We took a walk, and look what we found

We found a pond at the park

We found an island in the pond

We found some cute wildlife in the pond

The wildlife trying to find the stick they thought was food that I threw into the pond

Still looking for the 'food'

What's this?! More wildlife in the park!

A close-up of the very good looking park wildlife

So, we dodged a pretty large bullet with regards to hurricane Sandy yesterday. Aside from blowing away some Halloween decorations that we had up, and forgot to take down, we really didn't have any problems with the storm. We never lost power and no evident damage to our little house. We were definitely very blessed.  School got canceled for Joel because of the weather so he had the day off today and yesterday.  We'd been inside for the last few days because of the storm and we were both starting to go crazy wandering around our little one bedroom abode. So, after I got off work today, we decided we would go on a walk to the park. We made some hot chocolate, for me, and some apple cider, for the handsome man, filled our little thermoses, bundled up and headed out. It was a pretty nice day, especially after how gross the weather had been yesterday. The sun was shining and it was the perfect fall temperature; a bit brisk, but still a little warm. We made it to the park and found a nice little bench to sit on and hold hands. It was such a beautiful day and it was fun to spend some quiet time with my best friend. We talked, and sipped our hot chocolate and apple cider, listened to the birds, leaves rustling in the trees, and random bits conversations of people walking by. It was a wonderful afternoon with my wonderful husband and it's days like this that remind me that I am the luckiest girl in the world. :)

To New York and Back

Skyline of Hartford. Not exactly relevant in this post, but cool nonetheless. 

So, I was at work on Monday and I get a call from Joel. I thought he was calling to tell me he was going over to practice at the school, or that he needed the key to lock the house, but I got a very unexpected surprise. "Hey, do you want to go to New York tomorrow?"  He had been given some tickets to a concert featuring George Coleman, one of the greatest saxophonist that has ever lived, (says Joel) from one of his former professors that is now teaching at Juilliard. I was stunned for a minute, not sure he was being serious, but then realizing what he was asking me, I jumped at the chance. I went to New York once in high school on an orchestra tour, but as much fun as it was, it's never the same when you have to travel with a huge pack of children all wearing the same t-shirt. Hartford is about two hours from the Big Apple, on a good day with minimal traffic. It's not too far, but far enough that we haven't been, and probably won't go, every weekend. We left around 5:30, and the concert was going to start at 8:00 pm, so we were going to be cutting it close if there was any heavy traffic. Heading out of Hartford there was some traffic, so we knew where ever we ended up parking, we were going to have to hurry to make it there on time. Getting into Manhattan we found a place to park about a 1/4 mile from the Lincoln Center. We were excited, until someone told us that we were parked in an NBC news reporter spot and that we would be towed if we parked there without a permit. Not wanting to risk it, we got back in the car and headed closer to the concert hall. It was about 7:55 and we got directly across the street from Juilliard still looking for a spot when miracle of miracles, a car pulled out leaving an empty parking spot! We parked and walked quickly over to the concert hall. As soon as we walked in and sat down, the lights dimmed and the concert started. Amazing. The concert was great and we both had a lot of fun. It was great being able to go and spend time with Joel doing something that we both enjoy and that he loves so much. It's not going to be very often, but living so close to New York is definitely going to have some perks.

The Beginning of the Cotton Club

The Cotton Club circa 1936, NY city

 For all of my family and friends that wanted to keep in touch, and because I'm too lame to try and message everybody individually, here is my blog. Here I will try to update things that happens in my life, and let you all know what's new. Being married to a jazz musician, it's become a huge part of both of our lives, I figured I should include it somehow. The Cotton club was a very famous jazz club back in the day, and it obviously has some pretty key things in common with both of us, (Cotton) so it worked out perfectly. When the Handsome Man and I decided what school he'd be going to back in the spring, we knew it was going to bring some huge changes. So, less than six months later, we packed our bags and headed on a one way trip across the country. Despite being totally stressed and unprepared, we found a good place to live in a good area, thanks to a lot of prayers and some miracles, and we are both very happy and doing well. The North East is beautiful and I am falling in love with all the trees and squirrels and bunnies that run around in the grass outside. Thus, the adventures of the Cotton Club begin. :)