East Coast Vacation Recap: Family Fun and a Train Ride

Check out the recap of our flight out to the East Coast HERE.

Our flight landed before 5:30am on the East Coast, and we were not rested.  We were total grumpalumps who needed a nap.  But I did get a little pep in my step when I saw Aunt Delaware's husband, Spunkmaster Flex, pull up at the airport to pick us up.  I've always really liked Spunkmaster, and over the past few years - the few times we've gotten to spend time together - I've only grown to like him more.

Spunk drove us into familiar Wilmington, DE and we pulled into the driveaway at Aunt Delaware's house.  I had planned to just power through the day with little sleep, but when we walked into their quiet house and everyone else was still sleeping (can you blame them?  It was 6:30 in the morning on a Saturday), Handsome Hubs and I decided a nap was in order.  The power nap turned into more of a minuture night's sleep, as we didn't get out of bed until close to 11:30am. 

It was then that we got to see Aunt Delaware, her darling son, and Spunkmaster's daughter - a family I love, but don't get to see nearly as often as I'd like.  So big hugs all around were in order.  We spent Saturday and Sunday in the same fashion, lounging and chatting; catching up on all the minor details that never seem important in the 30 minute phone calls you can find time for in life, but are the little things that make life life; and lots and lots of laughing. 

A girl and her best friend - Andi, the sweet boxer, sitting with Aunt Delaware

Saturday night, Spunkmaster's entire family got together and they were kind enough to include us for some homemade Spaghetti - one of my favorites.

Sunday dinner was another one filled with family - but this time, my family!  Grandma Delaware (I have to note that though I know Gma Delaware thinks of me as a granddaughter, I've always thought of her as more of a really cool aunt or something.  She was my Grandfather's wife before he passed, but she always seemed way too young to be a Grandma, and in real life?  I've always called her by her first name, which I'm pretty sure irks her but it's endearing, right?!) hosted dinner at her house for us, Aunt Delaware, Master Hairstylist Aunt - and all of the kids.  It was so great to see everyone, to catch up, and the have some homemade lasagna (Italian two nights in a row - you won't hear me complaining). 

The craziest moment for me was seeing Master Hairstylist's children who have somehow grown into this most adorable curly-headed kid (last time I saw him, I'm fairly certain he was still in diapers, and just a cute curly headed toddler), and a freakin' teenager!  I spent a few summers in Delaware when her older son was a baby, and again as a young child, and gosh it makes you feel old when you see those kids grow up.  It's weird that I'm still 21, while everyone else keeps getting older (#21forlife).

Who is this man, and what did he do with my sweet wittle baby?

 

After a late night of Oscar watching (no wonder the East Coast folk always complain about these award shows going so late!), HH and I headed to bed on Sunday excited to wake up the next morning and head to the train station!

 

Monday morning, we went to the train station and waited for our train to NYC to depart. 

 



From Wilmington to NYC is about a two hour ride, and the best part about it is that you go through multiple states: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and of course New York.  A great way to see some of the sights you'll never find on the "Must Sees in Pennsylvania" list.

We arrived at Penn Station in New York City just before one o'clock and trecked the mile and a half or so to our hotel room on foot.  Handsome Husband was struck by the amount of people and activity going on in the streets at just 1:00pm.  And if I'm being honest?  So was I.  I've been NYC many times, but every single time I'm still baffled by the amount of energy the city seems to have.

After arriving at the W New York Times Square Hotel (which we were able to swing thanks to our good friend, The Bouncer!), we checked in, took a looksie at our awesome room, and decided to start our touristy activites STAT.

{via}

Next time? I'll tell you all about NYC, including a little rendevous with new NYC-dweller, Best Friend Fashionista.

Quotable Tuesdays

The First Seven Months

After I decided I wanted to be with the Redhead, it was as if I forgot what it was like before.  Like in an single moment, I went from Casey BL (before love) to Casey AL (after love).  And I don't mean that in a bad way - not that we were codependent or anything like that, but just that once I realized what it felt like to be with Redhead, I never wanted to feel what it would be like to be without.

Our first few months of dating were filled lots of hours in the car (mostly on my part - I lived in LA at the time and Red lived in San Diego, he began soccer season weeks after we began dating and couldn't get away much), many kisses, and very many sappy text messages during the week when we were apart.  I drove down to San Diego every weekend I could, both because I couldn't get enough of Red, and because I hated my life in Los Angeles.

I know that had I lived in LA under different circumstances, I could have had a really fulfilling, fun life there.  However - I lived there for an internship, while taking classes at the local community college, under 21 (no bar scene for me!), and with no friends living there.  Wouldn't you know that about four years later I would have nearly as many friends living in LA than living near me - funny how timing can change everything.

After just weeks of dating, we exchanged the inevitable I Love You's, and it was only a few more weeks before we were talking about the future.  I felt a little crazy at the time, but it's like in When Harry Met Sally -

We hatched up a plan that I would move down to San Diego, continue taking classes (at the time my end goal was to tranfer to SDSU and get a degree in Business Admin/Marketing - oh, how things change), and get a waitressing job to fill my time and pay some bills.  The plan was for Summertime/Fall when Red's lease would be up, though that seemed excrutiatingly far away.

However, in the plot twist that changed everything, one of Red's roommate wanted to move out early.  They needed someone to cover his portion of the rent, and it will always make me smile when I think of one of Red's other roommate's suggesting me as a replacement.  Red and I knew we wanted to live together, but never did I think his roomates would be so supportive as to suggest it.  Red's roomate had moved out by mid-September, but I wouldn't move down until finishing up the semester and giving adequate notice at my internship.

Telling people about the change was both easy and hard.  Keep in mind, at this point we had literally been dating a month (though I wouldn't move in until January - 4 months later).  Some people took it way easier than I though, like Gardnening Mom who was completely fine with it, and Mother-in-Law Red who didn't seem phased.  Others, like friends and extended family, were shocked and a little concered at the pace at which we were moving.  I will always be grateful to friends like Fashionista who basically expressed "Seems a little fast, and maybe not the smartest move - but if you're happy, I'm happy".  I hope that looking back, even though it might have been a little whackadoo at the time, everyone thinks it was ultimately a good decision!

From January to April, we enjoyed being submersed in one another's lives.  I got to start a whole new life, meeting new friends, taking new classes, and living in a city I'd never even thought about living in - a city I fell in love with, by the way.  I got to really get to know Red's friends, especially our roomates, most of which I now, five years later, consider my friends as well.  Red and I talked incessantly about getting engaged, getting married, what our lives would be like.  We got to know each other's families (though not nearly as well as Red got to know mine a few years later when we moved in with my parents), and fell into a happy groove in our life together.

I knew we would be getting engaged at some point sooner rather than later (albeit with plans of quite the long engagement), but I had assumed Red was going to wait for our 1-year annivery to pass.  Well, in April of 2009 (just seven months after we became an US), he had a little surprise for me.

Want to catch up on the story of how my Handsome Husband became my Handsome Husband? Find out how we met, what it was like going to high school with HH, how he reappeared in my life after moving to San Diego for college, and how he went from a memory to a best friend in weeks. Read about how I found out he wasn't thinking of me as just a friend, what he did for me while in Europe, and our first kiss. You can also read about how he was a total jackass played hard to get right when I was ready to give him a shot. Then we decided to make things "official" on 08.08.08, and I said something stupid shortly after.  I shared photos from our first few months as an "US" last time.

For My Daddy

Today, I am:

Busting my ass cleaning my messy house.

Cooking ribs for the very first time ever (and by cooking, I mean I bought them and handed them to Handsome Hubs).

Making miniature desserts, because everything is cuter in miniature form.

Putting together a fabulous present.

Roasting some veggies, browning some rolls, and all around making a kick ass meal.

Picking the most perfect Pandora station with the perfect mix of classic rock for background music.

And celebrating.

Why?

 For my Daddy, whose birthday is today.

Without my Daddy,

1. There would be no me, a travesty for the world of course.

2. There would be no my Sisters Singer and Swimmer, also a sad fate for today's society.

3. I wouldn't know what it's like to have a Daddy-o who loves you for who you are, and all that you are, no matter what.

Book Club Friday: Drinking and Tweeting

It's been way too long since I've linked up with Heather and Katie for Book Club Friday.  Partially because I've been a reading slacker and partially because the books I have read?  Not worth blogging about, sad to say.

But the book I read over our East Coast Vacation?  Totally worth a blog post!

Drinking & Tweeting and Other Brandi Blunders

 

I absolutely adored this book!  It is certainly not going to win any Pulitzers for it's literary genius, but I powered through it because I just enjoyed just about every second of it! 

 

First of all, I am a huge fan of Brandi on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, so if you're not - this probably isn't your book.  But personally I think she is hysterical, raw and real, and all around fabulous.  Any girl who says shut the eff up casually at a dinner party is my kinda chick.

 

The book is honest, and talks about stuff that a lot of celebrities just don't talk about, let alone write a whole book about it! 

 

If you like the Beverly Hills Housewives, especially Brandi, do yourself a favor and read this book!



 

East Coast Vacation Recap: Virgin America aka Hip Hop Airlines Review

Last month, we headed across the country for our East Coast vacay where we spent time in quite a few cities: Wilmington, Delaware; New York City; Washington DC; and even a few hours in Philadelphia!

In our journey to get there, we got to try out an airline that neither Handsome Husband or myself had ever flown on: Virgin America Airlines.

If I was the CEO of Virgin, my first order of business?  Renaming the airline Hip Hop Airlines.  The entire experience felt sort of surreal. 

