Christmas Love

{Yes, that is a blanket moonlighting as a tree skirt, shh!}

My favorite part of Christmas has to be this: decorating the tree and finding the perfect spot for each little ornament. Second to that, it is sitting around the tree, wrapping presents with Christmas oldies playing in the background and a cup of old faithful, Starbucks.

Ornaments scattered about, between the cat and Sam, I think we only broke one. Not bad.

Garrett wrapped Sam in lights, which he loved.

The theme of the tree is "the 12 days of Christmas"

And presents wrapped for the people we love.

True.

A Wicked Good Time in Salem

Oh Salem. Salem is a town that has been on my mind since I was an elementary schooler learning about Sarah Good and the many others that were accused of witchcraft in the late 1600s. My interest in the witchcraft trials never left me, so it was only natural that I visit the town where it all happened. Actually, it is not just the witchy part that I find interesting, being in a town that is one of the oldest in America has its draw too {I'm morbid and I love history, I get cooler by the minute}.

Anyhoo, on our second day in Boston we took a ferry to Salem. We got there mid-afternoonish and hit the ground running.

This is us fresh off the ferry. We stopped in front of a house that we walked by. I loved the way it was decorated, it was everything that I love about Fall.

We walked and walked and walked around Salem. We saw all of the must-see sites, like the House of Seven Gables and the Hawthorne Hotel. We visited the week before Halloween, so Salem was brimming with activity. There was a huge Halloween festival with vendors, food and costumed tourists lining the tiny streets. There were tons of witchy shops with all of the gadgets that one might need to be a witch. They were all packed, it was elbow to elbow in most of them. I don't take that kind of stuff seriously, nor do I desire to be involved in it, but since we were in Salem...we had our palms read. Do you know how hard it was to find a stinkin' palm reader? Most of them were booked thru the next day, but we ended up finding a husband/wife palm reading team and made an appointment with them. It was a fun, once in a lifetime activity.

Our final activity was a nighttime walking tour of the town. We met with our group and toured all of the historical sites, not only of the witch trials, but of other town mysteries as well. We really, really liked this. Our tour guide was really passionate about the town and very knowledgeable about its history.

Believe it or not, Salem was one of the most significant early American seaports.

Nathaniel Hawthorne statue.

Me with some very, umm, spirited visitors.

A very Halloween-y restaurant.

Garrett in one of the many shops I dragged him into.

Ferris wheel at the midway.

Pretty shot of Salem at night.

One of the stops on our walking tour. Also used in the movie Hocus Pocus.

Well that concludes my blogging about the trip we took in OCTOBER. I don't know why, but I just could not move forward in my blogging until I got that out of the way. I just need things to go in chronological order. Maybe so I can look back one day and not forget any of the fun times I had. Hopefully I will start blogging in real time now.

I Left My Heart in Boston

It's been roughly a month since we returned home from Boston, and I can't seem to get the charming old city off of my mind. Garrett feels the same way, we both agree that if we had jobs lined up there we would move in a heartbeat. During our four day stay we soaked up everything we could and I still don't feel like I got enough Boston! Let me bullet point some of my favorite things about our trip/the city:

• The history. Boston was founded in 1630, and is one of the oldest cities in America. I really felt like I was going back in time during parts of our trip. If you have any interest at all in US history, you will not be disappointed.
• The architecture. I guess this ties into the history part. All of the homes and buildings were so interesting to look at. I was such a peeping tom- I tried to look in all of windows that were lit when we walked by.
• The public transportation. We never had to rent a car. We were able to get most everywhere by taking the Subway or train.
• Dog friendly. Seriously, people took their dogs everywhere. Even our hotel manager brought her dog with her. This really won over the dog lover in me.
• The food! Hello seafood is all I need to say.

And now some of my favorites in pictures:

Our hotel, the Chandler Inn, from the outside.


The stairwell inside our hotel.

Some good eatin' in the North End.

Me in front of a cute little stoop.

Garrett chowing down on the boardwalk.

The city from our ferry.

Row-houses.

The company. Garrett is the best traveling partner {best partner for anything really} I could have hoped for.

