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Monday, March 26, 2012

Crazy weather changes and some other mishmash of stuff

Garfield-springThe weather has turned more normal for this part of the season/month but since it has been so beautiful this past week and a half this cold rainy weather really doesn't make me happy. Today it's not raining at least but very windy so it feels even colder. And tonight it's going to drop down below freezing with frost. All the plants that started blooming will be very confused. 

Had to work Saturday but wasn't too bad of a day. On Sunday we originally wanted to go for another nice long walk but the weather didn't really cooperate with that. So instead we decided to have lunch at The Olive Market in Redding. We had a $20 Groupon (only paid $5) for it and our bill for lunch was only $5.50. Not bad. :) After that we stopped at the Little Pub for some dessert and drinks. I always enjoy the atmosphere there and since the weather was cool/rainy they also had the fireplace going which was nice. 

After that we headed back to Danbury. Stopped at Home Depot and Lowe's since we were looking for some new blinds/shades for the living room. We eventually found some nice looking blinds. They are a darker brown, made out of plastic but are supposed to look like wood. The ones made out of real wood were crazy expensive. These ones were still expensive considering we needed three for the three windows in the livingroom. Hopefully they will look nice. I will take pictures when we put them up. For now you can look at the link here. 

Tonight we are going to New York after work so I can attend the monthly "Austrians in NYC" get together organized through the consulate. Haven't been in ages so it will be fun to go and hang out with people. Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment to get some fillings done. Busy, busy. 

Mail Update: Letters went out today to: Jessica/DE and Celia/MA. Received letters from: Kimber/Halifax, Saya/Japan and Charles/TN.

 

Posted by Hanna at 10:09 AM in Food and Drink, Weather | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Happy Spring!

Spring-bedsetIt's officially the first day of spring. :) The weather has continued to stay very nice so definitely matches the spring feeling.

Had the day off today since I am working Saturday so I thought it would be a good idea to get some things done around the house. Got our spring bedset out since it's been so warm and the heavy covers really weren't great at night. Also changed the rest of the decorations around the house to match the season. After all that I had to vaccum, did three loads of laundry and then went outside to work in the yard for a couple of hours. Definitely a busy day.

Took a shower now and just working on some things on the computer. Updated the layout/design of my website to match spring as well. Will check on my emails in a bit and maybe read a few chapters. When Mike gets home we will walk to Two Steps for dinner. It's been so nice out so we have been taking advantage of that and decided to get more excercise by walking to the places we can easily walk to. I think I will definitely sleep well tonight. :)

Mail update: No letters have gone out. Still owe replies/received letters from: Jessica/DE, Kimber/Halifax.

Posted by Hanna at 04:11 PM in Outdoors, Weather | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, March 18, 2012

St. Patrick's Day Weekend

StPatrickWhat a nice weekend. The weather was really nice all weekend. We were off both Saturday & Sunday so what more can you want? :)

Yesterday, Saturday, I spent some time in the yard, working on an area in the front part of the house where I need to dig up some vines and clear up some old brush and stuff like that. Did that for about 2 1/2 hours and around 3pm we went to Two Steps for St. Patrick's Day. Met up with some friends and stayed there till about 9pm. Had fun hanging out eating (Mike had shepherds pie, I had a corned beef sandwich with swiss cheese and thousand island dressing) and drinking (Mike had Harp & Guiness and I had Magner's Cider) Here is a picture of me if you want to see.

Today we slept in and then went for a 5 mile walk around town. The weather was perfect, not too cold, not too hot. Stopped at TK's for lunch and then continued on home, a little more than a mile. So a little more than 6 miles all in all. Now we are home and will catch up on our recorded TV shows in a bit. I think I will treat myself with a Magnum ice cream in a minute. Yumm. :)

Mail update: No letters have gone out. Still owe replies/received letters from: Jessica/DE, Kimber/Halifax.

Posted by Hanna at 04:33 PM in Food and Drink, Outdoors, Weather, Yard Work | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Monday, March 12, 2012

Spring is in the air

SnowdropsI know it's not officially spring yet but the weather has definitely been very spring-like, especially yesterday. It's supposed to be nice and warm pretty much all week I think. Can't complain about that. :) 

Saturday I had to work but yesterday, Sunday, I took the opportunity to go out in the yard and work on some things. Dug up a bunch of weeds/vines. It's very slow progress and sometimes I feel like I will never get there but it was nice to be outside anyway. Felt nice to be outside in the sun.  I can definitely feel the after effects of using my arms a lot yesterday though. Maybe I need to get in better shape. :)

Now it's Monday and back to work. In more fun news we just decided to see "Of Monsters and Men" (an Icelandic band we recently discovered) in Rochester, NY on April 9th. It's a Monday so we will probably leave on Sunday and come back Tuesday. (about a 6 hr drive) Will be nice to be away for a couple of days again. 

Mail update: Letters went out last Thursday to: Tiffany/OK and Charles/TN. 

Posted by Hanna at 11:19 AM in Travel, Yard Work | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Monday, March 05, 2012

Hello again from Indy

OliverWineryHaving a really good time here in Indiana. Yesterday, Sunday, we went on a little scenic drive to Bloomington, Indiana. Walked around Bloomington for a bit and had lunch at the Irish Lion. Hung out there for a bit and then went to the Oliver Winery a bit outside of town. A really neat place. They have huge grounds in the back, a lake, patio, etc. I can see where it would be very pretty in the warmer months, having a picnic lunch out back. We did the wine tasting and really enjoyed all the wines we tasted. I have to say it was one of the better wineries we have been to. Ended up buying a case of wine to bring back to CT. Comes in handy to have a car sometimes. After the winery we went to Nashville, IN, walked around there for a bit and then back to Indianapolis. Had dinner at the Rock Bottom Brewery and some after dinner wine at the Tastings Wine Bar next door.

Today we had breakfast at Einstein Bagels, then walked to the zoo which is just across a bridge from downtown (about a mile and a half). Spent some time at the zoo where we saw a cute tiger and a bunch of hyper meerkats among other things. After the zoo we walked back downtown and had a snack and some drinks at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Now we are back at the hotel for a bit. In a little while we will head back out to walk towards the section of downtown where the theater is where we will see the Kooks later. Going to have dinner at Barcelon Tapas beforehand. 

Tomorrow we are off to Pittsburgh. Going to stop in Dayton, Ohio on the way to see the Airforce Museum. Definitely enjoying our time away from work.

Mail update:  Yesterday letters went out to  Celia/MA, Lotte/Denmark, Jessica/DE and Emilia/Finland. Still owe replies to: Tiffany/OK and Charles/TN.

Posted by Hanna at 03:41 PM in Food and Drink, Travel, Wine | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Saturday, March 03, 2012

Hello from Indianapolis

Roadtrip_640And here we are in Indianapolis. It's been a long day of driving but fun. We set the alarm for 2:45 and left the house about 3:30. Got here right around 4:30pm.  Long  day but at least it's still early enough where we can freshen up in our room and then head out for dinner and get a decent night of sleep afterwards.

Will probably head to the RAM Brewery & Restaurant for dinner. It's just three minutes from the hotel. Maybe we will stop at the Hard Rock Cafe for a drink afterwards. We will see.

Very happy to have today and the next four days off from work although we did already receive three work calls today driving here. But it's still more fun being away from work, makes things easier. :) Tomorrow we will probably take a ride out to Bloomington and Nashville, Indiana. Not sure what we will do Monday yet.

Mail update:  On the way here I wrote letters to:  Celia/MA, Lotte/Denmark, Jessica/DE and Emilia/Finland. Still owe replies to: Tiffany/OK and Charles/TN.

Posted by Hanna at 05:02 PM in Food and Drink, Travel | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack