Alrighty, we are back on track blogging world! All caught up and at 2:00 in the afternoon I am still in my PJs on the couch. Ha, awesome.
But while I'm on a roll with posting, I figured I'd write one more little vent...
I've been watching the news while I've been blogging and I have to say I am totally annoyed by it all. I do NOT care about Lindsey Lohan and her (way too brief IMHO) stint in jail. And yes, I know that Chelsea Clinton is getting married today - good for her! Now let's leave her alone for a hot second so that she can get married in peace. And I am SO tired of hearing about Sarah Palin and her progeny - Bristol and Levi are engaged, now they're not, now he's in Playboy. I don't care! I could go on and on but you get the point!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
An Evening with Santana
Back in NC, Brad and I went to see a Santana concert on Wednesday night in Raleigh. Let me tell you, the man still has it! Seriously, at 63 years old, he can still rock it out.
It was neat to see a living legend - named one of Rolling Stone's "Top 100 Guitarists of All Time" (he's #15); winner of 10 Grammies; inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, etc etc.
It was neat to see a living legend - named one of Rolling Stone's "Top 100 Guitarists of All Time" (he's #15); winner of 10 Grammies; inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, etc etc.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Hanging in the Hamptons
Never thought I'd say that I spent the weekend in the Hamptons. Everyone knows about the Hamptons from The Real Housewives of NYC (come on, you know you've watched an episode or two!). The rich and famous in NY head out to the Hamptons ever summer in order to see and be seen. A lot of celebrities have mansions out there and there are plenty of high end restaurants and shops. And for one weekend, there I was being a fancy East Hampton girl ;)
Ok, so in honesty, there were no celebrity sitings, no fancy rich people parties. Just a great weekend with Julie who rents a house in the Hamptons for the summer. Lots of time relaxing by the pool (I have the sunburn to prove it!) and a ton of eating and drinking. Manon kept the drinks coming (ah, floating in the pool, sipping a homemade "lemon-jito" - does it get any better than that?) and Julie manned the grill all weekend. It was awesome! So amazing to get away and just relax for the weekend with great friends!
Ok, so in honesty, there were no celebrity sitings, no fancy rich people parties. Just a great weekend with Julie who rents a house in the Hamptons for the summer. Lots of time relaxing by the pool (I have the sunburn to prove it!) and a ton of eating and drinking. Manon kept the drinks coming (ah, floating in the pool, sipping a homemade "lemon-jito" - does it get any better than that?) and Julie manned the grill all weekend. It was awesome! So amazing to get away and just relax for the weekend with great friends!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Hummingbirds
Brad again ...
So Erin and I have had this hummingbird feeder that has had nectar in it for months and no hummingbirds. We visited the in-laws and they gave us a new recipe for a homemade mixture so I tried it out and that night we had hummingbirds again!
They are such fascinating birds and it always seems that one becomes the alpha of the feeder and the second another one comes along the alpha bird chases it away. Its like their version of capture the flag or something and very entertaining to watch.
So Erin and I have had this hummingbird feeder that has had nectar in it for months and no hummingbirds. We visited the in-laws and they gave us a new recipe for a homemade mixture so I tried it out and that night we had hummingbirds again!
They are such fascinating birds and it always seems that one becomes the alpha of the feeder and the second another one comes along the alpha bird chases it away. Its like their version of capture the flag or something and very entertaining to watch.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Blueberry Picking
We finally had a weekend at home in NC and decided that we were going to do NOTHING! It is amazing to me how quickly the weekend goes by when you are literally doing nothing - sigh.
Anyway, we did go blueberry picking one day which was really fun. I love that we live in a part of town where we are just minutes from restaurants and shopping but also minutes away from farmland. This blueberry place was just around the corner and we timed it just right - the blueberries were gone by the next weekend!
Anyway, we did go blueberry picking one day which was really fun. I love that we live in a part of town where we are just minutes from restaurants and shopping but also minutes away from farmland. This blueberry place was just around the corner and we timed it just right - the blueberries were gone by the next weekend!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Williamsburg with the kiddies
With Sharon off from school for the summer, we've been trying to get the whole family together in Williamsburg as often as we can. So, this weekend Sharon came down from NY and Kiera, Ryan, the kiddies, Brad, Duke and I headed to my parents house for the weekend. Of course, with all those folks in one place, it was an entertaining weekend.
I seriously can't believe how old Natalie is getting - how is she 4 years old already?? And Blake looked completely different from when I had seen him a few weeks earlier! Here is the big sister and little brother posing for a cute pic ...
When Blake is not crying, eating, pooping or sleeping he is super cute (ok, he's pretty cute all the time - especially because when the crying or pooping happens, I can turn the cutie back over to mommy or daddy!)
Brad had bought a crazy pacifier a while back and was very excited to have Blake try it out. I have to admit the resulting picture he snapped was pretty funny!
I seriously can't believe how old Natalie is getting - how is she 4 years old already?? And Blake looked completely different from when I had seen him a few weeks earlier! Here is the big sister and little brother posing for a cute pic ...
When Blake is not crying, eating, pooping or sleeping he is super cute (ok, he's pretty cute all the time - especially because when the crying or pooping happens, I can turn the cutie back over to mommy or daddy!)
Brad had bought a crazy pacifier a while back and was very excited to have Blake try it out. I have to admit the resulting picture he snapped was pretty funny!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Dragonflies
Here's Brad taking over the blog for a post! ...
Lately I've really been wielding the camera a lot and our backyard finally has hummingbirds (obviously a very difficult bird to photograph) and we also have the most beautiful dragonflies of so many colors that are helping reduce our annoying insect population. Sometimes I think they just pose for me.
Lately I've really been wielding the camera a lot and our backyard finally has hummingbirds (obviously a very difficult bird to photograph) and we also have the most beautiful dragonflies of so many colors that are helping reduce our annoying insect population. Sometimes I think they just pose for me.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Independence Day in Boston
After hanging out with my high school buddies on Saturday, we spent Sunday with Brad's high school buddy, Dan, who lives in Boston.
We had a great time walking all over the city - seriously, we must have walked 10 miles that day! Dan was a great host showing us all over the city (and bringing me to a great bakery in Little Italy where I could get an amazing cannoli, yum!).
What kind of tourists would we be if we didn't go to Cheers and take a photo in front of the sign?
And some more shots from around the city ...
We ended the day at Dan's sister's apartment. She lives in downtown Boston and was out of town so let us use her apartment to watch the fireworks. It was perfect - here's the view from her apartment window as the sun set and the fireworks began.
Happy 4th of July to all!
We had a great time walking all over the city - seriously, we must have walked 10 miles that day! Dan was a great host showing us all over the city (and bringing me to a great bakery in Little Italy where I could get an amazing cannoli, yum!).
What kind of tourists would we be if we didn't go to Cheers and take a photo in front of the sign?
And some more shots from around the city ...
We ended the day at Dan's sister's apartment. She lives in downtown Boston and was out of town so let us use her apartment to watch the fireworks. It was perfect - here's the view from her apartment window as the sun set and the fireworks began.
Happy 4th of July to all!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
A Danish Wedding full of tradition
So, I mentioned in the last post that I was in Boston for a work conference. So you would think that when my next post talks about being in Boston, it would be the same trip, right? Nope!
After my work trip to Boston, I had to fly back down to NC (for some work stuff on Thursday at Duke and a concert that we had tickets for that night in Raleigh) and then it was back to Boston on Friday. I kid you not - 2 trips to Boston in one week ... at least we're working on our frequent flier miles!
So, Brad and I were back to Boston for the 4th of July weekend. One of my buddies from high school was getting married on Saturday. The wedding was really fun - Kristy's (now) husband is Danish so the wedding was a fun mix of American and Danish wedding traditions. The main difference was that the reception started with a dinner that went on for almost 5 hours! Why you might ask? Because the dinner was led by a "toast master" and many of the guests got up to the mic and gave toasts (or roasts!) throughout dinner. Some were sweet and sentimental, others were hysterical and some were even in song!
It was neat - lots of love and laughs being shared. One toast involved a plastic viking hat which Brad and I managed to borrow later on in the evening for some quick pics :)
Besides the dinner other fun traditions included the first dance being interrupted by the groomsmen who "captured" the groom, stole his shoes and cut the toes off of his socks. Apparently, a Danish wedding tradition in which the bride can examine the groom's socks (to make sure that he hasn't been sneaking out at night) and then prove to her new mother-in-law that she can sew when she has to sew the toes back on!
Needless to say, there aren't any fields on downtown Boston, Joen hasn't been "sneaking around" and there was no sewing machine at the reception hall to test Kristy's sewing skills - but it was funny.
All in all, a lot of fun and great time catching up with old friends. Here's Jenn and Julie from high school (well, really from elementary school - we became friends in girl scouts in the 1st grade!)
And Brad's newest friend - ok, so we didn't know her before the wedding but after 5 hours sitting next to someone at dinner (and admittedly finishing off some wine!), we were all new best friends, ha!
After my work trip to Boston, I had to fly back down to NC (for some work stuff on Thursday at Duke and a concert that we had tickets for that night in Raleigh) and then it was back to Boston on Friday. I kid you not - 2 trips to Boston in one week ... at least we're working on our frequent flier miles!
So, Brad and I were back to Boston for the 4th of July weekend. One of my buddies from high school was getting married on Saturday. The wedding was really fun - Kristy's (now) husband is Danish so the wedding was a fun mix of American and Danish wedding traditions. The main difference was that the reception started with a dinner that went on for almost 5 hours! Why you might ask? Because the dinner was led by a "toast master" and many of the guests got up to the mic and gave toasts (or roasts!) throughout dinner. Some were sweet and sentimental, others were hysterical and some were even in song!
It was neat - lots of love and laughs being shared. One toast involved a plastic viking hat which Brad and I managed to borrow later on in the evening for some quick pics :)
Besides the dinner other fun traditions included the first dance being interrupted by the groomsmen who "captured" the groom, stole his shoes and cut the toes off of his socks. Apparently, a Danish wedding tradition in which the bride can examine the groom's socks (to make sure that he hasn't been sneaking out at night) and then prove to her new mother-in-law that she can sew when she has to sew the toes back on!
Needless to say, there aren't any fields on downtown Boston, Joen hasn't been "sneaking around" and there was no sewing machine at the reception hall to test Kristy's sewing skills - but it was funny.
All in all, a lot of fun and great time catching up with old friends. Here's Jenn and Julie from high school (well, really from elementary school - we became friends in girl scouts in the 1st grade!)
And Brad's newest friend - ok, so we didn't know her before the wedding but after 5 hours sitting next to someone at dinner (and admittedly finishing off some wine!), we were all new best friends, ha!
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