Seeing RED!

SFS and I were headed to Brooklyn to do a little Christmas shopping over the weekend. As we exited the subway, look what we happened upon.
Yep- we happened upon a stop of the New York City SantaCon.
Have you heard about this? All over the world, huge groups of adults get together, dress up like Santa, and bar hop. Can you believe it? I checked out the website, and there are tons of these events- with thousands of participants. Throughout the rest of our day, we saw hundreds of people dressed as Santa, all over NYC and the outer boroughs.
The costumes ran the gambit- from traditional, to... interesting...
But no matter how you sliced it, there were a lot of people in red!
Isn't that funny? SFS has decided that we're going to join SantaCon 2010... so I have just over a year to come up with some creative Santa costumes! I hope you have a great day- thanks for stopping by!

Ready for a close up? Or twenty?

It is no secret that I like to take pictures.
And on our trip to Williamsburg over the holiday weekend, my family and I took a lot of pictures. We captured architecture, decorations, landscapes, and a variety of other special moments throughout our trip.
But not all of our photos were serious... in fact, some were downright silly!
When my family gets together, we have a lot of fun, which was pretty apparent in some of the goofier pictures we took.
For example, throughout the weekend, my little brother perfected his "creepy" pose...
He did it in restaurants...
At museums...
And in pictures with my mom!
But when he wanted to, he could take a great photo! Isn't he a cutey?
Now, you're probably wondering where he learned those camera antics... and to be honest, you don't have to look very far to figure it out:
Isn't my mom funny? I had a blast taking all those pictures- and she's a really good sport for letting me share them with the world!
And as the self-admitted ham of the family, I'm no stranger to posing for pictures!
Even though I tend to ruin pictures because I'm messing with my hair...
Sometimes they turn out okay!
And although my dad doesn't like to pose for endless photos like the rest of us...
He sure can take a good one!
And finally, I have to show you some Christmas card rejects. One of our goals every Thanksgiving is to capture a photo for my parent's Christmas card. While we usually get at least one good one, we have lots of fun taking the "maybes"!
Luckily, we snagged a decent photo early on in our vacation (don't worry, this isn't it)...
So we could afford to be a little silly later on!
Well folks, that's about it for my Thanksgiving photos. Thank you so much for stopping by- I've loved reading all your comments! I hope you're having a great Tuesday!

A little jog down to Jamestown

When we visited Williamsburg over Thanksgiving weekend, we spent a few hours at the Jamestown Settlement.
On top of a state-of-the-art museum, there were several interactive areas outside, each representing the different areas of the original settlement.
We had fun checking out all the buildings within the fort... SBV got to work in the pulpit!
There were tons of the other buildings....
This building had tobacco drying from the ceiling!
And here's a close up of the thatch roof... isn't it amazing?
The fort also had some costumes to try on... boy, were those helmets heavy!
It's not very often that we find hats that are too big for my dad and brother- it was a miracle!!
And just down the path from the fort...
Were these amazing ships!
Aren't they beautiful?
My dad, brother and I had a blast checking out the ships.
They were so small, considering how many people they carried across the ocean.
This ship had a special balcony in the captain's quarters- see us out there?
Look at that blue sky!
And finally, we visited Powhatan's village.
The interior of each house was filled with skins, herbs, and gourds.
The outside of the houses were covered in reeds.
There was dinner on the fire when we first arrived: squash with wild rice, corn husk wrapped cornbread, and all sorts of other yummy things!
Powhatan's Village was really interesting!
We had a really great time in Jamestown- thanks for checking out my pictures! I hope you had a wonderful weekend!!

Aim small, miss small...

When we were in Virginia last weekend, we took an afternoon to visit Yorktown. If you're unfamiliar with the town, it was the site of the last battle of the Revolutionary War... and it's also the battle portrayed in the Mel Gibson/Heath Ledger epic The Patriot.

Our first stop was the Yorktown Victory Center.After a jog through the museum, we had fun checking out the outdoor exhibits- this was a recreated Continental Army Encampment. The interiors of the tents were all different, based on the different ranks of enlisted men that would have inhabited them.
When we arrived, we were able to see a cannon demonstration- boy was that loud!
It was fun checking out the details throughout the camp.
I also liked checking out the cooking area... isn't that an inventive way to create a stove? There were some reenactors cooking a variety of authentic dishes.
I think this was some sort of grits...
The salt pork didn't really need any explanation.....
And these were biscuits that kept for days!
Another thing the museum had to offer were colonial costumes...
We were having a too much fun in our outfits... don't you like SBV's tri-cornered yarmulke?
Meanwhile I posed by the laundry tent... which is ironic because I don't even do my own laundry. And while SBV's costume was a loaner from the museum, the bonnet is all mine- we bought it in Williamsburg! On our way out of camp, SBV modeled the infraction placards... I absolutely love this picture!!
After the camp, we checked out the 178o's farm... there was a winter garden, farm animals, and all sorts of other buildings to visit!
After the museum center, we saw the Yorktown Victory Monument before heading into town for lunch.
This is where we had reservations- it's the Cole Digges House, which was built in 1720.
It is now home to The Carrot Tree Restaurant.
Isn't it the coolest looking restaurant?
Once inside, we were seated in a cozy corner, just under a sunny window. The interior of the restaurant was warm and comfortable. We started our meal with iced teas and sodas... it was wonderful!
As we were checking out the menu, we noticed something we weren't familiar with: Old Dominion Ham Biscuits. The menu described them as: a recipe as old as Virginia, the biscuits are fresh- two buttermilk biscuits with sugar-cured ham and Chutney dressing. Of course we ordered them- "when in Rome"!
We also had the Tidewater Tomato Basil Soup- it was creamy and delicious!
For lunch I had The U. S. Grant. The menu said: Pilgrims discovered the “crane berry”. It was General Grant who ordered it for lunch. Honey roasted turkey, dried cranberries, toasted walnuts & blue cheese spread with lettuce in a tortilla wrap. I also had the Red Bliss Potato Salad with Dill for my side.
My dad had Lord Nelson’s BBQ. The menu said: It takes Debi two days to season, slow cook and pull prime pork shoulders. We serve it hot on a potato roll with cole slaw, Spinach Orzo Pasta Salad and a pickle spear.
SBV ordered The Jamestown. The menu said: The early settler’s survived the ‘Starvin’ Time’ with this sandwich of sugar-cured ham and cheddar cheese with sliced apples and chutney dressing served hot on buttermilk bread.
And my mom had the special- beef stroganoff.
Now- did you notice a trend? There was at least one piece of carrot on every plate- don't you love that? As for dessert, my mom and I had fudge cake.
My brother went with a slice of pumpkin pie...
And my dad went for the house favorite: carrot cake!
We had a really fun afternoon in Yorktown! Thanks for stopping by my blog- I hope you have a wonderful weekend!