Here is a link to our Flickr if you are interested in the hundreds more that I took.

Salem is next, that haunted little town gets a post all of its own!

East Coast Love

As I type this I am lying in a hotel bed in Boston with Garrett sleeping quietly next to me. I want to pinch myself. I should be tired, but I have never been able to sleep when I am on vacation. We decided to go to Boston because neither of us have been to the East Coast and both have always wanted to, especially in the Fall. I had a plane ticket that was given to me as a gift by my step-dad that I needed to use, so here we are.

We flew in yesterday and I fell in love with the East Coast before we even landed. As we were nearing Boston, I could see several lighthouses littering the ocean, tons of red, orange and gold trees, and my favorite; Cape Cod style houses. We took the T {their bus service}to the Subway {another first for both of us!} then Taxi'd to our hotel.

We are staying in the historic South End at the Chandler Inn. I love our hotel, it's a converted row-house, so it is tiny but charming. There is a bar attached to our hotel that we stopped in before dinner last night. We were there briefly, but long enough for Garrett to notice that there were no other girls present. Hmm. I looked up the bar, turns out it is a gay sports bar, and we are kind of staying in the gayborhood! I love it!

We had dinner in the North End, or Little Italy at a delish restaurant named Saraceno's. We could barely understand our heavily accented waiter, but we ended up with the most wonderful food! We strolled the North End for a bit longer, then went back to Fritz, the bar by our hotel. We watched the end of the Rangers game and boo'ed the Yankees along with the rest of the crowd.

We have so much more to pack in before we leave Monday and I am enjoying every minute of it! And of course, there is no one else I would rather be here with.

Hi from Boston!

When Garrett Met Sammy

As Garrett and I began spending more and more time together, I knew that him meeting Sam was inevitable. As much as I knew that Garrett would be wonderful with Sam, and as much as he wanted to meet Sam, I was still really apprehensive. Too many child development classes I guess. I even told Garrett once that it might even be a year before I was ready for them to meet. Well that obviously did not happen. Things have moved quickly with Garrett and I in every sense of the word, including him meeting Sam.

Garrett wanted it to be fun when they met, so he came over and we all went to the park then had dinner. Let's just say that it did not go as we both hoped. Actually, I did not think it went badly but I knew Sam a lot better than Garrett did at that point, so I did not think he behaved that out of the ordinary. Garrett on the other hand had higher hopes, Sam was pretty stand-offish. Sam in general is not a very touchy, love-y kiddo, and it takes him a while to warm up to strangers, especially men. By the end of the evening I was left unsure of whether this would go any further.

The next day I went to work still worried, but my fears were calmed when I got a delivery of the most beautiful flowers I had ever seen, with the most thoughtful card sticking through the stems. It said:

That was on June 23rd. Since then Sam and Garrett have gotten to know each other very well, and now they are best buddies. It makes my heart so happy to see them together. And while I am aware that Sam has a father that is very much a part of his life, I am so, so thankful that he has Garrett too.

Here they are playing super heroes.

During a zoo trip.

Girls' Night Out (Almost)

Last weekend was my friend and co-worker, Ashley's, bachelorette party. I had been looking forward to this for weeks because I really have not gone out with my girl friends in a while. I even bought a new shirt for the occasion {what is it about girls that makes us need to buy an outfit for every event?}. So Saturday rolls around and Garrett and I have a full day together-shopping, studying and jogging. Around 5 0'clock I leave him for my girls and miss him instantly!

I met my friend Michelle at her house and then we rode together to the party. The first part of the party started at the matron-of-honor's house. We had a Slumber Party. Let me tell you, this was my first time to go to a party like this. I was a little {a lot} embarrassed, but it was just us girls, so it was all in good fun. If you don't know what I am talking about, look it up. After the party, we headed downtown to Pete's, a standard stop for every bride-to-be in the Fort Worth area.

Pete's was great, we sang, danced and drank until the place closed. The best part was that Garrett was there. See, the bride-to-be also knows Garrett, and she wanted to see him. It was perfect because Garrett's college roommate Reagan was in town, so they did their own thing on the other side of the bar, but came by to see us throughout the night. I loved it because I would get up to "get a drink," but would really go sneak a few kisses from Garrett.

Ash opening gifts

The bride and me

Me and my good friend Michelle

My hair and Garrett

Garrett, Reagan, EZ and EG

While not a true girls night, I couldn't have had a more fun time!

Fredericksburg Getaway Day Three: Peaches and More Wine

This is my last trip post I promise! We did a little more shopping just to get some gifts for our family, then decided it was time for some more wine! We went to one last vineyard on our way out, Becker Vineyards. I think this this might have been my favorite out of the three we visited. Not only do they have a vineyard, but they also have a lavender farm. Inside their shop they have tons of lavender products that they made along with their wine. They also had a little cottage on their property that they rent out as a B&B. It was precious.

After our last wine tasting we got on the road. There was one last thing that I had to do on the way though. I had been wanting the whole time to stop at a roadside fruit stand. Don't ask me why, but I am a sucker for roadside stands.

Becker Vineyard

The cottage

Garrett and I inside the tasting room

Peaches galore! I don't even like peaches, but we bought a basket full and gave them away.

Fat, juicy tomatoes!

That's all folks! It was a fun-filled memorable trip!

Fredericksburg Getaway Day Two: The Wineries

One of the main reasons we wanted to visit Fredericksburg was for the wineries. I had no idea that there were any wineries in Texas, whenever I think about vineyards I think California, not the Lone Star State! I guess my expectations were not super high, but I was blown away! We picked the wineries based on tips from different shop owners, and they did not disappoint!

The first place we visited was Grape Creek. It was beautiful, and did not look like something you would find in Texas. At this particular vineyard you picked 5 wines to taste and got a wine glass for $10. I picked mostly whites, and Garrett tried mostly reds. They were all really good- we even bought a few bottles to take home! After our tasting we wandered around their shop and the grounds.

The entry to Grape Creek

Next on our list was Torre di Pietra. This place probably had our least favorite wine, but the atmosphere was beautiful. They also had these amazing bellinis that well made up for the wine! We sat outside under their pavilion and listened to some more Texas country. The band was really good, and I wish that I caught their name. I don't know if it was the wine or the atmosphere, {probably a little of both!} but it was a super relaxing time!

I also thought that Torre had the prettiest vineyards. I took all of my grape shots here. And you know we totally stole a grape or two!

After hanging out for a while, we headed back to the hotel for a shower and dinner. After dinner we parked to watch fireworks.

We parked on the edge of a landing strip and had a perfect view. We opened the trunk of Garrett's Tahoe and sat back there. It was so cozy and sweet!

The fireworks looked great, I just wish I got better pictures!

This really was the most wonderful Fourth of July I have ever had!

Fredericksburg Getaway Day Two: Happy 4th of July

We woke up pretty early after fun night and had breakfast. We had a fun day of shopping, eating, parade watching, wine drinking and fireworks planned! First we had breakfast, shopped a little on Main St., then went to the Pacific War museum {Garrett had to do something manly!}. It was actually really informative and interesting {I think they just renovated it, so we lucked out!}. Then we lined up along Main along with the rest of the town for the parade. It was so cute and it really felt 'American,' if that makes any sense. After we got our history fix and parade watching out of the way we had lunch at a German restaurant, we were in Fredericksburg after all! I let Garrett be the adventurous one and try the sausage; I had a chicken sandwich. By the time we were done with lunch we both agreed it was time for some wine {see my next post for everything winery related!}.

Precious little Main St. I have never seen so many boutiques in my life!

This was just a whimsical staircase that I fell in love with.

All of Main was decorated with red, white and blue!

Me about to go to the museum

Beautiful war memorial.

Garrett measuring his hand against General Nimitz's.

The parade! Everyone was honoring these veterans. It brought tears to my eyes.

This little girl was really into the parade. It was adorable because they gave everyone these flags, the kids especially loved them!

Garrett eating his German sausage, washed down with a German beer of course. Such a guy thing.