Visit to CT

I spent most of the past week visiting family in CT.

Sunday:
Jamie and I caught MegaBus out of South Station. We got to New Haven in the afternoon and went out for a nice lunch at my absolute favorite bookstore cafe: Atticus. I used to go there with my dad as a kid. It used to be more books and fewer tables, but the food is excellent and I guess they needed more space for the cafe portion.

After that, we went back to the house, got a little settled, then headed back out to dinner. I’d asked to see if we could get together with my mom’s side of the family. I hadn’t seen my aunts and uncles on that side in a very long time. We met up at Chip’s. It was a really fun dinner. I only got to see one of my cousins (everyone else is off at school), but I really had fun. There was a lot of gossip (i.e. filling people in on what other people are up to). We also reminisced a bit about old times, since Chip’s is where we used to go when my cousins and I were younger. By the way, this is the “Moo-Cow Cup” we used to use when we were there!

Monday:
On Monday, Jamie, my dad, and I went over to visit the parents of an old friend of mine. I had practically grown up in that house (K and I met in nursery school). It looks beautiful with the expansion to the living room! We had a very nice lunch with her parents. I got to catch up with them. And to quote K’s blog, in regards to her mother: “She says the only way she is leaving that house in Connecticut is in a pine box.” Yes, her mother said that while I was there too. Reading it in K’s blog made me snort, since I know exactly how it was said! I can completely see why though. It’s a beautiful house, full of memories. As I walked through it, I remembered quite a bit, like “We did fake commercials here” or “I tried to learn to ski on that slope in the front yard” or “We played a murder mystery here, and the culprit was Bob.” I’m not kidding about the Bob thing. K’s older brother had switched the final solution so he could trick us all.

After that, we went over to my dad’s cousin’s house. She always remembers me at my birthday and Christmas, so we chatted for a little while.

Then came the big pizza dinner. We met up with my dad’s girlfriend (what is the proper term here? “Girlfriend” always seems appropriate for 16 year olds), her daughter (S), S’s boyfriend, my birthmom, and two of her three sons (my half-brothers). We took pictures and then went out to pizza.

side note, yes, my visits to my family often revolve around food. I think the only explanation for this is that we’re Italian.

Pizza dinner was fun. Getting 9 people to decide on toppings wasn’t easy. My dad’s girlfriend doesn’t like meat on pizza, neither do I or my birthmom, however, I like pineapple. Luckily, I was able to talk them into trying it. I think we finally decided on:
1 regular Sicilian;
1 Sicilian with tomato, mozzarella, and garlic;
1 large with half meat-lovers, half pineapple and broccoli;
1 large BBQ chicken;
1 small garlic shrimp.

I think that’s all (plus appetizers).

Dinner conversation was entertaining. Jamie and S’s boyfriend really seemed to hit it off, which makes me happy. My littlest half-brother still seems fascinated by Jamie, so at one point, he picked up his chair and came over to sit by him.

Just for amusement, this actually came up in conversation:

That was probably about 10 years ago!
My littlest half brother is now training to be a fire-fighter/EMT and is taller than I am. He’s still a hyper little spaz though.
My middle half brother is very quiet, but he’s running his own landscaping business. I’m impressed.

I’ll post pictures from that evening as soon as I get them.

Tuesday:
Tuesday we ran to the mall (since my jeans decided to rip horribly). I was able to pick up a couple nice pairs of jeans, although they didn’t have petite length. For someone who is 5 foot 7 inches, I take a petite length. It’s not fair. But, I got two pairs of nice jeans, a new shirt, and a very nice gray jacket.
Then, we picked up my dad’s girlfriend and drove Jamie to the train station. Since he and I have cats, we can’t leave them alone for too long. Two nights was more than enough, really.
After seeing him off, we went to IKEA for lunch. We wandered around a little too. My dad was looking for small tea-light-sized soft lights, but he finally decided on actual tea-light candles.
Finally, we went to the Beinecke Library so I could be a geek for a little while.

Then, we went back to the house. I was picked up by two of my aunts for a very lovely dinner in Ansonia, CT. We talked and caught up a bit. We contemplated who might be next to get married. My Aunt Sue’s daughter just got married this past summer, so we’re guessing that my Aunt Nancy’s daughter is next. I went back to my dad’s house and had the house to myself for a little while, since my dad was running errands.

Wednesday:
NYC TRIP! This was exciting.
We met up with my friend Mike at Grand Central Terminal. From there, we hopped in a cab and went to Central Park so he could hit a Geocache. I wound up hitting three as well. It turns out that my dad’s girlfriend has quite an eye for caches. We spent a little longer in Central Park than originally planned, but it was a beautiful day.
We then went to the Museum of Natural History and split up. Mike and I wandered most of the museum (starting with dinosaurs, of course.

Pictures are on my G+, since WordPress’ Gallery feature is lacking:
CLICK for NYC pics

After the Museum, Mike hopped on the C train back to Chinatown. My dad, his girlfriend, and I went over to one of my dad’s friend’s apartments. W chatted a bit and went out to Planet Sushi. We had a nice dinner, some great conversation and caught up. It turns out, my dad’s friend’s daughter-in-law is publishing a YA mystery novel this summer. I’m rather excited about this.

We got back to CT pretty late, but the trip was really wonderful.

Thursday:
Thursday was my day to return to Boston.
We did get to run a few errands and go to ArtSpace, where there is a Library Science exhibit.

After that, we went to Atticus again (yum).
And then, off to my bus.
My ride home was ok, though the guy in front of me insisted on leaning back as well as chatting on his cell phone the entire time. I firmly placed my knee into the back of his seat, so he couldn’t move back any further.
I got home by 10pm on Thursday. Jamie met me at South Station and we took a cab back (it was wet outside).
We got home, and my Vicious (my boy cat) met me by the door. I dropped my bags, scooped him up, and didn’t put him down for 10 minutes. He missed me.

Back to normal routine:
I spent today at my volunteer gig and then picked up my textbooks.

I think I’m going to spend the next couple days studying for my MTEL and relaxing.

By the way, this is my new chainmaille necklace that Mike made for me:

The purple is stretchy!

And I have decided on an eReader. Today, with help from my dad’s girlfriend (xmas present of an Amazon gift card), I purchased a Nook! I should have it right before my new semester starts!