Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Weekend Recap

B was away for the weekend on a motorcycle trip, so I took the opportunity to fill my weekend with other friends and family.



Friday night I had pizza and beer with my little brother while watching World's Dumbest.


Saturday I indulged...a lot. Since B doesn't like to eat junk food and I love it, I tend to go a little overboard when he's away. Ice cream by myself, and then dinner and wine with my girlfriends while we watched wedding shows. We capped off the evening with a cupcake tasting.


Sunday morning I got to have snuggles with my fur babies.



Sunday myself, my brother and one of my cousins took my grandmother out to dinner for her upcoming 75th birthday. 

Party shoes.

In my hometown there's a rather unique restaurant built in an old chicken coop on a farm, and it is THE PLACE to go to celebrate something (it's also one of THE ONLY PLACES to go, but that's beside the point). They serve food family style, and the only thing you choose is your main dish. In the "appetizer" round they bring out cottage cheese and apple butter, coleslaw, fruit and sugar biscuits or "hush puppies". The hush puppies are not the kind you get in the south. They are simply biscuits fried and rolled in sugar, and they are one of the best things you will ever put in your mouth.

Mouth-watering goodness.

We made her sit with a birthday balloon. Thankfully no one sang.


After you are full of fried carbs, they bring you your entree (my cousin and I split fried chicken and eggplant parmesan) along with green beans, corn, french fries and, at our request, more hush puppies. And if you aren't done (which you aren't) they top it off with a dish of ice cream. Afterwards, as tradition dictates, you roll yourself out onto the grounds of the farm to visit the pond and the ducks that live there. If you are in the know, you save some of the non-sugared dinner rolls (since no one eats the non-sugared ones, there are plenty) to feed the little guys.




Such a great weekend, but glad to have B home safely for snuggles.





Monday, September 8, 2014

One Year Later

2013
2014

As of Sunday, September 7, B and I have officially been married for one year. Time does indeed fly. In many ways the year was the same as the past four (three? four? I don't even know anymore) that we've been together. We already lived together, so we didn't need to merge two households. We already shared a joint bank account. I didn't change my last name. Really, our day to day lives didn't change that much, but there is something intangibly different about being "official". It feels different to be presented to the world as a married couple, even though our commitment to one another was cemented long ago. 

We wanted to mark the occasion with a few days of just enjoying one another's company. Also we just bought a house and aren't in a position to shell out cash for a big splashy trip at the moment. So we took off from work Friday and spent two days at the beach with some good friends.

Sunset over the bay.
 
Ice cream, always.
We went home Saturday night and spent our actual anniversary hanging out at the house, and doing some of our favorite things together:

Eating.
B made me blueberry pancakes for breakfast and I used my favorite Disney "Mrs." mug. We also got Chipotle for dinner and had frozen yogurt for a special treat.


Cuddling.
With both each other and the cats.

And being outside on a beautiful day.
Hiking in the local park.

I personally love to find unique gifts, so I gave B a wallet card to replace the tattered note I wrote to him years ago that he's been keeping in there, and a little book of things I love about him.


A lovely day to cap off a great year, and a great way to launch the next, hopefully-equally-as-great one.