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Monday, July 29, 2019
Pizza, Beer & History - NYC - Walking Tour Weekend
And it's Monday again. I really dislike Mondays. But what can you do?
We did have a nice weekend. On Saturday we went to NYC for the "Pizza, Beer and History Tour". We took the train down and stopped at Blue Haven for a bit as the tour didn't start until 3pm. We ordered chicken tenders which turned out to be a huge portion. Honestly we should have skipped the food because they fed you quite a bit of pizza on the tour. I was so full afterwards. Our first stop was Artichoke Pizza and that was honestly quite unique. We had their traditional artichoke slice and it was super creamy and filling. I am not even usually a big fan of artichokes but this was really good. Just super filling. Our second stop was Joe's Pizza. I thought it was pretty good, your typical NYC cheese pizza by the slice. Mike was underwhelmed with it but I thought it was decent enough. After that we stopped at the Blind Tiger for a beer. And from there moved on to Bleeker Street Pizza and had their "Nonna Maria" slice which was pretty delicious. The tour ended near the Stonewall Inn and we had another beer at Kettle of Fish. Lots of neat history tid bits and facts thrown in between all the food and beer stops as well. Definitely a fun experience and the other people on the tour were fun as well. There were 6 of us so it wasn't a huge group which made it easier/better probably. Funny thing is that the other people all lived in NYC.
Yesterday, Sunday, we went to the movies to see the new Tarantino movie "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood". Would definitely recommend the movie. It was a typical Tarantino movie in a lot of ways and in a lot of ways it also wasn't. But if you enjoy that era of Hollywood it's a great movie to see even just for the visuals and the cinematography. Of course there was violence but then that's just Tarantino. I won't write too much else about it to avoid given away any spoilers. But either way, go see the movie if you are a Tarantino fan and have enjoyed his other movies. I'd definitely recommend it. The funny thing is Tarantino is something that has kind of grown on me having lived here for this many years. I remember when I first lived in CA in 98-99 my ex boyfriend tried to get me to watch "Pulp Fiction" and I was absolutely horrified by it. I think I will need to revisit that movie again to see if I'd actually enjoy it now, after having seen a bunch of his newer films.
So yeah, that sums up our weekend. Another week ahead now. Just a few more days left in July. This summer seems to be zipping by. It's a bittersweet thing for me. Because part of me is definitely longing for summer to be over/have the crazy busy season at work behind us. And I really enjoy fall. I love the crisp blue skies, the slightly cooler weather, the leaves changing colors. But at the same time that also signals that winter is ahead and oh god how do I hate winter. I feel the past few winters have just been endless too. We haven't had much of a spring these past years, pretty much moving from winter straight into summer. Ugh.
Alright enough complaining. Better get ready for work. :)
Letter/Mail Update: Owe a reply/received a letter from Lotte/Denmark.
Posted by Hanna at 07:33 AM in NYC | Permalink | Comments (0)
Sunday, July 21, 2019
HEATWAVE weekend
A rare Sunday update. :) I have a little bit of time so I figured it would be good to get my weekly update in. Slept till about 10 even though it's super hot. Then sat on the couch for a while reading which was an enjoyable way to start the morning. Eventually decided to start up the computer to get my post in. :)
The week has been ok. Busy at work as usual but I guess that's really to be expected at this time of the year. We are also experiencing a really annoying heatwave at the moment but crazy high temps and humidity. Heat warnings in effect. Real feel temps of 110F (43C). It's definitely not good weather to be outdoors. So yesterday, Saturday, we went to the movies in the morning and saw "Stuber". It was entertaining and funny. Definitely not an Oscar type movie but funny enough and a good way to get out of the heat and into the AC for a while. Afterwards we went for lunch at 121 in Oxford. And later stopped into Two Steps for a couple glasses of wine before heading home. Caught up on some recorded shows. It was still really hot after the sun went down but with all the fans blasting on high it was tolerable more or less.
Today we don't have a lot of plans either really. Laying low this weekend with the heat. Plus last weekend we were busy on the North Fork so it's good to have a quiet weekend to balance things out. Slept in this morning, now just relaxing, reading, updating my blog. Then we will head to Rosy's for lunch in a bit. Every summer they have their Seafood Fest specials and Mike really enjoys the crab legs. I'll probably get a salad, they do have a few pretty delicious ones. So that's the plan for the near future. We'll see what we end up doing after that. Also need to run a few errands, pick up groceries and eventually are going to watch some more recorded shows probably. So all in all a relaxing day ahead.
In other news, booked 2 nights in Philly over Labor Day weekend. Going to finally see Megan and Jonathan who moved there a while ago. So that should be fun. We also have 1 night in Boston coming up in August. And next weekend we have the "Pizza, Beer and History Tour" in NYC. So keeping busy. :)
Letter/Mail Update: A letter went out last Tuesday to Celia/MA.
Posted by Hanna at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Monday, July 15, 2019
North Fork Anniversary Weekend
And Monday morning again. :( I am especially sluggish this morning. It was a great weekend but definitely busy. A lot of sun (and some sunburn) & a lot of wine. :) We had a great weekend though, really no complaints. Just wish I had an extra day to just relax now. Wouldn't that be nice?
Anyway, last week was busy at work. Basically no different than it has been. Then Saturday morning we left Danbury in the morning with the goal to get to Paumanok Vineyards right around 11. Traffic was a real nightmare though and instead of the 2 hours it should have taken it took us almost 3 to get there. So we didn't get to the vineyard till close to 12. Still made a stop and had a glass of wine on the deck. They have a really nice rustic deck where you can sit outside and look out at the vines. When we were done there we headed to lunch at A Lure in Southold. Such a pretty place right next to the marina. And the food is absolutely delicious. We had been there one time before and it was fun to be back. They are only open seasonally so it's not a place we can generally go if we come in the total off season. Anyway, was fun to have lunch by the water even though I am pretty sure that's where Mike and I got our sunburn. We didn't think it through and didn't put on sunscreen. And of course spending that much time outside, even though we were in the shade most of the time, took its toll.
After lunch we continued on and went to Kontakoska Winery. Another beautiful spot. The vineyard has a huge backyard/lawn that reaches the ocean so you can take your wine and sit near the ocean. Very pretty. From there we headed to Osprey's Dominion. We have been there quite a few times but often we come in the off-season and early in the day so it's usually very quiet. This time it was super busy. So many people. They had live music, a food truck, corn hole and big Jenga games and people everywhere, hanging out, playing games, drinking wine. We got a bottle of wine and a cheese/salami/cracker platter and people watched for a while. It's always interesting doing that. Especially during the busy season. You see all sorts of interesting people. From there we headed to Macari. They were getting ready for an event so we only got a glass of wine as they were getting ready to shut down for the general public.
From there we headed to our hotel. It being the high season we had to stay a bit farther out than we usually do. The past few times we stayed at the Indigo but that was going for $400/night and no way am I paying that. So instead we stayed at the Clarion near McArthur airport. Definitely not a great place but it was fine for what we needed. The room was fine, the general public areas where pretty awful. But again, we really just needed a place to sleep. It was about a 40 min. ride from there to the wineries so not so terrible. We ended up hanging out at a place called Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza. It was fine and probably better than the hotel bar.
Sunday morning we went to breakfast at the airport diner which was just down the road. Had some breakfast there and then headed back out for some more wine. First stop was Clovis Point. We got there just a little after 11 and it was still very quiet. We got a glass and sat outside under the covered porch. Nobody else around so it was really peaceful. From there we headed back over to Macari since we wanted to spend some more time there after our visit having been cut short the previous day. Got a bottle of rose and sat outside on the lawn under the umbrellas. There was a breeze which made it actually very nice and not too oppressive with the heat. We had a lot of fun just hanging out so in the end we decided to get a second bottle and also took advantage of the pizza truck that was parked there. OMG -- they had the most delicious Neapolitan style pizza. So good!! I am seriously upset that we can't have more of this pizza any time soon. So good.
Anyway when we were done at Macari we headed to our final stop at Coffeepot Cellars. We discovered that place a few years ago and always come back when we are on the North Fork now. It's run by the sweetest people and they also have an adorable pug called Beasley. They are also very invested in issues like the monarch butterflies and bees. Just an all around neat and feel good type of place. We hung out with Beasley for a while before eventually making our way back to CT. Traffic unfortunately was just as annoying on the way back so we didn't get back to CT till after 8pm. Oh well.
And here we are. It's Monday again. And I need to get ready for work. Not sure I am ready for another work week ahead but what can you do? Work hard, play hard. :)
Letter/Mail Update: Wrote a letter -- just need to put it together and get it in the mail: Celia/MA.
Posted by Hanna at 07:47 AM in Wine | Permalink | Comments (0)
Monday, July 08, 2019
Fourth of July, Women's Soccer and more
Ugh and it's Monday again and somehow today is really hitting me hard. I didn't really have an extra long weekend so I can't blame that. I did have Thursday off for the 4th but then did go into work on Friday. Always a little weird having a day off in the middle of the week. Of course not complaining about that but it just makes the course of the week feel a little off. It was a busy week which was to be expected. And I have a feeling today is going to be an equally busy day. A lot of people did have Friday off so I think a lot of it is going to be dealing with left over issues and problems. I am also still covering for someone on vacation. Well oh well, will get through this too.
So let's see. To recap. Thursday we didn't really do much. We slept in and then went to lunch in Fairfield at Flipside. Always a fun place to go and they are one of those places that's open for most holidays so it's always a good place to head when a lot of other restaurants/bars are closed. Watched some more 'Stranger Things' later in the day. We hadn't seen season 2 yet so we wanted to catch up in order to watch season 3 which was releasing on July 4th.
Friday was a regular work day. And the weekend all in all was pretty low key. Saturday was really muggy with thunderstorms throughout the day. So we went to the movies in the morning and saw the new Spiderman movie. Was a fun film and honestly I never really used to be into these super hero movies but they have started to grow on me. Had lunch in Oxford and later met up with our friends John and Jana for a bit before heading home and watching more "Stranger Things".
Sunday we headed to TKs to watch the Women's World Soccer Cup, US vs. the Netherlands. TKs has turned itself into a soccer bar which is kind of neat. When I first moved here it was just your standard sports/wings bar but it now has a real focus on soccer. Anyway, the US won which was of course enjoyable. After the match we headed over to Rosy's where we met John again for a bit before going home and binge watching the rest of 'Stranger Things'. We are all caught up now. I won't write anything about it as I don't want to spoil anything. But really, if you have enjoyed the first two seasons then go binge the third. And I already can't wait for the fourth even though I can only imagine it's going to be a while before it comes out.
Alright, that's all I have for now. Better get ready and face this Monday.
Letter/Mail Update: Have received a letter from/owe a reply to: Celia/MA.
Posted by Hanna at 07:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Monday, July 01, 2019
Hello July
And here we are, at the start of the holiday week. July 1st already. We have Independence Day on Thursday this week (July 4). A lot of people in our company have requested July 5th off as a vacation day which I suppose is a pretty smart thing. I ended up not doing it, as much as it would have been nice to have some extra days off. We didn't have any plans and Mike also has to work on the 5th so I didn't think there really was a point. Oh well. I will enjoy having Thursday off even though it will be a bit of a weird break in the week. But not complaining. Just three days to get through for now, then a day off and then it's already Friday again.
Well let's see how the week goes. It's been pretty busy in June. Let's see how it goes, now that we are officially in July. Summer is our busy season in relocation which is complete opposite from my old job I used to have at the dairy. There summer was our slowest season due to schools being out. Pretty much the same reason we are busy in relocation. :) Everyone wants to move while the kids are out of school.
Anyway, enough about all that. Let's see, what else is new? The weekend was pretty decent. The weather was a bit unstable but not too terrible. On Saturday it was more humid so we decided to go to the movies and watched "Yesterday". I would very much recommend it. It is not going to win any awards but it was a fun, mostly lighthearted movie. A romantic comedy at heart. With a lot of Beatles music. If you enjoyed "Notting Hill", "Four Weddings and a Funeral", "Love Actually" etc. and like the Beatles music I would strongly recommend it.
Yesterday, Sunday, we decided to do something outdoors even though the weather was still quite unstable. We manged to get our 3 mile walk in before the thunderstorms rolled in so it worked out. Went to "The Walkway over the Hudson" which is always fun. It was so windy though and they also had some sort of bicycle race/run going on so pedestrians had to stay to the sides of the bridge. The bridge is quite tall and considering I am super afraid of heights that wasn't too great for me. We have been there before and it usually doesn't bother me as we can walk in the middle of the bridge. But having to be on the edge combined with the crazy wind made for an interesting experience. At least on the way back across the bridge the wind had died down a bit so the walk back wasn't quite as crazy.
After our walk we went for lunch at Hurricane Grill in Poughkeepsie and eventually headed home to catch up on some Netflix and DVR shows. We started watching season 2 of "Stranger Things" since season 3 is about to be released. Been meaning to watch it for a while but just didn't get to it yet. But of course now that we are watching it is sucking me in again, wanting to continue to see where it goes.
Letter/Mail Update: Have received a letter from/owe a reply to: Celia/MA.
Posted by Hanna at 07:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)