My Epic Weekend In Pictures: Productive And Fun At Times!

This was definitely an action packed weekend for sure. I was able to see some friends, do some retail therapy, and ended up on impromptu, unexpected adventures. We'll start this with Wednesday evening, where I went to Perona Farms for Atlantic Health System Newton Medical Center's annual Heart & Soul event. This event since 2014 has helped save many lives adding over 100 defibrillators right here in Sussex County. We had a wonderful time getting to thank 1st Responders, while enjoying amazing food too. You just simply can't beat the smoked salmon at Perona Farms! They even had lobster tail meat this time around, wow! We ate very well, that's for sure.

Friday afternoon I started getting alternate texts from besties Carrie and Christine. They were celebrating Guest Appreciation Hour at Industry Kitchen & Bar in Sparta and wanted me to join them. I hadn't seen Christine since December, so it was very important for me to swing by and see them. Besides, Industry in Sparta is on my way to see Girlfriend Brooks in Hackettstown anyway. Win-win. I had a delicious New England IPA with them, while we were making several new friends while seeing old ones too. I also gave them a tour of how amazing the downstairs section is and will be at Industry. Think an Italian Vila but in Sparta, New Jersey! Even my Italian friends were very impressed. I'll be giving you a sneak preview of that very soon.

Friday night I went to Hackettstown, Girlfriend Brooks and I watched Traitors on Peacock. This show is really well produced, they do a great job keeping you hooked. Even though it's all reality television stars I don't know, it's still been very enjoyable for me to watch. With the back and forth strategies involved, this really is like sports for Brooks. If anything it's almost helping her understand more why I love football nonstop so much, with strategies involved.

Saturday morning when we were waking up Brooks sneezed. Her first sneeze was very cute, even mouthing the words "achoo!" Then, she continued to sneeze, which is rather uncommon for her. I think she sneezed 10 times over a 2 hour span. When we woke up, she was a little congested. I've been battling a sinus infection the past couple of weeks myself. So much is going around these days, 'tis the season I suppose. Brooks had an item she wanted to drop off at The UPS Store to return. I volunteered to run the errands for her so she could stay in, rest up and feel a little better. Saturday was so gorgeous outside all you wanted to do was simply be outside. I hopped in the car and put on trusty Google Maps. This turned out to be a major mistake! I have good familiarity with Hackettstown, it's almost like a backup hometown to me after Vernon. Google Maps betrayed me on this one though. I haven't been this betrayed by Google Maps in years. Google Maps first brought me to ShopRite in Mansfield, New Jersey which wasn't bad at all because I wanted to surprise Brooks with flowers anyway. Google Maps was confusing me because it kept saying that I have arrived at my destination. This ShopRite is in a strip mall, so I kept looking and looking around for it. No such luck. I then drove out of the parking lot after picking up flowers and went across the street to Home Depot. Yet again, Google Maps kept telling me I had arrived at my destination. I kept looking and driving around in a 3 square mile radius in circles for an hour. It really felt like I was starting to go insane! Fortunately as stressful as being lost was, at least I know the area. Being lost in an unfamiliar area we all know is so terrifying and traumatizing. I then pulled over into a random parking lot in an industrial park. I turned off Google Maps and switched to Waze seeing if that made any difference at all. Turns out, I should have done Waze instead of Google Maps on this one. I was at that UPS Store within 5 minutes after switching to Waze. When the cashier at UPS Store offered me a receipt, I immediately said that yes a paper proof of my travels would be nice. It was like a badge of honor, but also a needed paper trail. Can you imagine if after driving all that time with the frustrations involved that this return falls through the cracks? No way!

I then went to the nearby Marshall's for some retail therapy. I said to myself "if we're driving past this Marshall's 19 times in the past hour, might as well at least see if they have any deals." Turns out, they did! I scored a pink short sleeve shirt, a black dress shirt, and a white sweater that isn't like my other white sweaters. My total came to $60! 3 new shirts for $60, I'll gladly take that deal. The Marshall's in Hackettstown had a very decent men's selection for both colder and warmer temperatures, which you don't always get this time of year.

Saturday afternoon Brooks and I went for a 40 minute walk around her neighborhood. This was our first time going for a walk like this since November! It's been such a brutally cold and tough winter. We were definitely happy to be enjoying the nice weather and outdoor walk that we normally do a couple of times during the week when it's warmer weather.

Sunday morning I ventured back up to Vernon for more fun with friends. I stopped by Birdie's in Vernon on 94 for a delicious, hearty breakfast. Everyone was nice and so supportive of my Pet Of The Week. It was great to see smiling faces everywhere.

I then joined up with besties Artie and Margie for a trip to Orange County Distillery at Brown Barn Farm. I haven't been there in a year or two, and we certainly made up for lost time. We had a great time with Roy and Deniece, and George. I had a delicious Old Fashioned drink with their Single Malt Whiskey. It was fantastic. I let everyone have a sip, many agreed my drink was the best one. We had a fantastic time, for half of us it was their first time ever being at this fun place. We enjoyed their upstairs area with couches that were perfect for all of us.

We then ventured over to Yesterday's Irish Pub in Warwick. They are definitely read for St. Patrick's Day over there for sure! I enjoyed a delicious Guinness with them.

Overall we had a fantastic, and at times accidentally adventurous weekend. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my Epic Weekend In Pictures. Time to start planning next weekend!