Trip Time!

This weekend was such a fun weekend!  It was filled with family, laughter, shopping and good food.  We Forrester/Henderson/Linde women took our bi-annual shopping trip to Frisco, Texas where we stopped at IKEA,  Sam Moon, and Trader Joe's.  It was a little rough start with Mom and I both having left our purses at my house.  Luckily we'd stopped right down the street to get some dinner on the road so we were close enough that Husband could bring us our purses.  Since Mom couldn't find her driver's license once we got there, I got to do all the driving.  Surprisingly, I maneuvered us around town pretty smoothly.  Even deviated from the GPS to find us the most direct route to places.  I felt like mighty driver. Hoo-ha-ha!
  

  Sunday, we got to spend time with our dear family friends from Philadelphia.  (Originally from here.)  I got to meet my newest niece, who has the most precious round chubby cheeks that make you just want to pinch them!  She and I had a rough introduction to start with her crying as soon as I approached her.  I chalked it up to her being around a lot of new people and just didn't know what to do.  Later I got to hold her, tears free.  Than Husband and I went on a date with the momma and daddy, my best friends.  They don't have Hideaway Pizza in Pennsylvania, so we try to go there together every time she's in town.  

{Some cuddle time with Bandit before leaving town}

 {Lunch in Texas at In-n-Out Burger}

 {Grandma and myself outside IKEA}

{These little carts were so much fun to push!  So maneuverable.  They could turn on a dime.  I of course had to jump on the back and scoot myself around the store.  Too much fun!} 

{Texas shopping centers were all decorated for Christmas.  It was very cheerful and briiiiight.}

I hope you all have a Happy Monday!  Thank you for stopping by today.

War Eagle Mills

This weekend was a fun-filled weekend.  I went on a roadtrip to Rogers, AR with my mom, grandma and sister to visit the War Eagle craft Fair.  It was tons of fun!  This was actually the first time we'd been in years.  The first picture is the view of  the fair from the above winding road to get to it.  Traffic wasn't all that bad either.  Only a short wait to get into the parking lot.  We went through row upon row of tents filled with fun goodies, crafts, lots of Halloween decor (of which I managed to leave without having bought any) and many other things.  The day started off cool but soon warmed up a bit as the sun climbed higher in the sky.  It was good getting to spend time with the ladies of my family while we jostled through the crowds to see what all our eyes could take in.
  We ate lunch at the beans and cornbread restaurant located on the 3rd floor of War Eagle Mill.  It was delicious!  The perfect meal for a cool fall outing.

 {I have bad luck with sunglasses, with them breaking so we had to make a pit stop at Walmart once we rolled into Springdale so I could get some new sunglasses.  While there, Mom spotted this wonderful sock bun ring for only $2.88 that I had to buy!  It came with the ring, several bobby pins, a couple of hair ties and instructions.  It only took about 10 seconds to whip up this hair creation.  I loved it so much that I wore it the next day as well!}

 {I realize that my sister and I, along with all of the others that we saw doing it were minorly exploited, but it was worth it.  When Mom was younger, she had this beautiful silver ring made out of a recycled spoon handle.  I don't know what happened to it, but it seems to have been lost forever.  It was always fun to wear.  At the fair, there was a booth with an older gentleman selling this exact type of ring!  All sorts of varieties.  Above his booth, there was a wooden sign that said if we showed him our hidden tattoo and let him take its picture that he would give us one of these rings for free.  Apparently he was making an album of the tattoos he'd seen at the craft fair.  I have a fall tree on my side with Psalms 23, my favorite scripture written beneath it.  It's the first time our tattoos have paid off, Mama said!}

                                                         {War Eagle Mill, which is still a functioning mill}

   {Cooler Fall weather meant I got to break out my winter tub of sweaters and throw on boots and a scarf!}

            {Sister and I listening to a good bluegrass band that hailed from our part of Oklahoma!}

Reminiscence of Wilmington

Every summer my family would alternate between going to Florida or North Carolina to visit family.  Since our family in Florida moved to South Carolina, then to Georgia we started just going to North Carolina every summer for the family reunion and to the beach. Some of our favorite places to go are Raleigh, Laurinburg (which is where we usually stay for a couple of nights with family,) and the occasional visit to a Farmers Market that has the BEST shrimp burgers, and a stop and walk around Duke University's campus. (My dad's parents were married in the Duke Chapel.)  I think our favorite stops that ranks way up there is Wilmington, NC.  It's a fun and eclectic port town filled with antique shops, Port City Java (one of the must go to's while there,) little restaurants and shops, The Cotton Exchange, and of course, the Downtown Wilmington Ghost Tour, which we go on every time we're there. While we're there, we always spend a day at Wrightsville Beach where we lounge in the sand, take kayak rides through the marshes, and eat at the delicious Dockside Restaurant . The past two summers, since I've gotten a big girl job I have been unable to go with my parents to these wonderful North Carolina places.  Being the wonderful parents they are, they've brought my sister and I back small pieces of Wilmington. This year, it was two pounds (two different blends) of coffee from my favorite Port City Java.  Two years ago, my souvenir was this dress and belt from Down Island Traders on Front Street.
    It's a nice springy, breezy strapless dress that is so comfy.  And get this: It. Has. Pockets!  That's right folks.  It's a cute and functional dress.  You now have a place to store your phone(for those of you that store your phone in your bra if you don't have any pockets, like I do, this was a real winner,) a couple of tissues, and maybe a tube of lipgloss.

 {A beautiful hand stamped necklace from The Vintage Pearl that I won from a spinning wheel at the Edmond location's grand opening. It says love struck.}

 {Delicate starfish earrings to tie in the nautical town from whence the dress came.  Earrings are from Kohl's.}

{And of course, what we've all been waiting for since Starbucks stopped carrying it last: it's time again for the Pumpkin Spice Latte!}

What are some of your favorite places to travel?

Hello, St. Louie!

  My office worked hard to win a few St. Louis Cardinals tickets.  And win them we did!  So we packed up our bags and headed to St. Louis for the weekend.  The drive isn't too bad.  Only 5.5-6 hours, depending on your driving habits.  If we'd had more time, we would have stopped at all of the antique places along the way.  The closer we got to St. Louis, the more there seemed to be.  As it was, we only had time to stop at one place.  Naturally we chose the candy factory.  They had baskets and baskets of just about any flavor of taffy you could imagine.  I was excited about the candy corn taffy! (And initially about the red velvet taffy, but that ended up being way too sweet.) Now, I love candy corn in just about any form that it comes; original candy corn, candy corn pumpkins, candy corn m&m's, candy corn Oreos (thought they were sadly short lived,) candy corn taffy, and candy corn kisses (though those were short lived as well. They were replaced the next year by pumpkin pie kisses which were just as divine!...just not candy corn kisses though.)  I hope to try making a candy corn cheesecake this year.

We also stopped at the World's largest gift shop, which was right behind the candy factory.  I had to take a picture in the model outhouse they had.

We got to go into the bottom part of the arch, but not up to the top.  Unfortunately, if you don't get there early enough then all of the early tram rides up sell out.  A tram goes up about every 15 minutes I believe.  But we did get to enjoy wandering around the Westward Expansion Museum.  It was neat getting to see the development of civilization.

    Saturday night we ate at Schlafly's Tap Room. (Pronounced Shla-flees.)  The food was a-ma-zing!  I didn't taste a single bad thing while there.  For appetizers, we had pretzel sticks and little pieces of bread dipped in a delicious goat cheese sauce.  Both were hard  to get enough of.  With dinner, I had the best Pumpkin Ale I have ever tasted.  It smelled like pumpkin pie and had all of the hints of pumpkin, nutmeg and cinnamon all blended together for a smooth drink that embodies the tastes of Fall.  I had to buy a 6 pack to bring home because they sadly don't distribute in Oklahoma.  For dinner, I had beer steamed mussels with a cheesy sauce and bacon pieces.  They were delicious!!  There were so many of them though that I couldn't quite finish them.  Hubby had a bacon wrapped meatloaf muffin with an egg, between an English muffin.  It had the most exquisite taste.  I am going to try and recreate it at home sometime.  Like I said, none of us tasted a single thing that we didn't like.  The atmosphere was great, the service excellent.  I would definitely recommend this place to anyone that visit St. Louis.  It's at 2100 Locust St.

  We got to see the Cardinals vs the Chicago Cubs.  It was a neck and neck game.  But of course, since we were in St. Louis to see the Cards play, they won!  The company was great, the food spectacular, the experience wonderful.  It was a very good trip.  I got to spend time with my coworker and boss outside of the office setting.  It's always nice to spend time with people that you care about and a bonus that you get to work with them!   It was a very good trip and helped quench my travel fever, if only for a while.

Boston: The Final Chapter

Our poor little puppy missed us while we were gone!  My sister was so sweet and puppy and house sat for us.  She kept him good company so he didn't get lonely.  Thank you Rachel for taking such good care of everything!!

  {In other news, I promise this will be the last of my Boston posts for a while!  Though It was such a great trip full of fun and family.  Below is a picture at one of the hugest antique malls we have eeever been to.  When I say huge, I mean like 50 stores put together.  It just went on and on and on.  I never even got to see everything.  I spent enough time getting stuck in the book section going through all the music they had.  There was an entire huge warehouse of row upon row of furniture.  And the store smelled amazing. Old, musty, exciting, and full of the anticipation of finding hidden treasures.  This is just one of the many antique stores that we went to while here, but it was by far the most extensive!  If David and I had driven and had a truck, you bettere believe that truck would have been full with a full trailer hitched up!  This store was full of amazing things!  The New England area offered different varieties of antiques that we were very impressed with.  We hope to start saving and be able to drive back at another time with a truck and trailer!}

{This is a collage of photos taken at an architectural salvage place in Newbedford, MA. This place was also amazing!  I didn't know they existed.  Rooms full of old windows, light fixtures, shutters, porch columns, chair railings, mouldings, anything you can imagine that can be salvaged from renovating an old home.  That's another thing about New England.  The architecture.  There's nothing like it.  Even the new houses being built look old.  We love how they stick to the classic style and don't build the "how soon can we get this house put up and sold" architecture that has no art and that seems to be popping up more and more here in Oklahoma.}

{The sun setting into the water at the dock close to the Linde's Quincy home.  It was a perfect evening.  We all 4 sat on the doc eating ice cream, watching the sun set.}

{The last night we were in MA we went to Jake's Seafood in Hull.  It's a restaurant right on the water with the seafood practically jumping from the water into our plates!  Don and I splurged and got fresh lobster!  It was mm-mm good.  I didn't expect it to come our whole.  Here in the state surrounded by land, I've only seen lobster tail served.  Don had to show me how to start.  (It was a little overwhelming to think of how to start!)  The sangria was good, (though since David and I had out of state licenses, they requested a second photo i.d. (which I've never encountered before) and the only other i.d.'s we had on us were our gun licenses!  Imagine us ordering drinks with DLs and gun permits!) company was great and the food was unlike any seafood we've ever had.}

{Just a few parting memories!}

New Hampshire and Vermont: Vacation Part 2

I'm a sucker for funny faces.  This is only one from a series of many while people watching in the Boston Common Park.  Hubby just takes it all in stride!  But I've seen him make his fair share of silly faces.

The next leg of our trip took place in this little VW Bug Convertible as we headed to New Hampshire to visit Hubby's dad and step-mom; my new in-laws!  The weather was so nice!  Perfect driving weather.  Once we made it into our NH destination, we got to take the top down.

                          {Hubby and his daddy!}

           {This is from our excursion to Plymouth and Duxbury}

{These are a few of the graves of the VonTrapp family.  Yes, the VonTrapp family of The Sound of Music. We visited their family lodge in Vermont, which is actually a popular ski resort.  They said it was the closest thing to the Alps since they came to America.  It was so beautiful and peaceful.  We got to drive all through some of the Vermont mountains and see beautiful, luxurious ski resorts and scenic views!  Of course, we hit up a few antique places along the way!}

{We spent a couple of days at Hubby's grandparent's house in the Vermont mountains for the 4th of July.  Their house is situated on the top of a mountain and in the middle of a 9-hole golf course.  The scenery was breathtaking.  As Hubby and I pulled up that first night, the weather was perfect.  It was sprinkling slightly and the fog was just beginning to roll in.  Cool temperatures.  We couldn't sit on the front porch because a protective Robin mama was protecting her two little chickadees and was going wild.  We settled on the back porch instead, for sandwiches and a glass of wine.  The picture above is with Hubby's grandpa, aunt, and uncle.
    For 4th of July, there was record rain fall.  Actually, it had been record rain fall for about the past 2 weeks prior to our getting there.  There was so much rain that the road up to their house washed out and the course flooded.  We had to drive across the course to get out!  We went to Hubby's grandmother's niece's house in a nearby town to watch a wonderful fireworks show!  I must say, it was one of the best finale's I've ever seen.  The walk back to the house that night was one that I won't soon be forgetting, nor will Hubby's family for sure.  They didn't let me live it down for at least a couple of days.  We couldn't drive back up the golf course road to get back to the house so parked our cars at the clubhouse to walk back. (I, of course had conked out half way back so was a little groggy.)  We were a little under half way back when Shannon, Hubby's grandmother looked down at the green and pointed out the nightcrawlers. Eeewwwww!!!  They were slimy looking and quick!  As we shined the light on them and continued walking, they would squish and suck out of sight, back into their little ground holes.  I squealed, tiptoed, tried climbing onto Hubby's back before finally making it back to the safe paving stones leading up to the house.  We all slept really well that night!}

