Behind the Scenes

I have been getting the dreaded "there is not enough space on your phone" message for a while now.... usually every time I try to take more pictures of one of the cats. (#crazycatlady - don't care) but more notably when I went to try to record Ashley's grand entrance at her surprise party on Saturday and couldn't! Sigh.

In the interest of being able to capture more cat pictures, and whatever else strikes my fancy, I finally moved all my pictures to my (extremely old, probably going to die soon) Macbook last night. What a fun exercise in reliving lots of random events! I managed to clear off enough pictures and unused apps to make space to keep the ol' iPhone running for a bit longer, but I thought I'd share a few pictures that never made it past my phone to the blog, or even Instagram. Time travel with me!

I had a craving for possibly the entire month of January for chicken and dumplings - but not regular chicken and dumplings, the kind my mom makes, which is more like chicken stew with biscuit "floaters" (so weird, but so good). I finally made a batch and it was the most delicious bowl of goodness I'd eaten in a while. Love those cute little biscuit pieces!

True story: when I sat at the winery with my girlfriends for a few hours in 60 degree weather in March, I acquired my first sunburn of the season. Please note exactly where the cuff of my jacket started, and exactly where my hair tie was sitting the whole time. Pale person problems.

Toby managed to pour his entire body into this shoe box that was sitting on the floor. There are several pictures of him where just his tail is hanging out of the box - every other piece of him was nicely packaged into a rectangle! Cats are weird.

I found these adorable Sperry flip flops on Zappos and had to have them. How cute is that punch of brightness from the floral fabric? Side note: yes, I also purchased Crocs. Not ashamed. In my defense, they aren't traditional Crocs, but the sandal style that they make. They are great lake shoes, because they can get wet and dry so quickly! whatever.

While wandering through HomeGoods recently, I noticed that they had a large collection of lake house-themed items, so I snapped several pictures to send to my parents. I managed not to buy anything, because you can really only have so many things that say "Welcome to Our Lake House".... I guess. 

Do you keep all your old photos? I have years' worth on my laptop and external hard drive - not even all good ones, plenty of outtakes and things that should have been trash. I can't stand to part with them! Picture hoarding... it's a thing.

Sneaking in a day-date

Little-known fact: C and I work in office buildings that are directly across the street from each other. We spend all-day-er'ry-day separated by the distance of a few football fields. People often tell me that this is great and ask if we eat lunch together every day or get coffee all the time... and the surprising answer is that no, we actually do not. And that's intentional! We commute together 2x a day, spend all evening together, and spend the weekends together. We have made a conscious decision to keep our work lives separate, because, for heaven's sakes, there is such a thing as too much time with your spouse. We need time to be individuals!

There is definitely a perk, though, to being able to run across the street for a phone charger when I forget mine, or demanding a coffee break when I'm having a particularly frustrating day. It doesn't happen very often, though, so that makes it a treat when it does occur.

Yesterday, though, we broke the mold and decided to have a real-live lunch date! The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and we decided to take advantage of that and walk over to Chop't for salads (I am in love with Chop't - I want one in my living room.) It was refreshing to get away from the office for a bit (very rare for me as I almost always bring my lunch) and spend a little QT with my hubby in the middle of the day. I'd forgotten how much fun that can be! It's also pretty neat to see all the sites that are laying right outside our office buildings - I forget that these are things people actually travel here to visit and see! No big deal, just walking past the Nation's Capitol building on our way to lunch...! :)

2013 in pictures

January 

February

 

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Choosing life over chores

What a busy weekend! I can't believe that Thanksgiving is next week - not entirely sure how I'm going to manage to prepare everything & get the house ready! I like to assume that everyone else is in the same boat... right??

As it always does for me, life comes before cleaning house and running errands, and this weekend was no exception. While I managed to get my Thanksgiving lists written out and the first major grocery shopping trip done, I left plenty on the "to-do" list while I went to a Stella & Dot Open House on Sunday and snuck in a quick shopping trip at DSW with my mama, as well! When a girl needs shoes, a girl needs shoes. Period!

On Saturday, my parents swung by to pick me up and we ventured down to Charlottesville, where we spent the day at a few wineries with my uncle to celebrate his birthday. It was originally just supposed to be my parents and my uncle, but I tagged along as a birthday surprise. We had so much fun! It was a cloudy, damp day, but it didn't keep us from having a great day.

Back porch at Blenheim Vineyards

Outside (above) and inside (below) at Blenheim Vineyards

We went to three wineries: Blenheim Vineyards, Trump Winery, and Jefferson Vineyards. Blenheim is owned by Dave Matthews - kind of neat! All three wineries are within minutes of each other, so it was easy to move from place to place.

We tasted the wines at each, and of the bunch, Trump was definitely our favorite. They had the largest tasting area, a beautiful patio with comfy furniture and beautiful views, and the friendliest staff. Had we not been on a mission to go to more than one place, we probably could have just spent the afternoon there!

Photo-bombed!

That's better... my cute parents

Views at Trump Winery

I kind of want to live in the building... so lovely!

The birthday boy!

Fun fact about Trump Winery: they are one of the few local vineyards that produces sparkling wine. Half of the tasting was of their sparkling varieties, and it was a cool experience - I've never done a sparkling wine tasting! Couldn't drink a whole lot of it, but definitely recommend it. Definitely helped me to determine what I actually like when it comes to sparkling wine (helpful, since my usual "selection method" in the grocery store is just to grab the cheapest or prettiest bottle... typical!).

Even on a grey, cloudy day, the Virginia countryside is absolutely beautiful. You just can't beat the sights in the fall around here! It obviously would have been perfect and gorgeous if the weather had been nice, but, like I said, we had just as great a time with yucky weather. Good wine and better company makes for a wonderful day!

