Home Sweet Home

About 10am Wednesday morning, my boss walked up to me and said "You can work from home Friday." Being in retail and Black Friday being a pretty big day all around for my company, I was planning on being in the office that day which resulted in me not being home for Thanksgiving. Numerous people offered to let me crash their quality family time in the Charlotte area but this early Christmas present from my boss made it possible for me to head home.

I packed up Thursday and make my first stop at Thanksgiving Feast 1 of 2 in Lynchburg, VA. I spent the afternoon with my mom's parents, sibling's and significant others before finishing the last 2 hours of trip en route to Fredericksburg. I got home right before the end of the Redskins game, scarfed down some amazing ham biscuits and mac and cheese (Thanksgiving Feast #2) and hung out with my adorable nieces. Pajama's and two bedtime stories later, the girls were asleep and the parents, my step sister and me retired outside by my dad's newly purchased fire pit (which he didn't hesitate to tell me be bought at Lowe's).

I woke up Friday morning to an adorable five-year old telling me about the chocolate chip pancakes upstairs. My nephew (who I NEVER see) got there a little later and the children achieved full momentum around 9:30. Then it happened: my step-mom busted out the GIANT bucket of Play Doh accessories. This wasn't just a few tubs of Play Doh. It was every color, cutter and tool imaginable. We had rolling pins, spaghetti makers, cookie cutters, critter makers, all of them. I'm convinced that my step-sister and I were way more excited about the morning activity than the children because it entertained the two of us for about 2 hours. My mad Play Doh skills were nothing compared to Ashley's holiday themed Play Doh cookies.

My mad Play Doh Skills

Ashley's mad Play Doh skills.

Friday turned into a lunch date with Alex and some quality nephew time with my friend Zac. We decided to go see a movie and convinced my parents to come along. (We went to see Lincoln and I highly recommend it). You know you're an adult when you 1) willingly invite your parents to a movie and 2) invited them because you wanted them there and didn't just need a ride. Yay for growing up!

Saturday started with me picking out my Birthday/Christmas present and lunch with Mamaw (which also came with a few Snoopy-related goodies). The afternoon consisted of my little sister and fiance gracing us with their presence and the first time I got to see her gorgeous engagement ring. We talked weddings for like the next two hours and daddy cooked up some fried oysters and leftovers for dinner. Kristina showed up about 11 and we headed out downtown in an attempt to meet up with some wedding goers. Due mostly to poor planning on the part of my friends, we did not actually meet up with the wedding people and ended up hanging out downtown.

Sunday was lunch with both sisters at a cute little place downtown called Eileen's. They had gourmet sandwiches and salads. This, of course, was another first in a city where I didn't think there were any more firsts to be had. I settled on some sort of ham and cheese quiche-esque dish that had this crazy good pesto cream on top. The women behind the counter were extra friendly and even checked on us a few times during the meal.

Eileen's in Downtown Fredericksburg. It's inside an old church and still has the "churchy" feel to it.

Whew! That's a lot. So let's recap:

1) I got to go home for Thanksgiving.
2) I got to see 90% of my family.
3) My loving parents and grandma hooked me up with a sweet birthday present and some Christy-appropriate Christmas decorations.
4) Saw the three close friends I still manage keep in touch with.
5) And most importantly...I gained a new appreciation for Fredericksburg.

I've never disliked Fredericksburg. I just knew that it wasn't where I wanted to end up. Until I moved to Charlotte, the great cities of Northern VA, Charlottesville and Harrisonburg were my top choices and Fredericksburg never made the list. Maybe it was because I had lived there so long and I was ready for change. Not sure. However, this weekend, I remembered why I love the city so much and why I feel a tiny sense of pride when I tell people where I'm from. It also helped that it's Christmas time and all the shops downtown are decorated for the holidays. You can almost feel the holiday cheer just walking down the streets.

Downtown Fredericksburg all decorated for Christmas.

I guess knowing that I was leaving at the end of four days and making my way back to Charlotte made me appreciate Fredericksburg a little bit more. It's my home. Most of my family lives there and it's where all my roots are (minus the few that are still holding on in Harrisonburg.) I got a little sad leaving Sunday afternoon knowing that my next trip home is going to be a short two days. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I was leaving home rather than running towards something else. And equally as important, for the first time in a long time, I'm counting down the days until I can go home again.

