Our Living Room

Here's a couple pictures that I've been promising. Sorry if quality is kinda sucky. I used my camera phone because my real camera is in my car. I think.

Here's our living room. It has high ceilings, sky lights and almost a whole wall of windows (and one of the glass panels is a sliding glass door). The room is very light and airy, which I love. The couches are a merlot color and they were only six months old when I put them into storage--where they stayed for 3 years! I think they look good in this room.


Here's another pic. There's our fireplace. We have a lot of that natural wood throughout the house. It gives it a nice touch.

Public Radio that Rocks

The people that sold us the house left one of those under-the-cabinet radio/cd players in the kitchen. Even though I usually would listen to my iPod when cooking, I figured this device would come in handy. However, being that we are so far up in the mountains--we don't get great reception for New York radio stations. I'm an avid listener of WFUV, Fordham's public radio station that plays great music. But that does not come in here. I found a Stroudsburg, PA station that was just okay. Then I discovered WNTI, Centennary College's public radio station. I dig the music so much that Eric asked me yesterday if I ever turn that thing off! Rarely. I like to leave it on for Norton when I go out, too. Dogs like good music too!

We just love monKEYing around!

Shock of all shocks...a non-house related post! When Eric and I were in Miami, we had dinner in Coconut Grove one night. That Friday night was probably my favorite part about our trip. Not as touristy as Miami Beach. Eric posted about that night here...

So I left Eric holding my balloon monkey so I could look in a cool little shop. And I ended up purchasing these really cool little monkey covers for our keys. So far, we've only used 2 out of 6. I have the purple one and Eric, the grey.

So I've been meaning to write about these monKEYs for a while and today, I checked out Nicky's blog and she beat me to the punch!

Another Nasty, Disgusting Day

Yesterday, after the constant rain we had all day, we discovered that we had a bit of a chimney leak. The joys of being a homeowner. We've scheduled a chimney repairman to come out and hopefully its nothing major.

Today it didn't really rain much but it was cloudy and chilly all day. I went for a drive and then Norton and I went for a walk then a wander in the woods then a swim (for him, not me).

Then he went off running and came back filthy. Well at least we bought a hose...

Rainy Day

I bet these two wish they could have stayed in bed all day!

It's cold and rainy. No long walks for Norton and I today.

But guess what? I just looked outside and counted eight deer, including two babies!

We're in!

Well, technically we moved in a week ago. Our high-speed internet was finally turned on tonight! So I am now connected to the wired world again! The place is coming along, bit by bit. We've still got lots of boxes but the place is looking pretty good! Between Eric's furniture and mine from storage, we've managed to fill the place up! I promise pictures will come soon--I have an idea where my camera is but I've got to physically locate it and my battery charger.

Norton is delightfully happy here. It took him a day or two to get adjusted but he's doing great. He loves the woods and trails and pond for swimming behind our house. He loves our nightly walks with our friend Jenny from the development (Eric's best friend Dave's wife) and dog Tocchet.

Its really nice and peaceful here and DARK at night! I've seen plenty of deer, frogs and even wild turkeys!

More to come later...

More House Stuff

Another long day spent working in the new house.

It rained all day. And it was C-O-L-D!!! By the time I left my new home this evening, it was 56 degrees! And I was wearing shorts!!!!

Today I finished painting the office. Did I mention that I ended up getting Home Depot to make a better match than Lowe's did? I ended up using the Home Depot paint and returning the Lowe's paint. It looked pretty good in the dim light. We'll see how it looks on a nice sunny day. I know, I know, I know, I owe everyone pictures. I'll give you a visual image to hold you over...the color is a dark beige that I like to call cinnamon latte. There's natural wood trim so it looks nice together. Pics will come soon. Promise.

Today we got our locks changed. I brought over and put away most of our dry groceries along with some other kitchen supplies.

Tomorrow Eric and I are going to HorrorFind, my first time. And Sunday, packing, packing, packing, because the movers come on Monday.

Once we move, we may be without internet for a week. Maybe less. So don't be startled if you must go without house updates for that duration.

Ouch.

Nope. Still no pics. But soon. I hope.

Today some friends came up to both see the new house and help paint the office. Susan and her boyfriend Timmy and their dog, Blackie along with McKenzie and Baby Caiden.

Things were going quite swimmingly! While Timmy was painting the ceiling, us girls were playing with the baby and chatting. At lunchtime, I went to Lowe's for more ceiling paint and I brought us back Subway for lunch.

I spent some time snipping at the excess greenery outside and then it was time for Susan and I to start painting the walls of the office. We got to the bottom of paint can #1. We cracked open #2 and I threw some on the wall I was painting.

