That soda in a mini pitcher I had in Richmond? Hold on, I'll refresh your memory.
This one:
I want one....no, I want about three of them. Caffeine and I aren't getting along these days, so I've been cutting back. But that pitcher of Mr. Pibb was brixed perfectly. The flavor was amazing and the bubbles, oh the bubbles.
So, I tried to think of a need to balance out that desperate want, but my lazy and selfish brain couldn't come up with one. Instead, I'll share my new phone with you. The new love/hate relationship of my life. Why love? Well, I would think the keyboard would be obvious. Hate? I'm not a fan of non-flip phones, too risky for accidental dialing. Oh, and the fact that this is just encouraging my texting habit.
I'm sorry, it is. Even though it is located on the campus of UNC Chapel Hill, I have to give it some serious points. The landscaping, the flowers, the architecture, the general enjoyment. All better. Maybe I have just been going to Duke Gardens for too long, and have become bored. I don't know, I just enjoyed my visit to Coker Arboretum, this morning, more than I can say. The wisteria was intoxicating, the indigo was addictive, and the shade was abounding.
Here are some samples...
But, in Duke's defense, I do have to ask...What's the big deal with this thing? I don't get it.
The rats gave me a cold. My head feels like a pressure cooker, my throat feels like it was violated with a paring knife. We'z not in a good moodz.
The internet at home is not working. I'm not gonna deal with it, the roomie says they are coming out tomorrow (monday) to fix it. Whatever. I could have gone to Panera and siphoned internet access for free, but I didn't. Instead I decided to go to Border's and pay $10. My brain should not be allowed to make decisions by itself right now. But, it did talk me in to a mildly succesful purchase of Sudafed, so we'll see.
That lady is here. That lady that follows me everywhere I go and makes sure I can hear every word she is saying. Her life story, details of her phone conversations. Go to hell, lady, I don't wanna hear your mess! Sorry, Mom. You said a bad word yesterday, I'm gonna let hell slide on the blog today. ;)
The good news is that I have enough leftovers from eating out this weekend, that I probably won't have to cook for serveral days. Todd and Nancy couldn't possibly have been nicer, sweeter, and more than I could have hoped for. Good news for Mr. Boy.
Shutting up now, for the safety of the entire internets.
Went to Richmond over the weekend. I have been wanting to see Jason Mraz in concert for years now, and when I saw he was coming through the area, I snatched up tickets to the Richmond show before seeing that he was playing in Winston a few days before that. Oh well, I love me some road trips and enjoyed my last brief visit to Richmond. Thought I would make a weekend out of it. Got a killer deal on a hotel from priceline and headed out Friday afernoon.
Well, my hotel was only a mile from the venue, and it was still light out when I left, so I walked. During said walk, I realized I would not be doing the return trip for two reasons. 1) It wore me the heck out and 2) um, YIKES. Not a neighborhood for a prego white girl in the middle of the night. Anyway, I had my ticket waiting at Will Call and squeezed through the line that was wrapped around the block. I managed to talk one of the security guys to go ahead and let me in, whew. I don't think I would have survived the night if I had to wait in that line.
Got inside and because of my early arrival and sneaky line tactics, managed to get a great spot, right in front of the sound equipment so I could lean on the railing. The Makepeace Brothers opened the show, followed by the kooky but oh so lovely Bushwalla. In between the host of the show, Justin Kredible, would do some magic tricks. Unfortunately his part started to drag on after a while and after 90 minutes of waiting, a few people started to heckle, saying "Where's Jason?!?!". I felt bad for him, but I agreed with them.
Well, I have to say, I love me some Jason. Thankfully I had downloaded We Sing. We Dance. earlier in the day and had a chance to listen to it on the drive up. I don't like not being able to sing along. I was in a bit of pain, standing there for so long, but once he started playing, and the dancing began, I was able to block it out a bit. Here is one of my fave all time songs, straight from the concert. Sorry in advance for the quality, I'm a photographer, not a videographer. ;)
(This is a very long and rambling post, I apologize if you're bored. My brain isn't working at full capacity these days.)
So, after a great show, I managed to get a cab to take me the few blocks to the hotel. Well worth it as my cab driver graciously told me about a shooting on that street the night before, and pointed out the hookers on the sidewalk. Heh. Well, it was 12:30 am and I hadn't eaten since 3:30pm. Starving. I ordered a pizza and ate it with my eyes half closed. Collapsed in bed and pretended to sleep until 7:30am.
Mom and Dad had told me about The Village Cafe, that they heard about on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives". It just so happened to be half a mile from my hotel, so I figured, "I'm indestructible, I'll walk!!" Thankfully, it was mild morning and the neighborhood wasn't so bad going in the other direction. In fact, I walked right through VCU and some gorgeous neighborhoods (at a few points).
Food pictures? Shocking!!!!
