And love, such a silly game we play
Oh, like a summer's day in May
What is love, what is love?
I just wanted to be loved, oh, oh
And I, I, I, I, I, I can feel it in your kiss
It just gives me tender bliss
What is love, what is love?
I just wanted to be loved, oh, oh
//Matt White
Finally getting around to posting more of my May happenings, even though it's already June! Time is FLYING by! Since I wasn't going to be around for Mothers day besides dinner, I helped my Mom earlier in the week with a project she had wanted to do in her garden. We went to Lowes and picked out some succulents and some different colors of spray paint. We had an old bird bath in the garden that was looking pretty drab and was never really used. She wanted to create it into a bright and colorful succulent garden. We laid out the map of how they should be planted, and then I got to spray painting.
After a few coats, it was finished and the final product looked great! It was totally refreshed and made for a very happy Mommy for Mothers Day. It came out really cute and was a fun DIY project that we did together. Now there is a nice pop of color in the garden.
Mothers day morning Nick and I went out to breakfast and we had to take one of our traditional Nick-holding-mug-at-diner photos. I think we have at least a dozen by now! Also, our service was terrible so we got free breakfast! They sat us in the corner and then completely forgot about us. We sat their without even waters or ordering for a good 25 minutes. FINALLY we got her attention and she knew she had made a big mistake. The food was pretty good so that helped, and then they comped our entire bill.
For lunch on Mothers Day we went to Nicks Mom's to see his Mom and grandmother. His sister had brought lobsters for everyone, so it was a really nice treat! It was nice to see everyone and spend time with his family and the important women in his life. After that, we ran a few errands and then decided to play some mini golf. Sadly, I lost by a couple strokes but it was really fun. It was actually the same mini golf course where we went on one of our first dates. I beat him that first time, even though we somehow only played 17 holes (no idea)! This time we played all 18, go figure. Next we headed down to CT to have dinner with my Mom and family. My Aunt made her famous Whiskey Sours and they were so good. Nick doesn't even really like whiskey and he LOVED them as well. If you are interested in making some, the recipe for a small pitcher is:
-One can of Minute Made Frozen Lemonade
-One Minute Made can's worth of Whiskey
-Two bottle of Bud Light or similar
-Maraschino cherries to garnish
We had a nice salad and cheesy-pesto pasta dish for Mothers Day dinner and it was yummy! My Mom was happy to have us all there together celebrating her day, she is a great Mommy!
My Mom buys this lemon sour at Whole Foods and I got the idea that it might be perfect for Nick and I to use to recreate our own version of Fishers Island Lemonade, an expensive drink that we both are obsessed with. We were looking to make a more budget friendly version at home that tastes just like the original. Our final recipe came out great! Its 1.5oz Vodka, 1.5oz Whiskey, 8oz lemonade (we used the lemon sour mixed with water), and 1oz soda water for a tiny bit of bubble. Try it out!
To go with our home made Fishers Island Lemonade, I made a BOMB dinner that my Aunt had made for us a few years ago- BGT's! That's a bacon, guacamole, and tomato sandwich and man oh man is it heaven! You have to try this! Recipe is:
-2-3 slices of thick-cut bacon per sandwich
-Sliced vine tomato's
-Home made guacamole (Avocados, sliced tomato's, cilantro, lime, garlic)
-Bakery sliced sourdough bread
Cook the bacon in a frying pan, make the guacamole in a small bowl, and slice the tomato into thin sandwich slices. Assemble all on two slices of the sourdough with each side of the bread buttered and grill it in a pan for 5 minutes a side. Heaven on Earth I tell ya!
My Mom and Dave ordered this HUGE gallery wrap of one of my old wave photos from sunset at Harkness Beach in Waterford. It looks great on their newly repainted walls in the office. I am expecting my royalty check in the mail any day now.
The third weekend in May, I went to Chicago for a girls trip with Nick's sister to visit their cousin Jackelyn! It was SO much fun and I cant wait to blog about my first trip to the Windy City. I am still working on it and am waiting to incorporate Nick's sisters photos into it as well, so look out for that post in the next week or so! The weekend after that was memorial day weekend and there was lots in store. Friday night, I went down to PB as Nick had to work on Saturday at the hospital so I figured I would go down and spend time with my Aunt/Uncle and Cousin Jen. I got there Friday evening just in time for sunset and happy hour out by the fire!
The fire pit is new this year as the house was just built last year. It is a gas fire and is so awesome! It keeps the bugs at bay and is great once the sun goes down and it starts to get a little cooler.
Trust me, it's not a bad place to be.... ever!
This dog named Buddy from a few houses down ventured over and I just could not even. It was a hairless Chinese Crested dog and just about the ugliest thing you have ever seen. A face only a mother could love, and I could not stop laughing at it's misfortune. Terrible, I know. It even has to wear a shirt year round because it gets sunburn and has serious skin issues. It had warts and dry skin all over and was just so ugly it was almost cute! Looks aside, Buddy was a very sweet dog! Behind Buddy is Jen's cousins dog Roxie (pit/lab/pointer mix). They were also down visiting as they all had a family wedding to attend on Saturday.
Love getting my toes warmed up by the fire. We sipped our drinks and chatted and just relaxed from our busy weeks. It was a great start to the three day weekend.
My favorite place to watch the sunset!
After sunset and eating dinner, we reconvened out by the fire and just watched the moon and stars over the ocean.
Check out the moon!
It was a wonderful, relaxing night in my favorite place with some of my favorite people. PB for life.
The next morning we woke up to a beautiful day. As I said before, Jen's family had a wedding to go to that day so I just hung around and helped do Jen's hair in curls for the wedding.
Once they left for the wedding, I headed home as my Mom and Aunt had planned one of my favorite dinners, Salmon BLT's, so I knew I had to be there. They did not disappoint per usual, and Nick was extra jealous when I sent him these pictures because it is one of his faves as well and he somehow always seems to miss it.
After dinner, I unfortunately had to make the two-hour trek up to the South Shore of Boston as I had a wedding to photograph on Sunday with Pam. (It was shaping up to be a weekend with lots of driving! 9 hrs total!) It was a bummer that Nick had to work Saturday and I had to work Sunday but we had big plans to spend all of Monday together for Memorial Day. After the wedding, I was tired but drove back to Western Mass and went right to bed. We woke up early on Monday and headed to our favorite local coffee shop, Shelburne Falls, for some iced joes and breakfast sandwiches. No better way to start the day!
He always gets the hazelnut, and I always get the coconut. Couple o' nuts.
Our Memorial Day plans included something new that we had never done before! My brothers girlfriend Lindsay's Mom and Step-Dad belong to the Westbrook Elks Club on the CT Shore and had invited us all down there for the day! They get free unlimited guests and it has its own private beach, CHEAP bar, restaurant, parking and live music. There is also a big grassy area to sit on above the beach which was really nice and a good place to play games and hang out in the sunshine. The forecast, even up to that morning, was looking bleak. Clouds and showers and thunderstorms threatened our one day off together, but magically and miraculously once we got down to the CT shore it was crystal clear skies and warm and beautiful with no signs of changing. We couldn't believe how wrong the weathermen were, but we were very happy!
It was one of the best weather days we have had yet this year.
Nicks Sister Kat and her husband Marcel, and his cousin Dan and girlfriend Chelsea also came down with us! It is so nice that our two families blend so well and we all love hanging out with each other.
The whole gang! I love this photo, it is a framer for sure.
Brother vs Boyfriend.
Nick's Sister Kat! Tune in to the blog next week for our Chicago girls trip recap!
My boo! Thanks for letting me wear one of your million pairs of sunglasses!
Chelsea! She is currently kicking law schools butt and it was nice for her to be able to take a break from studying to join us for the day.
Nice, Michael..... this is why we can't go nice places!!
Lindsay sister Carly, Lindsay, and Kat. Like I said, I love when all of our families can get together and have fun.
The elks club was really nice! We really had no idea what to expect but it FAR surpassed our expectations or preconceived notions of what an Elks club might be like. This was like no elks we had ever seen! Gorgeous! Fun! On the beach! The membership is actually only $120 per year too. For what you get, it is so worth it!
Lest we not forget what that day was really all about- remembering and celebrating our past and present military and service members. Thank you to any and all who serve our country. I am so grateful and thankful for you! Land of the free, because of the brave. We are all so lucky to live here and enjoy the freedoms of the United States. You will never be forgotten.
We were able to get our hands on -some- cards. I say some because the deck we were given only had about 39 cards but, beggars can't be choosers! We were able to play a couple rounds of our favorite game, Mafia, as well as a round of Kings.
Mike and Dan- two peas in a pod. Dangerous when combined, but we love them anyhow.
Soon, once the band started playing, we heard a new singers voice on the mic. We all looked up and to our surprise, Lindsay's sister Carly was on the Microphone! Her favorite Carly Simon song had come on and she went up and just started singing with the band. She has a great voice and we all started cheering and singing along. Girl has guts! There was a couple hundred people there at least.
Carly killed it! A standing ovation! The band was even surprised at how good she was. Their graduation aprty is coming up in a few weeks and we can't wait for the karaoke DJ!
Perfect place to be on a day like today.
If you couldn't already tell, we were all having SO much fun! The whole day really was a blast. So many laughs and good memories, just what life is all about.
Michael fell victim to classic beer+the sun=nap equation, and we all chuckled as his misfortune. Lindsay's Mom was nice enough to come over and rub some more sunscreen on him in his sleep so that he wouldn't get burned.
You can see here how the grassy level is just above a nice private beach! The tide was low most of the day so we had great views of the sand and sandbars right off shore.
Ohhhhh Michael....
Linds took the camera at some point, and I love these silly candids.
This is the face of a boy who no doubt just said something FRESH. Why I oughta....
Nose flare on fleek.
Cheese please.
Lindsay's family! We love them!
My sweet boy! I only dislike him a little bit because he tans faster than anyone I know and never gets burnt. One day in the sun and you'd think he was from Jamaica. Humph. I do get tan as well, but with much more effort and sun burns along the way. If you can see from this photo I had already had to put on my cover up on because my back was getting burned, even with multiple applications of sunscreen!
That man in the jeans is Lindsay's step-dad's Uncle- and he is 91! He's absolutely killing it and looks great. You would never guess he was a day over 70. A legend for sure.
Once we all got really hot sitting in the sun, we decided to head down to the beach for a bit for a walk and to feel the water and cool down. So nice to feel the sand in my toes once again! The water is still pretty chilly but it actually wasn't as bad as I expected.
Couldn't help but stop for a quick photo shoot on the beach with the gals! Nick was typical wise-guy Nick and took about 78 shots in a row of the same thing. Thanks hunny! You make editing so fun.
Who says CT doesn't have beaches! Here is your proof, as far as the eyes can see. CT has a beautiful coastline and while it's not the surfers paradise, the beaches are clean and gorgeous and almost always calm. A great place to relax and soak up the sun!
Far off into the other direction as well. I haven't been to Westport in so long. It is further West from Waterford but is a really nice area as well.
Beach snapshots with beau. We haven't been on the beach together since Hawaii!
A nice iPhone pano from the Elks Club lawn. This place is awesome folks!
I just love these siblings! Not positive but I think both of their eyes may be closed in every pic.
Group shot. This was such a fun day!
MERICA baby! We are so lucky we get to enjoy views and days like this.
Once it started to get later, we went up to the deck and restaurant and got some food for dinner. Besides dealing with the rudest bartender known to mankind, we had a nice time and tried to not let her ruin our day.
After dinner, we sadly packed up and headed back home. We all had a great time and were so thankful to Lindsay's family for having all of us down! Can't wait to do it again sometime.
The aftermath of a strappy bathing suit and bad sunscreen. Luckily it only lasted about a day before turning to tan and we had a big bottle of aloe in the fridge to soothe the pain.
This is air conditioner my parents bought. No words.....
This is what Nick did to said air conditioner when said parents were gone. Always making us laugh, that one!
Mikes sunburn aftermath from sleeping in the sun.
Nick yet again making me laugh/trying to annoy me by putting the seat of my car into gangster lean and bumping the radio trying to get me to notice. I noticed alright....
Memorial day was also our aunt Izzy's birthday, but unfortunately we missed her as they went out to dinner at a family friends house. A day or two later though we had a big family dinner for her with cheese fondue! Happy birthday Izzy! We love you to pieces.
May was great but it flew by! Can't believe how fast this summer is already going. Makes me sad and it isn't even officially "summer" yet! Stay tuned for my Chicago trip post and for some more Bither Bungalow renovation posts! Thanks for reading.
