29...let's go

This year I turned 29. I'm still not sure how I feel about that so I'll just move on.

Both the parents had to work the first half of the day so I stayed in my pajamas on the couch, watching Doctor Who, and occasionally packing. It was perfection. I opened my presents and then we made our way to Raleigh to have dinner with the sister and fam.

We ate at Raleigh Times, which is a restaurant housed in the former home of a newspaper. I had a comically large pulled pork enchilada, which was only ok. Joey always orders a huge burrito at one of the Mexican restaurants we go to, so I took this picture and sent it to him. (I apologize in advance for all the pictures of me in this post. But, it was my birthday, so that's ok, right?)

They didn't really have a dessert menu, but they did have some chocolate cake that was apparently homemade every day by a little old lady. (It was also only ok.) They also didn't have any birthday candles so the waitress found a bigger version of the candles on the table. (Which you can't see in this picture.)

I didn't take many pictures that night but here is one of the group. (Minus Joey and Michelle, who couldn't make it.)

After dinner we went to Melissa's to open presents and then say goodbye to the parents, since I was staying in Raleigh for the night.

They got me exactly what I asked for, a kids backpack from REI, but despite my measuring it out when I asked for it, it was still a bit smaller than I was expecting.

Once I lengthened the straps, it looked a lot less ridiculous and was what I wanted. And before that, it was just a lot of laughing, which was awesome.

It was a low-key day spent with the family and exactly what I love. A great start to 29. Which I'm still not really ok with that.

Ain't it good to know you've got a friend(s)

It's no secret that three of my favorite people on Earth are my three best friends from Carolina. Every year we get together at Christmas and every year it's wonderful. And, of course, every year I blog about it.

This year we gathered at Ocean Isle Beach to use Jan's parents' beach house that they have shares in.  It's a gorgeous house on the water.

We started with our traditional Mexican dinner with margaritas. The frozen ones were a bit too electric green in color, the guacamole wasn't fresh, but the food and company were great, as to be expected. Though the food may have been a little too great as I felt rather full and sick most of the rest of the night.

Once back at the house we did the usual eating, chatting, drinking, present opening, laughing, laughing, and laughing that we always do. We affixed mustaches to our drinks, gave the newly-engaged Brandie a few gifts, cozied up in front of the fire, and watched and sang along to "Bridesmaids."

Now, traditionally, I'm the lightweight of the group. I have the lowest tolerance for alcohol and always end up to be the first tipsy one. But because I didn't feel that well from the food, I was sober all night, and thus got to enjoy even more of the fun and festivities. The next part of which included...wrestling. First of the arm variety, and then the leg.

See, in college, we all arm wrestled once and Brandie absolutely demolished us. I mean, we barely put up a fight. I have absolutely zero upper-body strength so I knew I couldn't beat her, but I did hope to at least put up a fight. Nope. J and K did slightly better, but Brandie was still the victor. Repeatedly.

Then we moved on to leg wrestling. I thought for sure, given the length of my legs, I'd easily dominate. Nope again. I'm just weak all around. But it was fun and we laughed until we hurt.

Eventually we went to bed and then leisurely got up the next morning. We had breakfast and then went to the beach to see the ocean and take a few pictures. After a good lunch, some more chatting and laughing, we all went our separate ways.

It wasn't enough time, but it will do for a bit. Especially since we're guaranteed more than one gathering this year as B's wedding and wedding prep pretty much demand it.

Home for Christmas

The day after Operation: Christmas Cheer came Operation: Home for Christmas. Which got off to a rocky start when my train was delayed 3 hours due to a fire on the tracks in West Philadelphia. I was so happy when my train finally arrived that I barely noticed that the license plate didn't say "Fresh" nor were there dice in the mirror

I was able to be home for a full two and a half weeks, which were jam packed. Serious busy-ness going on. I worked from home the first 4 days, wrapped all the presents, did a lot of baking, a lot of decorating, even some cooking, plus some shopping, visiting, and eventually some lazing, too.

These are some of the decorations. The top middle photo is the bonsai tree with some ornaments and a bow because Mom and I got a little silly. The middle photo is a bunch of the figure decorations. Daddy thought they looked ready to attack, so I put them in a more proper formation with the Nutcracker leading the way. The bottom picture is Daddy wearing the Christmas card holder as a hat. The big left picture is the tree, the most beautiful one in years according to the parents. The big right picture is the Christmas eve table scape with Grandma's china and Christmas tree napkin holders. Plus Mom's tree display in the center.

These are the cookies I baked. I did everything but the magic cookie bars. I even made some cookies that I don't even like. (Which weren't nearly as fun to taste test, of course.) I don't mind baking but standing up for hours did take its toll on my getting-older body. And I did swear. A lot. (Which I think Mom got a little too used to because she barely checked on me.)

This was the first year I contributed to Christmas Eve dinner. I made shrimp ceviche and baked brie. I'm not sure the change was fully enjoyed by all, but I thought they were good.

This is the second year that it has just been me and the parents first thing Christmas morning. It's still a little weird but better than last year, especially since everyone was able to come over in the afternoon. I always end up taking pictures at our gatherings and luckily everyone usually humors me. First set are our candid shots, second set are our posed ones.

And that was Christmas at home. Unfortunately, Mom was sick for about a week of it so we didn't get out and about as much as we usually do, though she did rally to take me to traipse around Chapel Hill, which was Heaven, of course. And the day before that I went with Daddy to Greenville, on what was supposed to be just a trip to Harbor Freight but we ended up adding several other stops and got home many hours later.

I'm the middle child so I never got the parents all to myself. So I'm not going to lie, it was kind of nice to just chill with them every evening, even when we were each huddled around our laptops and even when I was forced to watch HGTV or Duck Dynasty. I know I'm forgetting tons of stuff but know that I was in North Carolina, with my family, and it was good.

Thanksgiving

Either because I don't really care for the day, or because it's not a lot of fun to take pictures of people eating, but I never take pictures on Thanksgiving. Until this year!

We spent the day at my sister's house. This was the first holiday since she and her family became vegetarian/vegan, but it worked out just fine. I even tried some tofurkey. Which I never need to try again.

 

It was a low-key day, as ours usually are, with just a lot of eating, talking, drinking, and then cleaning. And as the pictures show, there was also some cheesing (from the nieces), reading (of ads), posing (with a turkey placeholder), lazing (the dog), and drinking WHILST cleaning (me, obviously.)

 

A siblings pictures WITHOUT one of us in a graduation gown.  This just doesn't happen very often.  (And we almost never get to pose with a lumberjack.)

 

It was a good day and if it hadn't of happened two months ago I might have been able to write more about it.

Stranger in my own kitchen

My family has lived in the same house for 23 years. Though there have been many improvements, the important stuff always stayed the same.

Then, I left for college. And within a month the parents had built a pantry. Which was and still is awesome. Not awesome, however, was that it meant changing the location of things that had been in the same place for 15 years. Tupperware in bottom cabinet to right of sink? Nope. Bread in middle drawer beside refrigerator? Nope. Just when I'd finally have it figured out where the chips were, I'd go back to school, and then the next time I came home, they'd be moved again. I'm convinced the parents waited for me to leave and then immediately switched everything, thus slowly eroding my sanity.

Ten years since the pantry was built, I finally sort of had a handle on things. Then they went and renovated the kitchen. Which is even more awesome than the pantry was. Not awesome, however, is that nothing is where it should be. The silverware drawer, which for 23 years has been above the trashcan, is now one drawer over. And the trashcan is now one cabinet over. It's like the entire world has shifted over one space! Except for the spaces where now a lazy Susan sits, which just really throws my sanity for a loop. Literally. (Though I do love a good lazy Susan. See: Yours, Mine, and Ours. The original.)

And let's not even talk about the fact that there are three refrigerators and a freezer. Sample conversation:
Mom: Get me the ground beef out of the refrigerator.
Me: It's not here.
Mom: The one in the garage.
Me: Which one?
Mom: Poppy's.
Me: It's not here.
Mom: Because you're looking in the freezer.*

I have no doubt that when I return for Christmas they will have mixed things up as much as possible just for fun so that I'll have no choice but to make my tea in a cereal bowl and eat my grits with a measuring spoon.

However, the kitchen really is stunning and all done by Daddy -- with Mom's supervision and assistance -- so I guess it's ok that I'll never find anything ever again.

*I frequently confuse the freezer and refrigerator. That's not their fault; I get distracted easily.

What 31 Years of Marriage Looks Like

Daddy: That was a fox pause.

Bonnie: [confused look]

Mom: Faux pas* 

*foh pah

Things I Learned This (Last) Weekend

This is a long one. But since it took me so long to get it up here, I think that should be ok.

I really should join a country club.
They're just so pretty.

Nothing is better than a day off from work with mimosas and family.
Especially when you add in the amazing food, location, company, laughs, craziness, etc.

 
Slightly better than mimosas with family: Lounging on a piano.
Yep, this happened. Cross it off the list.

My aunts and mom throw a great luncheon.
Something I already learned, but worth repeating.

It is possible to spend less than 10 minutes in Ikea.
When all you have to get is a wedding centerpiece. (But it's not very fun.)

