all you need is...

so, this is one of the tiles in a wall of many tiles. the wall was providence's response to 9.11. i spent about 4 days in rhode island a couple of weeks ago. well, i guess it was more like 3 after you subtract all of that flying time. anyway, this wall intrigued me and i took a picture of one of the tiles...i thought it was a message we could all use.

our trip was really nice. vanessa and i went and of course...i loathe flying so i was glad to get that over with. so, i should say...other than the plane it was great. and the flight actually wasn't that bad, so i really shouldn't complain about that.

we stayed in a really nice hotel. the fact that the hotel was connected to a 4-story mall by a skybridge didn't hurt anything, either. AND the mall had a forever21 store in it. how much better could things get?

we got to see part of brown university, although i was really looking forward to touring their art museum and we didn't have time. we saw the first baptist church of america. yeah, i know. i laughed, too. but it was really for real. my favorite part of the trip (other than shopping ~ haha) was taking a ferry out to newport. the ferry ride was nearly 2 hours long and it was freezing, but it was so worth it. there were tons of little shops all along cobblestone walks, but the best part were the mansions. MANSIONS. mansions that were built many, many years ago for people like the astors and the kennedys and the vanderbilts to use as summer homes. SUMMER HOMES, people! these things were like castles. they looked just like the ones you see on the movies. as a matter of fact, one of them was on the great gatsby. just let me say that cribs ain't got nothin on these houses. we didn't have time to tour any of them, but i would love to go back one day. the ships in the bay and the rocks on the cliff made for some breath taking scenery. i can see why people love it in new england...but it's no substitute for home. haha.

by the way...i checked the weather as i was packing the night before we left and they had been having the same weather as us...upper 80's lower 90's. when we stepped off the plane, guess what? it was 55 degrees. they had a 40 degree drop overnight...unexpectedly. it made for a great excuse to buy new winter clothes that we'll get no use out of here for another good 5 or 6 months....but it was fun shopping for them!

go see new england, people!