Rejuvenating plans

As I mentioned in my last post, I got to spend some time with my parents and some close friends at the end of June.

Usually, nothing ever works out the way I plan it. A trip home all too often starts or ends with someone ill or in a hospital or plans just fail. But this trip was different. Literally all of my plans came through.

I got to see two of my best friends from high school, one of whom lives in North Carolina and just happened to be in town the week I was.

I LOVE these girls and am so happy for both of them at this phase in their lives.

And, to top off the weekend, my cousin (on the left) was in town before I came back home so I got to see her, too. That's her pup, my dog niece, Emmie, in the center and my mom on the right.

Some times we need a rejuvenating weekend with friends and family and because of that we make plans and the plans come through. That was a weekend I won't soon forget!

Bath time!

Ha, if that title doesn't turn heads, I don't know what will.

Anyway, the last weekend in June, I took a few days away from work and spent some time in Southeastern Kentucky with friends and family.

My father has some extremely cute beagle pups, and they're at just the right size where bath time means a dunk in my mom's mop bucket.

So, I present to you some extreme cuteness:

Here's Big Ott

And Ruby

And Benny

And Blue/Brownie/Diamond

Dad has a tendency to name his dogs after family members. The first dog is named after his brother Arthur Lee. Dad always calls him Ott and the dog is the biggest of the four, hence Big Ott. Ruby is named after dad's sister. And Benny could be named after a number of people in the family — not the least of which would be my dad, whose nickname is Ben, or my grandpa, whose name was Ben.

The fourth puppy has a host of names depending on who you ask about him. He has blue eyes, so Dad calls him Blue. He's brown, and my mom insists Brownie is a better name for a dog than Blue. And last but not least, he has a white diamond on his back, so occasionally Dad calls him Diamond or Blue Diamond.

This is how they look at feeding time, ha! All standing on their back legs waiting for a taste of food. :)

Vacation: All I ever wanted...

I'm feeling kind of like Superwoman tonight. My husband and I have been back from vacation for all of about three hours, and I'm nearly caught up with the laundry.

But, so you won't start thinking I really have super powers, I will say that 1) laundry was caught up before we left, so all I had to wash were the clothes we wore on our trip and 2) our trip only lasted a total of four days.
On July 4, we drove down to celebrate a birthday and, you know, independence, with family. And, for our anniversary trip, we hit the road on Friday for Greensboro, N.C.
This coming Friday (July 12) we will celebrate our five-year wedding anniversary. On our wedding night, we stayed at the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro (the halfway point to our beach house), so with this being our first "milestone" anniversary, we headed back down south for the weekend. But no beach this time.
Here are a few photos from our mini vacation.

Those tiny letters at the top spell Proximity.

My handsome husband in the Tanger Family Bicentennial Gardens.

This mess on top of my head was the result of me forgetting my curling iron and volumizing mousse and the wonderful humidity in North Carolina. Ponytails and frequent hair washing were prominent.

Another scene from the Bicentennial Gardens.

The two of us enjoying the sunning patio outside the hotel.

And, just to show you some deliciousness: Here are the four desserts from my dessert melange at the Print Works Bistro.