Can't Get Enough of Your Love Babe

We just got back from a mini vacation to Canada - more specifically Whistler and Vancouver. The Husband was there for work so I took advantage! Though I'm about ready to hang this winter coat up for the season, it was nice to actually see snow without having to commute in it. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, it's the National Day of Luuuve. Or rather, another excuse for women to coax their men into buying them flowers or a nice dinner. We typically don't do too much for Valentine's Day but usually stay at home, cook and exchange funny cards. If I'm lucky, I'll get an orchid that I'll kill in less than a week. Therefore, I doubt I'll get one this year, which is a good thing!

On our trip home yesterday I bought the new issue of Better Homes & Garden and saw some cute ideas that I plan on creating for tomorrow - cheap and easy, but with some cute thought behind it.







What are y'all planning for Valentine's? Do you like the day or just think it's silly?

The Dirty Thirty

My oh my, are we getting old. And by we, I mean The Husband, who just turned the dirty thirty. We started off the celebration earlier last week at dinner with The Husband's Uncle Jim & Aunt Liz. We always love hanging out with them and so glad they could come into the city.
The shenanigans and tomfoolery continued on through the weekend. I decided it would be fun to get our friends together for a weekend away in upstate NY. It always takes a lot of planning when trying to get our friends together (we are busy!) so I'm thrilled that it worked out for most of us.
We rented a great house near Windham Mountain and even had some snow Friday night that made for pretty good skiing on Saturday (check out the fashionable ski suit below).

Some of the girls and I stayed back to relax and go antiquing! Yes, we did find some awesome garden stools that I'll be using as a side table (more on that later). Bailey dog tagged along and clocked some good country time in as well.
I made copies of old yearbook photos of the birthday boy and put them up around the house and turn some into masks. He was quite the looker, eh? I think my favorite is the gelled hair.



Thanks to our great friends for coming to celebrate! We loved seeing y'all and are finally fully recovered. Well, almost...








Happy 30th Husband! Love you!

Christmas Recap

Happy New Year! We had a great time down in NC visiting family over Christmas. Of course the time went by too quickly and now we're back to the grind.

Our first stop was Raleigh. Let me just say that the cousin pups are in love. They spent nearly every moment together, running up and down the stairs and barking (their favorite thing). It was especially hard to break them apart when we left.
Since then, Bailey has been doing a lot of this...
We also celebrated the holidays with my parent's friends (friends of the friendless) which is always a hoot and a half.


On Christmas Eve it was off to grandmothers house for a quick lunch and our typical family portrait on the front stoop (with a couple new members for this one). That's four generations!

Christmas Day we packed up and headed out for Davidson to see The Husband's family. Our two little nephews are so cute and love Christmas time. Here they are showing us their "inner peace." You know, being a kid can be stressful.
We've started a funny Christmas tradition that began last year when we brought them whoopee cushions. They laugh and laugh and make sure that everyone has a turn to with them:) Here's a video that shows their enthusiasm.

It's always so nice to go home and recharge with the ones you love. Thanks to everyone for such a special and fun Christmas!

Up next...New Year's Eve...

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Yes, it's a couple days after Christmas, but just wanted to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to y'all. We have had a wonderful time down in North Carolina and hope you have had a great holiday wherever you are.

Back with more posts and updates later this week!

Macy's Pre-Parade Balloons

Happy Monday, y'all! Hope that everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. We had a quiet, but fun time here in the city. For the third year in a row, we walked down to 79th street on Wednesday to see Macy's pre-parade balloons. It's by far one of my favorite things to do in NYC. Crowded, yes. But, so worth it. Everyone is always excited to see the ten-story high balloons and it's a great (and free!) way to start the holiday season. Can you spot Bloomberg?




Thursday morning, Bailey dog got me up extra early and while we were on our walk, we were greeted by all the band members who were lining up for the Thanksgiving parade. We also saw Santa's sleigh at the end of our block. But, the big man was not to be found
Thursday was spent cooking for most of the day. Though sadly this year the rolls did not work out. I tried twice to no avail. I'm determine to make them again before Christmas. We also Facetimed with both families down in NC. It was like we were there, sitting at the table. Lots to be thankful for this year!

Christmas trees have also popped up around the city. Though, I vow I will never buy one before December 1, especially when it's 70 degrees outside. I'm not particularly fond of cold weather, except at Christmas time. What about any of y'all - have you started decorating for Christmas yet?

Brotherly Love

Let me just say that I cannot believe that it's already the second week in November. I feel like I was just talking about the beach and now we are gearing up for Thanksgiving.

Anyway, last weekend was filled with family visits. My mum-in-law and The Husband's grandmother came up from VA. Though I forgot to snap photos, it was so nice to show them our new place and catch up with aunts and cousins too. The girls went a fantastic play that I highly recommend - Love, Loss and What I Wore. It's been playing for awhile now but I think it might be ending soon so you must go see it! It's a perfect Saturday afternoon thing to do with your friends, moms and sisters.

But, jump back to Friday night when I got the most pleasant surprise - my brother, Graham. For the past month, G had been talking with The Husband to coordinate the visit. After our regular Friday night dinner at Deans (that reminds me, I need to blog about Dean's), we came home to relax and have a quiet night. Before getting into the elevator to go up, The Husband said, "Meredith, do you know this guy?" I actually just ignored him thinking it was a dumb joke (he tends to do this) but then stepped around to see my younger brother. YAY! I couldn't quite understand what was going on and just said, "I don't get it!" ha.
My brother and I are very close and he is one of the best people I know. To have him visit was such a treat. He also surprised a friend who ran the marathon on Sunday. That brother, he's a good guy.

By the way, if you haven't ever watched the NYC Marathon, you must put it on your list of things to do. It's one of my favorite days in the city. Everyone is so positive, cheering the runners on and well, very un-New Yorker like:)

Great weekend for sure!

Home Sweet Home

I know I know, late again with the posts...

This past weekend, Southern in the City headed home to NC. It's so nice to go home, slow down, relax and recharge. I decided to take a couple days off work and am so glad I did. Sooze and I shopped for the apartment, finding cute curtains that I can't wait to show y'all when they arrive in a few weeks. We lunched with brother, visited dad's office, saw the new pipes at church, sang along with the sing-off and checked things off our list one by one. If only I had a week to spend down there. But, I'm sure a week would go by just as fast as a couple days did.

We also went clothes shopping which brought a most hilarious and awkward moment from my time at home. While at a clothing boutique (which will remain nameless) I tried on a cute party dress that caught my eye. After getting the dress over my head and hips, I quickly learn that it was too tight in the shoulders (strange place for a dress to be tight). After five minutes of trying to get the dress off me, I realized it was not going to happen. Crap. I quickly called out for Sooze and she came to the rescue. After 5 more minutes of trying to get the dress over my head we were both sweating with worry. Sh*t! Still wouldn't come off. Panic stricken we kept pulling and pulling, in the back of our minds thinking we would have to cut me out of the damn dress. Finally, after a couple more pulls, I was out, but the dress was ripped. We weren't sure if it was already ripped or if I had made it tear (it was likely me), but I told the clerks about it and their response, "That's the third time it's happened. We should take it off the rack." Um yeah. You should. My shoulders still hurt. But, I digress...

Because my college reunion and homecoming were the same weekend, we decided to make dessert for the football tailgate. I noticed this cute recipe on Pinterest and decided to test it out. You see, Acorns are our "thing" at Elon (Elon means oak in Hebrew). I've blogged about my love for acorns here before. Fortunately they looked and tasted great. Unfortunately, I left them in my car during the tailgate. But, they were still delicious the next day!

All you need is doughnut holes, nutella, chocolate sprinkles and pretzels - so easy!


More pictures and stories from homecoming to come...