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Saturday, June 30, 2007

Busy weekend - it's fun to have visitors

Thought I would make a quick post about our day. I think I mentioned in a previous post that my friend Linda and her son Garett are here on the East Coast visiting from CA (I stayed with them for a year when I lived in CA for a year in 98-99). Linda's parents live in New Jersey so they are staying there, visiting with some other relatives and so on. This weekend they came to NYC so we met up with them there.

It was great to see them again. It's weird seeing them in NYC though as we usually meet up in CA. :) We had a good day even though it was pretty hot but at least the humidity has gone away. Started out in midtown and headed down to South Street Seaport, then to Chelsea Market. Afterwards we walked down Bleeker Street to look for Magnolia Bakery where we had cupcakes and cheesecake. Very yummy. :) Continued walking through the Village and eventually ended up at Arturo's where we had pizza.

After our pizza we headed back to midtown, did a final loop through Times Square and then walked to the Port Authority with them where they caught their bus back to NJ. As a spur of the moment thing we decided to go and see a baseball game in Philadelphia tomorrow (they are actually playing the NY Mets) After the game we are going to stop at Linda's parents house in Medford, NJ. It will be nice to see them again. Promise to post pictures of our get together soon.

Mail Update: Since my last update letters have gone out to: Fiona/Scotland, Tizz/Denmark, Celia/MA and Syvil/PA. Wrote a letter today to Pamela/Florida. Received letters from/owe replies to: Kimber/Canada and Alex/Spain.

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Friday, June 29, 2007

I am from Austria

This video just made me cry ... I wish I could explain it better. It's basically from a memorial concert for Georg Danzer (a famous Austrian musician) who died a few days ago due to lung cancer. Rainhard Fendrich who was a good friend and fellow musician is singing at this concert at the Danube Island Festival last weekend and the crowd reaction and song is just bringing tears to my eyes. Maybe you have to be able to understand German or maybe you have to be Austrian to understand ... either way ... it made for a very sentimental moment on my overworked long Friday evening.

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Sunday, June 24, 2007

Happy Birthday Kristina !

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Kristina !

Wishing the best sister-in-law on the planet a wonderful birthday. It looks like it will be a gorgeous day outside today so just kick back, relax and enjoy it. :)

We're off to a baseball game in the city and pizza at Arturo's. But will see you after that. :)

Posted by Hanna at 08:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Beautiful Saturday

Another week gone by. This past week has been very busy and really seemed to drag and last forever. We ended up going out for dinner pretty much every night ... I really need to get back into the routine of cooking more meals at home. So tonight I am making "Spicy Brown Rice with Shrimp" with sauteed mushrooms on the side. I have made this once before and it was very yummy so it should be good. :)

Not much else going on I suppose. At work I have been preparing for the upcoming 4th of July holiday and juggling all sorts of problems with school and camp deliveries as the schools are now closing up and the camps are opening up.

In my little spare time I have been reading the 4th book in the "Anne of Green Gables" series and am getting close to being done. Really enjoying it so far. Tomorrow we are going to a Mets baseball game in NYC and then to Arturo's for pizza afterwards. Yumm.

The one exciting thing that happened this week was a surprise call from my friend Linda from California who is visiting her parents in New Jersey at the moment. Linda and her son Garett will be in NYC Friday and Saturday next week so we will meet up with them. Really looking forward to that. :)

Mail Update: Since my last update a letter went out to: Nicki/OZ and Cheryl/Mauritius. Received letters from/owe replies to: Celia/MA, Tizz/Denmark, Fiona/Scotland, Syvil/PA, Kimber/Canada and Alex/Spain.

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Sunday, June 17, 2007

Much much better mood .... life is good

So I managed to snap out of the horrible mood I was in on Thursday which is good. :) In the end I was able to take part of the day off on Friday. Things were pretty crazy at work but I decided to put my needs first for once. I stayed until about 1:30 p.m., instructed everybody on what to do and then went home. I cuddled Oliver for a little bit and then went straight to my mail pile. I did pretty well and got 5 letters done by the time Mike got home. We then watched the Mets-Yankees game and had cheese + crackers for dinner. A nice Friday evening. :)

Saturday we were able to sleep in which was nice. Then went to have lunch at Cosi in Stamford, CT. I had the Bombay Chicken salad (mixed greens with roasted red peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and red onions topped with Tandoori chicken breast) with balsamic vinaigrette. Super yummy. :) Stopped at Starbucks afterwards and then went to work at about 2 p.m. Got out at about 6 p.m.

Today I am going to try and catch up with some of my emails and then maybe some more of my letters. Right now I "only" have 6 more letters to write so if I can get a few more done today it would be very nice.

Mail Update: As of right now on Monday letters are going out to: Lotte/Denmark (yes I am finally mailing it), Charmaine/Malta, Carmen/Malta, Steff/Maine, Carmen/Germany, Charles,TN, Jessica/DE and Nina/WA. Received letters from/owe replies to: Fiona/Scotland, Syvil/PA, Nicki/OZ, Kimber/Canada, Alex/Spain and Cheryl/Mauritius. 

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Thursday, June 14, 2007

Please let me snap out of this mood

Just a short post while I am waiting for Mike to finish up here at work. It's been somewhat of an annoying day and I am just trying to snap out of the mood I am in. I am just plain cranky. I guess it all started this morning when I got to work and realized that I wouldn't be able to leave at noon as planned. I am working 1/2 a day on Saturday so was planning on taking the afternoon off today to make up for it. Well, needless to say things didn't go as planned.

