The Beach House

I do love vacation and the beach so having them both at the same time is pretty sweet.

Grandmama, Charlotte, Leslie, Curry, Josh and I started driving down to Oak Island, North Carolina on Tuesday. We were having a pleasant drive but weren't exactly sure where we were, thank you Map Quest (not!). When we reached Wilson, NC Grandmama smelled burning rubber and realized she didn't have much control over the van so she pulled over. Josh, Curry and I were following in Josh's car so we pulled over behind her and got out. That's when Josh spotted the black smoke coming out of the van's front driver side wheel. So we called the fire department and about 10 minutes later there were two fire trucks there and a bunch of firemen with their water squirter to put out the not-so-flaming flames.

About half an hour later a tow truck came and picked up the van and we followed it the Dodge dealer in Wilson. They told us it was the caliper and that they would need to keep it for a few days. So we rented a newer version of Grandmama's van and headed for the beach house!

We got their just fine but a lot later than we intended. The rest of the week we spent on the beach sunbathing, swimming, reading, watching movies and various other vacation-y type things. Grandmama's sister and her husband, Aunt Winn and Uncle Eddy, were already there.

Josh stayed until Thursday morning and drove back to Richmond to get back to his house sitting job. While he was there we all watched "The Princess Bride" he bought just before coming. When he left Curry kept it and watched it three more times until Uncle Eddy told him he wasn't allowed to watch it any more. I think it's time to buy him his own copy and get the kid into some fencing lessons. His new goal is to be just like Wesley which won't be too hard, except for the fact, as Curry pointed out, that Wesley had blond hair.

We also took a trip to Surf Cinema and watched "Mamma Mia!" and it was awesome. It had all the right elements: comedy, romance, drama and lots and lots of singing and colors. Good times.

The day after that we took a trip to the Leaky Tiki where we had homemade ice cream and sang a little karaoke. The girls and I made Curry get up with us once and sing "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". Poor kid...

It was a great relaxing trip and I wish we could have stayed longer but it was time to get back to the real world. I definitely look forward to going again.

See the rest of the pictures here.

Juno

Grandmama and I saw this yesterday and it was great. A nice, fresh movie with just people and their experiences instead of flashy special effects or impossible scenarios.
It was still sad and didn't really have a happy ending. Maybe that's just me. I don't think its possible to have a completely happy ending in this situation.
Either way, a very good movie.

Let's see some Oscars!

I Have Now Officially Left My Kimi in San Francisco

And it was sad. But we had a great time watching movies, shopping and of course talking and being silly girls.

Wednesday I caught an earlier flight and came in at about 8am. Kimi picked me up and the fun began. We went to the movies with Kimi's friend and saw Enchanted. A very cute movie starring some unknown actress and McDreamy. Good times.

Then we had some tasty pizza and headed to the Stanford mall. If there is ever a day I can actually afford to go shopping in that mall than its because either a) become famous or b) married rich. I did manage to find a bracelet (going to be a gift) and a pretty necklace for myself at one of the lower end stores, Macy's... And Kimi and I bought matching chenille scarves at a store I had never heard of called Lucy. And, of course, we took a trip to Starbucks.

We had dinner with her family. That was some tasty-ness. Then more movie watching, Stardust this time. Also a good movie. And some sleep.

Kimi took her final th next morning so I slept in until about 10am which was nice since I had woken up at 4am the previous morning... Then there was some more shopping more in my range, the Thrift Store. More movie watching, Rent and Mean Girls. What a combination. Then even more shopping but this time at Borders and Barnes and Noble. Then more food with the family (minus a younger brother) and then a brisk walk (it was freezing) down a well decorated street. My favorite house had no decorations except for a giant blow-up Grinch. Go rebels.

My flight home went well and here I am. Since I came home there's been more shopping, some hanging out and general merriment. Today I didn't wake up until 11am.

That's what I call a vacation!