Uh oh. The color didn't match what we had been doing. I bought both cans together--but the man who mixed the paints really SCREWED UP. So what was I to do but to bring both cans of paint to the local Lowe's (not the one where I purchased the two cans initially).

Apparently, the can of paint that we put on the walls was the "mistake" batch of paint. And as it turned out, we liked that color much better than the Caribou that the room was supposed to be painted in. So the man at this Lowe's had to do his best to match a paint that was a "mistake." He did a pretty good job, I think. Timmy threw some more on the walls when I got home. And, I hope that when I see it dry in the morning light, it looks okay. It'll need another coat regardless.

Painting with Martha and other Homeowner Adventures

No, Martha is not physically going to be helping me paint tomorrow. But she'll be there in a way--I bought some of her paint at Lowe's today. Tomorrow, along with some awesome friends, I'll be painting the office a color called Caribou. Its a latte-ish-brown-ish color. The ceiling color is called Yellow Caneware.

Today was productive. We hired cleaners and they did their thing at the new house.

The house's former owners didn't do much for the upkeep of the home. While some of the carpets are nice and new, others are an eighties shade of blue with yucky stains.

The kitchen has cranberry stripes on the walls and matching cranberry cabinets.

The former owners, while nice people, let the greenery take over the house. Vines wrapped around and covered all the railings on the front deck. (This morning, while trying to get rid of all those grape-bearing vines accidentally rid an egg-bearing huge spider of its nest and left many insects homeless. I also ruined my new garden shears trying to attack branch-like vines. Next time, I'll use a borrowed chainsaw instead.) Vines climb the back of the house--and the inspector seemed to think we may have poison ivy. We've got a humongous overgrown shrub in the front of the house.

You can say we have our work cut out for us. But Eric and I are really excited about it!

I promise pics will be coming soon!

We're homeowners!

Today we closed on our new house! There's lots to be done this week including painting, cleaning, and packing. Next Tuesday night, we'll be sleeping in the new house. I'll be posting pictures when I can...

A Fun Filled Day--Part Four

Friday was a great day--for the most part. Here's what happened...

We woke up bright and early and Eric headed off to the career fair, once again to work for his newspaper. Then I headed off on my adventure.

I made the nearly one hour trek to Homestead, Florida for a series of adventures. First and foremost, I wanted to visit the Everglades. I could have went to the Everglades National Park. But I decided I wanted to go on an airboat ride so I went to the Everglades Alligator Farm instead. I saw some alligators up close!


I even held a baby alligator!




Then I went on an airboat ride which was awesome!



Saw some more gators and sea turtles.





Egrets and lots of fish!

They call the Everglades the River of Grass. It's also the only place where crocodiles and alligators live side by side--in the world!






After the airboat ride, I headed to Robert is Here fruit stand. Not just any fruit stand, but Robert specializes in exotic fruits and he's known for his exotic fruits milkshakes. I had a pineapple milkshake. YUM!

Non Fun Part Disclaimer: I hit a big rock in the road on my way to Robert's. After the fruit stand, I headed to Walmart Tire and Lube Express to make sure my tires were okay. The man said they looked fine. Phew...for the record, I hate Walmart. I only went because it was a necessity.

Next, I hit downtown Homestead where I checked out a few antique shops. Got lots of old postcards for my collection!

Then: the winery! I went to Schnebly Redland's Winery--the southernmost winery in the US! All of their wines are made from tropical fruits! I had a tasting of their five wines--mango, lychee, passionfruit, carombola, and guava. I ended up buying two bottles--carombola and passionfruit. Unfortunately, they don't ship to NJ...

Nope, my day was not over yet. Then a visit to the Fruit and Spice Park, a 35-acre tropical botanical garden growing over 500 varieties of fruits, spices and nuts. I took a tram ride around the park. Our guide, Marie, explained what a lot of the fruits were and what they were used for in different countries. And I got a mango to bring home! Ooh, and I nibbled on a stevia leaf, some Thai garlic and mint. Fun!

Look for another post detailing my evening with Eric!

Not-So-Fun-Filled (Part Tres)

So Eric and I did make it to South Beach Thursday night. I didn't find it particularly appealing, nor did Eric. I found it too touristy, too trendy, and quite expensive! There were a million restaurants all in a row and lots of them had a waiter or staff member pushing the menu on you. If you stopped to look at their menu, they try to sell it to you. Reminded me of Little Italy with palm trees.

"Come on, try it, the food is the best."

"We have a steak special, only $15, so good, usually worth $36."

You get the idea. Annoying as all hell. We ended up going with an Italian restaurant. We sat inside because I couldn't take anymore of the Florida heat. Well the door was open to the outside so it was hotter inside as it turned out. By the time our dinners came out, I was ready to pass out. It was 10pm and I was not only really hungry but sunburnt and suffering heat exhaustion, I think. So we took our food to go and I was feeling better once we got to the room. We had to miss the Salsa party. Oh, well.

