In No Particular Order...

This weekend I:

1. Ate too much (Mediterranean pita wrap, scrambled eggs--with creamy goat cheese, tomatoes, and bacon, enchilada con salsa verde, pork chops and veggies, and birthday cake)!
2. Missed muh kitteh.
3. Went for a walk with my boy.
4. Hugged my grandma (and bought a card to send to her, too).
5. Spent time with my parents.
6. Shopped at Goodwill with my mom (which deserves a separate post all its own because I found some amazing things!).
7. Bought some grandma slippers, which only intensifies my excitement for fall and cooler weather.
8. Saw the movie The Help (and I think you should as well because it is nearly as wonderful as Fried Green Tomatoes).
9. Drove through the rain and the lightnin' and said some Hail Mary's even though I'm not Catholic.
10. Was reunited with muh Kitteh.

And it was good.

Goodnight!

These Days...

I can count on several things to make the corners of my mouth twinge and stretch up, exposing my teeth and making what is otherwise known as a smile. In no particular order they are:

- A trip to the Chocolate Lounge downtown. Lavender Honey Truffle? Yes, please. Chocolate dipped shortbread cookie? I'd love one; thanks. Maple liquid truffle? Alright, alright...don't twist my arm. I'll have one! Sheesh. Seriously, though, this place is my happy place. It is my heaven. You used to always be able to count on the Chocolate Lounge to be a quiet little shop to read, sample some wonderful chocolate, or catch up with a friend. Now it's one of the most popular places to go downtown for both locals and tourists. Even with a line that snakes through the first level dining room, out the door, and up the sidewalk...it is worth it every.single.time.

- Cool, crip mornings that whisper the beginning of the end of summer. I think my little Katie soul can sense the change of the seasons (and the time of the Virgo!) and it's all I can do to not rush outside with a those orange glowstick things and wave autumn on in for a safe, smooth landing. Fall means no more shorts and sticky weather. No more not wanting to cook or bake for fear of passing out in my un-airconditioned home because I used the stovetop or oven. No more sleeping on top of my bed covered only with the skimpiest blanket I can find (and still sweating). Goodbye, summer. I will not be sorry to see you go. I want my sweaters and hot coffee and hot tea and blankets and wooly socks. Oh, and I want to sleep under my comforter again. So, goodbye...until we are forced to meet again.

- The layout of my new bedroom. I was feeling awfully antsy recently and wanted--no, needed to change something. Changing my nail polish wasn't enough. I needed something more. Getting a haircut was a pretty good idea, but it was Sunday and I've been saying I want to grow my hair out, plus my former stylist/hair whisperer moved to another salong (that I can't afford!). And then I knew: I'll change my furniture around. Lord Almighty, it has made such a huge difference. I have so much more space to move around in now. It was a truly satisfying Sunday afternoon project that made a big difference in my mood.

- All of the greenery in my room! I have 3 plants in my bedroom, plus a cute terrarium inside a lightbulb! I just love having the plants in my room. Why have I never had them before? Sure, I tend to kill anything I put in a pot and neglect put out for decoration, but these plants are very low maintenance and I just love them. Here's my new lil' early birthday present terrarium:

- Keeping a journal again. Whether I felt like I was too busy or put too much pressure on myself or judged the outcome, I let journaling go. I'd pick it up now and then, feeling a sense of urgency to write something, but would then feel disappointed when I reread it and wasn't bowled over by my literary genius. I'd tell myself that I was too busy and that the writing would be bad anyways, so why bother. Well I should bother because I love it--not because I'm trying to win an award or save someone's life with my words. That's all ego and it's bologna. I should do it because I love it and that's that. And so I am. And it's been nice carrying around a journal again.

You know, I could go on and on. Tonight I have an endless number of things on my Smile List (my scarves, my kitty--duh, planning my future, photography, camera daydream shopping, yadda yadda), but I'll stop now. It's 10:05 and I'm going to do my weary body a favor and go to bed early. Well, I might watch an episode of Golden Girls, but THEN I'm going to sleep.

Goodnight, nonexistant readers. Sleep tight.

