THE MOVE TO NH!!!

Week of July 27th

The move has happened and it took only a week to settle in.  Luckily, we have a garage again, which is acting as storage for all of the stuff we chose not to unpack into our (hopefully) short-term housing here.  We've signed a 6-month lease, but may to renew once, as we search for a house!  It's nice to have more space - even though I'm not getting a chance to decorate.  It'll do for now, as we discover NH and prepare for winter-living again!

Spuds Trip to NY / Saying Goodbye to NY Friends

July 24th - July 26th

Well, while Aaron and I had become accustomed to and happy with the New Hampshire move, Spuds was sad.  He wanted to make one more trip into NYC while he had a free (close) place to stay.  I rode back from Vermont with him and his friend Ricky.  This was our last few days to pack up the apartment, work more on some of the wedding jobs I had to get done, and for us say good bye to some of our friends and old co-workers.

Aaron, Spuds, Ricky and I met up with my old boss, Alex, and my old co-worker, Matt at our usual meeting spot - Lazy Boy Saloon in White Plains.  We had some good beers, some good greasy foods and some good laughs. I'll miss our little gatherings here.


Friday - Spuds and Rickey headed into the city while Aaron and I stayed home to continue the horrible task of packing up our years of accrued possessions. (How did we ever live in only 500 sq. ft.????) Later in the day, we headed into the city to meet up with some of Aaron's old co-workers and their wives. Spuds and Ricky also met up with us here at the Boat Basin.

(Joe & Solimar)

(Mike & Rosann)

The rest of the weekend was a whirlwind of more packing, teetering piles of boxes and unorganized chaos. Spuds, Ricky and our friend Jeff helped us out and we were *almost* ready for the movers to arrive on Sunday!





Good-bye Tarrytown, New York!!! (We will miss our castle!)

Week in Vermont

July 19th - July 24th

I spent this week in Vermont while Aaron stayed in New York to pack up our apartment.  Some may think this is so wrong - but he's okay with the packing (and I'm not) and I'm okay with UNpacking (and he's not), so it was all okay.

This was also the week Shelley was due, and we were hoping she would have the baby while I was home.  We all know that didn't happen!  We all thought Shelley was small and Selena was already getting big, but this picture proves otherwise!

Selena, Cathryn, Anna, Matthew, Shelley, Tori and I spent a day together. We went to the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory for the tour, where the kids each chose their own stuffed animal to be made. And then it was time for ice cream at the Ben & Jerry's shop on Church Street. We all had a fun time.  

I was also trying to finish up THREE wedding jobs at this time. It was a good time to work on them away from the mess of the half-packed apartment back in Tarrytown!

Quick NH Trip

July 11th - July 12th

We drove up to New Hampshire on a Friday for a quick trip to meet Aaron's future co-worker, see Uncle Pete & Aunt Chris and check out the apartments owned by the same people as our Tarrytown apartment (this allowed us to avoid the penalty costs of breaking our lease early).  

Since Dan, (the future co-worker) hadn't gotten back to Aaron about meeting up before we left town, we didn't print out directions to the office.  He did call once we got on the road and was still up for meeting.  We picked a random exit off of 93 North on our way up to Gilford, and called Dan to let him know we were in town - we had taken the exit about 1/4 mile from the office!  Good guess!  After meeting Dan, he drove us in a giant loop around downtown Manchester and to the Country Club for some drinks.  At this point, Aaron was a bit worried about the new job ...

We headed up to see pete & Chris a bit later than we had hoped, but we made it there!  After a tour of all of their hard work on their house, we enjoyed dinner, then a Wendy's Frosty run, and brunch the next morning.  Quick visit - but glad to know they're only an hour up the road.

We did see Chris Hanson, one of our table-mates from our Honeymoon cruise, for a quick 30 minutes before leaving town!

We saw some apartments, signed a 6-month lease and headed east on 101 to hit Hampton Beach before going back to NY.  Boy, is that some cold water!  

(I think Aaron will fit in here just fine!)

It was only a day and a half, but we met Dan, saw Pete, Chris and Chris AND know we'll have a place to live in Manchester!

4th of July Weekend in VT

We headed up to VT for the July 4th weekend ... had a relaxing time at the house making S'mores over the fire pit, meals outside with the nice weather, and watching the Bay Day race.

Aaron and Spuds have talked about making up a team for years, and this year, they finally did it!  They were team "My Moms Cooks Good" (though in the results posted in the Messenger, it was plain old "My Mom Cooks Good" ... so wrong).  The team did pretty good - Spuds finished the run and Aaron enjoyed the biking and can't wait to get his own road bike.  It was also great to have good weather this year so the whole race could go on.

