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Sunday, August 26, 2012
NYC Day (Hudson River Park, High Line, Village, SoHo and more)
Had a great weekend which was much needed after a busy week. Work's been getting very busy due to all the schools starting up and Labor Day just around the corner. Most of the school systems are awarded through a bid system so we never quite know which schools we will have that school year until the last minute. And sometimes things change even after the bids come through. It's the same mess every year but it's no less annoying or stressful. Oh well. Guess I just have to deal with it and it will all work out one way or another.
Yesterday, Saturday, I had off again which was nice. We went into NYC and spent the day walking around there. We parked near Columbus Circle 59th Street by the water and walked along the Hudson River Park. It's basically a trail along the water. You see lots of people jogging, skateboarding, biking etc. At one point we went away from the water and crossed over to the High Line. It's an old elevated freight rail line that they turned into a park. Very cool project and I love what they have done with it. (the first part opened in 2009, the second part in 2011) We had been to the first part but not the second part yet so we thought it would be cool to check out. I posted some pictures on Facebook if you guys are interested. After the High Line we walked through the Village & SoHo. Stopped by the firehouse that's featured in Ghostbusters. Mike recently joined Facebook (yeah he finally gave in after all this time) and needed a cool profile picture. LOL. After that we walked some more and ended up having a late lunch at this place. There are sooo many restaurants in NYC, it's really hard to pick. The place was good though and the food was crazy delicious. I had pizza with buffalo mozzarella and mushrooms and Mike had gnocci with pesto. The place itself definitely had a very SoHo hipster kind of vibe so after we ate we paid and found somewhere else to go. Walked back uptown and had some more drinks at the Waterfront Ale House. Then from there some more walking uptown and back over to the West Side where we parked on 59th Street by the water. All in all probably 10-12 miles of walking but it was a fun day. :)
Today we are just staying home, relaxing. Slept in late and haven't done much so far. I am catching up on some emails and will probably read for a while in a bit. Will make myself more tea and just be lazy.
Mail Update: A letter is going out tomorrow to: Charles/TN. Received letters/still owe a response to: Celia/MA, Nina/WA and Emilia/Finland.
Posted by Hanna at 02:05 PM in Food and Drink, NYC | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Comiconn & Baking (what an odd combo)
And already Sunday again. Weekends always fly by too fast. Had a nice relaxed weekend all in all. Friday night after work we met up with our friends John & Jana at Rizzuto's. Had dinner and then Jana and I headed to the movie theater and saw the new Disney movie "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" starring Jennifer Garner. It was a cute movie, definitely a Disney feel-good-movie. :)
Yesterday, Saturday, we slept in late and then headed to ComiConn in Trumbull, CT (the CT version of the huge comic book & sci-fi convention in San Diego) When we got there in the early afternoon the line was wrapped around the entrance of the Marriott so we decided to leave and have a few drinks with our friends Tim & Sam at a nearby pub before coming back later. When we tried again around 5 it was much calmer and we were able to get in right away.
The main reason for going was to see our friend Shannon who was promoting her book there. (see picture on the left) You can also click on this link to see her webpage. We had her sign a copy of her book so if she ever gets famous we can say we have a first edition signed copy. :)
Today we slept in again and in a little bit I am heading over to my friend Jana's apartment. She invited me over to bake. :) We will be making pie. Well, let's be realistic. She will be doing most of the work and I'll be helping. :) My cooking skills aren't terrible but I am definitely not great with baking. I can make a yummy banana bread though. So I guess not all is lost. :)
That's about the re-cap for our weekend so far. Tomorrow is already Monday again. Another dentist appointment. This time for a cleaning. Not getting any more fillings done until January since I managed to max out my insurance for the year already. Pretty impressive. LOL.
Mail Update: No letters have gone out. Received letters/still owe a response to: Nina/WA, Charles/TN and Emilia/Finland.
Posted by Hanna at 11:59 AM in Books, Food and Drink | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Coney Island
Already 3pm on Sunday again. I really wish weekends wouldn't fly by that fast. It's been a nice weekend though. Had both Saturday and today off. Yesterday we took the train down to New York and then the subway out to Coney Island. On our way there we stopped at Cafe Steinhof (an Austrian restaurant) in Brooklyn for lunch. Yumm.
Spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Coney Island. Walked along the beach for a while. Always a bit surreal walking on the beach and knowing you are in New York City. Coney Island is a very one-of-a-kind place as it is but it's always fun to go out there. Last time we spent a day there was just after I moved in 2002 so it's been a while. In the evening we watched the Brooklyn Cyclones (minor league) baseball game which was fun. Lucked out with the weather too. There were thunderstorms in the area the whole day and we saw some heavy downpours while watching out the window on the train but never encountered any rain ourselves while outside.
Didn't get home till close to 2am so we slept in late today. Then went to lunch at Elmer's Diner and grocery shopping afterwards. Probably going to just relax for the rest of the day. Will read for a bit, maybe we will watch a movie later. The Olympics Closing Ceremonies are on too. Can't believe the Olympics are already over again. Austria didn't manage to get any medals this time. We had 17 placements in the top 10 but no medals. We usually do much much better in the winter olympics but can usually snag at least a couple medals in the summer ones too. Oh well I guess.
Mail Update: A letter will go out to Lotte/Denmark tomorrow. Received letters/still owe a response to: Charles/TN and Emilia/Finland.
Posted by Hanna at 03:35 PM in Beach, Food and Drink | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Sunday, August 05, 2012
Hopkins Weekend
Made it through the 6-day week without too many problems. Saturday ended up being a shorter day which was nice. Left work around 2pm, headed home to change etc. and then headed back out again to the Hopkins Vineyard and Inn. (about a 45 min drive) Both are set in a really picturesque setting by Lake Waramaug. We stopped at the vineyard first to do a wine tasting. We have bought their wine quite often but have never been to the vineyard itself. After the wine tasting we headed upstairs to their wine bar and had two more glasses of wine plus a cheese platter (see picture) Really nice.
After we were done there we walked across the street to the Hopkins Inn for our dinner reservations. It's a yearly tradition for us to go there during the summer, usually around July 12th (our American wedding anniversary) but this year I was in Europe then so we went now instead. Ended up being the perfect day to sit outside. Great breeze which made the heat/humidity not bad at all. Plus being close to the lake helped too. Had a delicious dinner and great dessert (their toblerone sundae is to die for) Since it was still early when we were done with dinner we decided to stop at Two Steps on our way home. Last official Saturday night for our friend Sam (and Tim's girlfriend) bartending there so we thought it would be nice to stop in for a bit.
No huge plans for today. Slept in late and will go shopping in a bit. Aldi had their grand opening this past Thursday so we will go there and check that out. No other plans really. It's crazy humid so definitely better not to move too much. :)
Mail Update: No letters have gone out. Received letters/still owe a response to: Lotte/Denmark.
Posted by Hanna at 01:09 PM in Food and Drink, Wine | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack