The week before we left for London, we found out that pup had a mast cell tumor on her right shoulder. It was cancerous and needed to be removed, so we scheduled the surgery for the day after we got...
Blog posts from Daily life
2012 Books: February
Room I read this on my most recent flight to London. Not only was it a quick read but I found myself thinking about the characters event after I was finished. This novel is written from the...
2012 Books: January
Inspired by two active book clubs and Holly Burns' 2011 book list, I am planning to read at least two books a month this year and I'll be posting monthly reviews and links to the books as a progress...
end of year video – 2011
I am still sorting through hundreds of photos from our recent trip to Thailand and Hong Kong - in the meantime, here is a short video highlighting all our travels (both domestic and international)...
Hanging Rock State Park
Leandra's brother Ryan and his girlfriend Emily came to visit us for Thanksgiving, and after all the turkey we were in need of some outdoor time. Hanging Rock State Park is only about 2 hours away,...
The screened deck, pt.VI
Though we've been enjoying the new screened deck since late August it was not quite complete-- we'd been waiting for the wood to cure a bit before staining. This week was finally time: We used a...
Ava’s christening
We made a quick trip up to Chicago his weekend for our niece's christening. I figured it would be good to show up since I am the godmother and all. :) The day started with a relaxing picnic at a...
10 years
On our honeymoon in Hawaii we propped our camera on a rock at a nearby resort and took the following photo: 2001 - Big Island, HI With that photo in mind I made sure to bring along that same dress...
The screened deck, pt.V
Progress in the past month has been extremely slow, but the past two days has finally seen an uptick in activity, with most of the screens installed, stairs, drainage, and the electric complete....
introducing Ava Izabel
Born: 7/7/2011 at 7:15pm Stats: 7lbs, 6oz; 19 inches long snoozing in grandpa's arms looking at her mama hooray for being a new auntie!
The screened deck, pt.III
Despite some torrential downpours the sides and roof are now installed completing the major structural work. The light in the living room has dimmed a bit due to the roof, but the deck area itself...
The screened deck, pt.II
There was a good bit of progress on our deck while we were in NY over the 4th of July weekend- we left a muddy area with some cement, and returned to a new deck! This morning the carpenters started...
csa-inspired projects
We have been participating in a local farm share for a few years now, but this summer I wanted to be a little more deliberate about what I chose so I could try out some new recipes. Along with these...
Merry Christmas!
A certain furry member of our family really enjoys opening her own gifts. We took a quick break mid-morning for mimosas and quiche and then jumped right back into opening presents! Well, most of us...
new HVAC and furnace
Back in October we finally replaced our AC and gas heater. While they were still working, many of the parts were 20+ years old and long overdue for replacement. We figured it was better to be...
Foothill Brewery Dinner @ Cypress on the Hill
Because you can't have enough beer, we put off editing our Munich photos another day to attend a beer dinner in Chapel Hill last night. One look at the menu and I knew I would like everything...
anniversary lunch
The weather for the past week has been beautiful here, so Eric and I decided to celebrate our 13 year dating anniversary with a leisurely lunch at Herons on Tuesday. Not only was the food delicious...
removing the freecause search from Firefox
A few months ago I installed the AA tool bar to earn some extra miles from American. Uninstalling the toolbar was easy (Tools > Add-ons > Extensions > Uninstall) but all my address bar searches...
Our Itinerary
2024 Trips
San Diego, CA (Jan)
Sarasota, FL (Feb)
Madrid, Spain (Mar)
Valencia, Spain (Mar+Apr)
Palma, Mallorca (Apr)
Croatia (May)
Faroe Islands (Aug)
London, UK (Sept)
Bari, Italy (Sept)
Rome, Italy (Oct)
Frankfurt, Germany (Oct)
2023 Trips
San Diego (Jan)
Orlando (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Apr)
Northern Italy (Apr)
NC Mountains (May)
Long Island (Jul)
Wisconsin (Aug)
Chicago (Aug)
Oak Island, NC (Sept)
Brooklyn, NY (Sept)
Bordeaux + Rugby World Cup (Sep)
Castilla y León (Sep)
Seychelles (Nov)
Willamette Valley (Dec)
2022 Trips
Florida (Feb)
NC Mountains (Apr)
Washington DC (Apr)
Valencia, Spain (May)
Hilton Head, SC (May)
Pacific NW (Jun)
Long Island (Jul)
Florida (Sept)
Chicago (Sept)
Poland (Sept)
NC Mountains (Nov)
Euro Xmas Markets (Dec)