Quick trip and baby shower

This past weekend was fun. Going out of town (even for a day or two) makes a nice change. The hotel I booked in Raleigh was a bit pricey, but since we only stayed one night it wasn't too bad. We drove up early Friday afternoon, and after checking in and putting our bags down in the room we went out to explore. The hotel sat in the middle of a few blocks of restaurants and businesses in North Hills. It's very walker friendly and safe, everything we needed was easily reachable on foot. It was only about 4pm, and since we weren't planning to have dinner until around 8:00 (when my sister-in-law got off work) we decided to stop for appetizers and drinks at a Chuy's.

I love the bright, funky decor! We ordered margaritas, along with chips, guacamole, and cheese dip. The waitress asked if we wanted a floater shot on top of our drinks (it was happy hour and floaters were $1) so we thought, "Why not?". It's not like we had to drive back to the hotel! Sipping margaritas topped with extra shots of tequila is how we ended up slightly tipsy in the afternoon, walking around downtown Raleigh. Haha.

Later, when Karen got off from her hospital shift, she met us at another restaurant that was an easy walk from our hotel, Cowfish Sushi and Burger Bar. They have an amazing saltwater aquarium, which I filmed for about 30 seconds to show you! We really enjoyed the buzzing atmosphere, and the food was good, too. 

The next morning, after a breakfast of Eggs Benedict at Another Broken Egg Cafe, we checked out of the hotel and drove 30 minutes north to attend the baby shower. Here's the finished Diaper Castle we built for our gift, which everyone seemed to love!

Sister-in-law Karen with her son (and father-to-be) Tyler. I still can't believe he's going to be a dad. He was just a little kid five minutes ago! :)

 

Tyler and Jessica. One person who attended bought them matching "Mom" and "Dad" 2024 mugs. They're getting really excited about the arrival of their baby boy. Little Joseph is due in May.

Late Saturday afternoon, Marla and I drove home. It would have been nice to stay an extra day or two, but she needed to get home ahead of Easter morning. (The Easter Bunny had a basket to leave for her little girl).

It was a quick trip, but a fun one! I'm glad I got to spend some time with the family. Gregg and I will probably visit early in the summer so we can meet the new baby.

The weekend is here!

 Martina, Marla, and I will be leaving for our fun weekend this afternoon! It's going to be good to get away for a couple of days, and I'm especially looking forward to our Van Gogh immersion experience. I'm going to do my best to forget about work and to enjoy myself and the company of my friends.

Have a great weekend, everyone! I'm sure I'll have lots to blog about when I get back.

xx

July plans

I'm feeling rather flat today. I can't seem to muster motivation to do much besides sitting around around watching tv or taking naps. I did download a couple of new e-books to read yesterday: The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory and My Real Children by Jo Walton. I love both these authors, so I expect the books to be good. Maybe something entertaining to read will help me shake off the despondency I'm feeling. I only have three weeks of summer vacation left and then it's back to work (which I'm suddenly much less excited about).

Next weekend should be good, though. Marla, Martina and I will finally be taking our trip out of town. We settled on Raleigh, NC because of the Van Gogh Immersive Experience. Marla's husband booked us two nights in a really nice, modern hotel that looks wonderful. We're also making plans to have a couple of nice meals, since the area is known for lots of great restaurants. Gregg's sister Karen is going to join us for the Van Gogh thing, since she lives in Raleigh. We've agreed not to mention to Lou (my step father-in-law) that I'll be in town. I would love to see him, but since we're only there for a couple of days I'd feel rude leaving my friends during our girls' trip to visit family. I can always drive up to Raleigh another time for that. 

The week after we get back, we've set an appointment to get Poppy spayed. I've tried to put it off as long as possible, since too-early spaying or neutering can have negative health consequences for a young dog. Now that she's around 8 months old, though, she could go into her first heat at any time. The vet assures us that it's safe and a good time to go ahead. Plus, if I do it before I go back to work, I can be home all day with her while she recovers. 

The last week before I head back to work will see me hosting my book club for July. I'm actually providing all the food and drink, but the actual meeting will be at Sara's house. She has a pool, and we like to meet at pool owning member's homes during the summer. I was thrilled when she suggested her house because I won't have to go into a frenzy of house cleaning ahead of time! It's always so stressful to me to have lots of people over, even if they are my friends. Since we'll be at Sara's, I can concentrate on the part of hosting I love: preparing the food! I have lots of ideas about good stuff to make, and I'm looking forward to it.