psssst, he vants to suck your bloooooood!

Chelsea and I went to the opening night of Dracula this past weekend. It was fantastic! I've loved each ballet we've attended, but this was something more. I'm not sure if it was the choreography (Mark Godden), the more serious nature of the ballet (as opposed to Cinderella) or having met a some of the dancers a few weeks ago. Regardless, I want to go back and take more friends---maybe even drag Josh along.

see, the vampires glowed just like in Twilight
just kidding. they didn't even wear fangs. (which was a little disappointing!)

One of the many reasons that I love Chelsea is that she's so dynamic. She can bum it with me and class it up for life in the city, giggle at a romantic comedy but loves the drama, can work a crowded room or spend the evening with a small group of friends. But last weekend she bested me........

yes. she brought vampire teeth to Dracula
here's a close-up....its real close

well, i did warn you that it was close.
guess i should have also mentioned unflattering too

Thank goodness for good friends, fall weather and vampire teeth.

from the bottom of his heart

Josh went to Colorado a few weeks ago to fly-fish with a friend. That friend, thankfully, was not me. I was hanging out in Norfolk, VA with my friend Allison. (FYI, exploring a new city and shopping beats fishing any day of the week.)



When Josh travels without me he usually brings home a little circe. You know, just a little gift to show me how he thought about me while we were apart. While Allison and I were in VA, I stopped and picked up some GUs and nutritionals for Josh to use on his long bike rides. I wanted to show him that not only was I thinking about him, but also wanted to encourage him in one of his favorite hobbies.

What did Josh bring back for me? Mexican Jumping Beans:

Because, you know, nothing says I-love-you-from-the-bottom-of-my-heart-and-am-thinking-of-you-often quite like freaky beans.

oh, the pain

This is my sister Lauren and her husband Jon. They are supercute, successful, talented and currently flying to Greece. ugggggggggh. I kind of hate them both right now.

Lauren and Jon in Cabo.
not pictured: me

Jon and Lauren in NYC.
again, not pictured: me

There seems to be a theme here......hmmmmm, Lauren and Jon going to super-sweet locations without their favorite tag-a-long. I mean, do they not know what they're missing?!?!? I'd like to argue that I'm adventurous, provide excellent conversation, always willing to dance, am great for witty banter, asking for discounts, getting the locals all riled up, am willing to pretend to be a guest at a nicer hotel that we're actually staying in and I'm always up for a dare.

Ok, so I don't speak any other languages (besides the international language of fashion, which seriously: what else is there) and may bring a little unwanted attention, but really guys---I'm the most fun travel accessory. promise :)

cheater cheat beef eater

Alberto Contador, winner of the 2010 Tour De France, has been formally and provisionally suspended by the UCI (professional cycling governing body). The amount of the drug found in his system was quoted as being "a very small concentration" of the banned substance Clenbuterol. So, yes, it was very little of an illegal substance.

Does he seriously think that's an adequate excuse? So, illegal substances only have consequences if you do them a lot? Like, a little marijuana is ok....just don't be a constant stoner? Seriously???

And then, to top it all off, Contador claims that the drugs were put in (unbeknown to him) some steak that he consumed on a rest day during the tour. Even though the beef was purchased in Spain (Contador's home county) by a close friend of the team's head chef. It wasn't like the food was donated from some scandalous source. I'm going to say that they knew exactly what they were doing/eating.

The Tour has not yet stripped Contador of his title or yellow jersey. But, let's just remember....Contador won the tour by 39 seconds. 39 seconds, the time that Contador gained on Andy Schleck during Schleck's unfortunate mechanical error on the final climb of stage 16 of Le Tour.

I still think Schleck could've won if he hadn't dropped his chain. All things seemed kind of equal between him and Contador. But maybe they were only equal because Contador was doping?

Please check out the article here. I'd love your thoughts!

Andy's the real winner.

Can't wait to watch the Tour next year.

Hopefully the Schleck Brothers will finish first and second.

back to my british roots

I'm loving this weather we've had for the last couple of days. A little chilly and rainy...its perfect! It gets me into the mood for fall, the holidays, boots and parties.

This weather also gets me back to my (pretend) British heritage. I mean, its rainy and 61 degrees in London and its rainy and 58 degrees here. Can't you see the striking similarities? I want to pull on my riding boots, throw on my Barbour jacket and ride around the hills. Except, I need some riding boots, a Barbour jacket and something to ride around the hills on (I'm not thinking my road bike will do the trick.)

So, folks, who wants to shell out a measly few hundred dollars (or pounds) for one of these beauties:

You can pay retail for them here, but I'd also gladly accept a jacket from Ebay. Happy British weather to you all!

badminton waxed jacket, union jack internation waxed jacket, international waxed jacket and june international waxed jacket

date night

Josh and I have two date nights during the week. Its so nice to unplug from the world for a little while and just spend time together. This semester our date nights are Mondays and Thursdays and I really look forward to them.

Some times we spend the evening at the house (cook dinner, watch a movie, whatever) and other times we do activities around town (bike ride, head to Charlotte for dinner, see a play, things that most of the time end up costing money.)

A few months ago I broke Josh's favorite coffee mug. It was a Waffle-House style mug (the old fashioned off-white mugs) that he painted on a double date we went on in college. I lost a lot of our dating memories in the infamous fire of '04, so we were both sad to see the mug in pieces.

So, we decided to go paint new mugs at Art Blooms on Monday.

Josh wasn't quite sure what to paint.
I think the problem is that he's a little too creative at times.

I, on the otherhand, am about 4% creative.
Which is why I used a blue paint with brown speckles in it.
It took approximately 6 minutes to paint 3 coats (including drying time)

Josh found inspiration on his cell phone.
Ahhh, the magic of the Blackberry continues to amaze (and confuse) me.

He painted the pattern of a Rainbow Trout on his mug.
How creative is that??

Stay tuned.....I'll post pictures of our projects next week (after they've been fired and admired by the staff.) I'm sure you can hardly stand waiting to see my blue pot, right?

a bushel and a peck

My friend Casey and I went apple-picking in Hendersonville, NC this past Saturday. We had a blast. We talked, giggled, snacked and picked apples until we literally couldn't carry any more back to the car.

We decided to go to Grandad's Apples...yes, it's a little (or a lot) touristy but it was hilarious and oh-so-much fun. We got out picture taken with the local dinosaur, pet some ornery animals and got an amazing apple cider slushie.

My mom used to (and still does) say, "I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck." I never knew what a bushel or a peck was until this past weekend. And in case you were wondering, a bushel is more apples than you could possibly ever consume.