1. We used gift cards from our wedding to purchase a lovely expensive set of Calphalon pots and pans. For completing this item on our registry (and filling out some paperwork) Calphalon sent us a free 11" round "griddle gift." So far the pan we've used the most is the free one.
2. Our cat Cricket loves boxes, especially boxes that are a little bit too small to entirely fit her chubby body. She really enjoyed wedding gifts, although she is also still enjoying a shoe box my brother-in-law left here several years ago. Yes, we indulge her by keeping these ridiculous boxes.
3. In the 16 months since we got Android phones I fell in love with the NY Times app. It recently broke my heart. No, not by introducing the pay wall, but by ruining the app. I am so sad for this loss.
4. My favorite ice cream is Blue Bunny's cookie dough, because it has a delicious cookie batter ribbon.
5. We are spending a 3-day weekend in Ocean Grove in May and I am seriously impatient for it to come. The shore is by far and away my favorite part of living in New Jersey.
6. For the past 3 years we've had 10,000 places to see before you die wall calendars. This month we're visiting China's Yunnan Province. There will be pandas, which will make Becky happy.
7. Once I went to Edinburgh, Scotland and knowingly chose not to go see Emperor penguins at the zoo. I have regretted this decision since.
8. Becky made sugar cookies today, and she saved a tasty chunk of uncooked dough for me (true love). We're planning to decorate them with our nephews in Massachusetts this weekend; maybe we'll let the other adults play too.
9. Our cat Piccadilly has been waking us up precisely at 6:00am several mornings this week. This has led her to receive death threats from her mommies. Kitty needs to remember that tired mommies are not fun mommies!!
10. Happy Easter and Passover to all who celebrate either!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Wedding Wednesdays: Invitations & Paper
Our wedding was almost 6 months ago, but we never really did full-on recaps afterward. And since I know a few of you wandered here via the wedding blogosphere, we figured a few pretty wedding posts couldn't hurt! For the next few weeks, we'll (try really hard to) have a Wednesday post with wedding-related content. If weddings aren't your thing, well, we'll see you next post!
To kick things off, I wanted to tell you a bit about our invitations and other paper items. Sadly, we forgot to have our photographer take a picture of our invitation, so some of the pictures here aren't the best. (memo to brides-to-be: send an invite to your photographer or have an invite there on the day of and then remember to give it to him/her to photograph.We missed that step.)
We sent out Save-the-Date postcards about six months before our wedding. We designed them in Microsoft Publisher and then got them printed through Vistaprint. If you're looking for cheap postcards, they're a great source, but make sure you do a quick search for freebies first! We got our postcards free but had to pay for shipping and a set-up fee for the custom design.
The back of the postcard had information about the where/when and a link to our wedding website. We had to send out the postcards before we had our actual engagement pictures done, but fortunately we were able to con a friend into doing a photoshoot for us in Asbury Park and Ocean Grove, our favorite spots on the Jersey Shore.
The invitations...were probably the one area of the wedding where I went the most insane. From the moment I heard the word "pocketfolds", I was in. They're so organized! And neat! And all the little cards line up so nicely! Also, they are expensive, so clearly we needed to find some ways to make them less so. We ordered the folders and envelopes from Cards & Pockets, and I seriously cannot say enough good things about them. The prices were great, quality was excellent, their shipping was quick, and the customer service was awesome. We designed the invitations and inserts in Publisher, with a little bit of work (map cards, some image stuff) done in a free 30-day trial of Adobe Illustrator. I used this tutorial to design the map card, and I am proud to say that I managed to get through it without actually throwing my computer out the window, though I was tempted at many times.
We then had the lovely custom printing people at Cards & Pockets print the invitations. Our printer is ten years old and we don't bother to keep color ink in it, so printing the invitations ourselves would have involved buying a new printer. By getting them to do the printing, we ended up saving money and avoided the hassles of printing and cutting all of the pieces. And their rates were extremely reasonable--much cheaper than we were quoted anywhere else.
Once we had all the pieces, step 1 for us (well, me) was addressing the envelopes. Since I did these by hand, in cursive, it took a little longer than I anticipated. While I worked on that, Carrie painstakingly stamped our return address and the little squares we cut for the belly bands. For those of you who are new here, check out these awesome pictures of us hard at work on these projects.
Once those steps were complete, we dragged everything up to Carrie's sister's house for a weekend of invitation assembly. We set up a big table in their living room, and Carrie, Jen, and I became a craft factory, while Sean kept the boys out of the way for a miraculously long period of time. (Thanks again, J and Anonymous!)
Finally: the finished product!
Once those were on their merry way, the biggest paper project left was the ceremony program. We designed these in Publisher, and after trying to find a local printer that was even remotely reasonable, we decided to have Cards & Pockets print them as well. Then all we had to do was cut the vellum, hole punch them, and tie ribbons through each one. Voila:
You can't really see it at all in this photo, but each program has a red ribbon, similar in style to the ribbon on the belly bands but much thinner, tied in a bow. And here's a tip: if you're printing something that has to be hole punched, mark the holes on your design so that they're printed right on the paper and you don't have to mark it on each one later.
For those of you keeping score at home, here's what we used and where we got it:
To kick things off, I wanted to tell you a bit about our invitations and other paper items. Sadly, we forgot to have our photographer take a picture of our invitation, so some of the pictures here aren't the best. (memo to brides-to-be: send an invite to your photographer or have an invite there on the day of and then remember to give it to him/her to photograph.We missed that step.)
We sent out Save-the-Date postcards about six months before our wedding. We designed them in Microsoft Publisher and then got them printed through Vistaprint. If you're looking for cheap postcards, they're a great source, but make sure you do a quick search for freebies first! We got our postcards free but had to pay for shipping and a set-up fee for the custom design.
 |
| Image came out a little blurry here, but they printed great! |
The invitations...were probably the one area of the wedding where I went the most insane. From the moment I heard the word "pocketfolds", I was in. They're so organized! And neat! And all the little cards line up so nicely! Also, they are expensive, so clearly we needed to find some ways to make them less so. We ordered the folders and envelopes from Cards & Pockets, and I seriously cannot say enough good things about them. The prices were great, quality was excellent, their shipping was quick, and the customer service was awesome. We designed the invitations and inserts in Publisher, with a little bit of work (map cards, some image stuff) done in a free 30-day trial of Adobe Illustrator. I used this tutorial to design the map card, and I am proud to say that I managed to get through it without actually throwing my computer out the window, though I was tempted at many times.
We then had the lovely custom printing people at Cards & Pockets print the invitations. Our printer is ten years old and we don't bother to keep color ink in it, so printing the invitations ourselves would have involved buying a new printer. By getting them to do the printing, we ended up saving money and avoided the hassles of printing and cutting all of the pieces. And their rates were extremely reasonable--much cheaper than we were quoted anywhere else.
Once we had all the pieces, step 1 for us (well, me) was addressing the envelopes. Since I did these by hand, in cursive, it took a little longer than I anticipated. While I worked on that, Carrie painstakingly stamped our return address and the little squares we cut for the belly bands. For those of you who are new here, check out these awesome pictures of us hard at work on these projects.
Once those steps were complete, we dragged everything up to Carrie's sister's house for a weekend of invitation assembly. We set up a big table in their living room, and Carrie, Jen, and I became a craft factory, while Sean kept the boys out of the way for a miraculously long period of time. (Thanks again, J and Anonymous!)
 |
| Important lesson: old medical school textbooks are extremely good weights for ensuring your adhesive is stuck. |
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| We used the belly band squares in place of the inner envelope, so for everyone else, these said the guests' names. |
Once those were on their merry way, the biggest paper project left was the ceremony program. We designed these in Publisher, and after trying to find a local printer that was even remotely reasonable, we decided to have Cards & Pockets print them as well. Then all we had to do was cut the vellum, hole punch them, and tie ribbons through each one. Voila:
 |
| Photo by Becca Dilley |
For those of you keeping score at home, here's what we used and where we got it:
- Folders, envelopes, silver backing for belly band squares, and printing: Cards & Pockets
- Purple hemp paper for backing on main invitation panel: Paper Depot, Minneapolis, MN (also great customer service and lots of ideas--definitely worth a trip if you're in the area!)
- Adhesive: Tombow MONO adhesive (Bought at Paper Depot but I've since seen at A.C. Moore)
- Custom return address stamp: Etsy seller kiss + tell
- Ribbon: Michaels (gotta love their coupons!)
- Swirl stamp and ink pad: The Ink Pad (super-cute stamping store in NYC)
- Vellum paper for programs: Paper Presentation (in NYC)
Monday, April 18, 2011
Fancy Shmancy Trunk o' Books
This evening Becky crawled to the back of our storage room and pulled out an unopened cardboard box. On the side of the box is printed "Harry Potter boxed set 1-7. Do not display before October 16, 2007." Seeing as it is now 2011 I think she's safe from the publishing powers-that-be coming after her! Inside the first cardboard box is a spiffier looking cardboard trunk, which I suspect in turn contains the aforementioned books. I tried to open the trunk and check on the books while Becky took a break to dish up some ice cream. But I got yelled at for my actions. So I guess I will just have to have faith that the trunk truly contains all seven books. For now I'm enjoying the "Deliver to: Hogwarts" label, the yarn handles, and the printed hinge graphics.
Although I already owned several of the books (and now of course cannot find most of them), in 2007 Becky and I were not anywhere near engaged, and therefore she felt a burning desire to own them all herself. She obsessed. She pre-ordered. She obsessed more. And then she stashed. Every time another of the movies has come out we have chatted about a need to re-read the books. Every time we have chatted about pulling the trunk out. And every time we have eventually gone to see the movie without re-reading the books. But this summer the final movie is coming out, and by golly (haha, I can't believe I just wrote that), this time we're going to re-read the books.
UPDATE: After exclaiming "My trunk got locked!" she figured out how to open it, confirmed that her books were still shrink-wrapped, and started playing with the enclosed bonus stickers for decorating the trunk. And then she declared that her books are exempt from the joint property conferred by marriage, and that the trunk is locked so I cannot get in. I am feeling the love, how about you?
P.S. For some reason blogger is having a lot of issues with my attempts at spacing lately. I apologize.
Although I already owned several of the books (and now of course cannot find most of them), in 2007 Becky and I were not anywhere near engaged, and therefore she felt a burning desire to own them all herself. She obsessed. She pre-ordered. She obsessed more. And then she stashed. Every time another of the movies has come out we have chatted about a need to re-read the books. Every time we have chatted about pulling the trunk out. And every time we have eventually gone to see the movie without re-reading the books. But this summer the final movie is coming out, and by golly (haha, I can't believe I just wrote that), this time we're going to re-read the books.
I'll keep you updated on whether Becky lets me peek in the trunk. In the mean time, here are some pictures from way back in 2007 when we attended the book release party at Scholastic for book 7:
UPDATE: After exclaiming "My trunk got locked!" she figured out how to open it, confirmed that her books were still shrink-wrapped, and started playing with the enclosed bonus stickers for decorating the trunk. And then she declared that her books are exempt from the joint property conferred by marriage, and that the trunk is locked so I cannot get in. I am feeling the love, how about you?
P.S. For some reason blogger is having a lot of issues with my attempts at spacing lately. I apologize.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
New York City's Backyard
Yesterday we enjoyed a day that I previously dubbed Becky-style (although that's a bit of a lie, since I like 'em too). The weather gods poured buckets and buckets of rain on us as we sprinted between the car and the various stores we needed to visit. And we hung out at home and relaxed.
Today though...we got to have a previously dubbed Carrie-style day! (Also a misnomer, since Becky had an awesome time too.) It was the first really gorgeous spring day that happened to fall on a weekend, which felt especially lucky after the end-of-the-world storm on Saturday. But first we enjoyed nutella-filled Frenched tortillas.
Then we headed to Central Park, which was swarming with people who obviously had the same train of thought as we did. Sheep's Meadow was filled with little groups of people sunbathing, tossing frisbees, and watching their adorable children toddle around. It's intriguing to me the way that people in cities do so many things in public that suburbanites save for private, but city dwellers do them in parallel, hardly acknowledging the crowds around them.
Tavern on the Green, formerly a fancy iconic New York restaurant, re-opened as a parks gift store and food truck food court. To celebrate the re-envisioning and kick off the season they had sample day today. Each cart offered part of their usual fare for free! Rickshaw dumplings were delicious as always; Pera Turkish tacos left something to be desired (unadvertised pickled beets have no place in my lamb taco, and cheap grocery store tortillas are not alternatively called "lavash bread"). Even standing in line forever for hit-or-miss food felt lovely though, with the live band, warm sun, and cool breeze.
After eating we decided to do something unplanned: we rented a tandem bike! Becky had never ridden one, I had not ridden one since childhood (Itasca State Park, family?), and between us we've logged about 3 hours of bike riding total in the past 10 years. Becky's going to come back and argue that she rode occasionally in college, but I'm not sure you can call the hunk of junk that she rode in college a bike. We managed to survive a full 6 mile loop around the park, including hills! And it was pretty freaking awesome! On several occasions Becky whimpered that I was trying to kill her, but that's all part of the fun, right? Unfortunately while on the bike we were too focused on pedaling and not crashing to try for a decent picture, but here's one of Becky steering it back to its owners:
We then wandered to the east side (a place we typically avoid going!) to attempt to use a Crate and Barrel gift card before a wedding completion discount ends. We couldn't choose though, so ended up just browsing. And then for some inexplicable reason we decided to walk the 2+ miles back to the bus terminal. On the way we happened upon a premiere party for the new movie Water for Elephants. Quintessential New York, right? (It was a fabulous book too, so hopefully the movie is good!) As proof, here is the back of Reese Witherspoon's head:
In other news we did make a decision on the cable issue, but probably not the one Cablevision or Verizon wanted us to make. We canceled the cable, to save us about as much as Fios would have saved us. And this way we don't have to spend an entire day at home, get landlord permission, or otherwise deal with the hassle of changing providers.
I hope all of your weekends were as lovely!
Today though...we got to have a previously dubbed Carrie-style day! (Also a misnomer, since Becky had an awesome time too.) It was the first really gorgeous spring day that happened to fall on a weekend, which felt especially lucky after the end-of-the-world storm on Saturday. But first we enjoyed nutella-filled Frenched tortillas.
Then we headed to Central Park, which was swarming with people who obviously had the same train of thought as we did. Sheep's Meadow was filled with little groups of people sunbathing, tossing frisbees, and watching their adorable children toddle around. It's intriguing to me the way that people in cities do so many things in public that suburbanites save for private, but city dwellers do them in parallel, hardly acknowledging the crowds around them.
Tavern on the Green, formerly a fancy iconic New York restaurant, re-opened as a parks gift store and food truck food court. To celebrate the re-envisioning and kick off the season they had sample day today. Each cart offered part of their usual fare for free! Rickshaw dumplings were delicious as always; Pera Turkish tacos left something to be desired (unadvertised pickled beets have no place in my lamb taco, and cheap grocery store tortillas are not alternatively called "lavash bread"). Even standing in line forever for hit-or-miss food felt lovely though, with the live band, warm sun, and cool breeze.
After eating we decided to do something unplanned: we rented a tandem bike! Becky had never ridden one, I had not ridden one since childhood (Itasca State Park, family?), and between us we've logged about 3 hours of bike riding total in the past 10 years. Becky's going to come back and argue that she rode occasionally in college, but I'm not sure you can call the hunk of junk that she rode in college a bike. We managed to survive a full 6 mile loop around the park, including hills! And it was pretty freaking awesome! On several occasions Becky whimpered that I was trying to kill her, but that's all part of the fun, right? Unfortunately while on the bike we were too focused on pedaling and not crashing to try for a decent picture, but here's one of Becky steering it back to its owners:
We then wandered to the east side (a place we typically avoid going!) to attempt to use a Crate and Barrel gift card before a wedding completion discount ends. We couldn't choose though, so ended up just browsing. And then for some inexplicable reason we decided to walk the 2+ miles back to the bus terminal. On the way we happened upon a premiere party for the new movie Water for Elephants. Quintessential New York, right? (It was a fabulous book too, so hopefully the movie is good!) As proof, here is the back of Reese Witherspoon's head:
In other news we did make a decision on the cable issue, but probably not the one Cablevision or Verizon wanted us to make. We canceled the cable, to save us about as much as Fios would have saved us. And this way we don't have to spend an entire day at home, get landlord permission, or otherwise deal with the hassle of changing providers.I hope all of your weekends were as lovely!
Friday, April 15, 2011
Clutter
In case you haven't sensed it from our blog, the last few weeks have been...insane. Both of us have been pretty stressed out by our jobs and putting in a lot of hours at work. By the time we get home, we end up throwing something together for dinner, leaving the dishes for later, and sitting on the couch staring at our computers.
Needless to say, this cycle isn't doing much for our individual mental health, nor for our relationship. (The delay in dish-washing doesn't do our kitchen any good either.) I mean, we're surviving just fine, but our lives are definitely a much happier place to be when we're both feeling less stressed and exhausted. Of course I know what some of the most obvious solutions are to this problem: sleep more, clean as we go instead of letting it pile up, spend less time online and have more quality time together, and spend less time at work. All of these are logical steps to take, but all of them are much easier said than done. For example, the irony is not lost on me that I am currently writing a blog post about spending less time online and more time with my wife. I swear that as soon as I post this, I'm going to put the computer down. Pinky swear, even!
I posted this picture of us (from our engagement pictures, by the lovely Becca Dilley) because we look so calm and peaceful. It's one of my favorite pictures from that day, and it's actually the wallpaper on my computer desktop. Unfortunately, I rarely see the full picture because it's covered with a ridiculous assortment of files saved on my desktop. I've frequently noted throughout my adult life that my mental health bears a strong correlation with both the state of my home and the state of my desktop. All three seem to get cluttered up and reach a breaking point of "OMG something needs to change NOW" around the same time. I don't know if there's a cause/effect here and if so, which way it goes, but I seem to have reached a point where all three need some attention.
The desktop, of course, is the easiest thing to organize. And the apartment, while a disaster, is a fairly straightforward set of tasks--it doesn't even really matter which one I tackle first, as long as I just do something. But getting the rest of my life sorted out in a way that I'm able to spend quality time with my wife, have some time to myself, get my work done, and keep up with online friends and interests, is a little trickier.
So I ask you, dear readers, how do you balance all of these issues? And since I'm currently looking for ways to de-stress, what's your secret?
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Ima sucker
I sort of maybe kind of got talked in to actually buying something from a door to door salesman today. I'm a little bit ashamed to admit it, and now I can't decide what to do about it. I signed away my first born to the Verizon Fios men. I thought I was being smart. I asked a million questions, tried the "I can't make a decision without talking to Becky" line, and asked about fifteen times if I could change my mind fee-free. I even almost walked away at one point when we were doing some wacky over the phone government registration of the phone line thing. (Not that I even want a phone line, mind you, but every cable/internet company seems intent on discounting my internet by giving me a phone line I don't want.)
And yet, here I am with a contract in my hand. How did that even happen?
Luckily my contract does explicitly state that I can cancel within three business days and the whole thing will be forgotten. Ignore the fact that the salesman (accidentally?) back dated the contract by a day. So now I'm stuck. I almost want to call and cancel because I'm just plain mad that despite my best efforts I fell for their song and dance about discounts and good deals. But then I remember that if it's real, it could actually save us $30/month or so, which is pretty decent for Austerity April. Given that Frugal February and Moneyless March both failed it'd be nice to have a win for one month!
I wonder if other people feel as much annoyance at falling for gimmicks as I do. Decisions, decisions.
And yet, here I am with a contract in my hand. How did that even happen?
Luckily my contract does explicitly state that I can cancel within three business days and the whole thing will be forgotten. Ignore the fact that the salesman (accidentally?) back dated the contract by a day. So now I'm stuck. I almost want to call and cancel because I'm just plain mad that despite my best efforts I fell for their song and dance about discounts and good deals. But then I remember that if it's real, it could actually save us $30/month or so, which is pretty decent for Austerity April. Given that Frugal February and Moneyless March both failed it'd be nice to have a win for one month!
I wonder if other people feel as much annoyance at falling for gimmicks as I do. Decisions, decisions.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Recharging
We spent this weekend mostly hanging out at and near home. We did not even leave the state once. Our activities included grocery shopping, finishing our taxes, movie watching, baking homemade cinnamon rolls, Wii Sports Resort, cleaning, laundry, and scrapbooking. And rumor has it that Becky is going to play her trumpet in a little while! Rest assured, I did my part on cinnamon roll making….when an excess of frosting called for emergency action I was ready, willing, and able.
Although I enjoyed the weekend, I call this a Becky-style weekend. You see, we have somewhat of a fundamental difference of opinion regarding optimal weekends. After long draining weeks, which face it, we’ve had too many of recently, I believe that a weekend filled with some sort of exciting outing or adventure is the best way to recuperate and prepare for what comes next. Becky prefers bumming around the house, spending time together doing routine errands, baking, and taking time for other at-home hobbies.
I think this debate is a little bit like the introvert vs. extrovert question, except that we are both decidedly introverts. Introverts prefer to recharge their batteries by spending time alone or with small groups of closely known people; extroverts prefer to recharge their batteries at big parties. I learned in a psychology class in college that something like 75% of the world is extroverts. I think it might be lower among people who like to socialize on the internet though!
Our difference of opinion has caused many an argument, but I suppose this kind of disagreement is part of marriage. Do you and your spouse/significant other agree on how to recharge after a draining week? What is your point of view on lazing about vs. adventures?
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Exhaustion: Better with Cookies!
Yet again, it's been one of THOSE weeks. You know, the kind that leave you completely, totally exhausted. And then you're too exhausted to even make yourself go to bed, so the next day you're even more exhausted and you're completely ineffective at work and you come home and all you can do is stare at the computer but then you still don't go to bed and it's a big swirling vortext of tired.
Or maybe that only happens to me? Maybe the rest of you are smart enough to just put down the computer and go to bed already? I hope so because I think it's probably a much happier way to live your life. I keep meaning to try it.
Fortunately, the weekend is coming soon. Oh, sweet weekend. I am trying to ignore the pile of dishes that we didn't wash tonight after dinner and therefore will still be around tomorrow when that weekend begins.
But because I love you, dear readers, instead of pictures of my exhausted life, I will leave you with lovely pictures of a recent baking escapade. I made snickerdoodles a couple weeks ago. Who'd have thought that a cookie scoop and the perfectly even cookies it produces could bring me such joy?
Just to clarify, I am not so neurotic that I lined up the cookie balls intentionally like that. I didn't even realize they were all in a nice line until I looked at the pictures tonight.
Or maybe that only happens to me? Maybe the rest of you are smart enough to just put down the computer and go to bed already? I hope so because I think it's probably a much happier way to live your life. I keep meaning to try it.
Fortunately, the weekend is coming soon. Oh, sweet weekend. I am trying to ignore the pile of dishes that we didn't wash tonight after dinner and therefore will still be around tomorrow when that weekend begins.
But because I love you, dear readers, instead of pictures of my exhausted life, I will leave you with lovely pictures of a recent baking escapade. I made snickerdoodles a couple weeks ago. Who'd have thought that a cookie scoop and the perfectly even cookies it produces could bring me such joy?
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| Before |
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| After |
Monday, April 4, 2011
Island Hopping
This weekend we went island hopping! We visited the exotic locales of Manhattan and Staten Island. Manhattan fed us, with a brunch at Good Enough to Eat and world famous cookies-as-big-as-your-head at Levain's Bakery. Staten Island entertained us.
Although Staten Island and its ferry have been on our to-do list since we moved here several years ago, we have never gotten around to it. The closest we've come was several years ago when our friend Kara and I made a date to ride the ferry, but at the last minute completely switched plans and ended up tubing on the Delaware River. But somehow, on Saturday, the time seemed right. So we made another date with our friend Kara and headed for South Ferry. The ferry terminal had scrolling ads that at first we thought were advertising liquor prices. 
We still aren't entirely sure what exactly they were advertising, but after our adventures we remain fairly certain that despite Manhattan's best efforts Staten Island is in fact not a separate country (and therefore there is no duty free shopping at the ferry terminal). I am happy to report that the ferry did not tip over from tourists crowded on one side to view the Statue of Liberty. And also happy to report that we did get a view of the statue, because it's always fun to see even if you've done it before. It is really very random that France decided to send us a statue of a giant green lady, and somehow she ended up on a tiny island of her own just off of Manhattan.
We still aren't entirely sure what exactly they were advertising, but after our adventures we remain fairly certain that despite Manhattan's best efforts Staten Island is in fact not a separate country (and therefore there is no duty free shopping at the ferry terminal). I am happy to report that the ferry did not tip over from tourists crowded on one side to view the Statue of Liberty. And also happy to report that we did get a view of the statue, because it's always fun to see even if you've done it before. It is really very random that France decided to send us a statue of a giant green lady, and somehow she ended up on a tiny island of her own just off of Manhattan. Once on Staten Island we boarded a city bus for an incredibly long bus ride. Whoever designed the bus route was apparently in a contest to see if s/he could design a route that drove on every single street on the entire island. At the end though, we were rewarded with a glorious view. 
We tried several times to take a decent hold-out picture of ourselves, but apparently I was in an unphotogenic mood. Plus I neglected to bring sunglasses like those smarties. This is the best we managed to produce. 
We wandered the boardwalk and admired the view. We also decided that we were not too sad that it was not swimming weather: 
It may be gorgeous, but it's still Staten Island after all. (Hey, I live in New Jersey...there has to be somebody left to make fun of.)
The internet informed us that a common Staten Island beach conversation involves the phrase "meet me at the Dolphin Statue." On our approach to the statue we split up and pretended to meet at the statue. Yes, this is what we do for fun on the weekends. And we wonder why we don't have more friends. :) Kara and Becky practiced meeting while I took their picture.
After that we headed back towards the ferry terminal. We attempted to get a drink at a random Russian/Greek restaurant, but they didn't seem to want us. So eventually we ended up at a decent little pub and enjoyed a drink, then tried to get on the return ferry. Due to an issue with the ferry we had a little extra time to kill and wound up wandering in to a high school baseball game at the minor league stadium. The stadium is right on the water and has a really nice view behind the field; we're considering attempting a Staten Island Yankees game this summer.
We enjoyed another drink on the return ferry, because apparently drinking beer on the ferry is "a thing" and that's just the sort of thing we do. We waved to Lady Liberty and returned safely to the island from whence we came. And that concludes another chapter of Weekend Adventures!
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