Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Why is it that Monday through Friday d-r-a-g but the weekend flies by. I swear the twenty-four hour rule doesn't apply to weekends...the universe knows that people are having fun so time is magically shortened. So, to the universe...please stop, I really like weekends!

You can add this weekend to the list of "great weekends." Friday night was supposed to be girls night, but it ended up being a group thing. And it was awesome. Ten of us went to the hibachi and had some good laughs and a lot of fun. Our chef of the night who calls himself Bob was awesome...and I've never seen so much rice in my life. Ten people sure can eat a lot of rice. I swear I had a large order all to myself.

The fun didn't end when we left the restaurant. My new friend Stephanie came over, so I chilled a bottle of wine...or three. Danny and Justin got some beer...and then the Gambizzles came! We stayed up all night drinking wine and chit-chatting. Three bottles of wine, thirty-six beers later, and a failed attempt to make the guys walk Justin home...it was finally time for bed.

Saturday morning the Gambizzle's had to be up early for a photoshoot. I couldn't believe it...but Miley actually let us sleep past 10:00. HOLY CRAP! And thank goodness for that...I wasn't feeling very human-like when I finally did get up. I think I took a long shower at 11 and then refused to get dress until 1. My head was pounding. It was definitely one of those "never-drinking-again" type of days.

Except we planned to go to the winery for dinner. It was probably a good thing it was closed for the night. Instead we went to Front Street Brewery...not for the beer, but for the amazing nachos! The four of us really showed our "old age" when we decided not to go bowling...but watch Toy Story 3 instead. So, that's how we spent our Saturday night. And I must say....I kinda loved it!

I didn't know Bojangles was a North Carolina place. We spent a good portion of our weekend talking about the "best kept secret" and how they should "share the goodness." The four of us had breakfast there this morning..and we were so under dressed. That's right...under dressed at a fast food place!! It's apparently the happening place to be after church.

While the guys played Black Ops (Danny can't wait for Christmas, he just had to rent the game....) me and Marie went on base. I think it's insane that things don't open until 11AM in the south. So, we paid Katie a little visit! It was nice to have a little girl time and just hangout. And I must say...I'm getting so excited for Katie's wedding. I can't believe it's a little over six weeks away!

And now...it's Sunday. I hate that the "daily-grind" starts on Sunday for us now. I also hate that I took one picture this weekend. I have zero proof that the Gambizzle's were even here! So, you know what that means? We are just going to have to do it again!

Edit: Just an FYI - Bojangles was founded in Jacksonville.

It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere

1:00 is really early to start drinking.

And if you are at a beer festival, you will be drunk before 5:00

back to the hotel by 7:30

and sleeping by 10.

Yesterday was the Lighthouse Beer Festival in Wilmington.

Me, Danny, Carmen and Mike headed down for a full day of drinking.

We got a hotel, parked the car, and drank many samples of beer.

A sample might seem like nothing,

but when there are 70 breweries...

believe me, you will get drunk.

You will take a lot of pictures

you might will make out with a friend

and if given the chance, someone will buy a Pabst Blue Ribbon hat

After drinking for four straight hours

you will celebrate with empty glasses

and take the mandatory group photo.

Then, you will call a cab (and give way too big of a tip)

You will eat nachos and walk around downtown for the night.

And by night, of course I mean before 7:30. 

But since you have been drinking since 1, you have no concept of time.

By now, the girls are done drinking

but the guys want Patron.

The next day you will find out the guys don't remember this....

or any of these pictures

Now, you will find the guys being kicked out, not allowed in, and trash talking hippies.

This means its time to call a cab, go home, and sleep.

Fast forward to 6AM the following morning someone will wonder why their eye hurts.

Answer: You walked into a wall.

You will have to tell them about the paramedics and cops that might have paid you a visit during the night.

And you might even have to remind them they can't wear their pants home because they peed them.

I'm not saying this happened to us

but just know...

there's a reason you're supposed to wait until 5:00PM to drink!

Mom & Dad in North Carolina!

This weekend went by way too fast! My Mom and Dad came down for the long weekend, my Dad's first time down here since he dropped me off in Carrboro when I moved last June. We had such a fun weekend, I've never laughed so hard!

They flew into Raleigh late Thursday night, so they stayed the night in the city. My parents are early birds so I was expecting them to show up at my front door around 7 Friday morning. Oh no, they decided to sleep in, go out for breakfast, and get stuck in lots of traffic on their way out here. They got stuck in traffic due to "a house in the middle of the road."  Seriously! Mom even sent me a picture.