Little cousins make the best trampoline jumping companions.
"Tell Bonnie to meet me on the trampoline." (Mason)
Gosh, I love trampolines. And my little cousins.

Shopping at Belk during the back-to-school sales can yield some amazing deals.
A $50 Fossil wallet for $12? Yes, please!

Sitting on legs for half an hour while transporting wedding soup is more than worth it.
Not that there was ever any question that there is anything I wouldn't do for wedding soup.

 
My family throws one heck of a beautiful wedding.
And my cousin makes a beautiful and happy bride.

I suck at cornhole.
And the 7-year-old cousin took great pleasure in beating me. As he should.

Every wedding, no every day, should have a photo booth.
Yes, I went through 4 times. No, that was not the record. (coughgraycough)

If you start dancing (to the truly horrible "Single Ladies") during the bouquet toss, you will "lose focus" and have lots of family members (fake) yelling at you.
To be fair, I did lose focus. And also to be fair, it's not my fault a darn 10-year-old caught it.

It's a miracle anyone in my family ever gets married. In 7 steps.
1. Young man asks cousin how old I am. She tells him I wouldn't be interested.
2. Aunt 1 asks young man to ask me to dance. (I may have also played a role in this.)
3. Whilst dancing with young man, Aunt 1 comes and takes our picture. (To be fair, she was the wedding photographer.)
4. Whilst dancing, Aunt 2 comes and takes our drink because Mom said we looked awkward.
5. Whilst dancing, Uncle comes and threatens young man.
6. Still whilst dancing, cousin's new husband threatens young man. With some sort of army knife. (To be fair, he is in the military.)
7. Still whilst dancing, I warn young man that the people gathered in the back are all my family and that they're all watching. Closely.
But I also re-learned that my family is hilarious and it's nice to have people looking out for me. For now.

Sonic claims they stay open until 1 a.m., but I believe they sense when tipsy ladies pull in and turn off their lights.
Not that this happened to me or any family member I know.

If you're going to drink too much, it's nice to have a mom and aunts to help you. And laugh at you.
Again, not that this happened to anyone I know.

Fire ants are straight from hell.
Again, something I knew before but just had it driven home yet again. Whilst running around the grounds barefoot, I got bit. It really, really sucks. (They didn't start hurting until the next day but wow, once they did, I had to work from home for two days because the itching made sleep and shoes nearly impossible.)

Airplanes sometimes suck.
I have had many issues on flights over the years with the air pressure messing with my head so I get all foggy and then feel like I'm going to pass out or vomit. This happened coming home, which combined with a slight hangover and the solid half hour of turbulence, meant I nearly cried once we landed. And spent the rest of Sunday trying to regain my equilibrium.

I love my family more than anything. (ALL my family, even though pictures below are just immediate.)
Again, I learned this years ago, but it's worth repeating. Again and again.

Vacation all I ever wanted...

Today I'm headed south. Whew. I need to not be here. There is too much work and heat and too many people. Oh, the people. Why so many?

I've never taken a week to do anything, much less just lie on the beach. Since I decided to go a little voice in my head has been saying, "Ooh, a week-long beach vacation! How extravagant! When did we win the lottery?" (One of my inner voices is a vindictive little bitch. I know you're shocked.)

Of course, I'm taking the train down, staying in a house with tons of family, and sleeping in a bunk bed, so lottery winnings weren't necessary. But I still feel weird even calling it a "vacation." I don't take vacations. I take long weekends to go home or to explore a city. Two days in Chicago or three days in San Francisco are amazing, wonderful, and exactly what I love doing. But I never call them vacations, they're just trips.

So, here are some Things I Plan On Doing While On Vacation:

• Taking work email off phone.
• Spending no more than 30 minutes a day on laptop or iPhone.
• (Possibly) not brushing my hair or wearing makeup.
• Drinking tons of Cherry Lemon Sun Drop.
• Eating tons of biscuits, barbecue, shrimp, etc.
• Sleeping late.
• Reading tons.
• Writing for me.
• Spending lots of time with family.

Mom's Day

When I was home last weekend, we celebrated Mother's Day on Saturday with dinner at Texas Roadhouse. It's been awhile since I was home for Mother's Day, so it was really great to celebrate with the whole family. And I think Mom was pretty happy about that, too.

The group

I think she liked her gift.

M&M reading

J&M cheesing

Mom and her kids

If you want a refresher as to why my Mom is the greatest ever, you can read my post about her that I wrote two years ago. (And yes, I really should just write another one.)

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Things I Learned This Weekend

(Just a few things I learned as I'll write more about weekend happenings later in the week. As well as all the other things I keep saying I'll write about.)

