Our Providence Vacation

Chris and I had many wonderful adventures on our vacation to the quaint little town of Providence, Rhode Island.  We headed out of Manhattan via train toward our destination around noon last Friday.  We enjoyed the train ride and passed the time by playing Monopoly Deal and resting up for the adventure.
 

Upon arrival we climbed up a pretty steep hill near the capital to our hotel.  We got settled into our little cove there and then hit the town.  We checked out Union Station Brewery, went on a fun little boat tour at sunset, and participated in Bring Your Own Improv.  We both loved the improv show.  It was awesome getting to be a part of the action!!

They even featured us on their blog.  Check it out here.

Day 2 was spent mostly walking. We covered much of the Benefit Street and Thayer Street area.  We watched a Newcastle game during the heat of the day which turned out to be a perfect break from the massive hills in that area of town.  We also took a tour of the John Brown House and ended the night with a ghost tour.

John Brown House

Providence Athenaeum on Benefit Street

At the top of one of the many hills...overlooking the city

Very fitting guide for the Ghost Tour...

After wearing ourselves out with such an busy day, we took it easy on Sunday.  We went to the morning service at the First Baptist Church in America followed by some Monopoly Deal in Roger Williams Park and sliders at Harry's for lunch.  That evening we ventured over to Federal Hill for some delicious Italian food at Andino's and dessert at Pastiche.

Archway entrance to Federal Hill

yummy cannoli's :)

On our last day of vacation, we had a couple things we wanted to do before we headed back to NYC in the late afternoon.  We took a self-guided tour of the capital building and found a cupcake shop.  

Interior of the dome inside the capital building

our tasty treats from City Girl Cupcake

Neither of us wanted to get back to reality after our long weekend away, but in the end we had no choice.  We had a great time visiting a neat little town together.  

This weekend we are off to Pittsburgh for lots of fun with Chris' friends from college at their annual Pitt football game - Go Panthers!!  Hope you have fabulous Labor Day weekend plans as well!!

Andrea :)

Thursday Thoughts

Thursday Thoughts 

(in the style of Peter King's MMQB Ten Things I Think I Think)

1) I think that I couldn't be more excited about the long weekend vacation Chris and I have planned beginning tomorrow morning!  Definitely need a break from the day in and day out craziness of life.  And it should be fun to spend some time in the quaint little city of Providence with no car and my favorite mister :)

2) I think I am ready to get back to football!!  Wait, do I technically ever really take a break from it?  Hmmm....regardless, looking forward to watching the guys in black and orange on Sundays!  All I gotta say is WHO DEY!!!

3) Speaking of Who Dey...I think that Chad Johnson most definitely did NOT head butt that crazy woman.  Chad has always been one of my favorites so I really do hope that everything ends up working out for him in the end.

4) I think I am a little bit sad that I probably had my last bright summer color mani/pedi of the year this week.  Summer is slowly, but surely rolling to an end.  The good news is you can still head over to Shine On and sign up for an awesome nail polish swap.  But, just like summer, sign ups are ending soon...tomorrow actually!!

Love this bright blue :)

5) I think I am likely not ready for my 4-mile Back to Football Run in Central Park next week.  But, hey, I got free entry so at least I didn't have to waste any hard earned cash on it.  Seriously though, my left calf has been in some decent pain for the past couple of days.  Here's hoping I walk it out in Providence :)

6) I think I can't believe how big my niece is getting.  She is the cutest little thing EVER.  Love her to pieces!!!

Brinley is ready for some football, too!!

7) I think I am WAY proud of myself for organizing my closet and dresser this past weekend.  It was no easy chore, but I have a massive amount of clothes to donate now.  Who wouldn't feel good about that?

8) I think I am quite unhappy that facebook finally forced me into timeline.  Boo :(

9) I think it is hard to believe my baby brother is starting his senior year of college. He's all grown up now, but he'll always be my little bubsa :)

Circa 2010 in Hawaii...

10) I think I absolutely LOVE mini cupcakes!  LOVE!!

Cotton Candy deliciousness from Bettie's Cakes in Saratoga

Hope you all have a fabulous Thursday!!

Andrea :)

End of Summer Fun

Unfortunately, work takes up a good majority of my summer.  This year the work travel was particularly frequent with my new leadership program in the mix.  I'll do a separate post on this new program soon.  For now, I just want to update you on some of the end of summer fun I've had recently!

In late July, family friends - Edna and Mary - came to visit.  We had SO much fun.  We went to shows, ate yummy cupcakes and delicious Pinkberry, and stayed up WAY too late talking.  It was awesome!  Here are some pictures from their visit.
 

Really enjoyed this one - different kind of show, but great!

Pinkberry and Baked by Melissa cupcakes - doesn't get any better!

Strolling through Highline Park after a stop at Strand :)

4th time seeing this one - NEVER gets old...absolutely love it!

A few weeks later, Chris and I joined our now newly engaged friends, Shannon and Mark, for a French soccer match.  It was a great game that went into a penalty shoot out!  The game was between Montpellier and Lyon for the Trophee des Champions.  We had lots of fun!

Nice save in the penalty shoot out!!

Lyon wins!!

 

Hope you have been enjoying these last few weeks of summer before we head into fall football season!  What have fun activities have you been enjoying lately?

Andrea :)

Baby Tour - Albany Pit Stop

A few weeks ago we made a pit stop on our baby tour to see the Bolling's newest addition - Nicholas - in Albany.  He was born about a month early, but was a very healthy little boy.  We actually were able to visit him during his first week at home.  Suzanne and Andy have an older son, Jackson, who was entertaining us during our visit.  They are both adorable little guys.  We didn't stay too long, but I was able to get a pretty good picture.

Andrea :)

Birthday Fun :)

As I mentioned, I love to celebrate birthdays...especially mine :)  With that being said, the celebrations began exactly one week early this year when I was home in KY for a couple of days between work trips to Indianapolis and Green Bay.  It was a real treat to get to spend some time in the bluegrass and to get to play with little Brinley...she's growing way too fast!!

I started off with a dinner celebration with one of my best friends - Ashley Gail :)  She even brought me a delicious cupcake from Gigi's!  It was so great to be able to catch up in person for a few hours!

Andrea Lynn + Ashley Gail = BFF

The celebrations continued the next day with my family.  I put in a special request for Rolling Pin cake - it is THE best!!  We had a fun night.  It was special to have Brinley around this year.  I just loved getting a card addressed to Aunt Andrea :)  She is the sweetest little girl. 

LOVE this yummy cake :)

So fun having her around :)

Just because she's so cute!!  Love her!!

Sadly, I was off to what turned out to be a very trying trip to Green Bay.  Please don't get me started on connecting flights.  Not my thing.  Anyway, I made it back to NYC just in time for my actual birthday on the 24th.  Christopher came down to the city for the day.  We had a wonderful time.  Here are some of the highlights!

Tapas for lunch at Sangria 46

Carvel...so good on a hot July afternoon :)

We took a peddle cart ride through Central Park - so fun!!

Dinner at my favorite Italian spot in Hell's Kitchen - 44 SW

it wouldn't be a birthday with out cake, right? :)

That weekend, I hosted a game night to celebrate with friends.  Also, to celebrate having my own place...at least for the time being :)

Yummy strawberry cupcakes :)

Finally getting a chance to blow out some candles :)

That has to be it, right?  Nope.  There's more!!  I told you I love celebrating :)  My friend, Mary, and I had a tradition of seeing a show for our birthdays (they both fall in July!) for a few years prior to her being away in Paris last year so we picked that back up by going to see War Horse this year.  We even scored $30 tickets through the LincTix program.  The show was excellent.  We all really enjoyed it.  The horse puppets were absolutely incredible!!  Such skillful and talented individuals!  Definitely a worthwhile show to see!

yummy gelato snack after the show :)

Finally, I rounded out the birthday celebrations with my friend, Reba, one week after the day itself with more yummy cupcakes from Molly's and some Olympics watching.  Fun, fun :)

Thanks to everyone who made my 29th birthday such an exciting adventure :)  Looking forward to all this year has to bring!  Also, please note the new 30 before 30 page that I added to the blog.  I'll be sure to keep you updated on the progress with all of those items throughout the year!


Andrea :)