Books, books

Lately

What I'm loving:
- wearing a t-shirt and flats (it's 60 degrees!)
- candles and Christmas lights
- a mouse-free house, omg yes!
- brunch with new friends
- hour long conversations with Al
- TJ's Pita Bites with feta
- Amelie's French Bakery
- a new Moleskine mini journal
- the time of day right before the sun sets
- Duke basketball
- Meryl Streep's speech last night
- driving on the highway, music up and windows down


What I'm missing:
- New York City. I missed it a lot today.

Circus

It's a circus here on Manor Rd. The three of us have been overwhelmed by these stupid mice, which is why I'm posting, yet again, on the subject. Do I want to be writing about mice? No! But that's all I've been thinking about these past few days.

We've set multiple traps, talked to the pest man, had a couple of friends come over to check everything out and learned everything there is to know about a mouse. And did I mention that we're losing our minds? A trap went off last night and all three of us went downstairs together because we're at the point where you just can't clean up a dead mouse and scrub the floor by yourself (which is what I had to do yesterday morning). Sorry to those who are against traps... I'd rather not hurt the mouse either, but safety and now sanity of the mind are what we're going for.

Here's hoping my next blog post is about sunshine and rainbows.

Squeak

I think here are some things a girl should never have to do and seeing & dealing with mice is one of them. While most people in NYC apartments see mice and the usual cockroaches, the most I ever saw on Park Ave were 2 tiny spiders. (Although, I did see a mouse in my Brooklyn sublet.) But in general, I'm pretty used to living life without critters.

Until recently.

Blog friends, we have mice in our house and I am not happy about it. The evidence is as follows: MK's chips were eaten through and crumbs were scattered along the pantry. We found a hole in one of the floorboards. And the number one tell-tale sign: mouse poop. Caitlin caught one last night and we were still on edge.

Tonight I was upstairs when I heard a shriek from downstairs and Cait came hysterically running to my room. She had been sitting on the couch watching tv when she felt something on her back. Oh yeah. It was a mouse. I then flipped out and here we both were screaming and jumping... you know how girls can be.

I then looked at the clock, it was late and we knew our guy friends were probably asleep. If it wasn't almost midnight, they would've been coming over to do the hunting while we peaced out. So I did the next best thing: I called my Dad. C: "Dad, are you up?" Dad: "I am now." C: "Can you [drive 2 hours] come and catch a mouse for us??" I was only (slightly) kidding. I just needed reassurance that we could do it. He said we could and that we should get a cat.

So long story short, I put on my rainboots and we ended up standing on chairs using a broom as a poking device to try and find the mice. Our living room and kitchen look like a total disaster. After not finding anything, I decided to sit for a while, catch up on emails and keep an eye on the newly chewed hole in the floorboard. Sure enough, after our squeals and stomping were quelled, and after it was seemingly safe for our mousey friend, he made his grand re-entrance. He was smaller than I expected and we got him. All I can say is our landlord will be getting a call in the morning. Lastly, if there are any qualified guys who live in Myers Park and are up for the task, let me know. I'm serious. We'll bake you cookies or something.

Fight Like The Gladiator

Back in the spring, right before I went home to NC, I went to a Meat Sauce Monday (a monthly ritual dinner w friends). I had my dear friend Rob sit down and tell me all about his bout with cancer & chemo a couple years ago and how he fought it like a gladiator. He will never know how much this helped and encouraged me as I took his experience and advice home to help my mom fight her battle.

A week ago I found out that Rob's cancer is back and I was quite upset to hear the news. He's going to start chemo soon and will do the treatment in NYC. I'm so glad our group of friends will be there to rally around him, bake him cookies and pray with him. There's also another way to support Rob and that's to go to his sister's website and order one of these awesome shirts. I'll be cheering you on in NC, Rob!

New Year's 2008 in NYC. Neil, me, Alexandria & Rob

Home Sweet Home

Decorating for me usually happens twice a year. This is not a definite CCC statistic, but more of an average. I'm not, nor ever will be a professional decorator like Katharoo, because while I do know what I like and don't like for myself or home, it usually stops there.

I got an itch towards the last few days of 2009 to finish a few decorating projects and get my room (and life) ready for a brand new year before the onset of work, busyness and everything else. I hung favorite NYC prints, put up a wreath with adorable vintage lights from Anthropologie above my bed, and dug out and framed an artsy print one of my floor girls made me when I was an RA. But one of my favorite projects was what I did with a window pane I have.

It was a couple years ago and I was talking to Al on a cold NYC morning. I was on 2nd Ave when I saw a teal window pane sitting on the curb. I then proceeded to carry it back to my apartment (anyone on the UES knows 2nd to Park is a hike!). I put pics on it but since moving to the South, it's been blank. I decided to use something I already had to decorate, so I glued on buttons. I like it for now, but who knows what I'll do when another decorating wave hits.

If you have any fun projects you're working on, let me know! I just love how cozy my room feels. I also love how cozy Charlotte feels. It was probably around the first part of December when I realized that I didn't miss the City as much. I swear it felt like the worst break-up ever when I left NYC as I had such withdrawals and sadness every time I thought of it. But sure enough God changed my heart and through new and old friends, events, activities, work and other things, I've made a new city home and we all know that home is where the heart is. My heart is now in Charlotte and I feel quite content.

2010

Why, hello there! It's nice to see you in 2010!