Bless Your Heart

Friday Jon and I ran some errands, did some shopping (new sandals at Kohl’s for just $9!) then got a lot of packing done. Our kitty Nimbus helped out:

Saturday we drove out to Asheville to meet up with Emily and Hip. It’s a very pretty drive, with tunnels! We stopped at Blue Moon Bakery for coffee (for Jon) and some great Chai (for me) before meeting up with Em & Hip. We also bought some amazing peasant bread to take home. At this point we’re only a few minutes away from Emily & Hip’s yet we somehow manage to get lost and end up almost at the Tennessee border!! We pulled over to finally consult a map and Jon says “We’re not even on the map anymore! We’re way the #@*% over here!” Thank the Lord for cell phones. We finally ended up at E & H’s apartment almost 2 hours after we first got to town! We had a great lunch and walked around the downtown area hitting a few bead stores, galleries, gift shops, and the Grove Arcade. Asheville is such a pretty town. The weather was just great and it was so fun strolling around. The architecture is so beautiful and it’s just fun to be able to park and walk all around the town. We really loved the bead stores too. Chevron Beads is huge! Easily 4 times the size of the bead stores here. Such a great selection! I stayed within budget though. Although I did splurge on a mandrel I found at the 2nd bead store. It was only $8 though so that’s not bad. On the trip home I used it to make 2 rings in the car. I’m so excited I know how to make rings now!

It was so good to see Emily & Hip again. We’re really sad that they’re moving back north. It’s rare to find a couple where you all get along and like each other and have things in common. Hopefully they’ll come visit us one more time before they go.

Sunday we packed some more and had dinner with my Mom & Hale. Then I posted some things on Ebay. Moving sale! Check it out! More to come, I just got too sleepy last night listing things. I’ll list more next week.

Tidbits

*Photoblog your life on September 11. This looks interesting. I’m going to be too busy with moving to take part in the 26 things project, but I’ll bet I can swing this one. Anyone else doing this?

* What is the deal with KFC selling boneless wings? Aren’t they essentially chicken strips? Call a spade a spade why don’t ya?

* Saturday we’re going to Asheville to visit Emily & Hip & all of their cities’ cool bead stores. Jon is thrilled to spend a Saturday watching me pick out beads of course. At least Hip will be there to provide some manly company. Apparently there’s a cigar store that the boys can check out. I’m so excited- Asheville has around 7-8 bead stores I’d like to check out vs. the 3-4 in our area.

* I got my tea swap package last night! So excited by the variety! Teas I’ve never heard of. I can’t wait to try them all. Thanks to Stef for organizing the swap!

* When I came into work Monday morning there was a present for me on my desk. So nice! My friend Jade had seen Caress shimmering body lotion out and thought of me so she picked it up. It’s very nice, keeps my legs smooth all day, but it doesn’t have as much shimmer or sparkle as I would like. But it’s great for work. Understated and subtle.

*Speaking of lotions, why is it that the face moisturizer I picked up at Winn Dixie in the mountains because I forgot my Clinique works better than Dramatically different moisturizing lotion ever did?!? I don’t get shiny during the day, it absorbs quickly and leaves my skin smooth, soft, and not greasy. Yay for the $3.99 Ponds Dry Skin Cream!!

Shiver me timbers!

The good news: Pirates of the Caribbean is in theatres! I love pirates, always have, and can not wait to see this! Pirates of the Caribbean has always been one of my favorite rides at Disney. I heard this morning on the radio that some feminists groups made Disney remove the part of the ride where a drunk pirate is chasing a woman. While I’m all for equality and not portraying women in a demeaning way (I am one after all), let’s just remember that these are pirates, not preachers that we’re talking about here. Ah well, enough of that. I hear Johnny Depp’s performance is just amazing and bizarre and I can’t wait!

The bad news: Our new home inspection was this morning and apparently there is some big drainage/rotting wood problem with the deck where it meets the house. And they have to replace 4 windows. If they fix it we’ll be fine. But it’s a question of will they fix it. We can’t afford to fix it ourselves. I hope they’ll fix it, because I really want this house! I’ll cry I swear if we can’t have it. It’s perfect. I’ve already started addressing moving announcements for Pete’s sake! So keep your fingers crossed for us!

Hot Dog!

So one night when Rachel & Brian were here we went to my Mom’s for dinner. Mom made a fabulous chicken pasta dish that she served with dinner rolls. She saw these dinner rolls and thought- “Those are great rolls. They’re so long!”. We get there and take one look at them and ask “Why are you buttering and baking hot dog buns?”. So funny! My Mom didn’t have her glasses and thought hot dog buns were just long dinner rolls!

In house news, our inspection of the new house is tomorrow. I can’t wait to move in. We’ve got to start packing this week. We took Rachel & Brian over to see it while they were here. I hate how you get to see it when you’re looking, but not again until you move in!

Independence Weekend Recap

Too much fun! I’m worn out from it all. But in a good way. So much to tell, I’m sure I’ll forget to mention some things. Rachel & Brian left this morning for home. They should be pulling in to Baltimore at around 3pm.

While they were here in town we toured all around the town, stopping to shop in some cute little stores, especially places they don’t have back home like DI Central, World Market, and Bead Lush. We lunched at Jack Mason’s & The Penguin– fun, hipster hangouts. We had fried dill pickles at the Penguin, a first for Rachel & Brian. They were so good! We had dinner at my house Tuesday night & at my Mom’s Wednesday night where Hale told us stories about his golf outing the previous week that had us rolling!

Thursday afternoon we headed up to the mountain house. We got settled in and went to dinner at Macados. Friday morning Emily & Hip, then my Mom, Hale, Morgan & her friend Linda joined us. Full house! We went to Tennessee (State Line Fireworks) to pick up fireworks for that evening. Then we toured through the Mast Store and all the fun shops in Boone before heading back to the house for the best low country shrimp boil ever. Mounds of shrimp, potatoes & corn heaped in big bowls in the middle of the dining room table. So fun & messy with such good company & great stories from Hale. After dinner we shot off all our fireworks. I’ve got some great pictures I’ll post tonight after work.

We came back in and played hands down the most fun game of Cranium I’ve ever been a part of. I swear I laughed so hard I thought I’d have an a heart attack. Highlights include:

* Brian drawing what looked to be a boot and pointing at it with Rachel guessing “Razor Burn! Exzema! Psoriasis!” when the answer was shin splints.

*Brian sculpting a man and poking him with his fingers with Rachel shouting “Jesus! Stigmata!” when in fact it was a body builder with washboard abs.

*Emily trying to get Hip to guess Mae West and hearing Hip say “All I could hear was you saying ‘I’m an actress…’ Why wouldn’t you say ‘Come on up and see me??’ ”

*Hip guessing sarcophagus when Emily was sculpting what looked to be King Tut but was actually a camper in a tent. Somehow I don’t think ‘sarcophagus ‘ is a word the Cranium people would have included for the general public to guess. So funny!

Hip made the best apple pie, Emily brought the most awesome ginger snap cookies & coleslaw (I want the recipes!) and all of it was devoured with gusto.

Saturday we went into Blowing Rock for some shopping and a parade. It was so packed with people (crazy tourists!) but that sure didn’t stop the rain from pouring down! Those paraders were troopers though, clogging and waving and riding their bikes & horses through the rain. We managed to duck into Neaco for some cute things then we made our getaway. Jon had gone to park the car and got caught in the traffic so 7 of us had to pile in Hale’s car. Good thing we like each other since we were squished up like a clown car! We got out of Blowing Rock just in time, some weird movie effect fog rolled in as if on cue.

After the weather cleared up we played some cutthroat croquet & badminton (so fun!) then went out for dinner. Sunday we had breakfast at the famous Mountain House restaurant then packed up to head home. While vacuuming the house I apparently rolled over and sucked up a little puppy poopie and spread it all around the downstairs! I’m a poop spreader! Ew! Sunday night we had dinner at the house and watched some Family Guy on dvd. It was good to relax after such an eventful few days. Then this morning they hit the road home. Now it’s time for us to start packing up the house! Oh to be back in the mountains… It was so good to spend some time with Emily & Hip & Rachel & Brian & of course my family and the pups! Stay tuned, pics to come!

*See- I knew I’d forget something. Saturday night Rachel made us all fabulous bubble tea! So good, so fun! I love bubble tea and you just can’t get it down here. So that was quite a treat.

And we visited Sara & Jake too. He’s such a cute buddha baby!

