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January 30, 2008
Winston And George Disapprove
The world famous Winston and George are on Disapproving Rabbits again! This time, as little baby bunnies. They're adorable, so check them out HERE.
Posted by lauren at 11:39 AM | Comments (0)
January 28, 2008
The Little Mermaid
For Christmas, Brent got me two adorable stuffed "nap bears" from Brookstone and tickets to go see The Little Mermaid on Broadway! We both loved the show and highly recommend getting tickets right away.
Here we are all gussied up before leaving for the city:
At Grand Central there was some weird spinning marathon going on:
For dinner, we went to Lattanzi Ristorante which was set up to look just like Rome, complete with giant black and white photos of the city on all the walls. Having just come from Rome this summer (and missing it terribly) Brent and I really enjoyed ourselves. I'm sure the other restaurant-goers were thrilled to have us pointing at photos behind their table talking about the gypsies we remembered peddling all sorts of goods right there at that fountain! and the best McDonalds in the whole city was right there by the Pantheon! Yes, we remember all the important things (including our favorite of the five different Roman McDonalds we went to.
Anyway, we had a bottle of Chianti wine (we spent a weekend in Chianti so it was extra special - wow, I still need to post about that...) Brent had some sort of pasta, I had chicken Milanese-style (SO good), and we split crème brûlée for dessert:
Blurry picture of the room we ate in:
After dinner, we walked over to our show:
The show was FANTASTIC. I absolutely loved it. Brent bought me the CD so now I get to listen to it any time I want.
On the way back to the train station, I took a couple random pictures (I can never help myself):
I love the beautiful building in the background of all the lights, hustle, and bustle:
Back at Grand Central:
Later that night, I took some really cute pictures of Brent with Frisky. Frisky has been doing so well lately. For those of you who have not been keeping up with her health, she has a tumor behind her liver and cancer in her blood. There isn't really anything we can do, but so far it hasn't actually affected her health very much, except that it has given her terrible foot infections (weird, I know). Her vet decided that since she's doing so well except for her feet, that we should experiment with a very special shot that she can get once a month to see if it could help her. Well, she's doing great now! Her feet are 10x better and she's so happy and active, much more like her old self.
Here's Brent (caught mid-gasp at how well my kitty was doing) and Frisky:
The vet says she's a miracle cat, and I 100% agree:
After fussing over Frisky for a while, Brent was ready for a midnight snack. I made him one of my tomato and mozzarella paninis:
When I posted food a few days ago (the Mediterranean Chicken Couscous) I had a couple requests for the recipe (which I posted in the comments section) so I figured I might as well post the recipe for this as well. It's very quick and simple....
1) Use two slices of bread (preferably a real Italian loaf, but I used sourdough for Brent's sandwich).
2) Put 2-3 large slices of FRESH mozzarella on one slice (DO NOT use anything but FRESH mozzarella)
3) Take two slices of tomato and blot some of the water out with a paper towel, then place them on top of the mozzarella. If you do not blot the water out, you will have a soggy sandwich!
4) Take a large FRESH basil leaf and rip it into small strips. Place these on top of the tomato layer.
5) Top this off with a couple shakes of salt and pepper.
6) Put your top layer of bread on and cook in a panini grill for about 4 minutes on a low sandwich setting. If you do not have a panini grill, you can use a frying pan and a spatula to press your sandwich down. If you are using a panini grill, try covering it with parchment paper to keep your sandwich from burning. If you are using a frying pan, brush a very small amount of olive oil onto both sides of your sandwich.
That's it! I made it into way more steps than I really needed to, so don't be discouraged if it sounds like a lot, it's really about a 7 minute process, total.
Back to my stories.... The next day, Brent and I went for a walk around the beach with our cameras. Here's some of the ice on the ground (it was very cold!):
Ducks and a seagull with his catch:
More ducks:
The beach:
I loved the sky behind this dark tree:
Reflections:
Brent, the photographer:
Shell fishing:
NYC skyline over the water:
Sea grass:
Bridge:
These were on a rock. That's really all I can tell you, I have no idea what they are:
On the way back to my house from the beach, we decided to stop for breakfast at Arcadia Coffee in Old Greenwich:
The base of a potted tree sitting next to us:
Next door to Arcadia Coffee is a bookstore called Just Books (owned by the same people). Brent and I went in, mostly for their store cat, Stella:
Brent had to go back home to get ready to come back to school, so after he left, my mom, Rocky, and I went to visit my dad at the rehab place he was staying at, Nathaniel Witherell, until his hip recovered.
Dad, Rocky, and Me:
Dad and Rocky:
After my visit with Dad, I got a good night's sleep, packed up my stuff, and headed back to school. I don't have any particularly interesting photos to share, but here are a couple just so that I can be completely caught up (except for my hiking entry which will be coming soon).
