Escape to Lenox

A couple weekends ago we escaped to "The Blatnyre" in Lenox, Massachusetts.  We arrived on a Friday night to this beautiful sight:

Upon check-in, we found some treats in our room:

We didn't have much planned for the weekend (except relaxation) but we ended up having a great time!  We enjoyed a gourmet homemade breakfast each morning we were there.  From the whole wheat lemon poppy pancakes to the egg white omelettes -- everything was delicious!  There was hot chocolate, tea and coffee aplenty, plus a small fruit salad and biscuits served with homemade jams!  Delish!

On Saturday afternoon, we took a horse drawn carriage ride through the snow:

Check out this scenery!

The grounds were as blissfully quiet as they were beautiful. After our sleigh ride, we decided to get energetic and go snow shoeing!  It was my first time, and it was not as hard as I expected it to be.  Though my left shoe did fall off twice in one hour and I did temporarily lose my hat in the snow...

We warmed up by one of the fireplaces in the mansion before heading back outdoors to take a few spins on the tennis courts homemade ice rink!

And because no ice skating experience is complete without delicious hot chocolate and HOMEMADE MARSHMALLOWS (!!!!!, with banana bread!!!!!) we indulged...

The Blantyre offered a complimentary wine tasting to guests on Saturday evening, after which we received a tour of their wine cellar.  Wooo weee!!!  What a collection.  Their collection makes ours look like a few bottles in a cabinet.  Oh, wait...  ;)  After the tour, we listened to some piano music in the Music Room Lounge and then enjoyed a fantastic Chateaubriand dinner pour deux in the formal dining room.

On Sunday, we spent some time at the spa, which was very cozy and relaxing.  After getting our massage on, we headed out to visit The Normal Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge.

And to cap the day off right, since it was past lunch time and getting verrrrry cooooooold, I had to enjoy one of these from a local bakery shop:

All in all, it was a great weekend and the perfect mix of fun and relaxation.  If you ever get the chance, I'd highly recommend spending some time at The Blantyre!

Alas, Monday eventually came and it was back to reality.  But our mini escape definitely made heading back to the office easier.  :)

*All photos are the property of This Is Life At Our Home*

Cool Customers

{Disclaimer: This post is very delayed, but better late than never!}

This summer, Shep and I officially became "Cool Customers".  How, you ask?  Let me tell you!...

Source

Our electricity provider, PSE&G, has a program called the Cool Customer Program.  The gist of it is that customers who enroll get a new fancy shmancy programmable thermostat installed free of charge AND a $50 statement credit.  Once you're enrolled, PSE&G has the ability to cycle your air conditioning compressor in order to minimize the impact of high energy demand on the electric system.  This is especially important to them in summer when temperatures soar and ACs roar, because the cycling ability allows them the opportunity to avoid blackouts.

Shep wanted to join the program for the free thermostat (he's been wanting to buy a new one since we moved in!); I liked the idea of $50 worth of free electricity (to help counteract my darling hubby's hobby of turning on, and leaving on, every light in the apartment).  But, the program seemed a little "big brother"ish to me.  I like being in control of my own home's temperature, thank you very much!  Plus, we didn't really need new thermostats; we already had programmable ones!  Shep's curiosity took charge so he called PSE&G and spoke with a service rep, who explained that it would be a rare occurrence (and pretty dire circumstance) for them to actually exercise their ability to cycle the system.  That put Shep at ease, but I still wasn't buying it.  So, I asked around at work and did a few minutes of online research to perform a quick cost/benefit analysis.  Before signing up, I wanted to ensure the pros of the program outweighed any potential cons.  Lucky for me, a couple of colleagues of mine had joined the program the previous year and confirmed that PSE&G had never to date adjusted their AC cycles.  This made me a lot more comfortable, so we took the plunge.  Well, to our delight we received TWO free programmable thermostats (which were installed very quickly and painlessly by a PSE&G representative) and a $100 statement credit, because we have 2 HVAC units in our condo.  Woohoo!  Double the benefits and no additional risk... that's my kind of offer!  ;)  Oh, and as expected, we didn't experience any compressor cycling at all throughout the summer.

In summary, I'd definitely recommend the program to anyone out there considering it!  As far as we can see, there's nothing to lose by trying it out!

Do any readers out there have any experience with a "Cool Customer" program?  I'm curious to hear about other power companies out there that have similar programs, so do share!

{I was not asked or encouraged by PSE&G to write this post; the views are my own and I'm voluntarily sharing them.}

Lovely Labels

I looooove address labels.  Shep might say that my love of labels boarders on addiction... I don't know if I'd agree with that characterization, but I definitely admit to having a quite large collection, especially for someone who doesn't even send snail mail all that often!  I can't help it, I have zero restraint when I see a cute design I like... something inside me gets giddy and I have to have them!

I can thank (and blame) my obsession with personalized address labels mostly on Vistaprint.  I'm not quite sure how they stay in business with such a pricing model, but Vistaprint often has "free" sales, which means many of the items on their website are free of charge; the customer must only pay for shipping.  In my opinion, the $2 postage charge for 140 address labels is well worth it considering the plethora of designs one can choose from, and the ease with which they can be customized.  After the very first time I ordered, I was smitten.

Here are some of my faves that I've created over the years:

The very first design I ordered!
Apparently after one gets engaged, one must buy labels.

I ordered these for our wedding save-the-date magnets!
Cue the music to "Memories" from Cats...

We used these the first time we sent joint
Christmas cards out.  Not very holiday-ish;
not sure what I was thinking (except blue).

Look familiar?  I needed them in blue
for our wedding invitations, of course!

If you guessed holiday cards you'd be right!
These are from December 2010,
when we were still in our first apt!  (sniff)

Our first labels with our new apt address on them.

These are the latest addition to my collection!
Aren't they so sweet?!  I'm in LOVE.

Speaking of love, that last label design happens to coordinate PERFECTLY with these postage stamps I have, which makes me doubly excited to send mail out!

2011 USPS Love Forever Stamp

Good thing I hoarded purchased a ton of these when they came out, because I just checked the website and it doesn't appear these are being sold any longer!

Well, there you have it -- my love for personalized address labels (and pretty postage stamps) is out in the open.  They say that admittance is the first step to recovery, but I don't want to recover!!!  My name is Nicole, I'm an address label collector, and I'm proud!!

Any other stamp, sticker or label collectors out there?  We collectors need to "stick" together, so tell me about what collections you have!  ;)



Note: I have not received any payment or other perks from Vistaprint for this post.  I just love their labels so much I had to share!

Car Damage Woes

One Saturday morning in March, Shep came into the apartment exclaiming that he'd seen that our car had been hit in the garage while parked, but there was no note left and the garage attendants had no record of the incident on their video footage.  I thought:  "WHAT?!?!  The garage we pay a pretty penny to park in each month???"  Yep, that one.  Shep was, understandably, very upset that the car had been hit.  After all, our beloved CR-V is only 2 years old and we've been so careful with it!  I tried to reassure my hubby that if our car had to be hit the best possible scenario was for it to be hit while parked, with no one inside that could get hurt.  Although I believed what I was saying, I was still pretty annoyed.  What kind of person hits a car and then drives away without leaving a note?!?!  We went down together to survey the damage and saw this...

The first thought that ran through my head was "phew, it could've been a lot worse".  The next thought was "how much is this going to cost to fix" and "uh oh, are we going to have to pay for these repairs since there's no other party to blame"?  And if so, "is our insurance premium going to increase because of this????".

Scared, I attempted to call Geico, our auto insurance company, anonymously to investigate whether or not a hit-and-run-while-parked claim would affect our insurance rates.  Unfortunately, they weren't able to provide a definitive answer without looking into my specific policy.  I thought for sure that as soon as I identified myself that I'd be on-the-hook and would surely be told me new insurance rate would be approximately 1 billion dollars a year.  ;)  To my great surprise, I was advised by my claim specialist that although I would be responsible for our deductible (which is less than ideal since we weren't at fault for our parked car getting hit by a jerk that drove away without taking responsibility for his/her actions), our insurance premium would not increase as a result of this incident.  PHEW.  What a relief that was!  The Geico claim agent walked me through the process, referred me to a local body shop that could do the work, and told me he and his colleagues aimed to provide 10-star service.  I rolled my eyes as I thanked him for his time and hung up the phone.  To be honest, I was expecting to be lied to, ripped off, misled and more.... but let me tell you something -- we did receive 10-star service from the Geico claims rep, the on-site Geico adjuster at the body shop, and the shop personnel they referred us to.  All in all, it was a relatively painless process, given the situation.

Why am I writing this post?  A couple reasons:

• to recommend Geico.  They really did everything in their power to make the process as simple and convenient for us as possible and we were incredibly satisfied with their service.  In case you're wondering, we gave them the 10 stars they earned on the follow-up survey we received.
• to provide others that find themselves in a similar situation with some info on what to expect if you're the victim of a hit-and-run-while-parked.  (1) Don't panic.  (2) Snap a quick photo of the damage.  Try to obtain any security footage that may exist of the incident.  (3) Contact your auto insurance agency as soon as possible.  Although there was no time frame within which we had to make the repairs according to the Geico policy, I am sure this varies according to the insurance company so the sooner you look into it the better.
• to highlight that random accidents happen all the time, and nobody can predict when/if this kind of thing will happen.  Of course, if your names are "Nicole & Shep" chances are higher it will happen to you.  ;)  Take this into consideration when choosing your auto insurance coverage AND deductible.  Yes, you can control your driving, you can take defensive driving courses and measures to keep yourself and your car as safe as possible, but there are no guarantees.  Life happens!  That's what insurance is for.  ;)  Just be sure that you can live with the policy and deductible you choose for yourself.

Well, that's our bad luck story!  Do any readers have any additional advice to share?  Has anyone been the victim of a hit and run, either on the road or while parked?