Rat's Nest

So, many apologies for my slacking updates -- between the holiday weekend, driving to Maryland, and fighting the swine flu, I've been a bit busy.

Ok, ok, so I don't really have the swine flu. But, I do have some godawful junk that has decided to rest itself in my sinus passages/chest. I am going to break down and actually call the doctor... after a week of not being able to breathe, I think it is time.

During this week of ailment I returned to Maryland (yet again) for Big Sister's graduation. It was wonderful! I can not begin to express how proud I am of her. She has had her of obstacles, but worked hard and she did it! I can only hope I will have the same motivation.

Sadly, I have not much else to report from my trip, because I ended up sleeping the whole time. I left early saturday afternoon, and by some miracle managed not to hit any traffic between on my way home... despite driving through VA Beach and the "big race" in Charlotte (I don't really know anything about this...)

I have been equally lazy upon my return, although I did go to work yesterday (and will today). So, last night all I wanted to do was sit on the couch, which I did, while watching Ratatouille. Now, I've already expressed my love of children's books and their relvance in adult life... this also carries over to movies. I especially like Ratatouille because of it unabashed support of following your passions. This isn't really a movie about doing the right thing, this is a movie about doing what makes you happy. While the scenario of a rat cooking is highly improbable, the message is clear and remains the same: Sometimes loving something is reason enough to do it, and following this passion can change your life, as well as those around you. Now, food is not generally considered a life changing subject -- there is no real adveristy to overcome with food, it does not have a troubled past and it has never really sparked heated political controversy (except for maybe this), but food is a part of our every day lives. And maybe, just maybe, if we allow ourselves to indulge and enjoy the food which makes us happy and reminds us of the warmest, dearest times in our childhood, we would all be a little bit happier. Forget detoxing, diets, fads and all that craziness. Good food can change your life, if only for a moment.

Wedding

Ugh, so the wedding this weekend was horribly, miserably boring and I had no fun at all.

Oh, haha, just kidding. That was for Momma Bear and My Lawyer... who I was unable to update on the interesting pieces of my life, because apparently I write too much here. They decided they could decipher my true feelings about this weekend from reading my blog. Which they shall, in fact, be able to do...

First of all, let me say that the wedding was beautiful. Everything about it was lovely, and in my humble opinion, perfect for the Bride and Groom. It was a formal, evening wedding and the Cream, Black and Red theme was classic and gorgeous. And the Bride. Oh. My. God. We were all quite jealous of the Groom -- because she was stunning! And it wasn't the hair, the make up or dress that made her that way (though they were all amazing) it was the radiating smile she couldn't wipe off her face. I am so, so, so happy that she has found her one! :)

Leading up the wedding was equally fun and amazing. The really great thing about the bridesmaids was that we have all known each other since middle school/high school and have all been friends for this period of time. It was relaxing, silly and nostalgic and I think I can safely that we all really enjoyed spending the time together. Seeing all the girls dressed up was a lot of fun, and watching the Bride's kids be coerced into their formal wear was adorable.

The reception was wonderful -- good food, good friends and lots of wedding traditions (the garter toss, first dance, etc). Saw a few people I hadn't seen in a long time and watched the groomsmen get sloshed!

We stayed my Big Sister's house, and were persuaded to go out and get food with them -- however Hub and I were zombies the whole time and after scarfing down pizza at Flavors of Italy proceeded back to Big Sister's and passed out.

Had breakfast with friend in Princess Anne and then continued on the long drive home. Part of me can't believe we made it without crashing the car, because both of us were exhausted, but we did and I was rewarded with fabulous snuggle time from my little pug :)

Pineapple Weekend

Well, this was quite a busy weekend, but I enjoyed every minute of it. I was, in fact, so busy that I am having trouble recalling everything I did. Aside from the massive amount of texting and picture receiving I did with Twenty (I was living vicariously through her Dinah Shore experience) I can barely remember what it was I did Friday evening. I believe it was boring things like grocery shopping, oh, and watching Pineapple Express which proved to be not nearly as entertaining as I had hoped, but an adequate stoner film nonetheless.
Saturday consisted of spending time with some newly acquired friends... eating fabulous Sushi, hitting up the local Art Museum and searching for some fabulous vintage clothes, which we easily found at Hong Kong Vintage (see my fabulous pineapple skirt?). The entire reason for frequenting the Mint Museum was to check out their exhibit on Haute Couture fashions. It turned out to be much smaller of an exhibit than I had hoped, but the clothes and accessories were beautiful (minus a few from the 80s) and well displayed. I was actually quite thrilled that there was an exhibit from the New Orleans Museum of Art which contained a large amount of French pieces.
The vintage hunt went extremley well, even though Hong Kong ended up being our only stop. The store is small, but well stocked. The prices were super reasonable, and I fully intend on making a stop in again soon. The neighborhood that the store is housed in is also quite adorable. Lots of funky, small shops. Charlotte continues to surprise me with the cooky nooks of neighbor hoods that are out there to be discovered.
Saturday evening Hub and I visited some friends who had just moved into their brand new house. They seemed very happy, and I am very happy for them! Simon enjoyed the time, as he and KC ran around like the crazy dogs they are.
After this visit, I was persuaded to join my new friends ("The Crew" haha) for a late night get together, where I in turn persuaded them to visit my favorite place in Charlotte, Amalie's. Fabulous as always.
Sunday consisted of acting like an adult most of the day... trying to clean, taking a nap, and a visit to Ikea.
Despite my busy schedule this weekend many big things happened. I suppose these things are the reason I am attempting to keep so busy. Large changes are afoot, my friends, and when the time is right I'm sure I'll clue you in a bit.
Until then...

Weekend.

Haven't really had the time to sit down and do a good update recently... I feel like they have mostly been random streams of consciousness, with no purpose to them. I will try to rectify this at some point, but this morning will probably just be more babbling.

It was a jam-packed weekend, Big Sister left Saturday and another friend showed up shortly after. Spent Saturday at the Ophthalmologist getting new contacts, glasses and allergy eye drops, and spent that evening continuing my weekend-o-food and playing Rock Band.

Yesterday was very nice -- took a long nap and went for a hike with new friends and had sushi. I also procured some new reading material -- The Tao of Pooh and The War of Art (which is a suggestion I swiped from a fellow blogger)

Again -- haven't really been in the updating mood -- maybe later i'll feel up to it.

Rant.

Whoa! Sorry for the brief disappearance... I was out of town for the weekend, and then everything exploded, which is often a hindrance to blog writing.

I don't even know where to start, but I guess I'll tell you about the enjoyable part of my weekend first...

Hub and I ended up going to Atlanta (I say Atlanta, but it's actually a suburb, Woodstock) for the weekend. We left with the pug Saturday morning to hang out with some friends. Did the usual, awesome, relaxing and entertaining things while there. Got CiCi's. Sat and talked for hours with Mimo and Bob. The boys came over and we played balderdash.

Sunday morning we went to J. Christopher's for brunch, and as always it was delicious. Afterwords we played a card game called squidge, that I am TERRIBLE at, but that is lots of fun. Okay, I realize all of this seems mundane, and while it might be, it was exceptionally fantastic for me. I love these people a whole lot, and it always makes my life better to see them. Besides, the next part is so far from mundane, I needed the comparison.

The Hub and I decide the head out around 3:30, after visiting the boys place, and this exit time should have put us home around 7. We did not, in fact, arrive home until almost 5:30 the next morning. The events are as follows:

- Stop to get food, I am hungry.
- Oh, Sonic, how we have a love/hate relationship with you
- Hub orders Bacon Cheeseburger, I order French Toast sticks
- 20 min later, Hub has "indegestion"
- 10 minutes later I am running into a waffle house off 85 asking for the nearest hosptial, because Hub is on knees in pain in back seat of car
- 15 min. later arrive at the worst hospital in the history of hospitals
- Hub is actually taken to a room fairly quickly.
- 3 hours later, Hub gets pain medicine. At this point NO ONE has introduced themselves, washed hands or been pleasant in any way.
- 1 hour later, blood work is done.
- 2 hours after that, Hub finally gets ultrasound of gallbladder and kidneys. Still, no introductions, no one has informed us of anything (ie, bloodwork results) and my call bell ringing has been ignored.
- We are informed it would be about 45 minutes for the results of the ultrasounds.
- 2 hours later, we are moved to another room because they are shutting down the wing. Still no ultrasound results.
- 1 hour later, we are informed that Hub does in fact have gall stones. And that we can go home.
-2 1/2 hours of a rainy/foggy/exhausted drive later, come home and collapse.

REALLY PEOPLE?! 9 freaking hours for bloodwork and an ultrasound?! It's fine if we had to wait. I understand that Hub was not dying or anything. However, the HIPAA and Joint Commission violations that I observed while there were completely unacceptable and the fact that NO ONE was pleasant the entire time we were there is just ridiculous. Hub had his appendix out only 4 months ago, and we spent about 7 hours in the ER before finally figuring out what was going on, and that was totally fine, because everyone was pleasant. I didn't feel angry or irritated. People apologized for the delays, and generally tried to make sure that Hub was comfortable, and even went so far as to extend that hospitality to me. I am appalled that this place is not only up and running, but they are actually Joint Commission certified. Me and my pissy self are working on a letter to send the hosptial administrator, as well as Joint Commission.
Take that, assholes.

Alright, long rant, but I am STILL thouroughly traumatized by the experience, and am only thankful there wasn't something more wrong with Hub. He is meeting with a surgeon this morning, and will most likely be having his gall bladder out within the next few weeks.

OY.

Weekend

ok, loves.

I've been way too in my head the last few days, and haven't posted anything for fear of word vomiting all over my blog. I think I'm together enough (at least at the moment) to hash out some sort of semi-coherent statements.

Next weekend I'll be heading to Bmore for Twenty's birthday. WOO CHA. I'm really excited to head back and hang out with a couple of my favorite people on the whole planet. We've got plans to hear Maya Angelou speak at U Balt, Hit up Brewer's Art and head to DC for Sticky Fingers -- and that is just the start. I'm pretty sure we plan to relive some college moments with body shots -- yes, body shots -- and other such debauchery. I'll be sure to keep you posted on that excitement.

Looking forward to the weekend, as I have no real plans other than heading to Howl at The Moon this evening. It's rainy and gross so I'll probably be staying indoors avoiding all the cleaning my townhouse desperately needs.