ENGAGED!

My sister, my little sister, is getting married!!!

 The big day was December 27. My parents went out for the night and said they would be "late." Which I thought was kind of weird! When they got home we played games and Mom said "let's pull an all nighter!" Even stranger. But I went along with it.

At 11:30 my sister randomly FaceTimed me. She screamed "I'm getting married!" And I heard Steve say, "Al spelled ME wrong!" THAT'S when it started making sense! My parents went to Michelle and Steve's while they were out...to help set up for the engagement!!! And Mom wanted me to be awake to get the big news!!

How exciting is that?! And how gorgeous is that ring!!

I Went to Boston!

Every year around this time,  I go on vacation. One year it was St. Thomas, then Aruba, Jamaica, and Disney two years in a row. So, this is the first time in a long time that I didn't have a vacation planned. But I had the itch, so on a whim Wednesday morning I purchased tickets and left Thursday morning for Boston!

I was in Boston by 10AM on Thursday. My first stop? To visit my sister and her new puppy! I was so excited to meet Maggie! She was crazy when I first met her, eating my hair, biting my fingers, and playing fetch. She's just so damn cute!

I didn't tell my Dad I was coming up, so next up I had to surprise him! And he was SO surprised! That night Mom made dinner and we had some fun just hanging out around the house.

Friday I visited with my great-grandmother and grandparents. Me and Mom did some shopping. Tried to watch Lincoln (yawn) and did some more shopping. That night me and Michelle went out for dinner. Thank goodness the beer flights were good because it's probably the worst meal I've ever had! I had a good time just catching up with my sister though. During dinner she mentioned that her and her boyfriend, Steve, were both working on Saturday....so I offered to puppy sit!

Soooo...I was up bright and early with the puppy on Saturday. She played rough with Roxy for a few hours - I can't wait to see what they are like with Miley this summer! Maggie was so snuggly with me all day...now I have puppy fever!

"Auntie, she's teasing me! I'm too small to go down the stairs!"

I hungout with my friend, Lindsey, for a few hours on Saturday. Went out to lunch...but I'm not sure if we actually ate anything, we were so busy talking! 

Saturday night I went out with the family for dinner - parents, sister, Steve, cousins, aunt and uncle...the whole family! There was a lot of laughing, food, and beer...we had a good time! I love seeing family when I go home, even if it's just for a quick dinner.

I passed out early Saturday - I had another early flight on Sunday. I wanted to make sure I was home for Easter with Danny. Not that it mattered - we tried finding a fantastic place for Easter dinner...but that didn't work out so well. But we did end up with a delicious pizza and Easter baskets from my Mom!

I had such a great trip home...I'm already counting down the days until we go up for our summer vacation!!

Family Vacation: Massachusetts!

Day 1: Roadtrip!

  After many trips up north we finally have the timing perfect. And by perfect I mean getting on the road at 3AM! How we have so much energy, so early is beyond me. It's amazing that with a 7 year old and a dog we only had to stop twice...and even cut two hours off our trip. Leaving at 3 is totally the way to go - getting to Massachusetts at a normal hour, eating dinner with the family and getting to bed at a normal time is a great way to start vacation!!

Day 2: Boston!

We wasted no time having fun! We drove into Boston for a day of site seeing and Boston history. We started with the Tall Ships..and while we were there I ran into my aunt and uncle, out of all the people there, I spotted them right away! Next we jumped on the Freedom Trail and learned all about Boston's North End - I love that Kaleb loves learning about History! We even stopped by Faneuil hall Hall to check out the street performers. Such a fun day!

Later that night the family got together for my cousin Alyssa's surprise 10th birthday party. Less than a week earlier her brother was born, so we wanted to make sure she didn't feel forgotten! There were a bunch of kids, food and laughs!

Me and my 94 year old great-grandmother!

 Day 3: 4th of July!

We spent the fourth having a great cookout at everyone's favorite cousins house (I also call him Danny's boyfriend!) Kaleb had so much fun in the pool, he even perfected his flips! Cornhole was played, special cocktails were drank (drunk?) and everyone had fun! Danny says this was his favorite day of vacation!

Day 4: Batting Cages

Thursday was the first day we woke up with no plans. So, we did what we do best - wing it! My sister joined us for a picnic lunch with subs from my faaaaaavorite place. Then we ended up at the most random place - the boys did batting cages, me and Michelle practiced our golf swing (I suck!) and we ate a ton of ice cream. I'd say it was a pretty successful day!

 

Massachusetts was such a great start to our vacation. Can you believe we still had 10 days of fun after this! I can't wait to share the rest with you!

Weekend Getaway

Early Thursday morning I packed a small carry on and jumped on an airplane headed to Massachusetts. I know, it seems like I'm always there. But there is always some kind of event that I don't want to miss out on. This weekend it was a baby shower! Thank goodness for cheap, fast commuter flights!

From the second I got off the plane I was busy. I had a two hour coffee date with Veronica. I miss marathon coffee dates with a good friend. Catching up on anything and everything and not having to give back stories...because they already know the back stories! After that me, Mom and Michelle got mani and pedis...followed by dinner with Dad. We decided on Chinese food....not because I was craving it, but because I haven't had a scorpion bowl in ages! And of course, Thursday night ended watching Grey's Anatomy with Mom. Seriously...what kind of season finale was that?!?

