Friends, I had a delightful weekend. TNP’s conference successfully wound down on Friday, and Mom delivered an Entenmann’s chocolate cake to my door. VERY NICE. For dinner, I had some spaghetti with pesto I froze from last year alongside a glass of Merlot. I participated in Movie Night for the first time in an age (Weird Science, very problematic in an 80s way – I need to do another Movie Night roundup soon) and was so far past the point of exhaustion and, to be honest, emboldened by wine, that I was up until 1:20am playing Jackbox games with the group.
WM was visiting his family in Michigan for a few days. Michigan isn’t doing that great covid-wise but they’re all vaccinated and he hadn’t seen her since November 2019. That wasn’t part of my delightful weekend. I missed him! But because he was away I was on morning dog duty. They wake up at 5:45ish, I pretend to ignore them until 6, and then we go downstairs for breakfast (them) and peeing (all of us, separately). They immediately go back to sleep, and I dozed on the sofa until 9. I woke up and idly flicked through Instagram. Somebody posted a photo of the Collingswood Farmer’s Market.
“That’s lovely,” I sighed. And then it hit me – I live 15 minutes from there. Why not go? Why not? I knew that if I thought too much I’d talk myself out of it so I tossed on some hard pants and a hoodie, grabbed some tote bags and my mask, and left.
Because it was a large crowd in a tight area everyone was masked, even though we were outside. And I was nervous, but I’m vaccinated. This here is exactly why I stayed home and canceled trips and wore my mask and got the vaccine. So I can go back out. And I did! I wandered the stalls, had some coffee ground for my pour-over experimentation, bought some asparagus, listened to live music, and bought a breakfast sandwich. I went back to Haddon Ave and bought a coffee at Revolution Roasters. Took the coffee back to my car, rolled down the windows and had breakfast. After that I went to my favorite Collingswood store, Occasionette, and bought a bunch of fun little things. It was so good for my soul.
You: “Did you cry? You cried all over your breakfast sandwich, didn’t you?”
Me: “Shut up.”
Saturday night I made myself a steak with some of the asparagus I bought. Polished off the rest of the wine. Delicious!
And on Sunday, Mom and I made it back to the Ocean City boardwalk!
The weather was chilly and blustery, but we didn’t care. It was so nice to walk on the boardwalk, smell the foods, and see the ocean.
You: “You cried when you saw the ocean, didn’t you?”
Me: “Shut. Up.”
And when it was time to eat, we strode into a pizza place (Prep’s, I think it’s better than Manco & Manco’s) and ate inside!
Okay, we cowered outside of the pizza place wondering if we dare go inside. And then the hostess asked how many we had. We answered “two” and at that point, didn’t want to back out.
After the pizza (delicious and fresh and hot and not put in a box and driven home!) and soda (bubbly right from the fountain not a can!) we bought some candy and headed home just as the rain was going to fall.
I am SO VERY GLAD we went. It’s hard for me to let go of such strong guidelines that kept me safe. That’s on me. It was time to get out there and I did.
I think it’s going to be a great summer!
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We’ve been at the “going out” stage for a bit but not the “let’s all go to the ballgame/amusement park/concert” or dining-in stage yet. That’s still…a no for us. Our time is admittedly limited when we do venture outdoors but has been enjoyable. I miss going to the farmers market during lunch at the office so I go every other week now for my fresh bread that is worth every penny of the $18 I pay for two loaves 🤤
Farmers Market Bread is SO GOOD. I had the opportunity to go to a Phillies game this month for free and turned it down because I’m not sure how they would manage the crowding at the gates. Soon, though.