I don't know what this is, but it's outside of the Barnes & Noble in Blue Back Square that Brent and I like and I found it intriguing:
In other VERY EXCITING news, Brent has started blogging again! Brent took a brief break from his blog because he simply didn't have any pictures to post. His camera broke while we were in Prague this summer, so all of his posts were basically just all my pictures that I had already posted with his own stories to go along. While everyone always enjoyed his take on things, I can see how it would be frustrating to not have any of his own photos to talk about. All that has changed, though, since Brent got an awesome new camera for Christmas! He has a ton of great pictures on his computer that he's going to be posting very soon, but he's already started writing again on his blog so make sure you check out Brent Meets World!
Posted by lauren at 11:07 PM | Comments (4)
January 27, 2008
This And That
Right now I'm watching a doomsday show on TV counting down the top ways the world could end, so I thought it would be a good idea to distract myself with a blog entry. This is, once again, me trying to get caught up. I do promise to keep much more caught up this semester than last, though.
Anyway, here's Dad right before leaving the hospital:
And here he is at the rehab center where he spent the past week recovering from his hip replacement:
After visiting my dad, Brent arrived at my house to spend the night in Greenwich since he and I were going to dinner and The Little Mermaid (the Broadway show) in NYC that night! That was my Christmas present from Brent, by the way, I can't remember if I mentioned that at any point before.
When Brent got here, we went for a quick walk at the beach before taking the train into the city:
More pictures from the city and our next day at the beach coming soon!
-Lauren
Posted by lauren at 04:23 PM | Comments (4)
January 23, 2008
Unpacking
If you're wondering why I haven't been posting as much lately, it's because I've been packing and unpacking. I'm not good at either, so it takes me days if not weeks to get my stuff moved from one room (home) to another (dorm). I have my camera's memory card pretty much filled and my cord to attach it to my laptop is still packed in some box... somewhere. Anyway, that's why I'm a little behind. Hopefully I'll have something good coming soon.
Until then, check out my Links section for some sites I like!
Posted by lauren at 11:07 PM | Comments (0)
January 22, 2008
Recovery
While I was home (I am now back at Trinity) I went with my mom every day to visit my dad while he was in the hospital. He's in a rehab place now, but these pictures were from when he was still at Greenwich Hospital.
Dad's hip instructions:
His home office:
Dad, Jocelyn, and Me:
After our visit, we got home and I made Mediterranean Chicken Couscous (a recipe Brent's mom gave me):
The next day, back at the hospital, I decided to count how many different beverages my dad had. It turns out he had seven:
And that night we got our snowstorm:
I'll have more pictures coming up soon (including some not taken at the hospital) so check back soon!
For now, I need to get some sleep. Classes start for me tomorrow and if I'm too tired to pay attention on day one, that's going to be a problem.
Goodnight!
-Lauren
Posted by lauren at 12:15 AM | Comments (3)
January 21, 2008
Dad's New Hip
I had no idea how far behind I was until I looked at my blog today (the first time in a few days, I guess) and realized that I'm a week behind! How does this always happen? I guess I don't feel too bad since you all have been terrible about commenting.
My dad got a new hip on Tuesday, his second this year! Well, I guess it's technically 2008 now, but it's the second within a few months.
My mom and I went to visit him after his surgery on Tuesday and he was refusing morphine. Why would you do that? I guess his personal TV with Sports Center helped him through it:
Balloons from some friends of my dad's:
Daffodils from my grandparents:
Isn't Greenwich Hospital beautiful?
They have a grand piano, a fountain, and plasma screens in all the hallways saying which way to go for what (regular signs and directories are so last year).
It's no wonder they win awards for being the best hospital each year!
After our visit, we went out to dinner with my grandparents at Mackenzie's:
Filet mignon sandwich, YUM!
And finally, a pretty carnation that someone gave me in the grocery store to remind me to come back to Porricelli's Food Mart in Old Greenwich, CT:
-Lauren
Posted by lauren at 11:43 PM | Comments (2)
January 15, 2008
Movie Night In Vermont
After a long day of skiing, Brent and I showered, went out to dinner with our parents at Richardson's Tavern, and then came back to my family's room to rent an in-room movie. We all watched Michael Clayton which was good, but probably would have been better if I had stayed awake for the ending where everything got explained. Oh well.
Brent watching the movie:
My mom reading Darkly Dreaming Dexter, a book I got her as part of her Christmas present (it's the book that "Dexter," the TV show, is based on):
My dad watching the movie (well, the top of him at least):
Brent and Me watching the movie:
After the movie, Brent and I went downstairs to the giant fireplace to read by the fire. Well, both of us remember sitting down, but not much else. We were so exhausted, we fell asleep on the couch and woke up about a half hour later and just went to bed.
The fireplace (not a great picture, sorry):
The next morning we had to get an early start home because it was snowing all over the Northeast. Before leaving, I ran outside and got these couple of pictures. There was still some foliage in the area, so I got some red leaves against the white snow which I think came out quite well:
The rest of my pictures are all taken from the drive home from inside a moving car, so please excuse the terrible picture quality.
How can you go to Vermont and not take a picture of a covered bridge?
Horse and a barn:
Here's a little farmhouse and barn off in the distance in the snow:
It reminded me of a Stephen King short story I read over the summer from his Everything's Eventual where this traveling salesman stops somewhere in Nebraska at a little motel by a giant field in the snow with a little farmhouse off in the distance that somehow gives him hope about his dismal life:
More farms in the snow:
Snow on the drive home:
Even though it doesn't make for great driving conditions, I love driving through the snow. Maybe that's because I wasn't the one doing the driving....
-Lauren
Posted by lauren at 09:33 PM | Comments (1)
Killington
On Sunday, Brent and I went skiing at Killington Mountain, which is near Woodstock, VT. To find our way there, we used the map feature on my iPhone:
Brent cleaning off my car:
Here's Brent at the bottom of Killington:
The mountain:
Brent with my skis:
Brent and Me:
We got our picture taken at the top of the mountain. We didn't buy it, but here is the sample:
More Woodstock pictures later!
-Lauren
Posted by lauren at 09:09 PM | Comments (1)
Woodstock, VT
This past weekend, Brent and his family came with my family and me to the Woodstock Inn in Woodstock, VT to go skiing. My family has been going there forever and Brent's family has come for a couple different trips with us, so we know or way around pretty well.
Brent drove up with us because he was already in Greenwich staying overnight after our job interviews. He and I played Nintendo DS all the way up because we're that cool. Brent couldn't put his down when we stopped at a rest stop, so he took his Star Wars game in with him. Having a boyfriend is sometimes like having an eight year old:
Our room:
When we arrived, Brent's parents were off cross-country skiing, so Brent and I went for a walk in town. Woodstock is one of the cutest towns I have ever been to and I highly recommend visiting. I linked the Wikipedia article for Woodstock, VT above (in the first paragraph) so check it out to read more about the Woodstock story.
Here's a picture of Bentley's, one of our favorite restaurants in Woodstock. We were going to eat there on Sunday night but the power went out in the village (luckily the Woodstock Inn still had power!) so we ended up eating right at the Inn both nights at Richardson's Tavern. Here's Bentley's as Brent and I passed it in the village, though:
The main little shopping street in Woodstock:
Brent and I went into our favorite Vermont bookstore, Shiretown Books. They have a big black cat there named Mr. B (he's the real reason we went):
Mr. B has the longest, silkiest fur you will ever feel. He's such a great cat, I wish I could take him home. He's so used to all the people coming in and out that nothing bothers him. He wanders around looking at books with customers, jumping up on stools to get more attention, and following people from one row of books to the next. I asked Brent how he thought Shadow would do as a bookstore cat and he just laughed. Shadow is a little high-strung to live in a bookstore. I can only picture Shadow and her reign of terror over the quiet, unsuspecting customers.
Brent and I continued our walk and came across Whitcomb's Block (you can read the cement sign at the top of the building). Whitcomb is a family name from Brent's dad's side, so Brent wondered if it was named after some ancestor:
Art in the alley:
Sale at the toy store (so cute):
Brent and I came upon the Coffee & Tea Company which neither of us had ever been in before. If you read my blog regularly, you know that book shopping and coffee drinking are two of Brent's and my favorite activities. Therefore, after Shiretown Books we obviously had to stop at the Coffee & Tea Company (also called Woodstock Coffee & Tea).
The menu was written on burlap sacks which I thought was pretty cool:
Also, decorating the shop were jars of coffees and teas:
This actually sounds like it could be pretty good:
Brent and I both ordered hot cider and it was fantastic:
We took our cider outside to drink by a beautiful nearby stream:
I'm not sure what this is, whether it's a house or a commercial building of some sort, but it was just so white. Anyway, I had to take a picture because it fascinated me:
Looking down the street:
How cool is this:
Woodstock is prepared for the next Red scare:
Gillingham's General Store:
Gillingham's is such a cute store. I guess store cats are all the rage in Woodstock, because Gillingham's has one, too. My mom went and saw their new cat, but I remember their old one, Henry, who was HUGE and sat at the checkout counter purring all day long.
The Woodstock Town Crier:
Brent and I stopped back at Shiretown Books again to see Mr. B who was asleep this time:
It started getting a little late so we headed back to the inn. I took these pictures on the way back:
I really like something about the contrast between a twilight blue sky and the yellow/orange lights. This is the village library:
Woodstock Inn:
Funny sign - "Dog waste is a threat to the health of our children - degrades our town - transmits disease." Do you think they could have just left it at "Clean up after your dog"?
I'll be posting more soon with some skiing pictures. Have a great night!
-Lauren
Posted by lauren at 04:35 PM | Comments (1)
January 14, 2008
Barnes & Noble
So there's a new Barnes & Noble in town. Well, not my town, but Stamford, CT which is one town over. It's the biggest one in the whole state of Connecticut and it has a great location, right near all the new restaurants that just recently opened (like Kona Grill and P. F. Chang's, both of which I recently posted about). While Brent was visiting for our job interviews (before leaving for Vermont this past weekend) we obviously had to go check it out:
This is probably the best Barnes & Noble café I have ever seen, with a giant curved window overlooking the new development of restaurants in Stamford:
After checking out Barnes & Noble, Brent and I went to see Sweeney Todd at the theater in the mall. I would write about it and what I thought, except that I really want to do a "reviews" post with my reviews of all the movies I've seen and books I've read over my Winter Break, so I guess I'll save it for later.
-Lauren
Posted by lauren at 04:05 PM | Comments (1)
Job Interviews And Nintendo World
Sorry for not posting for a few days but I've actually been skiing in Vermont with my family, Brent, and Brent's family. Anyway, on Thursday night Brent came down to Greenwich because on Friday morning we had to be in NYC for job interviews. Despite the terrible rain, we made it in looking very professional and well put-together. We may not have had any idea what we were talking about in our interviews, but at least we looked good.
Fog in NYC (that's a skyscraper in the background, it's just blocked completely by fog after the first few floors:
After our interviews, we came upon Nintendo World. If you know anything about Brent, you know this is a dream come true for him. He apparently didn't even know that Nintendo World existed:
Nintendo DS playing station:
There was an entire display case section in the middle of the store with all sorts of cool old Nintendo stuff. I especially liked this one:
Every version of the Nintendo DS in the world:
Evolution of the hand-held Nintendo systems (ending in the Nintendo DS):
Brent in his new Nintendo hat:
Brent and Me in our business suits:
More Nintendo DS playing stations:
Brent, my mom, and I all have Nintendo DS Lite systems and they're way more fun than you could possibly imagine. I got one for Brent for our anniversary last year and he was up all night playing it so many times that I finally gave it a try and found myself awake at 6am because I desperately needed to finish my level of New Super Mario Brothers DS. Obviously I ended up needing to get one and I have never regretted it. My mom loves hers too and is actually pretty good at it! Ok, that's enough Nintendo advertisement for one post.
As we were walking to Grand Central to take the train back home, we walked through a movie set:
The movie is called The International and is starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts so if you go see it, watch for Brent and me in the background!
Grand Central:
Anyway, I'll be posting Vermont pictures soon. I hope you all had a great weekend and kept safe in the Northeast if you were in the snowstorm we got!
-Lauren
Posted by lauren at 03:28 PM | Comments (2)
January 11, 2008
Vote For Me!
I fully admit that this is me shamelessly plugging my own blog, but come on... you'd do it too. The Eighth Annual Weblog Awards are currently "in voting" and if you really wanted to, you could vote for The Blonde Excuse http://blondeexcuse.pixxiestails.com VOTE HERE!! I don't have even the slightest chance of winning, but I figured it was worth a try.
In case you were having trouble, The Blonde Excuse would probably best fit in the American Weblog category and Best Kept Secret Weblog category (I'm hoping that since my blog isn't as widely read as some of the others out there that this could be my category!). Any other category you feel like nominating me for is, of course, much appreciated.
I read on Smitten Kitchen that she is also participating, so make sure you vote for Smitten Kitchen http://smittenkitchen.com for the Food Weblog category!
Thanks everyone!
(This will be top-entry through Friday the 11th, when voting ends, so make sure you scroll down to see newer posts).
Posted by lauren at 11:59 PM | Comments (4)
January 10, 2008
P. F. Chang's
A couple nights ago, my friends and I went to P. F. Chang's for dinner. A bunch of new restaurants have opened up at the Stamford Mall (like the Kona Grill which I posted about recently) and we're slowly trying all of them. I forgot to bring my camera, but luckily I had my trusty iPhone.
P. F. Chang's:
Inside, we were told it would be a 30 minute wait (even though it was late on a Tuesday). We were given a buzzer to let us know when our table was ready, and Kristina pointed out that it looked just like a taser. I guess if something in your pocket suddenly electrocuted you, that would definitely get your attention:
After about 50 minutes, we were taken to our table (one of about 7 that were open). Despite the long wait, the decor was beautiful and the food was delicious:
We ordered a couple appetizers for the table and then shared a few entrées (everything is served family-style). That way, we got to try a little bit of everything:
Special sauce the waiter made at our table:
Jenn and Kristina:
Me, Molly, and Ali:
The food was fantastic but the service was so-so.... While we were eating our appetizers, the waiter grabbed Kristina's plate from her while she had her food in her hands; then while we were all still eating dinner, he came and took our plates and silverware and started taking away our food in the middle of the table before we knew what was happening. He was literally walking off with entire platters of food that were half eaten! At the very least you'd think he'd ask if we wanted it packed up, right? Anyway, we complained that he walked off with our lo-mein and he told us that it was only scraps. It was sitting right in front of Molly and me and we both saw that it was at least half full. He brought us another one for free which did us a lot of good with no silverware or plates. Anyway, we packed up the rest of our food to go home. Other than that, I really enjoyed P. F. Chang's and would definitely go again, hopefully with a different waiter.
My fortune "You will be a great philanthropist in your later years":
After dinner, we walked next door and wandered around the biggest Barnes & Noble in the state for a little while, looking at travel books and trying to plan an awesome vacation for all of us (that will, unfortunately, probably never happen... but maybe). Molly and I took the elevator at one point and it had see-through glass doors that showed all the elevator gears. If you look closely, there's a little miniature me in the reflection holding my lo-mein box:
Personally, I don't want to know how an elevator works. I like to imagine that I walk into a magical little carpeted room that teleports to another floor. I certainly don't want to see the truth, that we're suspended by some sort of pulley system, much like the one I had in my backyard treehouse for bringing sodas up to my secret club.
-Lauren
P.S. I've decided to try out signing my blog entries. I've spent the last two years trying to come up with something to say at the end of each entry that indicates that I'm done without being really lame. I use a lot of "Check back soon for more pictures!" and "Goodnight everyone!" and "I hope you all had a great weekend too!" and... well, anything that ends in an exclamation point, really. I thought that if I ended with just "-Lauren" or something to that effect, maybe I could spare you the news anchor teaser lines. I actually used to write those, you know. I interned at News 12 Connecticut a few years ago and when I wasn't in the Weather Center (my favorite place in the whole world, obviously) I was writing teasers for the news anchors to read before and after reading the news. But that's a story for another day....
Posted by lauren at 02:04 PM | Comments (0)
January 09, 2008
Cupcakes And The Perfect Storm
Hi Kids!
As promised I said I'd do a guest post. No pressure. Its not easy trying to come up with something entertaining enough to be on the blonde excuse. Life here is pretty boring compared to life back there. Between you and your sister, you 2 log in a lot of entertaining stories.
I tried at Halloween.. blah no luck, only thing interesting was all the kids that came in for cupcakes… then we had Chanukah.. Im a “quasi-jew” so we participate in the festivities (read: moms catholic, dads a jew).. Its usually quite entertaining, but my Dad passed away last year and it’s just not the same.. Christmas? Eh.. same deal really.. Holidays aren’t the same. We did have a bon fire in the back yard and discussed the finer points of my cameras auto pop off lens cover..which is just a string attached to the strap and falls off when you turn the camera on… you see, I said it was a “feature” of the camera…. I did get it on video, Yawn I assure you…it was amusing when you’re drinking some concoction from the punch bowl. Now when Im sober, not so funny. HOWEVER… to give you the jist, here is a dramatic re-creation of the conversation. {the set is 15 people sitting around a bon fire, Christmas eve. Temps in the low 30’s, everyone drinking or “smoking” some Christmas cheer.)
Lisa: But it’s a feature of the camera, they advertised it! You know.. how sometimes you go to take a pic and forget the covers on?
Byron: You mean that’s actually an advertised feature? It says it on the box? I think you’re just being lazy and not taking it off.
Rob: No I bet there really was some dumbass that called and complained about having to remember to take off the lens cap every time.
( ya, see, told you, not so funny now)
OK where was I?
New Years Eve.. well.. that was spent in a hot tub, in 34 degree weather, previously mentioned bon fire going, 2 bottles of champage and probably too much wine. It was pretty awesome.. but its 1 of those “had to be there” kinda things.. This is a family friendly blog, so I cant really guest blog about that.. soo.. what to do.. what to doooo.
Ahh Haa !!
An opportunity to not only be a guest blogger, but an intrepid reporter, all in 1!
As Im sure you’ve all seen in the news Northern California was hit with the “perfect storm”
Which to us, just means a few inches of rain and some wind. Youd think it was the end of the world. Fact of the matter is we just cant deal with bad weather. Now granted, it is a lot of rain all at once, but we’ve been getting warned about this storm for like a week. We all knew it was coming. And now that it hit, everyone seems so shocked and unprepared. Idiots. Id like to use my own Mother as an example. She starts calling me on Monday to remind of the various things I need to do before the storm hits. Its like im back being 13 years old. Did you do this, did you do that, you need to have this done, you need to move that.. bla bla. Then the calls turned into e-mails. 3 to be exact. Ok so now fast forward.. I call Mom Friday morning asking her if she survived the night.. she says, well, I was up at 4 am draining the pool so it wouldn’t overflow. Wtf? Ok, wait… you’ve been on my ass for a week about this damn storm, and here you are at 4 am in pouring ass rain and the 60 mile an hour winds, draining the pool? NICE PLANNING MOM.
So I grabbed the trusty camera and shot some of the damage, including my own.
