This weekend was definitely Epic and one we will never ever forget. My travels only took us to Vernon, Franklin, Hardyston, Sussex, and back to Vernon but we made each one of our stops count for sure. From making my first ever cider doughnut at Heaven Hill Farm in Vernon for their Great Pumpkin Festival, to hosting a cookout with like 10 or so of our friends, this weekend was absolutely Epic. We will start my Epic Weekend on Thursday.
Thursday night I was able to see my personal massage therapist, Elaine. She worked her magic on the pinched nerve in my hip once again and of course was fantastic. She used that thumper device which increased blood flow around my bad hip big time. Success. Everyday we are getting closer and closer to getting me back to running. One step at a time. You can always get my personal massage therapist Elaine at 973-534-7478. Mama V is clutch! Thursday night I was able to stay up way past my bedtime and watch the Patriots win against the New York Football Giants. Giants fans should be very proud of how hard their team fought and battled. I think Daniel Jones for sure is the real deal. My Patriots need to start getting healthier FAST!
Friday night we went to our first ever Paint N Sip event at The Cottage. Awesome Girlfriend Megan has been wanting to do a Paint N Sip for many months, we have just always been out of town whenever the opportunity has arisen. Meg was annoyed with me Friday morning when I referred to it as "drinking with arts and crafts." Meg, our bestie Sally and the kids all had a great time making their art work painting wine glasses. Meg put a bright red R for Rutgers on one side, and the Dallas Cowboy star on the other side of her wine glass. Even though she was the only one at the table to get paint all over her hands, Meg was very happy with her results.
Friday night they enjoyed painting N sipping while I enjoyed Guinness sipping. Talk about a win for everyone!
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Saturday morning, time for the main event! I was able to visit my friends at Heaven Hill Farm in Vernon for The Great Pumpkin Festival and try my hand at making my first ever yummy cider doughnuts! This is quite the interesting process. You can enjoy the comedy of me attempting this on our video at the bottom of this page. My cider doughnuts came out quite well! It was also fun just being at what I call the center of Sussex County during October, The Great Pumpkin Festival. I really think that Fall has now officially become the busy season for Sussex County. We know crowds happen during golf season and ski season, but I think that Fall has surpassed both of those as our busy season.
I also took Meg out for a spontaneous beer at Crystal Tavern. We did Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPAs on draft, and Meg was happy with my decision. Those views on a gorgeous fall afternoon are tough to beat!
Saturday afternoon Meg and I got a couple more pounds of ground beef, and provisions for our cookout. Meg gets very excited for us to entertain, whereas I stress and stay focused nonstop. She always calls me cranky and I chirp back with that I'm simply focused! We haven't had our friends over for a cookout in a couple months, so we were very excited to do this and bring back my world famous burgers. Our recipe hasn't changed. Ground beef from a local farmer's market, rub with Longhorn seasoning 2-3 times on each side, then break out my trust meat thermometer. All of our friends were happy with the cookout. The burgers were fantastic. I should bring in one of my leftovers for Steve Andrews. I hate to admit that I yelled at and shamed everyone of my friends who put toppings on my perfectly seasoned burgers. At one point I yelled at one of them "you need toppings because you ruined my perfectly great burger when I had to put cheese on it!" We had a great time. I think we were laughing and drinking all night teasing each other. The cookout started at 5:30. Meg informed me apparently it somehow lasted until 2-3AM. I'm still dragging.
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Sunday, we were in recovery mode. Sunday morning Meg and I hung out watching football on my couch while sipping yummy mimosas. We then did our normal Sunday farewell beer together before going our separate ways for football Sunday.
I fell asleep and apparently napped from 6pm-8pm. This was an Epic Fail, because then I was up ALL Sunday night unable to sleep. Don't you hate that? If it was me going to sleep at 8pm I would have been thrilled with that. Ah well. Live to fight another day I suppose.
Overall, Meg and I had a wonderful weekend with so many friends. I hope your weekend was amazing too. Time to start planning next weekend!