I was blessed to spend the last four days with my dad and his wife Annie in Connecticut. I left on the red-eye flight Friday night at 10:45pm and arrived at the airport in Hartford around 9:30am with a quick layover in Charlotte, NC. Lucky me... I was seated in 1st Class all the way to CT. Needless to say, I didn't really get to take advantage of the free services because I slept the entire way, minus of course, the layover.

Dad and Annie were waiting for me as I exited the security area. Wow... my first time away from the kids in years! It was truly wonderful! Once we got into the car, we immediately drove up to New Hampshire to attend Annie's nephew's sons dedication. Her family is wonderful. They were warm and welcoming! We visited, witnessed the dedication of Gavin, ate and watched the children play (none of which I was responsible for). It was a wonderful afternoon.

We left around 4pm to get back to Connecticut to relax and have dinner. When we got home, dad had bought all the fixings for my favorite Chocolate Martini. Two out of the three nights I was there, we had delicious martinis... made to perfection!

Sunday was a very busy day! We woke up early, had a yummy omelet and bacon breakfast, got ready and headed into the city...New York City! Dad actually drove and parked right down in Times Square! We wandered around Times Square for a while and saw the Naked Cowboy and the Hershey's and M&M stores. We walked by the Godiva store and saw these delicious Chocolate covered strawberries. We went in and dad asked for 2.

The guy said, "That will be $8.00"

Dad said, "Okay."

Dad gave him $20 and the guy handed him a little more than $2 change...

These are our Deliciously expensive $8 Godiva Chocolate Dipped-Strawberries!

We also added to our lunch a pretzel from a small pretzel stand in the city. Then we were on our way for our purpose in the city...

HAIRSPRAY on Broadway!!!

Can you just say Awesome, fantastic, incredible... WOW!?! We were so lucky, too! George Wendt (Norm from Cheers) played Edna Turnblad and we saw his very last performance!!! Tevin Campbell played Seaweed and I loved him when I was in college! It was wonderful!

After the show we walked up to a small Italian Restaurant and met up with Annie's best friend, Marie. How much fun to finally meet her... I felt like I already knew her! After dinner Dad, Annie and I walked back to Times Square and went up the The View... a revolving restaurant at the Marriot Hotel. It was so cool to see the whole city as we revolved around and drank our drinks and visited. My drink was called The View Fizz. It was really yummy!

Monday morning we went for a drive to Long Island Sound. It was beautiful, but very windy and cold. We didn't get to walk on the beach, but we did have lunch in a great little restaurant overlooking the Sound. After lunch we drove back to dad's and on the way picked up my grandpa. He was so surprised to see me! Dad had kept it a secret and didn't write it on his calendar, so when he saw me, he had no idea I'd be visiting! Annie made a great turkey dinner, we visited, and Grandpa told stories from his past! He looks great for 92 years old!

Tuesday, my last day... dad and Annie racked their brains trying to figure out what to squeeze into our last minutes... we finally decided to go up to Massachusetts to the Yankee Candle Museum and Store. It was incredible... huge!!! Candles are everywhere... it even snows inside! We really needed more time to actually "see" and "do" everything you can there. But it sure was fun to get a glimpse!

My weekend came to an end when they took me back to the airport in Hartford and waited with me until it was time to get to my gate! Goodbyes are always hard... but in 7 weeks we'll see each other again for Christmas! Thank you Dad and Annie for EVERYTHING!!!! This weekend is one I will always remember! I couldn't have had a better weekend anywhere! Thank you again!