I  Valley Green Inn....

I absolutely LOVED this place.  I hardly ever like any restaurant outside of NYC because there's always a New York version that's bigger and better.  But this place was quaint, historic, the surroundings were beautiful and the food was good and plentiful!  I'll let the pictures do the talking!

Basically, this restaurant is deep in the heart of Fairmount Park in Philly....there's a running/riding/dog walking trail running right by it and a creek in front of that.  So as you walk along the trial, it appears almost out of nowhere.

You can see that it's sort of nestled into the trees

There are dining areas inside (which looks exactly like an old colonial house), on the side patio (which can be enclosed during harsh weather) or on the front porch.  We ate on the front porch.

Our view from the front porch

Their brunch is a prie fixed meal complete with a drink, entree (with potatos and sausages), soup/salad and muffins and danishes. (uh...sorry,  some of the meal was already in our bellies by the time we remembered to take pics).  I had the waffles...which were probably the best I've ever had.  They tasted like really good cupcakes...but thin and crunchy!

Then afterwards, we sat by the creek and then took a little walk to try to shrink our engorged bellies.

Here are some of the things we saw:

There were a ton of geese and ducks in the creek.  I never realized that male geese (gander?) looked different from females.  We actually thought this one had a birth defect....hahahaha...but no, it's a male goose.

I guess they all had itches to scratch

#2 Hustler with who we assumed to be the #1 Hustler...he didn't need a sweatshirt for people to know.  (aw man, you can't see the words in this resolution)

Aaaah...nature!

We also saw that bad people had littered and left their trash along the trail.

Some artsy shots

We're planning to make go again when the leaves start turning colors.....I can't wait!  Maybe next time we'll try out their lunch menu.  All this...right in Philly.  Now we know where to take people when they come visit hahaha.  No more trips out to chinatown or the local chinese eatery!

Happy Anniversary....

to us!!!!    6 years and counting!  We are going to go shopping for our joint anniversary present today.  A laser printer!!!!!  And tomorrow, we're going to have Sunday Brunch at Valley Green tomorrow.  We've never been there before, but supposedly, their brunches are famous....and was even featured on the Food Network!  YUM!  And it's located inside that park that we always ride our bikes in.

I in DD's now....

Because there are 99 days til the wedding!!!! wooohooo and oh no at the same time! hahahaha.  I feel like I still have so much to do!

OH...yesterday, one of my very good friend's patients called him Gaylord Focker.  hahahahaha.  He said the kid called him that all day.   I think the kid was only like 9 or 10.....who watches Meet the Parents at that age?!!

But never fear...he has had more pleasant moments with the kids.  He was in the playroom in his unit during his break with a few little girls.  He ended up drawing pictures of their names.  And as he left to get back to work, they shouted, "you're the COOLEST nurse in the world!"  aaaaw.  And everytime he would walk past the playroom, they would start waving like crazy to him.

AAARGH....where was I during penmanship class.

I started trying to address envelopes.  I made it through 5.  It looks like a 1st grader wrote it.  My handwriting is terrible....I'm trying so hard to make it neat and it just makes it looks messier because I'm trying too hard.

My main problem is that my handwriting naturally slants liberally to the left...whereas "normal" handwriting slants slightly to the right.  So no one can ever read  my handwriting because it just looks weird.  So i'm trying to pull my letters to the right, which isn't working because it's not how I normally write.

My very good friend is going to have a go at it to see if he can fare any better!

*EDIT*  We're running the envelopes through the printer.  hahahahaha.   My very good friend's try at the calligraphy was actually pretty good.  But with the amount of invites we're sending out, it would have taken forever for him to do all of them.  Especially since he still needs to refer to the online strokes guide to determine how to form each letter.

Oh well...we accept defeat.  But at least I did stamp all the return addresses on my envelopes by hand!  A little loving touch by yours truly! (note to self: must stamp more envelopes to make up for the ones I just ruined with my awful handwriting).

Plus, I don't have time to keep working on the invites because there are more important things to deal with...i have to start re-studying for the NAPLEX....the estimated reinstatement time is early november, meaning i have only about a month to study.  I can't believe how fast Sept flew by.  I remember hearing that the NAPLEX was cancelled and that was the end of August.  I remember thinking, YAY...i have two months to study.  Well, now, i only have 1 month...and I have already forgotten everything i studied previously, so i have to start over.

So i just want to get the invites out, ugly envelopes and all....and collect all the RSVP's (I better get them all back ON TIME)....and get all the little details done and over with.

Stamping Machine

So...today, I have started stamping for real.  I made my ghetto stamp guide...out of cardboard  (actually, the boxes for the envelopes).  Made my measurement markings from calculations (I'm anal...it HAS to be centered)....and I am stamping.  It's actually not too bad....i'm listening to my project playlist and singing and stamping hahahaha.

I finished stamping...WHEW.  Pictures to come..

YES!!! I put in a last minute request to have the week after the wedding off.  I didn't think I was going to get it because the rule is only 2-3 pharmacists are allowed off each day.  You can put in the request and be put in line in case seomeone pulls out.  But when I started, there were already like 6 people in line, so i was like...oh there's no way i'm going to get it.   But i found out that lenny's manager automatically gave him the week of and the week after off when he told her he was getting married.  ANd i didn't want to go to work, if he didn't have to!  that's just not fair!  So i put in my request....and it was just approved!!!  (they know it's my wedding weekend)...i guess i just cut 6 other people in line. 

So we are going to honeymoon in Philly....hahahahaha.  We haven't had a chance to explore the city since we moved here becuase we started working right away.  And we'll write out thank you cards....YAYAYAY!!! no work for almost 2 weeks!!!!  Ahhhh...thank you 25 days/year vacation policy hahahaha.  I knew I chose to work here for a reason!

I PASSED THE LAW PORTION OF MY BOARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, not officially...i haven't gotten the letter with my score yet.  But the PA state board has this online system where you can login and see your licensure checklist...basically like a to do list.  And as you get the necessary things done, it says "completed"  and then the date.  I actually didn't know you could do that and have been sitting around waiting nervously...but one of my coworkers told me...and I checked today and it said COMPLETED!!!!

I really don't know how I passed...i must've made a lot of lucky guesses.  There is only one person to thank for that...and it sure as heck wasn't me.  One down...one more to go.

On another note...I received my return address stamp today.  And i told myself, YES...now I can get started on the envelopes, even if I have been procrastinating on the addressing part.  I figured out the dimensions and made myself a little guide (FYI...index paper does not make a very good guide....it's too thin).  I got through TWO envelopes and said..okay, that's enough for one day. Hmmmm....perhaps this DIY stuff is not a good idea.  But I do love stamping...i just don't like precision stamping hahaha.

But...sigh...I am still sick.  The cough isn't as bad...but i still have mucus everywhere.  My voice is always garbled because I get phlegm randomly stuck in my throat and lungs.  I downed a whole bottle of Robitussin syrup already (my favorite med...i think it's so yummy!).

Coincidences...

So, last winter, when I went to Taiwan, I took this picture of incense sticks hanging outside a Hakka temple in .... um....i forget the name of the city, but everyone there is Hakka.

And then recently when I was reading a photographer's blogs (a little stalkerish habit of mine....photog's blogs are like crack to me.....I check my favorite photog blogs daily for updates...even if they're not my photog).  And naturally since all photogs have other photog friends, I happened to click on another photog's page and saw this:

Ok fine....they're not exactly alike...but they're similar!!!! 

Anyhow, my invites are in! YAYAYAYAYAY!!!!  We totally <3 them.  We're hoping to get the rest of it printed and cut this Saturday.  Why?  Because I have a friend from Boston coming down to visit on Saturday and I want to hand deliver it so I don't have to pay for the stamp.  PUAHAHAHA.  I am also going to give her another person's invites for her to hand deliver tee hee hee (she works with him, so it's not like she's going out of her way or anything....i'm not that cheap)!

Anyone else want to visit Philly in the next few week?!!!!

Oh...and uh....everyone knows when my wedding is right (for those of you who are coming).  I had one of our good friends ask us this past weekend if it was in APRIL!

Ugh....

I'm sick.  It's not even winter yet.  I think it's the ever fluctuating weather pattern...hot, then cold...then hot, then cold...sometimes all in a day.  I usually have a pretty tough immune system after being exposed to all the germies at work.  But there's this bad cough/cold that's being passed around the pharmacy staff...and I guess I got it.  It's a combo cough/head congestion...which sucks...because I try and try to blow my nose, but nothing comes out because it's stuck.  So instead, I have to "milk" my nose with a tissue to get the boogies out.  If i don't get them out, it causes met to sneeze incessantly. 

AND...I had to make a quick trip back to NYC for wedding.  I was considering staying Sunday, but by the end of the wedding, I knew I was done for.

But...at least we got some wedding things accomplished on the car ride to and from NYC.  We picked out our entrance into the reception songs for everyone.  Muahahahahaha (evil laugh).  We think they're pretty funny choices. But one of the songs has one rather loud and obvious cuss word in it.  Do we just ask the DJ to scratch through the word? 

And we finally decided on centerpieces once and for all.  Warning: they aren't very traditional....I hope the parents/older generation can handle it.

And I think I decided on my bouquet flowers.  It's kind of tough since it's the winter and we probably will be taking outdoor pics (unless it rains)...so I need flowers that are hardy enough to handle potentially freezing weather.

My envelopes are in!  We can start calligraphy-ing...well, at least my very good friend can.  I am in charge of tying the ribbon around the invites because I have poor penmanship .  I attribute that to my parents forcing a lefty to become a righty.....so now I write like someone who's writing with the wrong hand.  As someone once oh so kindly told me, "hey, your handwriting looks like sanscrit"!

Oh....so how does one write on the envelopes in a straight line?  Do we just lightly make pencil lines, then erase later? (that would take FOREVER).

Never Forget....

Six years later and it still feels like just yesterday.  That movie about 9/11 with maggie gyllenhall and nicholas cage was on the other day.  I flipped the channel...I couldn't watch it.