Surviving Sandy a.k.a. East Coast Trip

Okay, I'm playing catch up with my blog posts today.  Our East Coast vacation strangely coincided with hurricane Sandy.  We were still able to do a lot, though.  It only slowed us down in Philadelphia and made us cut New York out of our trip (Boo!)  But we took some great pictures (about 1000 of course) but here are the highlights (the bare bones of the trip):

Virginia

Aaron and I with Thomas Jefferson at Monticello.

St. John's Episcopal Church in Richmond, VA where Patrick Henry gave his famous "Give me liberty or give me death" speech.  Look at the leaves on the trees.  I was so excited!!

Jefferson's home, Monticello.  Gorgeous!

Love, love, love!!  It was a dream of mine to visit this home ever since I learned about it in the 5th grade

George Washington's Home (Mt. Vernon) was equally as beautiful and had more open grounds

Me and George

The White House back lawn

The Capitol Building

Aaron found the IRS building (of course)

A little Night at the Museum anyone?

World War II Monument-Washington D.C.

I had to take one for the team with my creepy stare, because this is a beautiful picture of us in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

Up close and personal with the Lincoln Memorial.  A-maz-ing!!!

Washington Monument

 Martin Luther King Monument

One of the 9 Smithsonians

Washington D.C. Temple-  Every bit as beautiful in person

Gettysburg, PA

Gettysburg, PA

Lincoln and Aaron talking

Civil War Re-enactment and a real cannon ball in Gettysburg

Valley Forge

I love this picture of Aaron at Valley Forge

Valley Forge, PA

Boston, MA

Faneuil Hall in Boston, MA

Aaron took this panoramic picture of Fenway Park.  Look at the white car!

Me in front of Fenway Park.  I love this picture!  So dreamy!

Paul Revere Statue in front of Old North Church

Old North Church, Boston, MA

Streets of Boston    <3

Old State House

Me throwing tea overboard at the Boston Tea Party Museum.  Awesome museum!!

Beautiful Boston at night

Lexington & Concord

I love my pink umbrella

Orchard House (Home where Louisa May Alcott lived with her family and wrote Little Women)  I took the Little Women tour and it was fabulous!  Definitely a highlight of the trip!

Me creepin'......

On the bench in the front yard of Orchard house at Lexington & Concord

Plymouth, MA

Plymouth Plantation, Plymouth

Plymouth Rock

Salem, MA

The Witch House in Salem, MA-  The only house directly connected with the Salem Witch Trials

Aaron in the stocks in front of the Witch Dungeon Museum

Re-enactment of the Salem Witch Trials at the Witch Dungeon Museum

Philadelphia

Beautiful Elfreth's Alley in Philadelphia

The Signing Room in Independence Hall

Aaron and me in Independence Hall.  Check out the blue paint!

Everyone needs a leaf picture.  I love this one!

Aaron wearing his "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" shirt in Philadelphia in the rain.  Did he just blow your mind??

Aaron with the Rocky Statue after running up the Rocky steps

My sister calls this my "hipster" picture because it has a quote, but I just thought it fit so perfectly.  I love artsy stuff like this!!

Faux Fireplace

I was on Pinterest (of course) and got the idea to do a faux fireplace.  One weekend project later, we got this:

Of course, it is decorated for Halloween.  Anyways, I always missed having a fireplace.  (Our last house had one).  But I didn't necessarily want the fireplace....just the mantle.  Voila!  Faux fireplace!  I put the vinyl lettering where the "fire" should go so that people would stop asking, "Well, isn't a fire supposed to go there?"  No, people; it's decorative.  It was a hard concept for some people.  :)  Anywho, we painted the wall darker for an accent, bought a mantle and painted it, etc., replaced the photos in the frames, got decorations for the mantle, and got vinyl lettering (Aaron finally agreed) for the inside of the fireplace.  And all things considered, it was a fairly straightforward project.  And now we have a place to hang our stockings at Christmastime.   I'm in love!!!  So much better than before:

Boring.......

Mud Factor Run

Aaron ran the Mud Factor Run today.  It's a 5k run and obstacle course through mud.  He had a blast with his friends!!  Phil even came down to run it with him.  I didn't do it because it's not really my thing, but I was the "official" photographer.  And thank goodness, because I got some really good shots!

Phil (Aaron's brother) and Aaron pre-race and pre-mud!

Phil, Aaron, and Dave (Aaron's friend).  I love this picture!!  Look at the muddy water!



One of the obstacle courses

The last leg of the race, Aaron had to crawl through the mud underneath wire.  He perfected what he called the "whale crawl" and slid along.

Aaron and Dave.  Muddy and proud!

Princess for a Day

As you may know, my sister, Heather, owns a costume designing business called Bbeauty Designs.  She was asked as a favor to help out at a fundraiser in Morgan Hill for St. Catherine's Parish.  And I got to be one of the models.  Our task was simple: take pictures with the kids.  So basically, it was like being a princess in Disneyland (one of my dreams).  I loved how the kids just ran up to you and hugged you.  And they were so excited!

Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty (Heather), Ariel (model), Jasmine (Heather's friend, Kathy), Cinderella (me), and Merida from the new movie Brave (my sister Emily)

It was so much fun.  We got to dance with the kids too.  Em loved being Merida.  She did not want to take her costume off!  And she faked a Scottish accent all day.  Kids loved her bow and arrow!

I love this picture.  There is a silly princess picture out there something like this.  I think we did a good job duplicating it!

Em and Me.  I like this shot because you can see our full dresses.  She's so Merida!!  And I'm so Cinderella!  Our different personalities....  Gotta love sisters!