Independence Day

Happy 4th of July! I hope you are all taking time off work, celebrating, and enjoying this day {preferably with barbeque and beer in hand!}

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I know that politics and personal feelings often get in the way, but despite everything I am always proud to be an American. I love this country and am proud to be a part of it! Thank you to everyone who works hard to protect these freedoms that we hold so dear.

God Bless America!

A Birthday Celebration

Two weekends ago, my roommate DC turned 26, and she wanted to celebrate by hosting a pool party at our apartment complex. So host we did. DC made vodka gummy bears and gummy worms, and she and I made jello shots along with the help of her friend JS. And we made a lot, let me tell you. They filled our fridge:

oh, you're looking for food? sorry, we don't have that.

I don't make a big deal out of my birthday, because I don't really like being the center of attention {I almost had a hissy fit the last time I caught the bouquet at a wedding - it was really mature}. But, I think it's also because I find much more joy in giving gifts to others and being nice to people than I do in receiving gifts. Shopping for the perfect Christmas gift is actually one of the best parts of the holiday for me.

But DC absolutely adores her birthday, and as her roommate I wanted to make sure she had a great day from start to finish. She ran in the Race for the Cure that morning in memory of a friend's mother, so while she was gone I decorated the entire apartment.

I actually blew up most of the balloons earlier in the week and hid them in my closet {!}, because I was afraid of passing out if I had to blow up 40 balloons in 2 hours. I also baked the cupcakes the night before and hid them in the microwave.

When she got home, I was waiting for her with the candles lit...

 ...And a Smirnoff Ice waiting for her on the floor {in a fun birthday koozie} as soon as she opened the door!

I also put an Ice in her shower, so she got iced twice before 11am, and it was great fun. Balien wanted in on the Icing action, so instead we let her pounce on the balloons for a few minutes until she popped one.

Once we got the coolers, cornhole, and cars {love alliteration} packed up, we drove all of our stuff up to the pool. It absolutely POURED the day before {and I mean poured - the roads were flooded from hurricane Andrea}, and the morning started out kind of grey, but the sun came out right when we were headed up to the pool. Since it was grey, no one was at the pool yet when we got up there, so we were able to  claim a space out of the way in a corner to make our home base.

DC & her boyfriend JB

I had to eventually leave to go to the Brad Paisley concert {recap coming!} so I missed the end of the party, but DC had a fantastic day with all of the people that mean the most to her. A birthday success!

In other exciting news, I am actually headed to the beach this afternoon for 1.5 days to bring back my friend KC for the Zac Brown Band concert on Friday {a long/complicated story}. I'll be back just in time on Friday morning to welcome SRK to the dirty south, but I'll try to pop in before the concert if I can. Off to enjoy sunshine {and one day of no work!} I go!!

A Spicy Goodbye

The day of JM's departure for Seattle for the rest of the summer finally arrived. It was full of sadness and despair, for she is one of my closest friends, and one of only a couple of girlfriends in Raleigh. The Thursday before she flew out of town, I joined her and some of her friends from law school for a last hurrah celebration at Natty Greene's. Natty Greene's is a brewery and restaurant in Greensboro, NC, with one restaurant in Raleigh. And the beer is great. {So much North Carolina beer is great! What a great state.}

We got to NG's around 9pm and enjoyed $2 pints for several hours. Of course, I got hungry, and the only thing I could think of possibly eating was nachos. This is so bizarre, because I'm not a huge cheese person {i.e. I don't really like cheese except in certain situations}, and I have never before in my life ordered nachos.  But, restaurants in the Triangle tend to make pretty bangin' nachos, so to nachos I went. {Told you I was in a weird nachos phase!}

And let me tell you. These things were SPICY. There are itty bitty jalepenos all over the place in there, and my mouth was on fire, but I managed not to ask the waitress for milk {that has happened to me before by the way. It's not embarrassing at all}

JM's friend AB; JM; me

 I forced JM to take a bunch of pictures before she left the state. She's making me so sad! I will {and already do!} miss her greatly. She and her boyfriend are planning on moving back to Seattle once they are both finished with law school {JM's boyfriend is from Seattle}, so JM wanted to get out there and network this summer. Smart for her, sad for me, and depressing for her mama!

This girl makes me laugh an awful lot.

JM and her friend MH

JM stopped by my apartment complex on her way to the airport to give me a big fat hug and to take a jello shot {for my roommate's birthday}. And off she went! And now I'm craving nachos.

A Diamond Heels Love Affair

As you may know, I am a huge baseball fan. My brother played baseball for over 10 years, and when I was little I had no choice but to tag along to all of the games, road trips, and tournaments. In high school, I was a manager/scorekeeper {yes, I know how to keep a score book!} for the varsity baseball team for 2 years. I guess you could say I was hooked?

The NCAA Division I baseball playoffs began this weekend. UNC - because we are awesome - truly - was awarded the #1 overall seed in the entire tournament {hello cool!}, which means that we hosted a double elimination Regional tournament made up of 4 teams. If we win the Regional tournament, we go on to host a Super Regional, which is a best of three series against one team.

My friend NC and I bought tickets to the UNC game on Friday night, as well as to the "final" {potentially} on Sunday evening. So on Friday after camp, I spent a glorious evening at the Bosh watching the Heels take down the Canisius Golden Griffins {yes}.

Carolina victory!

Luckily, things went as planned - UNC won its second game - so it played in the Sunday evening game versus Florida Atlantic. Another beautiful day!

 Unfortunately, things didn't go quite as well for the Heels on Sunday night - we ended up losing to FAU, aided by our 15 men left on base during the game. Luckily the tournament was double elimination and that was our first loss so the two teams played again last night...

...and the Heels were victorious!!! After 13 long innings, which ended around 1:15am and included a grand slam and a 3 run homer, we won 12-11 on a walk-off single; one of many recaps here. Coincidentally, the pitcher for FAU was the brother of a family baseball friend's girlfriend from MD. Confusing explanation, but a small world!

The beautiful news is that we now go on to host the Super Regional this Fri-Sat-Sun {if needed} against South Carolina - a traditionally formidable baseball school. I have commitments most of the weekend, but am hoping to get a ticket from a friend for the Friday afternoon game.

Go Heels, Go America. It's a #gdtbath

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Questions of the day:

What are your feelings about baseball?

If you have graduated, do you still go to sporting events at your alma mater?

A Weekend Surprise

Hey party people! I hope your week is off to a roaring start. I'm hoping this week will speed on by, but I have a feeling it might be a bit slow-going. Oh well.

This weekend I made a 48-hour visit to Maryland to attend a surprise engagement party for a friend from high school. Her fiance organized the whole thing, and it worked great! She had no idea, and was so happy and surprised. Her fiance even flew in a couple of her friends from college who live out of state, so he did the thing properly.

high school friends

The party was held at a DC restaurant called Local 16, which featured a bottomless mimosa brunch special that we very much enjoyed. We had our party on the rooftop deck, which was slightly warm and humid, but otherwise very special.

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I haven't quite gotten into the taking-pictures-of-food thing yet (if ever...), but I had their 'original pizza' (tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil) and it was delicious. I ate every last bite. I love few things more than well-made restaurant specialty pizza pies. Yum!

the happy {engaged!} couple

I spent the rest of Saturday hanging out with my family, and fell asleep in my parents' bed by 9pm {true life}. Sunday morning included a small Mother's Day celebration, doing some car-related chores, and cleaning out the bookshelf and game closet per my mom's request. Once I was nice and dusty and sneezing, I hit the road back to NC.

It was a lovely weekend - and I am so glad that I was able to be part of this wonderful celebration for YC and CM! She was so genuinely happy to see all of her family and friends there, many from out of town, and celebrate this exciting time in her life. Congratulations, YC!


Question of the Day:
Have you ever organized a surprise party for a friend? Did it work?