a hershey holiday

i'm finally ready to share my thanksgiving weekend adventures! [or should i say, prepare for picture overload. (: ] fortunately i was too busy eating on thanksgiving to take any pictures, so i only have the rest of the weekend to show you. i spent thursday with john and his family, and on friday, i drove down to new jersey to visit mine. we woke up super early on saturday and drove to hershey, pa. there were seven of us, in one van. good times, friends, good times.

the trip was special for my family because my parents used to take us to hershey on thanksgiving night when we were younger. we hadn't gone in about 10 years, so it was nostalgic to see it all again. and yes, things really do look bigger when you're younger (:

we started off at chocolate world, where we took a tour of the chocolate making process, did a little shopping, ate some lunch and went on a trolley ride. i think heather, laura and i were most excited about the trolley because it had been one of our favorite parts of the trip. each trolley has a tour guide who tells you about the history of hershey. throughout the ride, multiple stops are made as "characters" (a factory worker, milton hershey's mother...) join you to sing christmas carols. the big finale? the trolley picks up santa claus, who has a list with your name on it and gives you an early christmas present. the first time that happened to us as kids, we were so surprised that santa knew our names! we couldn't wait to see kaylee's face when it happened to her.

another thing we were pleasantly surprised to find out? all of the characters you meet on the ride are clearly played by one person. one thing we were never sure about was how they got all around town to meet up with the trolley at the right time. as luck would have it, this time around another trolley crossed the road in front of us and we were able to see. the person rides on the back of the trolley and does all of his costume changes there! kind of a crazy sight! but woot woot! we finally solved that mystery. (:

after chocolate world we went to hershey park. there were rides to be ridden and kettle corn to be eaten. we waited until it got dark and took a ride on a monorail above the park to see it all lit up with christmas lights.

after a very full day, we my dad drove us home. he's such a road warrior.

the holiday weekend flew by, but i'm so thankful i got to experience hershey with my family this year. and so was kaylee...

on sunday morning during breakfast, she turned to my dad and said, "the chocolate factory was awesome, pop pop!"

i don't think it gets better than that.

from montezuma to homer

my parents came to visit a few weeks ago because they wanted to visit their oldest daughter they'd heard about a 50 mile garage sale held annually in the finger lakes region. a 50 mile stretch from montezuma to homer, new york! they said it was a practice one for another one that crosses state lines across the mississippi.

i was pretty excited about the idea. in the last few years, i've really come to enjoy seeing what other people have treasured and now consider trash. (:

we did a little bit of yard sale-ing around my neighborhood friday and stumbled upon a church rummage sale. and ohmygoodness were we starting out right! rows of tables lined with tons of stuff... and the deal of the day was to get a plastic bag, fit as much in as you can, and pay $2. here's what i came away with for $2!:

after that success, we were ready to do some serious damage in the finger lakes on saturday. an early start, a little bit of a drive, some starbucks and we took part in our first miles-long garage sale! i went with a budget and a list of things i was hoping to find, including burlap, vintage frames, wooden crates and ceramic animals. i came away with nearly everything on my list:

i got these scraps of fabric for free! can't wait to use them on some yarn wreaths!

these guys are just waiting to be spray painted! ;)

there was so much to take in, and some folks had some really amazing finds. if you were in the market for a vintage motorcycle, you would have had plenty to choose from! [i'd love to have gotten one for my stud, but my budget was a bit too small for that!]

and then there were the things that made you go... huh?!

but my favorite find of the day was something that wasn't on my list. and i was so excited when i saw that the prompt for this week's inspiration workshop was vintage. i fell in love with this piece of luggage the moment i saw it. it was marked make offer. i'm so terrible at that; luckily my mom is a pro! well, $7 later i came home with a piece of vintage hartmann luggage.

i love the leather and the pattern inside. it's in such good condition, too. and i think it's so fun that it has someone's name in it!

the whole day was, in a word, crazy. there were literally miles upon miles of homes, churches, etc. selling all kinds of things. what seemed like hundreds of cars moved in packs [herds?] along a road that had a very small shoulder on either side. oh, and restrooms? practically non-existent. we had to travel for about 45 mins and get off the yard sale road just to find a porta-potty! where we also saw this:

um, ew. however, from time to time, the road would open up, and we'd catch a glimpse of lake conesus.

with my success in finds and the gorgeous views, i'd say if this was a warm up for a cross country adventure,  i can't wait for summer 2012! [are you in, mom and dad? (: ]

drive to dream to live

day nine: i am thankful for a vehicle. with a working car, i can get to work, i can go out on my lunch break, i can get home, i can go visit with friends in the evening. i can get out for a drive when i'm stressed or to go admire the beauty of God's creation. with a vehicle, i am able to visit my family and friends in new jersey and (hopefully sometime in the next 6 months!) visit friends in ohio! i'm thankful to have money to put gas in the tank too. cause, you know, a working vehicle with no gas is really not a working vehicle at all. (: