Exploring the South

One state at a time! Ok, not really... but we've traveled to our fair share of southern states lately. Just in the last month we've been in Georgia (duh) and both Carolinas! This past weekend we made last-minute plans to visit Andrew's brother in North Carolina and spent a few days with him in Carrboro (on the outskirts of Chapel Hill) where we explored the UNC campus, a local farmers market, a really nice Durham mall, and some amazing local restaurants!

If only the majority of the items for sale weren't so perishable, I would have been in heaven!

 While the town and area were scenic and interesting... the real highlight of the weekend was spending time with Andrew's parents, brother and little sister! 5/7 of the original crew (5/8 including me - their most recent addition) made the trek to NC for the weekend :) I was characteristically terrible about documenting our weekend - and I stand by my {frequent} vow that I would be a better photographer and documenter (yes, I'm aware that this is not a word) if I had a *new* camera! - but I did manage to snap a few pics with the fam and then stole a few from my sissy-in-law's cell phone just for my own blurry, bad quality records! Maybe Santa will bring me a nice camera so that I'm enticed to take more pictures.......

Loved getting a chance to spend some time w/ this pretty girl :)

We had dinner on this cool terrace overlooking downtown Chapel Hill - so delish!

 And because I promised my lovely mama-in-law that I would keep her picture off of my practically un-read blog, I have screened her (and my father-in-law) out of this pic taken at dinner. If she ever stumbles upon this, I can already hear her giggle in my head!

Delish dinner at Top of the Hill (Steve refused to be photographed)

 Good food and good times were had by all! We loved every minute of our visit with the fam, and missed the other two sisters who were busy being fabulous in NYC and living the dream in Athens, Ohio!

Now... back to reality. For me anyway! Andrew has the week off - he finished another quarter of chiropractic school on Friday and after kicking booty on all of his finals, he has a week to just relax and recoup. I'll be playing catch-up for the next several days thanks to my impromptu mini-vacation and general lack of motivation to be a law student these days! Life is just too short :)

I've been cured...

...of puppy brain. I know people say that 20-something women get "baby brain" and just like really need to have babies all of a sudden. Well, I'm not quite there yet (thank God). But I've had "puppy brain" ever since I saw the chubbiest, cutest Greater Swiss Mountain Dog/Rottweiler mix on PetFinder.com. I've been scoping out breeders and prices and trying to convince Andrew that we could totally make it work in our apartment! But thanks to our adorable little weekend house guest, I am CURED!

Miss Callie McKee-Milyo

Our friends Katie and Pat were away for the weekend, so we happily agreed to watch Callie for them - their 6ish month old King Charles Cavalier Spaniel. She was the sweetest little thing to have around, but omg was she a lot of work! I quickly realized that having a puppy in an apartment is less than ideal... especially if you take the little thing out to potty frequently enough to avoid accidents in the house! (She only had one itty bitty accident - good girl Callie!) We kept her toys and bed in our spare bathroom - just in case - since the tile would be so easy to wipe up.

Playing with her Monkey

Princess Bella was as curious as a kitty could possibly be... she stalked poor Callie from a distance all weekend haha. I think if they spent more time together they would eventually be friends, but for now Bella is just a little unsure and seems to get jealous when she has to share her mom with this other creature.

Staring at the bathroom door... keeping a safe 3ft of distance between her and the pup.

Callie's gate was really fun to play with though :)

While Callie was closed in the bathroom, Bella roamed around as usual. But when Callie was out to play, our smart little kitty wedged herself in her favorite daytime nap spot - the crevice between the love seat and the living room windows - out of sight, and very cozy!

Perfect spot to nap and watch the birds!

Like I said... I've been cured. You (more like, Andrew) won't be hearing me beg and plead for a puppy any time too soon! We will gladly play the pet-sitter role for our friends on weekends, but our hassle-free life as kitty-owners suits me just fine as long as we're living the city life :) Bella will be thrilled with this news, I'm sure... as will my parents, who happily house their four-legged grandchildren during holidays and vacations haha...

So, no more "puppy-brain" for this girl. And let's hope we can ward off "baby brain" with the occasional weekend babysitting job for a few more years, too!

Sisters by blood, friends by choice*

Sisters at my wedding

I miss my sissys :(

Even though I spent 4 years of undergrad away from my baby sisters, it didn't seem so bad since I was just a short drive away. But now that I'm a 10+ hour drive, or a 2 hour flight from them I am just really missing our silly sister time!

I miss laughing until our stomachs hurt about the ridiculous (and mostly ornery) things we did as kids.
I miss whispering until the wee hours of the morning (or until mom and dad would make us go back to our own beds).
I miss shopping and dining on dad's dime and knowing we could justify it to him as long as we were all together.
I miss sharing clothes, accessories, and secrets.
I miss the scheming and plotting we would do before asking permission to do something we knew just wasn't going to fly... and sometimes, it would work :)
I miss fighting over the cars, and I'm (almost) sad that we all have our own now.
I miss arguing over lost underwear that we swear were stolen from the dryer.
I miss feeling sick after making a batch of cookies or brownies that never quite made their way into the oven.
I miss watching movies in the basement in complete darkness, but never complete silence.
I miss looking through old pictures and dying laughing at our outfits and haircuts.

Christmas 2009 - our last "pre-Andrew" Christmas card photo shoot!

Of all the things I miss about living at home, its the sister togetherness that just can't be replaced by a husband, a boyfriend, or pet! And I am so looking forward to my sisters' visit in October!!! I am counting down the days until our long weekend of giggling, teasing and reminiscing... xo

Canada 2008

Canada 2010

Thankful for FALL

Fall is my faaavorite season! And while we're starting to get a little sneak peek at fall weather down in Atlanta, what has really made it start to feel like fall is *football season!* There is nothing we love more than cheering on the Buckeyes with our Midwestern-turned-Southern friends over a couple pitchers of beer :)

Ohio girls at Buckhead Saloon

With my hubbs

Fellow Bobcats :)

 After a fun-filled Saturday of college football, we spent Sunday snuggled up on the couch with pizza, wings and the Browns! Despite their pathetic disappointing loss, we loved our cozy, lazy day. We were feeling a little guilty about not spending much time out in the beautiful weather, so we decided to grill out in the evening. My latest cooking/grilling obsession: kabobs! I know they taste the same as if you made everything separate, but they just look so much prettier this way (and the homemade mac and cheese was to die for)!

Beef and chicken kabobs with peppers and onions - yum!

 And in other exciting news....... I tackled another item on my list of "to-do's" and am happy to be able to say "FINALLY!" for the third or fourth time this month :) (See "Finally" post if you're like "what is she talking about...") I dusted off the cute green storage bins I'd been hoarding in the spare closet and organized our disaster of a pantry! This was no small feat... I think it took like 2 hours. But it was far more rewarding to look at afterward than if I had spent those 2 hours studying ;)

This makes me smile :)

 I contemplated posting a "before" shot to give you all the full effect of this re-organization, but I think I'm too embarrassed... let's just say that to get one jar of spaghetti sauce out last week I had to move/knock over/spill a box of cereal, half a dozen packages of crackers, and sent a few little jars of sprinkles rolling across the tile. Not fun for an OCD, Type-A like myself! Anyway, it is lookin' good now and I find myself accidentally grinning each time I open the door. Judge away, I have no shame!
Nothing else new for now - just enjoying the comfortable weather and all things FALL :)

Summer Reading List

Books are the treasured wealth of the world
and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.
~ Henry David Thoreau ~

As a life-long avid reader, I was scared to death that law school would ruin my love of books! In an effort to ensure that I still read for leisure - and enjoyed it - I compiled a Summer Reading List for myself.

After scouring the NY Times and Publishers Weekly best-sellers list, polling my Facebook friends, and (of course) consulting Oprah's Book Club book list, I came up with a list of books to work my way through over my summer break. I was so excited to discover that the Buckhead Library was just minutes from our house, so I rushed out the door with only my car keys and cell phone in tow to get a library card. Imagine my disappointment when I found out that in order to get a card, I needed a piece of mail addressed to me with my current address on it. I had no wallet, no purse, nothing. But, true to form, I dug through my messy car and found a DSW Rewards coupon in my center console! See? Sometimes shopping addictions can be good for more than shoes.

So, I got my library card. Step one, check! Step two... find books. This is where I got really overwhelmed. The library down here is nothing like the Hudson Library I have grown so accustomed to! It isn't pretty, it doesn't smell good, there are old computers and dusty wire shelves... and, most importantly, no coffee shop!! Tragic. But fret not - after some diligent Googling, I learned that you can place books on hold on the library's website and they email you to come pick it up when it comes in! So convenient. Here is the list of  books my nose was buried in all summer:

• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
• Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
• The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
• Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth
• Private by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
• Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
• Something Blue by Emily Giffin
• Baby Proof by Emily Giffin
• Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
• The Shack by William P. Young
• Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver

I enjoyed literally every page of every book! It was so nice to spend time reading for pleasure instead of reading for school. There are a few books still lingering on my list of holds at the library, but for now my focus is on casebooks, rule books and code books... until winter break, when I can become a pleasure-reading bookworm once again :)

Beach Bums

We are taking full advantage of living a short drive from the ocean! But we need to stop discriminating... we've been to Hilton Head THREE times this summer. It sounds excessive - and it is - but we've had great excuses each time :) First we went when my cousin and his wife were there, so we spent a weekend hanging out w/ them.

HHI w/ Ryan and Erika

Then 2 weeks later, we went back to celebrate our anniversary. Which was planned before we knew we'd be going to visit our cousins... or else we might have picked another destination! But probably not :)

Harbour Town after our anniversary dinner

And THEN we went back again last weekend because my parents were there for a few days with some friends - and had an extra bedroom in their condo - so we couldn't pass up the chance to see my mom and dad when we were just 4 short hours away!

Beach w/ my mama and daddy

So the next time we want to get away for a weekend, we will have to choose another nearby beach! Destin, Charleston, Jacksonville, who knows. All are just a quick trip from Atlanta, and we know we won't be able to just pick up and go to the beach for a weekend forever - so might as well take advantage! And even though it seems like we spent half of our summer on the same beach, I love knowing that when we look back on our first year of marriage, Hilton Head will have a special place in our memories :)

We love Harbour Town