friends Marisa and Eric are getting married... tomorrow. We'll be there to celebrate their big day, but we were able to get together more casually before the big day.

We met up for some lunch at California Pizza Kitchen and then planned to head to Monster Golf. Unfortunately, Eric had to go to work, so he could only stay for lunch. But Marisa came with us to play! It was a lot of fun... the vibe is cool and I like the black light concept. Fun times!

Pictures from the wedding will come later... :)

Pictures from the day are here.

A childhood fantasy come true!

I know, I have lots to post about and I've been very lax in actually getting it out there into the great beyond. But I have to share what I did today, as I was exceptionally excited.

I went to Annie's house!


Matt took me to Monmouth University, to see the building used for both interiors and exteriors of Oliver Warbuck's house. Woodrow Wilson Hall, as it is known, has just begun a restoration process, but it is just as I expected it to be! I walked into the great hall and was about five again, believing that I was Annie. (Which had been much to the frustration of my parents... I refused to be called anything other than Annie, if you please!) It was such fun to see it for real!

We wandered all over and took pictures and poked in and out of rooms. While there, I texted my dear friend Marisa, who actually went to school there, and she clued me in to a few key locations... which we snuck into. :)

We also poked around the library, which is apparently haunted! It was exceptionally hot today, but this was such a fun surprise adventure. Yay!
(Pictures are to follow, I promise. I took a lot.)

A Vacation Walk

Whilst here at the shore, enjoying some alone-time, I decided to take a walk to the water yesterday. It's not far, and was nice to get out and enjoy some nice weather. Here are some photos from my journey.....

The album is here if you're interested in seeing the captions.

Photography Update

I've been very lax in uploading pictures lately... partially because my new camera's card doesn't fit into the reader on my laptop! But that's no excuse, really. :)

Here are a few updates from recent events:

Easter: We were at my sister's house and enjoyed a great meal and family time. Matt brought these cool balloon-pinwheel things and we played with them outside with my niece and nephew. There was also some fierce Wii playing in the basement after dinner... but all in good fun!

Watkins Glen trip: Here are the long-ago promised pics of the trip, including the visit to the Krispy Kreme store!

Lastly, this past weekend we went to the Grover Cleveland Birthplace - a part of the NJ Parks Passport to Adventure Program. It was a nice visit, complete with an extremely extensive tour/lecture from the volunteer on duty. She was an interesting lady, who had been a high school history teacher, college professor/administrator, involved in town politics (we guess Mayor from the sticker on her car) and now volunteer historian. The house isn't large, but we actually stood in the room that Grover Cleveland was born in. He is the only president that has been born in NJ, although he lived most of his life in NY and elsewhere. It was a lovely spring day and we enjoyed ourselves, not only visiting the house, but wandering in the area, going to a book sale, and getting some lunch as well. A nice little local adventure! Pictures are here!

It's A Small World After All!

Time for a trip post. :) I'll do my best to remember everything... or at least most. It was jam-packed with lots of goodness, as this post will be!

S u n d a y : We had to get up before the butt-crack of dawn to get to the airport. We flew to DC, and had a layover there... which was longer than we initially planned, since they changed our flight after we booked it. We arrived in Orlando at 1ish and got in the first of many queues... to get on the bus. We'd taken up Disney on the option of the "Magical Express" - they will take you to your resort and then deliver your baggage later that day. Very convenient! We were a bit sad that we didn't get one of the cute Disney motorcoaches, but at least they got us there!
We stayed at Port Orleans - French Quarter. When we booked our trip through AAA, this is the option they gave us. It was a really nice place... they make it so believable. We actually had a corner room that overlooked the little river - very picturesque!
We right away hopped on a bus to Hollywood Studios - enough time had already been wasted! ;) We wandered a bunch and did a few things - Tower of Terror, Muppet Vision 3D... and dinner at the 50's Primetime Cafe! We'd bought the Disney Dining plan, and it was worth the money!! I highly suggest it if you are considering it. You won't go hungry and have a ton of choices. The place is hilarious - they had us wait in the "living room" and then when we were seated we were told some of the "house rules" - no tattle-taling, no spitballs, no elbows on the table, etc. We were chastised for using hand sanitizer and praised for cleaning our plates... and their dessert menu is on a Viewmaster! How fun is that??