Greetings from Miami--Part Deux!

Today its sunny and bright outside in South Florida. This morning, I chose a lovely beach to visit--Bill Baggs State Park on Key Biscayne. Even with a sunblock of SPF 50, I still suffered a burn to my shoulders and back. I was smart to reapply constantly, however, when you're attending the beach on your own, its kind of hard to reapply to your back after splashing around in the clear aqua water. Its a good thing I only stayed on the beach for 2 hours. I saw some new and unusual butterflies and birds. I even saw a pelican!





Don't go in the water if you see a purple flag!



After the beach, I came back to the hotel and chilled for a couple hours. Then, I took the free MetroMovers monorail over to the Bayside Marketplace a few blocks away. It's an open aired mall, complete with a Hard Rock Cafe and because its right on the water, you can take a touristy boat ride right from there! I contemplated the pirate cruise. Oh well. Maybe later on this weekend...


Look! A wet bird!




Tonight, Eric and I are going out to dinner in South Beach and there's a possibility of an AAJA Salsa Party there as well. So we'll see...

Tomorrow's the Everglades and Biscayne National Park. I think.

Once again, pics to follow...

Greetings from Miami!!!

On Tuesday, after a yummy Thai lunch, Eric and I flew out to Miami. Though its vacation time for me--lots of relaxing and exploring, Eric's here for his AAJA Convention. Lucky me. But he's stuck in workshops all day and working the Career Fair for his newspaper.

Yesterday was fun. Florida weather in the summer is simply...awesome. Extremely hot and humid with nearly daily thunderstorms. So yesterday I met up with my friend Bret for the afternoon. He moved to Florida a year and a half ago so it was the first time I've seen him since. We met up in Hollywood, Florida. My first time there. It started pouring when I was nearly there. Pouring cats and dogs.

We had lunch at a place called O'Malley's Ocean Pub. A cool place on the patio with an awning with a Key West atmosphere. But many of the restaurants on Hollywood's "broadwalk" are open air. Even though it was pouring, we stayed dry during lunch and were able to watch the ocean.



Then we walked on the broadwalk. And had ice cream. And fudge.



Then Bret and I parted ways and I had time for a sweet nap in the hotel before Eric got back. Last night, we had an opening reception to go to. Today, I'll hit the beach and tonight we have a free evening.

From the opening reception at the opera house...

Wiki-Meme!

Eric tagged me to do a Wikipedia survey.


Rules: You go to Wikipedia, type in your birthday (month and day) & you list 3 events, 2 births, 1 holiday, and tag 5 friends.


Events

1. 1918 An explosion occurred killing more than 100 and destroying the T.A. Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant in Sayreville, New Jersey. Fires and explosions continued for three days forcing massive evacuations and spreading ordnance over a wide area, pieces of which are still being found in 2007. (Ordnance? Not sure what that means but thats what the article says.)

(Besides being the hometown of Jon Bon Jovi, Sayreville is a town not too far from my hometown in NJ. It was just listed in Money magazine as #47 out of the top 100 places to live. I don't get it. Sayreville is a town surrounded by landfills and possible cancer clusters. Go figure.)


2. 1927 Gutzon Borslum begins sculpting Mount Rushmore.

3. 1950 Snoopy's First Appearance!!!


Births

1. 1946 Actress Susan Sarandon

2. 1976 Actress Alicia Silverstone

3. 2005 Prince Emannuel of Belgium

Holiday

World Animal Day

Tag, you're it: Jessica, Jennifer and Becky. Do it if you want. Sorry, I don't have 5 blogging friends to tag.

HP

I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I would have finished it days ago except I've been a bit sidetracked with packing and all...as to be expected, it did not disappoint and left me on the edge of my seat at all times. And now, Eric's finally begun the series. He's almost done with Book 1.

I won't say anything else about it because I don't want to give anything way. Amazing. Dark. Frightfully terrifying. Full of twists and turns. Thats all, Folks.

What Happened???

There's a song that I've been listening to for two and a half years now and I can recite every word by heart. My sister introduced it to me in early 2005, I suppose it was. And now, Hey There Delilah is at the top of the Billboard charts. Go figure. But I just had to say...

I liked it first!!!

Doggy Evenings

After a busy day (several of them, in fact), I can think of a million and one things I should have been doing tonight. Like packing for our move to Sussex County in August. Or laundry. Or packing for my upcoming weekend away to Omega. Or giving the place a good cleaning for this weekend's open house. I could have used a good nap too. I'm utterly exhausted.

