New Year's Eve

We had fun cooking and preparing food for our New Year's Eve celebration. We watched "You've Got Mail" and "Some Kind of Wonderful". Unfortunately we forgot to watch the ball drop in Times Square. Oops!

The skirt

I saved the skirt!! All it took was a half yard of material, a seam ripper and some time. The skirt was a joint effort and I think it turned out really cute!

Guest blogger: The Niece

Aunt camp has not been all fun and games, it has called for sweat,blood,and tears as well. This latest update of "the blog" may astonish you as much as I, but please do not let it distort your friendship with Ellen(though I cannot promise myself the same.) The heartless act happened late last night or to more of you technical folks- early this morning at 1:30. For three hours of the little time left I have here remaining at aunt camp, I struggled against my tiredness to complete sewing a skirt with Ellen. After finally figuring out how to sew the complicated waist band, Ellen, told me(her beloved niece) to let her cut the seam, due to the fact that it is one of the more difficult tasks. She had my undivided attention- "Now, you want to make sure you lay the skirt down flat and hold the scissors at an angle as to avoid accidentally cutting the skirt." (can't you hear Ellen saying this is in a genuinely concerned voice? well what you can't imagine is what EP did next.) YES FOLKS EP CUT RIGHT THROUGH MY VERY HANDMADE SKIRT- DEFYING ALL THE DIRECTION SHE HAD JUST OFFERED TO MY BENEFIT!!!! Sure Ellen brought me to NYC, Vermont, Holiday Pops, Rhode Island, Walmart in New Hampshire, and much, much more. But folks that does not erase the unmistakable evidence that Ellen Red head Patton sliced right through Adrienne Angelic Patton's almost completed handmade skirt.
Thank you for reading

Late night skirt sewing

Are you my.....?

People have asked if she is my daughter and my sister. I'm lucky she's my niece!

New York City wrap-up

This was our day: Caught the 6:45am Lucky Star bus to Chinatown in NYC. Got tickets to the Tenement Museum. Ate a delicious mozzarella cheese/pesto/tomato pressed sandwich. Went on the Tenement Museum tour about the Moore family from Ireland (very interesting). We actually walked through a tenement building. Walked to Purl SoHo and bought some fabric and a cool calendar. Then we walked to the Strand bookstore (one of Robes' favorite places to go when he interned in NYC) and then to Butter Lane for yummy cupcakes. Was that 5 miles of walking? We then hopped in a cab (Adrie's first cab ride in the USA) and went to the Manhattan Temple/church building to freshen up. Then we walked through Central Park, stopped to take pictures at the Carousel (unfortunately it was closed), and saw some ice skaters. We found Dylan's Candy Bar and Adrienne got some gummy/sour candy. Kim's brother that lives in NYC (Adrienne's uncle) met up with us and we went to the American Girl store, walked down 5th Avenue stopping to see a cathedral, the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center and some store windows. We enjoyed dinner at The Black Sheep and then stopped at the public library to see the huge lion statues (Robes loved that library) and then took the bus to Macy's (Adrienne loved seeing the store and especially the old wooden escalators) and then took the subway to Port Authority. The next Peter Pan/Greyhound bus to Boston was at 12:15am so we took a cab back to Chinatown and hopped on Lucky Star and got home at 1:30am! We know how to pack a lot in one day!!

A fun-filled day in New York City

Details, stories and photos to follow. We had a great day!

Time to toss

We have 3 trash bags to toss in the dumpster tonight. This extremely EXPIRED package is in one of the bags.

Holiday Aunt Camp: Not all fun and games

Tonight Cinderella and I cleaned and refrigerator and freezer.

Holiday Aunt Camp adventures

Where was I? So my car was stuck on the road to the house. There wasn't really anything we could do about it last night so we brought all our things in, ate, and watched 5 movies (or was it 4?). [I slept through part of each movie.] This morning I heard a noise. A vehicle? I looked out the window to see a truck sanding the road to the house. I ran downstairs, quickly threw on some boots, and went outside to talk to the driver. I said, "that is my car stuck on the road" (though I'm sure it was obvious). I asked if he had any suggestions and he said he needed to get more sand and he'd be back. In the meantime I called AAA to see what my options were (pretty good as long as they could access the road). Not too much time went by and I heard the truck again. The guy brought his grandpa back and to make a long story short, they put a chain on my car and pulled it out of the snow. They were in the process of sanding the road and I was able to drive my car up to the house. It was snowing so we quickly packed our things and headed home. I drove slowly but we made it back safely. We even stopped at two cool antique shops on the way. It was a memorable adventure to Vermont!

G R E E N

It's pathetic when your guests say they want to eat "something green". Adrienne got her wish; a salad.

That was not smart

Remember that line from "What About Bob?"

Today my niece and I drove to Grafton, Vermont to stay over night. We got off the highway and started to see snow...we got to the road to the house and it had been plowed but I didn't get very far. I backed up and got a running start and got about halfway up the .2 mile long road and then got stuck. We walked up the road with all our stuff (made two trips) and now we're watching movies.

Let's hope AAA can help me tomorrow.

Maybe this aunt doesn't always use good judgment.

Borrowed Uggs

These boots that Adrienne borrowed from a Florida friend have certainly come in handy! There is still snow on the ground.

Day after Christmas

Holiday Aunt Camp headed to Portsmouth, Rhode Island last night to visit the Truscotts. We had a great time. It was nice to sleep in, eat perogies and treats, play games, watch "What About Bob?", run errands, finish a puzzle, and hang out with dear friends. We hit two Walmarts, had lunch at Five Guys, and stopped at IKEA on the way home. Both Adrienne and I are teaching lessons at church tomorrow so we're in preparation mode.

Secret Santa

Merry little Christmas

Adrienne gave me this little bookcase of origami books that my sister-in-law made for me. It's really cool.

Christmas breakfast

Christmas Eve

Adrienne and I spent Christmas Eve with my friends the Petersons. We enjoyed delicious appetizers and sharing our talents. I played "Swans on the Lake" on the piano -- my recital piece from when I was 8! It was fun to spend time with good friends. They have a few nativity scenes in their home and this was my favorite.

Waiting for Santa Claus

Heirloom Santa

If I have my facts right, my mom's cousin made this Santa (I better find out!). It always hung on a doorway when we were kids and it was filled with candy canes. I pinned it to my quilt last night since I don't really have any doorknobs in my condo (except on bathroom doors).

Oh Christmas Tree: Phase 3

Adrienne and I put the ornaments on the tree last night (just in time!). It was pretty with just lights and now it's prettier with all my ornaments on it. It's nice to have a helper around (aka "Cinderella")

MIT Lab rat

Adrienne went to work with me Monday. She did some shredding for me. We had pizza at the Stata Center. She loved MIT. A friend of mine is getting a Ph.D. in Chemistry and showed her his lab and some chemistry stuff.

Macy's Christmas display

Holiday Pops

Tonight we went to the Holiday Pops with my friends Leah and Alicia. It was fantastic. Adrienne plays the baritone horn in the high school band and knew she'd love hearing the Boston Symphony Orchestra. When I went to buy the tickets the woman suggested I pay a little more money to get in the balcony (as opposed to the cheapest seats which were literally in The Last Row). We were on the first row of the second balcony and close to the front. They were terrific seats. That's Keith Lockhart in the red shirt. It was a really fun night; getting dressed up, taking the subway, and listening to a wonderful concert. I've been humming Christmas songs all night.

Phoebe's blessing

Today was Phoebe's blessing. And, as luck would have it, it was in the Arlington Ward. Phoebe and her family recently moved to Cambridge but their ward canceled church today and our ward had a 5 1/2 hour delay (and Sacrament Meeting only) so I got to be at Phoebe's blessing. It was a special day.

Note: Phoebe's big brother Bruce is crazy about her.

Florida girl

Snow Day at Aunt Camp

Adrienne has never ever ever been in snow. (The patch of dirty ice she saw one summer in Liberty, Utah doesn't count.) It was a fun first for her today! Church was postponed until 3pm so we'll venture out this afternoon.