A Weekend of Firsts

To say I’m utterly exhausted from this weekend is an understatement. As of 6:00 Sunday night, my body refused to do anything else that required any effort. This weekend I had my old roommates, Shawn and Rachel, our friend Aimee, and two pup dogs staying in my apartment. We've been planning the visit for a while, and I was looking forward to it so much that I lost sleep Thursday night and thus started the weekend off on the wrong foot.

Regardless of my lack of sleep, it was nothing short of an awesome weekend. To make it that much better, I had a lot of “firsts” this weekend. I did a lot of things that I have never done in Charlotte or elsewhere and was glad to share with this group of people.

First #1: Dinner Guests

Thanks to a special delivery by my aunts last weekend and some gracious gifts from my grandmother and other family members, my apartment is officially in “entertaining” condition. In other words, it actually feels like an apartment and not like I’m just passing through temporarily. To avoid the lines and confusion Saturday morning, I had picked up our 5K race packets and a tutu for one of my friends. She swung by Friday evening to pick up the tutu and I made alfredo pasta to avoid spending money on dinner. So not only did I actually cook for another person but we also had a place to sit and eat it. Check that one of my list.

First #2: The 5K

Thanks to our obsession with everything color, Rachel, Aimee, and me signed up for The Color Run a couple of months ago. The Color Run is a 5K that usually raises money for a charity partner. While you’re running, volunteers throw colored corn starch on you at regular intervals. The purpose is to wear all white to the event then end up completely tie-dyed by the end of the race. It’s been a pretty big event all across the country for a year or two now and Aimee and Rachel saw it as an opportunity to come spend the weekend in Charlotte. I worked pretty hard trying to get ready for it but wasn’t prepared for the hills and therefore didn’t do as well as I thought I would. Regardless, I still finished it and ended up completely covered in colorful dust by the end of the race.

Before....

After.....

First #3: New Foods

Aimee and Rachel are both obsessed with the Food Network and the show “Diner, Drive-ins and Dives.” There are quite a few restaurants featured on the show from the Charlotte area and the last time they were passing through, we checked one of our lists. This weekend, we opted for an old-school, 1950’s drive-in complete with ancient speakers, menus and curb-side service. We had a variety of BBQ sandwiches, onion rings and a burger called the Super Boy which has two meat patties, lettuce, pickles, and everything else. (It’s one of their signature dishes.) We ate in the car, because that’s what you do at a drive-in and pretty sure we didn’t leave a single crumb behind.

Enjoying some Drive-in Food

That night for dinner, we tried PF Chang’s which is more or less upscale Chinese food. Rachel was the only one that had ever been before and while my sister loves their food, I had never been near one. We had a spicy shrimp appetizer, crab Rangoon and I ordered crab fried rice. It was a huge dish so I took half of it home and it tasted equally as good Sunday night for dinner.

First #4: Dog Bar

It’s exactly like it sounds. LuckyDog Bark and Brew is a bar in Cornelius where you can bring your dog.. So you drink a beer and your dog makes new four-legged friends. It had an indoor and outdoor area, fully stocked bar and TV screens for sports watching. Because I live here, I paid a $10 yearly membership fee but Avery and Charlie (Rachel’s dogs) got to play for free. Since half of it is inside, it’s going to come in handy in the winter when I can’t get Ron to the dog park to run around. We stayed for about 3 hours; sipping on beers and watching the puppies make new friends. All of the dogs fell asleep in the car on the way home and we’re pretty sure they passed out immediately after we left to go to dinner.

First #5: The Panther’s Game.

I’ve cheered for the Eagles forever but since the Panther’s aren’t big rivals and we only play them every other year, I decided to make them my “home team” and cheer for them only when they’re not playing the Eagles. Plus, my coworkers tend to be in better moods on Monday’s when they win (which hasn’t happened often this season.) Since they’re having a bad year, the tickets are slowly decreasing in price so we were able to get cheap tickets for Sunday’s game. Not a bad way to kill a Sunday afternoon. One of my friends works for the Panther’s doing post game interview stuff and she was able to get us press passes so we were able to go onto the field before the game and watch the teams warm-up. About 20 minutes before game time, she took us on a tour of the press box. As we were getting on the elevator to head to our seats, Michael Jordan got off the elevator for his tour of the press box. He was about a foot away from me and we breathed the same air so I’m probably going to have REALLY athletic kids now.

The Panther’s ended up losing in overtime and the Eagles just plain lost to (were destroyed by) the Redskins. Luckily, I wasn’t getting good cell phone service in the stadium and didn’t see any of the updates until the final score but that wasn’t nearly as bad as having to deal with the texts/Facebook updates from my Redskins friends.

