Paris anyone?

No, I haven't been to France recently.... just Washington Square Park!
This park is pretty famous, and I can still remember the first time I saw it in When Harry Met Sally.
I thought it was lovely then, and nothing has changed! While the whole park is pretty beautiful, the arch is my favorite part.
As wikipedia explains:

In 1889, to celebrate the centennial of George Washington's inauguration as president of the United States, a large plaster and wood Memorial Arch was erected. The temporary plaster and wood arch was so popular that in 1892 a permanent marble arch, designed by the New York architect Stanford White, was erected. White modeled the arch after the 1806 Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Isn't it beautiful? I love checking out all the intricate details.
As a further testament to the first US president, 2 statues of George Washington were 1918. The statues are very different, but they lend a lot of meaning to the inscription on the arch:

Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God. - George Washington

I must admit, it never ceases to amaze me how many beautiful things can be found throughout NYC! If you ever have the time, I highly recommend a quick trip to Washington Square Park (the bottom of 5th Avenue).
Thanks for visiting- I hope you have a great day!

Waiting for the service...

I accidentally tucked my cell phone into my choir robe yesterday at church. When I had realized what I'd done, it was too late to return it to my purse... so I took the opportunity to snap some photos while waiting for the service to begin:
One of the chandeliers in the main hall of the parish house:
My hymnal:
And my practical (yet not-so-cute) flats that I wear at church:
Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great day!!

Sleigh Ride

One of the last things we did in Vermont involved horses...
And the beautiful Vermont countryside.
It's true- we got to take a sleigh ride through South Woodstock...
And it was awesome!
The snow let up for a while...
And as we traveled through fields of white...
Covered in bear skins (really)...
I was in absolute winter heaven!!
And as you might expect, I took a ton of photos:
Wanna see a few of my favorites?


The sun even came out at one point...


As you can see, the ride was incredibly fun...
Thanks to these lovely creatures!
If you ever have the chance to take a sleigh ride in the winter, I highly recommend it!

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a wonderful weekend... see you Monday!

Sun and snow

When I woke up in Vermont on Saturday morning, this was the view out the window.
Talk about snow! That lump behind the other big lumps was the snow piled on top of our van... isn't it crazy? But we had lots to do, so we made our way to the sun room of the main house for breakfast.
(I know what you're thinking: every post from my trip has talked about food so far. I promise we did more on our trip than "just eating"... although my photos sure don't seem to reflect that- oops!)

We snagged a table in the corner of the room and sat down to enjoy the spread.
The breakfast buffet was really lovely...
And even this habitual non-breakfast-eater was able to find a few things to enjoy! :)
After that tasty start to my day, I couldn't resist checking out the rest of the man house. It was really lovely (and it reminded us all a bit of Williamsburg)... like the main sitting room, don't you love that yellow color?
I know I do! (And darn it, I'm going to ace that mirror self-portrait someday...)
Thanks for visiting- see you tomorrow!

Dining "Inn"

Given the crazy weather we experienced in Vermont, we didn't make it to our hotel until late in the evening.
But the Kedron Valley Inn in South Woodstock, VT was totally worth the wait!
Built over 185 years ago, this lovely establishment has an assortment of guest rooms available. And it is somewhat famous: it's often the background of those Anheuser-Busch commercials with the clydesdales... do you know the ones I'm talking about?
But back to the Inn. By the time we arrived it was pretty late- and we hadn't had dinner yet! Lucky for us, the Inn also has a tasty little restaurant in the main building... so we sat down to enjoy a meal together.
While we waited for our dishes to arrive, I took some photos... first my parents:
And then my brother- isn't he handsome?
When our food arrived, boy was it tasty! First, we enjoyed a plate of Vermont cheeses...
Followed by grilled flatbread...
Macaroni gratin...
And cheeseburgers smothered in Vermont cheddar- YUM!
We were all pretty stuffed when we made our way back to our room (which was located in a different building on the property). But I must admit it was a lovely way to begin our stay at the Kedron Valley Inn!
Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great day!

The Green Mountain State

As I mentioned yesterday, I spent the weekend in Vermont! On the way to our final destination, we stopped through Brattleboro. This sweet little town was experiencing one heck of a snowstorm when we arrived, so we quickly took refuge in a local restaurant.
The New England House was a fun little restaurant inside an old farmhouse... and boy were we happy to get out of all that snow!
You know me: I love taking photos of food- and that day was no different...
So I snapped away as we enjoyed loaded potato skins...
Smothered bowls of french onion soup...
And flaky chicken pot pies!

(Also, how sweet is my brother? Look at him patiently holding his fork as he waited while I documented his meal... he's such a good sport!)

We really enjoyed our afternoon at the New England House, and we highly recommend stopping by if you're ever in the neighborhood!
Thank you for visiting my blog- stop by tomorrow for more photos of my weekend in VT!