M o n d a y : We woke up wicked early (especially after the early morning the day before!) to catch the early extended hour at Animal Kingdom. We mainly went early due to Expedition Everest - the new coaster. We got to ride in the front car, then got back on line to do it again - and rode in the back! The coaster travels in both directions... and if you have to wait in the queue you will have a TON to look at while you wait! :) We also visited the Kilimanjaro Safari and went to It's Tough To Be A Bug before we had breakfast and then hopped... (gotta love the park-hopper tickets for ADD people like us!) Next stop was EPCOT! Our first stop was Soarin' - a new ride that is like hang gliding over scenes in California. When we were there two years ago, the waits were just too long for us to handle... this time was no different. We were debating fast-passing the ride when a cast member (Nicki Rose!) came up to us and questioned if we were thinking about the ride... we said yes, and she told us to follow her.... into a side door. We ended up getting to be "VIP - First Class" riders!!! We were taken through the VIP entrance (supposedly the Travolta family had been in the same place a few weeks before!) and got walked on to the prime seats. SO COOL!! We also got an open ended fast-pass for the ride so that we could come ride again on our trip. It was cool to get a little piece of The Year of A Million Dreams! :)
The one partially gray cloud of the day was that Matt was suffering with a neck-muscle spasm due to the teeny airplane/seats... so he really needed to get some help and called to make an appointment for a massage. Luckily, they were able to get him an appointment the same day. So we hopped on the monorail to the Grand Floridian Hotel and Spa - so amazingly beautiful! On both of my "nanny-ing" trips to Disney a few years ago we ate there, and I can tell you it is luxurious! So I walked him over to the spa and planned to poke around the hotel while he was there... but he surprised me with a massage for myself as well! Oh, happiness! The therapist, Rachel, was amazing... and the spa is unbelievable. If we had time, I could have spent the day there!!! Needless to say we were both super mellow after that... but still ready to hop again!
Our next part of the day was spent in the Magic Kingdom (told you we hopped and hopped!) where we visited the Pirates (yay!), rode the Teacups (so dizzy!), went to the Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor, Philharmagic (one of our favorites!) and Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin... to which someone gave us their fast-passes! Yay! We also had snacks at the Main Street bakery... which I HIGHLY recommend. If nothing else, imagine this: two large cookies (4+ inches) with three scoops of vanilla bean ice cream between them. Mmmmmmmmmmm......
But the day wasn't over. We went back to EPCOT for dinner at our favorite Morocco.... it was still as amazing as we remembered. :) The day finished with the EPCOT fireworks, which are beautiful. I am quite a fan of fireworks!

T u e s d a y : We were going to start the day at EPCOT, but the bus never seemed to come to our stop... so instead we got on one to Hollywood Studios again, and were there when it opened! This gave us the opportunity to be in the front car on the second train of the day at the Rockin' Roller Coaster... woo hoo! We fast-passed it again for later, and opted for the last car on that ride, being the coaster-heads that we are. We also did the Star Tours and the Great Movie Ride, rocked to a bit of the High School Musical street show (yes, I sang along!), and then left to go over to our original destination of the morning, EPCOT. We decided to country-hop... and so visited each country, spending time and riding the boats in Norway (I even spoke my teeny bit of Norwegian with a friendly guy named Kim!), viewing the Canada 360 movie, browsing in a ton of cultural shops, and eating lunch in Morocco (we had wanted to actually do a counter-service in Norway, but the line was too crazy... luckily we were happy to eat Moroccan again!). We used our Soarin' fast-passes while we were there and walked on to Living With the Land, which takes you on a boat through their greenhouses. Matt was fascinated with this (I was too, but his was a Science-nerd fascination!) and we discovered that there was a "Behind the Seeds" tour of the greenhouses we could take, so we booked a tour for the next day!
Tuesday night was a dinner we were really looking forward to - the Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show/Luau at the Polynesian Resort!!!!! I've done it before (whilst nanny-ing) but it was even more amazing this time - first of all, we traded two "dinners" on our plan for it, and then were lucky to catch someone's cancellation table, so we went from "tier 3" diners (the back) to "tier 1" (second table from stage!!!) for a grand total of $18!!!!!! AHHH! So amazing, and such great food!
We were crazy enough to take one more stop before putting weary bones to bed... back to the Magic Kingdom! I actually got Matt to ride Small World(!!), we had a "hunny" pot to ourselves on the Winnie the Pooh ride (where a cast member originally from Hoboken gave us "princess and prince-for-a-day" stickers!) hit up the front car of Space Mountain, and played some more on Buzz Lightyear again.

W e d n e s d a y : Our last day began at EPCOT, where we finally were able to ride Matt's favorite ride - Spaceship Earth, which is new and improved! The exploration area at the exit of the ride was very interesting as well - we played a bit there before heading on. After a very quick breakfast it was time for our "Behind the Seeds" tour. Matt came prepared with a notebook (my cute scholarly nerd!) and I had directions to photograph everything in sight, which I did - well over 100 pictures were taken in that hour-plus! The tour guide, who is a senior scientist at the project, was very interesting and knowledgeable, answering questions from everyone, from the young kids to the very specific ones from Matt. He let us taste cucumbers grown hydroponically in the greenhouse, the kids released ladybugs into one greenhouse as a means of "bad" bug control, and we fed the tilapia, too. There was a lot to see and do! We wandered through part of the Innoventions exhibit and visited a "house" within that was very technological and efficient!
It was then time to go back to the Magic Kingdom, where we did a lot... (in no particular order) Philharmagic (2 times!), Small World again, Haunted Mansion, lunch at Columbia House in Liberty Square, Cinderella Carousel, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management), Swiss Family Treehouse, Indy Speedway, Buzz Lightyear (2 more times - it's fun to shoot the targets!), and managed to also do some research for a friend... the one thing we sadly didn't get to was our dinner reservation over at Hollywood Studios at the Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater... we canceled it due to fatigue and the fact that we didn't have another dinner service left on the dining plan! We will save it for next time, since it looks so cool!
After a little shopping, we had one final "snack" and watched the "Wishes" fireworks display from Main Street. Beautiful!!! We rounded off the evening by staying for the "SpectroMagic" parade... by chance. It was the late parade and there were so few people on Main Street that we were just behind the people sitting on the curb!
The funny thing is... I can't report on the parade. I saw the beginning and then DOZED OFF. In the midst of the loudest and brightest nighttime parade possible. How I did it, I still don't know! It's kind of funny, really!!

T h u r s d a y : Since our bus to the airport was going to pick us up pretty early in the day (1:40pm), we decided to not go to the parks... and instead went on a quick trip to Downtown Disney. We did a bit of quick shopping/browsing and had a VERY fast lunch at their branch of Planet Hollywood (thanks to a AAA coupon!) before we caught the bus back to the resort, getting there just in the nick of time for the airport bus!! (This time we did get a "Mickey" bus!)
The airport in Orlando was an adventure, to say the least. The security checkpoint is poorly managed, but we made it in time for our flight... just. We had a three hour layover in DC, so we went over to the main terminal for some food and wandering to pass the time. It started to snow when we were getting ready to leave... luckily we were still able to leave just fine, and had the beginning flakes escort us home in NJ as well. The kicker was the next morning when we woke up to EIGHT INCHES OF SNOW at home! What a switch!

