Beached

L and I had the most wonderful weekend at the beach.  We got there a little after lunch time on Friday and left early Monday afternoon.  The whole weekend?  Absolute bliss.  Friday was a little cloudy, but every other day was the aboslute perfect beach weather.  Not too hot.  Not too cold.  Just. Perfect.

The most interesting part?  It was the weekend after Labor Day, so one can say that the “beach season” is over, yet it was very, very crowded.  Spring break crowded.  But with one minor difference.  L and I were probably the youngest ones there by AT LEAST 25 years.  Yes, twenty-five years.

You see, L’s parent’s condo is in the heart of Shagging country – the kind of old school partner dance to beach music.  About two years ago, one of my friends introduced me to beach music by way of a Chairmen of the Board concert and I’ve loved it ever since.  And whenever we go to the beach, there’s always that hint of Shag, even if it’s just the pictures on the walls of the bars. 

But this weekend was different.  This weekend was the SOS Fall Migration.  SOS stands for Society of Stranders.  The Myrtle Beach-area, mostly North Myrtle Beach (I believe) is referred to as the Strand.  I believe the short version of the SOS history began in 1989 when a guy who was an NMB lifeguard in the 50s started this one time festival for all those that loved beach music and shagging.  Thousands decended upon NMB and shagged and partied for 10 days.  Then it was repeated the next year, and soon after that SOS became a real organization and now they do this 3-4 times a year.  People from shag clubs from all over (mostly the Carolinas and the southeast, but other places too) come together to keep the dance alive and enjoy being with friends.  L put it best when he said it was the AARP spring break on steroids.

But you know what?  We had the most fantastic time.  A long time ago I asked L if we could take shagging lessons before some big party we might throw as a celebration next year and he agreed.  But this weekend made me so much more excited about it.  They all just have so much fun dancing.  The condo balconies were strung with the banners from Shag clubs and the beaches were filled with people our parent’s age and older playing cornhole, drinking, swimming and tanning.  But those taht weren’t on the beach were in the clubs.  There were Shag workshops beginning at 10am and from our condo we could see people overflowing off the patio of the bar across the street as early as 11am.  

The fall migration began on Friday, but was really in full swing by Saturday.  We walked  into the bar across the street on Saturday evening around 8pm.  It was crowded, but we were determined to find a table because we wanted to eat there for dinner.  As we walked up, there was a gentleman at the door.  L starts to reach for his wallet, assuming that he was there to card, but instead the man asked for our SOS membership cards.  L told him we didn’t have them and he said, ‘just go in anyway.’ 

Later, when we made friends with a well-known Shag DJ, the head of the SOS organization and another SOS member, we learned that you pretty much need to have a card to get into these places.  Apparently we were just lucky. 

We were able to listen to some outdoor concerts they had and a street festival on Monday too.  Very unexpected, but fun events!

Besides that, we took the puppies for two 5 mile walks on the beach and they got to swim a lot too, we ate in our favorite seafood town twice, drove up to Sunset Beach and Ocean Isle just to see it since I had never been (and perhaps secretly wanted to see if there would be any potential places for that party we might have next year – shh, don’t tell L.  I tired to convince him that that wasn’t on my mind – but I’m pretty sure he knew it was:).

I totally didn’t want to go home Monday, but alas, all things must come to an end.  I guess there are some perks to being unemployed though since we were able to go for almost 4 days!

Here are some photos and videos from the weekend:

Burying L’s feet in the sand

Sunrise walk on the beach

Shep layed down in the water while some other people stopped to talk to us on our walk

Early eveining is one of my favorite times on the beach.  L and I headed out before dinner to share a bottle of wine.  He’s just learning to appreciate wine, so we started off with my favorite “beginner’s wine” – white zin, or kool-aid wine   I’m not gonna lie, I still love it!

At the bar we weren’t supposed to be able to get in to.  Right before this picture, a lady sitting next to us leaned over and said, “excuse me, did you drink ALL of those beers?”  L just laughed and said “Yes, and a bottle of wine before we came.” The lady laughed and made some comment about her days of being able to do that were over.  It was funny and she was very nice.  These Shaggers are just so personable and nice!

The water tower has Shaggers painted on it.  Supposedly this was a historic moment and it was lit up for the very first time – although I swear it looked like this every other time we’ve been there.