We wrapped up the day with dinner at Travinia in Charlottesville, and C drove down to meet us for that part of the fun. A giant feast of delicious Italian food was just what we needed after all the wine... plus a little more wine to wash it down, of course!

And there ya have it - another day where I chose an experience and quality time with my family over the piles of laundry or dirty kitchen floor that may have been calling my name. Of course, I will be rushing around to get it all done before Thanksgiving, but I certainly wouldn't trade the day I had for a couple baskets of clean clothes. I know there is that saying that "babies don't keep," but really, I believe that life doesn't keep. I'd rather enjoy it!

WIAW: hashtag taco tuesday

I had fun with What I Ate Wednesday last week, so we're back for round 2. Before I get to that, though, I have two important thoughts to explore.

1. Thank HEAVENS everyone on Facebook & Instagram was around to tell me that it was Election Day yesterday, or else I clearly never would have known. It's not like there are a bajillion horrible ads leading up to it or anything; if it weren't for all those pictures of "I Voted" stickers, how would the message ever get to us?! #sarcasm.
2. Do you ever find yourself reading a blogpost, shaking your head and thinking "....why would I do that?!" Yesterday's offender involved putting a naked baby in a carved pumpkin for a photoshoot. There are just some things that I don't think need to occur. Anyone else? No? Just me? Okay, then...

On to the good stuff!

The usual: coffee & yogurt (I'm out of bananas. The horror!)

This was supposed to go with my lunch, but I found that my stomach was audibly growling during a meeting, so snack time it was! Baby carrots and this freakin' awesome hummus from TJ's. Love the flavor!

Leftovers FTW! (per usual) Baked buffalo chicken tenders nuggets, with salad and a side of ranch. Even as leftovers, the panko on the chicken stayed crispy, and the buffalo flavor was even spicier. Yum!

A co-worker brought me some pumpkins muffins with chocolate chips as a thank-you for some cookies I brought her, and I snacked on half of one on the train ride home. (no picture)

After yoga, it was time for #tacotuesday! Tacos are, and have always been, my favorite meal - if I don't know what I want for dinner, or don't feel inspired, the answer is always "tacos or spaghetti." Tacos never let me down! I made the chicken in the crockpot, so it was ready to be shredded and taco-fied when we got home. Topped with all the standard goodies - all we were missing was guacamole. There was enough for leftovers for lunch today, so I am definitely a happy camper.

I may or may not have followed the tacos with a glass of white wine and a few pieces of Halloween candy while watching the Caps dominate the Islanders.... but there is no photo evidence, so you'll never know! Mwahahahaha.

Eating our way through Durham (oh, and a wedding!)

We had a really great weekend... and then we woke up this morning to a dead car battery. Womp, womp. Happy Monday??

Anyway. We spent the weekend in Durham, NC, celebrating the marriage of friends from college, and it was a blast. C was the best man, and this was the first wedding we've been to in some time where I didn't have any responsibilities for the weekend! It was definitely a change for us - I'm usually the one in the wedding & C is usually the one hanging out, entertaining himself. Not this time!

We drove down to NC on Thursday morning and got there just in time to grab lunch at Toast (a great recommendation from blog-friend Maddie!) and then head over to The Cookery for the rehearsal. After that, we had a few hours before the rehearsal dinner, so I snuck in a quick treadmill run while C caught up with his friends. The rehearsal dinner was held at Tyler's Taproom, and I loved it. I had a delicious chicken sandwich with garlic fries, and we all enjoyed a few beers from the huge variety on tap, Tyler's was definitely a place I could see C & I hanging out if we lived in Durham - it was a great restaurant, and a fun atmosphere. I love local places!

The groom's mom made him this amazing cake for the rehearsal!

Best man & groom

Friday morning, I weaseled my way into a yoga session with the bridal party (what a great way to start the day!) then a few of us went out to get breakfast at yet another local joint, Daisy Cakes. The carnitas hash with a sunny-side-up egg was absolutely incredible. I was stuffed to the gills!

After breakfast, C went off with the boys to hang out and get ready for the day, and I ventured out with my in-laws (who were also in town for the wedding) to explore the area. We ended up at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens. What a lovely way to spend a free afternoon!

Of course I found some maroon & orange - go Hokies!

We wandered the gardens for a while, enjoying the beautiful day and even more beautiful flowers and landscaping, before grabbing a quick lunch at Piazza Italia in Brightleaf Square (Brightleaf was another recommendation from Maddie - she set me up well!). Sun-dried tomato crostini with tomato basil soup was just what I needed to hold me over until dinner at the wedding. So delicious!

The wedding was on Friday night, and it was just perfect. The bride and groom have been together longer than I've even known C, and this was always something that was just meant to be. We had so much fun celebrating their marriage! The ceremony was so personal & so "them," the DJ was great, the drinks were flowing, and a fantastic time was had by all!

Our final stop before heading out of town on Saturday was for barbecue at The Original Q Shack (one last suggestion from Maddie!) - and this was possibly the best choice, ever. I may have died and gone to hangover heaven. The food was incredible! Smoked brisket, creamed spinach with jack cheese, loaded baked potato casserole, and hush puppies on the side. You guyyysssss. #foodcoma

C & I spent Sunday playing catch-up around the house - there was yard work, housework, laundry, grocery shopping, Halloween-candy-buying, and cooking, mixed with football on in the background (Cowboys AND Redskins lost... sad day for us).

This situation had to be addressed... these are the leaves from ONE tree in our yard!

Fun with the power blower. #ilookpissed

Think this is enough?? #nosuchthing

It should go without saying that we were wiped out by dinnertime. We collapsed on the couch with pot roast and wine to catch up on American Horror Story and watch the Walking Dead. It was truly a wonderful weekend for us - minus that darn car battery!