It was a tremendously fun trip. There are a ton of pictures in the photo gallery if you're interested (and it's easier than posting them all on here!)... Part 1 and Part 2.
(I'd reccomend the slideshow option, but that's just me!) Enjoy!

M-I-C....K-E-Y....M-O-U-S-E!

I will make a proper post about it, but if you're interested, you can see pictures at the link below. It was an amazing trip and we had such a wonderful time!

Disney World Part 1 and Disney World Part 2

one sigh of frustration and another of relief

United Airlines, as M says, "Smell like poop." They changed our flight information on us, so now instead of getting to Florida in the late morning, we don't get there until after One. Grumble. Don't mess with my plans without expecting to get the wrath!

But on the other hand, I didn't think that we would be able to get our transfer from the airport to the resort since we didn't do it in advance. But when I called tonight to beg mercy on them, they were so cool to me. Yay, Disney Magical Express.

... and the guy even told me to "have a magical evening". hehe!

FOUR MORE DAYS! WOO HOO!

Christmas Vacation... part 1: Kate!

Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to meet up with my dear friend Kate in New York City. She was down from Maine, meeting up with lots of friends and staying with her brother, Alex. I was so happy to get to spend some "alone" time with her - it has been YEARS since we've done that, and the last time I saw her was at our college reunion in October 2006!

I took the train in by myself - a first! I've done the train a ton of times before, but not alone. Very liberating! I was a little early to meet her, so I wandered into Macy's on 34th.... what a nightmare jumble of people and craziness! I fought my way up to the 8th floor to see Santa - as a kid I insisted that I had to go and see the real Santa, who was holding court at Macy's - the movie told me, and therefore it had to be true!

I met Kate at American Girl Place - a store that I would have gone crazy for as a girl... heck, I still want to buy everything in it! It was insane, of course - but I had to buy a Christmas gift for my niece, and was able to do it fairly easily. We then bumped into her brother and grandfather outside for a few minutes, leaving them to go and get some dinner. We wanted to go to John's Pizzeria, but it was obnoxiously crowded. So we walked to Times Square and went to the Olive Garden... still crazy busy, but at least we had a place to sit and talk while we waited, which is what we wanted anyway! (And our table came with an excellent view - worth the wait!)

After dinner, we both needed to use the restroom, and Kate remembered hearing about the Charmin Holiday Restroom in Times Square... so that's where we went next! It was hilarious - the people were so perky and friendly, there was a little dance you could learn while you waited on line, the mini-bathrooms were immaculate and outfitted with all of the necessities, and there were photo opportunities galore! We laughed and laughed - it was a perfect surprise adventure for us!

She walked me back toward the train and we went on our merry ways. Kate, it was so wonderful to see you and get to spend time with you, eating, chatting and having adventures! Yay!

More pictures are here.

Christmas Roadtrip!

When we last went to Sandy Hook, we talked about coming back to see the History House all decorated for Christmas... but with the whole pneumonia thing last year, we weren't able to go. So I surprised Matt with a road trip on Saturday. We had so much fun! The house was beautifully decorated, there was a live jazz trio, and they even had cookies and hot chocolate!

We had the opportunity to climb the Sandy Hook lighthouse as well - a delight for Matt, since he was never able to go there as a kid. (It was run by the Coast Guard until a few years ago). We then took a quick sidetrip to the Twin Lights as well and picked up a sticker for our NJ passports!

We then drove in to Matt's hometown, Atlantic Highlands. We stopped into the public library and browsed in a vintage shop, but the highlight of the trip home was the Memphis Pig Out. This place serves up great food in HUGE quantities. We ate ourselves silly and then hit the road, as we were expecting a Nor'Easter late that night.

View a bigger slideshow at the Photo Gallery!

Movie Time

We went to the movies tonight... and saw this!



It was tremendous fun... neither Matt or I have seen it before. We loved it, and the 3-D was really cool! (And we got to keep the 3-D glasses, which were much less dorky than the huge IMAX 3D ones for HP5.) The songs are quirky (and get stuck in your head!) and it's visually interesting - but what do you expect from a Tim Burton film?
Unfortunately, it appears to be slated a very limited release, and we're caught it on the closing weekend... but who knows, maybe they will extend it so you can go if you'd like!

PS: I think Matt should be Jack Skellington for Halloween next year. What do you think?

Great Big Sea at LL Bean!

Two weekends ago, we took a crazy two-day road trip to Maine. Four of us loaded into my dear 'ol Jeep and took the long, long drive up to Freeport. Why, you might ask? Unlimited shopping at LL Bean and the outlets? Well, that's a good reason and one we did take advantage of, but no. We went on the quest for music - Great Big Sea!

The concert was great - it was a part of the LL Bean summer concert series (free!) - supposedly they had over 4500 people in the park that night! It was especially fun because there were so many Canadians there, and they know how to party!

We had wanted to stay in Freeport, but everything was booked solid, from the swankiest B&B to all the sites at the campgrounds, so we stayed in Portland - what a great choice! It is such a charming city and I wish we could have sent more time there. I will go back there to explore the interesting little shops and experience it properly! Our hotel was fantastic, too - Holiday Inn By The Bay. The room was comfortable, they gave us a bag of goodies, and we had a bay view!

Of course, we did some shopping while we were there as well, both at Bean and in other stores in that shopping mecca. There was a fantastic little British shop where we all stocked up on chocolates and other goodies, great little cafes for food (lobster roll, yum!), and surprisingly I came home with an extra suitcase!

I had wanted to take part in one of the Walk-On adventures, but we didn't have time... so I will return for that, too. This is as close to kayaking that I got, but I will get to try it some day!

Sadly, a very important thing that I wanted to do in Freeport didn't happen.... my dear friend Kate lives there, and I was excited to get to see her. But she went away! Oh, the sadness! Ah well.... just another reason to go back! Pictures are here... and there might be more soon if I get the "ok" from our friends!

Weird NJ Baseball Game

I've got some catching up to do....

On July 27th, Matt and I went to a Newark Bears baseball game. I know that it is not something most would expect us to do, but I'd gotten an email from Weird NJ and they were sponsoring this game. If you brought/wore some kind of WNJ paraphernalia, you got in for free! So, we headed out with some issues of the magazine and went to the ballgame.

Mark and Mark (the writers/founders) were there and doing a signing... so not only did we get our magazines signed, but we also got two signed copies of the first Weird NJ book! They gave out the second volume later - too bad we couldn't get one of each! There were some WNJ "characters" there as well, and even fireworks after the game! The Bears won, too - it was a very exciting ending with most of the action happening in the bottom of the ninth!

A really fun evening was had for a very small amount of money... a few tolls, $5 parking in Newark, free admission to the game, free books, free fireworks! Pictures are here.

Mystic Mini Break!

I had a lot of fun with Rebecca and Catherine in Mystic. Here are a few pics from a fun-filled visit!

First, we met at Olde Mistick Village where we wandered and did a little shopping. Then we grabbed some lunch and afterwards hung out at a beach/park in the afternoon.

We had dinner at Rice Spice Noodles then wandered around donwtown Mystic, even catching some tunes (and dancing!) at an outdoor concert!

We played a bit in the hotel before bedtime... and musical Catherine liked her belated Birthday present from me - a Bongo drum!!

In the morning, we took a swim at the hotel pool after breakfast and then visited Ocean Beach Park - it was VERY hot, but we enjoyed the breeze, had some lunch, played some games in the arcade and then enjoyed some ice cream before we went our separate ways.

It was really great to spend some time with Becky... I am so glad that we have stayed friends through a lot of life changes and with a lot of distance! It was tremendous fun... too bad they live so far away!

(I know, I know. Here I am spending time with my dear friend and I end up taking tons of pictures of her daughter and really none of us... but she is so darn cute and photogenic!)