How sweet is this?!

It's funny what you see when you go through Facebook albums long after they've been posted. I found these three sweet pictures of my and my sisters from Gin's wedding. I love how the photographer captured all the little details, and the happiness!

Mid-week post

This past weekend Andrew's Mom gave us some pictures of little Andrew. Oh so cute!! It seems like he has always been destined to wear bowties. :)

This is also one of the things I gave Andrew for Christmas. He watched Doctor Who all summer, which was a new thing to me. His latest fall show has been Top Gear. I hardly ever sit down to watch an entire show but will catch bits and pieces. So funny! Does anyone else agree?

I'm currently sitting on the couch with a tissue up my nose and my head is about to explode. I made this chicken noodle soup last night which has helped both my sickness, and taken care of needing warm, comfort food in winter. Not much else is new. Andrew takes good care of me when I'm sick.

I guess I'll leave you with this...

Kindergartener: "Mrs. Day, your face looks much flatter today."

Me (thinking): I'm not sure what to say to that. So.. "ok!

Weekend in Atlanta

We went down to Atlanta yesterday for Craig & Caroline's baby shower for baby Charlie. It was so special to be there as a proud AUNT!

Me and my sister-in-law!

Chloe and Maggie at the shower. :)

Afterwards we went to stay with Al & B!

We drove downtown in B's super cool, new Honda Element.

We went to The Porter where we all had a beer with dinner... the guys impressively ate 1/2 lb. cheeseburger each.

This is how we ended the evening. Kleenex, too, because Al's sick. :(

Oh! But we did get in some good TOBY time!! I think I only love, really love two dogs in the world: TOBY and PETALS!

Al & Toby!

The boys ended up watching a kung-fu* movie {boring!!!} so Al & I laid on their bed with Toby nestled in between. He's such a snuggly dog.

I'll end with this sweet picture. Al is so good at making a house a home. I love going to visit because there are always new touches to the house. When we sat here for breakfast it was so cozy and the perfect winter centerpiece.

*Andrew, can you please correct me if I've misspelled kung-fu? Does it have a dash? I dunno. It doesn't really interest me, and don't really feel like Google-ing it, and also don't even feel like asking you right now even though you're in the same room as me. Yes, I'm lazy. I should also say, Happy ONE YEAR since we got engaged. {I'm so thankful for you!}

Benefit, and rooftop {one year later}

I'm loving this three day weekend. Last night we went to the Johnson & Wales RUF benefit. Oh my, the food was super yummy, as it should be when it's prepared by those attending a cooking school. It was fun to mingle and catch up with friends.

Ahh!! The benefit was Uptown, so Andrew and I stopped in the parking deck and headed to the rooftop to remember what happened exactly one year ago today!!

It was so special to be in the same spot a year later and to think of all that's happened since then. :)

We're headed to Atlanta today for my sister-in-law's baby shower and then to see Al & B! Hooray for long weekends, indeed!

Book recommendations

I've been teaching a Kindergarten media class this fall and have fallen in love with books! It is the best feeling to read to attentive children and watch them anxiously await for each page to turn. Books are such a great gift, especially writing a sweet message in the front cover. I still have books from my aunt from 25 years ago.

If you are in need of children's book suggestions, here you go.

I got this book on sale at Anthropologie around the holidays and bought three copies of it {as you know, NYC is near and dear to my heart}. We gave it to my nieces and have a copy on our shelves for our kids. So creative and witty.

I would read this book to my kids on Long Island. NYC babies are so cool as they travel to the MET and yoga classes {as the book mentions}.

I read this book to my Kindergarteners this past fall. The first time I read it one of the boys in the front row burst into tears and couldn't be consoled. Needless to say my next lesson was on fiction vs. non-fiction books. :)

Another really cute book that I loved reading to the kids.

Ok now this book was hilarious! I made Andrew sit at Barnes & Noble with me and read it. Very popular and here's the trailer.

I just love how books create and bring back so many memories. I'm so thankful for this new appreciation for children's literature.

Weekend Update

We had a fun weekend in the mountains with Andrew's parents. They have a mountain cabin near Brevard, NC.

We went hiking on Saturday at Dupont Forest. Loved the beautiful waterfalls!

Brevard is also home to many white squirrels. So weird.

Saturday I was able to see my college friend Sheila and her sweet family before they left for Turkey! It was wonderful to catch up with her and Lili. Safe travels! :)

I already posted this to Facebook, but I made this tonight which was recommended by this blog. Tasty!

Hope you're having a great week so far. I will leave you with something that you might not think as funny as I did since you don't know this kid, but one of my 2nd graders {who would fit in oh so well on the Jersey Shore} said to another kid:

"You wanna piece of me?!"

Oh second grade. :)

Happiness

If you want to see happiness, here it is.... or at least for me. Look at all those beautiful people on our fridge! I LOVE to check the mail and December is the best time to do it! I think we had a card in our mailbox each day. {Thanks to those who sent us a card!!}

Thursday we celebrated our friend Laura's 30th birthday at Dresslers here in Charlotte. Yay!

I had to inform Andrew that New Years Eve is one of my most favorite days of the year. We walked to Caribou for a late afternoon coffee and talked about what the next year holds as the sun set. Then he suggested that we go get flowers. So we did.

This is how we celebrated the end of 2011: I made my traditional NYE dinner that takes forever {but so worth it} and then made a chocolate honeycake from a Moosewood cookbook. I like how a lot of her desserts have honey as the sweetener and not refined sugar.

Our home.

I have to admit that I shed a tear as we entered into 2012. I mean, 2011 was so good to me! Engagement, marriage, new apartment to decorate, new job, so many examples of God's faithfulness and provision. I did this last year, but looking back I think these small and big things meant the most in 2011:

1. My NYC friends {and other long-distance friends & family} traveling up/down for our wedding. It was and is still so sweet to me that they came. It meant so much.

2. Debt free! Oh hallelujah! I don't mention money hardly at all, but this year we paid off my remaining college debt and can now go into 2012 with no debt. It's an amazing, freeing feeling.

3. The every day life with Andrew. There are so many times when we look at each other and say, "are we really married?!". :)

Happy 2012!

Carrie