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Sunday, October 30, 2011
October Snow and Ballroom Dancing
Halloween weekend and our house looks like a Christmas postcard. Never had snow at this time of the year the whole 10 years I have been here. Pretty crazy. Shoveled this morning, the snow was the heavy/wet kind that takes a lot of effort to shovel too.
Yesterday I went to New Haven with my friend Jana for her ballroom dance competition. Her and her dance partner made first place in one of the entries and 3rd place in the other one. It was a fun day but coming home in the snow was a pain. We took it slow and made it home eventually. Saw a bunch of down trees and really low hanging power/phone lines on our way though.
Speaking of power issues, lots and lots of people are without power after this storm. Since all the trees still had most of their leaves on them they got weighed down even more with the heavy snow. Two of our offices at work do not have power at the moment so Mike had to go in and help set up a generator to print paper tickets for tomorrow's deliveries, then drive to Newburgh, NY to deliver the tickets there. Let's see what tomorrow brings but I have a feeling it will be an interesting Monday to say the least.
Short mail update for today. Received letters from: Nina/WA and Celia/MA.
Posted by Hanna at 05:05 PM in Weather, Work Stories | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Monday, October 24, 2011
Birthday Post
And we are back to reality. Had a wonderful weekend though, couldn't have had better luck with the weather.
On Saturday we checked out a bunch of nature trails in the area and walked close to 6 miles. So much pretty scenery, mashes, dunes, swamps, etc. And with it being off season there are WAY less people, makes it so much more enjoyable.
Sunday we had breakfast at the inn, then stopped in Newport, Rhode Island. Always enjoy being there. Had lunch at the Red Parrot and walked around a little, browsing through the shops, people watching, etc. And still managed to get home before 6pm and had time to catch up on some of our TV shows. Very nice weekend.
Today it's my birthday. Back to work unfortunately but what can you do? After work we are going to meet up with a bunch of friends at TKs. Yay for free wings. I guess there is one good thing about getting older. More wings. :)
Short mail update for today. Letters going out today to: Lotte/Denmark, Jessica/DE, Sayaka/Japan and Charles/TN. Received letters from: Nina/WA and Celia/MA.
Posted by Hanna at 07:27 AM in Food and Drink, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Friday, October 21, 2011
Hello from Provincetown
Yay for three days off. Arrived in Provincetown a little after 12:30pm (about a 4 1/2 hr drive), just in time for lunch. Checked in at our bed and breakfast, the lovely White Porch Inn. Our room is really nice (flat screen TV, gas fireplace, jacuzzi tub) Had lunch at the Central House at the Crown, then walked all up and down Commercial Street, people watching, buying a few souvenirs etc. A lot of the shops have 50% end of season sales right now. Was able to snag up a nice hoodie sweatshirt for $19.99.
Right now we are back at the room relaxing for a bit before we head out for dinner later. Tomorrow we will probably explore the area some more, check out some nature trails etc. The weather has been perfect fall weather this weekend so far. Around 60F (19C) and sunny, just a tad breezy. Definitely the perfect weekend so far.
Short mail update for today. Letters going out soon to: Lotte/Denmark, Jessica/DE and Charles/TN. Received letters from: Nina/WA, Sayaka/Japan and Celia/MA.
Posted by Hanna at 03:52 PM in Food and Drink, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Monday, October 17, 2011
NYC Sunday
Another busy week last week. Worked 6 days. Saturday was a shorter day though, till about 2, which was nice. After work Saturday we went for lunch at TKs, then came home and caught up on our shows. We are actually all caught up on our shows now. The last few years we always ended up weeks behind on everything but this year we have managed to keep up so far which is good.
Yesterday, Sunday, Mike & I decided to go into NYC and check out the Austrian pop-up store. What an odd little place. It was set up in some type of gallery space it looked like. They had some paintings on loan from the art museum in Vienna and a small Sacher cafe. Complete with original Sacher dishes, sugar packets, etc. Had some Sachertorte and Melange (sort of like cappuchino).
Afterwards we had originally planned to go to Cafe Steinhof (Austrian restaurant) in Brooklyn but then walked near Arturo's (Italian pizza place) and figured we hadn't been there in ages so we went there instead. Yummy pizza and the best mussels in wine sauce.
Next weekend we are going to Cape Cod, Provincetown to be exact, for the weekend (Fr-Sun). Planned that sort of last minute as a small getaway for my birthday (the following Monday 24th). We are staying at this really nice place called the White Porch Inn. Lovely room with a jacuzzi tub. Yay. Cape Cod is so much more affordable in off season. During the summer it's crazy expensive.
In other news Mike's sister and nephew are temporarily staying with us while she saves some money for a new car. It's convenient in some ways as we have someone at home all the time now who can watch/feed the cats, help around the house etc. The only thing that's a bit of an issue at the moment is Kristina's cat. Our three cats are none too pleased that he is here. I guess they will calm down eventually.
Short mail update for today. Received letters from: Lotte/Denmark, Nina/WA, Sayaka/Japan and Celia/MA.
Posted by Hanna at 07:17 AM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Sunday, October 09, 2011
Garlic Festival Weekend
And another Sunday evening already. Had an ok week. Our friend who moved down to Georgia about five years ago is here to visit. He arrived on Wednesday night so we picked him up from the airport, then had a late dinner at TKs. Thursday night we brought him along to our weekly trivia night at Two Steps. During the day and over the weekend he has also spent time with friends and family members in the area. Right now he is spending some time with his sister and aunt in NY state, then heading back over to our place.
Mike & I had to work yesterday, the had some lunch and caught up our TV shows during the evening. Today was an absolutely beautiful day. Mid 80ies and not a cloud in the sky. Went to the CT Garlic & Harvest Festival which was fun. Walked around trying all the different dips, oils, breads, cheeses, etc. Bought some garlic pesto and some ciabatta bread.
When we were done there we had lunch at the White Horse pub in Marbeldale, CT. It was a great day to sit outside on the back deck, close to the stream, enjoying some drinks and great food.
Tomorrow it's already Monday and back to work again. Our friend is also leaving, heading back to Georgia, so we will need to give him a ride back to the airport in the evening. Have someone new starting at work tomorrow too so will be in training mode. I am sure it will be a busy day.
Short mail update for today. Received letters from: Lotte/Denmark, Nina/WA, Sayaka/Japan and Celia/MA.
Posted by Hanna at 05:27 PM in Food and Drink | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Monday, October 03, 2011
Flight Experience
The first weekend in a long time where we had both Saturday and Sunday off and weren't away on vacation. Nice to be able to sleep in on both days.
On Saturday we had an errand and cleaning day. Started to get everything ready for a visit of a friend who will be here on Wednesday, staying until Monday the week after. He will be staying with us for most of the time while he is here so we needed to declutter and clean up some things.
Then Sunday we drove up to Hartford for a flight experience. This was Mike's Christmas gift from last year and we finally got around to scheduling it. Here is the link if you are interested in checking it out. Luckily the weather cleared up by the time our flight time rolled around. Did the whole pre-flight check with the instructor and then had about 30 min. in the air. Mike was behind the controls the whole time. On the first take off the instructor was still a little more cautious but after he realized Mike kind of knew what he was doing he let him land and take off by himself 2 more times. He has over 200 hours of flight experience, it just goes back to about 15 years ago. But I guess it's kind of like riding a bike, it comes back to you. For me this was my frst flight in a small plane. Not quite sure but I guess I could get used to it. :) And after the flight we drove over to downtown Hartford and had lunch at the CitySteam brewery there. Fun place to hang out for a while.
Short mail update for today. Received letters from: Sayaka/Japan and Celia/MA.
Posted by Hanna at 07:09 AM in Food and Drink, Outdoors | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack