Happy

I had an "I'm old" moment today.  I was purchasing my tickets to Sister Hazel online and thinking to myself "I can't believe they aren't sold out!  This is such a big show for Ziggy’s -  I would have thought Wake students would be buying them out!"

And then I realized: Sister Hazel had their biggest hit in 1997.  I was 15, and riding around in cars, singing to the radio at the top of my lungs, and that kind of music sticks with you for life.

Wake seniors? They were born in 1990.  They were 7. SEVEN.

Oh dear lord.  I don't feel like that much time has passed since the late 90s...and yet... and yet.

Anyways, despite my senior moment, and despite the fact that the band itself is getting quite senior themselves...they ROCKED.  Seriously, rocked.  They sang every single song I would have hoped to hear.And the brand new Ziggy's was fabulous.  And we celebrated cute Teri's birthday.  And friends and favorite-concert-buddies Kate and Charlie joined us..  And they sang "This Kind of Love" which my friend Karl had sang at our wedding and makes me all squishy and happy inside when I hear it.

And it was such a happy night.

KatePlusEight for Dinner

The only thing better than having great friends is having great friends who are amazing cooks.  After leaving the McCurry's dinner last night, Matt turned to me and said "I think that was better than Mozelle's."  Agreed. We are all a little sad that Kate starts her new job in 2 weeks, because we would be perfectly content to have her cook homemade macaroni and cheese for us pretty much every single night for the rest of our lives.  So. freaking. good.

And for the first time in the history of ever, I took pictures of the PEOPLE and not the food.

​And the company was just as good as the meal.  Hats off to Kate for pulling off an amazing meal for 8.  Well, technically 7, as Locke had to work.  (Which I know, makes the title of my post a lie but KatePlusSeven didn't really work.  And I guess technically it was KatePlusSix... so it's all LIES, anyways.)

Except for the part about the macaroni and cheese.  That was the truth.

Katie Golf

Katie Golf (noun): A version of golf which includes the following modifications:

- Players may tee off as many times as necessary to get the ball on the green.  Or relatively close to it. 

- Players may pick up their ball at any point at which they become dissatisfied with their current play, and drop it back on the green at a later point.   As far as scoring, just pick up where you left off.

- Players may take as many practice swings as needed.  (No, really, that was a practice swing.)

-Players should probably leave the greens after 9 holes.

-Players should refrain from creating airborne projectiles out of their clubs.

Sister and I played Katie Golf on Saturday.  My Dad and Dylan played something else.  I’m not sure what it was but it looked much more complicated and frustrated.

Running Mad

I ran a 5k tonight! It was actually the worst race I’ve ever ran!

Well, wait, let me rephrase that.  It was actually the best race I personally have ever run time-wise but the worst course I have ever run.   And that’s saying a lot, because I once ran an extremely miserable run on the Concord motor speedway.

The race was part of Winston’s Rock the Block Fest and was at night.  It was an out and back, and was on a sidewalk.  A gravely, bumpy sidewalk with raised manhole covers.  And cones down the middle to separate the “out” runners from the “back” runners.  There was even one part where race volunteers were yelling at us to single-file.  All 900 of us.

I’m sorry, but WHAT?

The good news is, I was so angry the whole time I was running that I ended up running my PR for a 5k.  I never really set out to run my races at a certain time, because I’ve accepted that when it comes to running I’m pretty darn slow.  In fact, in 10 years of running I’ve never run a 5k in under 35 minutes.

Until now.  And that even includes tripping over a cone around mile 2. 

So maybe I’ll have to rethink that slow kid title…

(And yes that is a glow in the dark shirt, thank you for asking.) 

Girls Night Out: Expanding

Lately the guest list at girls night out has been growing…..

We’ve even started inviting boys…

But fortunately, our new guests seem to prefer milk over wine.  So no one’s complaining.

Jamie at 37 Weeks

Back in May, my friend Jamie and I did a fun shoot to reveal via her blog that she was having a little girl.  At that time, she was 20 weeks pregnant and we talked about doing another shoot when she was farther along and showing a little more.  September seemed soooo far away in May. 

Fast forward to week 37….

She’s looking slightly more pregnant these days.  And, I know it’s a cliché to call an expectant mother glowing but I’m sorry… what else is there to say?  She is. 

Jamie posted her faves on her blog already, so I’ll refrain from getting carried away and posting tons and tons more here.  It makes me so happy to know that I was able to capture this moment for her before her little one arrives.  I already love this little girl as much as I love her momma!

Tailgate Season

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Oh, and also …there was a football game that same day!

