Excuse Us While We Eat Our Weight in Gelato.

See this? When you've got a DSLR it takes two people to take a selfie.

Well friends, 

Our bags are packed, the fridge is empty, and we are getting in some last minute snuggles with Remy before dropping her off with her foster mama---because we're going to ITALY!

I've kiiiinda been having little bursts of anxiety all morning over this. Lots of 'holy crap, we're really doing this' moments. It feels weird to go on our own without parents or professors to follow and depend on. Its just Joey and me. And that's it. But we're so so so excited for this. I mean we're pretty much going on our official honeymoon. We've saved as much as we can, we've got the time, and we're finally going. And more importantly, we're living our life. We want a child desperately, but we can't keep putting our life on hold until we have a baby, and canceling plans "just in case this is the month". At the end of the day, we've got each other, and that's what we're investing in right now.

Now we don't actually leave until tomorrow, but our first flight is pretty much before the crack of dawn and a three hour drive from here, so we're getting a head start and are going to stay at a hotel in Charlotte tonight. Then its a 9+ hour layover in Chicago, and thennnn we're finally on our way!

Everyone, we love you, and we hope you have a great couple weeks. We'll see you in 12 days!

So, "as they say in China, Arriiiiiiiivederci!"

and a thousand points to whoever knows where that's from!

We're Comin' For Ya, Baby!

Right now we are in the process of packing up the car---in the pouring rain, no less. Why does it always rain whenever we move?? But no rain is gonna stop us because we're goin' home to our baby! After a little stop in Virginia Beach, we'll be picking Remy up on Monday afternoon and we're so excited to see that little tail wagging. Its a funny feeling, leaving Connecticut. We LOVE it here. New England just connects with us and we'd be quite happy to be assigned here in the future. But at the same time, we are so over living in a hotel room and we miss Marley and Remy. Now Marley will just stay with her foster parents since we're leaving for Italy just a week from tomorrow (!!!) and we don't want her to have to adjust all over again, but we'll have Remy for a few days before she gets a new foster family while we're overseas. 

The past couple months in Connecticut have turned out to be so good for us. We've had many adventures and have met some great people that we'll surely keep in touch with. And who knows, the Navy may bring us back together again! I've started a new life project (more details coming soon!), and Joey and I have had some wonderful time together as a family of two. 

So all that's left is to load up the car, go to Joey's graduation, have one final meal at Shake Shack, and hit the road for the south!

We'll miss you, Connecticut!

Sometimes Dinner Tastes Better Outside of The Hotel Room.

Boy, I can't believe our time in Connecticut is coming to an end! We've definitely loved it up here and have felt so at home in New England. We're trying to fit in as many excursions as possible in the next three days (ahh!), but I realized that I had the draft for this fun Connecticut date just sitting there for weeks!

Perhaps the only aspect of our time here that we won't miss is living in a hotel for months. I suppose its nice having someone else clean our bathroom and take out our trash, but not having a kitchen has been difficult. Cooking and baking is a bonding and stress relieving activity (usually!) for us, so at times its been frustrating not really having that option. And while I have come up with some pretty ingenious ways to cook meals in our hotel room that consist of more than microwave dinners (shall I write a post about cooking in a hotel room??), we both always enjoy those nights when we're able to get out of the Chalet and sit down to an oh-so-tasty meal that wasn't made in a rice cooker.

So a few weeks ago we went to a super cute, locally recommended pasta shop, Paul's Pasta. You guys, this place is so great! I probably love it more because the weather was gorgeous (not even 80 degrees!) and they had outdoor seating, so we twirled and slurped our pasta on a cool, covered deck overlooking the Thames River. Eating Outside--my favorite thing!

What better place to indulge in clam linguine and lobster ravioli than New England! It was heaven. Cheesy, warm, garlicy, rich, creamy, tasty heaven. My mouth is watering just thinking about it again. I  think I need to stop writing about such deliciously fabulous food all the time... 

Cannolis--my favorite thing! Ha or at least one of them. But hey, Outdoor dining and cannolis? Talk about double satisfaction. Probably my favorite aspect of this particular cannoli was the pastry shell. Light and flaky but without a taste and crunch that's reminiscent of stale supermarket cream puffs that I so often find with the bakery favorite. But hey, I'm no expert or anything. 

After dinner we decided to take a short drive over to Mystic and do a little window shopping while simultaneously walking off some of that to-die-for pasta.

Oh be still, my heart! We love the whole vibe of Mystic and the other similar coastal towns. Though if we're being specific, Mystic is technically a village---I didn't even realize "villages" still existed!

The cool thing about being an adult is, if you want two desserts, you can have 'em! And we wanted ice cream. We had heard good things about Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream so we decided to give it a go. For our Lexington/Buena Vista friends, it was similar to Sweet Things but far more expensive with a staff that was quite rude---or at least unfriendly at best. And there's no Johnny Cash music either. The actual ice cream was still refreshing and delicious, but we're eager to be back at Sweet Things again.

While sitting on the dock and eating our ice cream, we watched the drawbridge go up for a sailboat to pass through! I suppose its no big deal for residents of Mystic, where the bridge lifts about once every hour, but for us it was quite the exciting experience. Oh and did I mention that meanwhile, there was a man playing bagpipes (the sailor's Hornpipe, no less) from his balcony on the opposite side of the water? New England culture, seafood, water, and scottish bagpipes---my heart is home!

Ok. please hold back your judgmental scoffs. But In addition to pasta, a cannoli, and ice cream, we maaaay have gotten a slice of pizza too.

I know, I know, oink oink. But how could we go to Mystic and not grab a slice from Mystic Pizza? Remember the whole, philly cheesesteak in Philly thing? Its just part of the experience. So we went for it---it being a slice of white pizza with bacon and scallops. It was mighty delicious, although in hindsight we probably over did it as we were a liiiiiittle bit stuffed the remainder of the night. But nothing that relaxing with a movie can't fix! Except perhaps a few hours on the elliptical...

Oh New England, we sure do love you!