Facing reality...

So I have to say I've been going through some serious blonde hair withdrawal lately. Due to some significant laptop malfunctions we were forced to buy a new computer a couple of weeks ago, and since, have been transferring all of our pictures over. This process has cause some serious reflection regarding the ever important topic of hair color. I think the bottom line is this....blonde is better! Not cheaper that is....just better! It's been so nice only having to get my color done every three or four months since going dark, versus every 6-8 weeks with the blonde, and it's definitely been cheaper, and more efficient with my time (can anyone explain why my hair girl thinks she needs to take four hours on my hair each time I go in for an appointment....who has that kind of time for HAIR) but I just don't like being dark as much! So I'm embracing the inevitable....and going back to blonde. Unfortunately I made this decision the day AFTER getting my dark redone, so it won't happen for a couple of months....but somehow if I verbalize the decision, I feel like I'm closer to having it be a reality! If only I could have been a natural blonde. Answer me this....If Ben has red hair, and I have brown hair, what are the chances our kids will be blonde??? I'm crossing my fingers at least!

(Below is proof that blonde is better)





In other news...we went to the Shelburne Farms harvest festival on Saturday along with the entire town of Shelburne....and all of the Mormons in town. Seriously....everywhere I turned there were more Mormons! If people only knew, I think they might be worried we were going to take over the town. It was such a cute festival with tons of great activities for kids. So yeah.....we felt totally out of place!! Despite looking a little foolish attending the festivities without kids, we did score some awesome food...what can top Vermont grilled cheese sandwiches and caramel apples?? Who needs kids to enjoy good food!



Finally...probably the highlight of my week was making a kid cry at their piano lesson. Ok, not really, I actually felt pretty bad. But let me tell you, it was way better than the time a kid peed his pants in lesson. I mean honestly, how do you respond to that! I felt bad for weeks....since I told him he couldn't go to the bathroom because we only had two minutes left in the lesson. I learned my lesson the hard way.....ALWAYS let kids use the bathroom when they ask!
Anyway, I didn't actually do anything mean to this little girl on Tuesday who started bawling out of the blue. I simply asked her to put the song we had been practicing hands apart, hands together. Next thing I know, she's doing it perfectly, but there are tears streaming down her face and she's doing the little hyperventilating sob thing! I asked her what was wrong and she simply said "It's just TOO hard." Ok...cause that makes sense. She did it perfectly....the FIRST TIME...but "it's just too hard." Man.....these kids kill me. I really do love them, but on occasion, they're pretty ridiculous. It wouldn't have been a big deal and I would have been a little nicer if she didn't have a history of crying EVERY WEEK! I'm pretty sure crying is code for "I don't want to do this, and if I cry, maybe I won't have to." She seems pretty well trained in the art of crying, but I don't really buy it.

Enough with the rants...I'm so looking forward to the weekend! I'm hoping for great weather on Saturday so we can go for a fall bike ride, and check out a new breakfast place called "On the Rise." It's supposed to be pretty great!

Why haven't we done this sooner??

Not sure why it took us over two years to finally get our act together and head to NYC for the weekend, but it did, and I'm regretting it big time! We decided to head out this past weekend and had such a great time. I felt like a little kid on Christmas eve the night before we left. I had never been to NY so I was pretty excited...I couldn't even sleep! It's surprisingly close when you finally just get in the car and make the drive. Ben picked me up from the studio after my last lesson at 7:00. We were on the road by 7:30, and parked in downtown NY by 1:30 or so. Somehow when we were searching google maps for directions, I'm pretty sure we clicked the "take us on every back road possible" button.....so minus the minor run-in with nausea that I had, it was a pretty easy drive, although I'm convinced there has to be a better way.

It was great to visit with Ben's sister Emily. She's a great tour guide, and knows the city so well! After the realization that NY just isn't that far from us, I'm sure we'll be out to visit her several more times before we move. There are already plans in the working for a trip in November, and I already have a ticket for December!

We did lots of the fun first time NY things.....Times Square, Central Park, Grand Central Station, Rockefeller Center, Yankee Stadium, China Town and SoHo. We also managed to fit in some shopping at one of the BR Flagship stores, and the NBA store. And of course, we ate at some fantastic restaurants, like Norma's and Cosi. We already have a long list of things we want to do, and more importantly, places we want to eat at when we return!

I was shocked by the weather. We had had a serious cold front pass through Vermont (unfortunately now I'm realizing it wasn't really a cold "front", and that winter is really on it's way) so I just assumed it would be cold in NY. I was definitely wrong. We were sweating the entire day! Thankfully it cooled down a little with some rain, and we ended up being quite comfortable as the afternoon went on.
It was awesome being at Yankee Stadium for one of their last games before they tear it down. The new stadium looks beautiful, but I think I would have felt cheated had we not had the chance to attend at least one game in the old stadium. Despite losing 8-0, we still managed to have a great time. Check out my sweet Yankee Stadium t-shirt and free Yankees mustard I picked up along the way!

On Sunday we were able to visit with one of my best friends who just moved to NY not long ago. It was so great to see her and catch up on life.



And just for the record...I came to the realization this weekend that I am incredibly lazy. I could never live in NYC simply because I don't like walking that much! I think I walked more in two days there than I have walked in a whole month in Vermont. It was great for a weekend away, but I don't think I could handle it on a day to day basis. I was so glad to get in my car on Sunday afternoon and drive home knowing I didn't have to walk anywhere on Monday!!