Oh, hewo

I've been out of my old job for a full work week now. And I'm happy to repot I was able to partake of my first (but thankfully not my last!) Saturday/Sunday weekend. It was magnificent. I chose to spend my first weekend of freedom with my parents since I had not seen them since Christmas (yes, CHRISTMAS!). Here is what we did:
1. Dinner at the always delicious, La Botana. We've been going to this restaurant since it was a little nothing hole-in-the-wall place you'd miss if you didn't know to look for it. We've watched it grow and gotten to know the staff (my parents have gotten some of the servers to sign cards they sent me).
2. Went to the cheapie movie theatre and saw Unkown with Dad and Mom-Mom. It was an exciting, sit on the edge of your seat, cover your eyes with your fingers kind of movie--not wholly memorable, but definitely worth the $2.50 we paid to see it.
3. I bought two must-have movies from Wal-Mart: Bridget Jones's Diary and Sabrina (starring Audrey Hepburn).
4. Shopping the the nice, new, swanky Goodwill. I bought 3 pairs of pants and 3 shirts for $24. THEN I went to the outlet center right next door and found a beautiful yellow chenille bedspread that is easily 60ish years old. The outlet center charges by the pound. The bedspread was 3.7 pounds and cost a whopping $5.24. Here's a picture of it:

It is perfectly lovely and makes me want to be a refined lady of the 1950s who dresses like this:


and bake things like this:

Yum!
5. Bought some delicous loose leaf tea (butterfly lavender green tea) and bought mom some cherry black tea.
6. Ate a yummy lunch at the Carving Board.
7. Went shopping with Mom at Stein-Mart and she was kind enough to buy me this dress:

8. Then my wonderful Joshua joined us for dinner (he was in town reffing a soccer game). We ate at a Mediterranean restaurant called Mooney's. It was pretty tasty. I had chicken over fetoosh.
9. Sunday was supposed to be warm and sunny, but it was anything but! Dreary, foggy, dampish...it just made me want to go back to sleep. I persevered, though, and decided to take myself out to Cafe Roche. They were playing Mumford & Son, had a Sunday paper out to peruse, and also had some declious baked goods. I got the vegan chocolate banana muffin.

10. From there, I decided that while it was a bit blah outside, the weather wasn't so terrible that I couldn't go to my favorite place in Winston-Salem: Reynolda Gardens.

I always make a few trips there throughout the spring/summer to snap a few flower pictures. One might say, in fact, that I am a teensy bit obsessed with flower pictures. And they would be right. I was hoping more would be in bloom yesterday, but found that the garden hadn't quite had its spring awakening yet. I did snap a few nice ones, though.

11. From there, I enjoyed a taco soup and grilled cheese lunch date with my parents and grandma, and caught the tail end of the original Father of the Bride. It's a pretty delightful movie, though I'm not sure it beats the Steve Martin version.
12. From there I hopped in my car and drove to Shelby. Josh and I had a great afternoon and evening which included the following: time out on the patio to put our tent together, a spontaneous bike ride, dinner at Chen's, and evening patio time to enjoy a fire in the chimenea (and a discussion about Buddhism and Christianity).

All in all, it was a pretty perfect weekend.

Coming up this weekend at the new job: a 2 night/3 day Campus Crawl tout with the high school group I work with. College tours! Family Fun night! Swimming! Brixx pizza! Bobcats game! It will be hectic and fun. Coming up this weekend is........NOTHING IN PARTICULAR! I'll have a 3 day weekend (Friday-Sunday). Friday will probably be recovery from the trip, which may or may not include a massive room cleaning. Saturday will be tailgate markets and simply enjoying the town I live in (weather permitting, of course). Sunday will be bakery (duh) and beginng to ready myself for the upcoming FLORIDA trip.

Oh, there are many things to look forward to. And I am thankful for them.

A List

1. This list is about nothing in particular.
2. I've had shoe shopping on the brain.
3. Been thinking about checking out the spring dresses at Target.
4. Switching jobs and taking a bit of a paycut...so forget numbers 2 and 3.
5. Getting ready to go on my first vacation in over a year and a half...to FLORIDA!
6. Here is a picture of where I'm going:

That right there is a photo of Bonita Springs, where my boyfriend's parents have a vacation home. They offered to fly me to visit them (along with my boy, of course).
7. Yes, I know that makes me one lucky lady.
8. And no, I haven't yet decided what to do to show them my eternal gratitude.
9. An aside: The Golden Girls lived in Florida, you know.
10. That makes ME a Golden Girl:

See? There I am!
11. Let's end this on a prime number, shall we?

And now it's time for ice cream!