Instead I spent the evening reading. No, not Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Just a couple more days til I get my hands on that one.

A couple days ago, I finished the J. A. P. Chronicles, a funny 'chick lit' read. As I was packing books and looking for another read yesterday, I found The Dogs of Babel, a book I acquired a year ago at a library book sale. So I began reading last evening and finished tonight.

A great novel, though bittersweet and sad. A linguist loses his wife--she falls out of a tree in their backyard. There is only one witness--their dog. The story follows the grieving husband as he attempts to teach this dog language so the dog can tell the story of what happened. While our main character is trying to solve the mystery of his wife's death, he also tells the story of how they met and fell in love. Anyone read this one? I really enjoyed it though it was a sad read.

I found out it's coming out as a movie in 2009.

A Birthday Celebration

We wrapped up Eric's vacation week with a trip to Skytop Resort on Sunday to spend the day with Eric's parents and family friends as well. Not that we needed a special occasion to get together--but we did have a very special occasion! It was Liz's (Eric's mom) birthday!

The Poconos are a lovely place to spend the day. And a lovely day we had. We had lunch and lazed around on rockers.



Then we acted real goofy playing putt-putt golf. (Eric is goofy 90 % of the time as you can see below.)


Then a rainstorm chased us inside.
So we played a "no holds barred" edition of ping pong.
Luckily the weather cleared up. That made for some nice pictures! See?


We did some walking. Look. Kindred spirits live here.



I like this resort. They even have tea time.

After dinner, it was time to go home.

A Movie with More than what Meets the Eye

Friday night, Eric and I went to see the new Transformers movie. It was his choice but I was eager to see it too. I'd never seen the cartoons as a kid but had played with my brother's Transformers toys. Anyway, it was a good choice. Eric and I both enjoyed it.

While we were in the movie theatre, I saw an advertisement for a movie coming out around the holidays. Here's a a hint...

Alvin? Alvin? ALVIN!!!!

Didn't get it yet? Okay, click here...

Thursday at the Jersey Shore

Thursday morning, Norton seemed to be back to his jolly old self, so Eric and I decided to go on our next adventure: to the Jersey Shore! Being that I lived down the shore a few years ago for college, I had some ideas...



First, to the beach! We headed to Deal for some fun in the sun...it was a beautiful warm and breezy day. Unfortunately...my spray-on sunscreen malfunctioned and I've suffered another bad sunburn. Remind me to use the annoying rub on stuff next time. At least it works.



After the beach, we drove to another beach--Point Pleasant Beach for the boardwalk. Eric's first time there! We perused the aquarium, acted like children in the funhouse, ate, ate, and ate, and played mini-golf.



A good time had by all. Until we got home and the pain of my sunburn kicked in.

But its okay. I'm still alive.

Phun in Philly

Earlier this week, I discovered that one of my favorite bands, Travis, was going to be playing at the Electric Factory Wednesday evening. Since Eric was to be on vacation all week, we decided to get tickets.

Wednesday didn't quite go off without a hitch though. Poor Norton was sick all day and we had two visits from possible townhome buyers. But by dinner time, Norton seemed to be okay so we left for the concert in Philadelphia.

Awesome, amazing show! Travis is a great band out of Glasgow, Scotland. They've been around since the nineties, and in fact, have been credited for paving the way for bands such as Coldplay, Keane and Snow Patrol. Anyway, Eric and I enjoyed the show so much that we've been rethinking our previously chosen wedding song...

Day and Night at the Museum

Eric is on vacation all week so we'll be enjoying a weeks worth of local adventures. Yesterday, we enjoyed Adventure #1. We drove into New York to visit the American Museum of Natural Museum. It's Eric's fourth favorite place and I hadn't been in years. There were a couple of exhibits we were eager to check out: Frogs: A Chorus of Colors and Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns and Mermaids. Between the two exhibits, we even had time for an Imax movie: Dinosaurs Alive. So we enjoyed a fun and educational few hours at the museum.

Then, we walked through Central Park in the torturous heat to the Upper East Side to head to a vegan restaurant that Eric wanted to take me to. Unfortunately, Candle 79 was closed due to a private party so they sent us to their other location, The Candle Cafe (their original location).

Boy am I glad that somebody told Eric about this restaurant. It was amazing! Here's what we ate : 1) some kind of pina colada-esque smoothie--the fruit in it was so fresh and delicious!
2) a Greek salad with crumbled tofu in lieu of feta cheese--salad dressing was tangy and
freshly yummalicious.
3) Chipotle Grilled Tofu with a quinoa and black bean stuffed avocado--so tasty!
4) Porcini encrusted Seitan (a kind of meat substitute) with mashed potatoes. Crunchy
perfection (well, the seitan was crunchy anyway!).

