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Monday, April 30, 2012

Niagara Falls Weekend & More

Anneliese+Hanna-NiagaraSo Anneliese arrived on Thursday last week and the days she has been here have definitely flown by. Thursday wpicked her up from the airport, Friday was a shopping day at the mall. 

Then Saturday we left for Niagara Falls, about a 7 1/2 hour drive from where we are. We looked at the falls quickly, then had dinner at the Hard Rock. On Sunday we spent the whole day sightseeing, did the Maid of the Mist boat tour in the morning and the Behind the Falls tour in the afternoon. Did some shopping and went to the hotel to relax for a bit. Then at night we had some snacks and dinner to wait for sunset and after that we went to look at the falls again after they were illuminated. They look really neat at night when they are all lit up in different colors. 

Tomorrow is going to be another quiet day for her at home while we catch up a bit at work. Wednesday and Thursday I plan on taking off from work, showing her around New York City (Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, ... all that) So we are definitely keeping busy. Should be fun though. :)

Next weekend we are heading to Washington DC Saturday-Monday so that should be busy and fun too. And we also want to head to New York City for a night view of Times Square on either Tuesday or Wednesday next week as well. Keeping busy. :)

Mail Update: Letters went out today to: Lotte/Denmark and Charles/TN. Tomorrow a letter is going out to: Kimber/Halifax. 

Posted by Hanna at 10:21 PM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Two Steps Chili Cook-Off

Two Steps downtown bar and grille CT_fullHad the whole weekend off which was nice. On Saturday I did some work outside, cleared a bunch of the yard (a lot of the trees which were already on their last breath fell during the freak October snow storm last year) of broken tree limbs, branches and other stuff. Worked for about three hours. Then I came inside and cleaned some stuff in the house. We are getting close to my friend Anneliese's visit so we are using that as an excuse for a good spring clean in the house. :) 

Today we slept in again and then went to the annual chili contest at Two Steps. They had 14 different people making chili so it was fun to taste the different kinds and hang out. Went grocery shopping before that and now we are home catching up on some of our shows. The weather has been god awful all day, cold and rainy, but it doesn't really matter all that much. I know we need the rain. 

Only a few more days until Anneliese gets here. Really excited. :) Not too much else going on otherwise. Friday night we were invited over to one of our bosses' houses which was interesting. Saturday night we went to Bluu and ran into our friends John & Jana by total accident which was fun. Had dinner with them before they went to catch a show at a local theater in Brewster, NY. So all in all it's been a fun few days I suppose. 

 Mail Update: Received letters from: Kimber/Halifax and Lotte/Denmark.

 

Posted by Hanna at 07:57 PM in Food and Drink | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Spring Weekend

SaladWhat a gorgeous weekend. Had to work yesterday but today we were able to enjoy the beautiful weather. Decided to take advantage of the nice weather and went to Rizzuto's for lunch on their patio. Had a lovely salad. Yumm. Tomorrow it's supposed to get up to 88F (31C) but then it's going to go back down into the 60ies (16C) midweek which is more normal for this time of the year. After lunch we ran some errands, grocery shopping etc. Then did a few things around the house, taxes, etc. Will catch up with our recorded shows in a bit.

Enjoyed the rest of our stay in Rochester last weekend. On Monday we took a drive along the shore of Lake Ontario on the Seaway Trail. Lots of pretty views. Had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in Niagara Falls and then drove way back to Rochester. Monday night we went to see "Of Monsters and Men". A really good show. And then on Tuesday we drove back to Connecticut.

Only a week and a half to go before my friend Anneliese from Austria gets here now. Looking forward to her visit. Good excuse for a nice spring clean for our house too. Will do that over the next week to get things nice and ready for her stay. It's the first time for her in the United States so it will be fun to show her around, take her to New York City etc. WIll also do weekend trips to Niagara and Washington DC. Should be fun. :)

 Mail Update: A letter went out to: Sanya/Japan on Wednesday and one is going out tomorrow to: Celia/MA. Received letters from: Kimber/Halifax and Lotte/Denmark.

 

Posted by Hanna at 07:20 PM in Food and Drink, Outdoors, Travel, Weather | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, April 08, 2012

Happy Easter from Rochester

Genesee Riverway Trail-LighthouseHello from our weekend trip to Rochester. So far it's been a very nice weekend. We left on Saturday morning around 7:30 and made it to the Finger Lakes by lunch time. Had a delicious lunch at Dano's Heurigen (you can click here for a picture of my schnitzel  -- yumm). It's right on Seneca Lake with beautiful views over the rolling vineyards and the lake. 

After lunch we continued to Rochester, another hour and a half or so. Checked in at the hotel for a bit, relaxed and then went to dinner at Tap and Mallet. After dinner there we went to the Solera Wine Bar, had a few glasses of wine there and then back to the hotel.

Today we decided to go for a walk along the Genesee Riverway Trail. Ended up doing about 5 1/2 miles roundtrip. Lots of pretty views, boardwalk over the water, marshes and also out to the pier on Lake Ontario. Then afterwards we went to the zoo in the afternoon which was also fun. Great weather today so definitely can't complain.

Not sure what we are doing during the day tomorrow. At night we have the "Of Monsters and Men" show. Then on Tuesday we are heading back home. 

 Mail Update: Letters should go out soon to: Carmen/Malta and Charle/TN (just need to find a mailbox). Received letters from: Kimber/Halifax, and Saya/Japan.

 

Posted by Hanna at 03:51 PM in Food and Drink, Outdoors, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, April 01, 2012

Lost Voice Weekend

Sore_ThroatAnother weekend gone by too fast. It doesn't help that I have been dealing with a sore throat/cough since Thursday. On Friday at work I could barely talk at all which isn't good when my work day normally has a large part of phone work involved. Instead I tried to focus on some other things, work on spreadsheets etc. It's a little better now but it's still bothering me, especially the cough. Super annoying. 

On Saturday we slept in really late and then worked on putting our new blinds up. As usual it was a huge pain. The installation instructions that came with it were useless, one of the drill bits broke and it was just a huge hassle. I need to go to the craft store tomorrow and look for some sort of bead type thing we can put on the end of the cords (the ones you use to pull the blinds up and down) We cut them because they were way too long and were getting tangled all the time. But now I need to find something new to put on the end of them.

Today we slept in again, then went to have breakfast and ran some errands, grocery shopping etc. Now we are back home and will catch up on our recorded TV in a bit. The weather has been cool and rainy so really not great outdoor weather. Hopefully it will be nicer next weekend when we go to Rochester.

Mail Update: No letters have gone out. Received letters from: Carmen/Malta, Kimber/Halifax, Saya/Japan and Charles/TN.

 

Posted by Hanna at 01:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack