Congratulations to Jaime and Ezra!

On the Friday before Christmas Eve, while they were packing their bags for the weekend, Ezra and their dog Wesley proposed to my little sister.  Needless to say, it was a very exciting Christmas weekend filled with extra celebration!

Jaime is my little sister, best friend, and I love her more than anything in the world.  When she introduced me to Ezra it felt like he was meant to be part of our family (not to mention that we also love his family).  I feel so lucky that he'll be my brother-in-law. 

Turning 60 is Totally Awesome

My mom just turned 60 and for her birthday she wanted to really do something.  Sky diving wasn't an option so we picked the next best thing - zip lining through the tree tops in the middle of winter!!

Hunter Mountain is only a little hour away from my house in Beacon so my sister and Ezra drove up from Philadelphia, my parents drove over from Massachusetts, and we all met up in the Catskills for our zip lining adventure.  

My sister and I zip lined in Costa Rica a few years ago, but doing it in 20 degree weather on a ski mountain covered in snow is a totally different experience.  We all had a blast, got our thrills, and after a few hours we ended up back in Beacon for dinner and karaoke.  Happy Birthday, Mom!!!

Thanksgiving in Olympia, Washington

The husband and I just returned from our trip to Olympia, Washington to visit his family and friends over Thanksgiving.  I feel lucky to have married someone from the Pacific Northwest so I have an excuse to go there as many times as I want for the rest of my life.  This time we did a lot of hanging out with family and friends, watching football, and drinking micro brew beer and awesome espresso.  We took a red-eye home, which was kind of painful (no sleep, lots of turbulence) but worth it because we didn't lose a day to travel.

hiking; Pyrrharctia isabella; delcious West Coast tacos from Ramirez Mexican Store; Occupy Olympia; prepping Thanksgiving dinner with a Guiness; machiatto from Batdorf and Bronson; Abe trying out a Baby Bjorn; shuffleboard at The Brotherhood; Aunt Linda's favorite kind of cranberry sauce; ooogity boogity!

Parents Weekend

This past weekend my mom and dad came to Beacon for a little visit.  It seems every time they've been here we've had something to do - wedding planning, or helping me fix plumbing problems - but this time we just got to hang out and relax. 

We took all the dogs to Walkway Over the Hudson for some leaf peeping and exercise.  Then we ended up back home for a big late lunch, magazine reading, football watching, naps, and a trip to Alps Sweet Shop for chocolate.  It was Second Saturday in Beacon, which means all the galleries stay open late and have openings.  We did some browsing, stopped off at a bar where Colleen and Kenny met us for a drink, and rounded off the night at Max's for dinner and live music.  All in all, a pretty solid weekend!

A Camping We Will Go

Our friends (and owners of Lily's best dog friend) are having a baby in a few months so we decided to squeeze in a weekend camping trip before their lives change forever.  We had to put in a little research to find a dog friendly campground reservation between us in New York and our friends in Washington D.C., but luckily Pennslyvania State Parks has a really great website that makes the job easier.

We saw hot air balloon races as we left the Hudson Valley.

We spent hours watching the dogs play, chasing Lily around the campground after she chewed through her leash (three times!), and cooking really delicious dinners over an open fire. 

Adam shows off his nighttime tent toilet.

Ohhh those poor dogs have such a hard life! Poor neglected babies.

On our way back to New York we made a pitstop at Becca and Alex's house in Pennsylvania.  We saw them at our wedding, but hadn't seen their kids in over a year! They were a little weary of bouncy Lily when we arrived, but by the end of the visit they were helping me walk her around the yard and giving her commands.