Life Gets Away.

Between moving, holidays, and wedding planning, life has taken me by storm. I can't believe that I have been too busy to blog! October 31st? C'mon! That's unacceptable. Some people have begun to think that I gave up on them and the blogosphere. Others were concerned that my blog was broken or thought that their computer broke. Fortunately, none are true. Just don't give up on me because I haven't given up on you! I will be back in full force in a few weeks! Maybe a month, if I'm more realistic. Andrew has already instituted the Stress-free Spring and I'm excited. That will mean lots of reading, lots of adventures, lots of days trips, and lots of blogging!

I don't think I was prepared for the whirlwind that was to come! Since I last posted so much has happened. I've been to Florida and back. Attended a wedding. Seen old friends. Enjoyed bridal showers, one of which was the biggest surprise (story to come). Taken on new projects at work. Turned one year older! Completed pre-marital counseling. Andrew and I took a 25-hour Amtrak train from Providence to Chicago. We spent a week visiting with family. My mom flew in and surprised me. We've received fun new presents like a Flip on which I can make an apartment tour for the blog! We've flown back to Rhode Island. He's gone back to work. I've been sick in bed.

Lot's of exciting things to update you on.

But unfortunately they will have to wait a little longer. Right now I have to go work on the ceremony program. Then the list for the DJ. The job of a wedding planner never ends;)

Be back soon! I promise.

A Quick Trip

I'm heading home for the weekend to check out some reception sites and churches, discuss plans with the family, etc. Wish me luck!!

Be back soon!

New York, New York

Late last week Andrew suggested we make a spontaneous trip to New York City. "Hmmm...okay," I thought, a little intrigued by the proposition. Andrew and I are the two least spontaneous people I know. We plan everything to the T. Even the grocery store. In fact, I often re-write the grocery list to lump items into categories corresponding to their location within the store--you know, meat, dairy, produce... So a spontaneous trip to the city made the little wheels in my head start to churn.

I was busy with work so I wasn't really able to contribute to the weekend's plans so he had free reign to determine our schedule. He arranged for us to meet up with some friends from our church in Providence who had just moved to the city last month. We headed out early Saturday morning to catch the Metro North Railroad in New Haven, Connecticut. We made it to the train station smoothly, with plenty of time to spare. We jumped on the New Haven line train, bound for Grand Central Station. We marveled at all the families and travelers headed for a weekend in New York City as well. We played a little Gin Rummy, I dominated, of course. And before we knew it the streets of New York City were beckoning us to come play.















We walked a few blocks from Grand Central Station to our friends' apartment and dropped off our bags. Then the four of us jumped on the subway for a lunch date in Madison Square Park. Any of you that know New York City may guess that we were headed to the Shake Shack. And we were. Shake Shack always has a long line so our friends Ed and Rosalynn offered to hold the place in line while we walked around for a bit. This made me a little suspect. "Don't they want to hang out and talk to us for a bit while we all wait in line?" I thought. But they insisted we see the city and not waste any time so we started to walk through the park a little when I spotted the dog park, "Let's go!" I pleaded. "Are we allowed to go in without a dog?" we wondered. "Will we look like creeps?" we worried. Well, we went in anyway and had a blast.















Dog watching is about 100 times more fun than people watching. Dogs have a lot less inhibition. It was like we were watching carefree kids who didn't know they were supposed to behave properly in public. We watched as a group of dogs all ganged up on one little dog and then watched as the sad owner promptly left the park with her little outcast. We contemplated if the owner felt bad about their dog being picked on like a parent would when their kid comes home crying from school. Then we watched the young New Yorkers come in all dressed up in posh clothes with their little yippy dogs--clearly at the park to mingle and meet other young 30-somethings since their dogs were too busy hiding under the bench to play with others. Or there was the little boxer dog that sprinted off his lease upon release, running around the park looking for dogs to play with. We animated his voice as he went from dog to dog looking for someone to notice him and play with him--Milo and Otis style, of course. Lastly, there was the bull dog that we couldn't get enough of. He could not have cared less about the other dogs in the park. He just waddled his fat self around the park pushing a ball with his nose oblivious of the function of a dog park. Then we laughed about how the owner looked just like his dog.















We sat in the dog park for a good 30 minutes enjoying ourselves and learning about the dog culture of urbanites. We even enjoyed people asking us to pick up our dogs poo and then gleefully told them it wasn't our dog. Before long Ed and Ros called us and told us they were getting close to the front of the line. We headed back and enjoyed a lunch of cheeseburgers and french fries in the park.

Next, we split paths and Andrew and I headed out into the city as Ed and Ros headed to a coffee shop to read. We jumped on the subway and headed towards the infamous Wall Street. Took a few pictures and then headed down towards Ellis Island. We got to the tip of Manhattan and realized that we would have to wait in 3 hour-long lines just to get onto Ellis Island. We decided it wasn't the best use of our time and headed toward the Staten Island ferry. We briskly walked toward the ferry that we saw quickly approaching land and made it on within seconds of it pulling away from the dock. The ride was amazingly relaxing. There was a beautiful breeze, we passed Lady Liberty and Ellis Island, and rocked slowly to the hum of the engine. We took the return boat immediately back to Manhattan and ventured off to our next stop: Brooklyn.

Somewhere in my lack-of-geographic knowledge I thought that Brooklyn and the Bronx were interchangeable. I expressed my lack of desire to go to Brooklyn because it's dangerous, but Andrew convinced me that he found a list of famous people who live there and we had to walk through and admire the architecture and Brownstones. We strolled through the beautiful Brooklyn Heights neighborhood and then ended up on the Promenade overlooking the skyline of Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge. We found the perfect bench and relaxed for a while. My wish for the weekend was to spend all day laying in a park and relaxing, so sitting and watching the sunset over NYC was perfect.















As we sat admiring the scenery and the glamor of New York City, Andrew told me he made something for me. He proceeded to hand me a flat object wrapped in tissue paper with a card on top. The card was a collage of pictures of us, pictures of NYC, a poem, and at the bottom was a hint to a location somewhere. I wasn't allowed to unwrap the tissue paper yet and he proceeded to hand me five more of these. The promenade was pretty empty...right up until this point, of course. Then a flood of people began passing by steadily and I began to realize what was going on. After handing me 6 cards with something wrapped in tissue paper under them, he said he had one more. He handed me a blue pouch and began to tell me nice things about me and our future. I knew what was coming next. Unfortunately, I had noticed when we first approached the bench that we were sitting on one of probably two benches (out of a string of 15) that were surrounded by dirt and mud. At this point he began to get down on his knee and I panicked. A combination of gawkers and the thought of him wearing a pair of khakis for two days with a huge dirt-stained knee caused me to beg him to not get down in the dirt. He protested, but like a wise man he eventually obliged. At this point he pulled out the ring and asked me to marry him. I said, "Yes," of course.

The ring I received was my great-grandmother's ring passed down to me from my mom. As part of the gift, my mom gave me a picture of my great grandparents with it. By this time I was pretty emotional, so to lighten the mood a little he said, "Your mom wanted you to have this picture with it." He paused. "...She didn't mention that your great grandfather was Dwight D. Eisenhower!" We had a good laugh and then I was able to open the presents.





There were 6 DVDs of locations we had talked about wanting to travel to someday, but now they are presented as potential honeymoon destinations. [With Andrew's permission I'm putting up a sample of the sweet cards he made me].








Next we began processing and talking about all this entails. We were ready to take some pictures, but of course, it was about to downpour so all passersby whom had been ever-present before were suddenly nowhere to be seen. Typical. We snapped a few shots of us, the ring, our bench, the view and then headed up the hill to a pizza joint in Brooklyn.


































We were told we had to try this pizza place right under the Brooklyn bridge. We made our way to the restaurant, had a celebratory drink, and waited out the rain. When the rain let up we walked outside to hear people shouting about the incredibly bright rainbow we had to see.















Next stop: Central Park.





































We snapped a few more pictures before sunset and then headed to the Upper West Side for dinner with a friend of Andrew's from grad school. We enjoyed some wonderful Italian food and then exhausted, headed back to Ed and Ros's place. Our sweet friends eagerly awaited our arrival. They ran down to the door to greet us with hugs, champagne, and my first wedding magazine. We all spent the next two hours talking about the day and then passed out from exhaustion.

We had an incredible, fun, and memorable weekend in New York, New York. The weather was beautiful for the first time in a month. Ed and Ros were incredible hosts and accomplices to Andrew's plans. The timing for his proposal worked out perfectly (minus his disappointment for not getting to get down on one knee). And the rest is history!















We aren't certain about any plans or dates yet, but you'll be in the know! Check back often and enjoy the wedding-planning ride with us!

The Pierson's Come to Providence

Andrew's parents came into town a few weeks ago and we had an incredible time checking out the sights in Rhode Island. We ate the most amazing food, relaxed, and appreciated New England and all its beauty.

The looming rain storms dictated our plans that weekend. In order to take advantage of the sunshine we whisked them off to Newport right when they arrived on Saturday morning. We toured a couple of the historic mansions and walked around the city a little. The temperature was pretty chilly and we were starving so we abandoned plans for the cliff walk and headed back to Providence. We planned on going to WaterFire and indulging in all its unhealthy glory so we prohibited eating in Newport. Since we couldn't possibly wait until sundown to eat we all lounged around my apartment eating bread and cheese. Andrew and I picked up a loaf of Durum bread from Seven Stars and some fancy cheeses earlier that morning.

A Newport Mansion: (No joke on that mansion part, huh?)




















Later that evening we hit up WaterFire. It was the first one of the summer and happened to fall on the Saturday the Pierson's were in town. Great timing! We walked around WaterFire and let them take in all that is WaterFire. People stand around the river in eager anticipation for the lighting of the fires, while gondolas paddle up and down the river carrying couples sipping wine, concessions stands seduce you with their intoxicating fragrances (emphasis on the toxic), and music broadcast over speakers serenades the evening. We searched for the perfect viewing spot and eventually settled on the side of a wall along the river.

Pierson's enjoying our spot on the wall:















We even met up with some friends, Shannon and Andy, affectionately referred to as Shandy. They are friends from church and graciously host Andrew.

Shandy and Kimbendrew:















Late that evening we all retired for the night after realizing his parents had been up and traveling since 3am that morning! Oops. We were so excited to show them Providence that we failed to consider that they were probably exhausted.

Sunday morning we had to skip church to meet Shane. Shane is a lady from NY with a summer cottage in Portsmouth, RI. Andrew is her gardener. She was in town for the holiday weekend and they were meeting for the first time. Poor Andrew had to drag his girlfriend and parents along. He probably felt pretty unprofessional, but we felt extremely grateful. What a sight! The garden is beautiful, Andrew is tending to everything really well. There is a view of the bay (if you can pretend the new McMansion which popped up in their view isn't actually there) with sailboats and the historic Mount Hope Bridge. It was quite a sight!

The garden. Nice angle of the property, bad angle of the garden, sorry! Don't mind that house in the background, it permanently blocks the view of the bay.















After the not-so-brief meeting with Shane (us women can talk!) we headed one town north to sight-see in Bristol. We ate lunch at a popular seafood place, Quitos, and walked around historic Bristol. Bristol is a really cute, quaint town. In fact, instead of painting double yellow lines down Main Street to divide traffic, they have painted three lines--red, white, and blue. Actually, this is quite common in RI, I've discovered. Federal Hill, our version of Little Italy, has red, white, and green stripes to divide the lanes. Anyway, we spent the afternoon walking around Bristol exploring antique shops, parks, and historic homes. We then headed back to Providence and enjoyed an amazing dinner at Parkside Rotisserie & Bar where Andrew and I practically fought over his dad's leftover rotisserie chicken. If you're ever in town, I highly recommend trying some of their famous rotisseries.

