Blog On

Kelly had a very good question on her blog yesterday and it caused me to do a bit of surfing and maybe your surfing brought you here - if so say "hi" and leave a little comment. Please, pretty please... It's fun to see where people are from and how they happened upon a blog. Maybe you clicked the button "next blog" at the top of each blog? Kind of interesting - it's always a different one every day! And sometimes it's in another language and you bomb out. LOL!

I have also noticed something interesting about blogging and maybe something that should be pointed out to Aquinas College Alumni Relations ... we have some alums that have managed to find each other and pick right back up at many years. It's interesting to think how much time has passed since we've lived on campus - this is something I'd really rather not add up so let's move on! Then there are my old "work" friends, who have nothing to do with Aquinas - we just keep up on each other without missing a beat.

As you can see this is a fun and quick way to keep up with friends and family and if you've dropped by to see what I'm up to keep in mind that I would love to know what you are up too (hint, hint... a blog is easy and doesn't take much time and you can always find something to blog about - just click the next button to get an idea!)

What you've all been waiting for!

Inside pictures! Finally! I've saved a few rooms so there will be a reason for you to come visit - I can't give it all away (or get it all cleaned in one weekend!). haha...

As you come in the front door the dining room is to your left (as below)

If you are going up the stairs this is the dining room: From the dining room you can walk into the kitchen (dinner in process)

from the kitchen there is an eat in kitchen spot and then the living room (do you notice anything new mom?)
Sunday is Nascar watching day (and also nap day for Mark and Cali and they are both sleeping for real!)

This is the master bath - I'm going with blues and will be adding in some brown for the colors (again mom... find what's new?) Sort of like "where's Waldo"....

this is the tub

...and the shower

this is the master bedroom - I gave up cleaning - there is quite a bit to do in here as you can see

and this is Mani - he loves the messy bed as it makes for a good cap nap nest!

the guest bath/Mark's bath (where is Waldo mom...)

the laundry is upstairs... this is probably one of my favorite features because it's upstairs - makes doing laundry super easy and I love the new Fischer Pykel dryer. The wrinkle free feature is priceless - just ask my iron, which I never use anymore! WOOHOO!

So that is the mini-tour until you visit (or I finish a few more rooms!)

Porto Rico Tea!

Sunday in the city we went to my favorite tea shop - Porto Rico in Greenwich Village. I'm always searching for the Seattle Market Spice Tea closer to home and I found one that is even better! It's called Spicy Cinnamon Orange - hmmm... sounds much the same, but has a bit less cloves I think. It is very good and I'm enjoying a cup right now! Anyway I love it! Haven't even broken into my favorite Irish Breakfast yet. Unfortunately I only bought a half pound so that means I might be going back sooner rather than later - not such a bad thing as it's always fun in the city.

In the event you need a cool gift idea they do ship all kinds of coffee and tea and I think there might be over 100 to choose from in their shop. The Danish coffee has a smooth even flavor. You can also call and describe what you want and they'll pick out something for you. How easy is that and it's not expensive at all. Most coffee's run around $6.99 a pound or less. Of course there are always the "gucci" coffee flavors that are way more - you know harvested the green way in the middle of the Columbian jungle or whatever - way up the Amazon river type thing. Like I believe that. Anyway here is a link...

http://www.portorico.com/store/

And in case you're wondering I will be posting inside shots of the house by Sunday - need to rustle up the camera. Also want to get some cool shots of all the color around here. It is amazing. Some of the best views are on my way to work - almost makes you not want to go to work - so much so that I did take a vacation day yesterday. That's also why I am finally able to post inside pictures - LOL!

A few shots

From the front yard. Took a few pictures for our "we've moved" postcard.

My Halloween Kitty!

Mom and Dad in front of the NY Stock Exchange

Pretty sure this was before I got "pooped" on. Too many birds in the big city and that's a hazard of sitting on the top of the bus. LOL!

Fall Colors & Fun!

Dad with the mules
The jumper making it to the field!
Overlooking West Point from 9W (just in case you know the area)

We have had my parents here since Tuesday and they've been all over to see lots of stuff. Color is getting close to peak so it's very pretty. And it's still nice! Mark took dad to a football game at West Point today and Army actually won - they beat Eastern Michigan! Here's a few pictures from the game.

Mom and I did a bit of shopping and went out for lunch - finally some really good Italian. There are lots of Italian places to eat, but not all are that great. Coppola's was yummy! Good meatballs and excellent red sauce! I went back to my new favorite home store - Hammer Town. They have these really cool tin hammered mirrors, but also lots of great unique items. I got a cool rug last weekend that goes great with all my Fiesta dishes and it wasn't big enough so I returned it and ordered the next size up. It wasn't in stock at the store so that requires a trip back to Rhinebeck - that is no hardship as I saw at least 3 more places I want to test for lunch.

We are taking the train to NYC tomorrow (the color should be amazing along the river) and do a bus tour, eat some real NYC pizza, and visit my favorite tea store - Porto Rico in Greenwich Village. Woohoo!

Since the camera was all warmed up tonight I took some pictures of the back yard from the deck on the first floor off the eat in kitchen. The basement is a walk out so I am up about 15 feet when taking this picture. You can see we've start a rock border - more to do and plenty of rock to do it with! As for the rest of the house well it's not exactly up to pictures today. Too busy having fun!

Butterfly Catcher!

Anna finally caught a butterfly! It was amazing how many there were to chase - very cool! For all you animal lover's out there no butterflies were harmed in the making of this video - amazing in itself!