Aaron and I also took Tori down to the St. Albans fireworks. I haven't been in yeeears, and boy, some things never change (boy, the people you see down there!!) We spoiled Tori with her favorites - Mike & Ikes and orange soda. They put on a good show, and we were smart enough to head back to the car to beat the traffic just before the finale ... that was Tori's favorite.

We also got to meet the new addition to the family - Spuds' puppy Krete!

Senesac Girls Visit to NYC

June 27th - June 29th

The Senesac girls (Selena, Cathryn, Anna, Angela & Gracie) made their annual NYC trip this year - with a couple of additions - Penny and Lauren!  They decided to stay at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in downtown Manhattan this year instead of traveling in on the Metro-North from Tarrytown.  Selena asked me to join them in the city.  

They arrived Friday afternoon - and after enjoying some of the birthday cake they brought for me, we headed down to the hotel via public transportation.  The Metro ride wasn't the tough part - it was getting the girls and all of the luggage through the streets from Grand Central to Penn Station and the subway station there and at Chambers Street ... but we did it!  After dropping the bags, we grabbed a bite to eat, and strolled through downtown a bit along the Hudson River.


Saturday morning, we got in line for the Statue of Liberty - something Aaron and I never even did over the two years we lived right by it.  After standing in line for almost an hour, we got on the boat and headed out.  It was a nice (hot) day and worth the wait - she doesn't seem to big until you get out to it and look up.



After that, we walked by Ground Zero, headed over to Pier 17 to grab some lunch, take in the views of the Brooklyn Bridge (and the waterfalls that were put up along the East River) and stock up on some sugar at the candy store!  And then we were off to Times Square to see the night lights and for the girls to go on the ferris wheel in Toys R Us.  Then we all crashed after the hot and busy day.



Sunday wasn't the greatest weather-wise ... and we ended up in the middle of the Gay Pride Parade on Fifth Avenue!!  But it was a NYC-packed day regardless.  Penny and Lauren went up to the top of the Empire State Building as the rest of us headed to where else but the American Girl store!  After each of the little ones picked out some new outfits and accessories for their dolls, we watched a bit of the parade in the rain as we waited for Penny and Lauren before heading up to FAO Schwartz and Central Park.  We didn't get the weather we hoped for to relax in the park, but we did decide to see the park by riding in the horse-drawn carriages.  That was a new experience for all of us as well.




It was time to head back to Tarrytown - where I went back home to discuss the offers Aaron had been given for the new NH job, and the girls stayed in the nice renovated Double Tree for the night before headed back to VT.

Another weekend in the big city gone by!

Finger Lakes Weekend

June 20th - June 22nd

Our friends Chuck and Amy (from our Syracuse days) invited us down to their family camp on Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes for this weekend.  We were so excited to get back down to this area and spend some time with them.  We arrived at the camp - and saw that they had their big dog with them ... I didn't think I was going to be able to get out of the car let alone spend a weekend there!  But in the end, Satchel and I were good pals (I was even taking him out for his "breaks"!)




We enjoyed a nice dinner at The Stonecat Cafe (where I tried a fried pickle!) and then headed to Wagner Vineyards for some beer and to listen to their Friday night band on the deck as the sun was setting.  The band was an older woman, Alice Detrick, who sang some old and new country - it was actually pretty good.  


Saturday, Aaron and Chuck went out for some golf while Amy and I hung out at the camp.  It was relaxing to wake up to the water and just hang out with a good book.  After that, we hit the wineries!!  We stopped at 8 wineries on the east side Seneca Lake and west side of Cayuga Lakes.  Chuck and I got our faces painted at the first stop! We had a great time and Aaron and I were able to stock up on the wines we're not able to buy in New York to fill our wine reserve.  After that, we made a big meal at the camp and relaxed on the back deck.  




Sunday morning, Chuck and Aaron set off for another round of golf while Amy and I hit up some antique shops.  We did make a pinnacle trophy for the winner of today's golf round - and went to the course to watch their last few holes and present the trophy to the winner - it was Chuck Love!  (Yes, that's his real name!)


After a relaxing, laughter-filled weekend with them, it was time for Aaron and I to head back to New York.  We said our goodbyes and stopped at Taughannock Falls on the way home. We were bummed we didn't have time to hike down, but said we'll do it "next time."


Chuck and Amy are ready to visit us in NH this year and we hope to keep the visits going and are looking forward to the wineries again next year!!