No, Eric is not a vegetarian but we both loved the food so much that we scarfed it down in record time. Then we bought the cookbook.

Oddly enough, we had the perfect movie waiting for us at home from netflix after our adventure in NY: Night at the Museum with Ben Stiller. Despite what we'd heard about the movie, we both really enjoyed it and found it very funny.

Martha Madness

I'm not quite sure when it became "cool" to dig Martha Stewart. Was it after she was arrested a few years back? (Here's an interested link, titled, 'Is Martha Stewart Finished?')

I think not! I read something in a newspaper yesterday about her new lines coming out: carpets and flooring, lamps, etc. The carpets and flooring will be available exclusively at Macy's and Flor.

(Pictured are Martha's cool new "carpet tiles," tiles that can stand on their own or you can mix and match! How cool is that?)

And if thats not enough, she's got paint lines out at Lowes for $25 a can. Eric, can we get Martha Stewart paint for our new house?

I'm partial to some of her magazines. I like Blueprint, a fun and fresh living magazine. I've got a copy of Martha Stewart Weddings too.

I just checked out Martha's website for the first time and it seems to be addictive. Perfect for a domestic goddess-in-training like myself!

Happy belated July 4th!

Hope everyone enjoyed their Fourth of July! It hardly felt like a holiday to me because it fell during the middle of the week and I'm off all summer anyway (for the most part).

Eric and his dad were going to a Yankees game yesterday and his mom and I had plans to tour Duke Farms. We had three different tours booked, starting with an 11:30 tour of the Japanese Gardens.

At 11:06, after locking the front door and shutting all the windows, I grabbed jackets because it was chilly out, said goodbye to my Norton and locked the back door behind me. It was then that I realized I left my keys hanging on the hook in the kitchen.

Oops. Thanks so much to Liz, Eric's mother, for hightailing it from Duke Farms to Eric's townhouse in record speed. We actually just made it on time for our first tour!!!

Liz and I enjoyed three tours--the Japanese Garden tour, the Country Manor tour and the tour of the 4 mile square property.

Duke Farms was first developed by James Buchanan Duke, a man who made fortunes from the tobacco industry. Duke built himself a "modest" 11 room bachelor pad on the lush farmland. He brought in 2 million shrubs and plants for his property, drained swampland and built 9 lakes! Duke married and added onto his home. Later, Duke Farms was passed onto his daughter, Doris Duke. Doris was an animal lover and had many dogs. They drank out of a beautiful indoor fountain and had an elaborate dog house which contained ramps to a private entranceway to Ms. Duke's bedroom on the second level! Doris even had camels--two of them!

Today, the house contains 55 rooms! It houses indoor tennis courts, a theatre, an indoor pool (and an outdoor one too), and a lounge.

Anyway, its an interesting place to tour if you're ever in the Hillsborough, NJ area.

We're Moving!

Just when I was half-way moved into Eric's townhouse, a deal of a house came along that we couldn't or didn't want to pass up in Sussex County, NJ. It's a four bedroom, 2 bathroom home on 1/2 an acre of property--comes complete with woods and deer and bears and hawks. Yep, I love it. There's a pond behind the woods, for ice skating in winter, and it'll be Norton's in summer. Two minutes away is Lake Tomahawk, a lake complete with water slides. But this is lake country; there's lots of them!

And, guess what's ten minutes away? Remember my post about Wild West City from a couple weeks ago. You got it!

In Memory of...

My father called me a couple days ago to give me the sad news that a 27 year old female soldier from my hometown was killed in Iraq. I didn't know her but I graduated, and later worked with, her older sister. There are no words to tell how I'm feeling right now. I was home at my parents' today and all over towns are signs, "We love you, Trista" and "We'll miss you, Trista." There was even one with a photo at the vet's office where I took Norton for his shots today. When is this war going to end? It breaks my heart that so many soldiers are losing their lives out there...

Here's a link to a story...

A Great Weekend

It really was a perfect weekend. I think the best part of it was knowing that I wouldn't have to wake up at 6am for work this morning!

Friday evening was spent in--at my parents' home, relaxing, and enjoying some quality time with Norton, Pumpkin and Mom. My dad had an overnight visit at the Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, but this was for a good reason! He finally was able to get his tracheotomy out and he's doing wonderfully!

Saturday afternoon, after paying a visit to the Hong Kong Supermarket (for Sunday cooking essentials), I had lunch with my family at Cafe Colore, a delicious Italian restaurant in South Brunswick.

Then a visit to the A & P for whatever essentials I couldn't buy at the Asian market.

I already mentioned that I brought Norton here for good this weekend. Once I got him settled on Saturday, Karen and I met Katie and Mike in Princeton for dinner. (Eric was enjoying a boys' night out.) We ate at the Triumph Brewery. Yummy! And, of course, enjoyed some beer, as well! Next to Ricky's for ice cream and candy and a walk around the Princeton campus.

Sunday was a nice day spent with Eric. We took Norton to Duke Island Park for a walk and a swim, ran a couple errands and spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning and doing work around the house.

Sunday dinner was home-cooked Thai cuisine--Tom Yum Soup, pineapple fried rice and Eggplant with mint and chilies.

Eric kicked my butt at Battle of the Sexes (the board game), then we watched Bridget Jones' Diary, which he actually enjoyed!

Summer!!!!

Summer started at 2:30 pm on Friday for me...not a day earlier, even though Thursday was the official first day of summer. Summer began on Friday when I walked out of school--and I do not plan on returning until sometime at the end of August. Yippee!!!

There are a lot of reasons for me to be happy and stressed right now. Here's one of them.

I'm at Eric's, where I have basically been living. At my feet is my Norton. With the exception of the occasional overnight visit, I wanted to leave Norton with my parents until the summer. This way, I'd have time to spend with Norton so he can actually get used to his new digs. Pumpkin will have to come later...so today, I packed up Norton's food and his pills and his leash and his toy box, etc. He's happy now. I am pretty sure of it. And so am I to have my boy with me!

Tuesday, Tuesday

Sitting here on the futon, Eric's laptop on my lap. Eyes are growing sleepy as the rain pours down. The thunder and lightning...

This post was intended to be posted on Tuesday...but I fell asleep and my Tuesday, Tuesday post will have to be published on Wednesday, Wednesday.

Driving to work yesterday morning, I made a smart and quick decision which may very well have saved me hundreds of dollars. And made me five minutes late for work. But it was well worth it.

I was driving my daily commute and going the speed of traffic when I zoooommmmmed past a cop going 80 mph. By the time I saw him and stepped on my brake, it was too late. Heart pounding, I moved into the right lane. I didn't see him pull out of his hiding place and maybe he had no plans to come after me. But I wasn't taking a chance. I got off the highway at the next exit...took a long way to get back to the highway. This way, if the cop was looking for me, I stumped him.

Smartmunkee.

Wild about Wild West City

Somewhere in dusty albums of long ago and in basement boxes, there are pictures of my parents and my brother and I. It was in the days before my sister came along and it was at a place called Wild West City. In the pictures, my cheeks are rosy pink and I'm pig-tailed while my brother, Ryan has one of those bowl hair cuts. Eighties all the way. (I'll have to hunt up some pictures and try to add to the post.)

I'm not sure how many times I'd been to Wild West City as a kid but I've always had fond memories of it. In fact, I dragged a boyfriend there when I was 18 or so just go to back. What more could you ask for out of a day outing? You can ride a stagecoach or train and get held up. You can witness a gun fight. You can tour the old west and a petting zoo too!

A couple years ago, there was a mishap and during one of the "staged" gun fights, somebody was really shot. There were real bullets in the gun. There were supposed to be blanks!

I haven't been back to this place for several years, probably ten or so. I'm hoping to share some slightly relevant but exciting news in a couple days. I'll keep y'all posted.

Look What We Made!

Eric and I saved the bottle of wine we drank the night of our engagement. Then we made sand art so we can display it forever!

More Wedding Goodness

All things wedding, I know you're either intrigued by it all or nauseated. I love The Knot. All weddings, all the time. Check out our wedding page on the Knot. I'll be adding a picture to it very soon and more registry stuff when we get to it (because gifts will graciously be accepted)!

Happy Anniversary Sgt. Pepper!

Today is the 40th anniversary of the day that The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released in the UK. (It was released in the US on June 2nd, 1967, the very next day.) I listened to an interesting radio program today on WFUV--all about Sgt. Pepper's. Did you know that Sgt. Pepper's was the first concept album? First album of its kind that you might listen to from beginning to end! First album that included lyrics! I'm almost embarrassed to say that I actually don't own this Beatles album, though my mother has the original record!

On a side note, I just got The Beatles Love a few days ago. It's great, it really is. (And so are the new Travis and Feist albums just in case you were wondering!)

Another Reason why I Heart Starbucks...

Although I have a preference for local coffee shops, I do love Starbucks. They sell cool indie cds and if I needed one more reason to dig them...they now offer their creme frappucinos "light!" Although it is not listed on their website, any Starbucks will make it for you light! Enjoy!

Wedding Q & A

I've been fielding questions left and right regarding wedding plans. I thought I'd address them here as a sort of FAQ. And, I'll update when I have more info. Any more questions, let me know and I'll add to the list.

1. How did you meet? Match.com!

2. When is the big day? August 3, 2008.

3. Where is the wedding going to be held? Both ceremony and reception will be held at the Berkeley Plaza in Berkeley Heights, NJ.

4. Did you pick out a wedding gown? Yup!

5. Did your mom pick out a dress? Yup and she's wearing a lovely gown in lilac.

6. What color are your bridesmaids wearing? Peridot green (like a sage)

7. How many are in the wedding party? Eight on each side.

8. Did you pick a wedding song? Yes. We'll tell you later.

9. Where are you going for your honeymoon? The Pacific Northwest. Flying to Portland, then a road trip to Seattle and Vancouver. Also Cascade National Park and Victoria, BC.

10. Are you registered? Yes! At Crate & Barrel, Macy's and Bed, Bath and Beyond.

New York Taxis Going Green!

I found this interesting story on Grist today. The city of New York is planning on introducing 1,000 hybrid taxis in the year 2008. By the year 2012, all of the city's 13,000 taxi cabs will be hybrids. Awesome! And, according to Mayor Bloomberg, "And because taxis are so heavily used, the new standard will have the equivalent effect of removing 30,000 individually-owned gas-powered vehicles from our streets." See the full story here.

Update:

Yesterday, I found out that New Jersey's largest utility, PSE&G is also going green! In the next decade they will replace one third of their fleet with hybrid vehicles. Woo hoo! See story here.

Holiday Weekend

Hope everybody enjoyed the nice weather this holiday weekend! At least, the weather was nice in our area! We did get a lot done around the house. We moved some furniture around, bought a new dresser and bookshelf at Ikea, enjoyed a barbeque at my parents' on Sunday and assembled a couple of our new pieces. However, there is still so much more to do!!! I have a busy week ahead of me and a jam-packed to-do list! And, I really have nothing else exciting to blog about right now.

Want more of Centralia?

If you're not sick of my Centralia postings by now and can't get enough...here's another video. This one is a fun documentary of the town. You get to meet locals and tourists alike. However, it's not entirely factual like the other clip down below. The woman whom is interviewed gets the story of "the boy who fell in the hole wrong." She declares that he is a man in his twenties who is pulled to safety by his friends. But, actually, he's an eleven year old who is pulled out by his cousin. But, otherwise, check it out!

Busy-Happy-Stressed-Glowing

The title of this blog entry kind of gives you an idea of how I'm feeling now. Wedding planning is exciting yet stressful. However, I've never been happier and I can't stop smiling and glowing (or so I'm told)! Not only do I have a million things to do with our nuptial planning, but I have a million things to do at home. Oh yeah. And our school is in the middle of construction and I'll have a classroom next year. At some point. Thats good. But I have to pack everything up here at school by June 27th. And that, my friends, just adds to my aggrevation level right now.

I have a blog entry in the works about this past weekend and some pics too. So keep checking back. I'll get to it soon. I hope.

Burning Love

When trying to think of a witty title for today's blog entry, I decided to borrow the title from "The King's" hit song. Saturday morning, my love and I made the 2 1/2 hour voyage to Bloomsburg, Pa to visit with his parents. You've probably never heard of Bloomsburg before. I hadn't. It's a small town--in fact, the only official town in the big ole state of Pennsylvania. Bloomsburg is home to a state university in which Eric's father taught at for many years. Bloomsburg lies on the Susquehanna River. Look! A pretty picture of Eric with the river behind him!


So we had a lovely overnight visit at Eric's folks' home. Thanks so much for having us again! We attended a Thai dinner party at the next door neighbor's home and spent some quality time with a friend of the family visiting from Denmark. I even learned a few phrases in Danish to add to my repertoire!

Sunday morning/afternoon, after breakfast, Eric and I headed to our next adventure--hence, the title of this blog entry--Centralia, Pa. I've blogged about Centralia before. So I was finally going to visit the town thats been literally burning up for 45 years! Unfortunately, it really is a ghost town! There are some houses that are still occupied. There are a couple cemeteries that are still there with open gates and all. Is that supposed to be metaphorical? Not sure! But there's plenty of abandoned buildings too.



The main thoroughfare that used to go through town, Rt. 61, has since been diverted away from town. Huge mounds of earth have been formed to create roadblocks over the old highway. However, it doesn't stop crazy folk from driving right over the piles to satiate their curiosity.





For the record, I am crazy enough to have driven through. But my fiance--well, he is not! But, we drove on any roads we came to. I got to see some smoke coming out of the ground.


Looks can be deceiving...




I'll do some more research before I go back. Maybe get myself an off-roading vehicle and a helmet too.

Read this sign!



And this one too!


Look! I found a clip of a news story! In case you can't get enough!

