Last week, the bestie and her husband invited Dale and I go with them to a Patriots Football viewing party at Gillette Stadium. And what is a viewing party, you might ask? It’s what it sounds like: you meet up with a large group of people and you all watch the away game being played on gigantic, multiple screens. This particular viewing party was sponsored by Shawn’s union and it included all kinds of delicious food and access to the field.

That’s right. We went on down to the playing field and walked right out onto it.

Let me tell you, that field is bigger than you think! I mean, I know it’s 100 yards but until I actually walked those 100 yards from end zone to end zone, I hadn’t really considered that it’s a lot of ground. And I wasn’t running while carrying a football and being chased by other people.

We had a lot of fun, posing in silly positions, running into the end zone, and generally pretending to be professional football players.

Dale even got to pose with Pat Patriot and a few of the cheerleaders.

The best part? The Pats won. The second best part? No traffic!

10 out of 10, highly recommend.

Happy Monday! It’s been a minute since I shared a regular weekending type of post, I’m feeling inspired today to do that since I have actual weekend type things to share.

We had Friday Night Snacks. It’s my favorite way to wind down the week, sitting in our chairs, me with a martini and Dale with a beer, catching up and listening to music and eating great cheese along with other things. It’s a routine that is also a ritual and it’s really important to me.

On Saturday, I visited Home Goods and . . . did not buy any pillows! If you thought I was going to say that I did not buy anything then you don’t know about me and Home Goods, hahahaha. I did get a couple of Christmas decor things because if you don’t get it when you see it, it will be gone. Also a Christmas gift for a friend and some fresh pillow shams for our guest room.

Dale had a band job Saturday night, Jo-Ann and Sean came over and kept me company. We had some snacks and cocktails and chatted and caught up and laughed so much. It was a fun night.

On Sunday, Dale and I went into the MFA in Boston to see the Obama Portraits. They are really wonderful and I’m so glad we got to see them in person. I could have gazed at the one of Barack Obama for a long time . . . that green background, which represents his love of Chicago and his heritage, is just gorgeous. The background in my selfie is my shower curtain, I wanted you to see this beautiful floral scarf that I wore, it made me feel artsy!

After the museum, we went to a favorite south of Boston restaurant that we haven’t been to since before the start of the pandemic. I tried to capture the stunning tree outside these windows, it cast a gorgeous yellow glow over the whole room, and this photo doesn’t do it justice.

I also finished a book, started a new Musselburgh hat, and did some work in my journal for my online style course.

It all added up to a satisfying, fun, productive weekend. I hope you had a good one, too.

I’ve loved camping since the first time I went with Dale 26 years ago. I love the relaxation of it and the forced time outdoors, the campfires and the food and the reading and hanging out. It’s something I’ve pretty much exclusively done in the summer.

Until last weekend.

We planned this trip for a few reasons. One, it was an opportunity to get out there with Huck again and have it be just the two of us. Two, it was right after my birthday and seemed like a great way to celebrate. And three, Dale had a half day on Friday so he was home from work at 1 instead of 4. We stayed close to home (only 30 minutes away) and that meant we could stay over on Sunday night, too. Dale was a champ and got up Monday morning, drove home and did his morning bus run, and then came back and got me and Huck and brought us home.

It was such a great weekend. The weather was comfortable but cool with low humidity and blue skies.

We had our usual Friday night snacks by the fire.

We hiked around the campground. No photos of that, just use your imagination to picture me huffing and puffing my way up a couple of rather steep hills.

We read books and hung out.

We ate delicious pot roast that I cooked in a crock pot all day Saturday.

We watched football and hung out inside.

And we relaxed. A lot.

Getting ready for a trip is . . . work-ish . . . but it’s all worth it when you can kick back and hang out and just enjoy a beautiful weekend.

Hey there . . . I’m back from vacation with stories and photos to share. Grab a drink and a snack and let’s get right to it.

We spent the first weekend at home and then last Sunday we headed to a local campground for 4 nights. This was double the length of our previous excursion with Huck and, while it was still not quite long enough, it was a great time away.

This was also our first time setting up on our own and it went pretty well as we figured out things like water, electricity and sewer hook ups without too much trouble. In other words, we were relaxing before we knew it! We took a walk around the campground, finding the small pond, the camp store, and other areas of interest. And then we settled in at our picnic table with drinks, snacks, and dominoes.

Except. While I remembered the game, I forgot the trays we use for holding our dominoes. So, we improvised with leveling blocks. Clever, for sure. It wasn’t ideal but we managed.

We had a delicious dinner of grilled chicken and local corn, our first meal inside the camper. It was cozy and special and we watched some tv (roughing it, you know) before heading to bed.

It rained pretty much all day Monday and I’m not complaining about it because we needed the rain so desperately. And also, it gave me an excuse to stay inside and read. We played cards in the evening and, while I had planned a meal of meatball subs, I realized (at about 7pm) that I actually forgot the meatballs. Whomp whomp. Thank goodness for the emergency box of macaroni and cheese I had stashed in the cupboard.

On Tuesday, the kids joined us. They had a separate site that Jess, Jackie & Hannah shared. Eryk and Mikey were around off and on but both had to work so neither was there the entire time. No sooner had the girls gotten their tent and EZ-Up set up than the rain came down. Hard! There was thunder and lightening and it was like giant buckets of water were being dumped right on top of us. The road was a river of watter, and Jackie was a little nervous about the thunder, but once we were all in the camper together it was kind of fun. Crowded. But still fun. I had originally planned hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner but I wasn’t about to cook in the deluge so we sent Dale out for pizza instead.

Jackie fell asleep on our couch after dinner and the rest of us had a fun time just hanging out.

I also snapped this photo during a break in the action between storms. The colors of the sky were amazing.

Wednesday was a beautiful day. Warm and sunny with the occasional puffy cloud. Dale cooked fried dough for everyone for breakfast and then the kids headed to the pond. They swam and I hung around the campsite, puttering and reading and knitting and enjoying the peacefulness of the whole thing.

There was a ban on camp fires when we arrived on Sunday but they lifted it on Wednesday and we had an enjoyable and relaxing time around the fire that night. We toasted marshmallows and told stories and hung out. It was really pretty perfect.

On Thursday morning we packed it all up and headed home to these two. They were very glad to see us and I think they are getting used to us being away for a few nights. At least I hope they are. I’d love to bring them with us but I honestly think they are happier at home even if they do miss us.

We spent the rest of the week and weekend just being home. Catching up on yard work, picking tomatoes (about 20 ripened while we were away!) and cucumbers, puttering around the house, and planning for the return to work. (Tomorrow for me and Wednesday for Dale.)

I made pizza on Saturday night and we had a perfect little fire on the deck to end the week. I’m content with everything we did and the time we had together and I think this camper thing is going to be pretty awesome.