Wine & Love!

Loving this new link-up from Walking with Nora!  Here's what I'm loving and what's driving me to drink today.

What's got me popping a cork:

The royal wedding.  

Yes, I want to see what Kate's dress looks like just like everyone else does but GOOD LORD, must everything be royal-themed this week?  If they don't get married already, I'm gonna need a royal barf bag.  

All this scary weather we've been having lately.  

It wasn't easy to go to bed last night knowing that so many people have been affected by tornados and that they were calling for possible tornadoes here.  I slept with my phone next to me and signed up for text alerts from one of our local news stations.  It only went off twice, and for counties other than mine, but it still wasn't a good feeling.  Fortunately I woke up this morning to no damage at all, and not even a power loss.  But I'm sad for those who have lost so much lately.

Exams cramping my style.

Y'all I am SO not motivated.  Law school classes are officially done and I'm ready to squeak on out of there.  Over it!  As of Tuesday, I'll be done forever - and it couldn't come soon enough.

What's putting a smile on my face:

The amazing deep-fried burger I had last night.

We went to a new place that opened downtown and I ordered what's supposed to be their specialty - the beer-battered, deep-fried burger.  Basically it's a heart attack on a bun.  But I'm a sucker for anything deep fried, and holy amazeballs, it was delicious.  Though one of the things on my wine list should have been the deep-fried burger hangover I have today.  Ugh.  Not something I could do every day for sure.  But what a fantastic concept!

Spring weather!

Even if it does mean storms, I am so ready for temperatures that stick in the 80s every day.  I am such a sucker for summer weather.  

Having a weenie dog sleeping on her back on my couch.

No further explanation needed.  Extreme cuteness.

Did I mention I'll be done with law school ENTIRELY on Tuesday?

Praise the dear sweet baby Jesus for that.  

Planning our Rock the Dock party!

We're having a big band party at the lake toward the end of May - good music, a cookout, and probably a giant batch of Cherry Lemon Sundrop modified and/or sangria.  How could you not be excited about that?

Going for an awesome run this afternoon.