Read this post!!!

So, it started off as an ordinary-yet-fun-filled weekend! Friday night, I stayed in. Saturday night, Eric and I made the drive down the shore to have dinner and drinks with friends. We met up with Robin and McKenzie and Greg. Mckenzie and Greg are having their first baby in June! So we had a great time. We had dinner at 507 Main and drinks and conversation at Leggett's in Manasquan.

Then came Sunday. A busy Mothers Day. Happy Mothers Day to all you moms out there!

So its Mothers Day. We had lunch with Eric's parents here in Bethlehem, Pa, and spent the rest of the day at my parents' abode. After leaving my parents' home in the evening, Eric and I (in our separate cars) went to Target. Another errand for me to run at Walgreens, then Eric called me and asked me to stop at the supermarket for fruit for smoothies. Even though we already had fruit.

I knew something was up. But I humored him and I went to the supermarket and bought some blackberries and bananas. Stop and Shop was almost all out of fruit this Mothers Day Sunday evening at 9:30 pm.

So I get back to his house. Shaking. Because I knew. And in his laundry room is a clue. A clue attached to a stuffed monkey. And, I follow this monkey to another clue and another and another. Eight altogether. The last clue points me out to the balcony where Eric was waiting for me.

It was there that he asked me to marry him.

And I said yes!

Tentative wedding date: August 3rd, 2008.

Yay!!!

My Fiance and I!

Monkey #1 with Clue #1 (and the ring!)

I got Tagged!

Eric tagged me to do a foodie survey. This is a fun one. Enjoy!

1. Add a direct link to your post below the name of the person who tagged you.Include the city/state and country you’re in.
Nicole (Sydney, Australia)
velverse (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
LB (San Giovanni in Marignano, Italy)
Selba (Jakarta, Indonesia)
Olivia (London, England)
ML (Utah, USA)
Lotus (Toronto, Canada)
tanabata (Saitama, Japan)
Andi (Dallas [ish], Texas, United States)
Lulu (Chicago, Illinois, United States)
Chris (Boyne City, Michigan, United States)
AB (Cave Creek, Arizona, United States)
Johnny Yen (Chicago, Illinois, USA)
Bubs (Mt Prospect, Illinois, USA)
jintrinsique (Manitowoc, Wisconsin, USA)
Ace (Hillsborough, New Jersey, USA)
Marisa (South Plainfield, New Jersey, USA)

2. List out your top 5 favorite places to eat at your location.

1. Makeda (New Brunswick, NJ) Makeda is an awesome Ethiopian restaurant, just a stone's throw from the Rutgers campus. Haven't tried Ethiopian yet? What are you waiting for? My favorite is the perfectly spiced lentil dish that Eric also loves--mesir azefah. Everything at Makeda is delicious--from the lentils to the spongy bread to the Monkey Bay wine! And, if you go on a weekend night, you're treated to some live music. Be sure to make a reservation though!

2. Mexicali Rose (Montclair, NJ) Delicious and authentic Mexican food in one of my favorite local towns. Everything is fresh and yummy and its BYOB. There's even a liquor store right across the street. Be prepared to wait on a weekend. Patio dining in the summer. I love the mushroom quesadillas and the vegetarian stir-fry.

3. Akbar (Edison, NJ) This is a wonderful Indian restaurant right on Route 1 conveniently located close to Route 287. I always feel like I'm stepping into an Indian temple or castle when I'm eating at Akbar. The building is simply beautiful and, I believe, they host Indian weddings and parties too. Like many other Indian restaurants, they offer lunch buffets (though I haven't tried they buffet yet). Go for the buffet or go for dinner. Everything is a la carte. Rice, naan bread and all. Service is good and the food is simply delish!

4. Bensi (Several New Jersey locations, including Paramus, Garwood and North Arlington) Bensi is a great Italian local chain offering the gamut from pizza to wonderful pasta dishes. I love their Bensi Salad (with roasted pepper and fresh mozz) and bucatini with eggplant sauce and fresh mozzarella.

5. Sawadee (Metuchen, NJ) A great Thai restaurant in another of my favorite local towns. The owners also have another local Thai restaurant, Pad Thai, in Highland Park, NJ. I love the food at Sawadee. But be forewarned--they serve their food spicier than you may be used to when eating Thai food. Full bar and never a problem getting a table. After dinner, save room for dessert. You've got a great ice cream shop, What's the Scoop, practically right next door and a great local bookstore, The Raconteur, down the street.


3. Tag 5 other people (preferably from other countries/states) and let them know they’ve been tagged.
Jennifer also in NJ, Becky in Ma, Jessica in Co. I can't think of anyone else but if I left someone out, feel free to consider yourself tagged!