Downtown

Brittany, Charleigh, Kim, and I headed downtown last night.

Thursday I walked around there checking out X-Events! locations.

The Raleigh Times caught my eye so we ended up eating there for dinner. It had a great atmosphere.
Char & I decided we needed to go back when we had more time to just hang out.

Then, it was on to the main event, CIRQUE'S JUNGLE FANTASY. It was cute.

I've always wondered how Cirque got started...

Hark the Sound!

John & his friends bought tickets to the UNC vs. Rutgers game last night and my parents were thoughtful enough to give up their season tickets to Kate & I.

Alisha, the only current UNC student in the family, ended up with great seats in the lower level and brought her friend, Amanda.

It was great to be back in the Dean Dome!

Even better when you win!

John's Home!

Hooray! THE BOY is finally back in North Carolina...

Ten days of fun, left!

You can never have too many...

Postage Stamps
Boxes of Brown Sugar
Spools of Colorful Ribbon
Concert & Play Tickets
Magazine Subscriptions
Books
Gift cards to Starbucks
Bottles of wine
Unique girly shoes

Family Treasures

Alisha began pulling out family photo albums when we were last in Florida. We found such fabulous photographs that she and I ended up at Walgreens the next morning scanning pictures.

Here is my favorite:

Isn't wonderful that my grandfather's baptism was recorded? I just feel like it is one of those really special moments to have of his life. He is the guy on the far left.

{My dad's parents called each other "Honey" all the time. They NEVER used each other's names even when talking to other people. The town just had to know who my grandparents were talking about when one of them said, "Honey told me to give you a call." I always thought it was cute but my mom grew up hearing her mother talk about the crazy couple who called each other "honey".

Imagine my mom's surprise when she went home to meet my dad's parents after their first date and realized who she was with!(Yep, home to meet the parents on DAY ONE)}

Christmas Party Pearl

Some of my friends and I had a Christmas Party Dinner last night. Of course, that was fun.

I was supposed to be making dessert but ran out of time so I popped downstairs to Victoria's Sweets. FABULOUS! I recomend their Chocolate Pearl dessert.

It was a great hit with the guys. The girls didn't touch it. However, I understand the concept. I swore off sugar for a few months and just bought a smaller pair of jeans. However, I'm a believer in eating what you want at the important parties (this one and then my parents' house for Christmas day.)

Now, all I have left is to go Christmas shopping (I've only bought one present), mail Christmas Cards (maybe), and WRAP (my favorite part of Christmas).

From Jennifer's Blog

I went to Florida for my grandmother's 91st birthday. We returned today!

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The South That's a Southern accent you've got there. You may love it, you may hate it, you may swear you don't have it, but whatever the case, we can hear it.
The Midland
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The West
The Northeast
North Central
Boston
What'>http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have">What American accent do you have? Quiz'>http://www.gotoquiz.com/">Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Hippo Hero

It has come to my attention that some of my readers have never heard I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.

Proud!

One of my dear former roommates and fellow English majors officially has her own ART GALLERY in Philadelphia!

"Jaskey, a North Carolina native who came to Philadelphia for grad school (she studied theology and art at Westminster Seminary in Glenside), got Blatstein’s approval, entered into a lease arrangement for the space and just debuted her first exhibition."

Read the rest of the article in the Philadelphia Weekly

Every now and then, there is someone in my life that I just REALLY believe in. Jenny has always been one of those people. Now, it is great to actually see something tangible coming through for her!

It gives me renewed hope for the others...

Browsing & Coffe

Some days, you just need a good cup of coffee & a makeover.

The fact that Nordstrom's Christmas display now includes a couch overlooking the shoe & cosmetics departments just made the day that much better. There is something nice about Kate, Kayla & I just being able to sit in the middle of all that color and hustle & bustle without actually joining in the craziness.

A Day In My Life

I'm trying to be better about posting consistently on my blog. Some of the most famous plays are "Slice of Life" which is based on only one day in a character's life.

Kristin's Life: The Dollhouse Style














Woke up, checked email & the Evite for our Christmas party on Friday. (I'll fast forward through the menial stuff. Just assume I brushed my teeth.)

Called on a customer at Southpoint, visited another whose chef was busy so I killed time by spending 15 minutes trying on every pair of eyeglasses that interested me in Specs (discovered the I look best in glasses made in Germany, Italy, & Scandinavian countries as opposed to American, English or French designs...makes sense because I'm mostly German) & went to Barnes & Noble and ended up buying a novel.

Had lunch (still waiting for the chef and made an hour headway into my novel until I decided to call it quits and reschedule)

Work phone calls...Lots of them.

