Let's get out of this town...

I desperately needed a day away from everything, so over Fall Break I headed out of town with a good friend for some shopping and sight-seeing.  We headed north to Mentone, AL to check out the changing of the leaves and to stay in a historic inn for a night.  On the way we had to detour off the interstate, so we stopped at Noccalula Falls and walked down the gorge trail.  I haven't been there since I was a kid.  Every year my family has a big family reunion around the time of my great-grandmother's birthday, so I have some great memories of that place.

We stayed in the Mentone Springs Hotel and had the most incredible experience.  We booked the Mountain Laurel room.  It came with a cozy fireplace and was very comfortable and relaxing.  After we checked in, the proprietor showed us around the hotel and gave us a little background on the town (the building down the street was apparently once the town brothel).

That night we walked over to the Wildflower Cafe and had an amazing gourmet meal.  Then we walked back and played checkers in the incredibly picturesque parlor.

In the morning we got up and the proprietor made us a homemade, southern-style breakfast, complete with grits and sweet potato biscuits.  After we ate, we went into the White Elephant Antiques shop next door, and after browsing in there for a while we drove to Fort Payne for some more shopping.  We came across some papers from the late 1800s and early 1900s in a gun shop, and we found some antique mason jars in an antique shop.

We even got to tour around the most amazing old building that used to be a sock factory.  

It was the most relaxing vacation I've had in a long time. :)

White Christmas... Finally!!!

Oh yes, I've been dreaming of a white Christmas :)

And I finally got one!

What a Christmas break this has turned out to be!  First NYC with Mom and Aunt J., then a white Christmas at home, and soon I'll be off to Arizona with Dad to visit with my sister and her family!  I've definitely been blessed with opportunities to travel this Christmas.  

I know I promised a few pictures from NYC, but as I was looking back through them I realized I spent a lot more time just looking around than taking pictures.  I kind of like it that way though.  :)  I did manage a few at least!  Like this one of the curtain at West Side Story.  I'm fascinated with ornate, old theaters, unfortunately none of the other pictures turned out very well...

One of my favorite stores :)

Love the store decorations :)

I have worked on at least one crafty project over the break!  These awesome Diagonal Hand Warmers from creativeyarn!  I used these handy videos to reteach myself casting on, the knit stitch, and the purl stitch.  Once I had a little refresher course on those things, the first hand warmer worked up so fast!  I'm only two rows into the second, but that's one project I'll definitely be finishing.  :)  

Casting on!

The ribbing starts to emerge on the cuff!

 Starting to make out the eyelet pattern...

Ta Da!!!  

Awfully proud of myself since this is the first knitting project I've undertaken since I gave up on that black and white scarf in high school (maybe it was even middle school!).  I love the grape-y color!!!  I've definitely been on a purple kick lately.

2010 was a big year for me!  I completed a teaching internship in a city high school, I graduated with my Bachelor's, I became an aunt for the second time, I moved out of my old apartment and into a new one, and I started graduate school!  I've been incredibly blessed this year, and I can't wait to see what God has in store for 2011.  

All posts should end with cake.  :)

The time has come, the walrus said...

We had a wonderful brunch at the cutest place today! Alice's Teacup on West 73rd St and Columbus! I'll blog in detail when I get home, but for now, a few pictures to whet your appetite. :)



















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Location:W 46th St,New York,United States

Promises, Promises

Location:W 48th St,New York,United States

Nighttime in New York

We're here! We flew in tonight, grabbed dinner at Cranberry Cafe, and checked out Times Square and Forever 21 before crashing at the hotel. I'm exhausted!

I saw this Singer on display at Forever 21 and had to take a picture. While I'm here I'll be on the hunt for the store that has a wall to wall window display of antique Singers! (The picture quality's awful, hopefully my iphone will take better pictures in the daylight.)




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Location:7th Ave,New York,United States

Greatest Day Ever (Sarcasm Included)

So, A.M.C. and I drove to Nashville last night for the express purpose of catching a 6 am flight out of BNA to Denver the next morning. We checked into the hotel without any problems, and tried to crash early since we planned to be up by 3 am the next day. Not being used to hitting the sack that early, we both had a little trouble falling asleep. Nonetheless, when 3 am rolled around we dutifully crawled out of bed, grabbed showers, and got out of the room on time. We showed up at the checkout desk around 4:15 am, where we were informed that contrary to our expectations we WERE expected to pay for parking. The irony is that we drove up a day early to spend the night in order to avoid long term parking fees. Strike one against the greatest day ever. But we moved past it. We hopped in the shuttle, chatted with the driver on the way there, and felt pretty good about ourselves when we got to the terminal around 4:30. Where we were greeted by roughly 50 passengers already in line at Frontier's check in. So we took our place in line. And waited. And waited. Then, from somewhere up ahead we heard those fateful words... flight cancellation. A.M.C. and I looked at each other. A.M.C. and I freaked out. A.M.C. called S. (it was 3:30 am in Colorado by the way) while I sneaked to the front of the line to read the sign. "Flight 239 cancelled due to lightning strike." Really? Really. So we waited in line for another hour while the harassed airline employees jumped through hoops to get us all onto different flights. At 5:35 we found out that we would be catching a connecting flight to Denver through Houston. The flight left at 6. Somehow, we made it to Continental's terminal, checked our bags, raced through security, and flung ourselves onto the plane by 5:55. Phew. As it turns out, our new flight was an ExpressJet, which equals tiny. A.M.C. and I grabbed the last two seats together... right next to the lavatory. Fun times. The only saving grace about that flight was the free muffin and coke, which definitely saved our lives. We landed in Houston, with just enough time to make our way across to gate C 44 and onto, thankfully, a larger, nicer, and better smelling airplane. Unfortunately, due to the crowded flight, A.M.C. and I were split up, and we each sat in the dreaded middle seat for the duration of the flight. More than a muffin and a beverage service saved this flight though, inflight movies were provided. I owe so much to Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail.
So we get to Denver, disembark, and miracle of miracles, our luggage made the journey with us. After that kind of day, I'd had my doubts. So after grabbing one red suitcase that wasn't mine, I pinpointed the correct one and hauled it off the carousel. After a short wait, we were picked up by Marcia and cruised a loop around the airport while waiting to pick up Fred and Jeb. She took us to their apartment, and we ate pizza and crashed.
Coming up... the bachelorette party!