April 03, 2015

Elisa's Daily Blog

Busy Couple of Days

Hey Folks!! 
How are you today??!!  I'm doing great!!

I have to apologize -- I've been so remiss with my photos lately in my blog column. My dear cousin Tanya is so much better than I am.

Hoping to get some fun ones up this weekend!

Today is Good Friday, and for those of you who celebrate, you know it's a very solemn day.  Therefore, I'm going to focus on catching up on phone calls, appointments and household chores in the morning, so I can go to church this afternoon for Good Friday services.   

But, before I get on with today,  can I tell you just how busy my day was yesterday?! 

It was GO GO GO from the moment I woke up, until late last night.

My day started off with a leisurely drive east to Remsenburg.  Prior to owning my current weekend house out east, we had another one several miles away.  The first house is quite cute, located on a cul-de-sac with an amazing view of the open bay.  

We rented it through the years and have had it up for sale a few times, but this past month, we decided to get serious about selling it.

So, with the help of my friend Lisa, who kindly volunteered to assist me, yesterday was the day we decided to do a cleaning and re-organization of the house, to prepare for Spring buyer viewings.

Trust me, I had full intentions of snapping away with some pictures.  I even brought my new camera, all loaded up with a new camera card.  But, the momentum of the day, preoccupied me and I realized after I was in my car heading home, that I failed to photograph all day.  :-(

(I will definitely take some when I return for Part 2 of "Operation Sell the House" next week, when we will be painting.)

I wound up filling my car trunk with an enormous amount of old decorative stuff, to bring home to discard at the town garbage yard.

I had to first stop at my house (the second house we had purchased per above) to pick up cleaning supplies and a vacuum.  

After several hours of straightening, hauling and cleaning, I returned to my Remsenburg house - dropped off the vacuum and then got on the road to head back home. (Thank goodness I wore work gloves so my manicure was preserved & protected!)

The kids were home from school since it was Holy Thursday.  Gianna sent me several texts throughout the morning advising me that she and Kelsey had decided to make Rice Krispy Treats for the new neighbors and that they needed some ingredients from the supermarket.

Upon arriving back home, (with a full trunk!), the girls were ready and waiting.  The three of us drove to Stop & Shop to get the necessary supplies for their recipe as well as candy for an Easter Egg hunt they wanted to do for each other.

Unfortunately, the supermarket was out of plastic eggs, and so, we needed to head to Carle Place to A.C. Moore Craft Store to buy them.  

By this point, I was pretty darn tired and was dreaming of a nap.

That did not happen.  Once home, I got the dog fed and remembered I needed to finalize some bookings for my trip to Eastern Europe in June with Tanya.  Me and my best cuz, began to communicate back and forth via text regarding dates, times, prices and other tidbits. 

Happily, I booked three events:
> Prague Lunch Cruise on the Vltava River
> Prague Estates Theatre Opera (Don Giovanni)
> Krakow Day Tour of Auschwitz & Weilczka Salt Mine

It felt good to know that was completed. Now I can move on to the events/activities we need to pre-purchase tickets to in the other cities we'll be visiting.

Ok - so back to my day.  Once the bookings were completed, it was time to start dinner.  Gianna was a sweetie and helped me a great deal.  We collaborated on making Pasta and Peas in a White wine sauce.  It was Yummy.

As soon as dinner was over, I decided to take care of a return at Costco.  I had previously volunteered by purchasing some supplies for the girls' Father Daughter Dance later this month.  Unfortunately, I got white forks and knives and the committee chairs (one of which is Denise) wanted Clear.  

I took care of this exchange quickly since I had a 9:00PM phone appointment with our new Travelin' Cousins team member, to discuss some analytics about our site.  I made it through the phone call, but barely, as I started yawning in poor Jonathan's ear!!

I'd say that was a full day folks, as I barely made it to 11pm!

Tonight...
Going out to dinner tonight with Denise and Marcelo. We discussed either going into NYC or Queens for a change of pace.  

I left the decision up to Denise, as I will go anywhere.  As of this writing, it was still undecided where we will end up!

Going to get my day started now - lots to check off on my to-do list!  

See ya back here tomorrow!!
-E
xoxo

Tanya's Daily Blog

How will you spend your day?

Good Day Everyone!

I'm just kicking it over here, being lazy on the couch with little Mika (who recently got a bob and donated her beautiful hair to 'Locks of Love'). 

Me and my niece before starting our day.

Easter is still two days away, but I've got so much to do and barely enough time to do it all. 

Although I began "assisting" the Easter Bunny with filling the Easter Baskets quite early - I'm still not done and these custom baskets are still in need of a few items...
The plan is to pick up a few things while out and about today and cross my fingers that the rest of what was ordered arrives in time!

The kids have been called in for an extra choir rehearsal this evening in preparation of their Easter Sunrise Performance - of which they have a 4:30am call time! Ugh...
This my friends is the reason why I always look soon darn sleepy on Easter. 
(insert pouty face here)
Come Sunday we're gonna have a very L O N G day ahead of us!

Back to today, before heading to rehearsal I'm gonna take Cosette and possibly Jet and Chaplin to the stables to go visit Dream and Star. 


Keep in mind that Jet hasn't been to the stables since that November day when she got her finger sliced off (and saved...luckily - it has healed up nicely and the nail is even growing back on it!)

As far as yesterday went, I was successful in taking Cosette for her Horseback Riding Lesson - where btw she did a great job! And we got to see little 'Tucker' the new adorable foal at the stables! 

Tucker

Tucker and his Momma

Awwww...so darn cute!!! 

Dominic went to his night classes, and I was so happy that Elisa got a few of our bookings reserved and that our trip to Eastern Europe is coming along quite nicely!
I also managed to put together a list of what appears to be some very yummy Vegan Eats for Prague, Krakow, Budapest and Bratislava. I still have Vienna left to go.

Another thing that I took care of (8 months ahead of time have you) was booking our tickets for the 2016 New Years Day Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade, where the theme for the 127th annual event is ""Find Your Adventure"! 
I've never been and I certainly don't want to miss out!! 
Plus, how awesome is that theme?! 
Totally me right???

And then we have tomorrow, when Dominic has 2 morning classes and then we are taking the kids over to Wonder-Con at the Anaheim Convention Center. 

Photo credit: comicattack.net

While I've been to Comic Con down in San Diego a great many years ago, this comic craze has only grown and gotten quite large! Massive you might say!
The characters who go to these events do dress up quite extravagantly - so definitely stay tuned for lots of crazy pictures from the event, as well as even a possible review! 

Lastly, and quite possibly what you've all been waiting for...it's FOODIE FRIDAY! 
It's my turn this week and I'm reviewing the 
Top rated Restaurant in Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Portugal. Mmmm soooo good!

Until then...I'll see ya later,
-T