Snippets of the weekend 8.8.2022

Half at the shore, half in Philly. A quick hour on the beach after work. Cleaning and organizing our apartment. Walkable errands on Friday night, which are my favorite kind of errands. Contact paper project on our dresser. Tried the ice cream taco at Aloha (eh). Tomato sandwich season.

A hug with Jenny & Evan and the kids before they left town Saturday. An appointment for a window and door quote. An easy turnover with a house left in good shape so I could focus on some of the other things that are extra or that MFD typically does - cleaning window AC filters, vacuuming the porch rug, changing porch cushions, reorganizing linens, changing out bed pillows that have gone flat or lumpy. Catching up with neighbors about a fall project we're doing that will impact them. Catching up with incoming guests who have been with us for years and are some of our favorites. 

Saturday afternoon on the beach followed by an easy drive back to Philly, sushi pickup, and The Offer on Paramount+.

Sunday morning puttering. Painting my nails with something other than a nail restorer for the first time in weeks after the gel manicure from hell. Brunch in the city with Chris & Diana at The Dandelion. 

Pedicure at Sweetie's Nails (OPI Purple Palazzo Pants) in one of the many dying strip malls around. Power Breakfast Muffins to freeze. 

In addition to snippets here, I've taken to doing weekending reels on Instagram if you are interested. 

TWTW - the one hot off of vacation

Thursday Was mostly reading and laying around and it was awesome. I very rarely do that. When MFD returned from fishing we took the dogs to Dog Beach, then used a gift card for dinner at Jon & Patty's, rode bikes on the boardwalk, got Kohr Bros and candy from Shriver's, and ended the night at the laundromat. 

Friday Dawned damp and cold, but we didn't get the rain we were expecting from Dorian. We made an attempt at Dog Beach that lasted five minutes due to blowing sand and filled the rest of the day with lounging, reading, nails and toes (OPI Made it to the Seventh Hill! on both), and snoozing before walking to the beach to see the angry surf. We cleaned up the main house for returning weekend guests coming in Saturday-Monday instead of Friday-Sunday and tried a new Mexican restaurant, El Guacamole, a block from us. 

Saturday MFD went over to see his mom and I cleaned up, did a final walk through of upstairs, made shower spray, did a little work work to prepare for back to work on Monday, and figured out what the hell I need to do at home this week before I come back here Tuesday night. I went to the beach from 12:30-5. MFD met me down there at 3 and we checked out the classic cars.

Home to walk and feed the dogs, then off to the North End where he fished and I read and we saw a lovely sunset. Home for showers and early to bed. 

Sunday  I lolled around in bed until almost 8:30, got up and changed the sheets with MFD, then we went to Dog Beach for about a half hour.

MFD went fishing and I did some work. The green head flies were out so I bagged the beach entirely and cleaned before packing up the car and heading home with the dogs. Perfect timing traffic-wise. I dropped the dogs off, got wash going, went to Target to return cushions, then on to Redner's for some groceries. Target was a cluster due to renovations and Redner's cashier voided my order AFTER it was all rung up. Not pleased. I made it back home without being a bitch to anyone, continued with laundry, smoked my house out during food prep, changed the sheets, peeled the top of my index finger off, and called it a damn day. 

Weekly food prep: Granola with greek yogurt and a side of banana for breakfast. Scrambled eggs with broccoli and sauteed mushrooms for lunch. Snacks are carrots and nectarines. Dinners are baked chicken thighs (bone in skin on because they were half the price of boneless/skinless) and a kale salad thing. It came from a bag. 

Tomorrow is Show Us Your Books! See you back here for that. 

Thursday Thoughts - How does it feel when there's no destination that's too far and somewhere on the way you might find out who you are?

1. You know how your brain gets jammed up and things take longer to process/tasks take longer to complete and you know you need a break? That's me right now. Vacation is coming! Signs of that are always on the spare room bed.

2. "It's a road trip but we are going in super light," she says, after she places an Amazon order to ensure the proper coffee is there the first day and takes up most of a bag with books.

3. I got to see Melissa and Evil Stephanie #1 and Alex for dinner on Monday. I always enjoy meeting up with them when Stephanie is out on this coast. Fish tacos and service at National Mechanics were both great. Originally built in 1837 as Mechanics National Bank, the building is pretty cool too. Good pic as well except Melissa's GD eyes are closed.

4. Not a mug you'll be seeing in my mug collection.

5. Things that have kept me up at night this week, causing me to write my congress people close to midnight, Item A: people caring more about the word we use to describe the camps or the fact that other presidents had camps or how the children got here. These are fucking children. They need adequate food, water, beds, soap, diapers. If this was your kid, what would you want people to do on your behalf? This is not a political issue. This is a human issue. Children should not suffer because of the actions of adults. I have to think anyone with a heart believes that. Action: call your govt reps, donate to RAICES , and be be vocal about this because staying silent or neutral is choosing the side of the oppressor. I always did like Highlights and that is the gift of the year this year to support them.

6. Things that have kept me up at night this week, Item B: When They See Us. All hard, but episode four was just...fuck. And this happens, more than we'd like to admit. Action: examine yourself and the systems around you. Read White Fragility. Speak up when you see differential treatment under the law and everywhere.

7. The big todo in our house this week is a bladder infection. Poor Mae. One zillion dollars later, she is on a shit ton of antibiotics and still uncomfortable but back to growling at the other dogs and eating food and treats. Not an expense or a worry you want before vacation. I hope she's back to normal by the time we leave.

8. Co-signed. It's crazy unrealistic to expect happiness all the time yet there are happiness and positivity pushers out there and just stop with that. That’s not real life, it’s smothering people so they can’t express the reality of where they are, putting on a false happy while inside they stew and stagnate instead of having the space to grow through pain and adversity. I have a sign with "Sunshine all the time makes a desert" in my house so you know where I stand. 

9. Reminder: I love seeing street art from one of my favorites in the wild.

10. Ecards:

Thank you and good day. I SAID GOOD DAY.

What appears after the hyphen in Thursday Thoughts is a song lyric to whatever I'm listening to when I start to write the post. This week is Living in America by James Brown

TWTW - the pre-birthday weekend

Friday was my work from home day so laundry got done during the day, hallelujah. It didn’t get put away until Sunday because I’m not a miracle worker okay? I also renewed my license with a record in and out in 10 minutes at the DMV and was in and out of Target and Aldi all in a lunch hour. What a time to be alive. Friday night I made chocolate chip pumpkin bread in my nearly dead stove and stove top burgers with salad. I'm considering using sticky tile at the shore so I tried it at home on a non-backsplash space in the kitchen. I'm impressed. After work I headed over to hang out with my niece and nephew to play and read books and work at the grocery store. 

Saturday  Slow start to the day with coffee and reading before I kicked it into gear to do my 40/40, walk the best friend dogs, and pack up eBay sales before errands to the post office, library to return books, and gas station, all of which I did with my sunroof open. I started another book and we had family dinner of Chinese and cake at Dad & Carol’s. 

Sunday Weekly food prep, changing and washing sheets, putting laundry away, 40/40, and getting stuff together to go back to the shore under the watchful eyes of Bruce and Bender. I packed some more eBay sales up to mail, walked B+B, and did a face mask.

Sunday night birthday dinner of filet, mac & cheese, brussels, rolls, strawberries, and ice cream cake at Mom & Rich's. Between Saturday and Sunday I now have what amounts to a whole cake and my mom made me fat sugar cookies too. I'm in hog heaven. After that we stopped at Marshalls and came home feeling full and under water. Daylight saving, man.

Weekly food prep: breakfast is egg muffins with asparagus and cheese and lunch is Italian wedding soup. Snacks are kiwis, cucumbers, and pretzels. Dinner so far is veggie rotini with sauteed mushrooms, asparagus, spinach, onions, onions, and some truffle oil. I made the soup with chicken stock from scratch so I have some extra to freeze. 

Last night I didn’t fall asleep until after 12:30. This morning I had to run full out to catch the train. Not a good start. 

Show Us Your Books is tomorrow! See you back here for that. 

Happy birthday to my Pop today!

How was your weekend? 

Eating Around Ocean City, NJ

Memorial Day and shore season approacheth, my friends. Time for some shore-themed posts.

Since buying our house in Ocean City in October 2015, MFD and I have made it a point to get out and sample as many places as we can for a few reasons - in case renters ask our opinion, and also to support small businesses. And honestly in the off/shore chores season, because we're too damn tired to make anything. There are many places to try and we're not finished yet (I've been coming to this town for 40 years and I'm not finished yet), but here are our favorites in town right now.

Coffee & Donuts
-Drip n’ Scoop, 9th & Asbury. The best iced coffee on the island. Try the honey glaze donut.
-Local’s Coffee, 6th & the Boardwalk. Passable iced coffee on the boardwalk.
-Brown’s Donuts, 1st & Boardwalk. The cinnamon sugar donuts taste like my childhood. You can also eat at Brown's, and it's just called Brown's, of course...I added the donuts.

Take Out
-Bennie’s Bread, 12th & Asbury. Crumb cake and tomato pie. Good takeout Italian stuff too and, of course, bread.
-Voltaco’s, 10th & West. Takeout sandwiches. Cash only.

Sit Down
-Jon & Patty’s, 6th & Asbury. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
-Luigi’s, 9th & West. Simple but excellent Italian, the best on the island. Meatballs and lemon loaf are a must. Everything is made in-house. Takeout available but nice ambiance for a dinner out. Credit cards accepted, but tips are cash only.
-Ike’s Seafood, 13th & Boardwalk. So I actually don't like fried shrimp...but I like Ike's fried shrimp. And their fruit tea.
-Cousin’s, 1st & Asbury. Large portions, more expensive but good.
-Bob’s, 14th & Boardwalk. Not a bad breakfast, good views and outdoor ambiance.
-Northend Beach Grill for breakfast. There is literally always a line so if you are going to make the wait longer, you're going to have to google the address. LOL
-Yianni’s, 8th & Asbury. All around good food. The only place I buy bagels in town. Go early for them.
-OC Surf Cafe, 8th & Atlantic, for breakfast.

Buy on the fly
-Shriver’s, 9th & Boardwalk. The only place I will buy candy.
-Shriver's Gelato - veddy good.
-Pizza by the slice: Tony P's (9th & Boardwalk), Angelo's (13th & Boardwalk), NY Pizza (Promenade on the Boardwalk)
-Ice cream: Prep’s for sundaes (10th & Boardwalk), Kohr Bros mint julep (everywhere), Aloha Soft Serve (13th & Boardwalk), Yoasis (12th & Boardwalk, they have soft serve with awesome toppings but also healthier Beach Bowls)

Places I don't love: Manco & Manco, Ocean City Coffee Company, Johnny Rockets, Ready's, Varsity Grill.

If you're an OCNJ person, what are some of your favorite places to eat?

Linking up with Betsy at Musings of a Museum Fanatic

TWTW - the one before my birthday

Friday MFD was in DC for the Native Nations Rise March so it was my job to get the dogs up, which he usually does. They were not pleased.

Friday night I organized going to the shore stuff (heart emojis for sea horse outdoor ottomans) and fell asleep on the couch watching the Golden Girls after food prep (see bottom of post for what I made).

MFD got home late and I ended up sleeping in, but by 10 am Saturday we were on the way to the shore. We did some stuff in the house and removed old porch furniture before having lunch at at Jon & Patty's.

We also hit the beach. It was so beautiful it hurt...or maybe that was the cold air on my face. Excuse me, I am being petty and ungrateful and battling a bad attitude about not being able to open the house this weekend and not spending my birthday there as planned due to stupid impending Snowstorm Stelllllaaaaaaa.

We were home by 3:30, and by 6 I was watching my niece Lola Jean, which is the next best thing if I can't be at the shore. MFD came over and we got Jay's cheesesteaks. The pretzel roll is clutch and Jay gives back to the community a lot, which we love.

The best time to go to the grocery store before an impending snowstorm is 10:30 on a Saturday night. Seriously. I got home and unpacked and went to bed around 11:30, but I could not go to sleep to save my life and I was still up when MFD got up at 1:30 to do his overnight Code Blue volunteering for the homeless with AHTN. Mae thinking she was a people and should share my pillow didn't help. 

Sunday morning I got a pedicure and perused the aisles of Ross. Now you know my toes had to be in bad shape for me to run errands with flip flops when temps were below freezing.

I also got flowers because if it's not going to act like spring outside damnit it will look like spring inside. I supplemented birthday flowers from Kim that arrived last week (top left pic). 

Sunday afternoon Mom & Rich took us out to Carlucci's to celebrate my birthday and Pop's 86th, which was Saturday. The seafood canneloni was amazing. I love their veggies and potatoes too.

After that I pulled the birthday card and made MFD go to HomeGoods. He was not amused but he did humor me and stand next to the letters someone made say ass. 

Weekly food prep: Breakfast is whole grain english muffins with PB and bananas; lunch is this one pan chicken and veggie meal over quinoa (I didn't love how this came out, I will likely prepare separately in the future);  snacks are blackberries, bell peppers, and yogurt; and dinner is chili and corned beef/cabbage/potatoes (not made yet). Some of that chili will go in the freezer for future lunches, and I made breakfast burritos to freeze too. I will be eating breakfast burritos from the freezer a lot because a) I love them, b) I don't mind eating the same thing daily, and c) they're the easiest to make ahead and freeze when I'm at the shore. 

Favorite day tomorrow! Show Us Your Books + Birthday Eve!

Linking up with Biana at B Loved Boston for Weekending