Hot Water Return Line
We are having some issues with out hot water heater. One of those issues is that the hot water in our master bathroom takes about 5 minutes to get hot water. That is a lot of water to waste while we wait for it to run hot. We called Precision Plumbing and the plumber, Dave, said we needed to install a hot water return line which is basically a pump that keeps the water hot for time you specify on the dial. The pump system works well with getting hot water to the faucet faster, but we are still having some temperature issues… more to come with this continuing saga!
Fresh Picked Flowers
Jeff picked some flowers for me from the garden yesterday, and they are still holding up in this vase today. 🙂
Citrus Juicer
Jeff has been asking me to buy a citrus juicer – the one that you can press down – not an electric one. So after i dropped Patti off at the Monterey Airport, i stopped by Clementine’s Kitchen. I’ve never been there before and was quite impressed. It is a cute local version of Williams Sonoma… lots of kitchenware and gadgets. I even saw some of Lula’s chocolates in there (Schipper designed the packaging).
There were two brands to choose from – one was more traditional with the chrome and the double swirl and press deal, but the one I got needed only one press, and was a lot shorter than the other. Jeff was all smiles when i told him i had something for him the trunk to get out when i got home! That sucker is heavy. Hope it works well for the price i paid! Could have bought a lot of orange juice with that money, so tree better keep producin’ and Jeff better keep juicin’.
Flying Back Home, See Half Dome
While we were flying back from JFK to SFO, Jeff noticed Half Dome at Yosemite National Park. He’s never been there before but i guess he must have seen photos to recognize it. I told him now we don’t have to go to Yosemite to see it since we saw it from the airplane. He laughed.
Red Sox @ Yankees Baseball Game
I asked Jeff to do this blog, hence the long delay! I finally thought i would “interview” him for the blog instead of telling him to write it from scratch. So without futher ado…
Diane: What did you think of the new stadium?
Jeff: It was awesome! I really like the way everything was laid out with charms of the old stadium. The big hall in the entrance was cool with all the Yankee legend’s banners, the seats were very nice even had cushioning, and the concession area all had an open view so you don’t miss any of the action.
D: Who or what were you most excited to see?
J: I was most looking forward to see the new stadium in a big game heading into the playoffs with the Yankees taking on their division rivals, Boston. I was hoping for a big win and we got it! lots of hits, stolen bases and an A-rod homer. Great game.
D: Which was the most memorable part of the game?
J: The home run was awesome, but i will probably most remember a drunken New York heckler giving grief to the Red Sox’ third baseman. it was pretty funny, he didn’t get too offensive 😉
D: On a scale of 1-10, 10 being most, how drunk where you at the end of the game?
J: On a scale of 1 to 10, at least a 6. Good thing for the subway! It was actually a really fun ride back to midtown, lots of cheering and a few final high fives for the win.
D: Did the experience live up to its price tag?
Dinner with Peter & Merry
Met up with Jeff’s Uncle Peter and Aunt Merry today in the city. Peter asked us to meet him at the famous clock at 4:30pm. Rush hour! We made it at around 5pm and toured the station a little bit.
Peter took us to a cool whispering gallery where you can whisper secrets to someone at the other end of the hall. It really worked! Jeff thought it was a trick with microphones, but i think it is the architecture of the building.
We had dinner together at a Spanish restaurant right next to Grand Central Terminal. Our meal was superb! We shared a wide array of tapas – salads, shrimp, tuna, cured meat, pate, figs, to name a few. Also some very delicious wine and i didn’t get drunk of it so that is good.
After we parted ways with Peter and Merry, Jeff and i headed to Chelsea/Meat Packing District to go to a hotel bar that was on the rooftop. Cliff let us in on this spot, and i’m glad he did because it was such a nice view. We had a couple drinks, then took the subway back to our hotel in midtown.
Walk, Walk, Walk. Eat.
Started off the morning with $70 tickets to the Empire State Building. We visited the 86th floor which is open, and also decided to pay the extra to go to the “highest public floor” – the 102nd – which used an old school elevator to get to. This floor was closed in with glass, and not much different but MUCH smaller than the other viewing floor.
Afterwards, we walked around randomly, and ended up at Washington Square where people were just hangin out and walking though on their busy work day. It was such hot weather, we wondered why we were wearing long pants! We then walked to Battery Park, checked out the Statue of Liberty and things out there like this damaged art structure that was in the World Trade Center.
