friday night

j's previous residence was in a little town where we could walk to about 3 restaurants. since he moved last month we've been wanting to walk down to keswick village and check out a couple places. it takes less than 10 minutes to get there and the houses & shops are really cute!

so last night his college friends came to hang out and we walked down to the corner tavern for dinner. the place was jam-packed & super loud. we decided not to wait 40 minutes, so we walked a little further to a pizza place. unfortunately it didn't have any inside seating and the outside tables were full... but then we looked across the street and saw 6 giant picnic tables outside the local florist. awesome!

four of us ate dinner for around 20 bucks: pizza, garlic bread, 2 liter.

afterwards we took a really long walk around j's new neighborhood~

good advice

last night j. and i were talking about/planning the coming week. i reminded him that we're supposed to bring dinner to his neighbor family who lost their husband/father recently. when i said i was brainstorming what to make, j. asked if i knew how to cook lasagna. i said i didn't, really, but i could try. his response was so perfect. here's the gist:

"well, i know last week when you were trying to cook that chicken for the first time, and melissa and kristine were over, you were really stressed. i know you care about how your food turns out and you want people to like your cooking. and it's less pressure if you're just cooking for me. so i think you should try to experiment mostly when it's just us. because then you won't be so stressed or overwhelmed."

dang.

good. point. fiance.

nelson vacation

j. and i spent a couple days with my bro & parents last weekend. it was lots of fun to hang out with them, go white-water rafting, see "inception", and show j. all my old haunts.

we got to have a picnic/play time with one of my fav families. they have 6 awesome kids and we had a great time playing crazy games together.

when we were leaving the rafting place, my mom reminded me that she's been brainstorming about an ongoing nelson fam summer vacation at lake luzerne. she wants that to become our tradition, so when j & i have kids and when al gets married and has kids, we can all have a house on the lake together!

sweet vacation rental site!

i just stumbled across this awesome website via cup of jo [which i read compulsively!]

all of a sudden j. and i are talking about next summer! we already have tons planned... U2 concert that got canceled this summer. camping in michigan's upper peninsula with his college friends. my college friends reunion trip in south carolina. beach week with my extended fam in north carolina. seeing both sets of parents and brothers.

if by some chance we have time and money left over, i'm going to suggest that we take a little vacation just the two of us... i'm dreaming of new orleans and the website mentioned above just happens to have beatiful vay-k rentals in new orleans. what a coincidence!

here's my fav so far:

last day

i do not want to go to work today.

i want to stay in my new red running shorts/tank top all morning. i want to look at blogs. i want to eat delicious zucchini muffins. after a while i want to take a nap. and i want to cook a delicious dinner for my bff and my fiance. then i want to scrape the front porch of my fiance's new house. then i want to take a walk in his/our new neighborhood. then i want to make a smoothie in our new blender and relax in the cutie living room.

today is my last day ever teaching ESL to adults. i don't want it to start & i don't want it to end.

[edit: we still have 2 weeks left of our summer program, but i'll be working with kids. that's why today's my last day teaching adults!]

road trip: athol

on sunday we had an awesome cookout on a lake and invited all our athol friends/family. we probably had at least 40 people in attendance. i was too busy having fun to take many pictures, but the afternoon began with food preparation and ended with a softball game. both are documented, but the in-between times were not...

road trip: boston

some of my philadelphia friends & i just took a whirlwind road trip to providence, boston and athol, massachusetts. we were gone just over 48 hours and jam packed a LOT of fun into those two short days.

night 1: my parents' house in providence for a sleepover and delicious breakfast
day 1: boston: quincy market, freedom trail/old churches/cemeteries, harvard

food & fun

last night i made fajitas for the first time. it was super duper easy because i just bought a little packet of seasoning and followed the directions. we used chicken, green peppers, salsa, lettuce, sharp cheddar cheese, and tortillas warmed in the microwave. yum!

while i was cooking, j. went for a run and then did some stuff outside. the house seriously looks SO good! we hung that thrift store mirror on the wall & covered the funny couches with solid colored sheets. there's a chance j. won't be able to paint outside for work today, so he might paint the fireplace!

last night when i came home everyone was watching baseball and the delicious scent of bacon hung in the air. i used the leftovers for a BLT in my lunch today & i can't wait to eat it. [hmmm, i'm noticing a food theme here...]

melissa & i have a YMCA membership which we'll use this afternoon to swim in their outdoor pool. apparently you can invite up to three people for free, so we're checking it out to see if we wanna have a mini party there sometime this summer.

i'm finally getting excited for our new england road trip this weekend! 7 of my closest friends are going with me to mom/dad's house, then to boston for the day, then to massachusetts. should be a fun fun time.

mata ne

this sign is no longer in my bedroom:it currently hangs above the mantle in j's new house. which will be my house, too, in just over 4 months!!!!!!

the house is coming together! i spent a few hours there this afternoon while waiting for the GE guy to come fix the brand new washer & then again while waiting for the Lowe's guy to come deliver the new dryer. unfortunately, the dryer needs a longer vent tube before it's actually good to go. i feel bad that j will have to put that in basically as soon as he gets home from vacation... bummer.

anyway, i'm dying to take more photos of the house, but i haven't done it yet. for some reason it feels weird to take pictures when i'm not living there & it's not technically my house yet. plus, as soon as all the deliveries were made, i high-tailed it home. i don't like being at the house by myself.

as i type this, j. is at the second part of his first bachelor party. his brother, dad, and guy friends took him to a detroit tigers game. last i heard, the tigers were winning; hope that doesn't change before the end of the night. it makes me so happy that his friends/family are taking good care of him and celebrating with him~

though i do miss him like crazy.

sumnmer 2010: field trip 1

we went to this totally rad playground & then to the bucks county zoo today. thinking that our students may be intimidated by the cost/distance of the philadelphia zoo, we introduced them to a little zoo in the suburbs. it was pretty small-- all indoors-- but had a good variety of unique animals. plus, the keepers walk around with animals [snakes, chinchillas, etc] that the kids can touch.

most of our day was spent running wild at the playground, but we had a great time with the animals, tambien.

so what's up?

coming home from vacation is always bittersweet. i love love love being home. but i miss the adrenaline and the break from routine that comes with vacation. plus i miss joel. don't judge me. i know it's only been 5 days. and i always rolled my eyes when girls said they missed their bf, way back in the day.

but i miss him. and i'm so excited for him to come home soon.

in other news, our summer program has started. i love working with the cutie kiddos!! today we're going to a small zoo and a park for our first friday field trip. these field trips are always fun & i'm going to take pictures of our adventures. the only down side is that today i'm wearing an extra cute outfit, but there will be no evidence of it because my co-worker doesn't really take pictures. dang. haha. [i realize that sounds incredibly shallow]

tonight i'm doing karaoke @ a japanese restaurant downtown with my friend linda. tomorrow i'm waiting around j's house for our dryer to get delivered and our washed to get repaired. then on sunday i get to see andrea & her baby eliza. so excited about that!

next post: our first of many dinner club nights. my friends & i started a plan to eat dinner together once a month, with everyone contributing to a unique theme. june= apples! here's a preview:and hey, if nobody hires me to teach elementary school maybe i should go to school for food photography. i would love to learn how to make this food look as delicious as it tasted!

vacation in grand rapids

j. and i spent 8 days on vacation with old friends and various members of his family. we visited his bro in cincinnati where we tried lots of delicious food, watched the phillies lose to the reds and hung out with hundreds of animals at the zoo. we also went to the beach [lake michigan!] on a gorgeous clear day,
watched really good fireworks, took walks, ate fam dinners, explored downtown grand rapids a little, talked, relaxed, and had our first wedding shower!

the trip included 15 hours in the car just the 2 of us. we still loved each other after all that driving... good sign, i'd say...

i decided that i could get used to seeing j. all day every day. good thing, huh? since that will be reality starting november 20th!!* last night i went to bed without saying goodnight. and this morning i ate breakfast without him. this could be a long long week; i think i'll try to stay busy.