Monday was Memorial Day and we decided to stick around town, rather than driving to another destination. Providence has so much to offer and we were really glad that we did. We walked along Wickenden Street and through the historic East Side neighborhood. We stopped at a coffee shop for a snack and did an entire crossword puzzle! The Monday one, of course. Which I was taught that they get progressively harder as the week goes on. We had a blast. The day was so relaxing as well. We stopped by the Roger Williams National Memorial and learned a little about Providence history and Roger Williams. I was most excited to see that they have a garden for traditional Native American farming. It has beans, corn, and squash--The Three Sisters--planted together. The corn provides an avenue for the bean stock to grow up and the squash shades the ground to inhibit weeds from growing and helps keep the moisture in the soil. I'm pumped to watch the three grow together over the summer!

We made a quick pit stop at the grocery store to buy some last minute items and then went home to prepare a picnic. Pulled pork had been simmering all day in the crock pot, so we packed up some meat, fresh fruit, Wiffle ball, and some Nasty-gansetts for Andrew and his dad and headed to Prospect Park.















The men indulged in some Wiffle ball, while Mrs. Pierson and I laid low on the blankets.



















Many a balls went over that fence, but the guys were determined to play:















Tuesday was back to work for me. Andrew and his parents headed to Slater Mill, the first water powered cotton textile mill in North America.
I met them for lunch at Bob & Timmy's hole in the wall pizza place, ranked number 5 in the country!

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Then we had our last supper with them and our last good supper for a while:) We ate at a local favorite hot spot, Hemenway's. Everything was divine!

Well, that's about it folks. We had a busy, but fabulous long weekend and look forward to their next visit out east! I hear the 4th of July parade in Bristol is pretty fabulous, any takers?

Our Nation's Capitol

Andrew and I made a little trip to D.C. a couple weekends ago to visit friends of mine from college and get out of Rhode Island for a weekend. Andrew hadn't been to D.C. since he was a kid so he was really excited to see the sights, the tourist attractions, and the urban neighborhoods. Here is a brief review of the weekend shenanigans:

The U.S. Capitol, a few blocks from Kelli's 'hood. Did I mention that Kelli lives in one of the most adorable neighborhoods in the U.S.? "The Hill" is absolutely gorgeous! Andrew and I loved it.





















Washington Monument. The mall is pretty amazing, albeit a bit too touristy for me.





















Me & the Prez. No we didn't actually get to see the president, but we did get to see two motorcades of important people! That's right, we were feet away from important people, we assume, twice!














We're not sure who they were because it all happens in a blur. Motorcycles fly down the street, wave their arms to get all traffic to stop, zoom forward to the next intersection and continue. A few more motorcycles or police cars come through, blaring their sirens and causing a diversion. Next, a string of about 5 black and gray SUVs fly by and then it's all over and you're left spinning around in a cloud of dust.
Exhibit A. Two black SUVs blowing by us. Andrew got a very nasty glare for snapping this photo. It must be understood that you don't photograph this event. Don't know. We were tourists 0:)














Next we ate lunch at a local place, The Breadline, that I had found on the Internet with great reviews. It was not a touristy place so we ate lunch with lots of local DC workers in suits! We felt pretty urban and proud. Well, minus the whole plaid shorts and polo get ups that made us stand out and scream, tourists!

After a brief refresher, we headed down the mall toward the monuments and memorials. I love seeing veterans at the memorials. The picture below is of a family with three generations--grandchildren, parents, and grandpa. They were pushing their grandfather in a wheelchair, decked out in WWII veteran gear, and posing for pictures with the WWII memorial in the background. I can only imagine the stories he's shared with them and the significance the memorial holds in his heart. How cool.













Next stop: Jefferson Memorial.






















On our way we stopped at a park to watch the plans land at Reagan Airport. Every time we saw a green helicopter fly by we were convinced it was Marine One. Below is a brief clip of our siesta:


For some reason, Andrew and I made an ambitious plan to do DC in a day. This was our walking route:

View Larger Map

This was us at the end of the day, bleeding blisters and all. It wasn't until we got back to Rhode Island that we mapped it out and realized that we walked 10.3 miles that day!! Ouch, ouch on the feet!
















No time to rest, the party will go on! Next stop, dinner with friends! We went out to dinner on Friday night with Kelli and her fiance Ken, Caroline and her boyfriend Shane, and Andrew and I in downtown D.C. Have I mentioned yet that D.C. is a pretty rockin' town?! It is. It's just great. Fun tourist attractions, national monuments, important people, the hope diamond, Abe, beautiful neighborhoods, great restaurants, and a pretty hip downtown. Dinner was great, although a Friday night dinner after everyone has worked all week was a little rough. I think we were already ready to fall asleep at the table:( BUT it's okay. We will take a rain check, rest up, and get ready for a party in June at Kelli's wedding.


Day #2: Neighborhood day. Visit Georgetown, Dupont Circle, and Kalorama. I really didn't think my body would be able to walk 5 more steps that day.

We started the day by taking the metro from one great neighborhood (The Hill) to another (Georgetown). Metro destination: Foggy Bottom. Yep, that's right, the metro stop is named, Foggy Bottom. It never gets old. It kicks me back to 3rd grade every time I read it or say it.

First stop, an amazing place I ate at before in Georgetown, La Madeleine. I don't do too well on an empty stomach so starting with a little food was imperative. And sitting. That was imperative as well.

Next stop, walk up and down M Street. What incredible facade!


















Andrew got a Passport to National Parks as a kid, so we couldn't resist stopping at the Old Stone House to get a NPS stamp for his sweet little passport. Fortunately for us the Old Stone House gave us much more than we bargained for. We got to wander around the 18th Century dwelling and see period relics of furniture, kitchenware, etc. Furthermore, there was a cute little garden in back with many people lounging around relaxing. The perfect invitation for our beat up feet and sore legs! In this garden were amazing, beautiful white flowers the size of your head!














Did I mention that spring hadn't arrived yet in Rhode Island and that DC was an absolute treat?! Andrew seen below enjoying a break for his feet, the sweet scent of pollen, the luxury of UV rays, and the proximity to the giant white flowers.




















Next stop--JFK's house. We saw a website that listed all of his prior residences, many of which were in Georgetown. This was the one he lived in last before the white house. For those of you who don't know, for some unknown reason, he is my absolute favorite past president. By a lot.





















On our way out of dodge and in search of water (the temp was in the 90s) we saw a little league game in a field. Being exhausted, with sad little feet we welcomed another opportunity to sit. We lay in the grass, further increasing our sunburns from the previous day and watched the little kids play ball. It was cute, we weren't sure how the structure was set up, but one team definitely had less kids so some kids from one team played in the field for both teams. It's so nice at that stage before sports become too territorial or competitive.














Further down our walk we past this beautiful home. Tulips, a red door, and a poodle flag. What more could you want for the American Dream?




















Unfortunately our brief stint with D.C. had to come to end. We went to church at Capitol Hill Baptist and then hit the road.

Little did we know the 7-hour drive would be 11 treacherous hours. Andrew would not be as happy if he knew the gloom that awaited us. This picture was taken to confirm our long sought after goal of taste-testing Starbucks vs. Dunkin' Donuts. That may sound crazy to some of you, but it's true. People in Rhode Island are obsessed with Dunkin' Donuts. I'd say there are probably 2 people for every one DD. They are everywhere!! Needless to say they love their DD fiercely. It's the only place to get coffee.

I've also noticed a slight shift in my allegiance. DD is less bitter, I believe. So we put them to the test. We have talked about this test for months trying to figure out when we'd be in the same town and when we could find a DD near a Starbucks. We found a corner in Shane's (Caroline's man) neighborhood and got in line at both!

