Out With The Old, In With The Older

It's always a depressing day {for me} when we {I} drag the Christmas tree out into the woods and now toss it in what has become over the years a pile of dead branches. Leave it up to us humans to take something that we named "evergreen" and figure out how to turn them brown. Mainly it's the signification that the holidays have ended and regular, less sparkly life must ensue, but I do think that it would be nice if we {I} could put a little more effort into attempting to replant our Christmas tree each year. It's a pain and it's messy, but just think of the added privacy {privacy} we'd gain over the years.

While we're on the subject of concerns over privacy...

... she thinks she's a dolphin still. 

But lazy weekend overall. Worked most of Saturday and then had my parents up and yesterday we got a late {late} start and took everyone down to Sleepy Hollow, Olde Engine and some new little place that sold a lot of soap and lotion. It had a weird name. I can't remember right now. We'll go back. 

Other than that, crossed off one of the Oscars noms, Beasts of the Southern Wild, followed by a short but thorough conversation of the aurochs and their symbolism, causing some mild confusion, which was quickly subdued with a quick rant by dad about women and tattoos and then the new Bourne movie. We also ate pizzas.

This Weekend's New Olds

When the heat reached my boiling point Saturday we had to pack it in and head out in some AC. I had already gone thru 2 shirts and Yuula was the color of a cherry tomato. It was kind of cute.

Where else to go but some antique shops, new and old, to find what we could see.

This chair was a bargain and it allows Yuula to view Mommy and Daddy preparing food freely as she pleases.

This trunk was a great find and while we are having trouble deciding which room it should collect toys in, I quite like the way it compliments this corner. Time will tell.

We also bought some milk jugs, a Billie Holiday vinyl, and a cute little yellow dresser that Laura placed in the garden front the house. You'll have to come over to see that number.

All Vampires And Bananas

Like a whirlwind, visits sweet and short. It was nice to see Christian and great to finally spend some time getting to know Katrina. The girls seem to be doing quite well for themselves and hair aficionados, working in the glamorous field of film and television, stage and screen. I can't divulge their clientele for fear of painful death but I can give you a clue: Vampires. And before you guess incorrectly let me just tell you that you probably can't guess incorrectly. Anyone want some autographs?

The day started off at the Gap bus depot. From there we were all in need of a brunch. A new place, for us, was chosen, Sarah's Corner Cafe. Looked sweet and Southern and quiet. Perfect. During breakfast we learned that Christian cannot do math, Katrina is adept at breaking & entering and we let Yuula order for us all.



Knowing the girls' penchant for period piece headgear we dropped by the Olde Engine Antiques on the way home to see if they could find any hidden treasures. Turns out they could. And turns out Yuula and I are natural head models.





I think they picked up 5 or six articles, which is good for them, but not for me who was not consulted on the decision for us all to then wear said headgear for the remainder of the evening. At least I got a pretty one.



We made them one of our favorites, Swedish beef curry, which worked Laura up into a tizzy in the kitchen, something she loves doing when it's not 9pm after a long day's work. She was even convinced to whip up a rhubarb pie when she heard that neither of our guests had ever ventured to try the stuff.

The rest of the evening went by too quickly but I remember it involved sewing machines, Green Man, a cabana, Bordeaux and a group effort in making a bed. Look here at these confusing photos.







Double Exposure! This is the beginning.

The Ice Is Underwhelming

Well, our big plans today including a walk thru downtown to take in the spectacles of the Great Stroudsburg Ice Festival. The ads promised to have giant ice sculptures, some under construction by live ice sculptors, free snowcones of mysterious flavors and a joyous time to be had by all. We expected to meet the Stroudsburg version of Edward Scissorhands. Let's just say that had we not read about the festivities in the paper, no one would've noticed any difference in the slightest.



We would start our journey meeting Dunja & Isobella at the much-lauded Cheeky Monkey cafe at the eastern end of Main Street. We expected the overpriced hot caffeine and "gourmet" cookie but to be honest, the whole experience came off more chinky than cheeky. I think we'll stick to Grandpa Pete's.



From there we came down the north side of the sidewalk, taking in the ice sculptures which were mostly just squares of ice with shop names chipped in, the ones who shelled out the bucks to dorn the streets with translucent art that bewilders the imagination. I gotta say it was pathetic. A square that says "Sherman's". I'm inspired. What a bastardized commercialization of a potentially exhilarating idea. I didn't even take out the good camera. I found a dirty pile of butt-riddled snow more photogenic.



I don't wanna sound all bad. There were a few shops that at least got creative and thought outside the box, literally, for their icy muses. Like the camera shop that had the ice Olympus....



Or the framing shop that, though simplistic, showed some that even the tiniest bit of thought presented better photo opportunity than a word in a block.



Then there was the random apple and cupcake.




Feeling left wholly uninvigorated, we were forced to resort to other, more time-tested methods of entertainment. We dragged Dunja to Olde Engine for her very first rummaging session.



She was overwhelmed. Mission accomplished. Antiquing with babies is a whole new world.



But it gave Yuula a chance to put some finishing touches on her 6-month memoir.



And after all of that we managed to salvage the trip downtown by picking up a delicious spinach/mozzarella boli from the secret off-path bakery and devouring it for dinner, along with two crumb buns for the morning.



We can't always make the drive out to Mueller's.