Beachin' & Shoppin’

Thursday evening, we departed for a great vacation at the beach with our friends Tara and Rick. Even after arriving at almost 11pm, the night would not have been complete without a very tastings of beer!

Friday morning, we were pretty lazy getting up and relishing in the fact our coworkers had been at work for quite awhile while we enjoyed Lemon Poppy seed muffins and fruit salad in our pjs. Our morning also included a quick walk on the beach.

Since it was cloudy and raining we decided on shopping for the day's activity...a little retail therapy was really needed after the week I'd had! The boys were not too thrilled and dropped us off while they went to the movies. Bad mistake! Two girls running around the outlets for almost 4 hours...we did some damage. We ended up buying out most of Ann Taylor Loft, but there were some amazing deals. We each ended up with a new spring wardrobe and I found dresses for the upcoming bridal showers and weddings in the next few months. Ben and Rick were pleasantly surprised when they picked us up that we had gifts for them too! They got a lot of matching things (including matching cowboy hats and beer boxers)!

For dinner, Ben and I introduce the Kups to T-Bonz...our absolute favorite place to eat the beach. The meal would not be complete without an appetizer of Tommy Fries, baked potato wedges smothered with cheese, bacon and ranch dressing. I could barely eat my dinner! We all brought home leftovers.

Friday night was our official beer tasting night. We tried 8 different beers and different they were. It always seems our beer  tastings end up with all Stouts and Porters, but we had quite a few Belgians included this time. For several hours we spent hovered over tasting sheets, making notes and discussing beers like a bunch of nerds!  Here's our list:

Drunkin' Punkin'
1809 Berliner Style Weisse
Thristy Dog Raspberry Ale
Stone Vertical Epic
Struise Pannepot
Żywiec Porter
Terrapin Side Project #4 Dos Cocoas Chocolate Porter
Thristy Dog Siberian Night Imperial Stout

Our New Toy…

A Canon DSLR!! I’ve been wanting one forever and after a larger-than-expected bonus this year, we decided to splurge. We’ve got a couple of weddings, vacations and other exciting things coming up this year and thought a new camera would be perfect to capture those special memories.

The best part is all our older telephoto lenses from my old 35mm SLR are compatible. Now I just need to sit down with the manual and go through all the fun settings and actually learn what this camera can do! From straight out of the box, it takes amazing pictures and we couldn’t be more pleased with the quality.

I’m sure we’ll have plenty more “test” photos. In less than a day we took 100 pictures!

Current Obsessions…

During my run this afternoon, I realized I have a few obsessions lately…

Running (obviously). I set out for a late afternoon run and took it easy since I’ve got a bad case of shin splints, which I thought had improved. I made it 2.5 miles and decided to stop. I guess this cycle will continue until the days get long enough for me to get some regular and consistent runs in during the week and get my muscles back into shape…and keep them there. I’m currently icing my shins on the couch…no fun when I really just want to RUN!

During my run I had a great playlist. I get sort of obsessive with one particular song and play it over and over again for a few weeks. Today’s selection is Love Story – Taylor Swift…which I replayed 3 times! Other songs that kept me moving today:

~Womanizer – Britney Spears

~Disturbia – Rihianna

~Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) – Beyonce

~Let It Rock - Kevin Rudolf & Lil Wayne

~Run (I’m A Natural Disaster) – Gnarls Barkley

Love Story by Taylor Swift captured my attention since I’m in LOVE with the Twilight series and could pretty much be the theme-song of this series. I finished Twilight last night and stayed up until 1:30am reading. At 9am when I woke up, I picked up New Moon and read until 3pm, stopping only for coffee, oatmeal and bathroom breaks. Ben tried to convince me to ride with him to American Brewmaster for brewing supplies, but I was too engrossed in reading. While he was gone I found the perfect Twilight T-shirt and placed my order. Forks Brewing Co: The Ultimate Thirst Quencher – Reach for a Cold One! I’ve already placed my order online and hopefully it’ll arrive soon.

I’m pretty certain the rest of my Sunday evening (what’s left of it) will be spent reading…I cannot get enough of Edward Cullen! The possibility of sipping on a beer might be in the future too…if only there was a true Forks Brewing Co.

Uggs. I thought I wanted these last year, but honestly they aren’t that cute looking and I honestly was not sure I was cool enough to wear them. But, this year I finally gave in and got them for Christmas! I don’t care how ugly or stupid looking they are…they are so, so, so comfy and feel just like bedroom shoes. I also don’t like wearing shoes in the house and almost immediately take them off when i get home, however, I could leave these on all day!

Christmas Toys!

Late Friday evening after one more celebration my Granny Dot's house, we made our way to the beach...thanks to our new GiGi the Garmin for getting us here!

Saturday was a beautiful spring like day at the beach and Ben started the morning off putting together his bike. By noon, we all headed out for a bike ride and rode for over 30 minutes. It was a little scary getting back on a bike. I doubt either of us had been on one in at least 10 years! But it was fun and we're looking forward to using them more.


We built up an appetite on our bike ride and returned home for cranberry turkey sandwiches. My mom, Amanda and I all received a Williams-Sonoma Professional Chopper for Christmas. We weren't sure if it'd slice tomatoes, but evidently it does not! The tomato squished every where and half way across the dining room to the living room!


Our afternoon was spent doing shopping round #1. We got some great deals on Christmas decor at World Market for 75% off and then went to Target. We found light garland, wrapping paper, tissue paper for next year, and a few more bike accesories and a running shirt for Ben. We stopped by Green's Beverage on the way back for a beer run and I finally bought a bottle of Firefly Iced Tea Vodka that so many people have been raving about. We enjoyed a glass of this with lemonade prior to dinner...wow...this stuff could be dangerous. I'm glad I limited myself to just one! It'll make a perfect summertime drink.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Today has been a busy day full of time with family. I ate till I was stuffed this afternoon and may have a bite or two of dessert for dinner, but I doubt I can fit anything else in. This is a quick post since I've been busy packing for our trip to Asheville and spending the evening with my sister looking through the Black Friday Ads. We'll be up early to start shopping and be done before 8am!! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Today I'm Thankful for:

~All the delicious food that was prepared today: It's incredibly sad to think so many people went without food today and I stuffed myself until I was miserable.

~Being able to spend Thanksgiving with both of my grandparents...as well as my aunt, cousins, siblings, parents, etc...

~Black Friday Ads: I love shopping and looking through the ads is just as fun

And...my list from Wednesday:

~Having a few days off from work to enjoy with my family, shopping and Ben

~All of the traditions we've established over the years and all of the memories they will bring us!

~Flannel PJ's: I'm packing them to keep warm in the mountains...so cozy!

After a round of early shopping...we're off to Asheville. Have a great weekend.

Black Friday on a Blah Monday

Today I started thinking about Black Friday and start combing through the many ads that are already listed. Since I'm slightly ahead on gift buying this year, I won't need many things, but I do love the thrill of getting up early and shopping before breakfast is ready.

Last year my sister Sara spent Thanksgiving night with me since Ben was working. We had so much fun watching Hairspary in our pj's and browsing the official Black Friday ads from the paper. We made our plan and were up at 4am ready to go slightly tired, but quickly got some energy from Starbucks after they opened.

Now that we live in Apex, we'll probably hit up the Beaver Creek center with Kohl's, Target, Circuit City (if we're brave), Old Navy, Bath and Body Works and Linen's & Things...and the best part is we're only 5 minutes away!

Only 11 more days until the madness starts.

Today I'm grateful for:

~Naps: I had one yesterday and it was soooo good, I just wish I could take one everyday. But I guess they wouldn't be so special and fun then.

~Lists: I started making a packing list for Asheville, my Christmas list to give out, my Christmas list to buy, my Black Friday shopping list and my general to-do/menu list for the week. What would I do without lists!

~Eye drops: I've been having a little trouble with my eyes being dry and red...they make them feel so good.

The Shopping Extravaganza!!

I just got back from our Girl's Shopping weekend in Williamsburg. So much fun! It went by way to quickly, but I'm glad to be back home and relaxing a little before the week starts.

Friday we arrived in Williamsburg and hit the Pottery Outlets. It's pretty old and run down, mostly filled with junk, but somewhere in there I picked up some curly branches for a vase for our bedroom, a flatware chest and some goodies from the Pepperidge Farm store. We finished the evening off with dinner at the Stoegbauer's. It was great to see them even if Steph is all the way across the country in Seattle. She called just as we finished dinner...delicious London broil, mushrooms, asparagus and salad.

Saturday we spent shopping all day...and when I say all day, I mean ALL DAY! We left the hotel at 930am and did not return until after 10pm! We did stop for a picnic lunch in the parking lot of the outlets and dinner at Outback.

Sunday we packed up our loot, made a few last minute stops for a few things we missed on the first pass through. Then, met for lunch at TGI Fridays and said our goodbyes until next year...

Shopping wise...I did awesome. I've been saving for this weekend for months now. I pretty much stuck to my list of things I've been meaning to buy and looking for, as well as bought several early birthday and Christmas gifts. Here's the total list!

~Flatware Chest
~Curly branches
~Pepperidge Farm goodies
~Orange Banana Republic Shirt Dress
~Purple Banana Jeweled sweater
~Royal Purple Cowl neck sweater from Banana
~Button funnel neck sweatshirt from Banana (sooo comfy)
~4 new camisoles
~ Gold earrings and long matching necklace
~Beach hat from Columbia
~Fleece headband for running this winter
~Under Armour compression shirt for running
~Metal welcome snowman for the lawn
~Chunky green throw for our new sofas
~Beer Mug Christmas ornament for Ben
~White t-shirts for Ben
~3 new outfits for Laura and Lillie...Christmas and Birthday gifts
~Yankee Candle tarts
~A few other Christmas gifts that I can't say!!

Since I was out of town and left the laptop at home, here's my list of things I'm grateful for for Saturday:

~Text messages: Ben went out to a friend's house and was driving home late a night with a cell phone that was temporiarly out of commission. I went to bed and he texted me at 1am to let me know he was home. I slept so good after that knowing he was home safe and sound.

~Clarks: the most comfortable shoes I own. I knew Sat. would be a long shopping day and these are so comfortable.

~Picnics: Until this year there hasn't been any food places at the Williamsburg outlets. We decided to do a picnic this year. How fun...we had a huge smorgesboard of dips, chips, fruit, sandwiches, crackers, cookies, etc... Perfect fuel for a long shopping day.


Now that I'm home...here's today's Gratitude list:

~The sun for finally coming out behind the clouds again

~MY memory foam pillow: I forgot it this weekend and I really missed it. The hotel pillows were feathery and mushy with no support.

~My FOM pillow from Brookstone: Ben gave me this purple heart shaped pillow almost 4 years ago and I love it. I sleep with it every night and travel with it every where. It's perfect for naps in the car!