Take checking in at the airport, for example.  HH and I accidentally had Mother-in-Law Red (thanks for the ride, MIL!) drop us off outside Virgin Atlantic, instead of Virgin America (because of course things wouldn't go perfectly smooth), so we had to hoof it through the terminal down to our intended check-in counter.  We passed lots of white flourescent lit counters for American Airlines, United, and so on and so forth.  As we passed into the Virgin America airlines area, it was like we were immediately transported into a downtown LA lounge.  There were glowing red and purple lights, huge displays of beautiful white flowers, and I shit you not - slow R&B jams played in the background.  It was all at the same time bizarre and intruguing.

Our check-in was pretty seamless (except for our 59 pound suitcase, which needed to be rearragned to get under the 50 pound limit), and we were off to wait for our boarding.  I couldn't help but be excited to see what the plane would look like if this was just the check-in!

After a lackluster dinner with some necessary glasses of wine, we parked it at a charging station while we waited for our boarding time to approach. 

With about 30 minutes of waiting time still to go to board our flight, we decided to leave the charging station behind and head to our gate so we could board as soon as it was our turn.  Imagine our surprise when the seating surrounding our gate was empty because surprise!  They boarded early!  I've actually never seen this done, so I was excited at the prospect of leaving early, but alas we left right on time.  Oh well, better than late, right?

The next surprise on Hip Hop Airlines was the mood lighting on board the aircraft.  This was the view as we approached down the catwalk (is there an official name for this?) towards to door to board:

I squeeled with delight to HH, but once you actually got onto the plane, the lighting was not quite as intense as it seemed from a looksie in.  However, still cool.

I mean, right??

 

The seats were a tight squeeze as always, and actually on our flight home my seat did not recline which was a bummer and a half.  The flight itself was as good as a long flight can be (the flight time from LAX to Philadelphia is a little over five hours), but there was one stand out awesome thing and one stand out shitty thing:

 

Awesome: Live TV on the flight.  Before I took a little snooze, I laughed up a storm in my tiny little seat as I watched a Katt Williams comedy special live on Comedy Central.

 

Shitty: There was not a single bit of food offered without purchasing.  Not a packet and peanuts or pretzels, nada.  And the real kicker?  Even the items you could purchase were unappealing.  I don't want a five cheese tray on a 5 hour flight...give me a break.

 

All in all it was an average flight experience, but with the R&B music and the lighting?  I felt like a little Hip Hop princess flying my ass into Philadelphia.

 

Next up in recaps?  Our first few family fun days in Delaware, and our train trip to NYC!  

When People Find Love

There is something special about watching people find love.  Watching a relationship grow from the beginning is a bit of an honor, in my opinion.  Especially if you have the liberty of really hearing the inside scoop from the aforementioned love-stuck people.

Who doesn't love to hear their best friend tell them about a wonderful first date and then hear, in excited happy hour increments, about each new chapter to their love story.  It's like being in a front row seat while an screenwriter writes a romantic comedy - but it's real life!

Last year, Mother-in-Law Red met a man that she raved about.  She told us he was kind, and smart, and different than other men she had dated.  She was happy - actually that's not the right word.  She was over the moon, deliriously infatuated, and simply smitten.

On the 13th of February (one day after the anniversay of their first date, and one day before Valentine's Day so as to surprise MIL Red), her boyfriend (Mr. Bear - I had to steal Tutor Girl's nickname for him, because if you know his name in real life it's just too clever!) became her fiance.

That's right - MIL Red is getting hitched!

The happy couple, and MIL's new bling bling.

My very favorite part of their engagement?  Mr. Bear making a phone call to my Handsome Husband (his soon to be son-in-law) to ask for his blessing before popping the question.  I thought that was the kindest, most inclusive, respectable thing to do - and it really melted my heart a bit.

Quotable Tuesdays

We're Back!

That's right, Handsome Hubbo and I landed back on the West Best Coast late Saturday night after a fun filled week of adventures:  Delaware, New York City, Washington DC and Philadelphia! 

Keep a lookout for recaps (sure to include an overload of photos) coming soon!

Guest Post: Megan from Table for Three

Hello everyone!!

I am Megan and I blog over at Table for 3! I write mostly about my life as a wife and working mommy ( to a preemie princess).  I share recipes my family enjoy, sometimes do "fashion" posts and share our new home we are currently building! 

I am SO excited to be posting for one of my favorite bloggers, Casey! (and VERY jealous of her fun vacation she is currently on!!)

When Casey told me that one of the stops on their vacay would be DC, I knew I needed to post about when Jer and I went to visit my aunt and her family WAYYYYYY back before the days of instagram, twitter and Foursquare! ha! (I apologize now for the lack of creativity in my photos!)

Jeremy and I took a trip to DC July 4th weeked in 2008, the year we got engaged! It was SUCH a fun trip that I will always remember! We stayed in an awesome suite with GREAT views, enjoyed LOTS of yummy food and drinks, visited AMAZING designer stores, went to the DC zoo and took in all of the sites!! It was also our first time flying together AND bringing on carry on luggage! (If a relationship can survive an airport, it can survive almost ANYTHING, wouldn't you all agree?!)

Here are some photos from our trip!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you SO much for having me today Casey!! I am sure you are having a BLAST on your vacation!! =)