953. Becoming

953. Becoming
Definition: (adj) flattering a person's appearance
Location Placed: Newark Penn Station, Newark, New Jersey
Date Placed: 11/8/19 at 5:35pm





I headed from New York City after work to meeting up for a ride to upstate New York. I had never taken the PATH from the World Trade area to New Jersey before. It was a super easy ride but holy cow, it's a heck of a mess trying to get out of it by car at rush hour on a Friday! Won't be doing that again. But taking the PATH? Yeah, that is definitely doable.

952. Psyched

952. Psyched*
Definition: (v) mentally prepare for a task or occasion
Location Placed: California Cold Co., Manalapan, New Jersey
Date Placed: 10/30/19 at 6:12pm





A friend had recommended I check this place out since I enjoy a good iced tea now and again. With a little bit of time to kill before meeting some friends for dinner, I decided to pop in. It did not disappoint! There's a lot of good seasonal beverages, and I had a really hibiscus tea. The shop had a chill vibe and I would definitely go back in again.

*Excuse a little bit of out of order! My crane pouch got a little discombobulated.

941. Benefactor

941. Benefactor
Definition: (n) a person who gives money or other help to a person or cause
Location Placed: Starbucks, Princeton, New Jersey
Date Placed: 7/28/19 at 11:28am





One of my oldest friends and I have started a tradition of getting brunch (usually) monthly at somewhere between us. This month we chose a crepe place in Princeton and then opted to snag some tea and sit out in a park to catch up. Princeton is such a fun town with so many different food and drink options. Definitely no lack of places to check out! I'm pretty sure we have our next several brunches planned out just sticking to Princeton alone.

940. Sacrosanct

940. Sacrosanct
Definition: (adj) regarded as too important or valuable to be interfered with
Location Placed: iPlay America, Freehold, New Jersey
Date Placed: 7/19/19 at 9:00pm





Having never been to iPlay America before, we popped over for dinner at the restaurant inside the venue to see what it was all about. The food was nothing to write home about, but if I were a kid, I could see myself loving the actual games and rides portion. It definitely would've been somewhere I would've had a party. If you've got some kids in your life, and either a crummy weather summer day or really cold winter day, it's definitely somewhere that will keep the little folks entertained!

939. Sexy

939. Sexy
Definition: (adj) exciting; appealing
Location Placed: Howling Woods Farm, Jackson, New Jersey
Date Placed: 7/18/19 at 12:34pm





This is probably the best place I've been all summer. The Howling Woods Farm is an animal sanctuary for wolfdogs, aka hybrid between a wolf and a dog. They are bred as exotic pets, only to be dumped when people don't realize how much training, space, and time they need to provide to these gorgeous creatures. If you have a bit of spare time, it is ABSOLUTELY worth a visit to check them out. It had been a couple years since I had last been, and it was nice to see some familiar furry faces and some new ones around.

938. Enhanced

928. Enhanced
Definition: (v) intensify, increase, or further improve the quality
Location Placed: Hamilton Train Station, Trenton, New Jersey
Date Placed: 6/28/19 at 5:24pm





I've been trying to get a bit more out and about this summer, to varies degrees. I hadn't been to this area of Trenton before, but I recalled reading a lot about it in one of my guilty pleasure series by Janet Evanovich. Mostly the Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter, series takes place in Trenton with occasionally forays into neighboring towns. The New Jersey capital does not really have the greatest reputation, but this area is really quite lovely and far from actual downtown area.

918. Concentrated

918. Concentrated
Definition: (adj) wholly directed toward one thing
Location Placed: Starbucks, Edison, New Jersey
Date Placed: 2/17/19 at 11:47am





After meeting a friend for brunch, I popped over to Starbucks to pick up a drink for my ride home. It was set right down the way from the Top Golf, which is a place I've not been to but heard a lot about. A driving range coupled with a bar, appropriate for all seasons. It definitely seems like it's a good time, and I'm hoping to be able to go up there some time. It's been probably over a decade, at least, since I've been to a driving range!

