Murder Mystery Weekend in Vermont

Along with taking improv classes, going away for a murder mystery weekend where you dress up and play characters was high on my list of things to do before we left New York. I had seen these weekends advertised many times, but we finally made in work toward the end of April.

When I called to book the trip, I was asked a series of questions about how involved we wanted to be in the weekend and how comfortable we would be with singing/dancing. We were prepared to go all in and we got some great roles. They emailed those to Chris and me separately so we had no idea what the other one's role would be for the night.

The time period was the 20's and our entire group was really fun. There were a few other couples and even one whole family participated. On the night we arrived, we all met to go over some preliminary notes and socialize a bit. We all stayed at the Big Bear's Lodge in West Dover, Vermont.

We were able to relax and then check out the nearby towns on Saturday before we came back to the Lodge to get into character and report to the dining area around dinner time. Ironically, our group had an actual black bear nearly join us. I wasn't quick enough to capture it, but the room has floor to ceiling glass on one side and we looked up at one point and there was a bear. Eek! So wild...literally!

I won't say much about the actual mystery and our characters and how they interacted specifically, but we had THE best time!! I did have a musical number to perform at the end of dinner. It was a hit...and SO much fun. However, Chris was the star of the night...easily! He even managed to win the acting award at the breakfast vote by all the participants the next morning.

We would highly recommend a murder mystery weekend getaway. We enjoyed every moment of the entire weekend. If you decide to give it a shot, my advice is to go big...you'll have a blast!

Andrea :)

Weekend Getaway in New Hope, PA

After spending roughly six weeks apart while I was in Kentucky helping my parents as my dad recovered and began rehab, Chris and I were due for a fun weekend away. He did all the planning and surprised me with a bed and breakfast getaway in New Hope, Pennsylvania.

We stayed at the Pineapple Hill Inn and had a full couple of days checking out the area. On our first night, we made a stop at Crooked Eye Brewery for some cider and a flight before dinner at Louie's Old Mill. We enjoyed both places, but certainly felt the small town vibe of the area.

 

The next day, we tracked down a cupcake shop and eventually made our way to the highlight of the trip - a Girl Scout cookie wine pairing at Sand Castle Winery. It was so fun...and we each got to take home a box of cookies. I picked Samoas and Chris went with Thin Mints.

We ventured out into nature for a walk and some fresh air before dinner. We tried Bowman's this time and enjoyed it as well. However, my favorite dish came at breakfast the next morning. The blueberry crumble was SO good. I will definitely try to replicate it soon.

Our final adventure was a ride on the New Hope & Ivyland Railroad. It was a bit windy for an open air train ride, but we had fun learning more about the area and its history. We walked around the town checking out the shops and stretching out our legs before the car ride back to LIC.

Have you ever visited a bed and breakfast? Would you return?

Andrea :)

Friends, Food, and Football!

What a relaxing, yet busy weekend!  It seems like it has been ages since there has been a weekend that didn't revolve around something wedding related so it was a refreshing break to not have a mile long to-do list this weekend!  We did have lots of honeymoon related tasks to complete, but nothing super pressing.  PS - Wednesday can't arrive soon enough!!

But back to the weekend...on Friday after work we braved the PATH train to head over to Hoboken for a visit with our favorite newbie parents :)  Chris hadn't even had a chance to meet their daughter yet!  It was SO fun to catch up!!  And little Carolyn had changed so much in the month since I'd last seen her!

Delicious yumminess from Sweet in Hoboken!!  Thanks, Mary & Dave :)

For most of the day on Saturday, we were busy running errands, figuring out which luggage to take, and sorting out which clothes would be most weather appropriate for our cruise.  We did manage to have a little date night that involved painting...so fun!  More to come on that adventure soon :) 

On Sunday we managed to stop by a neat little hodge podge of eateries and treat shops in Greeley Square before picking up some accessories from B&H Photo for our new video camera and gathering up some other electronic odds and ends that we had been needing for our trip.  Oh, and I got a new camera!  Here's to lots of multimedia fun on our cruise :) 

The teriyaki balls were delish!  I got the potato ones.  And really, how can you say no to macaroons?

