Masked Ball. And a Plate of Salmon.

Well ladies and gentlemen…what have ya’ll been up to?

I’ve been eating. Apparently on Friday lunch, I thought I was eating in a fine eatery, indeed.

Salmon, broccoli and brown rice. I made a fine meal for myself, I did.

I ate plenty more all weekend, no worries. I just did not photograph it, pretty it was not.

But us ladies got PRETTY!

Mind my new shirt from Marshalls, for the low price of $12.00!

Then we covered our face with MASKS, because WE ARE FABULOUS, much like LADY GAGA!

Bossy. I want to wear mine all the time. Like seriously.

Bandit. And our chauffeur. We held up a Taco Bell on the way out.

It was fabulous. And I do not love taquitos. What was I thinking? I shall never know.

What was your weekend filled with, little monsters? I know it was FABULOUS, and I want to hear. Share.

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Snowed In Sleepover

Hey guys!

So I literally disappeared in the snowstorm that hit Friday night.

We got around 3-4 inches, and it was perfect, because my cousins and I [there are 5, FIVE, 1-2-3-4-5 of us girls between 19-23] had a sleepover planned for the weekend with our SINGLE LADY! aunt. [Everyone should have a SINGLE LADY! aunt. They are mucho fun!]

It was a hair raising time.

We ordered pizza and watched the Olympic opening ceremonies.

‘Scuse the flash.

At some point after the USA trotted through, we all passed out from exhaustion and when we woke up [on the couch!] the next morning, a blanket of white greeted us!

It was so pretty, but gone by noon.

Not gone before we made SNOW CREAM!

Southern tradition, ya’ll.

[And I ate 47000x more food than is pictured.]

Since the snow was gone by noon, I spent the rest of the day in IKEA! and then went to CHURCH, DINNER and watched MOVIES with friends + family.

It was cozy.

Yesterday I woke up feeling not so great, so I spent 95% of the day in bed.
Alls good today though! I feel like 1,000,000,000%!

I hear snow was on the ground in 49 states this weekend! Did you get some, or no bueno?

Snow makes me like a kid at Christmas, case you can’t tell.

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Under Construction

What am I up to?

Any guesses?

Hint: I’m not Martha.

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Dirt bikes + Operation Christmas Child

Well, I didn’t end up having a dance party by myself all afternoon. I did give in to Meredith’s request and went and hung out at the dirt bike track.

Fun pictures!

I think I am the unofficial track photographer.

After the sun went down I headed over to Super Target [!!!] to pick up some items for my shoebox + I stopped at Starbucks. I was so hungry I could have chewed my arm off. Not that I would want to do that.

Non fat latte w/ 1 pump gingerbread syrup + the most fabulous thing on earth, aka the Cranberry Bliss bar. Get it.

Wanna see my shoebox?

PINK!

Every year our family stuffs shoeboxes for Samaritan’s Purse, a great charity that takes holiday gifts to kids in need. I get so excited to do mine each Thanksgiving. This year I did a box for a 2-4 year old girl. I think every little girl needs a baby doll on Christmas, don’t you?

This year they added a cool feature where you get a bar code to put on your box, and you can track where it goes! I can’t wait to see where mine ends up. I hope it makes some little girl very happy.

I also ate more food, but I was really hungry [again!] and didn’t take any pictures. Think Kashi cracks, brie and craisins. Among other things.

That’s what 20 miles will do to ya! I swear I am a bottomless pit today!

Does your family have any fun holiday traditions?

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Things

Things making me happy this Monday:

Candles.

Pretty fall trees + sunshine!

Plain ol’ oatmeal.

Turkey sando.

Reminiscing about the weekend.

 

What’s making you happy this Monday?

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At the track

Hey, hey!

Fun concert Saturday night!

Meredith + I got glammed up and went to see Gary Allan.

Diva.

Crazy lady.

We danced to our little hearts content until we called it a night at 11:30. We ain’t what we used to be, ladies and gentlemen!

****

This morning I burned some pancakes…

Oatmeal pancakes. I ate around the burned part. They still weren’t very good.

Then pops and I went to church. LOVE Pastor Scott, the youth pastor. He preached today!

After church, I zoomed home, and Meredith and I set out for THE DIRT BIKE TRACK!

Windshield salad I ate on the way. [PS: Check out that cop. Totes had someone pulled over. Am I good with picture taking or what?]

At the dirt bike track there were lots of things going on.

Dirt bikes, obviously.

Linden’s fiancé Matt rides motocross, so since it was such a lovely day she went out to take pictures of him and we tagged along.

