yum?

Smokey Bones is one of our favorite places to go for dinner on date night. Why, you ask? Well, there are three fantastic reasons.
1. Pulled pork that makes my mouth water thinking about it.
2. We get gift cards from our Discover CashBack bonus that let us eat there for free.
3. Pulled pork that makes my mouth water thinking about it.

The last time Mark and I were there (which was FAR too long ago, by the way), there was a family a few tables over. Mom, dad, young son (maybe 4 years old). I saw the little boy surreptitiously spit into his palm, then offer his hand to his dad as he said, "Friends?"
Now, as a good dad, he is of course suspicious of this offer to shake his young son's hand. Plus, I don't think son was quite as sneaky about the spitting as he intended to be. Dad graciously declined. But it made me laugh (in my head - I try not to laugh out loud at strangers in public places, especially when they don't know I'm watching them). The innocence (and not-so-innocence) of youth - learning some new joke or trick that is incredibly funny, and longing to try it out on your "unsuspecting" parents.
At what point (if ever) do we realize that our parents aren't actually clueless and unsuspecting? At what point will I become that parent to my kid?

sister time

When I tell people that my sister is coming into town for the weekend, they always ask me things like, "Ooh, that'll be fun. Will you go shopping?" or "Do you have big 'going out' plans?"
Probably not.
What will happen:
We'll go to the grocery store and get some snacks and whatever we need to make a pizza with extra cheese and mushrooms.
We'll rent movies - sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes one of each.
We'll giggle uncontrollably about highly unladylike and childish things.
I'll paint her toenails, then paint my own. She's a very talented gal, but completely unable to paint the toenail without painting the whole toe.
We'll take walks, read books, go to Starbucks, pick up some Arby's.
And basically have a lovely, we-really-didn't-do-much-but-look-how-much-we-got-done weekend.
I love those weekends.

what a week!

Well, life got busy, and things got away from me. But it's Friday afternoon, and my sister is coming to town for the weekend, and right now - that's all I'm thinking about. :)
I'll let you know how much unbelievable fun the two of us have when I come back to bloggity-land on Monday!

whirlwinds and such

I just came off one of those weekends that is crazy-busy and at the same time accomplishing absolutely nothing. Well, not nothing. Here are the major things I did this weekend:

* Held onto my willpower and bought nothing at the Mary Kay party I went to on Friday (and my oh my were there some tempting deals). I did walk away with a new lipgloss, shower gel, hand cream, and a bag of chocolate. All for free. :)
* Crocheted many rows on the blanket for our new nephew-to-be (he's due to arrive on July 11). I'm almost done!
* Listened to SchoolHouse Rock and Leapster songs until my head began to explode. Just a little bit.
* Sat in bed with a 6-year-old, discussing all the stuffed animals that reside in his twin bed. He named one of the kittens Katie. It was cute.
* Played wiffle ball in the neighbor's backyard (we were staying at their house, watching their 3 boys this weekend).
* Had a couple nice (if a little short and interrupted) conversations with my hubby.
* Took "naps" on Saturday and Sunday - the kind where you're laying down, eyes closed, and pretty much out of it, but still listening to and aware of what's going on around you.

All in all - it was a pretty nice weekend. Not exactly refreshing - but there were distinct moments of unexpected sweetness that I really enjoyed.

Oh - and free chocolate.

dwarfed

When I was in high school, 6 of my girlfriends and I decided that we needed to assign ourselves nicknames from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I'm pretty sure the logic was infallible at 3:42am, surrounded by caffeine, chocolate, cake, and assorted chips/pretzels/cheetos - I just can't remember why right now.
At any rate - I was dubbed Happy (and was truly happy just to not be labeled Grumpy). I recall that Jackie was Doc (she was the valedictorian), Susan was Dopey(she had unfortunate -but darling- protruding ears), Stephanie was Bashful (not actually shy, but her face could turn an amazing shade of pink when embarrassed)... and I don't recall the rest.
Despite the fact that I have officially been "Happy" since the mid-90s... today (and for the past 2-3 days), I have been Sleepy. Constant yawning, fantasies of laying down with 4 or 5 (dozen) pillows... and I even went to bed at 9:15pm last night!!!
I should inform myself that I am actually not Sleepy, but Happy. I wonder if I would be awake and alert enough to listen...

mini-vacation

Every year, Mark and I try to take a mini-vacation for our anniversary. This year (the big number 5!), we are heading up to Ludington, MI to stay at a bed and breakfast and enjoy Michigan at its finest.
I'm looking forward to sleeping in, big breakfasts, walking around a quaint downtown area, enjoying Lake Michigan, and generally relaxing with the man I've been lucky enough to call my best friend for many years now.
We'll be embarking on our expedition on July 5th - so I still have to wait a little while... but days like today (sunny, 80s) make me think of vacations.

summer lovin'

Or, more accurately... lovin' summer. Here's why:
Watermelon
Sunny days
Windows flung wide open
The sun is up before I am
Long walks through downtown Mason
Dinner on the grill
Relaxed schedules
Cute skirts
Bare Feet
Painted toenails
Thunderstorms (once in awhile)
Ice cream
Fresh cut grass
Visiting the lake

What do you like about summer?

weakness

I allowed myself to be talked into buying a new skirt last night. I saw it, loved it, and was all set to resist it and endure the heartache of NOT walking away with the adorable, colorful, flowery wrap skirt... until the two other gals who were with me started in.

D: You should get it, it's so cute.
A: Yeah, I have one like it. I love it.
D: I have one too, because A talked me into it.
Both: Do it.

And since I wanted it anyway, I caved. I probably shouldn't have. But I'm a wimp, and it's lovely and I'll wear it a lot (and since it's a wrap, it will pretty much always fit me, which is a great quality to have in clothes).
No more spending for me. Done.
Until the next cute wrap skirt walks into my life and sweeps me away...

domesticity

Lately, motivations from a variety of sources have pushed me toward the land of the Modern Homemaker.
1. It's summertime, which means we aren't at meetings twice a week where dinner is provided for us.
2. Turns that it's not an absolute end-of-the-world-imposition to run the dishwasher daily.
3. We had two ripe (almost completely brown) bananas in our fruit dish... banana bread MUST follow.
4. Mark thought it would be fun to make a pie.
5. I have the cutest green apron from Crate & Barrel - I l.o.v.e. to wear it.
6. Someone told me somewhere down the line that it's cheaper to cook at home than it is to eat out every. single. night.

Anyway - In the past week, I've made broccoli & beef stir-fry, meatball subs, banana bread, an apple-blueberry pie (ALL from scratch), and a cheesy-chicken crock-pot dish. And it's been fun. I don't think I'm quite ready to be a 1950's poster-gal for homemaking... but we all have to have a goal.

ps. The apple-blueberry pie was SO. GOOD. I can say that, because ALL I did was follow the instructions. But if you ask nicely, I might make you one.