Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Summer Bucket List #24

I'm checking off items left and right from my summer bucket list. This weekend, I checked off Number 24. When I was making my list, this is the one that I was not sure I'd be able to check off. We just don't get away much now. PMC (Pre Marli Claire), we traveled a ton, and if you have children, you understand why that came to a screeching hault on May 19, 2003. That is the one thing we are working hard to change right now. Matthew had a meeting at Princeton University last week, and our friend was playing baseball in Philadelphia, so we took the opportunity to travel! We had loads of fun, but I am exhausted...STILL! We traveled from Greenville to Princeton to Philadelphia to New York to Washington D.C. and back to Greenville in four days. This was just the first of the many fun getaways to come!


 



First stop...Priceton Univeristy. Matthew had a meeting for work, so I took advantage of the situation, and hung out downtown Princeton.  It was so charming. Wouldn't you know the moment we drove in, I spotted The House of Cupcakes? I am addicted to a show on The Food Network called Cupcake Wars. The House of Cupcakes recently won Cupcake Wars, so I had to investigate! I got the winning cupcake, Espresso Brownie Cupcake with Chocolate Ganache Icing. I know what you are thinking, and yes, it was DIVINE. This place even had cupcakes for dogs, pupcakes. How adorable? I also spent some time in the locals favorite coffee shop for the amazing cappachino that you see. I found a shop full of the most beautiful papers, rows and rows of paper. As I walked in the door, I saw visions of crafts all over our house...Matthew didn't. While he met at the university, I walked around the campus, taking pictures. The architecture was indescribable. You look at the building and think, these have been here for hundreds of years, but in fact, some of them are brand new. They fly stones from all over the world to make the new building look hundreds of years old. (fun fact for your day) While sitting on campus, with my hot pink laptop and hot pink cell phone, I began feeling like I was part of a Legally Blonde movie. Just sitting on the campus made me feel smart, I even joined in on a prospective student tour! Hey, you never know! Overall...a very good day!


















Next stop...Philly. We were able to spend some time with our friends Landon and Allyson (and sweet Holden) while visiting Philadelphia. Honestly, that's the only reason we went. Landon plays for the Oaskland A's, and is rarely playing on the east coast. This was a rare occasion, as the A's were up against the Phillies in Philadelphia. We were able to go to the game and hang out afterwards. We enjoyed an amazing lunch with them the next day.  I just love that Holden!  We walked around the city, taking pictures of amazing American history. I'm embarrassed to admit that if it weren't for the movie, National Treasure, I wouldn't have known any of it was there. Thanks Nicholas Cage! Matthew kept insisting that we visit The Philadelphia Museum of Art. When we got there, he said, "Can't you just hear the music?" What? He said, "You know, the Rocky music!" (he is humming it) Apparantly, in Rocky (about the time I fell asleep I guess) he ran up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art while training for the big fight. Anyway, we saw it! Don't even think that we left Philly without a famous Philly Cheesesteak! We loved Philadelphia, but we had bigger places to go, and more things to see.
 

"Now you're in New York. These streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you. Let's hear it for New York, New York!" Ok, I will stop there. I COULD NOT get this song out of my head the whole trip. (Now, you will probably have it in your head all day! Sorry!) I was so excited about our third stop. It was NOT what I expected. We still had a good time, but New York wasn't like the movies. We hit up the major tourist attractions, and then some. I didn't think my feet were going to make it. You know I wore cute shoes! If I had it to do over, I would get me some of those hi-top black reeboks (you know the ones) and hit the streets running. I'm sorry if you own a pair of hi-top black reebok, this was not intended to insult! I've always wanted to eat a hotdog from one of the street vendors, but you know Matthew wouldn't eat one. While we are talking about food, I will go ahead and tell you where we ate dinner...Rockefellar Center. We literally ate on the ice skating rink right beside the water. What did I eat? BBQ! You know I am a southern girl, if I go to NYC and order barbeque. We went from store to store on 5th avenue, without buying one thing! We even went to FAO Schwarz, without buying a single thing. (MC, if you are reading this, I am so sorry! It was all daddy's fault! On a positive note, I am so proud that you can read!) NYC is such an intriguing city with very intriguing people. While in a cab, we started making small talk with our driver. We learned that he was in school to become a doctor, when his father became very ill, then eventually passed away.  He had to quit school to support his family, by driving a cab. He wants to one day save up enough money to complete his education. We assured him that we will pray that he will be able to do just that!  I'd love to make another trip in the fall when the leaves are changing, and the weather is cooler. We'll see!  Until then...Washington D.C.

Our last stop was for Matthew!  For those of you who know him well, you know that he wants to be president one day. By president, I mean, President of the United States. Ok, let me just throw this out there, I AM NOT FIRST LADY MATERIAL! Don't act surprised, you were thinking it too! It was fun standing in front of our future home, The White House, and thinking of the changes I would make. You know, my personal live-in Starbucks barista, shades of pink (my signature color)  incorporated in the interior, and that indoor slide I saw on Pinterest. They already have my garden in the back, but I will need to make sure they have the silver queen corn out there. By day four, Matthew was over me taking pictures, and my feet were over walking. After walking from The White House to the Capital Building, I had enough. I hailed a cab, ok, it was really a boy driving a bicycle cart. I have always felt bad for those guys. I mean, it is hard enough to ride a bike, much less with the weight of two individuals on the back. Apparantly, I didn't feel too bad, because I let him drive us to the monument. It was a ton of fun, but after seeing EVERYTHING Washington D.C. had to offer, I was ready to get in the car and head back to South Carolina. 

So, there it is, Summer BL #24 is complete. Hope you enjoyed the quick recap!


Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Revision to 2011 Summer Bucket List

2011 Summer Bucket List

After seeing summer bucket lists floating around everywhere, I decided to make one of my own. I want to have checks in every box and photo documentation by the end of summer!  I have a feeling this will be the greatest summer EVER!