917. Facetious

917. Facetious
Definition: (adj) joking, playful, tongue-in-cheek
Location Placed: Starbucks, Edison, New Jersey
Date Placed: 1/6/19 at 12:13pm
Status: FOUND!





After brunch, I looked up a couple places to put cranes since I'm not normally in this area. However, after my trip, I realized I hadn't put more cranes in my little pouch that I bring around. Bummer! So I had to be strategic. I had planned on going to the Menlo Park Mall as I had never been there before, but I only had one crane left. That is when I passed by Starbucks and made a split second decision to make that my placement location for the last crane I had on me. And it certainly worked out because this crane was FOUND!

 

This crane was found by Mary's son, Aidan. "Good afternoon, while out with my kids today, my 11 year old found a Crane at our local Starbucks in Edison. NJ. He immediately came home to check out your website.. what a cool idea! Thanks so much for doing this. Here’s Aidan with the Crane he found!" In a subsequent email Mary said, "He was quite excited to find the Crane and your website, he’s excited just to be a part of it! Such a neat idea. Aidan loves learning about other places and he’s completely fascinated to see all the places the Crane has ended up." So happy to hear from a crane finder, especially one as jazzed as Aidan! Hopefully Aidan has a lot of wonderful trips in his future to all the fun places he's learned about!

916. Aflutter

916. Aflutter
Definition: (adj) nervously excited
Location Placed: Metuchen Train Station, Metuchen, New Jersey
Date Placed: 1/6/19 at 11:55am





A friend had suggested we meet for brunch at a cute eatery in Metuchen, Hatch 44. I had never been up this way before, and I do love me some brunch and quality time with good friends. This place did not disappoint! I had waffles with oreos and cream. Definitely a decadent treat! It wasn't very big, so I could see how it would quickly fill up during the busy times, so make sure to go early. I'd definitely enjoy a meal there again, that's for sure!

881. Redeemed

881. Redeemed 
Definition: (v) atone or make amends for
Location Placed: Barnes and Noble, Hamilton, New Jersey
Date Placed: 10/6/18 at 5:45pm





While waiting for a friend for dinner, I popped into the local Barnes and Noble to see if there were any books on sale from my to-read list that the library didn't have. I got lucky! Found one on sale and quickly snapped it up. My list of books I want to read is miles long, but I can't ever turn down getting a new book to fill up the shelves a little bit more!

875. Decorous

875. Decorous
Definition: (adj) polite and restrained
Location Placed: Starbucks, Jersey Shore Outlets, Neptune, New Jersey
Date Placed: 8/17/18 at 4:49pm





Having not been to the outlets in a while, and needing to return something specifically to a store there, I took a nice walk around to see what new stores had popped in and see if I couldn't find a couple things that I had been looking into getting. Of course, when I saw they put in a Starbucks, I had to check it out. Can't turn up a good spot for a crane placement, that's for sure!

874. Accelerated

874. Accelerated
Definition: (v) increase in amount or extent
Location Placed: Rook Coffee Roasters, Freehold, New Jersey
Date Placed: 5/6/18 at 1:16pm





I popped out to get some lunch today, and was happily surprised to see the new Rook is opened in Freehold! They have a super delicious berry tea that they usually only have for the summer. But surprise! I was able to get some. It was a nice treat after a weekend full of productivity and action. Do you have a favorite thing you like to treat yourself to?

862. Omnipotent

862. Omnipotent
Definition: (adj) having unlimited power
Location Placed: The Brewer's Apprentice, Freehold, New Jersey
Date Placed: 11/19/17 at 11:24am





We stopped into the Brewer's Apprentice to pick up some necessary supplies for our home brewing with some friends. They definitely have a lot of things to help with that whole process. While I have absolutely no clue what I am doing, I know those folks definitely have a solid idea. They also have wine making and beer brewing classes on site!

859. Discerning

859. Discerning
Definition: (adj) having or showing good judgment
Location Placed: Starbucks, Toms River, New Jersey
Date Placed: 9/8/17 at 1:49pm





I managed to get out of a work activity a bit early and decided to treat myself to a cool drink after a long morning. Having been in a location I hadn't been to before, I searched out somewhere to place a crane and wound up at a trusty Starbucks! I'll be down in the area again in the not too distant future, so I'll try to find another place I've not been to!

838. Impassioned

838. Impassioned
Definition: (adj) filled with or showing great emotion
Location Placed: Starbucks, Marlboro, New Jersey
Date Placed: 7/13/14 at 5:58pm





On my way home from work, it just started pouring down quite heavily. I started playing the game, will I or won't I get drenched on my walk to my car. I managed to stay dry getting into my car, but got soaked as I went into Starbucks. It was all worth it as I picked up a chocolate croissant to eat on my way into work the next morning. Sometimes you just have to treat yourself!

837. Fantabulous

837. Fantabulous
Definition: (adj) excellent, wonderful
Location Placed: The UPS Store, Lincroft, New Jersey
Date Placed: 7/3/17 at 2:47pm





After having a lovely holiday weekend, popping back into work before the 4th of July holiday was a bit rough. Thankfully we were given an early dismissal, so I used the time to place a crane. Hope all my Canadian friends had a wonderful Canada Day on Saturday and my American friends have a fantabulous Independence Day tomorrow!

807. Major

807. Major
Definition: (adj) important, serious, significant
Location Placed: Gambler Ridge Golf Course, Cream Ridge, New Jersey
Date Placed: 11/11/16 at 2:04pm





It was a lovely fall day, and we decided to play some more foot golf! It is a fun mash up between golf and soccer (football for my international friends). It's usually played on a golf course, has a par similar to golf, and you kick the ball to get it in the oversized hole. It's definitely a good work out between the kicking and the walking. When played with a good group, it's a great way to spend an afternoon! Looking forward to playing more foot golf once the weather warms back up again in the spring!

806. Ready

806. Ready
Definition: (adj) easily available or obtainable
Location Placed: Provident Bank, Manalapan, New Jersey
Date Placed:10/28/16 at 12:00pm





As it sometimes happens, the cranes managed to be placed out of order this time. But it's alright, all that matters is they managed to get placed at some point in time! I remembered this was a bank that I hadn't stopped at before for a crane placement, so I did one on the fly. So far, I've not been discovered as placing any cranes at a bank. Since they have cameras, and we've established that I wind up looking irrationally guilty when placing cranes, I'm surprised that no one has called me out. Only at The UPS Store did an employee utilize the security cameras to find me!

803. Cultivate

803. Cultivate
Definition: (v) to try to acquire or develop
Location Placed: Drumthwacket, Princeton, New Jersey
Date Placed: 9/28/16 at 1:21pm





I had been wanting to go visit Drumthwacket, which is the mansion of the New Jersey state governor, for many years. They give tours only 1pm on Wednesday's Fall-Winter-Spring. Although most governor's don't end up living there full time, they do often work out of the house or hold functions there. It's a gorgeous mansion where we were able to tour the first floor and some of the grounds. True to form, my favorite room was the library. It was styled after the old British style University libraries, dark with a fireplace, tall bookcases, and comfy chairs, it was breathtakingly wonderful. I would 100% live there if I were governor and would spend all of my time in the library, around all of my governor-ly duties, of course.

If you get the chance, and it's difficult with only a small visiting window, I highly recommend you check out Drumthwacket for the free tour. It does require advanced registration but only so they can make sure to check you off as they wait for folks for the tour to start. I hear they dress up the place really nice for Christmas visits.

802. Significant

802. Significant
Definition: (adj) sufficiently great or important to be worthy of attention; noteworthy
Location Placed: Marlboro Library, Marlboro, New Jersey
Date Placed: 9/21/16 at 12:29pm





 What better way to conclude a day of placing by coming full circle and placing the last crane of the day at a library! Not planned that way, but a happy coincidence. You'd think I'd run out of local libraries to place at, but you may be happily surprised to find out just how many libraries are out there. It seems like each town has their own, even if it's not a part of the larger county network. I may take stock in the near future and see if I can do a full day of placing at different libraries! You guys might get tired about my talk of books and library love.