Quarter 2, 2013: Part One

So, as of today, Mr. C and I are engaged. I had a hunch it was coming today, as he took the day off of work and was very concerned about the weather. All of my suspicions were confirmed last night when Lady A came over to take me to the craft store, and instead took me to get my nails done so they woul look pretty. That's another story for another time, but it meant I knew what was coming. It also meant I had the chance to run to Kohls to pick out a cute new outfit, which you'll see in the photos tomorrow.

A little sign hanging in the lady's room at Doubleday

We drove over to Cooperstown, home of my alma mater (is it still an alma mater if it was for grad school?) and the location of our first date. On the way down, we finished off the audiobook for the first Harry Potter book, and then we both had the little flourish at the end stuck in our heads. We kicked off the visit with a trip back to Doubleday Cafe, home of our first date, as well as a few other good memories.

On our first date, our next stop was the local pub Cooley's, where we were crashed by my fairly ineberated classmates and friends. As we were there at just before noon today, we decided to pass on the beer and just stroll by. Turns out my favorite restaurant in Cooperstown, Depot Deli, relocated to prime downtown space. The owner saw me walking by, recognized me as an old favorite, and came running out to say hello. Reminded me of why I loved living in a small town. So, passing the pub, we instead stopped at a new frozen yogurt place and split a Red Velvet/Chocolate with strawberries and brownie bits. We also stopped off at Stagecoach Coffee and picked up a cup o joe for Mr. C, then wandered down to the lakefront park to just sit and enjoy being together there for awhile.

View of  "Glimmerglass" from the lakefront park

After we finished off our snacks, we drove over to the house that I lived in when Mr. C and I met. My old landlords are basically my surrogate aunt and uncle, and so we dropped in on them and caught up for awhile. It is always so wonderful to see them, and I'm so glad we were able to catch up with them.

Once we'd said goodbye, we drove over to the museums. We hadn't been to the Fenimore in awhile, so wandered through some of their new exhibits. We especially enjoyed the highlights from the American painters. We also made a stop at "our bench", where we have planned several of our trips together. We still haven't managed the last one we planned on the bench (to Montreal) but now we're also planning our trip to Disneyworld :) We finished off our time at the art museum with a glass of wine on the veranda, which was very very nice. The weather had said it was supposed to storm all day, and instead we had lovely scattered clouds and bursts of sunshine.

We finished off our wine, made a quick duck into the library to check out my first ever exhibit, then dashed over to the Farmers' Museum for a ride on the carousel. It is one of my favorite things to do, and Mr. C always puts up with it. I ride Merry the Labrador Retriever, which leaves Mr C on Benny the Brook Trout. He rides along with a smile on his face, and I even got a kiss mid-ride :)

Tomorrow...the rest of the story!