The weekend more than lived up to my hyped-up expectations but I slept most of Sunday evening missing the AMAs and about 30 emails and text messages. I woke up long enough to upload all the pictures so everyone would have something to look at Monday at work (you’re welcome) and went back to bed. I don’t think Ron minded the nap as Avery and Charlie wore him out but he was ready to go at 6:30 Monday morning.

Short work week then home this weekend to see my adorable nephew and other crazy family members. One week until Molly visits Charlotte again and we can start the birthday celebrations. WOO!

The Aunts Invade Charlotte

Thank goodness my coworkers and I went to Target the day before because there was a full-blown nerf battle in my row Friday after lunch that was mostly made possible by the artillery we picked up the day before. With only one casualty, I left work a little early to go home and get the last minute things together for my trip with my aunts. They were en route to Charlotte as of 7:30 that morning but a “quick” stop at my grandparent’s house delayed them a few hours as my grandmother has a way of keeping you three times as long as you planned.

They made it to my place around 5:30 and we unloaded the furniture that they brought for me. Well, most of the furniture. Because they had taken out all of the car seats to bring me said furniture and no one was interested in taking my car, we were short a seat in the van. In true Beverly Hillbilly fashion, we left the arm chair and ottoman in the car and took off for Cherokee, NC.

Our pimped out ride.

 The whole reason we were going to Cherokee was because one of my favorite groups was singing there. The group is Straight No Chaser and they’re an a cappella group based of out of Indiana University (look them up, they’re amazing.) I saw them once about a year ago and they are equally as good live as they are on any CD. We got to Cherokee about 9:30 and the concert started at 9. We were a tad bit late. Normally, poor planning doesn’t end well, especially for me but we got in the door halfway through a song and opted to wait until they were finished so we wouldn’t disturb anyone. While we were waiting, the usher offered to seat us on the floor as opposed to the risers that we had tickets for. We said okay and she promptly placed us dead center of the floor, three rows back. If one of them had fallen off the stage, they would have landed right on us.

View of Straight No Chaser from our seats :)

After an epic concert experience and SNC being amazing again, it was time to hit the casino. I came with no money, but seeing as not gambling wasn’t an option, my aunts slipped me a little cash to get me started. I tripled my initial $20 in the slots and then headed to scope out the black jack and craps tables on the other side. I tend to prefer the tables because you lose your money slower and it makes for more entertainment. I settled on a craps table and Aunt Ellen joined me later. After teaching her the basics and with a little help from Preston and Kenny (the employees), she was hooked and there was no stopping her at this point.

We continued for a few hours, ordering drinks occasionally and getting excited about our turn to roll. I came out on top, happy about my progress but definitely starting to feel the less than two hours of sleep the night before and the three hour drive up there. We moved onto to “Let It Ride” where my aunt hit it big on her first (and last) hand. I was tired to say the least and I had been standing for a while. My feet hurt, I was cranky, and the alcohol stopped at 2am. I was ready to be done. My aunts on the other hand, put me to shame with their stamina and prowess. I am honored to say I have them as my role models because miraculously they kept me going until about 6:30.

We decided that would be a good time to “check-in” to the hotel we had booked across the street. We got to the front desk and told them that we wouldn’t need the room but would still like to eat the continental breakfast. We still paid for the room and when you think about it, that means our breakfast cost about $130. During that time, we decided it would be in our best interest to go back to the casino for another hour or two before heading back to Charlotte.

At this point, we still had not been to sleep and it was taking every ounce of power I had not to fall asleep at the slot machine. I ended up playing craps again but with no luck and decided to call it quits and watch my aunts. In that time, Aunt Anne had managed to turn $100 into significantly more and we called it a night(day?) with all three of us being up overall on the weekend.

A quick stop at the Paula Deen gift shop and we were on our way back to Charlotte. I almost immediately passed out in the Captain’s chair in the back and woke up about 20 minutes outside of Statesville. We made arrangements to pick up Ron from Mike and Whitney’s and then headed to my apartment. After an early dinner and quick trip to Target to get some things from my apartment, we rearranged my living room to accommodate all my new furniture. We played a dice game for a few rounds and I was in no shape to object to a 9:30 bed time.

Since Ron hates sleeping in for some reason, I was up at 8:30 and made breakfast for my aunts before loading up the car and saying good bye. I’m also not ashamed to admit that I went back to sleep for a solid 5 hours after I got them safely on their way. They left me with a few parting gifts, most notably a Paula Deen cookbook and a new nativity set to kick off the Christmas season.

To say I had a blast this weekend is an understatement. It’s always a good time with those two and hopefully next time my other aunt will be able to make the trip. The highlight of the weekend is a toss-up between the ghetto-chair in the car, 3^rd row seats at SNC, and all three of us coming out on top in the casino. I don’t think we could have packed any more good karma into the weekend.

A last (but certainly not least) cap on the weekend was that my little sister got engaged to one of the most awesome guys I know. He’s been around for a while and has been a part of my family for quite some time but I speak for all of us when I say we’re glad to make it official. Bring on the wedding planning!

Just another day at work...

Last Thursday, my team at work decided to partake in a group outing. The goal was “team building” and earlier in the month we had settled on laser tag and lunch because who doesn’t want to shoot things at their boss? We left around noon and went to a place in Mooresville called Joel’s that has really good Chinese food and sushi. Since we were off the clock, some of my coworkers had a beer or two and we briefly discussed our next adventure.

Over the previous two or so weeks, the team that sits directly adjacent to us has been collecting Nerf guns. It wasn’t a problem until we noticed they were coming in with precision sniper rifles and multi-clip, barrel-loaded, 90-shot guns that could shoot well over 50 feet. It was time to suit up and if nothing else, be equipped to defend ourselves. Since the laser tag place didn’t open until 3:00, we detoured to Target.

The nerf gun section at Target.

And there we were. Thirteen professionals dressed for a laser-tag battle royale shopping for nerf guns in the Mooresville Target. By the end of the 45 minute trip, we came away with one sniper rifle, two semiautomatic 10-shot blasters, a few six shooters, a double-barrel shot gun complete with shells and a nerf sword. (The sword was for my boss. To explain his logic for this is another post in itself.) Armed and prepped for battle, we headed to the laser tag place.

I haven’t played laser tag since I was 10-ish so I was more than excited. We opted for girls against boys for the first game then planned to switch it out but the girls called a rematch when we saw how close we were to beating them the first time. I came in first for the girls in the first game and beat all the guys except one (my boss’s boss) because he apparently does this more than once a year. The second game, my vest wasn’t working and I couldn’t really be shot. Once I figured this out, I launched a suicide mission and just walked around shooting. I was more or less invincible.

The Pit where we played laser tag.

They beat us again but only barely and I came out on top of everyone thanks to my defective vest. (I only took a little credit for the victory). We left about 4:30 and I promptly went home and took a nap waking up only to let my dog out and watch Glee. I then viciously cleaned my apartment in preparation for my aunts’ arrival and settled for about two hours of sleep. Thank goodness I had a relaxing weekend ahead of me (sarcasm; see next post).

Election Festivites

Woo! Elections! Convenient that they always happen the same year as the Olypmics. It is not confusing AT ALL for a country to come together and cheer on their athletes for a month then choose sides down political boundaries and yell at each other for the next three months. Politics make me uncomfortable and queasy, and I usually assume the fetal position and put my fingers in my ears when the topic comes up at lunch.

I know I'm not the most "informed" citizen. But I'm willing to admit that. I know that I would much rather watch Nickelodeon and ABC than any of the news channels. But, being an American and wanting to exercise the right that so many people have fought tirelessly for me to attain, I made it a point to get informed, read up on the candidates and show up at the polls on Tuesday. I voted, wore my sticker proudly, and promptly pushed all political thoughts, news and posts out of mind.

But seeing as my friends can turn any event into a reason for celebration and I am never one to turn down good food and wine with great people, Tuesday night I made the trip to Davidson to watch the election results with a few coworkers. I expected us to huddle around the TV and carry on light conversations as the results came in, cheering when certain states leaned a certain way. What I didn't expect was a full-blown election party complete with decorations, two TV screens and blank maps to color.

Lauren's Donkey Deocrations

Lauren bought the "Democrat Package" which was a ton of decorations with donkeys and no elephants to be found. (Needless to say she and most of the other people at the party were nothing-short-of-outspoken Democrats.) There were streamers and table decorations and Lauren sported a red, white and blue cowboy hat. To make the evening complete, they had printed out blank maps and gathered an assortment of red and blue markers. As the results came in, we colored in the state with red or blue depending on the results.

The coloring maps with the first few states colored in.

I keep a mental list of things I want to do "better" and being more informed about politics is one of them. I am consistently surrounded by both Republicans and Democrats and people who claim to be Independent though 9 times out of 10 they always vote the same way. I didn't cheer for any states in particular nor did I cheer for any candidate as the results came pouring in. In fact, coloring was the highlight of my evening and I left their house before the victory and concession speeches started. (Probably not the best way to become more informed.) However, I am proud of myself for actually reading up on the candidates and forming my own opinion rather than going in blindly based on the opinions and views of my friends and family.

Will I talk about the election or the candidates after this week? Probably not. A lot of the big "issues" don't concern me and don't affect me at this point in time which I think is directly related to my lack of interest in general. Regardless, I voted and plan to vote again in four years and again after that because the right to vote is something I know is both a responsibility and a privilege for living in a free country. Not about to give that up any time soon.

Homecoming!

Since I recently wrote an article about a weekend at JMU, I thought it would be appropriate to give a different perspective on a weekend with me in my favorite place in the world. I asked my friend Ashley to recount the weekend from her perspective, a guest blogger if you will, so it wasn't just another 500 words of me writing about how I love Harrisonburg.

So here's Ashley's recount of that weekend...

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This was one of those weekends you look forward to for 365 days  (give or take a leap day.)  Some would say it's even better than Christmas, Thanksgiving, and what used to be summer break combined. It was JMU Homecoming and Halloween: a lethal combination of football, alcohol, and witty costumes.

Friday's classes dragged by ridiculously slow- like Christmas Eve with all the excitement but without the hassle of wrapping gifts.  I met up with Connor to finalize some last minute costume changes.  (Who’s Snoopy without Charlie Brown!?) Because people question my sexuality regularly anyway, why not be a single girl with relatively short hair going as a couple’s costume with another female?

After a ridiculously long night of baking 96 miniature pumpkin spice cupcakes, we all met up to tailgate about 9am. Normally I am the overjoyed fool gleefully running to hug Christy when she comes back to town.  Apparently she’d been watching Freaky Friday because our roles definitely switched. The fool was excited to see me!  

Now, if you’re gonna drink that early, ya might as well be classy with mimosas and strawberries and a sheetz croissant for breakfast.  (Sheetz trip #1.) 

Nothing says classy like Mimosa's out of a solo cup.

Three mimosas, 7 jello shots, a peppermint patty shot, a turrential rain storm and a whiny hurricane later, it was game time!  Due to previous experiences, Doug, Christy, and I dipped early to make it to the stadium in time to not only beat the masses, but catch the pregame huddle, the team coming in, the inflatable Duke Dog, and the marching band. 

Despite being damp, sick, sober, and looking too much like J.Beibs, Duke reigned supreme.  Dinner plans were made but the beckoning of a hot shower and a power nap were much too strong.  So, Christy and I picked up Sheetz (trip # 2 for those of you who are keeping track) and headed back to Jess’ (who later joined us) to regroup.  Showered, fed, thawed out, and costumed, we headed out to Saunton for Alex and Lacy's Halloween party.

But to make any trip complete, of course a stop at Sheetz is necessary (trip #3.)  And of course you get carded for buying a pong kit which is nothing more than solo cups and ping pong balls- your fun fact of the day.  Snoops, One of the Cat in the Hat's "Things", and I arrived at Lacy and Alex’s for a fun filled evening of pong, cake, and either the most horrific or awesome dancing I have ever seen.  Kendra, Lacy, Jess, and Christy danced the gangnam style and brought on the hurricane, and this time Alex broke the light fixture so I’m out of the doghouse on that one.  (The last Alex & Lacy party I attended Connor and I managed to shatter a light globe…oops!)

The Cat and the Hat with Thing 1 & 2

After being up for 19 hours and consuming alcohol for 18.5 of them, we all passed out in random places throughout the house.  The weekend of awesomeness culminated in Wesley sketchy dipping and leaving behind his cat tail from his costume, breakfast at Kathy’s, waffles with chipped beef, and stirring up the church crowd to Wobble Baby Wobble. No epic weekend would be complete without one last group Gangnam style and a pulled calf muscle. 

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So that was Ashley's perspective on the Halloween/Homecoming awesomeness that was my first Homecoming as a JMU alum. As of now, I won't be going to any more JMU games this year unless they have a LONG home playoff run. With my birthday and random people visiting, I'm pretty busy all the way through Christmas but I'm looking forward to a weekend in the Spring where I can have all day Saturday to enjoy the parts of Harrisonburg I miss every weekend because of tailgating  (the farmers market, Jack Browns, walks on the quad and visiting old coworkers.) I may even plan it around a basketball game so I can drop in on my favorite concessions employees.