Friday, September 26, 2008
So much going on, so little time!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Snuggle up to this...
Recently I started to question the ability of our washing machine to actually WASH clothes....I would smell this weird smell on my work out clothes, nothing seemed really clean.
We even considered buying one of those Eco-Friendly Front Loading super duper kind but cringed every time we looked at the price tags. I was about to throw my washer out the window.
Just this weekend Philip made another trip to Costco and decided it was time we switched to powder detergent since that is what we grew up on. He brought home this massive box of Gain powder. For some unknown reason he decided to check out the Snuggle liquid container details to realize that it was NOT DETERGENT it was fabric softener!!!!!! How did we not realize this all these months!?!?! We had been cleaning our clothes with fabric softener and not detergent. GROSS...
Seriously. we had yet another Amelia Badelia moment....
So the past two months of odd smelling clothes that didnt seem clean.... all makes sense.
Sorry guys... If I happened to smell around you and you were too nice to say something.
I can promise that has been put to an end once and for all!
GROSSSSSS!
ps I apologized to the washing machine for doubting her abilities!
Monday, September 15, 2008
The light at the end of the tunnel....
We got to celebrate Lisa and Ben's engagement with them on Friday night at 131 Main (our favorite Charlotte restaurant) Philip's parents and Ben's parents joined us and it was great to celebrate them and honor them during this exciting time. Ben and Lisa were in town for Ben's 10 year high school reunion at Myers Park...Philip's is in two weeks!
I spent a lot of the weekend prepping for next weekend. Shabbat Potluck at the Temple Friday night, wake up at the crack of dawn...drive to Raleigh: Double Baby shower that I am throwing for Lauren and Cassie and then Nicole and Dave's wedding ALL in the same day. Lots of preparing....PLUS Philip's 29th birthday is the following weekend along with his 10 year high school reunion.
I don't want to spill any of the shower surprises but its going to be super cute and so are their gifts (that I have spent the past few months gathering things for).
I ran a lot of errands looking for Fall/Halloween stuff.... much to my dismay I only came home with a basket that says Harvest on it. We never made it to the Farmer's Market on time so I didn't get the mum's I was looking for. Saturday we hit up the Barbeque and Blues Festival uptown which was a very HOT experience. Our good friend Josh was out there with his brother Jeff who owns Smokin J's BBQ (riblover.com). There were many different booths to sample BBQ from however we were loyal to Jeff's yummy ribs and BBQ. Hundred's of people came out for the event and I enjoyed people watching as always...but damn it was HOT.
The Miller High Life..
Talk about a lot of people uptown!
Courtney and Josh were also in town this weekend for the Panther's game on Sunday so Saturday night we got together for Taco Night at our house and hanging out like old times. By the end of the night we concluded that they really need to move here sooner than later so we can pick up these chill evenings where we laid off when we left Raleigh. We always have the best time with them... doing nothing. Who doesn't love that!?
I got back into the gym this weekend.....I had not been to the gym on a weekend in two weeks because of all of the travels and I started feeling disgusting. Yes, I am slightly obsessed with my 3-5 day a week gym routine and with this new medicine I am on I can see the pounds packing back on much to my dismay. I am trying to fight this. I am turning a new leaf this week. Back to portion control, back to focus. My back has been bothering me again (pretty badly) so I am going to work on strengthening it, sleeping only on my back and working out religiously. You heard it first.....I always have to write things down to commit to them so here it is.
Sunday my parents and family friend's Ryan and Michelle came over with their new 3 mo. old baby Kiley. She is precious and she slept almost the entire time they were here from 5-8 pm... She is an angel baby. We had a great time with them and were glad that came to visit us from Concord after not seeing them since Michelle got pregnant - WOW~! As always seeing babies makes my desire to be a mother that much stronger....
Shutterfly Shared Picture Detail
After everyone left we gave Bella the walk she deserved all weekend but had not had time for. Philip and I looked at each other and headed to bed at 9 PM - totally exhausted....