After breakfast, I walked around, taking more pictures (that you'll just have to go to flickr to see, cuz this is getting L O N G). Got back to the hotel, took a nap, and checked out. I couldn't decide if I could drag my sorry tush around any more or should just head home. I had planned on going to a few old cemeteries but knew I'd never make it. I hopped in the car and figured I'd drive towards I95. But, I saw some signs for The Canal Walk and headed down to Cary Street, aka The River District. Had lunch at Cha Cha's Cantina and ended up having to leave as soon as a couple doused in cologne sat down. Got some cool pics, picked up a Frog for Mr. Boy and waddled back to the car.
I am STILL tired. No more adventures for a couple of months.
Ok, I know it's been here for almost a month now, but I wanted to make sure it was serious about moving in before I got all excited about it. Spring is my xanax. Helps me recover from those sucky months of cold. I can't imagine what consistency my brain would have been this year with the addition of snow to my mental health.
Anyway, it is supposed to be 77 degrees here in good old NC today. The flowers are blooming, the birds are chirping, the sun is shining and I am wearing my trusty flip flops. All is right with the world. Since I can't take a picture of most of those things (pictures of my feet, um no) I will share some of the flowers with you.
Mom and I are doing some serious garden touring on Saturday, so prepare yourselves. For now, this is just what I've stumbled upon so far.
I'm making a quilt. I know, the last thing many ever expected of me. But, I gave the twiners my baby blankets, and I wanted something to give Mr. Boy. So, with a little extra patience (which has been tough) and a lot of help from Momz, it's going pretty well so far.
This weekend I got 95% of the top put together. Throughout bobbin wars, my fingers jumping inside the chopping angle of the scissors and some serious recuperation naps, it looks pretty good. If I do say so myself. Dad even helped. Dad. Even. Helped. My fabric choices. It was originally the blue, green and softer black and white (second from top in that stack). But, in order to keep the b&w from repeating all the way down the quilt, I added the yellow. Also, I didn't have enough for the softer b&w and added the psychedelic wavy one.
Um, there is a lot of cutting in quilting. I knew this going in to the project, but did not adequately prepare myself for the up and down nature of it all. I guess I could have streamlined my steps, but since this is my first go round at this, I wanted to make sure I was doing it all correctly.
This is The Tomato. Some would just call it a pin cushion, but it's been hanging out in Momz sewing stuff for as long as I can remember. I cannot stand EATING tomatoes in real life, but I adore this little guy.
That little thing in the back. The metal spool? That is a bobbin. We don't get along. Never have, probably never will. A lot of mediation from Momz. So, this is a good idea of what we've got going on so far. I still need to sew on the border and the binding (say that five times fast and figure out which fabric you're using for it, ha!). Then comes the back of the quilt and let me just tell you, if heaven was a fabric, this stuff would be it. But, I'm gonna wait until we are all done to show you that. Then the hand quilting...the actual QUILTING part. I'll be sure to show you the finished product.
I eat a lot of chicken. I buy it pretty much in bulk, buy one bag and get one free. I accidentally bought a couple of bags a couple of months ago that weren't de-boned and well, the freezer was over taken with chicken breasts. I couldn't bring myself to use them (I don't do bones), so I finally took them to my parents.
Anyway, so tonight I decided to not only make one of my favorite meals, but satisfy a naughty craving. I'm not supposed to have brie, but I figured if I cook it, then it is ok. So, Brie and Pesto Chicken Breast, Four Cheese Risotto and Sauteed Spinach. It's kind of a tedious meal to put together, as each one has very particular timing, but once it's finished, it is worth it.
So, I went to Florida over the weekend. You may recall, precious millions of readers, that I mentioned a while back that Florida is one a few states I had yet to visit. Well, we can cross her off the list now!!!
I spent 2 days in Tallahasse, the state capital, and a better representation of what Fla (that's what we're calling her here) really is. As opposed to Amusement Parkville and Pretty People Town, further south.
So anyway, it was a quiet weekend. I didn't really accomplish what I had intended, but I did get to see Real. Live. Alligators. It is necessary to punctuate it like that, or you don't give the alligators the respect they deserve, as our warning sign read.
As usual, I had to take pictures of my food. Got laughed at, as usual. (French Dip, by the way.)
We went to Wakulla Springs and ate in the restaurant at the Lodge. Was a gorgeous place. Built in the 1930's and still has the ambiance of the times. The ceiling was painted with scenes from around the property along with some of the animals that lived in the springs and swamp. Afterwards, we took a boat tour of the springs and got to see.......wait for it.....a REAL. LIVE. ALLIGATOR.! Actually, several of them, but you get the point.
Oh, and I got to see my first manatee. Yup, I'm 12 in a 31 year old's body!
So, that was my quick trip to Fla. Hopefully I will make it back one of these days and visit The Keys, Number 3 on my dream trips list.
I walked by Hollister while walking through the mall today. That stench they call cologne, pumping through their ventilation system. Pouring out in to the mall for all of us to choke on. YACK. Abercrombie & Fitch, GAP Body, and any other poser store........take it down a notch. Seriously.
