This has to be love

So I'm sitting on the couch with Andrew when he tells me he has a surprise for me. I kind of hate surprises and have to know immediately what it is. He said I had to work for it so I go through 20 questions to get it, although it was probably like 40 questions. 

I finally get close and then guess this:

And I'm right! Andrew pre-ordered the Smitten Kitchen cookbook for me as a congrats on being a preschool teacher gift!

The best and sweetest part is that he spends so much time doing odd jobs on Mechanical Turk that he finally had saved up enough to buy it on Amazon.com without me even knowing! 

So thoughful of him. Now I'm super excited to get it in two months!

Life lately

It's a Friday night and I'm just so happy to be at home. 

Here's what we've been up to lately...

Olympic watching these last few weeks. I'm so impressed with their athleticism. Gold medal cookies.

A few weeks ago I went to see Michelle & Reagan! Oh what a little love!! Mich is such a good mama.

We visited and had some good laughs over lunch.

I held the little Rea most of the afternoon. I loved it.

Ginna came for a night last week and we celebrated our NEW JOBS (more on that later)!

Last Saturday I drove up to PA with my Mother-in-law to get these fun kiddos.

It was a long but beautiful drive.

Maybe 11pm at a gas station with 4 hours to go. Do you see the coffee?

Bedtime stories with Uncle Andrew. So sweet.

This past week I was busy with the shredder. 

Yesterday was such a fun day surprising Lucy at work, having a yummy Greek lunch with my Dad!, hanging out with Katie, Alden & Blythe, then heading to Raleigh to see Gin, Jeff & Reynolds. (Hope you're feeling better, E!!)

That cute Ginna girl.

Last night I spent the night with Lu! Bebe's (Phoebe) enjoyed my water. Animals are so entertaining.

This morning I met Lorrina & Margot for coffee at Dean & Deluca. She is just the cutest, has such poise and style for a 6 year old, and it was wonderful to catch up with them!

Happy Weekend! 

Weekend in Atlanta

This past weekend we went down to Atlanta to spend time with family & friends.

Chloe's 4th birthday celebration! 

The theme was princess & Barbie. While I usually like to buy useful gifts like books, I found myself going crazy at the Dollar Store buying a handful of Disney princess items. 

{Which was really, really fun!}

I love that Maggie is dancing in the background with her American Girl doll.

Andrew and Charlie

Had to capture Andrew drinking out of a Barbie cup.

Caroline made the Barbie cake and apparently it's so easy if you use the Pampered Chef bowl and then flip it upside down. Who knew?

Maybe my favorite moment as Mr. Charlie fell asleep in my arms right after this. 

Around dinnertime we went to see the Parkers!

Al makes the best fruit tea.

Toby was having a slumber party with one of his friends.

Me & Al. She made the most wonderful shrimp & grits for dinner.

Then we decided while watching the Olympics that we needed a baking project. :)

The next morning was Charlie's baby dedication at their church.

Group shot

Oh you know...

What a fun weekend it was! Thanks, Dales & Parkers.

A Day in Greensboro

A couple weeks ago I found a great deal of motivation and then I attacked our home. Those teacher gifts that I would never use? Goodwill. That shirt I've told myself that might come back in style? Goodwill. All of those bank statements from 2007? Soon-to-be shredded. Yes! Summer cleaning feels so good and I was pretty cut-throat about it, too. It's usually too hot to be outside (or at least it was the day I found motivation), and once you've purged it feels oh so nice.

But I did find this. A classic 1994 duo from Past Carrie's outfits. I made Andrew (who was really quite jealous of my cool style back in the day) take a picture of me and I texted it to the fam. I'll let you figure out who said what:

"Oh boy, it may be time to chuck that..."

"Omg why do you still have that?!"

"You kept it didn't you?!"

Anyway...

Last Monday I drove up to Greensboro for the day. It was perfect!

I got to meet Seth & Katie's sweet baby Blythe for the first time. I loved holding her and she is just precious.

It was a Caldwell reunion of sorts. I was so happy to see Laura and Brendan!

Becca & Blythe.

Katie is such an awesome Mama!

Her two year old son, Alden, came home after VBS. I went over to him and asked what he did that morning. He said something like they sang songs. 

I said: "May I please hear a song?"

Alden: "Oh. No. Sorry."

Maybe you had to be there, but it was pretty funny.

 I then went to get my hair cut! It was time.

Phoebe!! 

 Got to hang out with Lucethegoose! Her apartment is adorable and for some reason I felt like such grownups as we sat on her couch in her very own apartment drinking coffee.

 Next I went to visit the parentals. They wowed me with mom's garden and sent me home with a beautiful bouquet of flowers (along with a ladybug who scared me to death when driving in the car three days later).

 They're renovating the kitchen and putting in hardwoods in the living room (it was time!!). I went to take a picture and my dad jumped in. Can't wait to see the final product.

I just love my parents so much.