When they finally got around the house and made it to my house, we headed over to New Bern. We had some lunch at Captain Ratty's, picked up my ball gown (which needs to be altered like crazy...sucks that I'm a midget even with high heels!) and walked around the marina for a little bit. I knew Dad would like seeing all the boats. It was such a beautiful fall day...I love walking around in the cool but sunny weather. We stopped at a make-shift car museum...I decided I will only start driving if I can have a 1966 Ford Mustang Convertible...in blue. How's that sound?

Bright and early Saturday the guys headed out for a day of golf. So what did me and Mom do? Shop, of course! The goal was to get everything for Katie's bridal shower present, but that didn't go as well as I wanted...so now I have two weeks to come up with something perfect! Then we went to Mike's Farm, I was expecting so much more. The country store isn't like the country stores at home, it was mostly candles. But oh.my.goodness...we got lots of fudge! Pumpkin fudge is amazing!

After the farm me and Mom headed to Ruby Tuesday for lunch, just as we were getting ready to leave Danny sent me a text message. I told him we just got done eating lunch and the plan for the night was "to go to Mike's Farm for dinner." Danny and Dad decided not to get lunch, come home and hangout until 3:00 until they were hungry. Me and Mom dropped them off at a bar, did some more shopping, and by the time we picked them up....I knew we wouldn't be going to Mike's Farm. We ended up coming home, hanging out...and decided pretty late that we wanted the Olive Garden. We ate too much, had some wine, Mom and Dad had bellinis, and took some pretty goofy pictures. Mom took pictures of me and Danny "pretending that we liked each other." So of course, I had to take pictures of Mom and Dad..and I think they were making fun of us!

Sunday morning we dropped Miley off at daycare which she loves. Seriously, whenever I bring her there she drags me to the door and runs right to the girl...and doesn't even look back to say "see ya later Mom!" We had some breakfast then headed down to Wilmington for the day!

Our first stop was the Battleship. Since we had so much rain last week everything was so flooded. The parking lot was completely under water. We weren't sure how we were supposed to get to the Battleship, so we decided to just jump the fence. Just as we got over....we saw the shuttle that was bringing people right to the ship. OOPS!

The USS North Carolina is huge. I think this was my third time on it, but every time I find something different. This time, my electronics were going crazy. My camera and phone stopped working at the exact same time..which leads me to believe that it really is haunted. My batteries completly drained, but in the next part of the ship everything was fully charged. CREEPY! We were on the ship for three hours and didn't even see the upper part of it! I could never work on a ship, I'd get so lost.

After the battleship we went to the Front Street Brewery. I think the oatmeal stout is always the mug of the day, good thing its so good! It was that awkward eating time again, 3pm. Lunch, dinner, snack? Either way, we ate too much! The guys went to another bar and me and Mom headed to David's Bridal to pick up my dress for Katie's wedding and...World Market. I seriously love that place. I made my own 6-pack...check out all the good stuff.

Oktoberfest, Raging Bitch, 400 Pound Monkey, Pumpkin Ale, The Poet, and Weeping Willow Witt

Today was their last day. Danny and Dad headed to the golf course again. It was too early for me and Mom to do anything...so we just hungout. Eventually we made our way to Barnes and Noble and Walmart. We made a Halloween package for Kaleb and sent those out. We headed out for a light lunch and picked Miley up. I'm so happy that she loves daycamp because I love that it wears her out!

Mom and Dad just pulled out of the driveway. It will only be five weeks until I see them again! We went all summer without seeing them, and now I feel like we'll be seeing them a lot. I love the holiday season!

Hope everyone is enjoying their Columbus Day weekend! It's not over yet!

Day 2: Wilmington

It was another busy day for the girls. Even Miley! We dropped Miley off at puppy day camp and then we made our way to Wilmington.

The original plan was to go to David's Bridal, do some shopping, see the Battleship, get some lunch and head home. But as most of us know, everything down south opens LATE. David's Bridal didn't open til much later in the afternoon so it threw everything off!

Our first stop was Old Time Pottery. Thanks to Jordan, I am obsessed with this store! I got a whole bunch of fall-ish things for the house. Everything there is way too cute!

At some point along the way it was decided we weren't going to the Battleship, so we just headed to the Riverwalk. We did some walking around, went into some shops and enjoyed the river.

We had an early lunch. Front Street Brewery. Beers before noon. Hey, they are on vacation....it's allowed! I had the awesome pulled chicken nachos. Seriously, if you are ever in the area you need to eat those!

We did a little more shopping around the Riverwalk and then made our way to David's Bridal. I tried on and ordered my dress for Katie's wedding. And got a pair of shoes for the ball and wedding. I can't wait to get all dressed up!

Next stop...World Market. Oh. My. God. I got all new stuff for my bathroom and stuff to make a flower arrangement. My house is looking so fall-ish! Love it!

We came home, put up all my new fall decorations, went grocery shopping for the night, and picked up Miley. She is exhausted! She must have had so much fun at day camp!

We had some fun, I wish we could have done more in Wilmington. Nana didn't like all the walking! I'm excited for tomorrow...but you will have to wait til tomorrow to find out where we went!

Bloggers Day Out!

You know Jordan from Southern Hospitality and Reina from Semper Gumby...the Return of Sunshine? Well, I can officially move them into the real bloggy loves category! That's right! I spent today in Wilmington with those two awesome girls!

It so funny meeting people who you already "know." There were no awkward silences and no "getting to know you" questions. Everyone is already comfortable with each other!

We spent our day doing two things I love...eating and shopping. We started off the day at the Front Street Brewery. All three of us ordered nachos. I think this is a friendship that was meant to be!

Then we headed to this awesome store..a cheaper version of Homegoods! Who knew such a store existed!! Danny doesn't know it yet, but he is taking me there and we are going to redo our entire apartment, for like...10 bucks! We went to Homegoods next, where we all got some pretty random things. I got Miley what I thought would be an indestructible toy, a bowl and a kettle. It was fun just walking around making fun of all the totally random things in the store.

While we were walking out of the store, I glanced at my phone. I couldn't believe it was already 5 and that we had been there for over 5 hours! I had such a great day with the girls and hope we get to do it again before Reina moves!

And for the record...Miley destroyed her toy in less than an hour. Fail!

96 Hours

I have always loved holiday weekends. But a military holiday weekend is amazing. Danny got out of work early on Friday. We headed to Raleigh for dinner with the in-laws. Danny's step-dad got a new truck, one of those fancy-schmancy ones with OnStar. Seriously, how cool is that? You call, a lady picks up, and you tell her where you want to go. She then sends the directions to your truck. When a direction comes up, the radio volume and air conditioner get quiet so you can actually  hear whats coming up. AND it has a built in phone. The TRUCK has it's own PHONE NUMBER! All five of us called Danny's grandma. Oh, and dinner was good too!

Saturday, after Miley peed on our bed, me and Danny had a long-overdue date night. First, we headed to Target to get some shelves for our living room, I love having pictures around the house...you can never have enough! We had dinner at the Olive Garden. Red wine, pasta...mmm, it was a good night! We were going to see a movie, and I don't really remember why we didn't...but we ended up back at the house finishing up season 1 of LOST. Danny swore he would never get addicted to it...but if you're a fan, you know that's impossible! We slept on the floor Saturday night....after Miley peed on the bed, I washed my sheets...and was waaaay to lazy to make the bed!

 Date night!

Sunday we hung the new shelves and put up some new pictures. I've never celebrated the 4th without a crowd, so it was a little different for me. We made ribs and corn on the cob...very yummy! Then we headed out to New Bern for the air show. We got there waaay early. We sat in the sun, listened to music and people watched. For doing absolutely  nothing, I had a lot of fun. The air show was awesome. The first guy went straight up in the air and shut his engine off! A lady walked on the wings of an airplane. That is I-N-S-A-N-E. We wanted to beat the traffic, so we left early. We settled in for the night with the Boston Pops and Toby Keith. I love the Pops, I've seen their Christmas show so many times. Watching it totally made  me miss home!

 Drawbridge in New Bern

This dog was waaaay bigger than me!

This girl was so cute! And I loved her dress!

LOVED the air show!

Monday I woke up, and my hips hurt. I think the night on the floor and sitting at the airshow killed my hips. Danny says its because I don't drink milk (I like it in coffee, cereal, ice cream and cheese...can't do it straight.) I seriously think he is going to make me take vitamins. ICK! We went to the golf course, he hit a bucket of balls. I was just getting getting enough nerve to hit a ball myself when a ton of people came. I'm such a wimp, totally bailed. I promised him next time I would hit a whole bucket. We took Miley to the pet store, she get's SO excited when another dog comes up to her...she always pees. That girl needs some bladder control! We ended the day with a great dinner and a trip to Starbucks!

Fun in the sun!

Today was the last day of "vacation." We went down to Wilmington to do a little shopping. Jacksonville has so many stores, including two Walmarts, but there is NO KOHLS! We got some cheap beach towels, a couple area rugs and I got the cutest dress! I also started scoping out ideas for the summer essentials swap! We're grilling out again tonight...and probably going to end the day with more LOST.

You know what my favorite part of a 96 is? Danny only has 3 days of work...and then it's the weekend! LOVE IT! 

And just a little blogging business: if you are going to sign up for the swap, please do it before noon tomorrow. That way I can figure out the pairs in time for Thursday's post!  I haven't decided if I'm going to do it by location or randomly. Any feedback would be great!

Hope everyone is having a great week so far!