Saturday, May 24, 2014

Road Trip!

I had the amazing opportunity for the past three years to live in the same city as one of my sisters, Jeannie.  We had a great time but unfortunately the Coast guard decided to move her for her next assignment to Boston.  Well as sad as that news was it meant a road trip to Boston!

My mom and Jeannie started out in Tahoe and I'll be having them guest blog shortly about the first part of the road trip but I joined up with them in Chicago.  This is us at the O'Hare airport in Jeannie's verrrrrry crowded car!  It was a cozy drive for a little bit :)


We drove this way from Chicago to Akron where my mom flew out.  Along this way we took a little detour to Michigan so that Allison could get a new state.  It should be noted that Jeannie reached state #50 with North Dakota but I'm sure there will be more about that in her blog post.


I truly can't think of anyone that I would love to travel with more!  I love all of these ladies!


After dropping my mom off we head up to the Buffalo area to hang out with our good friend Melissa.  Melissa's sister, Colleen, went to the Coast Guard Academy with Jeannie so our families have been close since the girls were in school.  Melissa is my fellow big sister, cougar, manatee lover and runner friend.


She showed us around her cute town of East Aurora, NY and let us stay in her cute barn-turned-apartment.  We couldn't have asked for a better hostess or time in NY!



Next up was a visit to Niagara Falls.  They were very impressive to see although it was definitely a tourist trap and surprisingly industrial.  


Of course a trip this close to the Canadian border would not be complete without a stop a Tim Horton's.  Apparently it's the Canadian version of Dunkin Donuts.  We had some tasty coffee and Timbits (donut holes.)


We also stopped to take a little hike around the Lake Geneva, one of the Finger Lakes in upstate New York.  We obviously had to take a picture with our fingers and the lake (if you look at them on a map the are long and skinny - like fingers!)


As you may have noticed the Crump girls do like our sweets so we stopped for frozen custard.  We had never really heard of it and think it's an east coast thing.  The difference between ice cream and frozen custard are the eggs.  Ice cream is made with egg whites and frozen custard is made with egg yolks.


After a long day of driving we made it to Boston around 9:00 pm, unloaded the car, threw on our Red Sox gear and enjoyed dinner out in Jeannie's new city!  Unfortunately I had to fly out early the next morning but I can't wait to come back to Boston to visit - it's a great place!  It was a fun road trip and adventure with some of the greatest people around!

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Happy Chocolate Chip Day!

Yes, you read that correctly.  It is chocolate chip day and it's awesome!  Of course there are many ways to celebrate this holiday from chocolate chip cookies to just eating a handful of choco chips straight from the bag (no shame in that :) but I decided to celebrate with chocolate chip pancakes.  I was inspired by this article that my boyfriend recently sent me.  He knows I love pancakes and running and this article proved that my love of pancakes is actually a good thing for after I run.  Win-win!

I usually just make pancakes for myself so this recipe for Joy the Baker, the single lady pancake, is perfect for me!  Plus I love to eat one GIANT pancake - it's the best!


You can add anything to the pancake - blueberries, raspberries, strawberries - but since we have a special holiday today I thought that chocolate chips were most appropriate (ok, every time I make this recipe I think it's appropriate necessary to put in chocolate chips.  I mean c'mon I have to go through this large Costco bag somehow!)


Enjoy celebrating chocolate chips today and let's be honest, every day!