So yeah, last week I went back east for a few days. For the second leg of my journey, my mom and I roadtripped from Connecticut to Vermont to hunt down a matrimonial mansion. This was interesting because a) I drove the family handicap van, which I quickly learned was a "lowrider" and thus to avoid all speedbumps, potholes and small rocks or my mom would scream; b) Vermont wedding sites generally appear to have a "Shining" thing going on: witness the Lloyd-like piano player at The Castle and the topiary maze at The Jackson House Inn; and c) Vermont folk are pretty eccentric. My favorite Vermont moment was when we pulled the van up beside a local supermarket to get directions, and this little old couple exited the supermarket by the side of the van with their shopping cart. My attention turned to the woman giving us directions, I noticed about 2 minutes later out of the corner of my eye that the two hadn't budged. I yelled out the window, "Excuse me, are you waiting for us?" and the man replied, "Well, you are in the crosswalk."

After we got back to Connecticut, my mom tried to convince me that The Candlewood Inn down the street from where we live might just be the perfect place "right under my nose." They've recently renovated it as a function site; while I was growing up it was one of the local restaurant/bars my friends and I used to frequent. Though her intentions are pure, it's hard to explain to mom that my memories there of late-high school/early-college drinking with friends and assorted late-high school/early-college debauchery make it not-quite-right for wedding vows. I'm sure you understand.

So then... I spent the weekend (and my 31st birthday) in New York City with the lovely Jen and Drake. They surprised me with the best dinner plans ever: A reservation at Nyla, just days after the grand opening! So very exciting. Though the food was just so-so, the bar crowd snobby and Brit nowehere to be seen, I was as happy as jean shorts at a Pat Benatar concert. Continuing the hunt for celebrities, we traveled on to The Cutting Room, a low-key bar owned by none other than SATC's Mr. Big. Alas, all movie stars must've fled the city for the 4th, so we managed to amuse ourselves with the combination Pac-Man/Galaga tabletop game and Jello shots instead.

Oh and! (Please bear with me...) I checked out my dad's new pad in Greenwich Village, which is just such an oddity since he has been hopelessly devoted to the middle of nowhere since forever and ever. I love this picture of him outside the building. Oh and and and! Jen and I stumbled across this little lunch place on Monday that serves sandwiches and salads DEVOTED TO AIRLINE FOOD! I mean, it was actually really good food, but check out the menu. I wonder if this guy knows about it... So there, fancy airline-food-site man!

Back east was fun.