Home.

I'm back. You've missed me, right?

Back blogging and back in Canada. For now, at least. Just two more weeks until I head to the great state of Maine for the summer!

I spent the past week down South in Atlanta and South Carolina where I got to spend tons of time with my family and see some of my favorite people in the world.

Getting back to Atlanta is quite possibly one of the best feelings in the world. It's the house where I grew up and everything is familiar.

I made sure to stop by all of my favorite places that I am deprived of in Canada. Namely, Chic-Fil-A and Target. It is truly a miracle that I survive in Canada.

My mom and I had some girl time for a belated Mother's Day celebration while we got pedicures, ate fro-yo and did some shopping.

I also had time to see some of my oldest and dearest friends. Jen and I played with her kiddos one night. Sally and I drank wine and built a tree out of balloons and PVC pipe another night.

Then, of course, there was the wedding in South Carolina that reunited old high school friends for a weekend of chaos.





Lucky for me, my dad lets me borrow his fun little convertible while I'm home. As I was driving around town I realized that I don't even have to think about where I'm going. It's like I'm on auto-pilot. I've been driving those roads for so long that I know every twist, turn and bump. I've been in Canada for almost three years and everyday I still have to think about which way to turn out of my driveway. Now granted, I'm directionally challenged, but still...there is something to be said for knowing your home town like the back of your hand.

Right before I left for the airport yesterday I walked down the driveway and was hit with the smell of our yard. I've never noticed it before but it smelled like heaven. The flowers, the grass, the morning dew on the yard...it smelled like home. I wonder how many times I've walked up and down that driveway? Probably at least a million and I've never noticed that sweet smell until now. Funny how those things work.

I landed last night and luckily TC didn't forget to pick me up at the airport. The poor man has been living off of a frozen batch of cookies I left for him, so I was glad to see that he hasn't withered away into nothing.

I had a blast in Atlanta, but it's good to be home and see my favorite guy.

Productivity At Its Finest.

It's really early right now - like, it's 7:30am. I try very hard to never see the other side of 7am but I got up bright and early this morning to say goodbye to TC and get this day started. I have a flight to catch in t-minus four hours. I'm off to Atlanta today to then head to the beaches of South Carolina for a wedding next weekend. 

Guess I should start packing.

But first things first. This weekend was amazing. When TC and I got home from work on Friday it was absolutely beautiful outside. 

I had a major hankering for ice cream (which would probably help explain the extra 20 pounds I can't seem to get rid of) so we hitched up the pups and set off down the street.

Frosty's ice cream shack is a few blocks away, which is very dangerous. Way to convenient, if you ask me.

I love the gumball machine of sprinkles - how smart! That way you can get as many as you want without being judged.

Saturday morning I woke up to the sounds of what I thought was a lawn mower outside. Good for TC, I thought, way to mow the lawn and be productive. But wait, we don't have any grass in the backyard...

Ah yes, he had gone to Home Depot and rented a giant tiller. This was all fine and dandy until it came time to load it back in the car. There was no way he and I were going to be able to do it so we called in reinforcements. 

Serge, Mike, Christina and their little one all came to the rescue. While they were there it became apparent that I was going to need some help painting too. 

You see, our house is actually a triplex with an apartment on each floor. Our first floor tenants just moved out so I'm repainting the entire apartment in a nice neutral beige. It was slow going so Christina offered to go home and change into paint clothes and come back and help me.

Mike ended up staying too since TC needed a hand in ripping out the bathroom mirror and installing an outlet. Can you imagine living in a bathroom with no electrical outlet? I'm not sure how our old tenants handled that, but I guess that's what you get in a 100 year old house.

Meanwhile, Little Miss played a lot of hide and go seek, put her hand in wet paint several times and chattered away for hours to entertain us. The energy that a four year old has is truly astounding. I was exhausted just watching her. 

The day flew by and eventually we were all starving so we sent Mike to the store in search of food and beer. He came back with a delicious array of chicken wings, sushi, bruschetta, french fries and Corona. The dinner of champions.

We also busted open a bottle of champagne that my MIL so kindly gave me for graduation. And yes, I realize that the paint is supposed to go on the walls and not on my sweatshirt. I'm a messy painter, what can I say?

Earlier in the day we taught Little Miss how to use a screwdriver to take off outlet covers so it only seemed natural that TC continued with the life lessons by teaching her how to fly the helicopter.

Sunday was spent recovering from our overly productive Saturday, cooking frozen food for TC to live off, and celebrating our mothers.

Mom, I get to see you tonight! Tomorrow I'll take you for fro-yo and pedicures.

I'm going to pack now. Wish me luck.

Have a happy Monday, y'all!

Wednesdays Are My Favorite Night.

Our weekly gathering of Why Not Wednesday had a twist to it tonight. Instead of hanging out at our favorite hole-in-the-wall, The Laundromat, we went over to my dear friend Annie's brand new house! It's absolutely adorable and the space fits her just perfectly. Great layout, beautiful floors, awesome paint colors and fun art. I couldn't be more excited for her. It is a really cute house and if I'm being honest, I'm a tad bit jealous of all the fun she is having with it.





We had the full crew together tonight, but sadly the founder of our little Wednesday night group is moving on to a fun new adventure in Nova Scotia next week. We'll miss her tons, but she won't soon be forgotten because she brought us all gifts tonight. Like, reverse going away gifts so we won't forget her. Annie and I are both in the market for new teaching jobs so she brought us each an old school bell. You know the kind that sit at cash registers for you to ring when you need the clerk? That kind. As much as I would like to think it would be great in a classroom, I can very easily see it ending up next to the couch so TC can ring me when he needs his pillows fluffed or a fresh glass of water.

(I can see his feathers getting ruffled right now. I'm only kidding, honey!)





As usual, we talked about a whole lot of nothing. Work, babies, plans for the summer, how bad my calves hurt from the ridiculous martial arts/cardio class I took at the gym tonight, where to buy cute summer dresses, many tales of old injuries, and pilonidal cysts (don't google if you have a queasy stomach). Basically, the usual conversation.

{Are you going to google it?

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Seriously, don't do it.

And for the record, none of us currently have a cyst. I don't really know how it came up...

Let's pretend I never even brought it up.}

Speaking of creativity in her new house and summer plans - Annie and I will both be heading to Maine for the summer in a few short weeks. In honor of our home away from home, she made the coolest coasters to decorate her coffee table since she wanted a fun splash of color.

Can you tell it's a photo of the coaster as seen through my glass of wine? Photography at it's finest.

I'll have to get the exact details from her, but she essentially took a pieces of $0.20 tile, cut out a piece of a map, glued it on with spray adhesive and mod-podged over it. To finish it off she bought a pack of leather cut-outs for $10 and glued them to the bottom of the tile to prevent scratching.

She made several versions. Some coasters with maps, some with scrap book paper, some with pages from her favorite books, and some with a combo - so creative, that Annie!

That's all for tonight, folks. Let's hope that tomorrow I have more exciting things to report.

Seriously, don't google the cyst. If you don't know what it is, be thankful.