So anybody waiting for a letter .... I am really sorry I am so behind. I totally was planning on catching up with a bunch of mail this afternoon. I really want to catch up so I can stop being constantly behind with my mail but this week just hasn't helped. I am already at 40 hours and it's only Thursday. Oh well ... such is life I suppose.

Mail Update: Since my last update I wrote letters to: Lotte/Denmark (still need to mail it though). Received letters from/owe replies to: Charmaine/Malta, Syvil/PA, Nicki/OZ, Carmen/Malta, Steff/Maine, Carmen/Germany, Charles,TN, Jessica/DE, Kimber/Canada, Nina/WA, Alex/Spain and Cheryl/Mauritius.  *** I am probably missing somebody ... I will edit this when I get home ***

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Sunday, June 10, 2007

A day in NYC and letter writing

I think that weekends fly by much faster than regular weekdays - that's my theory for the day. :)
Anyway ... today was mostly spent with browsing the web, catching up with some of my magazines and writing letters. I somewhat managed to make a dent in my mail pile but I still have loads more to go. If you are waiting for a letter from me I apologize in advance for taking so long to reply.

Yesterday was a nice day even though it was kind of humid and muggy out. We went down to NYC and checked out the Frick Collection on the Upper East Side. I got this little blurb about it off a website. "The Frick Collection is located in the former mansion of Mr. Frick, whose private art collection was made into a museum after his death in the early twentieth century; the museum is designed to feel more like a private home than a public place."

After the museum we walked down to Grand Central, had some drinks at a restaurant/bar called Tequilaville and then went on to have pizza at PINCH (Pizza by the inch). When we got there they weren't open yet so we went to have another drink at the bar of a Brazilian steakhouse. I have to say I had the yummiest martini there I have had in a long time. :) It was called "Pink Paradise" and was absolutely delicious. :) We might have to check out the place for dinner some time.
Afterwards we went back to PINCH where we had our pizza. They sell their pizzas in squares by the inch which is a pretty unique concept I thought. The pizza was yummy even though of course not as good as Arturo's but hey I always love to try new stuff. :)

Mail Update: Since my last update I wrote letters to: Nadine/Tenerife, Lene/UK, Sarah/Canada, Michelle/Canada, Tizz/Denmark and Becki/MI. Received letters from/owe replies to: Carmen/Malta, Lotte/Denmark, Steff/Maine, Carmen/Germany, Charles,TN, Jessica/DE, Kimber/Canada, Nina/WA, Alex/Spain and Cheryl/Mauritius. 

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Friday, June 08, 2007

Another week

So I have managed to get through another week. Looks like it's going to be a fairly long day at work today. Mike is working on a project with our distribution department, switching routes and delivery days around, switching customers between our Danbury and Rock Hill branch to make everything more efficient.

Not too much else has happened this past week really. I still want an American Curl kitten but we will probably wait till at least the fall. Besides that all's about the same. I finished reading "Can you keep a secret ?" by Sophie Kinsella which I really liked. Sorry this is such a boring post. I just felt like I should update even though nothing much has really been going on. I am just glad that tomorrow is Saturday and I am off on Saturday and Sunday. Yay. :)

Mail Update: Since my last update I wrote letters to: Caroline/Scotland, Eunice/Malta, Jetta/Finland, Celia/MA. Received letters from/owe replies to: Lotte/Denmark, Steff/Maine, Carmen/Germany, Becki/MI, Tizz/Denmark, Charles,TN, Jessica/DE, Kimber/Canada, Nadine/Tenerife, Nina/WA, Alex/Spain, Lene/UK, Sarah/Canada, Michelle/Canada and Cheryl/Mauritius.  *** Sorry -- I am getting behind on my mail again -- I'll try to catch up soon. ***

Posted by Hanna at 05:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, June 01, 2007

American Curl

So somehow this week has both dragged and flown by. I can't really explain it. I am glad it's Friday but I still have to work on Saturday which I am really not looking forward to. But I can't complain since I had the 3-day weekend last weekend (which flew by way too quickly)

Yesterday I developed a new obsession by the way. :) I am determined to get an "American Curl" kitten. I saw the breed in my daily cat calendar and have absolutely fallen in love.

Here's a small excerpt from their description from a website I found: "The Curl personality is truly unique. If not sleeping up high somewhere in a large salad bowl, figuring out with great determination just how to get into the shower with you, or assuming their spot right in front of a favorite TV show, they are patting at your glasses while you try to read the paper. Needless to say, Curls are very people-oriented, faithful, affectionate soulmates adjusting remarkably fast to other pets, children, and new situations. People say they are very dog-like in their attentiveness to their owners, following them around so not to miss anything. When introduced into a new home, Curl's seem to have an inherent respect for the current pet occupants, giving them plenty of room to adjust to the new kid on the block. Not overly talkative, the Curl's curiosity and intelligence is expressed through little trill-like cooing sounds. Because they retain their kitten-like personality well throughout adulthood, they are referred to as the Peter Pan of felines."

I really wish we could get an American Curl kitten. :) I am not sure how much Oliver would be in love with a kitten though. I am looking at breeders anyway, just to see how much they would charge and to get more info. It doesn't hurt to dream, right ?

Mail Update: Since my last update I wrote letters to: Lexi/DC and Pamela/Florida. Received letters from/owe replies to: Caroline/Scotland, Kimber/Canada, Nadine/Tenerife, Nina/WA, Alex/Spain, Eunice/Malta, Lene/UK, Jetta/Finland, Sarah/Canada, Michelle/Canada and Cheryl/Mauritius.

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