I’m sure there’s more, but my brain’s busy trying to get used to work again.

They’re Heeeere!

Rachel & Brian & Violet arrived safely & we’ve all been having a fabulous time! Now, if the rain would clear up we’ll be all set. Nelson is so excited to have his exotic girlfriend from the north here. Although Violet is a little freaked out by his cone. Ah, puppy love.

Bittersweet

I’m so sad. Today is the last day I’ll be working with my team leader. He’s retiring and his last day is Saturday. I’m off the rest of the week though so today is my last day with him. He’s so great to work for. Very laid back, treats us all like adults instead of micromanaging like some managers can do. Plus he’s funny and his wife makes amazing lemon squares! We were trying to come up with a good gift for him when it hit me: a hammock! The perfect retirement accessory. Plus, he has a beach house, and does he really need another engraved plaque or crystal clock? We’re having a roast in his honor at our meeting today. He will be missed.

I’m so excited! Brian & Rachel are arriving today with Miss Violet in tow. They should get in around 2. We’re going to hang out, have my famous lasagne for dinner then go see our new house. It will be the last time I see it before closing so I need to take lots of pictures. I’ve got furniture planning and Ikea list making to do! When we move we’re hitting the road for Ikea as soon as we unload the truck. We might as well while we have the truck. No sense paying to rent another one later on. I’m so excited! We’re getting a new sofa & chair (the one we currently use is literally older than me), and maybe a new dining room table & chairs. Excluding our office & bedroom furniture & bistro table, all of our furniture has been handed down from family. It will be nice to have some pieces of our own. We feel so adult.

We have more fun

Today is National Blonde Day! So go out and hug your favorite blonde. I had no idea that such a day even existed. Thanks to Nicole for the heads up! I love the Blonde Legal Defense Club’s mission: To stop the widespread belief that blondes are dumb and incapable. There’s more to it, but you get the picture. I’m a natural blonde and I have noticed that our numbers are shrinking. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older. The older you get the darker your blonde gets. Now I have to be chemically enhanced a bit in the winter to keep up my blonde. Sigh, it’s so involved being me! Ha!

So I have no time for all this work I’m stuck here doing. I need to be at home finishing up my prep for Rachel & Brian’s visit tomorrow. I’m so ready for this holiday. I swear I think I enjoy the prep almost as much as the event. I’m all about making lists and menus and planning activities. Maybe I was a cruise director in my past life!

…and the hunt ends!

Talk about a whirlwhind weekend of house hunting! Friday we looked at 53,000 houses. Well, that’s what it felt like. It was more like 18. Now keep in mind we’ve been looking all along while our house has been on the market so we narrowed down our search to 2 neighborhoods. We knew exactly what we wanted. So we looked all day and came up with our top 3. Then we revisited those. I’m taking pictures like crazy and J’s making notes everywhere. We went home and talked it over and decided on one.

So Saturday we called our realtor and he came over and left about 1 ish with our offer. He called me back at about 5:30 with some news. Guess what?! They accepted our offer with no changes! We can’t believe it! So in just about 24 hours we found, offered to purchase, and bought a house! We totally feel like those people on House Hunters.

So, the house. It’s 2 stories with 3 bedrooms, a bonus, 2 & 1/2 baths, 2350 sq feet, 2 car garage (a garage! woohoo! no more switching out cars because we’re blocking each other in the driveway), hardwood floors downstairs (in the entry, living room, dining room & 1/2 bath), big master bedroom with bay window & garden tub (hurrah!), vaulted ceiling in the den, large kitchen with breakfast nook & island (i’ve always wanted an island!), lots of crown moldings, big deck that wraps around the back of the house, and the property is on a small lake, so we have great views! I’m just so excited I can’t stand it! Now, the kitchen has icky blue countertops that we’ll have to replace one day, and awful blue carpeting upstairs that’s definitely seen better days that will have to go too. And the current owner loves stencils so much that she stencilled literally every wall with ivy, leaves, little chairs, plants, flowers, everything. So lots of painting will be done. But it will all be worth it!

Here’s the house from the street: Click here for a close up.

And here’s the view from the deck: Click here for a close up. We can’t wait to have dinner out on the deck!

The Hunt Begins!

Wish us luck! We’re off on our marathon house hunt!