Boys Will Be Boys

To balance out the estrogen overflow from the previous weekend, we invited some of JJ's college teammates and his dad out for the game this weekend.

Entertaining boys is waaaaaay different than entertaining girls. With my girlfriends in town, I took a lot of time trying to figure out cute restaurants to try and trendy bars to enjoy. I bought a few new conversation starter games (the Girls Night Out Box of Questions, obviously), sparkling wine, several different kinds of snacks, etc. You know, to set the right mood for lots of laughs and good conversations.

With the boys, I opened up a bag of tortilla chips and a package of guacamole, turned the TV on to ESPN, and sat back.......and did my best to ignore the additional scratching and burping.

Maybe I am over-simplifying things a little, but not really. Guys don't really need much as long as there is a football game on. (I lost count of how many college/NFL games we ended up watching)

Between games, we did go out to eat at Big Daddy's, 131 Main, Phat Burrito, and Mac's Speedshop. I had forgotten how good the BBQ is at Mac's, I will definitely be taking my dad there when my family comes out to visit in October.

It was fun to see these guys again and I really enjoyed their company at the game. Good company makes sitting through a loss in the wind and rain much more bearable.

Day of Fun

Date night/day this week was an interesting experience. Unlike the last two weeks, I hadn't planned everything out so we were just winging it.

The day started out with me taking two Valiums...no it was wasn't because I was stressed or worried about spending an entire day with JJ, it was because I was panicking about my scheduled MRI. Not so much a fan of loud enclosed spaces for prolonged periods of time, call me crazy! (Update: Everything came back clear, but I thought I re-injured my shoulder when Barney pulled me down a flight of stairs chasing after another dog). So after coming out of the Valium haze, JJ took me to brunch at Terrace Cafe (my new favorite brunch place). I love brunch, it has to be one of the best things ever invented.

Next, JJ and I decided to visit the mall and pull the trigger on a purchases we had been debating over for about a month. We succumbed to peer pressure (the good kind) and bought an iPad. It is pretty awesome. For the longest time, I thought it was silly to have if you had a laptop, but I think its fun and I'm glad we got it. Now JJ and I won't be fighting over the Mac laptop either. Also, in an effort to entice fall to come faster, I bought a pair of Uggs. I usually buy the knock-of Target brand, so I will be interested to see if I can even tell a difference. I justified it because they weren't the standard ones, they have a split down the side fastened by a big button. Super cute.

We spent the rest of the day playing with our new toy, enjoying Thai take-out and watching all the season premiers on TV. Not a bad date day for not having anything planned!

Hurricane Theta

The effects of Hurricane Theta were felt starting Thursday afternoon, but it didn't make full landfall until Friday when the slowpoke of the group finally arrived. I know you must be enjoying the Weather Channel metaphor, but I can't take credit. That was all Robin.

Four of my favorite sorority sisters came to visit to catch up on girl talk and watch a football game, a nice balance if you ask me. Mackenzie, Robin, Emily, Leigh and I have started a semi-annual reunion schedule since we all graduated from TCU. So far we have been able to plan reunions around bachelorette parties, weddings, and TCU bowl games. This reunion was somewhat random, but it had been about 9 months since we were all together in Phoenix for the Fiesta Bowl.

After the whole crowd arrived on Friday night, we went out to dinner at Good Food on Montford, a swanky neighborhood tapas-inspired restaurant. JJ was living the life, sitting at a table surrounded by 5 beautiful women. After dinner, JJ was kind enough to drop us off downtown so we could re-live our bar hopping days of college. (This was a bit of a stretch for some of us, who are usually in bed by 11, but worth it for the fun factor). We started at Ri Ra, an Irish pub, where we were the youngest by 20 years. We took advantage of the many beers on tap, and then headed out to find the cool kids. JJ and I aren't really up on the Charlotte bar scene (or any bar scene for that matter) so I told the girls we were just going to have to wing it. We followed the crowds until we came across Connolly's on 5th, another Irish pub. Based on the outdoor patio, the music they were playing, and the fact that every person going in or out looked like they walked straight out of a j. crew catalog we new we had found the right place. No creepers here (well I guess there were a few, but that is just a given at any bar)! We ended the night at BlackFinn, where the creepers were out in full force. Don't worry, I enlisted the help of 2 big guys, who looked totally out of place and kept rolling their eyes at the weird guys that kept circling my friends. We found out they were from Iowa. Obviously they were good people if they come from God's Country.

Most of Saturday was spent recovering from Friday and watching college football, but we did make it to Terrace Cafe for brunch and a few of us took Barney for a walk on the nature trail behind our house. That night we popped a bottle of champagne and played a few rounds of the Game of Things (best game ever, if you don't own it go out and get it before your next group gathering). Emily took this opportunity to ask us all to be her bridesmaids, which was quite exciting!! This will be my first time in that role and I will be happy to return the favor after she did such a great job for my wedding. Emily also shared with us the bridesmaid dresses she had selected for us...Robin came out modeling a hideous tight red quinceanera looking dress with reflective sequins all over. It took us about 2.5 seconds before we all realized this was a joke. Nice try Emily, we all know you have better taste then that! To celebrate (as if we weren't "celebrating" all weekend) we went to dinner at The Wine Shop at Foxcroft and the ended the night with fro-yo at Yoforia and a drink at Selwyn Avenue Pub.

Sunday was game day! We had breakfast at Eddie's Place (where the waiters always recognize JJ, haha) and then headed to the stadium. It was terribly hot and our seats were on the sunny side. After about 2 minutes I gave up and took the grls over to the shade side and sweet talked the usher into letting us sit there until the real ticket holders showed up. Luckily they never did, so the game was much more bearable...minus the loss. After the game we went to Red Rocks for dinner and then came home and played Apples to Apples.

Everyone else left on Monday morning, so Leigh and I had the rest of the day to enjoy SouthPark Mall (she was going through Nordstrom's withdrawals living in Omaha) and getting pedicures. The perfect way to end a girly weekend.

It makes me so happy to have these girls in my life, and it is always so much fun to catch up on their (totally exciting and successful) lives. Can't wait for our next trip! Is it too early to start planning our Vegas trip for Emily's Bachelorette??? No? I didn't think so either :)

** Also, next time ladies we need to do a better job of taking pictures!

Mary Poppins

This week we took date night in the opposite direction of the last one. Last week we enjoyed hiking in the great outdoors, this week we enjoyed an NYC-style dinner and a show in uptown Charlotte.

The Broadway show, Mary Poppins, has been in town for a few weeks and I kept hearing great things about it so I talked JJ into going with me. I know musicals aren't his first (or second, or third, or...) choice for entertainment, but I guess he knows how much I love them and he decided to humor me for the night. (This is also a benefit of being the planner, getting to decide on the activity.)

Knowing that we would be downtown for the show, we decided to finally use the gift card to Fleming's we had sitting around. The difficulty is the gift card was for $50 and sadly that isn't even enough for one person to have a whole meal. Luckily, I found out about their happy hour specials (6 different appetizers for $6 each) and burger (around $12 each) specials at the bar. We had an appetizer, two burgers, dessert, and two drinks for right around $50. Probably going to do that for date night again soon.

Loved dinner. Loved the show. Date night #2 = a huge success :)

Lake Norman

In an attempt to get out of our regular "dinner at the same old restaurants and/or a movie" routine JJ and I are getting creative. Once a week we are going to have a fun date to look forward to and we are going to take turns planing the excursions. Although, let's be honest, I will probably end up planning most of them because I tend to like to control things. :)

Last week, we (read: I) did some research on hiking around Charlotte and discovered Lake Norman State Park just up I-77. I found a trail that went right along the lack shore, and as a bonus, it was dog friendly! We packed up the car and started out on our big adventure. Sadly, even with all the research I did, I failed to take note of exactly how far up on I-77 it was. About an hour later we finally reached the park and found the trail head.

Like I said, the trail was right along the lake shore, so we thought this would be the perfect way to reintroduce Barney to the water. He refused to swim in our pool in Phoenix and panicked every time we tried to teach him. I really thought he would do much better if he was able to walk in instead of having to be carried/figure out the pool steps. Well, that didn't work. He refused to go anywhere near the water and even managed to slip out of the leash and try to run away.

The hike was a little over an hour and Barney was exhausted so we hopped back in the car and hit up the Subway in downtown Troutman, NC for lunch. A true metropolitan area if I've ever seen one.

Pre-Season

Our pre-season schedule was full of visitors! This really came as no surprise to us because as soon as the games start people just seem to appear. It is a good excuse to come out and see us I guess :)

My sister who works as a traveling consultant for her sorority was in town for our two home games and Labor Day weekend (which also happened to be her birthday weekend). She was working in Chapel Hill, so it was just a 2 hour drive to spend her weekends with us here in Charlotte. As much as I would love to give you my own account of her visits, it would be far easier and less time consuming for me to point you in the direction of her blog. So if you want to read about our adventures in Charlotte and Lexington check it out.

The other big development during the pre-season was starting classes to become a certified financial planner! Because of our NFL lifestyle and the lack of certainty for where we will be living in the near future, JJ and I decided the best option for me would be to take online classes through the College for Financial Planning. I have 5 classes to finish before I am eligible for the national exam. Hopefully, I can get this all the classes finished up in about a year and see where it takes me. I am hoping to find an internship or part time job while I'm taking classes, but even if it doesn't turn into a job right away, the information will be incredibly useful in our own lives and planning.

It is weird getting back into school mode and I have spent several afternoons at Starbucks because I have to get away from all the distractions at the house to really concentrate. So far I am really enjoying it, and speaking of class, I should probably get some studying done before our date night tonight...

Training Camp

My life is divided up into seasons, just like the weather. As opposed to fall/winter/summer/spring, my life can be categorized as pre-season/in-season/off-season.

As soon as we finished all of our summer vacations (part of the "off-season), we hit the ground running right into training camp and pre-season. I'm not a huge fan of training camp. JJ moves into the dorms for 3 weeks and Barney and I are left to entertain ourselves in Charlotte. My weeks were filled with yoga, the YMCA, way too much reality tv, girls nights out, and a few mini road trips.

My first rip was to see my cousin and her family who were vacationing right outside of Asheville. I drove out to meet them for brunch at the Morning Glory Cafe in Black Mountain. (the huevos rancheros were awesome!) I got to meet her daughter Samantha for the first time and catch up on what had been going on in our lives since the last time we hung out in Orlando.


My next trip was to Winston-Salem to see Allison and meet her new puppy Annie. Barney and Annie immediately became the best of friends. The had so much fun playing except for the part where Annie would bite Barney and then run and hide under the couch where he couldn't get her. He acted annoyed, but I think he really liked it. We also went to Mellow Mushroom for dinner and then out to a wine bar to celebrate one of their last nights of freedom before school started up again for all the Wake Law kids.

I also made two trips down to Spartanburg to visit JJ at camp. They had one night off so we got to go to dinner and a movie. The other trip was for the Family Night BBQ and rookie karaoke show. Quite entertaining. My favorite was the rendition of Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way" complete with dance moves and harmonizing.

The three weeks did go by pretty quickly but I'm still glad its over.