Connecticut, ahoy!

The best mirror is an old friend. Without them, I am not sure I would know myself.

On my way to Washington D.C to visit my brother and family, I was able to make a pit stop in Connecticut to visit Julie, Spencer and baby Evelyn. This was my first trip to Connecticut, but it felt like coming home. Old friends just work that way.

Julie took me to Mystic Pizza, which apparently is a real pizza place, and not just a way for Julia Roberts to jump start her career. Who knew?

In Connecticut, you can get a chocolate dipped, frozen banana. For reals.
The ever so secret "Skull and Bones" society headquarters. For a secret society, it is really poorly guarded. And, kind of not really secret.

Julie's husband is a Navy man, and works training other Navy men (aka "seamen") how to get out of a sinking submarine. Or something like that. All I know, I look really really good in the outfit. And, we stole the robe.

If you are going to try on the special orange suit, be sure to take off your Ugg boats first. Just a tip.

This is a scary, old timey scuba suit that I believe comes to life at night and perhaps kills people, but at the very least, causes trouble. No way he is nice. After taking this picture, I swear I saw him move.

Proof that he moved? His glove fell off. Gloves don't just fall off.

I took the night train from Hartford, CT to Washington DC. I figured this would be best, because then I could pop a sleeping pill and arrive in the morning all ready to go. Well, I popped the pill, but never felt like I quite got to sleep. It was uncomfortable, miserable, etc. All of a sudden, I feel someone kicking my foot and wake up to see the conductor asking for my ticket. I hand it to him, and he asks me where I am trying to go. I respond, Washington DC, in my groggy morning voice. He tells me, you are here, and you've been here for 2o minutes. You better hurry or you'll be going back with us. That is a wake up call that will get you moving.

Other than the rough wake up call, it was a perfect trip. Thank you Julie and Spencer! I'll be back...

Surviving the terrible threes...

Being three is rough. Your mom has a stroke and goes to the hospital, your brother steals your toys, it is a tough life. Being an amazing aunt, I understand this, so I decided to take a little Vance for a day in the park.

What I didn't know was that my little nephew is also an aspiring photographer. Never to crush the dreams of a child I gave him my camera and let him go to town. Below is a small sampling of his work.

At first glance, I thought this was a rock. No. Vance explained that this rock is our family, and is in our house, which I am guessing is the patch of grass. Very symbolic.

Having been shamed in my mis-interpretation of the rock, I asked what this was. He looked at me, like I was an idiot, and told me, "a tree".

Being his favorite person in the world, naturally you would assume there would be several shots of me. I think this is his best work, showing off all my best features.

My day with Vance taught me one important lesson. When life has you down, you've got to swing it away. As Vance said, "Look Tif, I'm not crying anymore!"