Well, as was the theme of this day, both coffees let us down. They were both gross. Neither of which we'd recommend getting again. I think the people were just in a hurry and we couldn't figure out if they were comparable or not. Is an ice mocha the same thing as a ice latte mocha swirl? Who knows. All we know is that we have to do a re-do. Next time with plain coffee, plus cream and sugar to decide which coffee--the main base of these fru-fru drinks--is best.

That about sums up the weekend. A lot of walking, 90 degree temps, beautiful sights, great friends, touristy trips, lots of sitting! Oh, and don't believe AAA or Google maps that tell you it's between 6.5 and 7.5 hours from Providence to DC. Wrong! It took over 8 to get down and 11 to get back. Yuck!

Always an Adventure

Roadside Attraction Road Trip 2008.
It's always an adventure with us!

Andrew came into town this past weekend and we had no agenda or plans. Well, as is the tradition for our visits we can not manage to remain stationary for too long, so we quickly go from dormancy, to racing the clock and the sun.

Destination: Plymouth Rock.

Andrew decided that he had never been this close to Plymouth Rock, this close to Thanksgiving before. It was clearly a pilgrimage that we should embark upon. "Fair enough," I agreed, "But let's at least spice up the journey a bit." I've been researching and found a website that maps all the quirky roadside attractions per state and thought we should see what Rhode Island and Massachusetts had to offer. [Note: I didn't quite comprehend that our noon departure was setting us up for failure and pitting us against the sun. It's mid-November and in Southern New England the sun will completely set by 4:45 PM. Saturday was no exception.]

We set out after noon for lunch at my favorite Woonsocket hot spot, The Cakery, but of course, we had to stop at our first roadside attraction on the way: The Historic Modern Diner, "America's First Diner"












We found a giant mural with my beloved Gerber daisy




















And then an incredibly unique convenience store. Pawtucket has quite the sites to offer.



















We forged on toward Woonsocket passing two more roadside attractions on our way.
The giant coffee cup.



















And of course, a giant milk bottle (currently vacant).



















We made it to lunch at the Cakery. One reviewer described it as their version of the Cheers bar in Woonsocket, they are totally right. It's great. It's run by sisters and their mother. The food is amazing, the desserts are incredible, the atmosphere is fantastic, the hospitality is fabulous, it's painted really girlie with pink and brown, they make wedding cakes--it's basically the quintessential coffee shop/bakery/cakery/sandwich shop of any girl's dreams. Full of a fajita roll up, broccoli quiche, and marbled chocolate cake, we venture onward.

Next site: Giant Paul Bunyan wooden statue



















And, surprise, another milk jug, this one still functioning though, as an ice cream shop, but closed for the season. Sad.























































Then we arrived in Plymouth! We saw Plymouth Rock, the "Oldest Tourist Attraction in America" and the Mayflower II. Let's just say the "rock" is less than impressive. It's a big cracked rock, set in a sand pit, lowered in the ground, and caged in like a wild lion.















The Mayflower II


















This is the transition when the fun trip turned ugly. The sun set, we didn't get to see Plimouth Plantation (the pilgrim re-enactment) and we still had 6 more stops to make, many of which didn't have addresses just cardinal directions in their town...but we were bound and determined.

Mattapoisett's giant sea horse (It's hard to portray the scale in this picture, but it's huge! You can see the tree top in the lower left)























And the day wouldn't have been complete without a third milk bottle. [I realize the picture is terrible, but when you're in the middle of a rural, residential neighborhood, after shedding blood and tears to find it, you turn on your bright headlights and make the best of it.] What you can't see is that there is a cow on top of the milk bottle--they love their dairy in Dartmouth.





Interestingly, only a few blocks away is another giant structure, an ice cream pint. What are the odds that two crazy people would build these so close together? Maybe the same crazy person built both. My theory is that the two neighborhoods have a rivalry about which ice cream stand to go to, and if kids go to the wrong one after school they get beat up by the other kids...but we can't know that for sure because I made the whole thing up.























And lastly, is that a McDonald's with a train car going through it? Funny you ask...yes, yes it is.