can i get a vacation?!

as i said earlier, it has been a very hectic and stressful month for me. in a nutshell and without going into all the details, lots going on at work and i am looking for a new apartment for 9/1. (anyone know of a great one bedroom that will take millie?!?!?!?) too busy to blog, too busy to do almost anything!
so i needed a little vacation. some R&R. so i took a 3 day weekend from work and shane and i planned a fun little getaway to the catskills to a bed and breakfast! i couldn't wait! away from the city, being in the mountains, tubing down the creek, hiking along the trails. relaxation!

our reservations were at the river run bed & breakfast. it looked cute. the rooms sounded nice an we were going to have our own personal bathroom ,which i really liked!

we found this b&b on bnbfinder.com where they stated that "River Run is the recipient, for the second consecutive year, of the 'New York Catskill Service Award' for best bed and breakfast in the Belleayre region." sounds great! we're off!

shane and i finally left friday around noon, after a hearty breakfast from beso, my favorite brunch spot in my hood! i always get the latin eggs benedict but since it was a week day, they had a limited menu.

my omelet with tomato, swiss, and avocado was yummy! and shane had the huevos rancheros. kinda just reminded me of a breakfast burrito. oh, and yes, we did get it to-go since i was still rushing around packing and we didn't have a lot of time to go and actually sit down.

ok, we're fed, packed, now, LET'S GO!!!!

we were so excited to get out of the city!


driving away!


ahh, the tappan zee bridge. or as shane likes to call it, the chimpanzee bridge!

**fyi - if you are like me and always wondered what tappan zee meant, i finally goggled it. find out for yourself here!

first stop, rest stop!
i never knew a rest stop could be so much fun! look at the size of this place!!


two levels, little gift shops, several places to eat. fun times!
we ended up having loads of fun in the gift shop, buying eachother "presents".


i got shane some really rad, bad-ass sunglasses and zipper-pulls with his full name!


he got me the zipper-pulls as well, along with a pink pen that say "NY princess" awwww !!!!


must represent the shades!! aaawwwwwoooooo!!!!!


"braw, this road trip is fuckin' awesome! dude, gimmie my milkyway!!"


snap shot of the truck driving in front of us.
inside joke.

after about a 2 hour drive, we were just about there! how exciting!
look at this view!



but don't get too excited. once we turned down the street of the b & b it all went down hill ...

it was like a twilight zone. all trashy and nasty. it looked like the houses were all falling apart. dingo dogs walking the streets. crazy white trash people plowing through the streets in their pick up truck with confederate flags in the back.
we didn't even get out of the car. it was a bad feeling. and look back at the picture i posted of the river run inn ... doesn't really look like that. the local pool that they suggested going to looked like a sesspool! i wore our new shades as a disguise just to fit in!!
i didn't even take any pictures for fear of the locals!

needless to say, we turned around! can you believe it! we though that we would be robbed during the night!

back home.



oh, but it gets better!

we decided to make the best of it. we were going to go to a water park or hiking at bear mountain on saturday instead.


rained out!

can't go wrong with eating, right?
so we had a nice irish breakfast at rory dolan's.


shane had the traditional "irish breakfast" - eggs, potatoes, sausage, and bacon with white and black pudding. he never eats the black pudding. if you knew what it was, you probably wouldn't either!


i safely ate an omelet.

after taking it easy all day, we decided on more food.

reservations were made at alias on the lower east side.
a recommendation from the foodie herself, anita!


shane had skirt steak, with potatoes, and a poached egg on top.


i had the roasted upstate chicken (a shout out to the catskills!). it was so crispy and juicy! yum!

the meal was perfect! finally, nothing went wrong!!!

afterwards, we met anita and matt for drinks. first stop, the pegu club, where the drinks were perfectly mixed and crowd was less than desirable.

we all then walked down to the dove in the west village.


i don't know if it was due to double fisting the drinks, but we were enjoying the night!


everyone say "cheese" terri schivo!!!


shane's just happy to not be driving anymore

chocolate boy tries to take our picture but ...


"wait! i'm not ready!!" squeals anita!


"i'm still not ready!!!!"


oh, we're all ready here!

it's almost time to go. and i think a clear sign of that is matting thrusting his pelvic region into the table.


go on with yer bad self, chocolate boy!

the weekend came to a close with a little celebration for brecken. his first birthday! britt and gabe threw the party at fresh salt, the bar around the corner from their apartment.


not quite sure what was going on.


coche serenades the birthday boy.


gabe lights the magnolia birthday cupcakes.


gabe feigns excitement over the "noisy" toy we gave him! haa haa haaaa!




apparently brecken didn't want to be held!


rock n' roll, dude!!! great party!!

well, the weekend had come to an end. what and adventure!
we still had a nice time together and not working!! it will be a good story to tell!