At the track, everyone has a job.

Linden took pictures of Matt.

I took pictures of my shoes.

Chucks, what what!

Matt’s mom took pictures of us ladiezzz.

Tori took videos.

Meredith cheered.

And wore funny glasses.

 

There’s our boy, #27!

Plus Izzle was there!

Note: His mom and dad did not name him Izzle. Meredith and I did.

Those boys jump high.

High.

High.

Higher.

HIGHEST!

I LOVE motocross.

I am such a guy.

Actually, if I were a guy I would be doing this:

Zoom in:

Really?

You are watching a video of yourself?

Instead I was crafting my newest Etsy line:

Hand painted [well Sharpied] plastic knives. I expect them to become a best seller. Linden and TJ, I will not be splitting the profit. Sorry.

Meredith and Linden washed dishes.

We had spaghetti for dinner, obvs.

And played a rousing game of cards.

I dominate.

Oh, yeah. You’re scared. Very scared.

That concludes my weekend.

18 miles, a concert and some dirt bike spectatin’. Plus a little cards and crafts. ‘Twas fun. Very fun.

And now I’m off to bed. Monday comes too soon.

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Punk Rock Out

80’s punk rock stars!

That, my friends is the costume I have been working on all week. And the green hair? Totally washed out. SCORE!

The best part was not the hair, nor the leggings. Not even the tutus, though they were fantastic indeed.

No.

It was the black converse with lace socks. Classic.

Partay up in here!!!

What were you for Halloween?

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When in Rome…

Eat Chik-fil-A for breakfast.

Our mountain trip started bright and early [7:30 am!] this morning. It was raining in Char-town, but by the time we made it to the apple orchard outside Hendersonville it was sunny skies all the way!

There were rows upon rows of apple trees, just begging for me to pick them.

Or just play hide and seek among the branches.

And dance and spin along the rows.

Jumping for joy…

 

We posed our family for a nice photograph.

Yes, this is a perfect representation of our family.

And this is a perfect representation of me.

[I believe I can fly…I believe I can touch the sky. Spread my wings and fly away…]

Really, no apple picking happened on this trip. Or flying.

Plenty of hiding in the bamboo, yes.

Playing house? Check.

Playing apple? Check.

Admiring sheep?

Or were they admiring us?

Meredith and I had serious doubts about this one’s viability.

But we shouted at him, and he stirred.

Ahhh, he’s not dead.

Yet.

And then I played with Linden’s new lens.

Hint*Mama D, I need one of these for Christmas*Hint

Plus, all the girls gathered ‘round Aunt Mel.

We love her.

Since actual work [aka, picking] was not on our agenda, we ended up at the store to buy the already picked versions of apples we wanted.

Fuji, Pink Lady, Cameo and Macintosh.

Look at all the pumpkins and gourds!

And BUTTER!

Apple butter, pear butter, PUMPKIN BUTTER!

Hello, little jar. I believe one of you is coming home with me…yes.

Pops took donuts home with him. IN HIS BELLY!

And I thankfully spotted this sign:

Cider? Yes, yes!

Would you like a caramel apple with that?

Thank you.

Fingers sticky and bellies full we proceeded onto Mama D’s favorite attraction in all the NC mountains.

Yes. The Carl Sandburg Home.

He wrote a book called Rootabaga Stories in 1922. Years before I was born, but Mama D. made me read it anyway.

Approaching the house it appears Cecily had the best mode of transportation.

 

But who cares? Meredith, Sabrina and I made good use of a bathroom mirror.

[I washed my hands first.]

And then we hiked.

[House in the distance, AHOY!]

Past waterfalls.

 

And wooly worms.

Past walls of ivy.

[Ah, Sabrina! So gorgeous!]

And gates of white.

To the goat dairy!

A goat dairy! Who wants a big cold glass of goat milk?

I found my true love.

And a swimming hole.

All my life I have wanted to swim in a swimming hole. I almost jumped in. Alas, it was about 60 degrees and I had no change of clothes.

And me jumping in would have marred this beautiful reflection. Can’t have that.

What I CAN have though, is lunch.

We departed the Carl Sandburg Home and ended up in Maggie Valley around 4:30. I guess we shall call this meal linner [lunch + dinner]. I did have a few crackers, fudge and things to keep me going through the afternoon, not gonna lie.

At Garlic Knots, we ordered garlic knots. [OF COURSE!]

I had two. They were quite delicious.

Also I had a salad.

It was not quite as delicious, but edible. I much prefer a salad made by my own hand, thank you very much.

And after much argument we decided upon two pizzas, Hawaiian and Meat.

I had the Hawaiian x2.

And we drew some flowers on the paper tablecloth.

I bet those people love us.

In all sincerity though, we really enjoyed dining at Garlic Knots. If you are ever in Maggie Valley, NC I fully recommend stopping in. Order a garlic knot. Or two.

As we were leaving the restaurant, we noticed the mountain in the distance.

[Great Smoky Mountains, what, what! See where the name comes from?]

Also we were attacked by vampires.

And not the Edward Cullen kind either. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer kind. AND IT WASN’T EVEN DARK OUT! Plus the picture is showing up on my camera!!! What is the world coming to????

I ran for the hills.

Then I realized I was already in the hills, so I climbed back in the van. And we rode to the uber-politically correct town of Cherokee. Where you can gamble. And watch [and I quote] ‘Live Indian Dancing’ as well as purchase ‘Indian blankets’. I purchased an Indian blanket, but I prefer to call it a ‘Native American Blanket.’

Seeing as it is already late, I’m going to go curl up with it. It’s quite cozy.

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Happily Ever After

My friend Amanda, who I grew up with, got married today.

Doesn’t she make a gorgeous bride?

Josh happily agreed to escort both Meredith and I, and really wasn’t he lucky to have such lovely dates?

The wedding was just a casual backyard affair, but the love was evident.

The cake was gorgeous.

le flowers came from Mama D.’s garden when at the last minute they were unable to get the ones she had planned on.

I would have freaked out may-juh, but with Mama D. to the rescue, Amanda kept her calm.

The company was fun.

And I wasn’t the only one lugging around a D40!

Ze food was good. I was excited for CAKE!

They served a delish red punch, that I immediately grabbed a cup of!

Along with a slice of cake (!!!), mixed nuts, fruits and vegs.

 

‘Twas a beautiful evening.

Congratulations to Amanda and Eric, and may you live happily ever after.

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Wine and Dine

I met Kath, Matt, Amanda and Justin for a picnic and wine tasting at the annual Under the Grapes wine and food festival this afternoon.

It was my first time attending the festival, and my first time picnicking with Kath and Co.

I must say I was impressed with both.

The spread was fantastic, and the weather perfect for a festival. It may have even been a little warm. Hello, October! Where did you go?

It was certainly a wine festival picnic, with breads, cheeses and meats. Oh, and a little hummus + veg action. I contributed the fruit that is plastic wrapped over in the back corner.

Amanda brought gorgeous cupcakes in true Race for the Cure spirit.

I sampled a little of everything + extra bread and cheese that you can’t see.

Included in that was half a cupcake.

Then we set out for a little tasting.

I was really excited when Haleigh texted me and said her and Hans were on their way.

I had never met Hans, and it was nice getting to know Haleigh’s other half!

I also enjoyed meeting and hanging out with Amanda + Justin aka The Hungry Wanderers.

Uh oh! Looks like Justin wandered off.

Us girls wandered over to a soap stand with fabulous handmade soaps and lotions.

I picked up a few small lotions and a bar of soap. Everything had the cutest names, most especially my new soap ‘Oats and Goats’, an oatmeal and goat’s milk based bar.

Eventually the sun started wearing on everyone and Matt announced it was last call, before we headed to the house of KERF for pizza.

Us girls walked the half mile to Wolfman Pizza while Justin and Matt stayed behind and tossed a salad complete with homemade vinegarette.

Pizza choices were limited to vegetarian, much to the dismay of Justin, who was really looking forward to a pepperoni + jalapeno pizza.

Apparently the pepperoni decided to stay behind.

I happily had two slices of the ‘original veggie’ + salad. I wasn’t feeling the jalapenos, pepperoni or no.

[As you can tell, I was using my point and shoot all day, as the quality of my photos has sharply declined. I love the SLR, but the bulkiness of it is not exactly convenient for travel.] So sadly, what you see here is an orange plate of pizza.

Kath and I split a pumpkin ale with dinner.

mmmm, tastes like fall!

After dinner, Kath brought out a chocolate sampler platter. Pumpkin + chocolate = the perfect end to a long day.

I gladly had a few pieces, along with a sample of Karen’s famous symphony brownies. Holy yum!

I am not ashamed to admit that by 9:00 I was yawning like a mother the elderly and infirm, so I bid my goodbyes and took myself on home.

Thinking a long bath with my new ‘Oats and Goats’ is definitely in order, as well as a good night’s sleep. Perhaps I will actually get up on time for church tomorrow. One can never tell.

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