Thanksgiving & Portland

Thanksgiving:



I made turkey cake pops for dessert. Aren't they cute?!


My mother is insane.


The children and I played a very strange game wherein someone was a singer on tour and all of us had to make sure a plastic doll didn't touch the floor.


This illustrates a streak of a child leaping over me with aforementioned plastic doll.


Later that night, Jarbabe came over.


Then we went to Lauren's house where I found a leopard print snuggie, which is my new obsession. Jared and Dylan were not too pleased.


Portland:


Jared and I left Friday afternoon to spend the weekend in Portland. It should have taken us around 3 hours from Providence, but it ended up taking a lot longer because we took the scenic route.


This obviously paid off--we discovered an old Ames on the way. I used to LOVE Ames. Strangely enough, right before we found this, I asked Jared if he remembered Ames. I assume this is because I am psychic.


Anyway, there was a hotel.


And pumpkin whoopie pies from Two Fat Cats Bakery.



And love. Lots of that.


Also, a bacon candy bar. It was ok, except for the moments after consumption, when random bits of bacon joined together in my mouth to form a circle of bacon fat. OH GOD WHY?!


This is me being excited about going to the bathroom, only to find the most disgusting stalls known to man.


Disgusting bathrooms aside, Portland is the most adorable city to ever exist. Jared and I are moving here immediately.


Did I mention how much I love hotels? Because I do. I want to live inside one.


I think it's because of the ice machine. This is before our journey to obtain a bucket of ice. Do you see how much joy it brings?!


Pretty ocean.


Jared is obsessed with lobsters. I think they're weird and disgusting. My face was disfigured almost the entire meal, as I sat and watched Jared disassemble this poor creature in horror.


I don't really know what happened after that except that we ordered the entire Chili's menu and watched Along Came Polly. This is Jared the next day, about to pee inside a portapotty that hadn't been emptied in a week.


Then we attempted to take a nice, normal picture by the water. But we are not nice, normal people. So instead we have this. I think it's infinitely better.

Hope your Thanksgiving weekend was delicious and relaxing!

Snapshot

More of a "Snapshot Weekend" than a Sunday, but let's not get too technical.


Saturday morning/early afteroon. Autumn prancing.


Part II. I'm always so awkward.


Saturday evening. Booboo learned "On the Bus Mall" for me, which is really very perfect and sweet. Then we went to see Waiting for Superman at midnight, which was depressing and certainly worth your $10.


After the movie we went to sleep and woke up and Jared declared that he hates Snapshot Sunday because I harass his entire life with my camera. I actually do this every day anyway, so I'm not sure why he isn't used to it by now.


We went to Mel's diner which had good reviews but was not good in real life. On the bright side, bad breakfast places with steady patronage make me realize I could probably open up my own breakfast/brunch restaurant and do OK, which thrills me to no end.


Then I went to work and did absolutely nothing except order the boys to grab me grenadine and Sprite from the aisles.


I later used them in a Shirley Temple. Deeeeeeeeeeeelish.

Love,
me

Snapshot Sunday

This morning I decorated caramel apples. It was harder than I thought and very, very sticky.


Then Mom and I watched Jersey Shore for 3 hours. Please excuse the random rug burrito littering the floor.


Then we all went to West Warwick to watch football at my aunt's. I made Jared come, and we stopped at Michael's on the way. There was a Paula Deen display. Love her.


Here is Amanda showing off her fangs.


There was a donut cake.


And lots & lots of pictures outside with the little ones.


Jared and I escaped early and headed home, where unspeakable things happened.


Then Ian called and demanded we go to Bank of America with him & Caitrin. So we did, but not before taking pictures. He's leaving for Ireland tomorrow to study abroad for a semester. MY BABY. I will miss him more than I can possibly express. I hope he has a fantastic time.


Now it's time to watch the VMA's with a chai tea latte. Mmmmm. I love coldish weather.

Snapshot Sunday

Rise and shine, morning glory. He was very upset that I took 9 hours to shower, even though I personally delivered a Keebler cookie in an attempt to snuff his complaining. Moral of the story: if you give a Jared a cookie, he's still mean.


After I screamed at my GPS for a very long time in my driveway (because I neglected to write down the address and thought it would be just as easy to run a search), we finally got to the Liberty Elm Diner, which was only 10 minutes away and not very hard to locate at all. I guess I'm the kind of person who enjoys doing simple things in the most difficult way possible.


Anyway, it was a very cute little place. We opted to seat outside, because it was gorgeous out. There was a very loud and vibrant-sounding Spanish church across the street.


They had a pretty trashcan.


They also offered freshly squeezed lemonade & limeade (in addition to more traditional fare), so Jared and I ordered one of each. I got the lemonade, and it was seriously delicious. It came unsweetened so that we could sweeten it to our liking, and she brought out a squeeze bottle of simple syrup in case we didn't want to use the various types of sugar on the table. I had a grand time swirling in cane sugar packets and squirting syrup into my cup. I also tried Jared's limeade which was just as delish.


I ordered 2 blueberry pancakes with a side of bacon & home fries. These pancakes were massive and loaded with blueberries. They were outstanding. The home fries were well-seasoned and cooked how I like them, but they were a little cold. I'm sure they would have been perfect if they were served hot. The bacon was good, but when has bacon ever been bad? Please note the heartbreaking adorableness of the umbrellas and mini syrup pourer thingy. I considered taking it home, but decided to be nice. Note to self: buy one ASAP.


Jared ordered the breakfast burrito (berry toe) with a side of sausage and home fries. It wasn't in traditional burrito form (much to his chagrin), but he said it was "good...a little on the bland side." He declared the sausage delicious, but wished it came with more than one patty.


After breakfast I dragged Jared along for a ride through Barrington/Warren/Bristol. It was all quite pretty.


We also stopped at this gift shop, which is apparently one of the top 25 gift shops in the country. I've always driven by and wondered what it was, but never took the time to stop. It was pretty impressive--they had a candy store, an ice cream shop, and 3-4 levels of cute, quirky gifts.


And cows. Lots of cows.


So I naturally had to drop $5 on a cow pen. It moos when you press its head. I'm in love.


Then I went to work, where things were verrrrrry slow. And dull.


The biggest event was when Cristina and I investigated why the storage room smelled like a sweaty hot dog. She requested I photograph her pimple, though I'm not sure why.


Then we ordered pizza, which I hid in the locker room so the boys wouldn't steal any.


Now it's time for pillow cuddling and reading.
Hope your Labor Day weekend was a fun one!