Beach Bums

We're back from a week in Destin, and as I promised, I have a pretty fantastic sunburn that is starting to turn into a fabulous tan. :)

We had a wonderful time - two days spent just with Derek then three days with my family, too. The weather could not have been more perfect, and it was so nice to be at the beach for longer than just a couple of days. We even went parasailing, which I've never done and it was INCREDIBLE!

Family shrimp boil at the cabana on the last night...

Granny getting ready for dinner out. She's so cute with her little color-coordinated outfit and purse that was a "gift" from our friend Claire...

The only downside to the whole week was that Derek chipped his front tooth the first night we were there on a crab claw, but luckily it didn't ruin the vacation. We ended the week with a stop in Mobile for Katie and Neil's family baby shower. Only a month or so to go before we get to meet sweet Baby Frances!

It was so nice to get away for a while and just enjoy beautiful Destin and spend time with family. We needed this vacation and enjoyed every minute of it. I'm definitely not looking forward to following up on a million emails tomorrow when I go back to work, but at least I'll have a great tan while I do it! :)

Next time you see me...

I'll have a fabulous tan. Or a not-so-fabulous sunburn. I'm hoping for the first...

Meet the Jetsons

We had a work weekend at the Grey house this past weekend with the help of my parents. We had a couple of projects on the to-do list, the big one being some built-in shelves beside our fireplace. It was the ugliest possible weekend to work around the house, but at least we had the carport as our “construction site.” After a lot of thinking, measuring, sawing, sanding, nailing, gluing, cussing and painting, the shelves are DONE and look fantastic!

They’re very modern-looking, and I think they’re a mix between something that Frank Lloyd Wright would have built and something that belongs in George and Judy Jetson’s house.

Let me tell you, floating shelves are NOT easy to build. We only had one structural failure on Saturday when the top few shelves fell, but it was quickly resolved and now those shelves are not going anywhere. Even Izzy the Fat Cat jumped up on the bottom shelf (while we all held our breath) and the shelves didn’t fall. I think I can finally relax and enjoy them now.

We custom-built them so that our cords could be (for the most part) hidden and so we would have an enclosed box to store some of our Wii accessories. We still need some funky hardware for the door, but other than that, we couldn’t be more thrilled. Now all we need is more books to fill up those purty new book shelves. :)

Road Trip?

So, I've been in a nostalgic mood here lately, and I've been thinking about a few places that I wish I had gone as a kid. Granted, most of these places weren't even around when I was a kid, but if they had been, I'm sure the Bice family have been burning up the roads to make this only child happy. Isn't that right, mom?

First, Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, Georgia, birth place of the Cabbage Patch Kids... I had LOTS of Cabbage Patch Kid dolls when I was a little girl, and I was always told I looked just like them with my chubby cheeks. The ones I remember were Heather (a redheaded, yarn-hair doll with pigtails) Walter (a little yarn-haired boy with dimples) and Emily (one of the cornsilk-haired dolls who wore glasses. She was my twin.) My grandmother's neighbor made clothes for my Cabbage Patch dolls. I took them everywhere I went. I still have them at my parents' house.

Second, the American Girl Store... I think I caught the very beginning of this craze at the tail end of my childhood. These dolls were SO cool. They each came from a specific time period and everything about them (clothes, furniture, story, etc.) was so incredibly detailed. I had the only four that were out at the time - Molly (World War II-era), Samantha (Victorian-era), Felicity (Colonial-era), and Kirsten (prairie-era). Samantha and Kirsten have since been discontinued. I had the girls' beds, pajamas, dress-up clothes and school accessories, as well as the matching pajamas for me. Spoiled much? They're all carefully preserved with their furniture and accessories at my parents' house, too.

And third, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter... This part of Universal Studios in Orlando doesn't actually open until this summer, but I can't wait to go!!! I'm a Harry Potter fan and not ashamed to admit it, and this would be worth an Orlando trip on its own to me. Of course, while I'm there, I'd want to do Disney and MGM, too. I love theme parks though - the good ones, I mean, not Six Flags. Anybody up for a road trip?

Weekend Wrap-Up

I outran the tornadoes on Saturday and made my way to the Coast for the SMA ball. We've made this an almost annual tradition with some of my college friends, and this year my friend Christy was the ball chairman.

The decorations were beautiful, and we had so much fun. I did not, however, have too much fun on Sunday after finishing off an entire bottle of sweet tea vodka on Saturday night. I am hanging up my "fun hat" for a while - at least until our beach vacay in a few weeks.

Here are some pictures from the night...

On a more serious note, as for the tornado recovery, the Grey lake house at Eagle Lake is fine, thank God. I think there was a tree or two that fell, but the house was not damaged, so that's a total blessing. We saw firsthand how devastating tornadoes can be a couple of years ago in our neighborhood, and I will never again take Mother Nature for granted. Scary stuff... still thinking and praying for everyone who lost loved ones and/or properties and personal items over the weekend.

Oh, the horrors…

Our DVR decided not to work last night. Tuesday nights are big TV nights in my book with American Idol, 90210, Glee and Parenthood. Next week the final season of The Hills premieres on Tuesday, too. Wowza...

It was amazing (not to mention incredibly sad) how upset I got about my shows not recording. Before we discovered DVR, I really and truly would adjust my social/after-work schedule accordingly as to when my favorite shows were on. PATHETIC... But now, I just record all that I want to watch and play catch-up on nights that I’m home with nothing to do or on the weekends. I look forward to it. That, too, may be sad, but everybody needs some downtime.

Sometimes I like to watch Lifetime movies in bed on Sunday afternoons, sometimes I like to read a book, and sometimes I like to watch hour after hour of DVR’d shows. It’s like having a must-see-tv marathon with no commercials. And, in Derek’s words, I am not apologetic.

I’m terribly upset that I missed the Madonna episode of Glee, but I can always watch it online, even if that’s not ideal. And Parenthood comes on again on Saturday night, so I can record that episode then and watch it later. And 90210 was not new last night, so no worries there…

In summary, I am not ashamed of my television habits. At least I don’t watch Dancing with the Stars.

Good times with good friends

It was another beautiful spring weekend, and we enjoyed every minute of it! Friday night we met Wes and Elise and Katherine and Paul at the Crawdad Hole for a bit, then headed back to Belhaven for drinks on Wes and Elise’s deck followed by a late dinner at Keifer’s.

Saturday I went to a baby shower for my old friend Ashley Plummer (Herndon now). She was one of my sorority sisters, and I’m so happy we reconnected and have stayed in touch. I’m ready to meet Baby Keegan in a month or two!

Late Saturday afternoon we hit the road to Vicksburg for Riverfest. The weather was beautiful with a nice breeze, and the music lineup was great this year. Mayhem String Band, Reid Stone and the Guilt Ridden Troubadour, Rocket 88 and Blue Mountain.

We had a great time catching up with people we haven’t seen in a while and listening to good music on a perfect spring night. We even enjoyed a little late night at Jennifer Lynne and Stephen’s house. It was just like old times, but the next day feels a little worse than it did years ago. We’re definitely not spring chickens anymore.

Ugh… we had a lazy day on Sunday and were pretty worthless except for a trip to the grocery store and a good dinner. It was a great weekend, even with a worthless Sunday. Those are needed every now and then, especially when you have so much fun on the Saturday before. :)