donuts – Page 2 – thehealthypineapple

This post was originally supposed to just be about Mr. Nye’s birthday get-together (which was Sunday afternoon), but so much has happened since then! Note: This post is in no way chronological.

(Edited to add: Yet again, I’ve delayed a day… It’s now Saturday morning and mom arrived last night to visit. We already made a Bed, Bath and Beyond run for a couple small items–blast! Andrew took my coupons in the Pilot on his trip to Ohio this weekend–and are planning lots of house-y things today. We’ve already reorganized my small kitchen appliances and it’s not even 10 a.m.)

And speaking of the Nye’s… I took Hadrian on his first walk in the village yesterday–I can’t believe it’s taken almost a week–to their house to stop by their yard sale. I walked away with a well-loved cookbook of Mrs. Nye’s in which she marked some muffin recipes. Those are always the best kind to have–the marked-up and splattered ones.

Getting him in the shot was surprisingly difficult…

This…

…and this is what you see when you round the park (which is across the street) on your way to the Nyes’ house.

What a beautiful view! I started off in a sweatshirt (can you believe you can wear sweats and pants here in summer?! I LOVE IT.)

In other news, we put our bed together. (I use “we” loosely here; I mostly watched.) And in true pet-fashion, Hadrian had to be in the middle of everything. We had to force him out of the bed so Andrew could finish putting the slats in!

Check out this pint glass. I LOVE pint glasses with fun logos and things, except that I need to curb my habit of ‘collecting’ things I love; my mug, glass, scarf and Le Creuset collections are getting dangerously large…

Anyway, I bought two of these at Hallmark (I much rather would have liked to have found them at some neat store or Goodwill or something, but oh well, Hallmark does have cute stuff) LAST SUMMER almost as soon as we moved into the hotel. I couldn’t bear to break them out until we were in our “forever home,” so they’ve been living in a paper bag shoved in a bin ever since.

I busted them out the other night as we ate leftover pizza and celebrated getting both the extra fridge and freezer into the basement. (There I go again with this “we” business; I had no part in that victory. Andrew, his dad, and a couple other engineer friends from Moog graciously helped move our appliances this past week.) And a victory it was! They had to take the doors off both of them, plus the basement door AND doorframe, and even get a special tool. But I’m happy with them in the basement, which is all that matters 🙂

Now, onto the party!!

We’ve been ‘adopted’ by the Nyes, especially since Alex had to go and move to Pittsburgh, just as we moved back to EA. We find ourselves over there once every week or two–invited or not–and Mrs. Nye force-feeds us homemade cookies and Kone King ice cream she keeps stocked in the freezer. We have it rough, I know.

So, when we heard Alex would be in town for his dad’s birthday and that his little get-together would be Sunday afternoon–as in, the Sunday we were in the middle of moving–there was no question we’d be taking a break to attend. These celebrations are always ‘intimate’ affairs–late lunches in which family (immediate, cousins and grandma) and Andrew and I–crowd into the eat-in kitchen. This time we feasted on steak, pork, potatoes, green beans, rolls and fruit.

I know posting this picture of Andrew is dangerous–what with the Nye boys being loyal readers and all–but I had to. Let’s just hope it doesn’t end up on a blanket!

We sang and Mr. Nye blew out his candles before we enjoyed some of the best chocolate cake (or should I say best icing) I’ve had in awhile. Mrs. Nye, I’m (almost) ashamed to admit that I single-handedly ate all the leftover cake you sent home with us…in one sitting. Do you have more? I might need some soon.

And the event wouldn’t be complete without one of Adam’s ‘Andrew creations.’ This time, Andrew’s blanket presided over us, hanging from an upper window, akin to a poster of Kim Jong Ill or something.

You just never know what you’re gonna get with Adam. You just never know.

After I left State College, I drove to Warminster (located in Bucks County, which is outside Philadelphia) to stay with my sister and Mommy, who is visiting. This is what I saw in the kitchen!

My sister lives in my parents’ house right now, so it’s kinda neat “coming home” to visit her. Interesting note: the original house my dad bought is the left half of the existing structure. I barely remember this, but he bought the place right around the time he and my stepmom were getting married, and for some reason she didn’t see it beforehand. It was teeny tiny with a pepto bismol-pink kitchen, dirty navy blue shag carpeting and brown walls. She cried.

Needless to say, they gutted the kitchen and actually doubled the size of the house with a two-story addition (the right half of the house with the front door) to add a master bed and bath, as well as laundry, a half-bath and a living room on the main floor.

Mommy and me 🙂

After three mornings of running in a row, I took the opportunity to do some (hot) yoga. I tried using Allison’s beginner yoga DVD as a guide, but it was going too slowly and had too much talking for me, so I clicked on some Pandora yoga radio and did my own thing. Got SUPER sweaty–it is humid here!

After cleaning up, Mommy and I went to Bucks Bagels (Andrew’s favorite) and Dunkin’ Donuts for coffee. Side note: Dunkin’ Donuts are EVERYWHERE around here. Like, one at every intersection. I love their coffee–and so must everyone else–since every time I visit there are more instead of less. (Let’s just say that in three days, both the staff at Bucks Bagels and the closest Dunkin’ memorized my order.)

Mommy and I spent the afternoon in Doylestown so she could walk around and see the quaint little shops and things.

Look! I parallel-parked! And on the first try! (This is, for me, a HUGE accomplishment. Have you seen the size of my car?)

Actually, it was a testament to God’s provision the entire afternoon. First, He got us to D-town without a hitch (I’m here so infrequently that I get turned around a lot and never quite know where I am…), placed a parking spot right in front of me, helped me parallel-park, and then allowed Mommy and me to return to the spot with just 6 minutes left on the meter (even after totally getting side-tracked in a store along the way), as the meter maid was coming down the road writing tickets!

We had our rehearsal dinner here at Paganinni’s, although until I walked up to it I didn’t remember the name. Isn’t that terrible?

One of my favorite store: The Paper Unicorn. Go figure; they feature stationery.

This journal really spoke to me. The colors are exactly me, and the phrase sums up my need to slow down and enjoy the season I’m in. It’s something I’ve really been thinking a lot about lately; not rushing through things so I can move onto the next thing, which is something I do all the time. It is SO HARD for me to just chill and enjoy the moment.

Allison, Ray and Danika met us in Doylestown and we all enjoyed the shade in a small park for a little bit before Mommy and I headed to our last stop: Artefact. It’s an antique furniture store just up the road from where we live. It’s definitely a “mommy” place.

While there, we found a couple of these multi-colored fruit baskets that were made in Italy. Mommy told me that her mother had given her one that her father had brought back a long time ago. Then, we saw this purple and teal one. I died. (Well, not really, but I liked it a lot.) It wasn’t so pricey that I couldn’t just up and get it, but I thought maybe I should ask Andrew first, so I snapped a photo and walked away.

We walked next door so I could get Mommy her first taste of Rita’s, and what do you know? Out she came with my purple fruit basket as a surprise! She said she wanted her daughter to have one from her mother, just like her.

The next morning, I grabbed coffee from Dunkin’ (again) and attempted to get another blueberry bagel (our favorite), but Bucks was out! The nice lady remembered me and wrote up an order for two for the next so I could be sure to get some.

I was forced to try the new bakery that opened up just down the road from the house, The King of Tarts.

I grabbed a bag of their English Tea Biscuits and an icing-filled donut to share. Yum. Afterward, Mommy, Allison and I headed to Goodwill (a favorite), a used-toy store (where I picked up some wooden frog and fish pull toys for Danika that were a huge hit) and Target.

And what would a trip to PA be without a Silvio’s cheesesteak? WORTHLESS, is what it would be.

They make their own bread and their cheesesteaks are to die for. No kidding. Mommy and I split a cheesesteak hoagie (add mayo, lettuce and tomato) with sauteed onions and mushrooms. Hey, no one said it was healthy. And Grandma Utz’s handcooked chips–seriously good.

I took the afternoon as an opportunity to do my nails on the deck while Danika played with the hose.

Us girls took a walk and I showed Mommy the first house in which I babysat some kiddos when I was 12:

And the Moland House, which is next door to my parents’ house, is where George Washington and his troops camped in 1776!

That night we made popcorn in their little popcorn maker (it was great) and then watched “Mimi’s Adventures.”

Mommy goes by ‘Mimi’ and has made some videos for Danika and Caleb (my nephew) of her going around Albuquerque to places like the zoo or the aquarium, and during the Balloon Fiesta and such. I really enjoyed watching them. It’s right up her alley; she used to make videos of Allison and me to send to dad when he was deployed.

Morning number 3: I grabbed Dunkin’ coffee (yet again) and added a blueberry cake donut (our absolute favorite) and our blueberry bagel from Bucks. We shared a blueberry yogurt to round out the meal. Think we like blueberries much?