Home Again

Finally made it back to NC for a visit and actually talked John into driving up from FL to hang out at the same time!! Yay!
This is a picture of siblings.. John, Sarah, and Page. Do I look like the middle child or what?! It was so good to see Page.. sometimes I feel like we are strangers but we are both working on changing that.

My little brother is so cute isn't he? Not so little anymore I guess, he passed me in height years ago. John of course brought with him bottles and bottles of the most delicious wine from his company. He constantly surprises me with his good taste. Who would have thought that the same boy who swore he liked peanut butter and salsa sandwiches would turn out to have such a refined palate?

Always the ham in the fam..

Probably listening to John talk.. something he likes to do ..ALOT..

Page and his beautiful/sweet/amazing wife Jenny. We were all sorry that Mariel (John's lovely bride) couldn't make it but alas she was at the Madonna concert in Miami.. some people have it rough!

Dad, Page, Jenny, and Aunt B all listening to John tell some sort of story no doubt.. he is very verbal.

Sweet Daddy grilling filets.. I am the biggest Daddy's girl ever! I love my Dad so much. Sad to say as we were about to enjoy our feast of fresh corn, potatoes, filet, and grilled egg plant.. the sky opened up and rained down thunder and lightening.. so we had to grab it all and head indoors .. that made for some cramped eating but it was still gooooooood!!


John brought his Boston, Zen, who really likes to hump Oliver. Finally Oli got fed up and started fighting back. Oli is smaller than Zen but older so he won most of the time.

This one makes him look really scary and mean right?

Nice puppies play well with others..

Great trip just too short as usual.. looking forward to the next one..

Katie's New Digs in Jersey City

Katie has moved from Montclair to a fabulous new place in the hip neighborhood of Jersey City. She invited a few friends over to see the new place and hang out and visit. I took these pictures very early in the evening before most of the others got there. Maggie and Thomas drove out from the city which was awesome since I haven't seen either of them in awhile. Of course Nathan was there but camera shy as ever and I totally missed getting Stephen in a shot but whatever. How beautiful is this place??!??! Katie knows how to make things so dreamlike and fantastical. Her room looks like it was ripped from the pages of Dwell. She has taken her space and transformed it so that it seems so open and roomy yet warm and cozy. The kitchen as you can see is a vintage wonderland and the bathroom (which I did not take a picture of) even has a claw foot tub! One of the best features is that she has a back yard!!!! For those of you who live in areas where yards are something everyone has... you won't understand why this is such a big deal. NO ONE has a yard around here!!! Not to mention one as magical as this one. That is Frances's bunny on the grass. Frances is Katie's puppy and constant companion. We all had a great time and I even stopped at Billy's and got a dozen cupcakes.. how can you have a bad time when cupcakes are invited???
So glad you are closer to the city now Katie.. just a short subway then PATH ride away from the new place in Brooklyn (coming soon to a blog near you!). Now the next time JV comes to town, we will have no excuse not to go out for breakfast afterward!!

the best of intentions

i have been a bad blogger and neglected to even put up the px from Maine from last weekend. we have out of town guests staying with us for Nathan's opening on Thursday and even though I told myself I would be coming straight home after work, somehow I found my way downtown to the same old shitty italian place that I hate eating the same crummy food with the same crummy service all to hang out with the boys (and Ryans new GF Micalah). Some things you just cant say no too I guess and hanging around those guys listening to them compare my eggplant parm sandwich to a yeasty vagina is just too appealing to turn down! seriously.. the nasty boy talk is starting to get to me a little bit. stephen wonders why i am shocked every time they say stuff like that and i guess i am not shocked.. not even really that grossed out. I feel this overwhelming urge to make sure that I express my protest to that kind of speach and behavior. I say its because I am a woman and they are nasty guys and Nathan says that is sexist because I am assuming that I am more offended by what they say than a guy would/might be. Whatever the case after all of that ultra stimulating conversation I came home and hid long enough to take a shower then cut Nathan's hair in preparation for his big NY debut and then had a bowl of blueberries and an orange juice popcycle. All of this leaving me with little time to really think about my day or post many px. I really prefer to do postings with px all the time. I feel very self conscious when its just my writing up here for everyone to see.
Today I got an email from a very good friend of mine, Jeff. It made my day and possibly my week. It made me so happy reading this very important letter on the train this morning. Happy for reasons only Jeff really understands and the fact he does makes me even more happy. I tried to explain why the letter was so perfect and meant so much to me to Stephen today and gave up after only one sentence. I know he would really try to understand and he would be respectful and smile and tell me he got it but the reality is that the only one who really gets it is Jeff.. and me of course. So I am leaving it between us where it belongs and its ok for it to stay that way. Here's to Sea Island and apartments in NYC.
Tomorrow I am going to my first yoga class in the city.. Abby and I are trying out a studio.
Ok your mission, should you choose to accept it.. is to tell me where and or what the px I posted (in random order) are or have to do with... this is a very very random selection from the last 2 months so let me know what you think I was doing and where. I will reveal the real story behind each photo if I get at least 5 responsive comments on this post.. otherwise you will all just have to wonder! Nitee nite....

Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound

one of the best things about being in Maine is the lobster. its good and cheap and all over the place! one of my dad's Harley buddies told him about this place when we went last year and it was the best lobster we had the entire trip. the Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound. naturally i wanted to make it my first stop when we got there. you go in a choose your lobster ( i couldn't do it.. wimpy i know..) and they put it in this mesh bag that has a number on it and take it out to those big cooker looking things outside and toss it in. its cooked in the sea water with sea weed so its perfectly seasoned. a big ol' lobster with corn on the cob and a cold can of Coke. nothing could be finer! strange enough, while we were there we ran into a whole group of people from Chapel Hill! Stephen heard their accents and made some comment about NC and i said something about how not everyone who has a southern accent is from NC and then.. they came up and asked him about the High Point t-shirt he was wearing and introduced themselves as being from Chapel Hill.. small stinkin' world!
anyway Carolinians aside, the weather was so clear and sunny and the cool breeze off the water does good things for an appetite that has lately been absent.

road tripping to Maine..

we went to Maine this weekend for a few days. i love road trips and i must say we are pretty hard core. we have no a/c in the volvo and its july so.. its hot. its pretty basic wizzing down the road with the windows down and the music blasting. cant complain since i always have alot of fun. its so loud between the wind and the tunes that you can just sit and check out the scenery without having to have alot of in depth conversation if you don't want too. poor stephen! i cut ALL his hair off the night before the trip! he took it in stride though and its a nice change from the hot mop he was toting around i guess. Mullins would kill me! Sorry Mullins! It will grow back i promise.. it always does!



a very sleep Oli sneaks a peak around my seat to see if he can get in my lap for a nap..



how could i say no to a face like that! he loves to lay there in the sun and put his face in the crook of my arm.



one of the greatest things about a road trip is the food you get to bring along. of course there are always plenty of Nalgenes filled with water. this time however we filled one with herbal tea which was awesome! lemon zinger.. mmmm!! other essentials not pictured: glass bottled Cokes, M&Ms, peanut butter crackers, chex mix and Panda raspberry licorice chews.