So that’s it… the big news in California / my home town.
And if anyone actually made it to the end of this post.. thanks for reading, was fun to do.
Here are the amazing pictures Cupcakes sent me. She mentioned in her e-mail that the one of the surfer is from the news, but the others were taken by her and by her neighbor who both sent pictures in to the "reader photos" section of The Reporter. -Lauren
Right out my front door:
Wow they really need a sign for this:
Nothing like being prepared after the fact:
Oy this isn't good:
My house:
My hood:
Meeting of the minds:
Let's wait till the day it starts to rain:
I loved this tree and the shade:
Golden Gate bridge:
Flood:
Down the street:
Always 1 asshole that can't read:
Posted by lauren at 01:35 PM | Comments (7)
January 08, 2008
Greetings From California
I’m Kristina, one of the people who shows up periodically on The Blonde Excuse, and when going to visit my Mom and Step dad in California, Lauren asked me to guest blog for her so…here it goes…
When Jason, my boyfriend, and I arrived in CA it was close to 11pm (PST) and we went home to eat some Greek food, Pastichio which is basically a Greek Lasagna if you will. Then once we were done with dinner we were given the options of opening presents then or wait until the next day…being a typical anxious person…I said now! Despite it being passed midnight and it being New Years Day and flying all day. So opening presents we did…
First here’s a picture of the “Great Room” decorated for Christmas.
This room is called the Great Room specifically because of the 22ft cathedral ceilings it has and because of this we usually buy an extremely large Christmas tree. It is usually around 12 feet tall and every year the tree is nicknamed “Pondo” after “Ponderosa.” Why do we give it that name...it’s because my Step dad nicknamed it after attempting to decorate it and string lights on the tree.
Here are our attempts to find the Christmas presents we hid in our suitcases…
Then we FINALLY opened some presents…
I was very lucky to get a new LAMB winter coat as well as a new silver necklace, an ipod touch (which is amazing I must add), this year’s Starbucks ornament (which I collect every year), a new pair of UGGS since my old pair has basically died, and many other things as well as California Shopping on Mom to some of my favorite boutiques!
Last but not least, is a picture of an ornament of my favorite boy band member when I was in my crazed I <3 JRT stage
The next morning we all repacked (well Jason and I) and headed down towards LA where my Aunt, Uncle, and Little Cousin live in Beverly Hills.
On the drive down (a 3 ½ hour drive) I got a little bored so, I took some pictures while on the Grape Vine. The Grape Vine is a Highway, which has many hills and turns since it goes through the foothills of the Sierra Mountains.
Once arriving in the LA area my Aunt said she still wasn’t ready (after several phone calls) so, we went to The Grove. The Grove is a popular outdoor shopping center with many stores and restaurants (i.e.: Barney’s CO-Op, J.Crew, Nordstrom’s, Barnes and Noble, Coach, Tommy Bahamas, Cheesecake Factory, Maggianos, and the Whisper Lounge)
However, before going into The Grove, Jason begged me to take this picture of the Hollywood sign from the parking garage.
Then after a few hours of shopping and a few drinks and appetizers at the Whisper Lounge, sorry I don’t have any pictures of there but the Hummus Platter and the Beef Skewers are amazing as are their Martini’s. I love pomegranate ones and theirs is among the best I have had. The atmosphere is truly spectacular and it has even made me interested in opening a similar restaurant in the SoNo area of Connecticut, we'll see if that will happen, in the future. In case you are in the area or interested in visiting there in the future, here’s the website: Whisper Lounge.
Then we headed to Beverly Hills where my Aunt lives with my Uncle and their daughter Mel.
Here are some pictures…
Jason and me on the balcony of my aunt's house
This is my little cousin Mel.
My Mom, Mel, and My Uncle (her father)
My Step dad and Mel
She finally learned how to use a headband!
Jason and me anxiously waiting for dinner
The following afternoon, we drove up the coast since this was Jason’s first trip to the West Coast and it was the first time I was out there since the fires that were in Malibu. I had visited Pepperdine University when on my college search while in High School and remember the area being far more green and lively than what I saw while there. The amount of land that was taken out and has to be rebuilt is unbelievable. The pictures I took don’t even remotely go to show how much the fires took away from this beautiful area. The palm trees have a black residue on their barks because of the fires and the smoke, which took over the area. However, Pepperdine is very lucky to be up on a hill that is a base of water so the area isn’t supposed to catch fire. The Fire Department made Pepperdine their headquarters for this reason when the wild fires were taking place.
This is a picture of Pepperdine University
We continued driving down the 101 (The Pacific Coast Highway) and headed onto the beach. But first, some of the multi-million dollar houses.
The Malibu Beach:
These are the beach huts they used to film Baywatch…look familiar?
Jason and me
My Step dad and Jason
Jason, my Step dad, and my Mom
My Mom and Step dad
Jason
It is definitely beautiful there and it is such a shame that the wild fires had to cause so much damage to the area.
