Friday, August 25, 2023
Fun serendipitous hang outs with old friends and other random stuff
Alright somehow almost 2 weeks went by again. I really don't know where time is going lately? I think part of it is just that work has really picked up these past few weeks. Summer is always our busy season but the beginning of summer actually wasn't so bad comparatively to previous years but these past few weeks have really made up for it.
Not really a ton to write about otherwise. Oh, about a week ago we had a neat surprise when our friend Tim showed up out of the blue. We have known him for a long time, used to work together at our previous job many years ago. He eventually left and moved away, lived in Florida, then Rhode Island, Chicago and right now he is in Kansas City apparently. Anyway, he was back in CT and while the reason itself wasn't a fun one, it was fun to run into him and hang out for a night. We met up with one of our other friends who has playing a gig at a local restaurant and had a great time hanging out and catching up. Kind of felt like old times even though it's been such a long time. Hopefully it won't be quite as long before we get to hang out again.
Other than that not much new really. The weather has been all over the place. Today it's rainy and muggy but we also had some beautiful bright non humid days. Just all over the map really.
Been reading "The Clockmaker's Daughter" and binging season 1 of "The Crown".
Also went for a nice walk last weekend.
Only a week and a half until I leave for Austria which is also crazy. Time just flies so much.
Mail Update: Received a letter from/owe a response to: Celia/MA.
Posted by Hanna at 03:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Sunday, August 13, 2023
Small Hiatus - Hello August
And here we are, half way through August from what it seems. I kind of took a bit of a hiatus from posting. Wasn't really planned, just the way it worked out. I guess sometimes life just gets in the way. But rest assured, I am still here and will continue to post about my usual random every day stuff. :)
Let's see, I am trying to remember where I left off. August has been a little better weather wise than July but still a pretty mixed bag. We have had some really nice days but today for example is hot and humid again.
Couple weeks back towards the end of July on one of our super hot & humid days we were invited over to one of our friend's places for a pool party & BBQ Friday after work. With the heat & humidity swimming in the pool was perfect and we had a fun time hanging out, eating a bunch of delicious food and catching up.
It's been kind of but yesterday we had thunderstorms and generally unstable weather. So I think that has been mostly the theme. Unstable weather. Never quite know how it's going to be.
But I guess I shouldn't complain too much. Every time I look at the news I see something else heart breaking and crazy going on. All the fires in Greece and now in Hawaii. It's scary. But yeah, climate change and global warming isn't a real thing right? Ugh. I guess don't get me started. So frustrating. And so scary.
I think I already posted about "Barbie". Since then we also went to see "Oppenheimer" which was also a great movie. Of course a completely different type of film but really well done. Would not surprise me if it ends up being nominated for some Oscars.
Other than that not too much going on. Yesterday I went to the library. Originally wanted to get "Wrong Place Wrong Time" by Gillian McAllister. It's the book we are reading for our book club at work. But didn't realize that it was already checked out. So since I was already there I ended up getting "The Clockmaker's Daughter" by Kate Morton instead. That has been on my "to-read" list for a while so I figured why not? Got started on it yesterday and so far am really enjoying it. I have read other books by the same author before so I figured it was a safe bet. :)
Today went for a bit of a walk in the morning but it's just too humid & hot. Retreated back inside now and I think we'll just have a low key chill and binge watch some TV day.
Mail Update: Received a letter from/owe a response to: Celia/MA.
Posted by Hanna at 01:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tuesday, July 25, 2023
First Nice Weekend in a WHILE
Happy Tuesday. We are back to storms and humidity with a heat wave coming for the rest of the week. I read
somewhere that we have had the wettest July in 118 years. Crazy. I guess at least we are not having a drought. It seems like it's one or the other. Climate Change. Ugh.
Anyway, we did have a beautiful weekend last weekend so I can't complain too much.
I had half a day on Friday and although the day didn't quite pan out the way I had intended it was still nice to have some time off. The reason I originally requested the time off was to have a "mental health" afternoon of sorts. I booked a massage & a facial for the afternoon. Well, long story short they both ended up getting cancelled last minute due to call outs. And of course I didn't realize that until I had already arrived there. Well oh well. Instead I hung out at Starbucks for a while before making my way to the mall. I honestly hadn't been at the mall in ages and wanted to see the new Barnes & Nobles they opened up. Hung out for a while and checked out some of the new stores before eventually deciding I had enough time at the mall.
