I’ve had so much I’ve wanted to write about this week too. My thoughts on the presidential debates… my end at the Chamber, and the frenzy of returning full force to the pharmacy… Our anniversary trip to SAVANNAH this weekend…!
Guess I will just have to catch up on things some time next week! Sleepy time now. Hitting the road in the morning 🙂
I just love the way Annie chirps goodnight before curling up in her usual spot right at my side, purring softly all the while. It’s so calming… So therapeutic. Great way to end a long day.
So, I’ve got a snuggly kitty on one side – cuddly hubby on the other. I’m one lucky girl! But I will say that Annie’s noises are nicer… 😉
I discovered that if I add hash tags to my photos (legitimate ones that people would actually search for), my pictures get a LOT more exposure. It’s kind of exciting! Especially since Instagram is a good bit more anonymous than Facebook. It’s also a little sketchy, though. I tagged one photo with “girl friends” and another with “feet” and “pedicure”, and as it turns out – Instagram has weirdos. They need to update the app so we are able to delete comments… or is that already possible and I’m just missing it?
Anyway… I use hash tags all the time here on Tumblr, but it doesn’t seem to work for me quite like it did for Instagram. Maybe it’s better that way 🙂 Sometimes it’s better to lay low, but it’s also nice to have a random audience that enjoys what you have to share. So long as they’re nice! And totally not sketchy… ha!
This past weekend, Chuck and I went to Charlottesville – home of Monticello and the University of Virginia – to join some friends and family for Top of the Hops Beer Festival. Although the festival was a great time, I am not particularly a fan of beer, so we made it a point to go apple picking as well.
It turned out to be the most beautiful weekend, and we got to roam apple orchards and farmer’s markets in warm golden sunshine. We were able to picnic alongside old Virginian architecture and browse the orchard’s country shop. It’s fun to go back to my “home state” and get a taste of mountains and hills in comparison to the endless flat land of Coastal Carolina!
As I type, I’m actually enjoying one of the crisp, juicy apples that I hand-picked myself. We got so many – I’ll have to make a cinnamon apple crisp this weekend! Yummm. 🙂
“We have received your application. However, you were not among the best qualified candidates. Therefore, your application will not be sent to the hiring manager for selection consideration at this time.”
Oy VEY. It was for a job that asked me about my expertise in sending E-MAILS! An assistant to the administrative assistant! My application won’t even be considered?? Good grief. I had even moved my degree information to the bottom of my resume so I would appear less overqualified. Ugh. Forward and onward, I guess…
In other news, I’m super excited after purchasing a Living Social deal for some pole dancing and barre classes. That’s right. Pole dancing. Judge all you like! I did it for almost a year back in NoVa and loved it. Great workout, and a ton of fun! Better yet, it’s very affordable here and I can’t wait to get back into it. The barre classes sound amazing too – a mix of ballet, yoga, and pilates. It’s been over a year since I’ve done any dancing at all, so I’m ready to dive back in.
And, as our small world would have it, a friend of mine from the DC area randomly got engaged to a Marine and moved down here a few months ago. She is a dancer/ cheerleader and bought the Living Social deal with me. 🙂 Yayyy, I have a buddy!
Her being here has been hilarious in the first place. We didn’t hang out a lot in DC, but our social circles crossed paths a good bit. She messaged me on Facebook telling me she was moving here and needed advice on transitioning from the DC professional/socialite lifestyle, to military wife in the middle of nowhere. It’s been interesting being on the other side of this issue, giving advice to a nervous young woman instead of receiving it – allowing me to see how I’ve changed, grown, and adjusted since I moved here almost a year ago.
In yet another twist of circumstance, her fiance is on the same team as Chuck, and they will deploy together in the winter! It will be nice to have someone around who is on the same schedule as me, in terms of deployment.
Anyhoo. It’s a quiet day here at the office. My boss is out all day so I’m more casual and relaxed while I cold-call potential investors. The assignment wraps at the end of next week, so I’m trying not to complain too much about it. I need this $12/hour – it gives me the means to dance 🙂
On this day 11 years ago, I stood on my high school lawn in the heart of Washington, DC and watched the smoke rise from the Pentagon mere miles away. Despite the constant wail of sirens, cries of worried students and teachers, televised images of collapsing buildings and desperate jumpers, and clogged phone lines that prevented me from contacting anyone I loved, I was remarkably free of panic. It was almost too other-worldly to even be real. “This kind of thing just doesn’t happen here,” I thought…”Is this really happening?”
Of course, it does happen here. It did happen here. And the world has never been the same since. It would be easy to say it’s changed for the worst. But actually, there has been so much good, too. Since that very morning to this very day, we have seen the best in people right along side the worst of them. From the selflessness of our first responders, to the efforts of our government, to the sacrifices of our military, we have given our all to keep the loss of life that happened on 9/11 from ever happening again. It’s not an easy, fool-proof, or black-and-white battle, but with every day that goes by without a 9/11, we achieve victory.
Politics aside, we must never forget.
This was the night President Obama announced that Seal Team 6 took out Osama Bin Laden and thousands rushed to the White House in support.
Moment of silence on the White House lawn, 9/11/2012
One World Trade Center Memorial, 9/11/2012
…My hair, and my speeding ticket.
Chuck and I left Monday morning after a whirlwind 24-hour visit to the Outer Banks to visit friends. Moments after driving on a 70 MPH road, I was pulled over for going 74 in a 55 MPH. Grrr. Honestly, I didn’t even notice the change. Now I have to drive two hours away for my mandatory court date in November. I’ve never gotten a speeding ticket before (though I can’t deny that I deserve one almost daily…)
Anyway, I’ve been planning my schpiel so I can get the ticket reduced, though I can’t escape those court fees. Let’s hope for a male judge who appreciates a blonde with a twinkle in her eye. JUST KIDDING. Sort of…
Speaking of blonde, that brings me to annoyance #2. I’ve gone to 4 different stylists down here in NC and no one can seem to achieve the blonde hues I had back home. I’m not sure why it’s so difficult (is the dye/bleach different here?) but it seriously turns various shades of yellow or orange after 1 wash, if not sooner. This past time, I asked for partial highlights to touch up my roots – and somehow she ended up painting the top of my head with straight up bleach, resulting in an all-over yellow look.
The last time she did my hair, she used some gloss that turned it orange, so I think she was using the bleach to pull the orange out… but I just want foil highlights people!!! They’ve always worked for me. If I had wanted my hair bleached, I would have asked for that. Colors, dyes, glosses, etc. always make me brassy, so I have learned to stick to the basics. But, no one ever listens to me. “Just let me try this, I think it will work.” Sure. I really need to start saying no more aggressively while in that chair…
The situation is seriously just going to make me go dark(er) sooner than planned. I really don’t like yellow hair :-
On a more positive note – OBX was beautiful on Sunday 🙂
… is good for my health. Otherwise, I would never drink milk. It’s the only time I drink it! Tonight’s chocolate cake strengthened my bones like none other. I’ll be one solid old lady yet.
With the exception of cozy sweaters and rich, satisfying beverages, I’ve never been one to get excited for the fall. Northern Virginia tends to skip fall and spring… it goes from the extreme of summer to the extreme of winter, rains a bunch in between, then starts over. Thus, I’ve always been an (early) summer girl! Fall is simply a gray, wet forecast of the winter to come…
But the summer here in NC has been incredibly hot, muggy, and wet. Most of August has been rainy and sadly lacking on the beach front. We had a gorgeous spring and fall however! No extremes, and just a reasonable amount of rain to mix things up. Simply gorgeous – with lots of time outside.
Thus, for the first time in ages, I am looking forward to autumn for more than those pumpkin spice lattes. I can’t wait for long days eating and drinking beachfront with friends at Daddy Mac’s, lighting the firepit in the backyard, and taking evening strolls through the Cottages to glimpse the geese on the pond. 🙂 August is almost over!
Wildflowers & Whimsy 