We then continued up the 101 and headed inland towards the Grape Vine to Camrio where we had lunch. On the east coast there is no way we could see mountains while eating dinner in 60 degree weather in the beginning of January (that was until now).
Yosemite
A few days later we visited Yosemite National Park that is only an hour or so from my house and because of all the storms we were having on the west coast, we had quite a trip ahead of us. But, it was the most beautiful Yosemite has ever been over the last 4 years I have been there.
Here are some pictures…
The GPS
My Mom and Step dad
Tunnel to the Valley of Yosemite
Isn’t it beautiful?!?
Jason and me
The history
Bride Vail falls
The falls are at their best in April. Because of all the rain and snow the West Coast has been having this year it is probably going to be one of the best years to visit the falls during their optimal time. There are also camping areas and hiking when the weather is nicer in the late spring and summer.
After visiting the Valley we got a little hungry so, we decided to go to the Ahwahnee Hotel, which was built back in 1927 for about 1.25 million dollars. Mind you this hotel is rated to be 5 stars and reservations must be made a year in advance if you would like to stay there, especially around the holidays so, we made it a point to eat there and take a look around: Ahwahnee.
Look at the pinecones hanging from the lanterns. Those pinecones are the average size as opposed to the 3 inch ones we find in the Tri-state area
Jason and me
Their Christmas tree
The interior common room with the largest fireplaces I’ve ever seen
The windows
Jason and me (mind you Jason is almost 6’5 and he can fit in the fire place)
In the Ahwahnee there are also many reading rooms where people can play board games, cards, or read. This one is the Winter Room, which has pictures from when the hotel first opened, and the Ahwahnee tribe with the skis they used to use.
Someone’s attempt at building a snowman but they used a rock for his head
My attempt to hug a redwood
We still aren’t big enough to hug a redwood
We then went into the Ahwahnee Restaurant to get something to eat. My Step dad got the Chili, my Mom got the Soup of the Day, and Jason and I split a Roast beef Sandwich on a Kaiser roll with horseradish moose…it was delicious!
Then on our way back, we saw a coyote.
Then we got stuck in a traffic jam after making great time. We had to get back home by 5pm to meet some family friends for dinner and a movie (the Atonement). Unfortunately due to the inclement weather there were many accidents on the two lane highway where every car that wasn’t 4WD or had snow tires were required to have snow chains on their tires however, some thought they knew how to maneuver in the snow…clearly they were wrong. While waiting in the car for over an hour for the accidents and snow-banked vehicles to be cleared from the road we got a little stir-crazy.
My Step dad attempting to find out what happened
Apparently and Uhaul thought it was a novel idea to come to Yosemite without snow chains and tried to make a U-turn and another compact car without 4WD slid into a snow bank…it was about 30 minutes before we saw a gift from the patrol units.
A Tow Truck!
It was about another hour or so before we were able to move so…
Jason tasted some snow
Then my Step dad got bored and brought some proof that there was actually an accident…
The amount of cars backed up on the “highway”
The snow-banked car getting ticketed as we drove past.
From there, we thought we were home free but boy were we wrong. On our way home we managed to pass another 2 car accidents one of which was a flipped pick up truck. A word to the wise…if you drive a pick up truck in the snow or inclement weather…make sure you keep cement blocks or something heavy in the “trunk” area of the pickup otherwise you are more likely to spin out or, even worse, end up like this vehicle.
Because of all of these accidents we didn’t make it to dinner but we did see the movie, which was pretty good but not amazing. Then we went to dinner at the Elephant Bar which has a lot of West Coast type food, basically, Asian Fusion. It’s a really nice restaurant, which has a different type of style with safari type fans in the main area with an elephant coming out of the waterfall and statues of different animals within the restaurant itself.
Here are some pictures of us in the restaurant.
Mr. and Mrs. A (friends of my parents)
Jason and me
That was our last day in CA and the next day we were almost trapped in the valley of CA because of the storms. We were supposed to fly through Salt Lake City but due to the storm, the airport had shut down. Since we had to get back to the east coast my Step dad used his Platinum status to get us tickets through Los Angeles to go back to NY.
I hope you enjoy reading about my trip and about the different parts of CA!
Posted by lauren at 01:12 AM | Comments (4)
January 07, 2008
Kona Grill
Oops, I lied.... I said I was all caught up when I really wasn't. Anyway, here's the last entry I have (actually catching me up). Recently, my parents and I went to the Kona Grill, one of the new restaurants at the Stamford Mall. The food was very good (except for my mom's pizza which was impossibly spicy). The restaurant itself was very interesting with cool light fixtures and a giant fish tank behind the sushi bar. I forgot to bring my camera with me, but I did manage to get these pictures with my iPhone.