Saturday morning we went to see the "Barbie" movie. I have to say when I first heard about this movie I was all sorts of skeptical and thought it was the weirdest thing ever. But I have to say they really did a great job with it. The cast did really well and the movie actually was quite poignant with a lot of good messaging. Who would have thought?
Sunday we went for a walk at Hidden Pond Park in Southbury. Not the most amazing trail ever but it was still nice to get out into nature. Due to the weather we haven't been able to do that much outside this season. Afterwards we headed to Monty's in Southbury. Had fun checking it out and hanging out for a while. They also had a fun "Malibu Barbie" special drink that was quite delicious.
And to finish off the day we headed to Walker Road Vineyard in Woodbury. Had fun sitting outside listening to live music with some nice chilled wine. Not a bad way to end the way. :)
And well here we are and it's already Tuesday again. Time sure does fly. Nothing too much going on for this week. Let's see how it goes - really just looking to get past the heatwave.
Mail Update: All caught up on my mail :)
Posted by Hanna at 08:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Wednesday, July 19, 2023
Random Everything
Hello there! As usual the weather has been a mix of crazy humidity, downpours, thunderstorms and just generally unstable weather. Today hasn't been too bad but yesterday we had some storms and over the weekend Sunday was a total washout too with major flooding all over town. Right now they are forecasting the weekend to actually have beautiful weather with sunshine and low humidity. I will believe it when I see it but if it actually happens that would be pretty nice. So far this summer has not been great weather wise.
Last week July 12th was our American wedding anniversary. For anybody who doesn't know we have two anniversaries, our actual wedding that took place in Austria February 10th, 2001 as well our US wedding ceremony that was held on July 12th 2002 (July 12 is also the date Mike proposed in 2000) Didn't do anything much but Thursday we went for dinner at J Law which was fun. It's the new restaurant opened by the old owners of J Lawrence that used to be in Bethel. They sold their Bethel restaurant a little while back and have now opened a new location in Danbury. It was nice to see many familiar faces.
The weekend was relatively uneventful. Saturday we attempted to go for a walk in the morning but didn't stay out very long. Just way too humid. We cut our walk short and got some iced tea lemonades at Starbucks instead before heading to Rizzuto's.
Sunday we went back to J Law and also spent a good amount of time binging "For all Mankind" on Apple TV+. I wasn't sure how I would feel about it but I really have enjoyed watching the show. So far we are through season 1 and 2 or 3 episodes into season 2 I think. Definitely recommend it for anyone who is interested in space as well as history and alternate reality type stuff. I know I am probably not doing a great job explaining it so just go check it out. :)
Also finished reading Michelle Obama's "The Light We Carry" as well as ""My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry" by Fredrik Backman. Also re-read "Behind Closed Doors" by B.A. Paris for our book club at work. That's one of those books that really sticks with me.
Last but not least I also booked my next flights to Austria. Will be there September 5 to 25.
Mail Update: Letters went out last week to Eunice/Malta, Celia/MA and Nina/WA.
Posted by Hanna at 07:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Monday, July 10, 2023
Pittsburgh Ed Sheeran Weekend Recap
You guessed it, it's Monday again. But really can't complain too much as we had a really nice weekend away. And last week I only worked 2 days (Wed and Thur) so really can't complain. Haha.
Wednesday and Thursday of course were busy at work after the 4th of July holiday plus getting ready for being out on Friday.
Friday morning we left around 8am, stopped at Starbucks and ended up getting to Pittsburgh around 3pm I think. Had a late lunch at Church Brew Works (what a neat place - a brewpub in an old converted church) where we hung out for a while. We went to this place on a previous Pittsburgh visit and I am glad that it's still around. Really a cool place.
Afterwards checked into our hotel (The EVEN in downtown Pittsburgh) and hung out at the hotel bar for a bit. Saturday we slept in a bit and headed to Starbucks on our way to the Warhol Museum. I had gone there once before 6-ish years ago when I was In Pittsburgh for my new hire training (my company's headquarter is in Pittsburgh) but Mike had never been so it was fun to check it out together.
Our hotel was in a great location downtown and the walk over to the North Shore where the museum is really wasn't bad at all. After the museum we headed to Burgatory for lunch where we met up with my colleague/work friend Lore. Was so fun to finally meet her in person after talking to her over Zoom and social media for many years. Hung out for a while. Afterwards Mike & I spent some more time at another place/bar before heading to the stadium for the Ed Sheeran concert. I will say that the show was great and Ed Sheeran truly did an amazing job and I am glad I finally get to see him live. But I will also say that these huge stadium concerts are really not my thing. SOOO many people, crazy. And the whole stadium is shaking when everybody is jumping up and down. Really freaked me out. But at the end of the day i am really glad I got to finally see him live and did have a good time.
After the show we walked back across the bridge to downtown to our hotel which of course took a while given the crowds. But we managed to get back to the hotel by 11.15pm and had a couple glasses of wine at the hotel bar before heading back to our room.
Yesterday, Sunday, we stopped at Bruegger's for breakfast and then started our way back to CT. The drive back really was super annoying as we were chasing a storm the whole way back and were pretty much driving in the rain the whole day. Sometimes it was just a drizzle but often it was a huge down pour where you could barely see where you are going. But thankfully we made it back in one piece.
Mail Update: Wrote letters/will mail responses soon to: Eunice/Malta, Celia/MA and Nina/WA.
Posted by Hanna at 08:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Wednesday, July 05, 2023
Happy 4th
Happy July! Here we are July 5th. I hope all of my US friends had a nice 4th of July. The way it fell this year on a Tuesday I know a lot of people also had Monday (3rd) off or took it off as a vacation day. My company was originally supposed to be open on the 3rd but we ended up getting the day off which was a nice surprise. I still worked a few hours here and there over the long weekend just to ensure that all was covered and nothing fell through the cracks. But still a welcome few days off. :)
Last week on Thursday I had a dentist cleaning. Luckily went pretty smooth. Then on Saturday I had my massage in the morning and afterwards we had lunch at Rizzuto's in Westport. And later in the evening we caught up on some more TV. Watched some Schmiggadoon and then decided to watch the first Indiana Jones movie. Sunday night we watched the second and third in the original trilogy, finishing with the fourth movie before going to the theater yesterday and watching the new Indiana Jones movie that just came out. Was a lot of fun watching them all back to back like that and I have to say I did enjoy the new one as well. Would recommend if you are a fan of the series.
Other than that on Sunday we went for a bit of a walk in the morning. The weather has been so humid and gross, super unstable with thunderstorms and rain sprinkled in almost every day. Sunday morning it was also raining but we managed to catch a bit of a break to be able to go for a walk prior to lunch at Newsylum.
Monday Mike had to work but I was home and just caught up on a few things at home while keeping an eye on my work stuff.
And yesterday, Tuesday, Mike did have off so we went to the movies and then had a late lunch at Longhorn Steak House followed by some drinks at Barberie's Grill at the mall.
This week I am only working Wed & Thur as we are off to Pittsburgh on Friday to see the Ed Sheeran concert. Definitely looking forward to that. Will be nice to be away for a couple of days.
Mail Update: Received a letter from/owe a response to: Eunice/Malta, Celia/MA and Nina/WA.
Posted by Hanna at 08:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Monday, June 26, 2023
Last week of June, Asteroid City, TV stuff, ...
Happy Monday and yes another week gone by. Here we are in the last week of June already. I feel like all I ever say is how fast time is flying by but it really does feel that way. I guess it is what it is and probably a normal thing the older you get. I know when I was little time would go by so slow and now months go by in what feels like a blink of an eye.
Not all that much new really to report. Saturday we had our usual lunch at Rizzuto's. The weather has been super muggy, humid and unstable these past few days and is supposed to stay that way for a few more days.
Sunday we went to the movies and saw "Asteroid City", the new Wes Anderson movie. Definitely a quirky movie but very Wes Anderson. So if you like his movies you will definitely enjoy this one as well. Also finished reading "A Man Named Ove" and finished binging the last season of "Ted Lasso" yesterday which made me cry. Really wish there was another season. After we watched that we started "The Last Thing He Told Me" also on Apple+. I had read the book a little while back and am happy with what they have done with this mini series.
Other than that that's about it. Have a dentist appointment for a cleaning on Thursday and in more fun news a massage booked Saturday morning.
Mail Update: Received a letter from/owe a response to: Eunice/Malta, Celia/MA and Nina/WA.
Posted by Hanna at 07:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Wednesday, June 21, 2023
Summer Solstice
Happy Summer Solstice, longest day & shortest night of the year. Always nice knowing we are officially entering
summer but it also is a weird feeling knowing we are already going backwards starting tomorrow with our days getting shorter again. I know, I know it of course takes a while but still. Time has also just been flying by and I can't believe we are just a couple of weeks away from the 4th of July.
Not all that much new really. Finished "Manifest" and I have to say I liked how they ended it. Was it perfect? Probably not. Did it leave some questions unanswered? Likely. But all in all I think I am happy with how they ended it and that they were able to do create a proper finish and ending for the story.
Last week Friday the new season of "Outlander" started which made me happy. Episode 1 was pretty true to the books, albeit of course condensed but I think they did a good job. Let's see how the rest of the season goes. This is another split season so we are just getting 8 episodes now and then another 8 later, probably in 2024.
This past weekend on Saturday we had lunch at Rizzuto's and caught up on some TV in the evening. Started the newest season of "Ted Lasso".
And on Sunday we had lunch at Broken Symmetry followed by a few drinks at Rosy's and more TV at home. Nothing too eventful really.
No huge plans for this upcoming weekend either. Will see how it goes and if anything comes up.
Mail Update: Received a letter from/owe a response to: Eunice/Malta, Celia/MA and Nina/WA.
Posted by Hanna at 08:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Monday, June 12, 2023
Happy Monday
Happy Monday. And here we are already almost to the middle of the month.
Not all that much new really I suppose. The rest of last week was relatively uneventful and the remnants of the wildfires eventually went away. Although the fires are still burning so the smoke may come back depending which way the weather patterns go. I guess we will just see how it goes. So crazy.
This weekend the weather was pretty nice all in all. Saturday we ran some errands in the morning and had lunch at Rizzuto's. Spent the evening curled up reading and had a nice relaxed night.
Sunday we went to the movies in Southbury and saw the new "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" movie followed by lunch at Newsylum with some yummy hot oil pizza. Finished binging "Based on True Story" on Peacock followed by starting the final episodes of "Manifest" on Netflix.
Let's see what this week brings. Work is definitely ramping up and getting busier but that only makes sense considering we are now in our busy season.
Mail Update: Received a letter from/owe a response to: Eunice/Malta, Celia/MA and Nina/WA.
Posted by Hanna at 08:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Wednesday, June 07, 2023
Canadian Wildfires and more
Hello June! And here we are already over a week into June. The weather has been absolutely crazy these past couple of days due to the Canadian wildfires in New Brunswick and Quebec. This evening has been especially bad but really all day it's been super hazy with smells like a camp fire. I was working from home today and had to close all the windows cause my eyes were watering. The air quality is super bad. What a crazy thing. These fires are almost 2000 miles away from us I think. But yeah that's climate change for you. Never experienced anything like this in the 20+ years I have lived here in CT but here we are. Fun times.
Other than that not too much else new. Last weekend on Saturday we went to our friend Robin's 40th birthday party at Spacecat Brewery in Norwalk followed by some wine at Rizzutos. And on Sunday we went to see the new (well it's like a month old at this point lol) Guardians Marvel movie. Had a good time and I thought it was a good closure to the trilogy. Afterwards we tried out Farmboys and had some BBQ. Been meaning to try out that place for ages. Glad we finally did.
No huge plans for this upcoming weekend so far. Will need to see what happens with the weather/fires too because if it stays like that we definitely don't want to do anything outside.
Going to curl up with Laura Childs newest tea shop mystery "Lemon Curd Killer" now. :)
Mail Update: Received a letter from/owe a response to: Eunice/Malta, Celia/MA and Nina/WA.
Posted by Hanna at 04:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)