And as a bonus, my wino Jenny drove from Raleigh to come tailgate with us.   Then she had to go sit with all the NC State fans.  But I was able to keep an eye on her with my zoom lens.  (Not stalker-ish, at all.)

First tailgate of the season and first W for the Deacons.  Everybody goes home happy.

Except the Wolfpack.  Sorry, Pack.

Four Day Weekend

So, so, so wonderfully long.  I used Friday to be productive and do all the cleaning, laundry, etc stuff.  I got to travel to Raleigh Saturday & Sunday to see my winos.  And that left Monday to be guilt-free indulgent.

I blogged…

I crafted…

I dyed…

I cooked…

It was a pretty fantastic day.   

Yes Please

Bagels with best friends.  Getting lost in conversation about books.  Dragging out a good-bye in the parking lot.  More Sunday mornings like this, please.

Birthday Toast

Happy 30th birthday to my gorgeous, kind-hearted and funny best friend. 

I started this post off writing a list of all the funny and happy memories I have of you over the last ten years of our friendship, but it got insanely long, incredibly sappy and frankly, there’s some things I don’t want to share with the interwebs.  So I’ll just say this: Em, you bless everyone in your life with your huge heart, your infectious laugh and your incredible ability to be so present and tuned in to whoever you are spending time with.  You’ve also now become the first wino to break in motherhood and you’re setting the bar high with how gracefully you’re handling all the challenges that come along with that.  My birthday wish for you is that this new decade of life brings back to you all the love and joy you’ve given to others over the years in spades to you.  I hope your house stays full of Claire-giggles, your husband continues to be your best friend and you know how much your friends adore you.  Happy Birthday, darling. 

 

(Thanks for the pictures, Jessie K.  Hope you don’t mind I “borrowed” them.)

Witness History

Last night was the first night of Wake Forest football.  I keep seeing billboards around town with the slogan “Witness History” for this football season.  However, I hear rumors that we’re expected to come in…oooh, say dead last in the ACC this year.  Now, seeing as how this is my 11th year rooting for the Demon Deacons, I’ve learned that when it comes to Deacon sports you just have to keep the bar low, enjoy those surprising games when we pull out a W and expect a lot of heartbreaking losses in the final minutes.

Or, you can do what I do, and just accept that fact that you’re mostly there for the tailgates.

Anyways, my point is, I love the Deacs but I’m a realist about WF Football.  Aren’t most of us?  So I’m kind of wondering, who came up with this slogan?  One would think that the implication would be that this is going to be a record-breaking season with a slogan like “Witness History” but whenever I see that slogan, I can’t help but think that maybe the kind of history we could witness this season isn’t exactly something we want to brag about on a billboard.  We probably would have been better off borrowing the NY Lotto slogan this year – “Hey, You Never Know.” 

Anyways, at the very least Wake Forest football season gives us a reason to get together every week with our friends and hope that maybe this might be the game where we don’t blow a lead in last few minutes. 

(Spoiler alert: Last night was not that game.  Oh, Deacons.)

September!

Holy moly, I can’t believe it’s September.  I think I say this every year, but this summer was so busy.  I’m pretty sure we averaged about one weekend at home with no plans.  Insanity.

I love summer, but I am just as partial to lovely fall.  Especially after the heat of this summer, I am ready to usher in some crisp days, some football tailgates, dinners on our porch (soon to be finished, I hope!) and bust out my tall boots again.

Welcome, September.  Although really, did you have to continue on with the 90 degree days?

I have been looking forward to this upcoming weekend since we made our work schedules back in March.  I work a 4 day work week, with a rotating Thursday or Friday off.  Not only do I have this Friday off, but thanks to Labor Day, I also have Monday off.  And although I’m scooting off to Raleigh on Saturday night for a little wino time and 30th birthday party, most of my weekend is unscheduled.

I. Can’t. Wait.

Neither can this guy:

He was pretty pumped to see me get home from work today.  But then again, he gets pretty pumped to see me when I walk back inside from taking the garbage out…

I do have quite a little task list that I’ve made myself, but as daunting as it looks, I have to admit that none of them are urgent.  And really, I think about 2/3rds of them are blog related.  The only one who knows/cares if most of these things get done is me.

I took this picture so I could leave that notebook at work and still have my to do list on my phone.  Smart, huh?  I could go one step further and actually use the phone app TeuxDeux but I’m still pretty low tech when it comes my lists.

And now, time to kick off this long weekend with some football and celebrating Locke’s birthday.  Bring on the pink lemonade cake!