{This was a cup of delicious cold apple cider from the apple mill that we visited while in Vermont.  They had the most amazing apple cider donuts!  I couldn't get enough of them!  I was almost tempted to get a bag of  the donut mix, but I remember what happened the last time I tried to make donuts.  (Smoky kitchen, burning oil, burning eyes and nose...) }

{The last day in Vermont before we headed back to New Hampshire to see Hubby's other grandparents who also lived up a mountain, about a mile up a gravel road. His grandparents lived in their current house (which they are trying to sell, if anyone is interested.) (Not the house pictured above.)}

{This is the meal that awaited us at the home of the Lawrences. It was so nice getting to meet my new in-laws!  They are all such nice and loving people.  We all had a lot in common and had no trouble finding things to talk about.  They live on about 63 acres, a few of which have maple pipelines that they have someone harvest and process for them.  They actually sent us home with 3 or 4 jugs of  delicious maple syrup.  There was good conversation, good home-cooked food, good company!!  Dinner was croc pot cooked ribs and potato salad with hard boiled eggs.  Breakfast was home made waffles, sugared strawberries, covered in whip cream and maple syrup. (His grandfather, Jim had to teach me the proper way to pile of the whip cream!  Haha.)  After dinner, I got to walk their donkey, Pedro and took him to the clearing where he liked to eat the purple flowers that grew there.}

{Flowers that we got to take with us from their house when we headed back to Massachusetts.  Beautiful pink roses that were so fragrant!}

New Hampshire and Vermont were both beautiful excursions, and we met such wonderful people!  It was hard to say good bye to the Lawrences as we headed back to MA.  

Massachusetts: Part 1

Any trip is not complete without a pretrip mani or pedi!  Mama and Rachel were very patriotic in theirs.
  I can't even begin to express how blessed I am to have married into such a generous, loving, family-oriented, humorous family!  It was such a wonderful trip for Hubby and me.  We got to spend a lot of time getting to know his grandparents and aunts and uncles, and cousins.  There were so many favorite parts to the trip that I felt I owed it to you all to not try to cram it all into one post.  I wanted to devote enough time to each thing, but also not overwhelm you! 
   
  We landed at the Boston airport round noon on June 30. His grandparents picked us up at the airport and drove us to their house in Quincy, which is about a 20 min drive (in good traffic) from Boston.  That night, we had a fun cook out where I got to meet everyone!  As you can see in the place setting picture below, there were quite a few of us!  I was ok with knocking elbows with people at the table if that meant that everyone got to sit in the same room so we could visit.  We had ribs, sausages, grilled cut steak, potato salad, grilled asparagus and a curious dish called 'Sleeper Salad.'  I was curious ad dubious at first, as the spoon cut into the solid looking orange surface of the salad to a custard like consistency.  But after the first bite, I couldn't stop eating it!!  It was like a smoother version ofthat orange and marshmallow salad that everyone has around Thanksgiving!  It was delicious.  Our bellies pleasantly stuffed with food and wine, we sat around the table conversing and getting to know each other.    

                     {Leaving Tulsa International Airport}              

{Here we are at Plymouth Rock!  I didn't include a picture of the actual rock because if you've seen one rock, then you've seen this one.  I was very surprised at how small it was! But the Plymouth area was beautiful!  We ate at a little (well not really little...) seaide restaurant with excellent food!  I had fried clams.  Mm-mm.  And Hubby tried getting filleted fish, whose name I can't quite recall.  He's not a fish person, but he really liked it and the fried scallops!}

{This is in Duxbury, MA.  This actually used to be a shipyard run by David's family.  This is all that's left of it now though.  A highway has been built through it and most of the docks are gone.}

{Blue Hydrangeas were everywhere!  All over Massachusetts.  And boy were they beautiful.  I cou;dn't get enough of how pretty and blue they were, not to mention the huge size of the bushes.}

On our day in Boston on the trolley tours, some of the highlights included:

{The Opera House}

{Burial Grounds: Paul Revere's grave}

{Eating at the original Cheers! (though really that wasn't the original name of the restaurant/pub.  They changed it to Cheers after the named show took off .)}

{Trolley ride that took us all over Boston!  We were able to get on and off at all the stops as much as we wanted.  Trolleys ran every 15 minutes.  I would highly recommend Old Towne Trolley Tours for anyone visiting Boston.  The only drawback was that their booth to redeem our online tickets was so hard to find!  But aside from that, the tour was amazing!}