Attended Cheryl's funeral with one of my dearest college friends who grew up in her church and I Cheryl's life inspired me as a life well-lived. (It made me want to call up all the other women who have expressed an interest in spending time with me. I realized we have so many amazing people we can still learn from.)

Came home and read my book for two hours.

Was interupted by a phone call letting me know our company pilot shot himself this afternoon. (We are a close knit company so it was a heavy blow.)

Canceled my trip to DC this week so I could be home for the funeral.


Met Kate at the gym & worked out for an hour.

Listened to another friend read me the profiles of guys met on-line.




Had a quick dinner by myself at Jason's Deli.

Met Patricia at Barnes & Noble for our Monday night cup of coffee (She and Jason ended up getting held up interviewing applicants for their new film school so I read an entire copy of Deep Magazine.)

Talked to my dad about booking a flight to Florida this weekend for my grandmother's 91st birthday.

Talked to my mom about the importance of fasting and praying in tounges.

Came home, checked email & the Evite again.

Finished reading the rest of my book.

Posted on this blog.

My mom, dad, and I went to go see the movie, Blood Diamond. It definitely made me want to find out more about Africa as well as the diamond industry.

Who knows...maybe I'll become one of those Southern Belle's who won't wear a "conflict diamond". You would really have to commit to that if you get engaged. For the rest of your life, everytime somone looked at your engagement ring you would be making a political statement.

Christmas Cheer

Amy, one of my Charleston friends, was in town last weekend. Going to see The Carolina Ballet perform the Nutcracker is one of my favorite holiday traditions. This year, there was a two day show at UNC's newly renovated Memorial Hall before they moved to Raleigh Memorial.

The dancers have improved GREATLY since I last saw them and it was more fun watching them in a smaller venue.

LOVE IT!
I took her to my old stomping grounds on Franklin Street, 411 West, for dinner.

Extreme Makeover Home Edition: Raleigh

My co-worker, Chris, has been telling me about the construction of this house in downtown Raleigh for the TV Show, Extreme Makeover Home Edition. He went down on Friday, met Melanie's boyfriend, and Ty even used Chris's phone to call his wife at work. Sadly, she COULDN'T COME TO THE PHONE!

I was driving from my corporate offices in Eastern NC & called Ceeece to see if he had gotten lunch yet. That phone call motivated me to go down and see "the big reveal" (when the family comes home) being filmed.

C! told me that it was supposed to happen between 10:30am and 1:00pm. It was 1:10pm so I thought I'd probably missed it but at least I could drive by and run down so I could at least tell Chris I'd dropped by at some point. When I turned down Poplar St. where the house was located, I could see the police baracades and officers directing onlookers down the road to the film sight.

There was NO PARKING so I kept driving further into the neighborhood. As soon as I got out of my car, I heard screaming so I thought things may be happening right then.

Instead of walking all the way back to the police baracade, I realized that I could see the crowds of people through the trees and houses. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, so I just did the logical thing and ran down this hill and back up another to get to the street. SHOOT! POLICE BARICADE ALL THE WAY DOWN THE ROAD. HOW AM I GOING TO GET DOWN THERE?

I could see into the backyards of the remodeled house and it's neighbors so I cut sideways and came out beside some trailers, a food catering tent, and a path that led me straight to the sidewalk where there were some police officers, firemen, a lady with a badge that said "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" and a guy in a suit. The crowd was across the street behind metal polic baricades.

That was obviously where I was SUPPOSED to go but Ty had just arrived and the crowd was going NUTS. (I HATE CROWDS. Looking at them is one thing but I don't like being shoved, jostled, pushed, pulled or breathed on by people I have never met. We better have one a National Championship or at least beat Duke for me to be having a good time plastered to thousands of people. That is why I'm not a fan of cruises. One consistent crowd of people, hearded into a big floating island. NO THANK YOU!)

I decided," I'm dressed up for work so there is a chance that I could look like I belong here and I have a meeting in Durham at 3:00pm. I'll just see how long I can stand here. If someone tells me to go to the crowd side of the street, I'll just walk back to my car. I don't even watch the show so there is no way I'm going to join the mob."

A policeman walked over to me but I immediately flipped open my cellphone and started talking. Then, I called Melanie & Ceeece. By the time I was through with my phone calls, the policeman had lost interest in me since Ty was running down the street high fiving the crowd. I called Melanie again, when Ty was in front of me. She said, "Can you take a picture?" Unfortunately, I lost my camera last month. HOWEVER, look what I found on-line. Melanie, this picture is for you!! There is Ty with the people... Now, look closely on the other side of the street, it looks like the port-a-johns are balanced on his head and there I am in my brown dress and tan trench coat right behind his head. LOOK CLOSER: My arm is raised to my ear, I'm on my cellphone AND IT IS MELANIE!!!! The catering tent is right behind me. Talk about primo viewing. I was still two blocks from the actual house. I saw a guy walk by with a VIP pass and thought, "Eeeek! DON'T MAKE EYE CONTACT. Maybe he won't notice you aren't supposed to be here..."