 
Shep swimming in the ocean – he had a great time and was actually swimming until he got pummelled by a few waves.  Also, I really didn’t want to put myself in a bathing suit on here, but our puppies are just too darn cute!

Dixie swimming.  She didn’t like it quite as much as Shep – but it’s funny to watch her leap over the waves.

Friiiidaayyyy

I’ve been MIA this week, sorry.  Work has been busy.  And I just haven’t had much motivation either.  I do have some pretty pictures from the Steeplechase to share though.  Maybe I’ll do that tonight.

But now I want to share my happiness with you.  We should be able to do this all the time at work.  Or at least every Friday.  The two biggest honchos here at work are out of town today.  And we’re all excited since one of them causes everyone to been in a bad mood because she’s such a bitch.  Yesterday a co-worker suggested we have a May Day party, beverages included.

So a few of us brought in snacks and had an enjoyable day so far mingling in the kitchen every now and then.  Some of the guys went out for lunch and grabbed a few brews.  My co-worker and I decided it was ok to do it at the office.  So we are.

I wish I was allowed to have this on my desk any time I want!

I must say, that occasionally there is beer in the fridge here and we (including the boss) crack one open after 5.  So, it’s not like it’s not allowed on premises.  Also, we don’t have any client calls and one beer isn’t going to hurt.

Happy Friday everyone!

Things I Know

• The drama at work is getting worse.  We haven’t lost any other clients, so that’s good, but business overall is not great.  I’m pretty sure our president is panicking and in my opinion he is handling things in all the wrong ways.
• This company has the worst morale ever.  Not entirely, but largely due to the way things are being handled.
• I am really looking forward to a several large glasses of red wine tonight.
• I wish L wasn’t working so I could cuddle with him and he could tell me it will be ok.
• At least I have these in his absence:

• As much as I hate to not be with L for Thanksgiving, I am truly looking forward to the break
• I think that this is always a bad time of the year – I think it was this past weekend last year that he and I went to the beach right after E and LM told me I had less than two months to move out because their other sister was moving in.
• I don’t have all my Christmas shopping done, but all the gifts are picked out, so that’s good.
• L and I saw Chicago, the musical last night and it was great! 
• There was a really pathetic guy sitting at the table next to us during dinner.  Unfortunately, I think it was possibly a first date.  He seemed to be around our age (mid 20s) and didn’t look dorky or anything.  He spent the entire time telling the girl about all the TV shows he DVRs (including Gossip Girl, Grey’s, The Hills, Friends, and so. many. others.) and how he barely has time to watch them all and that’s why it is such a big deal for him to be out.  The girl told him he needed a hobby.  I have no idea who she was, but I’m pretty sure she could do better than that guy.
• I did not want to get out of bed this morning.  And I wish I hadn’t.
• I am so fed up with everything at work that it is making me sick to my stomach.
• I will stop complaining now because I know you don’t want to hear it and it’s all I’ve been talking about lately.

CLARIFICATION: In bullet point 6, I said I didn’t want to be away from L for the holiday, but I was looking forward to the break.  Please note, I am looking forward to a break from work, not a break from L.  Apparently he was concerned that I meant him.

Seven Is Not A Lucky Number

Ever since I moved in (a year ago in December, whoa!) with L, I knew there had to be some redecorating done.  It’s a lot of mix and match, which is fine, but it was time to make it a little more put together.  This is difficult since, really, I am always broke.  But I figured I would do it little by little.  Well, that really doesn’t work for me, because I’m not good at seeing the bigger picture and putting stuff together piece by piece.  I kind of need to do it all at once.

So, first we were going to start off with painting.  All the walls are the standard off-white and I figured some color would warm the place up.  We began this process pretty much right after I moved in.  And it’s still not done.  First, we were having trouble deciding on colors.  And then.  Well, I’m not exactly sure what happened.  We always talked about it, but it never got done.  I think the puppies had something to do with it.  They are kind of expensive.  Especially when they needed $200 worth of shots ever month it seems like until April.

I’m  not sure how we started talking about it seriously again, but we did.  We’ve got some colors picked out and L is going to buy the paint when he goes home to his parent’s house next week.  He used to work for a paint store and is still able to get it for a discount.  I’m talking $13/gallon for high quality paint, people!  So hopefully the living room and bedroom will be done before Christmas.

Maybe we had to put off painting because last February he bought a 42″ LCD TV.  It’s very pretty, but also very expensive.  Anyway.  The living room has one of those TV “holes” above the fireplace.  I hate those because it kind of forces you to put the TV there.  Well, we put ours up there (naturally) and put two shelves underneath it to hold the cable box, xbox, wii, etc.  It looked fine, but the TV was really high.  L kept talking about moving it, but I wasn’t sure what we were going to do.  Finally, the other night, we bought an entertainment unit from Lowe’s and put it against one of the walls and rotated the furniture.  It looks SOOOOOOOO nice.  I LOVE it.  We thought about covering up the tv hole and hanging a picture, but decided to just build shelves into it incase anyone wants to use it as a tv spot when we move.  The unit is a tv stand with two taller bookshelves on either side.  I don’t feel like I’m good at decorating, but I think I did a pretty good job.  Some pictures, some miscellaneous items.  We love it (I’ll take a pic tonight.

L took off two days last week so we could go to his parent’s house and the fair for his birthday.  And what happens when he takes 2 vacation days?  He really gets 9 days off.  WTF?!  When I take two off, the most I can get is 4 (the weekend).  Anway, he didn’t work much at the part time station either, so he was able to get a bunch of stuff done.  Including our fence.  He started clearing trees on August 1.  And, we didn’t get much farther.  But we have now.  We even have some of the wood for the fence sitting in our garage.  Soon, I tell myself.  Soon.

Yesterday I spent the day driving all over the state of North Carolina.  Ok, maybe not the whole state, but I did drive a lot.  I got a new lamp for the end table, three plant stands and a plant to put in an empty corner, this really cool trunk type thing from Home Goods that I put our extra DVDs, VHS tapes and game controllers in, a DVD rack and… I think that’s it.  The room looks so put together and grown up now.  I’m super excited (if you couldn’t tell). 

Now, I have our two old lamps on top of the bookcases of the entertainment unit.  I don’t like them.  So I found these others in Crate and Barrell. 

I love them.  So does L.  But he thinks it’s a bad idea to spend almost $400 on two lamps.  I tell him that a good lamp is totally worth the money and makes such a big difference.  Plus, these would match any kind of furniture we ever have.  Also, it’s not $400 cash.  I have that in gift certificates.  (Before L and I met, I was saving for a bed from there that I really wanted, so I just asked for gift certs for birthdays and Christmases.  Then we met.  Then I moved in.  And now I don’t need that bed.) 

We went to Crate and Barrel Friday night (which closes at 9pm, don’t you think that’s kind of early?) and he loves them in person too.  He thinks it’s better to get 10 things for $400 instead of 2 things.  So we got two hurricane vases for the top of one of the bookcases instead.  He wants to wait and see if maybe the lamps go on sale (which I doubt).  Perhaps they will just magically appear on our doorstep in the next couple weeks.

Saturday we had run some errands and gotten some decorating ideas (most of which I went back and bought yesterday).  Then Saturday  night, we met up with my friend/former roommate, LM, at a wine bar.  She is temporarily living with her parents not too terribly far from us.  Once a week, we all go out to find a new bar to call ours.  There is a wine bar near where her and I used to live that we love.  Mostly outdoor patio seating.  Really laid back.  One of our favorites.  So, we tried this one.  It’s a little more pretentious, not surprising giving its location.  But it was still fun.

L, who is NOT a wine drinker whatsoever, even ordered a glass.  I was so proud of him.  They had a small selection of beer, but he decided to be adventerous.  I don’t remember what he had.  Something whtie.  What he really likes are the dessert wines which taste like liquid sugar to me.  They only sold those by the bottle though – and he wasn’t ready for that kind of challenge.  He said what he had wasn’t bad.  And he even finished the whole glass. 

Here’s the proof:

Note: he’s really not drunk, even though he kinda looks it.  It’s just not a very good picture. He probably won’t be happy that I’m posting it.  Oh well.

He did say that he needs to learn how to sip, and not gulp

Tonight we are going to see Savion Glover.  I have no idea how this man manages to tap so quickly, but it’s amazing.  I’m so excited.  Last time he was in town, I had to go by myself because none of my friends were interested.  L and I had just started talking at the time and he offered to go with me so I didn’t have to go alone, but I declined his offer.  This time when I asked if he would like to go, he seemed uninterested.  Now he says he’s excited.  I’m not sure if he really is, or if he was just bothered when I said, “you were just trying to impress me last time and now you don’t care.  I see how it is.”

In anycase, we’re going and I’m looking forward to it.

Oh, you might be wondering what the title of this post has to do with, right?  If you’ve been reading recently, you might be able to guess.  Need help?

The puppies ate another one of my Rainbow sandals.  We’re up to 7 now.  I don’t know who it was.  They  managed to do it in the 10 minutes L was in the shower and I was putting make up on.  I didn’t bother to take a picture, but you could look here, or here, or here or here for similar incidents.

Once again, their cuteness makes it hard to be mad at them.

Shep

Dixie

Can you believe they’ll be a year old on December 13?  It feels like just yesterday we were going to pick them up!

Taste Bud Change

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!

In Pictures

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!

California Bound

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.

Weekend Roundup

My weekend started off as “eh.”  I was really looking forward to Friday afternoon and seeing L.  I hadn’t seen him much last week because he worked two days and also had training one night, followed by the Carolina vs. Duke game (it doesn’t count as seeing him when a game like that is on).  Well, turns out, one of his friends was having people over for a small party Friday.  Just the guys though.  He was only going to go for an hour and then we could do something.  Well, 30 minutes after I got home from work, he went on a call with the volunteers.  It was 3 hours.  Yes, 3 hours.  Ugh.  At this point, I’m annoyed because, well, he’s gone for several hours, I haven’t seen him all week, I skipped happy hour with work friends so I could see him and have dinner with him before he went to his party, but couldn’t even eat dinner with him if he was there because he didn’t have lunch till 4 and wasn’t hungry, all the while, for the 30 minutes I was home, all he did was tell me how much he missed me all week.  Was I being a brat?  Yes.  Do I care?  I probably should, but I really missed him and just wanted to see him.

So.  I opened a bottle of wine.

When he got home from the call (and I was slightly tipsy), he took a shower and said he was going to the party for just 30 minutes and would come home – it was just around the corner. 

I had some more wine.

Ed. Note: I am not an alcoholic.  I was also not alone… the puppies were home

Well, about 50 minutes after he leaves, he is still not home, and at this point I am drunk.  So I text him.  NOT a good idea.  Pretty much, it is never a good idea for me to have electronic communication available to me when I am drinking.

He doesn’t respond.  So, I call him and leave him a message saying I’m going to bed and to take the puppies out when he gets home.  He doesn’t respond.  20 minutes later I begin to call him until he answers.  Obnoxious?  Most definitely.  Did he answer?  Yes.  Was he annoyed?  Probably.

L was annoyed because I texted him asking where he was 2 minutes after his “deadline.”  (Also… it was not 2 minutes.  It was 20.)  And that he got a voicemail saying I was going to sleep so he decided to stay longer.  I had a lot of wine and decided now was not the right time to have this conversation with him.  Wow, rational thinking.  That never happens when the wine is involved.

We hang up and “will talk about it later.”

Annoyed, I go sleep in the guest room, only to be woken up by him an hour later telling me to come to bed.  Where the conversation continued about how I missed him, etc. etc. etc.  In the end, everything was fine.  It always is.  Sometimes I think I do it subconsciously for attention (as if he doesn’t give me enough already).

Saturday was good though.  We got up, ran some errands and cleaned the house because we were having people over.  My former roommates, E and LM, along with KO, another friend, dog and boyfriends came over for drinks, beer pong, food and to meet Dixie and Shep.

All three dogs had a ball playing together and it was nice to finally have people over to our house.  It didn’t get too crazy, and we were in bed by 12:30.

Sunday, L and I had lunch and saw Fool’s Gold before he had to go into work for the night.  Good movie, kind of slow at parts, but my boy Matthew McConaughey was is in it, so who cares? ha.

The weekend turned out nice – and the weather was beautiful!  And, I know L really loves me because he puts up with my brattiness.  Also, there was a conversation Saturday night.  Someone said that only rich guys have pretty girlfriends/wives. 

Well, I guess I’m pretty wealthy.

In front of everyone he said that.  Man, that boy makes me melt…

Christmas Present Unfulfilled?

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!!!

Sassy in Shades

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!