Friday I had lunch with June and my uncle, Rick. Again it was another two hour catch up session. When food and/or coffee are involved...time flies by! After lunch I went into Boston with my friend Jen. We went to my favorite bar, Hennessys, for overpriced beer and a great cover band. Since I moved three years ago, Happy Hour has changed...but change isn't always a bad thing. This band was actually pretty good! We grabbed a brick oven pizza and then, because we're old, called it a night. I used to be able to stay out until 2AM. I was home by 10!

Saturday was such a good day. Me and Mom spent the whole day in and out of stores searching for decorations for our house. She helped me decide on themes for our room and Kaleb's room and one of the bathrooms. We got so much stuff I had to send myself a giant box! Saturday night Mom made delicious lamb chops, we drank some wine and watched The Vow. I miss these nights with my Mom.

Sunday was the baby shower. June is due at the end of June with a baby boy. This will be there (combined) 6th kid...but the first together. They got a ton of great stuff. I liked catching up with family and enjoying an awesome brunch. With mimosa. Mmmmm....

Sunday night my Roomie came over, we had dinner with Mom and Dad and then sat at the dinner table for what seemed like forever just talking. That is my favorite kind of night. I have great friends in North Carolina but nothing compares to a night in with Mom and Ashley.

Monday me and Michelle went up to New Hampshire for something I have been craving: fried clams. Seriously, North Carolina claims to have good seafood but I haven't found anything I crave. But oh-em-gee. My fried clams from Browns were amaaaaaaaazing. I'm already counting down the days until my next trip up there! Seriously - DELICIOUS.

I came home yesterday to a pile of bills and a leaking roof. Nothing like coming home.....

Sidenote: My lack of pictures is weird. My camera is coming out of retirement this week. I promise!

2011 in Review

Is it just me or did 2011 fly by? Lucky for me it was a great year! Here are some of my favorite highlights...

January
We rang in the New Year at Duplin Winery.
I was in Katie and Frank's wedding!

February
We went to Disney for our honeymoon!
& I met Bonnie and her gorgeous children!
I had my wisdom teeth YANKED out!

March
I celebrated Mardi Gras with the girls!
We celebrated our 1 year anniversary with fondue!
Danny went to Yuma, me and Miley went to Boston...and Mrs. Gambizzle visited!

April
Me and Mrs. G were Boston tourists.
Jacksonville was hit by a tornado.
I had a tea party with my Roomie to celebrate the Royal Wedding!

May
I celebrated Cinco de Mayo.
And reunited with my Hubby!
We went to an airshow, a comedy show and had a cookout!

June
We went on a river cruise.
Kaleb visited! He got a new bike, went to 2 baseball games, went crabbing, fishing, attempted geocaching and learned how to swim!

July
We started a tradition: Maine with the family!
Had our family pictures taken.
When we were kid free we hangout in Virgina Beach with the Gambizzles...
And survived our second BeerFest with the Colwells!

August
We bought a new (to us!) car.
...and I started driving!
I cut my hair off.
Michelle, Katie and Irene visited us.

September
We celebrated Danny's 29th in Asheville!
We started a new adventure involving NC wine.
Danny went to golf weekend and I surprised Veronica at her bridal shower!
AND I went to the spa with the girls and the fair with my college roommates!

October
For the first time ever, the FRO hosted an event I was interested in!
We ate lots of chili a the ChiliFest!
And we celebrated Halloween with the Colwells!

November
We went to our 2nd USMC ball.
I discovered I can make my own Starbucks.
And Miley turned two!

December
Lindsey visited and we went to Beermas!
I turned the big 2-6!
I went to the winery and a cookie swap.
And Kaleb came down for Christmas vacation!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

My sister and her friend came down for a few days!

Here's a look at what we did!

Wilmington!

Duplin!

Fort Fisher Aquarium!

Carolina Beach!

Swansboro!

Wine Riot!

I'm always on the lookout for fun events....and I'm pretty good at finding them! A few weeks ago I saw that Boston was hosting Beer Summit and Wine Riot. Tickets were outrageously expensive, so I made a deal with myself: I'll only go if I win tickets. I got on Facebook and Twitter and started entering all sorts of contests. And guess what...on Thursday I won!

Saturday me and my sister got dressed in our best wine drinking attire and headed into Boston. In true New England fashion...it was raining. Thanks to the website directions we got a little lost. Instead of looking like a wine fashionista...I looked like a drowned rat.

There were forty booths...over 250 wines. It was wine heaven. I had wines from Portugal, France, Italy, California...and who knows where else! They gave us a book to keep track of everything we tried, I liked a lot of the whites but most of the reds were way too oaky for my taste. My favorite red didn't even taste like a red, Relax Cool Red. YUM! And of course when I ran across Flip Flop wine, I just had to try it! I highly recommend it!

They had super cheap food too! Upper Crust had yummy pizza and they had yummy pretzels at another stand. Thumbs up for the food, two thumbs way up for the wine!

We were so interested in the wine and food that we missed out on the crash courses. I wanted to go to the "Price Whore No More" course and a few of the others. Guess I'll just have to go next time!

Our awesome day ended in the photobooth (and fake tattoos!)We grabbed a few props...and came up with this great picture!