Girls Day

Very much looking forward to a fun filled day tomorrow! First up is a long run with Jimmy and Malloy bright and early. Then for lunch I'm going out with some girls to celebrate a couple coworkers' birthdays. The lunch spot is a place called Osteria Cicchetti, the "OC", as us Wilmingtonians like to call it. Very yummy Italian food and great lunch specials.

Next up is dinner at a new place in Lumina Station near Wrightsville Beach called 19 Hundred. It supposedly has a LA, lounge feel with great cocktails and tapas. Perfect spot for an after work girls dinner.

Then, the grand finale, we're all going to see Eclipse. I'm not the least bit ashamed to admit that I'm super excited to see the next movie in the Twilight saga. Woo hoo!

Wedding and Family Vacation

I apologize in advance because for some reason this weekend, I wasn't in a big picture taking mood. Saturday we had a great beach day - Jimmy's first without a textbook in some time. Mike parked at our place and walked - some hooligan stole my bike the other day - with us to the beach. He and Jimmy got a couple surf sessions in while I worked a crossword and kept my eye on the beer cooler. Saturday night we went to Lauren and Josh Lea's wedding reaffirmation. It was a beautiful setting, actually their backyard, that overlooked marsh land and just an all around great time. Congrats Lauren and Josh!

Saturday also marked the start of the annual Atkinson family vacation in Carolina Beach, so we met up with Matt and Ryane at the Fat Pelican when we got back into town. Sunday morning we did breakfast together at Kate's Pancake House and then Jimmy and I had to do a couple hours of chores. It sometimes sucks living at the beach because you actually have to do stuff other than sunbathe and drink beer on the weekends. Such is life. Sunday afternoon we went to meet up with the whole Atkinson family at their beach rental for dinner. A great dinner, a few cold ones and a competitive game of Trivial Pursuit later - GIRLS RULE! - and it was time to call it a night. Jimmy and I both feel super close to the Atkinson family and really look forward to the summertime when they're in the area for a week.

One of the Atkinson "girls", Gracie, and the youngest human sibling, Sydney, loving on Gracie.

Very much looking forward to the Fourth when Matt is back in town and Ben, Amie and Lucy(!!!) come to visit! Woo hoo!

One Twelfth

Today marks the end of Jimmy's first "semester" of grad school. I put semester in quotations because the sessions/length of classes are actually expedited. He's in school for two years, but will have a total of 12 different sessions. In one way, that's a good thing - more milestones to help it go by faster. On the other hand, it's always a lot of information to cram in such a short amount of time. Anyways, we're just glad to be 1/12 of the way done. Jimmy's done wonderfully and I couldn't be more proud of him!

In other news, we're super excited to have Matt Atkinson as our wake-up call tomorrow morning. Matt's driving to our house from Durham and meeting his family from Boone for a weekend at the beach. Tomorrow afternoon we head to Lauren and Josh's wedding - so happy for them - and then back to Carolina Beach to meet up with the Atkinson's again. Should be a good time...

Sandwich Hiatus

For months now, ever since Jimmy started working at Castle Branch, we've enjoyed a packed "school" lunch together in the breakroom - Pam and Jim style - but I decided today that I can't take it anymore. Sandwich + low fat string cheese + sugar free pudding = Booooorrrinnnnggg. For my own sanity and overall work performance, I need to crave lunch again. Here are some of recipes I'm considering for lunches next week.

Bacon & Leek Quiche, don't mind if I do...

Candied Walnut Salad, yes please...

This Tandori Chicken on a Pita looks like another great alternate to the traditional sammie...

While I'm mixing up our routine, maybe we should try our own rendition of the overnight oats I first heard about on Peanut Butter Runner for breakfast. Yummy...

Martha & Ron Come to Town

This weekend we were lucky to have Jimmy's mom, Martha, and her boyfriend, Ron, in town for a visit and we had such a blast! Friday Jimmy took a half day from work to get his momma and Ron from the airport and then he took them to have lunch in downtown Wilmington and then to explore Wrightsville Beach. Our wedding weekend was a poor excuse for a visit to the Wilmington area, so Jimmy and I were both happy that they finally got to see more of the place we call home. Friday night we hit up the Tiki Bar for live bluegrass music and dinner on the water.

This coming week just happens to be final week for Jimmy's first semester of grad school, so he had some studying to do Saturday AM while Martha, Ron and I staked out our spot on the beach. Fast forward a couple hours and some pretty nasty looking clouds rolled in, following by the anticipated showers, causing us to call our beach day short. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to commence our Carolina Beach bar hop a little earlier...

First stop was the Fat Pelican where you serve yourself from a choice of hundreds and hundreds of beer varieties from all over the world in big, very chilly cooler.

Representing our Maryland roots - shout out to Uncle Mike and family...

Next stops were dinner at Harbor Masters on the marina, Seawitch Tiki Bar and then finally the Last Resort.

Unfortunately, Martha and Ron had to catch a flight out bright and early on Sunday morning, so Saturday we called it an early night. All in all, it was such an amazing weekend. Jimmy and I both feel so blessed to have had the quality time. Can't wait until we can do it again!

Happy National Flip Flop Day!

Sadly standard calendars don't come with this momentous day noted - come on, get with the times - today is National Flip Flop Day!

I'd like to say that I'm one of those girls who enjoys a good pair of heels, but I would be lying. I much prefer flats, especially flip flops. Flip flops are the epitome of Summer, or if you live in coastal North Carolina or sunny California, the epitome of Spring, Summer and Fall.

In light of the holiday season, I may even have to break company policy today and sport a pair to work today. Oh wait... I do that everyday.

Check out swell.com for some cute, not expensive, beachy styles. My surfer husband rubs off on me...

In other, actually way more exciting news, Martha and Ron are coming for a visit this week. Woo hoo!

New Found Love

While Barley is nowhere near NEW, in fact, it's been around since 966 AD, it's new to me and I love it!

What did me in? This Greek Chicken and Barley Salad recipe - grand prize winner of Cooking Light magazine's Ultimate Reader Recipe Contest. I'm pretty sure I told multiple people about this recipe last weekend and probably multiple times. It doesn't look like it would be anything special, but the mixture of flavors is just great and I think it's a perfect summer salad. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Reunited

So I had a great weekend in Charlotte visiting with my old college roomies. So happy to have had that time together and getting to meet Shiva's boyfriend, Brian. We had a blast - just like old times. Here's some pics from the weekend. But first, some items of note...

1. We can still last through last call at the bar
2. Wine spritzers are not just for old ladies - they're actually a really refreshing (and addicting) summer drink
3. I got to meet the blogger behind "Bakin' and Eggs"- for some reason I feel like the blogs I read that were not created by current friends, are written by celebrities or something, but they're actually just normal people like you and me.
4. I'm insanely good at the game "Scene It". I think, in large part, this is because I have a grandma and a brother that are movie buffs.

Hope everyone has a great start to the week tomorrow!

A Girl's Best Friend

I'm very excited about the new addition to my household. Its name is Gentle Leader and it's my new best friend. As you all know, we have a dog named Malloy. He's a big love, a 90 lb lap dog, but he has always been a terror to walk. Very energetic + very strong + cat, squirrel or leaf blowing in the wind = potential limb loss.

The Gentle Leader is a collar/leash that goes around his nose and keeps him from pulling. Something about needing to draw strength from his head, instead of his neck and body has whipped him into shape. Other dogs barking at us from their porches? How immature. Stray cats? Neighborhood riffraff. Me and my momma are taking a nice walking together. Lovin' the quality time, though wish Jimmy didn't have school and could join more often...

Upcoming Visitors & Other News

Wow what a relaxing long weekend we had. Jimmy had a lot of reading and homework to do, so we decided what better setting for the tedious task than the beach. I was, of course, happy as a clam reading my own books for hours and hours next to him. The most ambitious thing we did all weekend was dinner and music at the Tiki Bar on Sunday. What a wonderful, wonderful weekend.

Very exciting news, Jimmy's mom, Martha, and her boyfriend, Ron, are finally coming to visit in three weeks! It seems like whenever we have gotten together lately it's been for a wedding or the holidays, not always the best times to really catch up and enjoy one another. We can't wait to spend a solid couple days just the four of us!

Also, very exciting, the Lucas' are coming to visit us and some other friends in the area over July 4th weekend! We sadly left the previous duo, now +1, in California for greener pastures on the East Coast a couple years ago and have not really gotten to see each other (save a pathetic couple hours during our wedding) since. We miss Ben and Amie terribly and so look forward to meeting their daughter, Lucy. I really hope mom and dad aren't attached to Lucy's affection because in typical Kaylie fashion, I plan to snuggle with her every chance I get.

Last, but certainly not least, I'm meeting up with Lindsey, Catherine, Shiva and Shiva's new beau, Brian, in Charlotte in two weeks! It's seemed especially difficult the last couple months for us to all keep in touch, so I'm very much looking forward to 1) some girl time and 2) getting to meet Brian. Can't wait to see you girls!