Did you see the picture of the burger I posted?  Clearly, I need it.

~~~~

What's got you reaching for the wine this week?  What's making you whistle Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah?

Go link up over at Walking with Nora and tell us!

Ten on Tuesday!

This week's questions are by Molly at Considering the Campbells, and thanks as always to Chelsea at Roots and Rings for hosting!

1. How many blogs do you read every day and what are they? (I’m talking the ones you NEVER miss)

First let me say that I have been a terrible slacker in the blog world as a whole lately.  I've just been super busy, without internet at the lake, and a myriad of other things lately.  So my Google Reader looks like a bomb went off in it.  But those that I'm pretty good about keeping up with because I just love them would be:

Walking With Nora, Elefantitas Alegres, Oh Hay, It's KK, Keep on the Sunny Side, and Bicoastally.  There are so many more, but those are generally the ones that get clicked through first on my Reader.  You know, when I'm actually keeping up, must get better at that. 

2. How many “best friends” do you have? Do you have different “besties” for different areas of your life?

I don't really like that term.  I feel like it's a third-grade "you hurt my feelings because I'm not your 'best' friend" kind of thing.  I do have several people in my life that I just love and could not live without!  They're all my best friends in different ways!

3. What’s your daily make up routine?

Bare minerals foundation in medium tan + 

Revlon colorstay eyeshadow in coffee bean + 

Bare minerals blush in Glee + 

Bare minerals illuminating mineral veil +

One of my mascaras from my Sephora mascara sampler that Mom got for me!  Love this thing, but I don't know how I'm ever going to be able to decide on my favorite.  So far, I think I've only had one brand that I didn't just love.

And no eyeliner required, because I have permanent eyeliner!  Now before you picture Tammy Faye:

I promise, mine really does look fine.  It looks like the super thin eyeliner I'd put on myself if I did it every day, except it's not smeared all over my face and crooked like it had a tendency to be when I did it.  So if you know of someone with a good reputation for permanent makeup - go for it!  It's amazing.

4. What is your ideal girl’s night?

Really anything!  As long as that anything involves some wine and/or beer and some delicious food.  I'm happy going out for Mexican or staying in, eating pizza, and watching a movie.

5. Do you keep up with your nails/toenails or are they au natural?

Well, this shellac stuff has changed my life.  We're now at about a week and a half (it will be two weeks on Friday) and it's still holding strong.  My only teeny weeny complaint is that my nails grow super fast, so they are starting to pull up a tad toward my cuticles.  But still, it's really not noticeable, and nothing like the gross chips I'd have in a manicure at this point.  Seriously, I know 60% of the polish would be gone if it were regular nail polish.

6. What’s your best roommate story (assuming you had a roommate at some point in your life)?

Doesn't everyone have a good roommate story?  I had a couple of different ones during college, and I have lots of stories, but I don't think the interwebs are ready for those.  Sorry, taking a pass on this one.

7. What’s your “go to” outfit that you wear more than anything else?

Homeless chic.  Just kidding.  Sort of.  Really, I wear jeans, flip flops or TOMS, and a comfy solid t-shirt from Target or Old Navy more than anything.  Just plain, basic and comfy.  I'm not so fancy.

8. Do you have a beauty secret?

Goodness, no.  We're lucky if I get out of the house with makeup on a daily basis.  But if y'all have some I can adopt, feel free to share!

9. Did you read Seventeen magazine growing up?

Like it was a religious text.

10. How did you learn to put on makeup?

Um, I guess from my grandmother and mom?  Except when I first started "wearing makeup" in like 7th grade, all I wanted to do was buy the scented glitter gel from Candies and Lip Smackers and wear it as blush.  And when you try to go to school with sparkles all over your face, your Nana will tell you that you look like a two dollar hooker!  And in fairness, she's probably at least somewhat right.  Except two dollar hookers probably have better taste.

Easter weekend in pictures

If you couldn't tell, we spent it at the lake.  That would be PB, me, T, J and Peg.  Who is the only one not in Crocs.  And I'd also like to note that I bought a pair of pants at the most podunk Wal-Mart in the world.  They cost $12.  I love them.

It ain't Easter if I don't get to be the Easter egg warden!  I successfully bossed everyone around into making pretty eggs.  See, aren't they pretty?  Love Easter eggs.

