All Around the Tarheel State

Nathan and I have spent the last day and a half gallavanting around our great state. Because apparently the first thing I just had to do when I stopped work this week was fill up my time with lots of things to do and places to go.

I wanted to bring Bowden and Simon to my mom in Huntersville since we're going to DC this weekend and hey -- she barely notices two more canines in the bizzare canine alternate universe known as her house anyway, so I scheduled some other stops too.

I mentioned last weekend that I was desperate to get my hair done. It was too long, highlights needed highlighting, bangs had all grown out, and the split ends were out of control. Nathan also was looking sort of like a ragamuffin. It was a bad situation. You can take my word for it, or you can check out this shot for proof. Anyway, I do still drive "home" to get my hair done by the same woman who has been doing it since I was in high school (a friend of the family), since I don't trust anyone else to prevent my hair from looking tiger-striped or something crazy, or to not charge me a million bucks (do you know how expensive it is to get highlights in a salon?)... so even though she's two hours from me, just north of Charlotte in Mooresville, I still make the drive. Clearly not as often as I should, based on how my hair looked last week, but whatevs. The result of finally getting around to it is that my hair is blond again (and almost eight inches shorter!) and Nathan looks significantly more clean-cut, with nary a tear shed.

Then today mom and I met Jenny (and her gorgeous daughter Katie) for lunch in Winston-Salem at the Village Tavern, which is one of our favorite places. They have the best she-crab soup (yes, even better than what I have had in Charleston) and despite the fact that this location has apparently stopped making it due to cost (is there anything this bad economy doesn't affect?), my food was still fabulous.
It's a nice-ish place, but we braved it with two toddlers and they did as well as could be expected. Which is to say -- just fine, although not quiet. It was a very enjoyable meal and visit for all of us.

On the way home from lunch, I stopped at Jenny's house in Kernersville to sort through her masses of baby girl clothes, and I left with the car so weighed down that I seriously could tell a difference in how quickly I could accelerate. Amazing. In case I haven't mentioned it recently, I love hand-me-downs. Nothing makes an outfit cuter than a price tag of free. And Jenny really hooked us up today -- Beanie will be set until at least next spring. She had more to share, but I ran out of space in the car. Honestly. She offered to let me come do another run and swap some stuff out when Beanie outgrows what I took this time. Aren't friends awesome?

So after driving all over the state (on one tank of gas, for the record; I love my little Honda! --even if I did pull into our driveway on fumes alone after nervously watching the gas light beaming at me for the last 45+ miles of the trip) I now need to unload, get some rest, then pack and re-load to embark on a new road trip tomorrow.

Brace yourself, DC, we're on the way and we have an (almost) 2-year-old to celebrate! Bring on the dinosaurs and airplanes, here we come!!