We're back!!!!

Atlantic City Board Walk

Wow, where to begin? It has almost been 2 months since our last blog, so I will do just a quick recap. For New Years, Hayley and I decided to head to Atlantic City, NJ! We figured we should do something cool, that we normally don't do, and AC was perfect! We found a pretty cheap hotel, with a free shuttle, and booked it! Next was finding the perfect NYE dress! And that we did! Mine, black and sparkly, and Helly's black and purple sequins. Next to find a cool party to go to. Yet again, that we did! We we decided on Harrah's pool party! It was soo neat, with a DJ, open bar, and millions (at least it seemed that way) of people. We watched the clock turn midnight, screamed "Happy New Year," played a few slots, ate a cheeseburger and then headed back to the hotel. The following day, we toured a few casinos, ate at a buffet (our fav), and called it an early night. This was an awesome New Years and so glad to spend it with my roomie and one of my besties.

9/11 memorial

Empire State Building

Statue of Liberty

On to our last week in Connecticut. Hayley's parents came to visit, and we went to New York, and then Niagara Falls! In NYC, we went to the 9/11 memorial, Statue of Liberty, and the Empire State building! 3 things we had not yet done! The Statue of Liberty isn't nearly as big as I thought it would be, but still pretty neat! The view from the Empire State Building was pretty amazing, especially at sunset. Much better than the view from Top of the Rock (mainly bc there was no plexi glass). And then the Tree at Rockefeller Center was still up, so of course we had to go see that one more time. I thought her parents were going to kill us, b/c we walked sooooo much! There are so many cool pics, that I'm going to have to just have a slide show :)

Niagara Falls

The next day we began our freakishly long 7 hour drive to Niagara Falls, but it was sooo worth it! The falls were absolutely gorgeous! Hayley and I even went to Canada! It was soo very cold, but we just pushed through it so we could see as many amazing views as possible. The first day/night we went to the Americas Falls to take pictures with OC and Bobbie, and then Hayley and I went into Canada to take pictures facing the front of the falls. Btw, the Canadian side is WAY cooler, than the American side! What's up with that??  Anyway, for dinner, we of course had another buffet ;) and then headed back to the falls for some night shots (or better yet ice cold pictures). The next day, we decided to head to the Horseshoe Falls. Along the way, we saw a couple of rainbows. I was excited to catch them on film (im becoming an amateur photographer haha). More picture time! After 30 minutes of pictures, we were all thoroughly frozen and ready for the 7 hour trip back to Connecticut.

Our final trip for this blog is our trip to New Orleans. Hayley and I woke up at the crack of dawn and OC took us to the airport to catch our plane to NEW ORLEANS! Of course we had to fly from Detroit to NO with a bunch of LSU fans, ugh lol.  So Hayley's friend Jason, picked us up and we headed out on the town! First stopping for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and meeting up with Christy! Next was walking to the Rusty Nail and meeting up with Leah. Of course Leah was able to work her magic and get us in without standing in line! Next was to hang out with a bunch of Bama fans (not my fav part). Then the weather started to act like it was going to storm, so off to the hotel we went to watch the game. And so ends our last 2 weeks in Connecticut. Next blog, LA here we come!!!!!!!!

~Hayley and Elizabeth~

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Part 2

On the Subway

On the roof of Steph's apt

So, to continue our adventures of the month of December, our fourth trip was to visit my cousin Stephanie in New York for a few days! We had sooo much fun! We packed our bags, jumped on the train, and ended up in the Big Apple! It was kind of neat to be a "resident" of New York for a few days. Or at least it felt that way :) My cousin lives in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, overlooking the Hudson River and NYC/New Jersey, Beautiful at night! We decided this trip was not going to be our typical "see everything we can" kind of trip. We wanted to relax, since we did the touristy thing with our friend Nicki last time.

Rockefeller tree at night

So the day we got there, we did the whole Times Square and surrounding areas, mainly to see the Christmas decorations. We went to eat at a sushi bar near my cousins apt, and ended the night hanging out The Underground meeting some new friends. The Tree at Rockefeller Center was Crazy big, with I think 30,000 lights on it (Hayley looked up that fact). Our second day in NYC, we did our Christmas shopping. We went to China town! That was a cluster, but fun to haggle with the men and women of China town. We tried to buy some fake handbags, but they were asking too much. I mean come on, they were fake! That night we ate Chinese with my cousin Stephanie, and then walked around Midtown to see all the decoration lit up at night! Very pretty. Then it was off to bed :)

Coney Island

Nathan's Hotdog

Our last day, we decided to head to Coney Island. Stupid me did even think about the fact that it was not even season for an amusement park. Oh well, we had a fun little adventure anyway. We ate at Nathan's Hotdog, walked around the boardwalk, and of course took the hour long subway ride out there and back.Our cell phones were working in overdrive on that subway ride, lol. It looked like it would be a fun place to be during the summer, but I bet it is crazy crowded. After Coney Island we decided to go to the biggest department store in the country, MACY'S. Seriously the biggest store I've every been in! 8 stories with restaurants on each floor! That place gave us major anxiety, so we left after about 15 minutes (but not before getting a milkshake from Ben&Jerry's :) Then it was time to say good-bye to the big city and head back to Wethersfield! What a fun trip we had!

My mom came up the Sunday before Christmas to spend a week with us. It was great having her here! We went back to Newport one day and did a tour of 3 of the Mansions open during the winter season. They were all decorated beautifully for Christmas! It was a fun mother-daughter day trip! The next day Mom, Hayley, and I went on a tour of Yale. I really enjoyed the tour, except for the fact that it rained! Of course, just our luck that it rained right! Ugh, still a very pretty and impressive campus.

Quechee Gorge

Me and Mom at Gorge

Powell came up the Thursday before Christmas, but we still had no plans for that Friday and Saturday. He had been looking at the weather for snow all week, and on Friday morning we decided to head to Killington VT to do some skiing! We got a hotel for the night and were on our way. First stop was the Quechee Gorge http://www.vtstateparks.com/htm/quechee.htm. Next stop, Woodstock VT. This was the cutest little town with wonderful Christmas decorations. We walked along the streets as it snowed, it was awesome!!!  We ate dinner and then headed to our Inn. After dropping mom off, the three kids (I'm including Hayley) headed to rent our ski's. Then Hayley and I had to find something to wear while skiing, since we didn't have any ski pants to bring. We found a Walmart, ski pants, and a coat for Hayley! We made our way back, and then it was off to get some snooze for our day of skiing tomorrow!

Skiing

Powell and me at the top

Breakfast at this Inn was awesome! Pancakes, bacon, eggs, french toast. Man, so much for "continental breakfast" :) After stuffing our faces, we went to get our ski's and headed up to Killington Mountain to do some skiing http://www.killington.com/winter/index.html. I won't bore you with too many details of our skiing adventure. Basically Powell is good, I'm okay, and sorry Hayley but you are bad (jk, just need some practice). I did, however, make it to the top with Powell, although I skied the green and blue trails, while he skied the blue and black diamond. Oh well, it was fun non-the-less with me hitting the snow (aka:busting my butt) only twice. Hayley on the other hand hit the snow a few more times :) Powell of course I don't think fell at all. After our long day of skiing we were ready for some grub. So after returning our ski's to the rental place and my feet thawing out, we went in search for food! We finally settled on a pizza place and had an AMAZING Chicken Ranch pizza! Delish! Last stop before hitting the road back to CT was a souvenir shop to pick a few things.

Hayley and me 

Christmas day Hayley and I had to work, but leave it to my amazing mother and brother to cook a yummy lunch and bring it to us! I was happy that some people at work got to meet my mom and Powell though. We set up lunch in the family room, so it was like our own little Christmas dinner, much different from every other year, but just as special! Powell left to go back to GA Christmas afternoon so I had to say my goodbye at the hospital! Mom didn't leave till the next morning, at 6am! So, at least I had one more night with her!

Our December has been crazy busy, but we've enjoyed every moment! Christmas was different this year, but I must say, as an adult I think this one has been the most memorable! I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and also a Happy New Year! Till Next Time

~Hayley and Elizabeth~

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Part 1

At "The Breakers"

So, I know its been almost a month since we last blogged (thank you Edwin), but we are back, haha. In the past month we have been to Newport RI, Boston MA,  New York and Killington VT. Also, my boyfriend, Jose came up to visit. So pretty much, we've been super busy the month of December :)

Our Beautiful Sunset

In Newport, we toured one of the Vanderbilt's summer homes called "The Breakers."  If that was my summer house, I don't think I'd EVER leave! It was absolutely beautiful! http://www.newportmansions.org/. After our tour, we drove down Ocean Ave, and saw the most beautiful sunset. After our little drive, we met my friend Julie (from nursing school), for dinner and then started our long drive home to pick up Jose from the airport. Unfortunately I read his flight schedule wrong and we were an hour late picking him up. Ooops, I felt so bad! At least he wasn't mad, just tired :) 

Statue of Liberty

Jose and Me at dinner

Top of the Rock

The next morning, Jose and I dropped Hayley off at work and we headed to catch a train to NYC. Our friend Carter rode a bus up from DC to meet us for the day. It was both of their first time in the city so it was kind of fun seeing their reactions. We did the whole touristy New York thing, while making Hayley a little bit jealous, since she wasn't able to be with us :( I think we probably walked 5 or 6 miles that day, but we sure did see a lot and have fun! I loved having 2 of my best friends in NYC :) The next day, we took it easy, doing a little shopping and ending the day with some Italian with Hayley! YUM YUM! Unfortunately Monday came, and it was time for Jose to go back to Bama. We had a fun weekend!

Good thing for Umbrellas

Our Rainy day in Boston

Of course it rained while we were in Boston, as it has rained everywhere we've gone except New York. Our friend Emily (whom we work with) came with us to be our tour guide. While in Boston we walked the Freedom Trail http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/. It was a great way to see the city along with seeing some major historical landmarks. Harvard was very disappointing though. It not only is extremely small, but it has a fence all the way around and each entrance is guarded. I guess you either had to have a scheduled tour, or be a student to get on the campus. We had a fun day anyway, as we always do :)

These three trips were extremely fun, but the next two might be even better :) Stay tuned!

~Hayley and Elizabeth~

Philly Cheese, Please!

Liberty Bell

Independence Hall

Hayley's friend Leia invited us to come down to Delaware and spend a few nights with her, so we decided to take her up on that offer last week. So, we decided to head down there on Tuesday, and come back Thursday. Of course we didn't look at the weather until last minute, and yet again, rain was in our future! At least this time it wasn't freezing cold and rainy. We ordered some rain boots from target (since we've had such bad luck lately), but they didn't come in before we left. Just our luck!

The drive down wasn't too terrible. We did, however, take a wrong exit and drove through the Bronx. Is it Bronx, or "The" Bronx? Who cares, right? Anywho, we finally made it to Delaware, met up with Leia and her husband, and after about a 30 minutes deliberation, decided on an Italian restaurant for dinner. Of course the server had to ask where we were from (we get that almost everywhere we go). It was pretty good. I took my leftovers to go and left them on the table, then in Leia's car and finally at her apt. Apparently I really didn't want it. We stayed at a friend's across the street (we love free places to stay!). So after our long day of driving and late night dinner, we called it a night!

Inside Macy

Our Philly Cheese steadks

When we woke up the next time, we were happy to see that it hadn't started raining yet (I believe the forecast called for 80% chance of rain. But of course our hopes were shattered when it started raining one we got into Philadelphia. Parking was much easier than Boston, so we found great parking at the visitor's center. We started the day at the Liberty Bell, then to Independence Hall, next was Betsy Ross's house, followed by the US Mint, then Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Lunch (philly cheese steaks) at Sonnie's steaks, then walking several blocks to City Hall, Macy's (largest department store in the country at it's opening), back to the car, driving to the Muter (pronounced Mooter) Museum, and finally ending at the Rocky Statue in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (was that just one really long run-on sentence?).

Me and Rocky

So our trip to Delaware/Philly was fun, but also rainy! Why is it that it rains almost every trip we take. We never had to worry about that in Arizona or California! Now if it was snow, I wouldn't be complaining :) Anyway till next time

Hayley and Rocky

~Hayley and Elizabeth~