Slowly, but Surely

I am experiencing a slow, re-introduction back into the real world, so forgive me for being MIA for so long.

I have much to say and many plans/hobbies/stories to share, but for now I'll leave you with some photos from our wedding:) Once we get unpacked, paint, the bed arrives, the bedding arrives, etc. I'll be back with lots to show and tell!



The wedding day went fairly smoothly--not without a couple of hitches, but overall nothing too traumatic. We enjoyed a week in Marco Island at an amazing resort and then took a mini road trip from Florida to Rhode Island with all of our new goodies and my college crap in tow:)




Here are some links to pictures our amazing photographer put up on his blog.
Part I
Part II



I'll be back soon! I can't wait to update you on our lives. And tell you about this week--I like to call it Christmas Week. I'll tell you more about it soon!!



Much love!
Mrs. Pierson;)

Another Weekend, Another Trip

I hate to put up yet another post about how I've failed again to catch up on my blog and that I'm going out of town again, but it's true. Andrew has a cousin getting married this weekend in Illinois, so we are off to the Midwest!

We are pretty excited about the trip. Andrew hasn't been home in a while, we haven't seen his family since getting engaged and I'm always excited to get a little break from work! Monday is a "holiday," you know. I always feel a little strange telling people, especially Japanese friends like Emy, that I'm off for Victory Day--the day Japan surrendered in WWII. Only two states still celebrate it as an official holiday, Rhode Island and Hawaii; go figure.

On a happier note, things I'm excited about: I get to... make a pit stop in Chicago (on State Street, that great street...). Ride the El. See Emy. Eat deep dish pizza. Raid Andrew's storage unit for lost items. Go out for Indian food. Get dressed up for a wedding. Dance. Laugh. Relax. Sleep. See the new fam. Watch cable (hopefully the Planet Green channel or some other home renovation type). Eat yummy homemade food. Listen to grandparent stories. Talk about wedding planning. And most of all, I get to be on vacation.

I'm also hoping to catch a few rays of sunshine at the pool this weekend. I would love nothing more than a few hours on a lounge chair, a little water on my toes, a frozen drink, and a good book (probably on my iPod 'cause I'm lazy like that). We'll see if the weather and the plans cooperate:) Mostly, I'm just excited for a break from work and a little social interaction with family.

Well, with that being said, my lunch break is winding to an end and I'll be signing off for a few days. I'm overwhelmed by the stories and randomness I want to share with you, but haven't found the time to!! Someday. Until then, I'll leave you in eager anticipation of the sunflower post that I'm looking forward to writing.

Lovin' Pandora,

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?

It's About Time I Show Back Up!

Wow. I am failing miserably on consistently posting lately, huh? I am so sorry for all you faithful readers who keep checking up on the blog to find nothing new!! I will try to work on this:)

A few weekends ago Andrew and I flew home to Florida for a childhood friend's wedding and a nice visit with friends and family. Here's a recap of the weekend:

Coffee date with Courtney, obviously. Lunch date with Becka, of course. Play some games with the little sister, couldn't skip that. Chat with Dad. Shop with Mom. Visit the big bro's abode to see what new changes have been made since my previous visit. Catch some rays (UV, not TBay DRays--I know, they're not the Devil Rays anymore). Bike ride to grandma's. Visit with extended family. Visit a lake to find an alligator for Andrew--success rate: 3 for 3 (Welcome to Florida). Go out to eat with family. Stop by TI to see Erin. Then rush back to work Monday morning and say goodbye to vacation.

So on this trip my dad and I planned to go out to eat. He loves sushi. I love Indian. Andrew, the tie breaker, loves sushi, tolerates Indian. Sushi it was!

This was my first time eating sushi. And by eating, I really mean cringing my nose and being really weirded out by it. My dad loves sushi and always suggests we get it, I finally caved.

This is me before tasting it. I was remarkably optimistic.














This is me after dissecting it a bit and taking a small bite. I mutilated it so much I had to switch to a fork.















Lastly, this is me trying to convince myself to eat the rest of it. I don't think I'm a sushi gal. Too much stuff going on. Keep it simple. I don't do condiments. I don't do multi-textures. Basically, I don't do sushi. Needless to say, it'll be a while before I muster up the courage to delve back into the luxurious world of sushi, but nevertheless, I tried something new!















Andrew and Dad loved it. Andrew said it was probably the best sushi he'd ever had! So I guess if I was going to try sushi, it's a good thing it was at least 1st rate sushi!:)













This is my little sister Kendall. She is growing so fast! Sadly for me she's only 11 and almost as tall as me!! I guess she'll be able to call me "Shrimp" or "Shorty" some day soon:)




















Speaking of growing up. Getting older is so funny. Not only do I find myself meeting teenagers and thinking that dreaded phrase I hated hearing as a kid, "I remember when you were a baby!" But friends I met in middle school are now friends I've had for over 12 years.

One of these friends, Nick, got married last weekend. It's funny how you reflect on past "chapters" of life when someone opens a new one. My mom and I talked about remembering when I used to go bowling with him in 7th grade and she would drop me off at his old house. Or when he and I took a road trip in college to Alabama and I ran over an armadillo with his car. Or when he sent me a care package in college with toothpaste, deodorant, and a chocolate eclair donut that arrived looking more like roadkill than a chocolate treat (let alone anything edible)!

Or the year we dressed up like farmers for Halloween at youth group. Nick hid in the back of the picture because the pants he got from the thrift store (we all got our outfits there) were so tight that he never wanted a photo like that to show up and haunt him.













Or when we would meet up at Applebees on Christmas breaks when everyone would come home from college.















And now he's married! Time sure flies!















It was a beautiful wedding and reception at the Tradewinds Resort in St. Pete.















Amazingly, I grew up in Florida and attended many weddings in Florida, yet this was my first beach wedding!















Since Nick is a neighbor my mom was also invited to the wedding. It was so fun having her there.














Andrew and I before the reception. Or should I call him Rico Suave? At one point in the night we were in the reception tent and sitting at our table. My mom pointed out that it was really raining hard outside and you could hear it pounding on the tent roof. Rico Suave leaned towards me and whispered softly, "Oh, is that what that is? I thought it was just my heart racing." To which my mom, who overheard and I, who couldn't take him seriously looked at each other and died laughing. It was a classic Andrew moment.



Lastly, the late night rave in Ybor City. Okay, we were just at the reception. But those lights do look pretty psychedelic in this pic.

A Princess' Tale

Hello Friends. Sorry I've gone MIA again. I have had a big deadline at work and then I scooted on home to Florida for the weekend. I'm home hanging out with family and attending a friend's wedding. More details to come on my adventures in Florida, but here's a little thought for the day:

My weekend sorta feels like I'm in a movie with a similar premise to Princess Diary, but more extreme. Now don't get me wrong, I really like my apartment and stuff in Providence, but we'll Studio 23 just can't compare with a real grown up's place (like my mom's). I feel as though I just found out that I'm not actually a homeless orphan, but the daughter of the queen. I am currently living the life of luxury: Amazing water pressure. Opening a fridge with lots of food. Sleeping on the most comfy bed fit for a queen. Walking on soft cushioned carpet under my toes. Driving on leather seats with power door locks. Watching cable TV on a huge plasma, no less. Air conditioning in the house and the car. 10 ESPNs (for Andrew, of course). Everything is amazing! I feel so spoiled by simple luxuries I used to take for granted.

But before I waste too much of my pampering time on the computer, I've got to go and enjoy the riches awaiting me in the carpeted living room with palm trees and 90 degree weather peeking in the windows:)

Adios friends! I'll be back soon.

Christmas Holiday-Part I

Wow, nearly three weeks ago, my whirlwind of a vacation ended and I've yet to find the time to write about it all, so here's a brief recap.

The vacation started off a little rough. Like something that only happens in movies, my luggage was lost on my Christmas Eve flight. I ran around Florida buying last minute gifts that were too large to take on the plane, in 85 degree weather, wearing long johns and a cashmere sweater, hoping my luggage would turn up! I was so frustrated and miserable and prepared to wear that same outfit for a few days:( Fortunately, my luggage was found.

I received a phone call at 1:00 AM on Christmas morning. A gentleman informed me that he was from United and would be delivering my luggage in about 10 minutes. What?! Don't they do that kind of stuff during business hours? Either way, I wasn't complaining, I would have my luggage for Christmas and my two-week vacation! At 1:30 AM I saw two headlights, but to my surprise it wasn't a United van with a UPS looking man. Instead, two men wearing sports jerseys and ball caps, blaring rap music, and driving an Impala arrived with my bag in their trunk. It seemed a little odd, but I didn't care. It arrived!! What a relief. I was so thankful to not be stressing about my luggage anymore. But seriously, who were they?!

I spent Christmas day enjoying great food, watching Mama Mia with my family, playing a little Wii with the sis, opening presents, playing with matchbox cars, and enjoying a break from my usual routine. Andrew arrived late that night and the chaos called "vacation" began the next day.

Andrew, my mom, my brother, my brother's girlfriend, and I set out for Orlando the morning of the 26th. We hit Celebration on our way in, walked around Rollins College, ate lunch in Winter Park on Park Ave, and then headed to our hotel, the Gaylord Palms. We relaxed at the hotel, ate dinner, and walked around the beautiful and decorated atrium. We hit up ICE that night--an exhibit made up off all ice sculptures. When Andrew told his family about it they just laughed and mentioned how only people where it's warm would pay to freeze in 9 degrees and ice! It's true. We made gingerbread houses, laid out by the pool, and visited with my cousins the next day. After a 2-day stint we headed back to P-county to spend a few days with the rest of the family.

Here's a summary of our Orlando trip in pictures:

A sneak preview...

A little preview to wet your appetite before we hit the road!

Making ginger bread houses at Gaylord Palms


















Gaylord Palms' ICE!




















Defrosting from ICE!

The 4 C's

So as I finished packing I was making a mental note trying to insure that I have everything. My conclusion was this: The four C's. When you shop for diamonds you're supposed to purchase based on carat, cut, clarity, and color. Well when packing for Christmas vacation every girl needs her four C's too: clothes, Christmas presents, Chi, and cute shoes! What else is there;)?

Let the adventure begin!

A Christmas to Remember

I thought I would fill you in on my upcoming endeavors and warn you that I may be M.I.A. for a week or so!

Family Vaca 2008!!!!!

I'm heading home for Christmas on the morning of the 24th. I get to do the family thing for a few days and then we're headed out on vacation to Orlando. My mom, brother, brother's girlfriend, Andrew and I are headed on an adventure to Gaylord Palms. We're going to visit Rollins, Winter Park, hang at the hotel, see ICE, build gingerbread houses, and go to Universal Studios! I'm really excited for the opportunity to all hang out together and relax a bit.

We'll head back home for a few days where Andrew and I will get to hang out with my family and see a few of my high school friends before heading out on the roadtrip of the century!

Day 1: Head out from Tampa towards Becka's in Port Charlotte stopping at the Roaring 20s Pizza and Pipes restaurant on our way. We will spend the evening with Becka, Jon and baby Reagan! I'm so excited to finally meet her and catch up with Becks.

Day 2: Depart from Becka's house seeing Jenn (Fort Meyers) and the Giant Head of Beethoven and Keri (Cape Coral) somehow on our way to the Everglades! Make a pit stop at the Smallest Post Office in the US and send a few postcards and head towards Miami via Alligator Ally. We'll hit up a few more random stops on our way to Jacksonville. We'll spend the night at Chateau Emy and take her hostage.

Day 3: Leave Jax, with Emy, for Hotlanta swinging by one of the Tiniest Churches in the US in South Newport, GA. Eat lunch in Savannah. Visit the Big Cow and the World Globe Gas Storage Tank. Then arrive in ATL!! Lots of options await us there: the Baseball Equipment Coke Bottle, the Varsity, Centennial Park and most importantly New Year's Conference where we will meet up with Erin and Claire!! We'll watch the peach drop in ATL and then leave Emy with Claire and head on our merry way.

Day 4: Destination: Tennessee. Check out the World's Largest Chair, Replica of the Statue of Liberty and arrive at Grandpas! Hang for a few days on the farm with the family!

Day 6: Head through Memphis visiting the Muffler Man, the New Urbanist Island and some historic sites on our way to Chi-Town. Keep ourselves busy by visiting Lambert's Cafe (Home of the Throwed Rolls), Superman, Big John, the Giant White Cross, and a few other random destinations.

Finally, make my way to O'Hare and back to Providence for work the next morning!

Wheew...I better have some good stories after all that!


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Fall Festivities

Fall has arrived! It's generally my favorite season of the year, but this year it has failed to capture my heart and steal my affection. My guess is that previously I was a student so I didn't mind it getting dark outside at 4:30 pm because I had been romping around outside all day between classes, but now that I'm working it means that the day is over by the time I get out of work! Boo:( [Ha. Nice pun, in light of the Halloween/Fall season] . Speaking of light, I should just get a summer home in Alaska, then it will be light out all day. I've always wanted to see the Northern lights. But wait, I guess to see the Northern lights it has to be dark out, so summer is probably not gonna work. Oh well. Plus to have a summer home that means you don't work, and let's be honest, urban planning is not exactly a field that's going to send me into early retirement.

Well, I love the changing of seasons so I won't let it get me down. I will continue to lounge on my couch  inhaling the sweet aroma of my Pumpkin Spice Yankee candle and bundle up like a blizzard just arrived. Also, I must apologize to my faithful readers for being MIA the past weeks, I was on an excursion of monumental proportions, but didn't forget about you. Where exactly have I been and what exactly have I been doing you wonder? Oh wait no longer!

I went to a wedding in Rockford, Illinois last weekend.

We watched the baseball playoffs. Bad news: Cubs lost. Good news: the Rays are holding strong and playing better than anyone could have imagined they ever would! I enjoyed a week of evenings filled with cable TV and nightly baseball games! But let's be honest, I couldn't stay awake to watch the ending to any of them. And to be more honest, I couldn't even keep myself awake for the debate, which started at 8pm in the central time zone! I make Mr. Bean in Rat Race look less narcoleptic I'm so pathetic.

I went to my first (and possibly last) corn maze!! For those of you who aren't familiar with this crazy autumn activity let me explain. Some entrepreneurial farmer out there decides to make a little dough by creating a maze out of their cornfield. Well, in this case it was a 10 acre corn field with a maze cut through it. The path is about 3 feet wide, the corn is about 8 feet tall and your goal is ...well there are many goals 1) Have fun roaming around in a maze of corn 2) Find the 8 checkpoints in the corn maze 3) Make it out of the corn maze alive and with all limbs. Option 3 was definitely my goal.

So Andrew and I had never been to a corn maze before, so we had this picture in our minds. We thought there would be kids, parents, strollers, clowns, balloons, baseball lights like in the Field of Dreams. Basically, we thought we were going to the county fair. Well to our surprise we pull up at 7 pm and no one is there. "Maybe it's closed. They said they were opened til 8 tonight, maybe they changed their mind," we discussed. Lo and behold, a guy walks out of his house towards his shop and flips on all the lights while we sit in the car wondering what we're thinking. Here's your visual: A house in the middle of the country, surrounded by cornfields, with a barn for his animals (reindeer of course), a Christmas tree farm, a banquet hall that is nothing short of Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede, and pitch blackness. Oh, and two people: me and Andrew.
"You open?" we asked.
"Oh yea, I've got a group of 45 coming out in about 20 minutes," he replies.
As we are paying he says, "Oh good, you brought your own flashlight" as he points to a lone flashlight on the counter.
"No we didn't, but can we borrow this?" Andrew asks, with the determination to accept nothing short of 'yes' from the man.
"Alright, here's an index card, there are 8 checkpoints hidden out there with different hole punches for each one so I'll know if you cheat. Good luck."
And that was it.
Andrew and I wandered out into the pitch blackness armed with a flashlight, map, and two index cards! Definitely not the kind of people that would survive Man vs. Wild. I'm not sure if you can imagine what it feels like to wander out into cornfields in pitch blackness on a windy night, but I'll sum it up with four words: Children of the Corn. There was no way we were making it out of there alive. Every wind that blew and crack of a cornstalk freaked us out. There are probably foxes or coyotes or wild raging deer! Are there snakes in cornfields? Probably. Who knows. All I knew was that I wasn't making it out alive.

Well about an hour into our carefully calculated excursion (as planners we used the map like a treasure map to ensure that we covered every square foot to get all 8 hidden posts) we heard voices. "Oh good, there are more people out here than just us now, this will feel safer" we thought...wrong! Imagine what it would be like to be in this already frightening situation with 45 college students now in the corn, probably intoxicated, and traveling in packs like sorority girls on their way to the bathroom. Well if the children of the corn weren't going to get us, a heart attack was. Around every corner was a college student, who in the pitch darkness didn't know that we weren't with their group. So, we now had to actually watch our backs and respond to cracking of corn because there were in fact real people hiding in the corn like a haunted house to grab us or frighten us. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs "We don't know you so don't mess with us--we're that pair of two random people in blue jump suuuuits!!!!" (Yea, that's right, we thought it was going to lack fun and we needed to help out a little bit by wearing all dark clothing and acting Mission Impossible in the maze). Wrong. In the words of my favorite Verizon commercial: We got hosed! Well, as you can predict, since I'm writing this post, we made it out alive. But not after the nice farmer family gave us a tour of the entire operation including the banquet hall and bringing out one of the reindeer to pet. In case you didn't know, there is apparently an actual species called Alaskan reindeer. They are very feisty and their antlers are so sharp they make the running of the bulls look like a safe operation. I was pretty sure little Elizabeth was going to gourd me. Luckily, she was on a leash. Well we left the ranch, went out for some ice cream and called it a night. We try to collect the mini baseball helmets (We've got 4. One from Yankee Stadium (fancy!) and the other 3 from ice cream dates).

Then I worked the rest of the week. Working "remotely" is not remotely fun. Your heart says your on vacation but your brain says you have to work and there is constant inner warfare until you cash in your vacation time.

Lots of baseball, lots of eating, lots of sleeping, lots of shopping. I had the most incredible beef tenderloin fondue and got a killer ski hat with tails!

I went to my first apple orchard and picked apples. I saw my first pumpkin patch and bought an overpriced pumpkin from the vine. We went on a Lake Geneva boat tour and saw the fall colors surrounding beautiful, historic homes. Kids in the tropic of Florida really miss out on this Fall business, this season of harvest, if you will. We do, however, not miss out on the art of pumpkin carving. We bought a pumpkin carving kit and made some pretty awesome pumpkins. Mine is the pirate ship on the far left, Andrew's the window (typical architect) on the far right, and Team Grandma with his sisters made the rockin' bat.

I concluded my trip with a stay at the Grand Emy Hotel in the heart of the University of Chicago campus. We enjoyed a dazzling double date with our men at the Med, a brief stroll through a park only blocks from Obama's house, and a night of random stories and laughs (to come in subsequent blogs). Well, this has turned into a really long blog...that's why I shouldn't allow too much time to pass between postings!