Friday Favorites, 10.21.22.

 

Happy Friday, friends! I'm linking up with Andrea and Erika for this favorite weekly blog post. 

One thing I've loved from this week is looking back on one of my favorite trips ever—the year Todd and I went to New York City for our twentieth anniversary/40th birthday celebration trip. It was magical to be in NYC in the fall! I felt all the Norah Ephron vibes as we explored that beautiful place. 

I want to go back! If I were to go again, this time I would visit Greenwich Village more, I'd eat bagels and cream cheese, and I would want to eat more from street vendors. I'd also love to do a guided walking food tour of the city's best places to eat. The pictures you see are the view from the Top of the Rock, a grassy area in Central Park, Tavern on the Green and the line to eat lunch at Carnegie Deli, before it closed, which I am so glad we were able to do. We had their famous hot pastrami sandwich that we shared, along with a glorious piece of chocolate/peanut butter cake/pie. I'd love to eat at Tavern on the Green at this time of day, when the weather is cool and the lights are twinkling. One thing we learned to do very quickly was to share meals. The food was pretty expensive everywhere we went, but the portions were HUGE, so sharing worked for us. That one sandwich, for instance—look at all the meat they piled on it! In doing that, we also felt less guilt over indulging in desserts once a day. We walked a ton, so we were never miserable after eating, because we kept walking the meals off. 

Moving on now...some of the sights around me this week have been my favorite, like getting to see my adorable great nieces. This was before they all got sick! 

I was able to see them again yesterday, thankfully, because they started feeling better. Look at this cute picture of all of them that my niece posted of them this week. 

I've been Cowboy's favorite thing all week and he has been mine! 

He was sad the first day that his people were gone, but he got better pretty quickly. I will say that one reason he loves me is probably because he can talk me into things like extra treats, long belly rubs, walks to the mail box, front porch sitting and him getting to sleep in bed with me. He's been great company for me all week, especially at night when it gets lonely being by myself. Isn't he handsome? He's the best boy.

Wednesday was one of my favorite days. I decided to go to the nearby town of Castle Rock for some exploring. I looked up a couple of places I wanted to visit, then I winged it from there. 

I've been here before, but this place is called The Barn. It's similar to an antique mall, in that there are booths inside with items from different sellers. These things were a couple of my favorites, but I didn't buy anything.

From there I went to another similar place, called The Emporium. I walked through quickly and decided I was too hungry to shop, so I asked around and someone recommended this new place, Ecclesia, which is an eatery, a marketplace and a lounge with a bar. The meaning of that word is church, which is appropriate, because it's inside of an old church that's been remodeled. It had all these different levels leading to each area and is one of the neatest places I've been to. 

When I found the eatery, I didn't really know how it all worked, because there were different areas that each had their own menu. I found a guy working up front and inquired about what to do and then I asked him what his favorite thing was that he'd had there so far. It's only been open a couple of weeks. One of the things he mentioned was a Miami bowl, which had black beans, rice, grilled chicken, tomatoes and a lime cilantro dressing drizzled over it all.

It was amazing! I ate the whole thing. Look at the view I had!

That formation under the flag is the mountain that gave the town its name—Castle Rock. I did something I've never done before—I ate in a sit down restaurant alone for the first time in my 45 years. I've eaten at fast food places before, but never a sit down place like this. It wasn't nearly as awkward as I thought it would be. I felt very adventurous on this day! When I went, I had a few things I wanted to check at, but other than that, I didn't have much of a plan. When I finished my lunch, I was delighted to find that the bookstore I had read about online was inside of this very establishment. 

That art wall and stairs were leading up to the adorable bookstore, tucked into a nook of what probably used to be part of an attic. I just kind of wandered around for a bit before deciding to leave, again without buying anything. I couldn't make a decision about things to purchase, so I just didn't purchase anything the whole day. I do this sometimes, especially when I have something on my mind. I was kind of distracted while I was in there too, because my sister called me in that time. I wrapped up my afternoon by walking around a little more before going to back to the car and making the drive back to my sister's house. I'll never get over this scenery!

When I got back home, Cowboy and I sat out on my sister's front porch. I talked to my best friend the entire time I was out there, and we stayed out until Cowboy was ready to come back in. He loves to sit out there and watch cars and people go by. 

I stayed in for the rest of the night and caught up on Bible study homework, then I watched movies and had a simple dinner here at her house. It was on this night that I decided I am more than ready to go home! I keep getting lonely at night. I think I've talked to my husband more this week than is the normal. I have talked to my sons, I've talked to my mom and sister, and I've talked to my best friend multiple times. I don't love sleeping in a big quiet house alone night after night...even with a dog there beside me. I'm not scared, but I'm just not a fan. I am so glad my sister told left a small and loud fan out for me to use to cancel out any noises I may hear. I think if it weren't for that, I wouldn't be sleeping much. Even so, I've not hated it at all. I do enjoy being alone a lot, and what I most love about it is all the time I have to pray. I find that I do that a lot when I'm by myself. I talk to Jesus and to the animals that are around. In that sense, it's kind of felt like I've been on a spiritual retreat. I will say that I feel like I needed that. I've been busy at home lately and often when that happens, I don't get good quality time in with the Lord each morning. I miss that! I suppose that in a sense, I am still figuring out the whole working part time and managing my own personal time. It's something to think about and may mean that I need to restructure my morning routine. 

Just a couple of more favorite things from around my sister's beautiful home...

I enjoy her coffee so much! She picked out all my favorite creamers for me to have for the week. 

I love this teapot! It has me thinking how much I'd love a new one. That would be a great Christmas gift idea, wouldn't it? 

I love all of her fall decorations and tea towels. You can tell that this season is her favorite, and mine too! I feel very comfy at her house, because it's so warm and inviting. Debi has the gift of hospitality, for sure. I'll be glad to see her when she gets back Saturday. 

Just a reminder that next month's Currently post will be about what we're currently borrowing, buying, planning, prepping and reading. Also, in case you missed them, here are my blog posts from the week.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Tell me something that was a favorite from your week! I'd love to hear from you. Thank you for reading my blog, friends! Love to all.