 

I had to work the late game, but we met up with some friends for the Jets-Bills game earlier that day.  And at a Bills bar nonetheless.  I had to leave early, but Chris held his ground as the only one to rep the green and white.  Brave man!

How was your weekend??  Did your team win??

Andrea :)

Love, Football, and possibly too much Sun

Chris and I have been to multiple weddings since we started dating roughly three and a half years ago.  We've been to at least one every year, but typically we attend 3-4 over the course of a year.  The wedding we attended this past weekend wasn't like all the others though.  It was our first family wedding.  Chris' cousin was the groom.  It was totally different to be attending a wedding AND meeting lots of Chris' family as well!

The wedding was a lot of fun.  It was held at a resort in Howey-in-the-hills, Florida, where the evening ceremony took place just before sunset.  The flower girl was adorable especially when she ran out of flowers halfway down the path.  Too cute! 

During the cocktail hour, family photos were taken.  Chris has a very large family as his parents are both 1 of 8 children.  There were so many family members at the wedding that I couldn't even see everyone's face when I took a picture of the group!  I had met a handful of the family members previously so it was fun to see them again...especially the trio of British folks that I met most recently.  We had a good time chatting and dancing the night away.

Bride and Groom with his parents and three brothers.

I liked so many things about this wedding.  The buffet style meal was delicious.  The cake was very tasty.  The favors were great - the candle smells unbelievable!  And the sparkler send off for the newlyweds was super neat.

The next day, Chris and I were up early to head over to Tampa for some football.  I managed to squeeze in a quick three mile run before breakfast at the hotel.  Then, we were on our way!  I collect NFL stadiums so we planned to make the trip dual purpose and watch a game as well.  I'll do a full recap of our stadium experience on Sunday (check out #1 on my bucket list for previous Sunday stadium reviews), but the most unforgettable part of the afternoon was the SUN.  It was blazing hot...and I got scorched.  Boo for that!

It was a quick two day trip to Florida for us, but we were glad to be there for all the fun!

Andrea :)

16 Miles + The Butler

This weekend, I got back on track with my marathon training schedule and relaxed with Christopher.

On Friday, I just relaxed. It was much needed after all of my recent traveling.

On Saturday, I set out to run 16 miles as a part of my training for the fast approaching NYC Marathon. I started out by heading to Central Park and running the big loop there. Next, I headed over to the east side and ran the Queensboro Bridge. This bridge will pop up at mile 17 during the actual marathon so it was nice to get some practice running it. It's a beast though! I finished up the 16 miles by heading back over to the West side with a small detour in the park along the way.

After the run, I headed over to the grocery to stock up on food since I had pretty much depleted my fridge before all my recent travels. By the time I got back to my apartment, I was exhausted. I showered and rested for a couple hours before Chris arrived. We had a calm and low key night with homemade dinner and Netflix watching!

On Sunday, I was up early to complete my short run before we headed to church. After church, we had a Groupon date! We headed down to the East Village to S'Mac - YUM!!

It was delicious! I had the All-American which was a perfect blend of American and Cheddar cheeses! Totally hit the carb-loading spot :) Chris had the Napoletana - like pizza with Mozzarella, roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic, and fresh basil.

After lunch, we ran a few quick errands and then headed over to see The Butler in Union Square. It was a very good movie. Definitely some tough parts to watch, but well made and had just the right amount of humor throughout.

The only bummer was that after we got home and googled the film, we learned that it was only loosely based on the actual story. Many of the more touching and moving aspects of the film weren't a part of the actual butler's real life. That was pretty disappointing, but I understand why the filmmaker was interested in presenting the story in the manner it was shown. I would definitely recommend watching it!

I capped off the weekend by heading into work to monitor the Sunday night game. As my luck would have it there was an hour rain delay just before the second quarter began. Ugh! Definitely made for a long game.

Can't believe it's already Monday! How was your weekend?

Andrea :)