Kona Grill:
My parents (giant fish tank behind them):
Me (my mom won't let me take her picture if she can't take mine):
Our appetizer (mini-burgers!):
Cool light fixtures:
OK, now I'm REALLY caught up.
Up next is Kristina's entry which she says will include pictures of the snowstorm out West that has been all over the news lately!
Posted by lauren at 10:52 PM | Comments (0)
Out And About
As promised, here are the pictures of my friends and me out in Stamford on Saturday night.
Jenn, Hayley, and Cathy and Black Bear:
Cathy, Me, and Jenn:
Hayley and Me:
Hayley:
Some DJ gave us tickets for free admission and no line to Hula Hank's, so obviously we went:
Erin with Cathy and Hayley dancing in the background at Hula Hank's:
If you want to get an idea of what kind of establishment this is... there's a stripper pole on the bar (where's Molly when you need her?), a giant swing that goes along the bar, a big projector screen with porn, and three big TVs behind the bar playing... the presidential debates? Weird, I know:
Erin and Me (now at Tiernan's):
Some guy named John and Cathy:
That was all Erin....
Hayley, Jenn, and Me:
Some guy named Rish who thought I was a professional photographer:
Cathy, Erin, and Jenn:
Worst picture of me ever.... I think we were singing Bon Jovi:
Live Band:
Around Tiernan's:
Cathy and John:
Some guys teaching Erin darts:
Erin, Cathy, and Me (we don't know the guys in the background, nor did we know they were in the picture):
And here are a couple of Jenn's pictures:
I love Hayley's face in this picture....
Guess what everyone.... I'm all caught up!! Well, with recent stuff at least. I still have to go back and do my Europe entries but now hopefully I'll have time!
Until then, get ready for some guest blogging from Kristina, Ali, and Cupcakes who have all promised me entries soon!
Posted by lauren at 10:12 PM | Comments (1)
Party Of Seven
On Saturday night, Cathy and Mike's family came out to dinner with my family at a restaurant called Route 22. We skipped "dinner" and had nachos and appetizers to split which were delicious. Cathy just went back to school which makes me very sad, so it was nice getting to see her before she left.
Cathy and Mike:
Take 2:
Mom and Me:
Me, Cathy, and Mike:
Mrs. F and Mom:
Dad and Mr. F (greatest face ever):
The restaurant:
After dinner, Cathy and I made a quick wardrobe change and went back out with Jenn, Hayley, and Erin to the bars in Stamford, CT. More on that later!
Posted by lauren at 09:04 PM | Comments (0)
Family Dinner
A couple nights ago, we had family dinner at Grandma and Poppy's. At college, "dinner" is a bag of chips between my dorm and the library, or a bag of popcorn at the movies with Brent. It's nice to come home and have a real dinner with steak, potatoes, chocolate cake, and of course my family.
Dad and Poppy:
Rocky:
Santa decoration:
The tree:
Ornaments:
You can always count on Grandma to have something patriotic:
Grandma has a number of off-beat charities she donates to, including the Retired Circus Elephants (that's why I gave her this ornament last year):
Rocky investigating:
Centerpiece:
Dad:
Grandma and Poppy have always had a lot of cool stuff around their house (now their condo.) and every time I visit I try to take a couple pictures of some of the neat stuff they have:
At one point, my mom and I went outside to walk Rocky around a little bit and saw a bicycle hanging upside down over a sign. The picture came out really weird:
Isn't that sort of cool? Anyway, I'll be posting more either later tonight or tomorrow. Also, you're all in for a treat! My friend Kristina is going to be "guest blogging" her pictures from California soon and my friend Ali is going to "guest blog" her African safari pictures!
Make sure you check back soon and if anyone else ever wants to guest blog for me, just comment and let me know! I always love guest bloggers (and encouraging new people to make their own blogs)!
Posted by lauren at 08:26 PM | Comments (1)
X-Brent And The Avian Flu
As I mentioned before, Brent has been getting over the flu. To cheer him up, I decided to make him a "get well soon" card which turned into a "get well soon" comic. Brent, for some reason, really likes comic books.... I don't really understand it, they don't seem all that appealing to me, but I thought that starring in a comic would cheer him up so I made this (corny comic book lines and all):
Brent, what have you done to me.... Feel better!
Posted by lauren at 07:37 PM | Comments (1)
Surprise Pictures
Surprise pictures are always the best. You know, when someone takes your camera (or in this case iPhone) and takes a bunch of pictures without you knowing it. I only had one "surprise picture" from New Year's Eve and here it is:
I don't know who took it, but thanks to whoever did!
Posted by lauren at 07:14 PM | Comments (0)
Happy New Year!
I know it's a week late, but Happy New Year everyone! I went to Brent's house for a party he was having with all of his high school friends to ring in 2008. We all watched movies, had some drinks, and played poker.
Everyone in Brent's basement:
Alex H., Billy, and Brent playing pool:
Alex K., Brent, Alex H., and Billy:
