Strangeness of the "Recently Viewed" List...

While reading the online visual (addictive) disaster People of WalMart, I clicked a link to see their new book on Amazon.com... and laughed when I saw my recently viewed books:

1. People of WalMart: Shop and Awe (this was the reason I noticed the others)
2. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (a classic and a favorite!)
3. Pickle Pickle Pickle Juice (I hear it's a great children's book!)
4. Birthing a Better Way: 12 Secrets for Natural Childbirth 
(A friend had a link for it on their facebook page and I was curious)
5. Raising Your Spirited Child (again, on a friend's reading list)


Don't read into this list - I am NOT pregnant!! I'm just curious about what friends are reading. Only two of these (the top two) were things I looked up for myself. I just think it is a funny and random list! 

Massachusetts!

Over my break, one of the things I got to do was take a quick little ride around the block to Massachusetts, to see the Woods! It was so good to get to see them, especially Becky, as she will be my Matron of Honor (and is one of my dearest friends!!) We hung out at home lot, being that she is quite pregnant (less than one week to go!), but we all went to dinner at Acapulcos on Monday night, then Becky, Catherine and I went for lunch at Panera on Tuesday before taking a spin around the Northshore Mall... which has gotten so shi-shi since I was there last!! It was tremendous fun and did me a lot of good to see them all. There is way too much time between visits and they are never long enough!!

I didn't take many pictures, but here are the few good ones... only two were taken by me! One by Becky, two by me and the first taken by Catherine herself!!

Catherine's view of her parents!


I brought my personal box of instruments... she was in love with the slide whistle (here) and harmonica, and was a little sad when they got packed up and brought back to my house! Too bad I didn't get a picture of her when she had a maraca in each hand and the whistle in her mouth!


Bored to death as she waits for us to finish eating at Panera...

Painting - she is into painting in a BIG way, which I think is delightful! I was happy to paint with her... it's been a long time since I have used watercolors! :)

All in all it was a very good trip and goot to spend time with friends. :)

Creativity on a Sick Day

As I sit here at home in my robe and slippers on a Thursday, I discovered this on my dear friend Alisa's blog - joterella.com - and had to share.

Click here and be creative... be sure to click the mouse as you paint. Enjoy!

Six: Iron, Candy or Wood?

On this day, six years ago, I was up in Massachusetts. Two of my dear friends were beginning their life together. Today, life has have taken them on so many amazing adventures - thousands of miles of travel, adventures, life changes, a move, construction, a beautiful little girl and another baby on the way. Happy times, sad times, crazy times, a life.

They give me a lot to look forward to. :)

Happy Anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. Wood! :)

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

I'm so far behind on posting!

My posting has been quite lax of late. There are lots of things to be posting about, yet I am swamped with schoolwork. I should actually be doing some work right now, to be perfectly honest!! I will try for more posts soon. :)

From Lunch with Jenny and Will 08-26-08

This is a picture of when Jenny and Will took a quick trip home... Thankfully, Will is now back from his third deployment and this celebration was a good excuse to come home for a few days! We got to have lunch with them one afternoon - so good to hang out, even if just for a little while! The rest of the pictures are here... and when they come stateside again in December (hopefully for a reassignment!) there will be more pics to share!

I'd like to thank the Academy...

Marisa of "The True and Tall Tales of My Fantastic and Brilliant Life" nominated me for this award. It doesn't seem to signify anything except a hoax!, but it's certainly cool that she decided I deserved one! (Award, not hoax!) I guess I'll take awards no matter how I get them. :)
Supposedly, there are "rules:"

*Put the logo on your blog.

*Add a link to the person who awarded you.

*Nominate at least seven other blogs.

*Add links to those blogs on your blog.

*Leave a message for your nominee on their blogs.

Despite the hoax stigma, I will nominate people purely because, in my mind, they DO deserve awards. Take it if you want, but other than that, you are welcome to simply enjoy the nomination. I will not, however, nominate seven people. Just the people I want to. So there. ;p

Rebecca of World Wide Wood (Best use of craftiness)

Kate of My life - as I know it - (Bravest - she's moving to Texas!)

"Dolphin" of Jewels - (Brand new "Mommy Blogger")

Eleni of Len's Thoughts - (Literary and Musical diva extrordinaire)

Congratulations, Mr. & Mrs. Strauss!

On Sunday, I got to witness two of our friends tie the knot. Unfortunately, Matt wasn't able to make it - we were up until 4am the night before, visiting the hospital... he got awful, awful food poisoning! So while he slept and recuperated, I traveled down to the Berkley Plaza to see Marisa and Eric become Mr. and Mrs.

The wedding itself was beautiful. I'd never been to a Jewish ceremony before, and found it to be touching and very personal. They both looked so amazingly happy - and I cried! The reception was very nice as well - so much amazing food at the cocktail hour (kudos to Marisa for choosing hummus - a must have when we get together!) and the dinner was lovely, too. Overall, just a sweet and wonderful time. May you have a lifetime of happiness and joy!

My pictures are here.

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.

BackPost 7/19/08: The Woods come and visit!

The organizational prowess of Rebecca Wood descended on my pathetic room and whipped it into shape before my very eyes! I had a lot of organizational issues and it had completely gotten the better of me, so my sweet friend gave this to me as a birthday present! She is able to work wonders, let me tell you! It was amazing to get to spend some time with her, too - I miss her a lot! We meant to take a "before" and "after" picture of the room, but it didn't happen. It looks wonderful, though - and so much more peaceful! :)

In the evening, we all met together for dinner - Becky, Peter, Catherine, Matt and myself. Fun times, even with a two-year-old who had a VERY long day! She is so curious, and was fascinated by the flashlight on my keyring, leading for a light show!

A future pianist?

Pictures are here.

BackPost 7/12/08: Jenny Leaves Again!

My dear friend Jenny came back to the US to live/work while her husband, Will, was on his third tour with the Army. We had some good times and many cups of coffee... an addiction for both of us!
His tour is just about over (thank God!) and she had to go back to Italy... but before she went, we wanted to hang out one last time, at Cafe Archetypus. Such fun! I'll miss her a lot!

UPDATE: Jenny Will are coming back for a quick visit once Will gets home.... hurray! I'll get to see her at the end of August!

Pictures are here.

Christmas Vacation... part 3: Morocco!

On Saturday night, Matt and I met up with Marisa and Eric for dinner. I've known Marisa since we worked together at my previous teaching job, and we've managed to keep the friendship going! She is a sweetheart and we all had a wonderful time - the boys exchanging jokes in their best Scottish accents, Marisa and I bellydancing (yes!!) in the restaurant, enjoying amazing Moroccan food and good company.

We went to Marakesh in Parsippany - smaller than I thought it would be, but cool - you sit on couches and are encouraged to eat with your hands! There was a bellydancer and live music, too... loud, but a lot of fun. If you remember back in February of 2006, M & I went to a fantastic Moroccan eatery in... Morocco. In Epcot. It was amazing and we ate so much food that we were still full the next morning! I tried to take him to this place (or one in the city) for his birthday, but we never got to go... at least we went now!

It was great to get to see Marisa and Eric and hang out... we want to do it again soon!

(Marisa - I want some of your pictures!) More pictures are here.

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.

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!)

Quick Update

I don't really have time for a big post, but here is a long-overdue post on Memorial Day Weekend. On the whole it was just a relaxing time... nothing too stressful. :) Just the way I like it.
We ended up leaving to go down the shore late Saturday night. On Sunday, we hung out. The boys did some power washing, we went to the supermarket, ate pizza, had some fun. Sunday, Matt, Dana, David and I went to Point Pleasant and played mini-golf and hung out on the boardwalk a little. On Monday, we all barbecued together and chilled out. A good time was had by all. :)

all pics are here.

a Great Adventure, indeed!

On Sunday, my friend Jenny celebrated her quarter-century birthday. She and Will are home on leave for two weeks and we were invited to meet them for a celebration at Great Adventure! What fun! We brought Jenny a tiara and some party hats for the rest of the crew.

The day started out very cloudy and rainy, which kept many people away - a great thing, especially when the sun decided to come out in the afternoon! We rode a bunch of rides and got to "meet" a ton of characters...

One downer.... or perhaps it is an upper? The six of us got imprisoned on the ferris wheel! We were on there for over a half-hour, twice stuck at the top, looking down at the people, 15 stories below, as the wind whipped around the cars. It was so not cool. When we got off, we complained. Usually, it doesn't do anything... but in this case they actually listened and hooked us up... with Cold Stone!

Happy Birthday, Jenny! Hope you had fun!