And this is a fantastic Craigslist find - it's a coffee table.  And a foosball table. Classy!

Sitting in what everyone dubs the "little chair" - I disagree with that characterization.  It fits me perfectly and everyone else needs to stay out of my chair.  And I'm drinking sangria!  Wearing Wal-Mart pants!  Yes!

That little black blob?  It's Peg, sunbathing and exhausted from lake swimming.  

My Nana made cake.  Oh dear Lord, heavenly cake.  White cake, fresh strawberries.  Never had better.  Don't think I ever will, either.  GAH.

And finally, my favorite picture of the weekend.  Jenna, putting up the flag for our little putting green we created in the side yard.  She looks like she just conquered Everest.  I love it.

Hope you had a wonderful Easter!  How did you spend yours?

Whineface Alert

Occasionally, this happens.  I am just in a weird funk and cannot bring myself to write.  I think it's just that graduation is coming up, which feels entirely meaningless.

Mainly this is because the Barbri book fairies just emailed me to say my Giant Box of Books Designed to Teach the One Million Hours Worth of Things I Did NOT Learn in Law School has shipped.  Gulp.  Y'all, I don't study.  Really, I don't take things seriously, especially law school.  I was an English major, where my professors were glad to read my happy little ideas and as long as they were marginally well-written, reward me with a pat on the back and an A.  In law school and on the bar exam?  There are these things called correct answers.  I really suck at coming up with/memorizing/analyzing the correct answer.  Also the fact that I never was interested in law school.  Or what we were learning.  This is really going to spell trouble for me.  I also suck at self discipline.  Another issue.

Further, I guess it all feels ridiculous because there are NO jobs out there.  There are like a million people graduating from all seven of the giant law schools in this state that basically has one major metropolitan area.  So for the say, one or two job openings that do exist - there are a million people competing for them.  I don't like it.

So basically, I haven't been writing, because I have been a giant stressball who does nothing but feed this terrible internal we're-going-to-starve-when-I-graduate inner monologue that has been playing on repeat inside my head for the last few weeks.

Hopefully, I'll just be able to throw myself into studying and being busy and not thinking about it when the Giant Box from Barbri comes and you guys will get to hear about my non-studying adventures more.  Sorry for the whinepants post.  But you know, just had to get it out there.

I cancelled Monday

This weekend, I'm pretty sure I was at the law school for 24 hours between Friday night and about 9:15 last night. Ordinarily, I'm there maybe 10 or 12 hours in a Monday to Friday week, so needless to say, I felt completely repulsed by that place when I got home last night.

I also felt like I needed a weekend. So what did I do? I went through the drive through at Arby's and ate what must have amounted to 3,000 calories and went to bed at 9:30. One of my prouder moments.

And today? The thought of going to the law school for any time at all just made me want to jump out a window. So I went for a run, and then I decided to come to the lake. Officially, I cancelled Monday and created my own weekend. My parents took off work to close on the new lake house (which happens to be next door to the old one, but has a ton more space.) I laid on the dock, hung out with Peggy Sue and my mom, and made a lot of progress on Important Literature on my Kindle.

And you will be happy to know that Peggy Sue is officially an Aquatic Weenie! She ditched the adorable pink life jacket and went swimming all by herself. The new policy regarding the lake is officially "Get all ducks at all costs. Or at least attempt to get all ducks.".

The best part of this post was really video evidence of such, but that'll have to wait. This blogging-from-the-iPhone thing is not without its flaws.

I hope you're having a great Monday too! And I'm probably canceling Tuesday too, so you'll have advance notice for tomorrow, in case you need to make lake/beach/pool plans. Tuesday is officially cancelled. Go forth, and have a wonderful mid-week weekend.

Where have I been?

There should be some fantastic answer like, "In a wilderness cabin with no internet!" or "On a beach in the Bahamas without my laptop!" or "Saving orphans from floods and fires!" There are no fantastic answers such as that.  I've just been busy with a lot of mainly mundane crapola that you probably don't want to hear about.  It involves slogging through classes, doing some assignments that always crop up at the end of the school year, and (most recently) having our intra-school trial competition to decide who gets to be on the trial team next year.  I mean seriously, that was my Friday night, all of my Saturday today, and will be most of my Sunday tomorrow.  WAHOO!  I'm so exciting.

But here's a little recap on the less-mundane things that have been going around these parts lately.

First of all, last Saturday was PB's birthday.  PB and I aren't huge birthday people, so we didn't do anything super fancy.  We just went down to the lake house and grilled burgers and played Taboo while we listened to the top 100 songs of 1987.  I know, I put on an exciting birthday celebration.  I also got PB the most hilarious alarm clock for his birthday.  It's called the Sonic Boom - and seriously, that's what it is.  It has a vibrating disc that you connect to the clock that shakes the whole bed when the alarm goes off.  And the alarm itself?  It sounds like a tornado siren.  It makes Peggy Sue howl when it goes off.  She also won't get on that side of the bed anymore because in Peggy's little weenie mind, the vibrating is apparently caused by forces of evil.

But so far, it works!  It actually gets PB up!  This is a big win and will mean I do not have to kill him for sleeping through alarms!  It's something I've never understood because I could probably wake up in the morning to the sound of a tiny mouse sneezing, so having to buy the equivalent of a fire whistle for PB is a little odd, but hey, whatever you have to do.

You'll also notice that I did a really A+ job on this birthday celebration - I went around the house and gathered up all the really lovely 1980s candles (it's like an accidental theme!) and used them as birthday candles.  Again, whatever you have to do.  It worked, I feel the wish probably still counts.

We carried PB's birthday celebrations over into last night, because hey, even if we don't do anything really fancy, you still get a whole birthday week, right?  That's how I see it at least.  So we went out to Carrabba's, which never ever fails to be delicious, and J and I ordered sangria, which never ever fails to be the most amazing thing ever.  

One "quartino" of that stuff is just never enough, and I was really needing more when we left.  But then I was not wanting to pay like $20 for another little jug of it at Carrabba's, so we made a stop by the good ol' Harris Teeter, did some iPhone research on the way, and ta-da!!  Our own version of Carrabba's white sangria!

And I mean once you mix everything together, you can't just not finish it, right?  So clearly we were successful in achieving our goal.

In case you're needing a delicious white sangria recipe, a la Carrabba's (maybe not exact, but pretty darn close and really yummy), here you go:

Ingredients:

1 bottle Yellowtail sparkling white wine 

1 bottle cheapie pinot grigio (OR you can use another bottle of Yellowtail, OR whatever fairly dry white wine you like)

2/3 cup white sugar 

1 lemon

1 lime

2 oranges OR 1 cup orange juice 

About 1 cup club soda

Directions:

Mix wine, sugar, and club soda in large (and I do mean REAL LARGE) pitcher.  Or use a flower vase like we did.  Not kidding.  Slice up the fruit, juice some of it into the wine mixture, and chill thoroughly or serve over ice.  We clearly didn't, but I'm sure it would be better if you let it chill and mix its flavors together all day or overnight.

Here's something else, besides delicious wine products, that's making me super duper happy.  My grandmother and I pretty much have a standing Friday lunch date and then a shopping trip or errands.  This Friday involved going to get our nails done with the shellac nail polish that they promised lasts for three weeks.  I'm only on day two, so I can't really attest to whether or not that's true yet, but so far I don't even have a little bit of wear on them.  That's saying a lot, because normally, I mess them up on the way to the car as I leave the nail salon.  The brand that I got is called Entity 1 Gel, but I think there are several out there that do pretty much the same thing.  It's more expensive than a regular manicure, but I figure if it really lasts for three weeks, it's more than worth it!

So far, so good!

I promise not to be MIA for so long next time.  What's been making you smile lately?

Ten on Tuesday!

As always, muchas gracias to Chelsea at Roots and Rings for hosting!  And this week's questions come to you courtesy of Lisa at Lisa's Yarns!  Also, they're brought to you by the letter A!  Okay, maybe they're not, but that was a fun Sesame Street throwback.


1. If you work, do you drive to work or take public transportation?
Well, I don't work, because I'm a bum.  But I'm finishing school and I drive about 40 minutes each way to get there.  Public transit just isn't a realistic option to get there from where I live, and at any rate, public transit around here is RULL SCARY.  I like the concept, and taking the metro in DC is all kinds of handy for a night out, but I just don't know that it'll be an option around these parts in my lifetime.  Really, I'm okay with that.  Driving is fun sometimes.

2. How often do you get your haircut? Do you go to the same person every time?
When it was shorter, I used to get it cut every six weeks or so.  Now that I'm growing it out for the wedding, it's more like two or three times a year.  You'd think I'd look like Rapunzel by now, but we're only about bra-strap length.  It'll get there.  And no, I don't go to the same person every time.  I generally go to the same salon, but all I ever want is a split end trim and a shape up, and I always make the appointment when my hair is super gross and I've become desperate to deal with it right-this-second, so I'll take an appointment with anyone.

3. Do you read the newspaper? If so, a hardcopy or the online version?
It's funny, I used to be a news junkie.  In college, I had CNN on when I got ready in the morning, CNN on when I ran on the treadmill, the local news on at night before bed.  All sorts of news sites were on my bookmarks bar.  I picked up a hardy copy of the Daily Tar Heel every single day and even wrote for it for awhile.  Now?  I might have the evening news on as background noise while I'm cooking dinner.  It's pitiful, I should care more.  But mostly?  The news just makes me sad nowadays and I've become an incredible cynic, which means the issues I used to really care about don't mean as much to me anymore.  Guess it's a product of law school.  And another reason I believe law school probably makes you a worse person than you were before you went.  Selfish alert!

4. What is the best book you have read this year?
Jane Eyre.  Couldn't believe I'd never read it before.  It's just beautifully written, I couldn't quit using the highlight function on my Kindle.

5. What is the best movie you have seen this year?
The Adjustment Bureau. Oh wait, that's probably the only movie I've seen this year that hasn't been something random on Netflix Instant.  But seriously, it might make into my list of favorite movies.  Awesome concept.

6. Do you tend to crave sweet or salty foods?
What food don't I crave?  I suppose sweet a tad more so than salty.  Mainly due to my dear sweet love of Little Debbie Snack Cakes and birthday cake (might have eaten a huge chunk of PB's birthday cake for my breakfast this morning).  Oh but wait, that would exclude tater tots.  And buffalo wings.  And tacos.  And falafel.  All of which I'm craving right now.  So the answer is, both.  Definitely both.

7. Do you eat breakfast every day? If so, what do you have?
Well, I just confessed that I ate birthday cake for breakfast this morning.  Shame.  For the past two weeks, I ate some variety of eggs what with that low-carb nonsense.  My favorite breakfast besides birthday cake has got to be a pimento cheese omelette.  If you've never had pimento cheese in your omelette or scrambled eggs, you must!  I command it!  It's delicious!

8. If you celebrate Easter, what Easter treat/candy are you most looking forward to?
Chocolate covered Peeps.  I haven't had any yet, but they look amazing.  Also, I love love love dying Easter eggs.  Though everyone says I'm no fun because I don't let anyone use the wax crayon or the stickers or try to "tie-dye" an egg.  I like all the eggs to be uniform.  And then I have a hierarchy for consuming said eggs, and it starts with the ugliest egg and progresses to the prettiest.  I have problems, okay?

9. How late is “sleeping in” to you?
Hmm, couldn't tell you the last time I've slept past 10:30 or so.  I really hate sleeping any later than that, it makes me feel like I've wasted the whole day and that I'm becoming a vampire or a possum, or some other unseemly nocturnal animal.  Yuck.

10. Where are you going on your next vacation?
Doubt I'll get to go anywhere before Disney World, not even the beach, because I have to study for the stupid bar.  Stupid, stupid bar.  Also because vacations are expensivo and I'm getting married, yo.  We might do a girls' bachelorette weekend or some such between the bar and Disney, but we'll see.  So basically the plan is - save up all my vacation energy and money and then blow it out at Disney come September.

Wine and Love

Nora over at Walking with Nora has started a new little series on her precious blog that she calls Wine and Love.  And she made a cute button!  So I thought I'd play along this week.  Because let's face it, What I'm Loving Wednesday is okay, but it doesn't leave me any room for whining, and I ain't no Pollyanna.

Things that have me diving into the wine cooler this week: 

Saturday is PB's birthday (okay that's not the part making me need a bucket of wine) - but he is the hardest person in the world to shop for.  And when I finally found him a good present (meaning a pair of Oakley sunglasses he's been wanting for awhile), he figured out the surprise!  Ugh, he's worse than a kid searching the closets for Christmas presents!