Somehow we made it to the Brooklyn bridge, and walked the path alongside the water. We contemplated about taking a sunset cruise on a boat to see the city, but had food on the mind so walked for 30 minutes through China town to Kat’z Deli – Where Harry Met Sally.
We watched one of those food travel shows on this place and i remember seeing the signs for “Send a salami to your boy in the army” which i thought was clever. This place has been around for over a 100 years! Original spot, too.
Jeff and i split a pastrami sandwich thinking it was going to be huge enough for two since it was $15 for one sandwich, but it was not as big as we hoped. But it sure was damn delicious!! They gave us a big plate of different pickles. After dinner we had just enough time to make the walk back to the harbor for the boat cruise, but just the thought of walking anymore was not to our liking, so we took the subway back to our hotel and crashed out.
On Our Way to NYC
New York City, here we come! Here we are at Central Park in front of the Palace Hotel.
We took an Amtrak train up the city this morning. We noticed tight security and was wondering what was going on and found out there were some terroist threats on the city, AND President Obama was in town.
We checked into our hotel room, then set out walking around the famous places such as Times Square, Radio City Music Hall, and Rockefeller Center.
We even grabbed a couple hot dogs from a stand and enjoyed them in Central Park. We totally played up the touristy thing and got a 72 hour pass on the double decker sight-seeing bus. Check out the traffic.
A Day in PA
Today we originally planned to go to a Hawk Sanctuary about 45 minutes away from Julie’s house, but Jeff felt like sleeping in instead, so i did a turbokick workout (Meadow was my audience) and took my time getting ready while Jeff slept-in/lounged around. In the afternoon we ate our leftover Capriotti sandwiches, then headed off to find this pretzel factory.
You know Pennsylvania is known for pretzels, so we went to Uncle Henry’s since Julie buys her pretzels from this place. It is run by Mennonites. The factory is in what looks like an old converted farmhouse. You walk in, and see ladies packin’ pretzels from the big baking machine, and it was hot in there! We bought some pretzels for us, and for Roger/Carrie, and Taylor/Nate who were helping us watch the cat, and park our car.
After our pretzel adventure, we decided to go to meet up with Cliff and Conchita. We hung out with Cliff in his backyard for a bit, then took a walk in the neighborhood park, which had a lovely stream running though it and different kinds of plants/trees. Then we headed off to see Sara play in her tennis match.
Earlier in the day I snapped some photos of Julie’s lovely garden. I love taking photos of nature! I even got a great shot of a Monarch butterfly.
The yellow toad was hanging out next to the house after we ate dinner at Julie’s.
Here is one of Julie’s two cats – I think this is Fuzzy. Other cat is also orange and his name is TC. Meadow loved me, and i loved to lay on her like a pillow.
Visit with Brauns
Today we had planned to visit with Jeff’s grandparents – Opa and Yaya. They live near Reading. We woke up in the morning, said our goodbyes to Peggy and her family, and then took off for Julie’s place.
But before we could leave the Delaware area…. we had to stop over at Carpriotti’s for some sandwiches! (Or so Jeff said, I don’t have any idea what this place is about). Jeff had a philly cheesesteak, and he recommended I get a “bobbie” which is a turkey sandwich with stuffing and cranberry. Very yummy! Like Thanksgiving in a bun. I thought maybe i should try this at home! I love stuffing! The sandwich was cold and i thought i might like it better hot, perhaps with a side of warm gravy… now that would be yum…
The drive took about an hour, and when we got to Julie’s place they were waiting for us outside. We chatted a bit with Julie and her daughter Amanda, then went off for a hike in the woods with Julie, Jeff (Julie’s boyfriend) and their dog Meadow, who was very excited to meet us.
For dinner we were invited over to Opa and Yaya’s. Everyone was there – Ali, Maria-Antonia, Sara & Alex, Julie, Jeff & Nick, and Cliff and Conchita. Yaya cooked a wonderful meal of salmon, meatballs, rice and green beans. So delicious and i could tell she worked hard to prepare for us. Jeff and I showed Opa some photos of our new house.
After dinner, Alex decorated a chocolate cake for Jeff’s birthday and everyone sang to him. We all had a good laugh because mid-way through Alex decorating the cake in the kitchen, he realized it was flour instead of powdered sugar, but didn’t bother to dust it off and served it anyway!