Here, There and Everywhere

There are places I remember . . . .  

Oooofy, seems I've been gone since forever! I had work to do back "home" and have spent the past two weeks gettn'er done. TCB. Checking it off the list. One day, as I always say, I'm going home and having nothing on my agenda other than visiting friends and family. Period. As usual, I had little time to see anyone.

Made a ten-hour dash to DC so I could drop off the rest of the teenager's belongings. Then it was off to Northern Jersey the next day to help with  some family stuff there. I got to see my SIL MJ and have dinner with my brother and his family in DC. By the time I made it further north, I could definitely feel some autumn in the air--just not enough to ward off my hot flashes! Awkward. See what you have to look forward to Mz. C!

While I missed my niece's Sweet 16 party, I was there for her actual birthday. I haven't been with any  of my niece's for their birthday for a very long time. Too long. And I have, soon-to-be, NINE nieces! That's not right. And thus why we are planning to move back to the NE at some point. We have been too far from family for way too long. I know, I know, it keeps changing! ha!! So, this week, it's New England! It was nice spending time with my teenage nieces and hearing about their lives. Where has the time gone? It boggles the mind.

Then it was back to DC (are you tired yet? I WAS!!!). My brother, Jim, surprised me with a glass of home-made sangria (not allergic, go figure), apples and cheese, and dinner outside waiting for me upon my arrival from NY.  We sat by the fire pit all night--ending with s'mores. I even had a little time with my girl, Jacq which was wonderful. Really missed seeing her this summer. 

Ok, moving along to the teenager's new flat. It definitely needed a mother's/woman's touch--aka a good cleaning. Sorted, cleaned and "detailed" the place as best I could. He loves it. A big ol' thank you to my brother, Jim! Hat's off to him also because he is the one who found all of these kooky and wonderful things for the place. I played with each and every piece!

Even stayed in the old hood in S. Arlington, VA. The area has turned into a rather busy little city. Such changes every time I go back. Truth is, I don't believe I could live around that many people again. ha. Little ol' Nashvul has spoiled us. I think the hustle and bustle of city life are behind the hub and I. If we were younger? In a heartbeat! But, who knows?

One afternoon, I met my brother at the Capitol  before he had a photo shoot; and we were able to walk through the U.S.  Botanical Gardens for a bit. I hadn't been in there for many, many years. I think my brothers and I practically grew up in here when we went to work with our father. He'd be shooting photographs and we would wander over to the Botanical Gardens and walk around (my brothers would sleep in there--pre-planking!). Once I wandered into the Capitol and got lost down in the bowels of the building until I finally came upon a security guard who directed me out. I was a wee little thing! I don't think my father ever missed me! lol I'm sure things have changed, just a tad, these days. No wanderers allowed!

I was able to meet up with my girlies, Kelly and Amy--on different nights. I wish we could have all gotten together at the same time. Oy. Thankful to have been able to see them, period. My only wish is to be able to see all my friends when I visit. Impossible. I have never been able to do it!  There's always stuff to do that keeps me from seeing everyone. No matter how much I try and plan. Drives me kooky.

Kell had gone to see the Dweez and got us a cd signed! Thanks, Kell! Great CD! Wow, yep, Dweezil has channeled his father, somehow.

And, before I knew it, it's time to head back. Two weeks, come and gone. And all I could think of was getting back home to my hubby and animules. Loved driving through those Blue Ridge Mountains, both coming and going.

Bye bye ol' Virginny. See ya next time! And hopefully, more friends.

Labels: Amy, Arlington, Brother Jim, DC, Family, Jacq, Kell, Maryland, Music, NJ, Virginia, Zappa

Family and Fun Up North

It was a beautiful weekend in Jersey City and it was hard to leave everyone. But I had to come back home to my Bella, now didn't I? I found this awning in Hoboken.

This is City Hall. There are so many wonderful buildings in Hoboken. Times sure have changed. When the hub first brought me here in the mid 80s, it wasn't as happy as it is now. Sure wish we still had the condo! Whew!

And what do I do whenever I'm in the NYC area? Go to my favorite bakery, Carlo's. Now you know, all of a sudden, since Cake Boss, the place has become a tourist trap. And so, we had to WAIT IN LINE to get into the shop. Oy! They even have a door man that gives you a number at the door. Well, I suppose that's the smart thing to do.

And since I've been there a million times before, I went right to the cookie counter and grabbed three tins of Italian cookies, some lobster claws (sfogliatella) and, of course, rainbow cookies for the kid.

After drooling over everything, including all the canolis, we were boom, done, outta there!

Afterward, we walked up Washington several blocks to our favorite pizza spot. Now, this is real NY pizza baby. YUM.

And yes, we opened the rainbow cookie box.

After leaving Hoboken and heading to the hub's brother's house, we got stuck in traffic from the Holland Tunnel and then the George Washington Bridge--I'm sure all due to the Time's Square bomb. How thankful we are that it didn't go off and no one was hurt. Oy.

Here's my little nephew Daniel. What a cutie. I fell in love immediately, of course!

More food! The hub's sister had a family gathering at another brother's house celebrating my nephew's second birthday. Big D was born in Korea and we celebrated with Korean food. YUM, again!

This is about the time that I heard that Nashville was flooding. And I mean REALLY flooding. I called home and found out that our house and neighborhood was good, but so many others have not been so lucky. Beth has some photos of the flooding around town. It is so sad.

Sunday was a beautiful day and my nephew was Christened in the church. Look at his little sear sucker suit! Awwwwww. My niece and son are the Godparents. How cool is that?

Here is my son lighting the Baptismal candle. If you click on the photo, you can see the priest glaring at someone. This is about the time, almost finished with the ceremony, when another family enters the church and parades to the front. OMG. Were these people raised on the streets? Do they not have any manners? They had a son who was being baptised at the same time. The priest waited for over 45 minutes for them until finally Bob's sister said Ok, enough! Let's do this thing! Then they barge in like they own the place in the middle of the sacrament? Wow. Doesn't get much better than that!

But a lobster claw makes it all better, guaranteed. We finally finished them last night at home.

We were lucky enough to get out of NY just before storms hit there and the storms here in Nashville had cleared. There was a small delay, but considering there was a bomb scare and weather was wreaking havoc, we did pretty darn well. Dodged another bullet there.

And on Monday? You never would have known there had been any storms here or that downtown Nashville was flooding.

Now, all we have to worry about is the oil gush in the Gulf killing so much wildlife, not to mention hitting our little Riverside. Please keep the Gulf in your thoughts and prayers and let's not let BP off the hook on this one. How horrible.