We had bad storms this week and power at the law school was out for two days.  That meant no class, woohoo!  But the only way the law school communicated with us was via Facebook.  And Wednesday, they cancelled classes, so I went on about my day.  When I checked Facebook again late Wednesday night, turns out they had changed their minds!  And reinstated classes!  Ridiculous.  But after all was said and done, attendance didn't count on Wednesday because of the "communication issues," so everything turned out happy.  But still.  Way to be professional, guys!

Pollen.  Pollen all over my porch furniture, pollen flying through the air, pollen in my nose, pollen everywhere.  Oh, spring.  I love you, but I hate the pollen you bring.

Things I'm loving this week!

That our wedding tree came!  We're going to display this at our wedding, put out green inkpads and pens for signing, and have people make fingerprint leaves as a sort of alternative way to have a guestbook.  And see the little birds on the bottom branch?  PB and I are going to put our fingerprints there in blue! 

That this is what the garden section at Wal-Mart looked like the other day.  I'm itching to plant a million pots - I really want impatiens and geraniums and basil and tomato plants!  I did pick up one of these sweet little yellow flowers in the blue bucket.  Only $7 and it's making my screened porch feel like spring!

I got Peggy Sue a life jacket yesterday!  Isn't she just the cutest little floating weenie you've ever seen?  I'm probably going to lower her off the edge of the dock and let her swim around and get acquainted with everything this weekend.  I've kind of shoved her off the steps near the edge of the water before, and she can definitely swim, but with the lifejacket on, I'll feel more comfortable putting her out further so that she can explore and get more used to the water.  I'm determined to have a completely aquatic weenie by summertime!

What are you loving this week?  What's got you reaching for the corkscrew? 

Happy Little Strawberry Cupcakes Recipe

Or, you don't have to call it a recipe.  You can call it Making Cupcakes with a Strawberry Cake Mix and Mostly Ignoring the Directions on the Box.

I know, I write about cupcakes all the time.  But what better treat is there?  No knife, fork, or plate required.  Just pop them in your mouth.  Delicious.  So it's sort of my life's passion to make cupcakes and figure out how to make them more delicious and what to fill them with.  Sometimes, it doesn't take anything fancy to get an awesome result.  These strawberry cupcakes are the perfect example of that!  I made them for our women's group at church since it was my turn to pitch in refreshments for our meeting. They're sweet, delicious, and perfect for spring.

Cupcake Ingredients:

• 1 box Duncan Hines Strawberry Deluxe Cake Mix (Ignore the rest of the ingredients on the back of the box)
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 box Jello Vanilla Pudding Mix

Filling:

• 1 Jar Smucker's Simply Fruit Strawberry

Frosting:

• 1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix all cake ingredients together.  Beat with electric mixer two minutes, or until well combined and smooth.
3. Fill cupcake liners with batter.
4. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes or until cupcakes spring back to the touch.
5. Use a pastry bag with a star tip to fill baked cupcakes with Simply Fruit Spread.  My experience - the more Simply Fruit per cupcake, the more delicious.
6. To make frosting, cream butter and cream cheese together.  Add vanilla.  Slowly beat in powdered sugar, little by little.  If it gets too stiff, add a teaspoon of milk (or water, if you're out of milk like I am).  If you have a little extra Simply Fruit, I often add that to the frosting.  Don't add more than a tablespoon or so.
7. Frost completely cooled cupcakes.
8. Ta-Da!  Delicious, pink, sweet, strawberry filled cupcakes.

I've also filled these with vanilla pudding instead of the Simply Fruit - both ways are delicious.  These would be perfect for Easter brunch!

And the last picture is of my finished cupcakes in the world's greatest invention - my cupcake taker!  Everybody needs a cupcake taker.  There's just no other way.

Mother's Day Awesomeness

Because I'm engaged and I've been stressing about wedding invitations forever, I'm a fan of Wedding Paper Divas on Facebook.  That's how I found out that their parent company, Tiny Prints, is offering a great Mother's Day deal.

Just become a fan on Facebook and they'll give you a code for a free Mother's Day card!  I did one for my grandmother, and scheduled it to be mailed the week before Mother's Day, directly to her, so that I don't even have to do anything else.  Their cards are also super-cute.

Here's what I did for The Nana:

There's the front of the card...and here's the inside!

Isn't that precious?  I did have to pay for the 44 cent stamp, the discount code didn't cover that.  But I thought it was a great idea for Mother's Day!

*Note: I didn't get anything at all from Tiny Prints or Wedding Paper Divas - I just suck at Mother's Day and thought this was a great idea and that maybe it would help some of y'all too!

Ten on Tuesday!

Thanks as always to Chelsea at Roots and Rings for hosting - this week's questions were provided by Tabaitha at Keeping Up With the Kayes.  Clearly, Tabaitha has a much more interesting life than I do, because I had a REAL hard time answering these questions this week as I am the Least Interesting Person in the World.  Seriously y'all, I've been dating/engaged to the same guy since high school.  I don't have a lot to say about dating.  But since I love Ten on Tuesday, and I don't want to skip this week, I'm going to give it a shot.

1. What is your ideal best date? 
Really just getting something for dinner, maybe Carrabba's.  Yes, Carrabba's.  Pasta and sangria, please.  It's easy to make me happy.

2. How long does it take you to get ready to go on a date?
Including the shower? An hour, maybe 45 minutes if I don't spend a lot of time drying my hair.

3. What would you wear on the date?
In the winter, maybe jeans, boots, and a sweater.  Nothing too fancy.  In the summer, probably a comfy cotton dress and some cute flat sandals.

4. If you are married, how often do you go on dates? If you are single, when was your last date?
We really never go out alone.  Normally, we're hanging out with friends or doing something with one of our families, and I'm cool with that - we like hanging out with other folks.  The last time we went out, just the two of us was the day before Valentine's day.  Seriously!

5. What was your worst date?
Uhhh....can't think of one.  

6. Do you/Did you kiss on your first date?
No, I never did, even with PB. 

7. If married, how long before you knew he/she was the one? If single, how long before you know if the person is marriage material?
Oh gah, really really having a hard time answering these questions today.  I'd always had a crush on PB like I seriously hadn't had on anyone else.  I'm talking about since we were like eight.  Creepy, I know.  But when we got together, I really didn't want to admit that I felt that way because I figured he'd end up breaking up with me and I'd be a sad panda forever.  Glad it didn't work out that way. 

8. Do you prefer day dates or night dates?
I guess I'm calling "dates" things that just me and PB do, all by ourselves.  Because otherwise it's just hanging out (though I also love that).  So when it comes to a "date," I like night dates.  When it comes to hanging out, I'll generally take daytime, like sledding with our friends, or hanging out at the lake, or hanging out at the beach or whatever.  

9. How old were you when you first were allowed to date?
I think 15 for "alone" dates.  Ehh I don't know, it wasn't a hard and fast rule, I don't really remember.  See, I suck at these questions.

10. What is the most embarrassing moment you have had on a date?
When PB and I went to senior prom, we went out to a really fancy dinner beforehand.  Seriously, like steak and lobster.  And then I got really sick at prom.  Like in a bathroom stall, in my big poofy dress, sick in every way you could imagine.  That is not an easy fate to handle in a giant dress.  Also people thought I was drunk, which really upped my street cred, bahaha.  Though I wasn't - just sick for like two hours of prom.  Embarrassing times.

Lazy Monday Post. Of course it's in list form.

Oh, Monday.  The weather is amazing here - I hope it is where you are too - and I just want to be out on the porch with a glass of white wine and my Kindle.  But instead I'm in civil procedure.  Oh well.

Here's what I've been up to this weekend:

1.  Low carbing.  Low low low carbing.  I've been doing this just about every spring for the last few years to get off the five or ten pounds of polar bear weight that I put on every winter in the form of cheese fries, pie, beer, and fettucini alfredo.  It can be a real pain in the butt, because it means not eating any of my favorites.  No potatoes, corn, pasta, pita bread, sangria, or Little Debbie snack cakes.  Not even a morsel.  God, it hurt me to even list those things out just now.  The benefit?  I hate being on the perpetual diet train, and this junk works FAST.  I'm talking about going from 130.5 to 125 in about five days.  Better to treat dieting like ripping off a band-aid than slogging through quicksand for months.

2.  Grilling out with some of our awesome friends who also happen to be members of our wedding par-tay!  Some of my favorite Friday nights are spent putting a few steaks on the grill and just relaxing.

3.  Working on The Furniture Situation that was the subject of my last post.  My spirits lifted a lot when PB and I went down, loaded up pretty much every single handmade thing in my great-grandparents' house, and took it to the lake.  I spent the afternoon sitting in my great-grandmother's rocker on the screened porch, and it was nice.  Things are getting better in that regard, at least for now.

4.  Slugging around at the lake with my parents and J.  She came down on Saturday and the poor thing became an indentured servant, unloading furniture with all of us - but then we did some much-needed relaxing.  Knitting, staying up and watching some wonderfully goofy Hallmark movies and 48 Hours Mystery episodes.  We laid out on the dock on Sunday morning and I managed to get a whole lot of sun in a short amount of time!  Made me feel like it was summer already.

5.  And now, Mingle Monday!  I haven't done this in a few weeks because my motivation level is pretty low when it comes to doing much of anything on a Monday besides wallowing on the couch.  But Mingle Monday is fun!




Want to Mingle?  Click on the button to head over to Life of Meg, link up and discover yourself two shiny new blogs to add to your reading list!

Memories

Y'all haven't heard from me in a few days because the last couple have been a little emotional.  I was fortunate enough to know both of my great grandparents, and they kept me when I was little and my mom worked.  When my great grandmother died, we moved in with my great granddad, and we later moved out when my mom remarried - but we still have their house.  My great granddad passed away two Christmases ago, and even though it was time for that to happen, it's still hard because for Mom and I, they were such a big part of our lives.  And their house is full of their things, which are so, so emotional.

Their fiftieth anniversary china, furniture that my great granddad made himself, and all of the little knick knacks that wouldn't mean anything to anyone else, but that were a part of my childhood when I stayed there.

Now, there is the sweetest little family that is going to rent the house, and they have two tiny, adorable red-headed boys.  They're going to love it, and my great grandparents would have loved them and wanted them to enjoy the house.  But in order for them to move in, it's finally time to deal with all of those things that have been too hard for any of us to deal with all this time.  It's time to move the furniture, it's time to figure out what to do with the china, the ceramic kittens in a ceramic boot that I used to love as a kid, my great granddad's old .22 rifle, and the clock that always hung on the mantle and chimed every hour.

It's been hard to be engulfed in all of those things, it's hard to see the house a damp, dusty mess because we just haven't been able to deal with it. It's hard to say that we need to find room for all of the furniture that he made because we just can't stand to get rid of it, to give it to someone who doesn't understand what it meant.

It's hard for me to describe how things are there.  My great grandparents were wonderful, hard working country people, who had a small house but a lot of land, and a lot of outbuildings where they kept things that were just a part of living out there.  There's a woodworking shop full of saws, tools, and things that my great granddad made - everything from bluebird houses to outdoor swings, to furniture that you'd be proud to have in your living room.

There's another outbuilding with an old gas stove where I used to help my great grandmother can vegetables, and where she would set up her quilt frame and invite all the little old ladies from the neighborhood over to help her make her beautiful quilts.  There's a greenhouse that my great granddad built for her to keep her plants alive during the winter, because she loved nothing more than beautiful flowers and big, leafy plants.  Even though the glass in the greenhouse has mostly all broken now, and she's been gone for years, there must be a thousand buttercups, tulips, and lilies that still come up every year because she worked so hard to plant them.

It's been tough to figure out what to do with everything that needs to be moved, to decide what to get rid of and what to keep.  Mainly, it's just been hard to be at the house and see it as it is now, and not the way it was when my great grandparents (we all called them Ma and Pa) were there to keep it up and make it their simple but beautiful little home.

So sorry for my absence.  It's not over yet, but it felt good to write about it.  When you next hear from me, I'm sure I'll be my usual perky self.  Hope you're all having a lovely weekend!