It's A Christmas Miracle

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday yesterday and ate our faces full of BBQ ribs, cheesy potatoes, brussel sprouts, and amazing chocolate cheesecake that one of Pete's aerobics ladies made him. It was sugar suicide and worth every bite. We had a record 4 dogs in Grandpa's house, ranging from 5 to 75lbs, and amazingly enough, no catastrophes occurred because of them.

Who, me??

On Christmas Eve, we toasted to my wonderful grandma who would have been 83 years old (I think). Truly one of the most amazing women I ever knew, and I think she would have appreciated our semi-flat, local champagne and complimentary bottle of beer toasted in her honor. 

Christmas is always a little weird at our house because we are a super low-maintenance family and rarely ever need anything. This might sound like a blessing, and it probably is, but when it comes to getting gifts for everyone it can be a challenge. We can always resort to the ole socks and underwear grab bag, but that can get old after a while. My mom always manages to find us the strangest, most awesome "treasures" from various thrift stores and estate sales throughout the year--one year we got a baby incubator, a chandelier, and a velvet rendering of the Last Supper. Classics, right??

This is what happens when Rudolph comes through The Lou...

This year's theme seemed driven by alcohol, as we had a more than 40 different beers accumulate under the tree, several bottles of wine that Pete bottled himself, and even fancy old-man whisky. This is particularly funny seeing that my parents aren't big drinkers, and I'm usually satisfied falling back on a light and airy PBR in a can. We fancy huh now, I guess. 

My little house is coming along slowly, and my tree and assortment of Christmas cards on the mantle managed to give it a pretty homey feel. Even the crickets laid low yesterday and gave me some peace...

I went to a killer pedal, kettle, bosu ball class this morning with a couple girls from work, and now I am ready to spend the rest of the day lounging, reading, and downloading music for a new mixed CD. Thank Jewus for week-long vacas! Can't wait to rage in DC with my lovers this weekend to bring in the New Year!

Countdown to VP PIC Pregame in the MPL!! Love it.

Happy early New Year!

xoxox,

Hannah

Hudson Highline

I'm a day behind, but we've been driving like crazy women up and down the mountains of Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. Yesterday we said farewell to Alex and headed into Amherst to see Emily Dickinson's grave again and check out the town before heading out. The last time I was here everything was buried under snow, and it feels completely different in the summer. 

I think this is one of the 50 cemeteries we've visited on our trip. I've never met a graveyard I didn't like. 

The Emily Dickinson Museum (it was closed, but the gardens were open and beautiful).

Pretty house across the street.

Norberta's still here and kicking! We drove through one toll and the guy literally laughed at us and said, 'Hey--nice color.' Like you even know our lives.

One of the few planned events we made for the trip was to stop in Poughkeepsie, NY, and walk over the longest pedestrian bridge in the country, straight over the Hudson River. We really had no idea what to expect, which was probably a good thing. Poughkeepsie is a tad on the Chateau Ghetto side, but once we got to the actual walk it provided gorgeous views of the river/mountains. 

However, storms were brewing. We'd made it about halfway across the bridge when two boys on a golf cart came driving up and told us we had to exit ASAP or risk being electrocuted. Noooo! Granted, we were surrounded on a high-rise metal structure that's suspended over water. But seriously? I'M JUST TRYING TO WALK OVER THIS RIVER!!

So we turned around and headed back...

... and waited in our car. And waited. And waited some more. Finally, we decided to risk our lives/break some rules and walk back across the bridge (look, we drove 700 miles for this. 700. Kind of.).  

Can't stop, won't stop. We made it across the bridge and back alive. It was probs a miracle from above. 

Then we got the boys on the golf cart to take our picture. Take that.

Serious electricity in the air. Nice hair, lady.

After conquering the Hudson and narrowly escaping death, we continued on to the Catskills were we found ourselves in the sweet artsy town of New Paltz and its super-fab Super 8....

One thing's for sure--road tripping is hard work.

We Summer in Newport

Yesterday we woke up early, hopped in Norberta, and drove to the coast to visit the beautiful town of Newport, Rhode Island. 

The weather wasn't quite as hot as it has been, and there was a great breeze (for the most part) coming off the water. After parking our car, we started out on the Cliff Walk to check out the 60+ mansions that dot the path, following the coast the entire way. The houses were gorgeous. The landscaping was perfection. And the green, flower-filled walkway was delicious. 

Ready to go, walking stick at the ready!

 Rose hips everywhere.

Haha, I love it!

These were the biggest seagulls I've ever seen. 

Reach People Way like no other.

Taking a little break for sanity's sake.

Finally at the end... until the walk back. Woot!

Apparently I felt the need to straddle my water bottle at the end of the walk. Pretty much all rational thought was gone at this moment. Whatevs.

This one's for sale. Just sayin'.

Oh haii Tom Wolfe!

All in all, the wedding was a success! They read sweet vows, provided delicious food + drinks, toasted to the night, and proved that the people of RI know how to throw down. After a long night of dinner and dancing, we headed back to the Biltmore for our last night in the Ocean State before heading onwards to the one and only Noho/Alexandra!!! So very excited to be here.....

xoxox, Hann