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I was never a fan of guacamole. It was a weird color. A weird consistency. And it was made from avacados. Gross. I had friends that were obsessed with it. If asked to bring a snack to a party – that’s what they brought.
Over the last couple years, I’ve tried it. And liked it. And now, althought I’m not a total craze about it, I love the stuff!!
Saturday, A and her husband invited some friends over after all us girls got back from our day in Sonoma. A’s husband is a great cook and made your usual hamburgers, brats and chicken on the grill. He also made a great macaroni salad and, you guessed it, GUACAMOLE!
Oh my God. I sat in front of that bowl for a good 40 minutes. And ate chip after chip. It was like mouthsex. Ha.
Then my cheeseburger was ready that I ate while watching Carolina get their butt kicked before promptly falling asleep on the couch while everyone was mid-party.
Too bad my new favorite treat isn’t so bathing suit friendly!
I left work at 3 on Friday to go pick up my good friend LM and head to the airport. Her and I along with three other friends (KO, E and KF) were going to see one of our best friends, A, from college. Ed. Note: Can you keep up with all of those letters? 
KF had flown out Thursday night. KO and E were flying at 4:30, had a layover and would be in California at 10. LM and I were flying at 6, straight through and would arrive at 9:30.
When we got to the airport, we found out that KO and E were delayed. They would likely miss their connection and were standby on the next connection which wouldn’t arrive to California until 11:30pm. Yikes, but you do what you gotta do. After a whole lot of craziness, they don’t end up leaving NC until 10:30 and get to their layover city very late. It wasn’t looking hopeful for them getting to California. We had our limo picking us up at 9am on Saturday to take us through Sonoma. Then, the bad news came. If they didn’t get out, the next flight they could get booked on was at 8PM on Saturday. Not even worth it.
But by the grace of God, they got on the last flight out.
LM and I arrived on time at 9:30. We drove back to A’s house, about an hour away. Chatted, then crashed by 11:30. We would have to leave for the airport at 2:30 am to go get E and KO. They arrived at 3:15, we drove back and crashed again at about 4:30. Then got up at 7:30 to get ready.
But, all the travel woes aside, it was an amazing trip. Here it is. In pictures.
Leaving at 2:30am to go back to the airport
Ed. Note: Picture of Golden Gate Bridge on phone was taken on our last trip
We don’t let fatigue stop us. Mimosas and cinnamon rolls at 8am
Barrel tastings at our first winery: Ravens Wood
Winery #2: Ledson
Pink Girls at Winery #3: Chateau St. Jean (or something) and no, we’re not all wearing the same dress. Only two of us are. And none of it was planned. Seriously.
Most of the group. On the way to one of the wineries.
Winery #4: Kunde. Wine and cheese!
And Truffles!
PHOTO MISSING
So I don’t have any pictures of winery #5. But really… I don’t even remember the name. I know there was pink wine. Almonds. And those outdoor patio heaters that they turned on just for us.
Saturday, we drove into San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge
After walking around parts of the city, we took a tour of Alcatraz
Really glad we weren’t actually locked up!
Monday, we toured the Jelly Belly Factory and the base that A’s husband works on – no pictures allowed.
We had a blast though. And I’m looking forward to seeing everyone else’s pictures too!
Hope you guys had a good weekend!
I’m leaving this evening and heading out to California. I, along with four other friends, are going to visit one our best friends from college. A, the one living in CA, lives near San Francisco and we miss her wildly. Her husband is in the Airforce and they’re stationed there for about 3 more years I think.
Anyway, first one girl was going to visit, then me, then two others and finally the fifth. I am so excited. I wasn’t going to be able to go, but L bought my plane ticket for me for Christmas. I love him for that. Well, I love him for many, many more reasons than that – but that was pretty amazing of him.
Last time we went (only three of us went out) we rented a limo and toured 4 wineries in Napa for 6 hours.
Tomorrow, the six of us have a limo. For 8 hours and will be touring some wineries in Sonoma. L has asked that I don’t bring my phone in the limo with me, and actually to lock it up that night too so that I don’t call him 97 million times. Also, so I don’t call him 97 million times when it’s 11pm in California, but really 2am in North Carolina and he’s sleeping. Not that I’ve ever done that or anything.
Sunday, we’re going to head into San Francisco and do an evening tour of Alcatraz. A’s husband is even coming with us so he can be our “stalkerazzi.” He’s a good sport.
Monday, we’ll get to check out his base and the plane that he flies and then we’re all taking a red-eye back to Charlotte and get in at 6:30 Tuesday morning.
And then I’m going to work. Yikes.
But I am sooooo excited. I get to leave work early today and this couldn’t get any better.
I am going to miss L though. So much. I always do. He offered to take us to the airport today, but then it was going to work out. And I was bummed I wouldn’t see him again after I left for work this morning.
On my way in, I realized I forgot to pack clothes to wear to work Tuesday (I’m not going home after we land, I’m showering and getting ready at LM’s house). I was going to call him and ask if he would bring them to me, but decided to wait a while incase he went back to sleep.
When I got to work, I had a voicemail already. The time stamp said it was from 8:15 this morning. I wanted to know who the heck called me at work before 8:30.
It was L. “Guess I’ll be seeing you again today, you left your phone in the kitchen.”
He thinks I did it on purpose so I would get to see him again. I didn’t. I swear. But it was a nice treat. He brought me my phone and clothes for Tuesday and met me for lunch. And he brought the puppies too so I could say bye to them again.
So, my dear readers. I’m out till Tuesday. Have fabulous weekends! I’ll dedicate a wine tasting. Or two. Or ten to you.
Yesterday was beautiful out. L and I took the puppies for a nice long walk and it was so nice. We take the to the downtown area of where we live to walk because there are lots of sidewalks. It’s right by the fire station L volunteers with.
So we took their picture on one of the trucks. Well, actually, this 5 minute stop resulted in 39 (no seriously, 39) pictures. But I’ll just share one.
Today, it is cloudy and rainy and cold. Yuck. One of my friends at work always wants to see the puppies, but we live pretty far away from each other. Today, L came and met me for lunch and brought the puppies so she could see them. Word spread quickly and four other co-workers were outside too.
They were very excited to meet so many new people. So excited that they peed on the front seat of L’s truck before we could get them out. We just drove to CT with these dogs. They were in the car for 12 hours and they didn’t pee. I guess they were just that excited. Good thing he has leather seats!
Anyway, I hated to see them go. I hated to see L go. I wish I could have just skipped out on the last 2 hours of work and went with them. I can’t wait to go home.
And pack.
Because tomorrow night I’m leaving for California!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, I was feeling a little yucky yesterday, but the rest of the weekend was pretty good.
Friday, was Airband. What is Airband, you ask? Well, only the best part of being a Greek at my college!
We call it Airband, some places call it Lip Sync, others call it Greek Sing. Each Greek organization puts together a 10 minute themed performance. Costumes, sets, props. You name it. Dances are choreographed and the songs are performed via lip sync. It’s awesome. I was slightly obsessed with it in college. Oh hell, I still am.
It reminds me of the days when I used to dance. When dance consumed my life. I went my freshman year of college to watch – even before I was a member of an organization. And I have been to each one since I graduated. Obviously, sophmore – senior year of college I participated. And um, took charge of my sorority’s performance the last year and a half.
The girls are so serious. Practice for months. Some sororities spy on others.
The boys. They are hilarious. Most of them probably put it together over the last week. If not last night. The costumes lack a little to be desired. There are often several boys dressed up like girls. It’s great.
I went with a few friends from college and brought L with me so he could experience what I’m always talking about. He wasn’t able to make it last year. He even admitted, it was a lot more entertaining than he thought it was going to be.
My sorority came in 2nd. Not too bad. This isn’t us, but they came in 1st – just so you have an idea of what it’s like. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DcLB9Lxvkw
Saturday, the puppies had a vet appointment for some more shots. L was working, so I had to go on my own. They’re a handful. We came home and I cleaned the house top to bottom, then headed up to LM’s house to go see Chairman of the Board with a couple other people.
I wasn’t planning on drinking that much, because I had to drive home to let the puppies out. Then I said, oh well, I’ll drink some now and then stop and sober up the rest of the night and on the way back to LM’s house. Then we took shots.
