Photo of the Day - Days 171-191

Day 171: No pic today...

Day 172:

Sometimes lunch requires cupcakes. This was one of those days.

Day 173: .... :(

Day 174:

This may be a little gross but Tom was super excited about how stretchy the cheese in his Panini was. What can I say? He's a boy.

Day 175-179: Took another inadvertent photo-taking hiatus, my bad

Day 180:

Out of focus, and he looks annoyed, but at least I took a picture this day! It's a safe bet he was on Reddit.

Day 181:

Tom's folks were in town so we took them to our favorite restaurant, Pieous. The owners Josh and Paige are ridiculously good at what they do, and what's more they are incredibly kind. After we lost our minds over Paige's cheesecake the week before, she topped herself by topping our cheesecake with blueberry pie guts. Best. Dessert. Ever.

Day 182:

Requisite flower pic - I know, just riveting.

Day 183: Blergh.

Day 184:

So it had only been a few days since our last visit, but we decided the night before the 4th of July should be spent at Pieous. Pretty sure this may have been the first time we tried the pepperoni - super tasty - never mind Tom's face, he's just loves it when I take pictures of him.

Day 185:

We had some of the family over for the 4th - here is Ezra in his most patriotic get-up focusing all his energy on composing his next masterpiece. But seriously, do you see how calmly he approaches the piano? Pretty sure me and my siblings just pounded our fists on those keys as kids. Ezra is far too mature for those types of shenanigans.

Day 186:

Upon discovering wild grapes on one of his nature walks at work, Tom decided to create a sourdough starter. This was his first attempt at making bread with it. It wasn't a resounding success in his eyes, but it did produce two edible loaves of bread - so to me, it worked! He's still trying to figure out how to get the recipe just right. In the meantime, I have no problem serving as taste-tester.

Day 187: So I might've missed another day...maybe...

Day 188:

 

A pretty sunset viewed from my window at work! A bummer that I'm witnessing a sunset at work? Maybe. But hey, could be worse, I could be on that crane...

 

Day 190: I worked late yesterday, give a gal a break!

 

Day 191:

 

 

I am helping a friend with her wedding stationery - this was how I delivered her save the dates - Birchbox box, Erin Condren label, and a pom pom for good measure.



Photo of the Day - Days 155-170

Days 155-158: Looks like I took a few days off of the taking of the pictures...whoops


Day 159:

 

Oh flowers...grabbed these at Central Market because they were so blue that I couldn't take my eyes off of them. Tom did not seem to be similarly affected.

 

Day 160: nothing to see here...

 

Day 161:

 

 



Tiny knit monster feet - just a normal Monday night over here.

 

Day 162: Womp womp

 

Day 163:

 

 

I received this very-near-neon-pink lipstick in my Birchbox. Frankly, I'm a fan. Tom, notsomuch.

 

Day 164:

 

I don't need to go into specifics here, just know that as I'm a woman there are times when only chocolate will fix what ails me. These chocolate peanut butter cups did the job nicely.

 

Day 165:

 

This picture might be out of focus, but how sweet are Tom and Ezra plucking away at the piano?

 

Day 166:

 

Ezra chillin' in his Unc Al's shoes with Aunt Celeste's phone in hand - he's set! No clue what he was trying to ask Siri...

 

Day 167:

 

Just the fam hanging outside at the farmers' market. This is Texas. It was warm.

 

Day 168:

 

 

My view at work these days - this giant crane has PEOPLE on it. I don't really have an issue with heights but this makes me nervous...

 

Day 169:

 

 

More flowers!!!!!!!!!

 

Day 170:

 

 

Sometimes I get to meet Melissa, Joe, and Ezra for lunch on the Capitol lawn - how picturesque is that little party of 3?





Florida

Is there anything better than other people's vacation pictures? Hold on to your seats - get ready for some beach pics and selfies galore!
 

This was the view from our room.

To get to the beach we had to cross that little bridge and go through a bit of dreamy greenery.

Then blamo! The beach! Complete with wind surfer.

Happy Tom is happy.

 

We were there during sea turtle season, and had to pass this well marked nest on our way down to the water. 

 

 

 
So there was this lighthouse...I took way too many pictures of it.
 

 
We tried to take a pic in front of it.
 

 
This is as close as we got to success (after a number of failed attempts).

 We went to Key West for a day.

And ate all the key lime pie...

 

 

We saw all the wild roosters and chickens.

 

We checked out Hemmingway's house (or the outside of it at least) - how about that pretty tile, right?

And then we took a selfie for good measure.

Waiting out an afternoon shower on the balcony of our condo with a book and some cherries. Oh vacay...

 

Some intense waves.

 

Random wildlife.

 



 

And a pretty sunset.

 



Photo of the Day - Days 142-154

Day 142:

We've been taking the pugs on evening walks more and more often these days - this is how poor Tele recuperates after her intense workouts. She pants on one part of the tile for a minute until it is far too warm for her, then she drags herself to a cooler spot of tile and pants there for a bit, and on and on until all the tile surrounding our living room rug is just on fire due to her exertion. It's a tough life.


Day 143:
No pic today - :(

Day 144:

Not a thrilling pic, but I was about to leave on a one week vacay and wanted to track the progress of the orchid (I know...so lame of me). Also, while I was out my office was having the interior side of our windows cleaned so I had to temporarily move this lovely from her perch with a view to join this very sad collection of cups and tissues. But check out that trendy exposed duct work - so hip!

Day 145:
No pic today - packing!

Day 146:

Tom and I scored a cheap vacay when one of his cousins had a time share in Florida that she couldn't use. We snapped it up and here was the view from our room the very moment we pulled back the curtains to the balcony...not too shabby.

Day 147:

Happy handsome husband! I was paranoid about sand and my camera, and sand and my iPhone, so I didn't take too many pics actually on the beach...this pretty well shows how happy and calm the trip was though. And check out that romantic lighthouse off in the distance - so east coast.

Day 148:

So as Tom and I have been trying to be healthier and shed some extra pounds, fried food has not exactly been an option for quite some time. We decided to let vacation be vacation though, here is Tom's face after placing an order of conch fritters at this tasty little hole in the wall cafe. So good!

Day 149:

We decided that even though it wasn't exactly close to where we were staying, we wanted to go explore Key West while we were in Florida. We made the 4 hour drive south and got to see the sunset at (almost) the southern most point of the US.

Day 150:

The next day we left Key West (after a couple of really amazing meals and no less than 3.5 pieces of key lime pie...) just as storms were rolling in from the east. I snapped a pic of this little island about to be showered on.

Day 151:

So the weather on our trip was pretty rainy - this was kind of a blessing as it definitely kept us from getting uncomfortably sunburned and we were lucky enough to have a just enough sun to hit the beach for a few hours each day. This *distorted* panoramic pic shows how well our luck played out - clouds to the north of us, clouds to the south of us, but a clear stretch of sky right over our beach chairs.
Day 152:

The last pic of our vacay - it was cloudy but even then it wasn't easy to leave all that relaxation.

Day 153:
No pic - far too busy doing vacation laundry, c'mon!

Day 154:

After many months of being the shop, we FINALLY got the Scout back!!! That inspection sticker did not come cheap but Cal Ripken Jr. Jr. (as Tom dubbed it/him) is now driving like a champ (confession, it may have taken one more trip to the shop and then Tom replacing the starter to be a real champ, but now he's in top form). Yay for Scouting!