Anywhere I Wander

As if making up for the humid and hot weather yesterday, Lauren and I awoke to a sky as blue as a robin's egg, soft sunshine, fresh breeze, and no clouds. Lauren wanted to stop at the post office first. Between what she's bought this week and the things I'm getting rid of that she's taking off my hands, she had way too much to carry home! In fact, it took four boxes to get it all sent out.

Since the Oaklyn Post Office was on the way, we went into Collingswood. We had a wonderful lunch at Tortilla Press, a local Mexican restaurant. I ate there last year on my second vacation week, and my friend Amanda joined me for brunch there a few weeks before Christmas. It was just as good as ever. We both had burritos. Lauren had beef and bean. I had chicken and cheese. The jicama slaw and home-made salsa and corn chips were delicious, too.

Our original plan was to wander around in Philadelphia's Old City for a few hours. The thing is, we've spent most of the week wandering around. We've done a LOT of walking. Our legs were tired, and Lauren's not the biggest fan of museums. We decided we'd rather enjoy the small stores in Collingswood and the park on such a nice day instead. Not to mention, neither of us really felt like spending more money on train tickets. We're going to be going to a Phillies game tomorrow, too, and need to rest up for that.

We just went in and out of stores instead. We peeked at an antique store across from the library. I bought a Peanuts comic book, Josefina's Surprise, and a historical action novel about a steamboat race from the Used Book Store. Lauren bought two action novels. We browsed in the little consignment shop. Lauren bought a fancy raspberry soda from the gourmet food shop; I bought a box of chocolate mint green tea. We both got fountain sodas with syrups at WaWa.

Strolling through Newton River Park on the way home was practically mandatory. I showed Lauren the mimosa tree with the long, woody bean-like pods. We ran around on the playground equipment; I went down the roller slide. We tried to swing on the new swings, but they were kind of high.

After we got in, I decided it was cool enough to bake. I made a Blueberry Coffee Cake while Lauren watched three of the Seuss specials (The Lorax, The Grinch Grinches the Cat In the Hat, and The Hoober Bloob Highway. We ran That's Entertainment while I made steamed carrots, whole-wheat macaroni, and chicken breasts marinated in tomatoes and Red Wine Vinaigrette for dinner.

Tomorrow, we are going to be doing something big - we're going out to the ball game to see the Phillies play the Red Sox.