The concert was great. As always. And I am really loving beach music. I’m so glad my friend, KO, introduced me to it.
I woke up on LM’s couch at 5am and decided to go home. I was in much better shape, but still probably not the best to drive 40 minutes. I hate myself for it. Please don’t chastise me for it. I know it was a horrible decision. And a dangerous one. Not only for me, but for other people. It’s not something that I do a lot. It was just an extremely poor decision on my part.
E, LM’s sister, heard me leave their house and came out to check on me. She was concerned that I shouldn’t be driving. Her and LM got in the car to follow me, but I was already gone by the time they got out of the drive way. The continued to call me, but my phone was in my purse on the floor and I didn’t hear it. When I pulled off the highway and was at a stop light I heard it beeping – my notice for a missed call and voicemails. As I was reaching for it to see who called me, it rang. It was L.
“Where are you,” he asked. Concerned and maybe a little annoyed.
I told him I was just getting off the highway. About 10 minutes from home.
“[E] and [LM] are looking for you. They didn’t know where you went. They’re driving around trying to find you. Call them back. And call me back as soon as you get home. You shouldn’t have done this.”
I got home at 5:30. Took the dogs out. Crashed. L got home from work at 7:30 Sunday morning and I didn’t even hear him until he was sitting right next to me on the bed.
“Why did you do that,” he asked in a very concerned voice. I told him I didn’t know, but I was worried that the puppies needed to go out.
“They could have waited a few hours more. It would have been a much longer wait if something had happened to you. You can’t ever, ever do that again. You have to promise me.”
And I did.
We layed there, talking and sleeping for a long while. E and LM had called him that night because I wasn’t answering my phone. He hadn’t slept much because he was worried before then that I had never texted him to tell him I was home. Then, when he got that call, even after he talked to me, even after I let him know I was back at the house, he couldn’t sleep.
We didn’t get up and dressed till 2 or so. He ran a couple calls with the volunteers. Then we drove up to LM’s house so I could return her debit card that I somehow ended up with the night before. We went to dinner, came home and went to sleep.
I hadn’t really felt good all day, but I figured I was just hung over.
That night, I had a terrible dream. Somethign about someone being murdered and I had to clean it up. I’m pretty sure it had to do with an episode of Law & Order I was watching before bed.
I woke up. It was about 3:30am. I was so scared I was almost paralized. This is nothing new. I can be a bit of a baby. Then I heard this noise. It sounded like it was coming from outside. Almost like a hammering off in the distance. But the rhythm was perfect.
I shook L until he woke up. Which is not easy.
“I had a bad dream and now I hear a noise,” I told him. He didn’t hear it at first, but finally he did. He listened and told me he had no idea what it was.
“It’s too perfect to be human, I’ll get up and go walk around the house.”
Whoa! I would NEVER do that. I heard the back door open. Then I heard him turn on the hose and spray it up against the roof. The sound stopped. He came back.
“It’s raining out, it was just water dripping out of the gutter.”
Oh.
30 minutes later, his pager went off. For a house fire. I fell back asleep. Glad that I knew the noise was harmless. I didn’t wake up until 2 hours later when his alarm was going off. He still wasn’t back. He walked in a few minutes later, only to lay down for five minutes before he had to leave for work. It was a big fire he said.
I still didn’t feel good when I woke up, but I came to work anyway. I ate breakfast and felt worse. The stomach flu is going around and I prayed I didn’t have it. I left at 11. Stopped at Blockbuster for a movie, the grocery store for some ginger ale and went home.
I layed on the couch all day. Watched TV, fell alseep. Cuddled with the puppies. By dinner, I felt much better.
And now I’m back here. Oh joy.
Please. Note sarcasm.
The only thing getting me through this week is knowing that I’m leaving for California on Friday with a few friends to visit another friend. L bought my plane ticket for my Christmas present.
Oh, and one last thing. The puppies got a hold of my brand new Rainbows. You know, the pair I had to buy to replace the last pair they got to. You know, the Rainbows that cost $48!!!
Exhibit A – the first pair they chewed up.
Exhibit B – the second pair they chewed up.
I’m confused and I don’t quite know what to do. It’s about a Christmas present from L. He did an amazing thing. Got me something I never would have asked for from him. I’ve mentioned before, that one of my best friends from college, A, lives in California with her husband. My former roommate/one of my other best friends, LM, decided to go out to visit A this coming April for a long weekend. I wanted to go with her, but she was getting her plane ticket as a Christmas present from her parents, and when I looked at ticket prices, there was no way I was going to be able to afford it.
L obviously picked up on how disappointed I was every time LM and I talked about it. He called LM one day to get information about it from her because that’s what he wanted to get me for Christmas. Since now I was going to go with her, LM decided to wait and book her ticket until after Christmas when I found out.
The way L gave it to me was so cute. It was a paper airplane and on the outside in his cute “boy” handwriting it said “Kris Airlines.” I still didn’t guess what it was. I thought it was a note from his parents about the trip to Vegas we’re going on with them in March. When I opened it, he had printed out a picture of a “Welcome to California” sign and a note that said he had bought me my ticket. I cried. Seriously. There were tears. First of all, this was way too much money for him to spend, and second, he found something that he knew I really wanted, but couldn’t have.
Well, he then explained to me that he hadn’t actually bought the ticket yet – that LM said to wait for me so we could pick flight times together and then he would do it. So we did. We picked flight times about 3 weeks ago. LM has her ticket. L was waiting for money to transfer from an ING account. You know how long that can take sometimes. Well, the money transferred, I think, but he hasn’t gotten it yet.
He’s just slow getting around to some things. He’ll say every now and then, “oh, I need to buy your plane ticket today,” and then he gets busy. I don’t want to ask him, because I feel like that’s being greedy, but at the same time, I know how those ticket prices can skyrocket and I don’t want it to go up (although it already has since LM bought hers).
Sigh.
Then I get an email from E, my other former roommate/other best friend, her and our other friend KO are going to CA too. It’s going to be a total girls’ weekend. We’re going to hit Sonoma this time. They bought their tickets today.
Now, I’m the only one that doesn’t have theirs. I emailed L. In my passive way. And said that I was so excited that E and KO were definitely going and that they bought their tickets today. Maybe I’ll get mine soon.
UPDATE: I mentioned to L again when I got home the night I wrote this that my friends E and KO got their tickets. He said that he had transferred the money and was waiting for it to clear. Then another night I brought it up when I was talking about the trip and said very sweetly, “am I still going to get to go to California? I just don’t want the tickets to get too expensive.” He said that the money would be available for him at the beginning of the week. Then at a superbowl party (with LM, E and KO) LM asked him if he got mine yet because they were all excited and he said he was buying it the next day. ANNDD… he just called to ask me if I want aisle or window and now I have my confirmation!!! I’m so excited!!!
Recently, I have put up a few more pictures at my desk. My continuing effort to make it a little more “homey” and not feel like I’m being swallowed by the gray Velcro-like walls. I have a few up of my closest friends and of course of L and I. A colleague stopped for a little mid-afternoon social time when she noticed one of the pictures today.
“Oh look at that picture, you girls look so sassy in your shades,” she pointed out in her thick southern accent.
It’s me and my three best friends from college – The FKC. Three of us made a trip out to California to visit the fourth one. And being the wine junkies that we are, we were sure to make a trip out to tour some of the Napa vineyards. We’re waiting to take the tram to the top of the hill at Sterling Vineyard.
We booked a limo… for six hours. Packed some snacks and food for lunch. A few bottles of wine to keep us hydrated in between vineyards, and of course our cameras. But this wasn’t something we were going to do in jeans and a t-shirt. We wanted to look cute. Who doesn’t? So we put on the sun dresses, curled our hair and removed the Croakies from our sunglasses.
I have to admit, we looked great. And we got a lot of compliments along the way.
We had a grand ‘ol time. We laughed, we drank, we took pictures, and drank some more, and took more pictures. It was amazing. And it was great to see our fourth partner in crime.
It’s trips like this that really make me miss the old days, when we were in college, and not separated by 3000 miles and so many states. But, when we do get together, it’s as if no time has passed.
We’re going back out in April. I wasn’t going to be able to go, but thanks to a very special Christmas present from L, I’m able to make the trip with the other two Carolinians and it’s not possible for me to be more excited than I am!