Then, the crowd started going crazy again. The stretch limo bringing the family began coming down the street but suddenly stopped. A policeman then came over to the suit guy, the lady with the badge and I and said, "Excuse me, folks. You need to come with me." DARN! So much for running back to the car. I blindly followed authority but instead of herding us like cattle across the street, he took us another half block down closer towards the house where he tucked us away where we had an great view of the house but were no longer close to the road. "This is AWESOME!!"

The only problem were some big, burly guys in Extreme Home Makeover shirts partially blocking my view. After the policeman moved us, the limo came down the street and parked behind the bus. When the family got out, one of the big, burly guys turned to me and said, "Why don't you come up here with us so you can see." Wow, these people are just so friendly and hospitable! The other guys second his idea so I walk up and stand in the middle of them all. Again, thank you photographers! You can barely see me standing by the limo but I move to the red arrow! The main guy turns to me and says, "If you've seen one unveil you've seen them all." Another says, "But they are all so moving!" And a whole conversation starts on that topic. Ahhhhh, they are WITH the show. I am up closer than any other pedestrian. This is GREAT! I LOVE PEOPLE! See how wonderful they can be? I do feel a little guilty. Look at all of those hardcore fans over there...

The crew continues to be fabulous. They are taking bets that Ty will point in the wrong direction when he says, "Move that Bus!" and I can hear all the show directions coming out of their walk-i-talkies.

One of the guys turns to me and says, "So, where are you from?" Uh oh. "I'm from here. I live in Durham," I reply.



His look changes to one of even more curiosity and then he says, "How is it that you ended up with VIP STATUS?" WHAT?!?!?!?! VIP STATUS!! OH MY WORD! I HAD NO IDEA...I JUST THOUGHT THESE PEOPLE WERE REALLY FRIENDLY! WHAT DO I SAY???? "Oh, I just ran down that hill and happened upon the only spot that wasn't blocked off" is probably not a good option!!!

I ran all the way back to my car.

Just kidding. I said the first thing that popped into my head.

"I work for (insert my customer's name). Actually, I sell to them. They are really my customer."

I thought it was kind of odd that he didn't question me further but when I talked to Chris he told me that our customer's truck had been sitting out there all day on Tuesday. Our product was the main dish for all the volunteers! WHO KNEW? Definitely, not I. We really do feed the world!

Pearl Harbor Day

When I think of Pearl Harbor I remember the plumeria petals that one of the other visitors had tossed over the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial mixing in with the bright colors of the oil that still leaks out of the ship.

I think the thing that suprised me the most were all the Japanese tourists who were there. The official tour is actually done in English & Japanese and is incredibly sad as they relive the awful events. I remember asking John, "Don't you think they'd be ashamed to come?" I felt like this was OUR sorrow...I just hadn't stopped to think how many different people groups "our" actually encompassed.

One more thing to stretch my view of the world. Little did I know that eight months later I would go to work for a company owned by the Japanese government. Post-September 11th, I think so differently because how can you hold an entire country responsible for the bad decisions some of its members made? Those days are over, right?

Then I had to laugh at myself and remember that there has just been a shift and now the world has a new bad guy to hate. Pastor Greg @ Seacoast used to always say, "There is someone annoying in every small group. If you are listening to this thinking, 'Wow, I must be really lucky because everyone in our group is really great,' then the annoying person is YOU." How could I forget what I hear on the BBC every morning? We're reviled. :)

National Geographic has a great interactive timeline video attack map.

The Gym

I've gotten very into the group classes at my gym. Step, Kickboxing & Pilates are my mainstays. It keeps me on a more consistent workout schedule but I'm also meeting all of these new people. I had NO IDEA how many friends you could make at a gym! In the past, I'd always worked out at places that were all about weights and cardio and no one came over to talk to me unless they were asking me out.

GOOD STORY:

My pilates instructor is one of these super limber little old ladies who is hippy-ed out and Whole Foods is probably too corporate for her to actually shop there. At first, I was skeptical at how good of a work out I'd get but she made me a believer after the first day. Last week, she was talking very animatedly about something, all of the sudden, she dives onto the floor, does a lot of jerking around, and stands back up laughing with her hand covering her mouth. HER TEETH POPPED OUT!