It's possible to love my blanket in public.
It only took me a lifetime of owning the thing, and 7 years of consistent travelling, to figure out how to discretely hide my blanket so I can put my favorite corner to my mouth in public. This could change everything.

Adding text to photos in Photobucket is fun.
They took away my ability to collage photos, but at least I can add fun text. Or, well, if not fun text, at least just text. And just in case the above photo wasn't obvious enough.

Work from home days are great, but work from home home days are even better.
I left for NC on Thursday evening and worked from home home the next day. There's something about doing my job in the room I spent my high school years studying myself crazy, that's kind of nice/weird.

There's no such thing as eating too many Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
I may have eaten 6 Krispy Kreme doughnuts in 10 hours. This may not be remotely close to my record. (What we call the "Krispy Kreme Incident of '07," when I ate approximately 9 doughnuts in a few hours after returning from London. I only remember the first 3; the rest are just a blur.)


A quick meal and shopping with mom during my lunch break is way better than sitting at my desk and eating while working.
We went to my favorite Mexican place, Torero's, and then mom bought me pretty things at Target. I would have been happy just to ride around town with her, but don't tell her that, I also like the Target stuff.

My sister and I really should wear tiaras all the time.
While waiting to try on bridesmaid dresses at David's Bridal, we had a little photo shoot with some tiaras. We think our brother's fiancee should let us incorporate them into our wedding day attire.

  

Cleaning out papers and junk from the room you lived in from 5 to 22 is fun and weird and sad and happy.
Even though I cleaned out the majority of my room when I moved to DC, I kept a lot of books out and a lot of stuff in my closet. While looking for some clothes, I decided to clean out the rest of my closet. More on this later. But first, a glimpse of a report from my 9th grade computer class. On e-mail. That was done with a friend. That we only got a 98 on. I'm not happy about this.

My Dad is awesome.
He got a knot out of my necklace, took a bunch of my papers to the dump, lasted longer than 5 minutes in Ulta, got us Bojangles on Sunday morning, bought a great computer that I now want, and he makes me laugh.

My Mom is awesome.
She brought me Krispy Kreme and a Pepsi to the train station at midnight. She just wants to go shopping with me and have me fix her Pinterest. She lets me go around her house and pick out stuff I want. She got more excited than me when I told her I was going to make a t-shirt quilt. (More on her day later.)


It is possible for me to sleep on a train. And "The West Wing" really is just the greatest show ever.
I managed to sleep for a few minutes on both train trips. This never happens. Even though, on the way back, I was watching "The West Wing" and missed half an episode. But that's what DVDs are for.

The absolute worst way to end a long weekend at home is with an all-day meeting on Monday.
I got in at 8 last night and had a meeting downtown today for work. This can be good because my commute is only 15 minutes and costs me less than $2. But it can also be bad when it's raining, I'm running late, my metro train is off-loaded due to the fact that it's smoking, I have to run to the meeting in the rain, alternating sidewalks on opposite sides of the street due to construction, making it with just 5 minutes to spare and only enough time to switch into my grown up shoes but not brush my hair.


And that last graph should explain why I'm not going to spend forever fixing the wonky spacing in this post or care that there are, yet again, too many commas. I'm tired and just want to curl up in my queen-sized bed with my visible baby blanket and watch C.J., Sam, Josh, etc. do their thing.

Carolina Pride

I'm a very sad North Carolinian this week. I'll just re-post what I wrote on Facebook shortly after Amendment 1 passed, Please remember, come November, when you start complaining that a politician wants to take away your money, religion, or guns, that you took away the right of an entire segment of our state to commit to the person they love. 

However, even though I hang my head in shame at those that voted to do this, I still am proud of where I come from.

And just as a reminder to myself, and, more importantly, to any outsiders who could stumble across this blog, there are so many wonderful things about North Carolina. Here are some great things about the state and some of my favorite things:

• Barbecue—Western and Eastern (Though Eastern is better.) 
• UNC v. Duke—The greatest basketball rivalry in the country
• Pepsi—Born in New Bern
• Krispy Kreme—Born in Winston Salem
• Bojangles—Headquartered in Charlotte
• Every UNC player who ever wore the jersey, even if they aren't from here. (And even the ones who left early.) 
• Michael Jordan , Richard Petty, Josh Hamilton, Julius Peppers, and Roy Williams
• James Taylor and Ava Gardner 
• Charles Kuralt and Edward R. Murrow 
• James K. Polk and Andrew Johnson 
• Dolly Madison 
• Thomas Wolfe
• Bill Friday—Education pioneer 
• Jim Hunt—The education governor 
• Johnny Grant—Honorary mayor of Hollywood and from my hometown!
• Erskine Bowles—Has worked for multiple presidents
• Nicholas Sparks and every one of his books, which take place here
• Sarah Dessen
• The mountains
• The beach
• Tobacco (Sorry, but if you've ever enjoyed a cigarette, it may have originated in NC.) 
• The First Flight taken by the Wright Brothers
• Dogwood trees and Bradford pear trees in bloom on a spring day 
• Duke Chapel and Duke Gardens
• When a little snow shuts down a whole town 
• A field covered in snow, as far as the eye can see 
• A sudden summer rainstorm 
• The way my neighborhood smells on a Saturday after everyone's been cutting grass 
• Hunkering down with your family during a hurricane 
• And helping a neighbor clean up afterward 
• Jordan Lake and the bald eagle preserve
• The Battleship North Carolina 
• Wilmington—Filming location of Dawson's Creek and One Tree Hill (and more)
• A field full of fluffy cotton, waiting to be picked 
• Bright yellow fruit stands on the side of the road and their misspelled signs 
• Getting stuck behind a tractor driving down the road at 10 mph 
• Old tobacco barns 
• Illegal fireworks on the 4th of July 
• Lightning bugs 
• Chapel Hill on a spring day
• Chapel Hill on a summer day 
• Chapel Hill on a fall day 
• Chapel Hill on a winter day 
• Chapel Hill every day 
• Roanoke Colony—First English attempt to colonize America 
• Virginia Dare—First child born in the Americas 
• The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse 
• The Cape Lookout Lighthouse 
• All the lighthouses 
• Where Blackbeard the pirate chose to settle down. (Maybe I shouldn't brag about that one.) 
• Wildflowers on the side of the highway 
• Cherry lemon sun drop 
• Pine trees everywhere
• Riding down winding roads in the country, surrounded by trees, occasionally passing a stream or a deer
• Old family cemeteries in the middle of a field

This is not an exhaustive list. And these are only the things I could recall without having to do additional research.

Holiday Rewind Part 4: 28 in NC

Reasons I love my birthday and love that it's on January 1:

• It's a holiday.
• It's a holiday celebrated in practically every country in the world.
• There's a countdown to it.
• It's the first day of the year and it really is a fresh start.
• In any given year I can only be one age.
• When everyone else is freaking out about New Year's Eve plans, I just sit idly by knowing the real event is the next day.
• I never have to work on it.
• It's my favorite day of the year.

This year my favorite day started a bit earlier than I'd like, but was necessary. After opening a few presents we left to have brunch in Raleigh at the french restaurant, Coquette Brasserie.

The food -- and mimosas -- were excellent, as was the company.

After brunch we went to every newly 28 year old young woman's dream store: Harbor Freight, the hardware store. Ok, so it's not actually my dream store, but as my Dad holds the title of Handiest Man Alive, I've spent many an afternoon in one and genuinely like hardware stores. As does everyone in my family, actually. And I left with a leather punch, which given my slight addiction to belts, will serve me well instead of having to use a paper clip/scissors/exacto knife to add holes.

After shopping we went to my sister's for cake and presents.

I inadvertently matched the wrapping paper a bit.

Not quite 29 candles -- thank goodness -- but still far too many.

Mike thought so, too. Hilarious.

Opening presents. (Pictured: 50th anniversary "Breakfast at Tiffany's" book.)

After brunch we headed home, which was good since mimosas make me super tired. I chilled with the parents and dozed on the couch while a "Designing Women" marathon played. All in all it was a great birthday and a great start to the year.

Holiday Rewind Part 3: Christmas

This year's Christmas lasted several days, in several locations, with several combinations of family members. But in the end all that mattered was we were together, at some point, in some form. I think we each got stuff we wanted, stuff we needed, and stuff we didn't know we wanted and needed. As I was too busy opening gifts, giving gifts, eating soup, and staying in my PJs most days, the only pictures I have are from Christmas Eve at my sister's. But don't let the lack of photos or commentary fool you: It was Christmas at home with my family, which is all I ever really need.

Daddy and Mom

Mike and Melissa

Joey and Michelle

McKinley and Jordan

Me

Some of my (most easily able to grab five minutes ago to take this picture) spoils. The Eastern Airlines bag pictured is one of my favorite gifts. My grandfather worked for the airline for many years and we have tons of paraphernalia, but nothing like this. I'd had my eye on a vintage PanAm bag for years, but they are so outrageously expensive. Mom knew this and found this Eastern one on eBay, which is far, far superior and more valuable than a silly PanAm one ever would be.