I am revving up for this coming whirl wind weekend. I can't wait for it because I am going to get to see so many people in one trip! Global Knowledge friends, and LOTS of college friends.... weeeeeee here I come....I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Slacker!
LABOR DAY WEEKEND...
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Birthdays, Weddings, Engagments, Oh My!
We both left the bookstore with books in hand and empty pockets!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Sink your hands in this...
I now have the opportunity to put my skills to the test at the Whirling Wheel, a cute studio here in Charlotte. Sarah K. has had an artisitc craving and she asked me to join her in an 8 week course at the Whirling Wheel learning all of the techniques to throw pots, glaze pots and whatever else we might want to get our hands into. We will meet each Wednesday night and I could not be more excited.
Philip has challenged me to make a flower pot..
I want to make something for our bookcase to display.
Class starts after Labor Day. I will keep you posted on my progress....
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Spent in many ways....
We have returned after a 5 day out of town work/pleasure adventure.
Between Philip and I we covered Charleston, Greenville, Columbia and Atlanta.
Philip really did the majority of the traveling while I worked in Altanta at a Users Conference for the week.
Philip visited a handful of clients throughout South Carolina and even got a chance to meet up with our cousin Paige, Aunt Janice and Uncle Craig at USC. Paige was moving into college and Philip wanted to bring her the "must-have" college basket of goodies. I loved his thoughtful idea and we got busy filling up a large basket for her. We included a USC t-shirt, white board, tin foil, food, pens, pencils, notebooks etc to prepare her for college life. Philip said she loved it and I was so impressed that he had thought of the idea all by himself.
While in Atlanta I went to the Braves vs Cubs game at Turner. They played a double header and the Cubbies won both games. Although the food and drinks were ridiculously pricey we (my co-workers and I) had a great time. My conference went well and I realized how much I missed interacting with people in the field . Definitely some food for thought in that area.
I also concluded that I am very different than my co-workers which should make for a very interesting experience in three weeks when I head to the Bahamas for 4 days with my company. Planning how many nights to get drunk is not my idea of a mature adult vacation... catch my drift. I am looking forward to relaxing on the beach and the great dinners....not getting wasted every night.
Friday the fun began. We stayed with our good friend's Ben and Lisa. Philip and Ben grew up together like brother's in Charlotte. Lisa is Ben's girlfriend and we could not be anymore alike. She and I headed to the pool after she picked me up from my conference and the guys went to see a movie and play basketball. We met back up in time for dinner at Nava in Buckhead. We enjoyed prickly pear margaritas and fantastic fine mexican cuisine on the patio. Saturday we hit up the Perimeter mall for some shopping, played Putt-Putt (I won!) and took naps. Saturday night we went to Taverna Plaka a Greek restaurant with family style food, belly dancer's, hooka's and great company. Jill and Jason (Kaplan) announced that they were expecting their first child and we met Sam's new girlfriend Natalie. The belly dancer's were quite entertaining...dancing on tables and tossing handful of napkins as they shouted OPA! Philip thorougly enjoyed this dinner as you can see...We met up with Darren and Allison at Fado a 3 story bar in the Buckhead area after dinner for drinks. Quite a late night for us home bodies but definitely work all the fun!
We have missed our little Bella Bean so much this past week and are ready to head home, get back to our gym schedules (after a 5 day hiatus) and sleep in our own beds. Thank you to everyone for such a fantastic weekend. We already miss you and can't wait to hear more great news from everyone in charlote...cough cough....ENGAGEMENTS!
Olympic notations...I was fortunate enough to be able to watch all 8 of Michael Phelps World Record breaking gold medals (both individual and team: 7 world records). Last night I had goose bumps as I watchted the US team swim their final relay that broke the world record for the team and for Phelps. The guy is truly inspirational and amazing...What a way to represent the U.S.A!
signing off...we are spent... empty pockets and tired bodies.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Shabbat. Lake Norman. Gym.
Friday night we had Shabbat dinner at our house with some friends.
We had a great time and everyone left with full shabbat bellies.
Finally the patio was put to use as well as the new patio furniture.
An all around great way to end a really crazy work week (work has been hellish lately).
We finally hit up Lake Norman this weekend with our good friend Jason Trompeter.
He has a boat name The Court Ship. His dad is a judget in Roanoke and he picked the name because he had a friend whose boat's name was The Scholar Ship. Fitting I must say. Note his boat was gorgeous and it could sit a lot of people. We took the boat out and enjoyed the day on the lake. Philip wake boarded (which is not easy at all), we blew up and floated around in our new floats from target that were the perfect addition to our lake trip. The weather could not have been better. 85, sunny, not a cloud in the sky. We will definitely be hitting up the lake many more times before the summer is over. Possibly my new favorite thing to do.
We also had a great dinner with friend's of Jason's after boating. Amy's husband works with Jason and Darcy is one of Jason's best friends from work. Darcy and Jason. Amy and Darcy cooked up a fantastic meal as we watched the Olympics...
Olympics. I am a sucker for the olypmics. I love watching all water sports, gymnastics, track and field etc. LOVE IT. I could sit planted in front of the TV all day watching the olympics.
We also managed to squeeze in a Gym work out, pool time, tennis and some relaxation.
This was the best weekend I have had in a long time.
The good news is this upcoming weekend is going to be even better.
GOOD THING BECAUSE WORK BLOWS! :)
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
The Large Family I Never Had
On our way in we stopped a few galleries in Waynesville and Bryson City to shop. Momma Sara (mother in-law) bought some fancy yarn for me and is knitting me a gorgeous shrug sweater. We also picked up some baby gifts for the many upcoming baby showers and I got a new wallet!
We arrived at camp after creeping up the VERY windy and twisty mountain (12 miles) in the dark at around 10 PM. We were welcomed by many family members and new faces (for me!).
Reunion weekend went something like this:
Breakfast, Family meeting, Pontoon boating, tubing, cook out (that was delicious), nap, dinner, hang out, spend time with Grandma, Boya Brunch (sephardic food the is yeast dough filled with spinach and/or potato and cheese!) and off we went back home and down the mountain again.
A few highlights.
Boating was a blast! The boat we originally took out didnt sound right so we took it back and ended up with this large fancy pontoon boat that didnt have a ladder. We didnt realize this until we all jumped into the lake and couldnt get back into the boat. We also happened to get the rope from the tube stuck in the motor. This made for many laughs! We had two 3 yaer old twin boys on our boat and they were precious. One of the boys fell asleep leaning over the edge of the boat and his hair was blowing in the wind. We had a great day on the boat and made it home safely thanks to our captain. Note: The Fontana Dam is the highest dam in the NC mountains so our view was amazing!
On the way home from Fontana Village we stopped in Cherokee and made a visit to Harrah's Casino. I could've done without this stop. I can't stand gambling and casino's. The place reeked of smoke. I now know why our economy is in such bad shape. We also stopped in Hendersonville to see the galleries and shops which was a much more pleasant visit. Hendersonville was celebrating their 49th Annual Art Walk in downtown Hendersonville and we got to see all of the amazing artists work displayed on the streets.
We had a great weekend with the family and were so thankful that we had the opportunity to attend this year. I really enjoyed meeting everyone and look forward to the next reunion in 2010!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Bringing back the past...
I made one blog post on my mypspace page that I really want to bring back and re-post.
I am sure this is a big No-No in the blogging world but many of you didn't get to enjoy the blog and we have a reason to celebrate this blog....
So first enjoy the blog, supposedly many people found it funny. If you already read the Christmas blog from last year please scroll down.
Dear Neighbor Part 1 - Written November 17, 2007
I love holiday lights...especially the candles in the windows....Elegant tasteful lights are my favorite...BUT Your blow up/light up atrocity's that showed up last night amongst the many others in this neighborhood are HIDEOUS. I can't stand them. Even If I celebrated Christmas I WOULD NEVER HAVE ONE or TWO or THREE or SIX ON MY LAWN. They are everywhere here. What are you people thinking? Did you really think that all of my Hanukkah house guests and friends and family would want to stare at your santa popping out of a pot for the next 60 days!? You put it in your backyard!? Who does that? Are you intentionally trying to sabotage my Hanukkah? Are you trying to out-do my Hanukkah flag and menorah!? Oh, you just wait!"My neighbors whose backyard backs up to the side of my house... PUT ONE IN THE BACKYARD!? WTH!? Everytime you walk up to my house to see this blow up MOVING thing."There has to be something in my homeowner's manual that says no ridiculous blowup ANIMATED Santa's in your BACKYARD...I am about to bust out some Hanukkah flags....bah HUMBUG. HAPPY HANUKKAH!
Love your Jewish neighbor, Renee'
Dear Neighbor Part 2 (It get's better and I have footage) - November 21, 2007
Dear Neighbor's....Oh yes... more have joined in on the quest to adorn our lovely street with the MOST TACKY Christmas lawn set up....I am telling you I have had it.The 2 blow ups on ONE YARD have now almost tripled to 5 blow ups on ONE FRONT YARD....plus lights everywhere that flash to the beat of the blaring music coming out of your house has taken this WAY OVER THE TOP.Your music is way too loud....so loud I can hear it in my house. No offense but I dont want to hear your Christmas music while I am lighting my menorah for 8 days.... nor do I want to hear it for the next 38 days till you are forced to take it all down.Your lights are so bright and you leave them on ALL NIGHT LONG...I'd hate to see your electric bill this month. I can only imagine what your house looks like on the inside. Ps. You know your neighbors are all talking about how hideous your set up is right? Even the ones that celebrate Christmas are talking....For your viewing pleasure photos of the set up on the .25 acre lot and a video of the lights flashing to the beat of the music. Mind you this was taken from my driveway. Home Owners Association here I come....GOD HELP ME!
Dear Neighbor Part 2
UPDATE....
The neighbors referenced above with the 5 blow ups on their front lawn have put their house up for sale. Just in time. Christmas 2008 saved by the For Sale Sign. Now the story for WHY they are moving isnt so peachy, but I can't tell you how thrilled many of our neighbors are that they will be returning to NY (as well as us).
These neighbors are drama. The kind you don't want in your neighborhood. Both suposedly on disability. House paid for by one of their parents (no mortgage). They have 4 kids. One dropped out of high school and they kicked him out and he went back to NY to the grandparents that bought the house. They put a retaining wall up in their backyard by themselves, fenced their yard and put in a 60k swimming pool and patio that spans the back of their entire house. Note we have a pool in our neighborhood and they are THE only house with an inground pool in the entire 2000+ home neighborhood. They attempted to file a class action lawsuit against our builder. Their home is built on a slab that didnt pass inspection and there their entire foundation cracked.... as in it looks like an earthquake hit their slab. Not the normal settling cracks. How do we know this? Because the wife came and personally knocked on each of our doors to come take a look. Supposedly the builder paid them 60k and fixed it to code to avoid a lawsuit. How much of this is true.... is beyond me. Every week we hear new snippets from neighbors. I personally try to avoid these people like the plague. After the foundation disaster the husband supposedly had a heart attack because of all of the stress which they later discovered was Muscular Dystrophy. This summer they left for 3 weeks to go back to NY. They returned last week and the rumor was that they were moving back NY. Up went the sign last night and off they will go. I am sure they will list the house at some ridiculous price since they got the 60k and its paid for just to get out of it. Who will buy that house anyone. The builder wanted to knock it down!
I am sad that I won't be able to blog about the ridiculous Christmas decorations this year, but I think our neighborhood will be a better place as a result of this.
Good ridance....and good luck.
Who the heck is going to buy that house!?!?!?!







