Asheville

We LOVED Asheville! It's such a pretty place!
We were so happy we took my sister's suggestion and stayed at the Sourwood Inn. It was exactly what we were looking for! Up on a mountain and just a few minutes from downtown, the Inn is a cross between a hotel and a bed and breakfast. It had the service of a bed and breakfast, but the privacy of a hotel.
It was perfect!

You really feel like you're in the mountains when you're able to sleep with
the balcony door wide open . . .

. . . and look out to this.

Saturday started out a little messy, but ended up wonderful.

The Bele Chere festival no doubt made the streets quite crowded, but it was fun to listen to all the music and if nothing else watch all the interesting people!

Although I didn't get to purchase any fun artwork (this time), I did find this copper star I'd been searching for! Grady was sweet enough to hang it right away!

Asheville Bound!

We're off to Asheville, NC today for a late Anniversary celebration! We've never been downtown before, so we're quite excited to see what it's all about! Much to our surprise, the "Bele Chere (music) festival" will also be going on this weekend! We had no idea when deciding on a date, but after reading about it, I'm really anxious to check it out . . . and hopeful we might find some fun artwork. We'll see!

Summer Project #2

It recently became apparent to me that it was due time for a little experimenting in the living room . . . so I decided to rearrange . . . from this . . . .

. . . to this.
Still undecided. There are goods and bads. We loose some open floor space, but it's much more cozy, I think.

During all of this, I also decided to do a complete overhaul on our coffee tables (that I despise). I have no attachments to these (in fact, the very opposite), so I really didn't care what happened to them. Honestly, my plan was once we moved, I would simple buy new ones. However, since I recently have had some time on my hands, I thought, why not try to do something with them.

So, it started with this . . .

. . . which led to this.

And, finally this.
It's hard to tell from the picture, but I painted the table dark brown, and finished it by . . . BEATING IT UP! I am very much into the "weathered" look, so once it was dry, I sanded the edges a bit.

I quickly moved on to the side tables.

For these, I chose yellow. Again, it's very hard to tell, but just to show you the difference, the table on the RIGHT is simply painted, whereas the table on the LEFT has been "weathered."

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, and am totally glad I did this!
. . . you know, in case any of you were thinking of trying something similar!

Farewell, Harry.

As people are lined up everywhere to get the final Harry Potter book, I can't help but feel a little sad. I don't think I'm quite ready to see Harry go. It's hard to believe I've spent the last nine years reading about little Harry's life . . .
as apparently these people have as well . . . .

And to tell you the truth, I've never been the "reader." My sister and mom would tease me about how long it took me to finish a book, when they would easily read an entire book in 1 or 2 days. Yeah, not me. I read . . . fall asleep . . . read . . . fall asleep . . . a month later, I may have finished 3 chapters.

Harry, though . . . he was different! Sad that it took a children's book to bring the best reading out of a 25 year old, but the Harry books have been the only books I can sit down with and actually read 100 pages at a time ( . . . okay, that's pushing it . . . 75). And, as I race to finish only the 6th book, I've completely given up on any hope that the ending will remain a secret. I fully expect to hear the entire heroic event on the morning news tomorrow, and if not there, flashed across the "Yahoo" homepage screen in bright red lettering. Ridiculous, but I've come to terms with it. I have not, however, come to terms with the fact that the Harry story is ending. Hell, you'd think she'd be able to squeeze at least another 2 or 3 books out. I guess, though, it's got to end somewhere . . .

Here's To South Carolina!

One thing I adore doing in the summer is watching "The Today Show." I miss Katie and am still sketched out by Meredith Vieira, but am totally excited by all their new experimentations with news reporters. One of which I was delighted to see was Stacey London from "What Not to Wear."

Anyways, "The Today Show" has certainly highlighted South Carolina this summer. According to them, we hold TWO of the best travel spots in America and Charleston was just recently chosen the number 9th most beautiful city in all of the US! (Of course, we knew that already.)

BUT, to really top it off . . .
with the new craze to "go green," many people are choosing to stop drinking bottled water and start drinking tap water. "The Today Show" brought in 2 wine tasting experts and did a funny report on which cities had the best tasting tap water. Wouldn't you know it, COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA came in at number 2!
Go 'head SC!

Welcome Home!

Salsa is home!

Although, this isn't over yet . . .

Honestly, the most crucial part (in my opinion) will be within the next TWO MONTHS! She can't run, jump, or play- AT ALL . . . for TWO- WHOLE- MONTHS! (I can't tell you how pissed she's going to be.)

Apparently these disgusting worms have latched on to her heart, and the injections she was given to treat them take 7-10 days to kill the worms. When they die, they will slowly move into her bloodstream (and out of her body), but any sort of cardiovascular activity during this process can result in death. How scary is that?!?! Good thing it's summer. She's usually worn out from the heat anyway.

It's no doubt going be hard not being as playful with her, but we're surely happy to have her home.

I really missed that crazy girl.

Salsa Update

I called the Vet this morning to check on Salsa. She says she's doing fine. She had her first treatment yesterday and is due for her last today. Although she didn't say, I would imagine she's painfully laying in that horrific cage with her head on her paws and ears moving toward every barking dog around.

I'm not quite sure how I feel about this Vet. Undoubtedly, I hate the butch nurse that "assists" her, but I feel like the Vet is taking this whole horrible situation a little too lightly. Maybe that's good, maybe that's bad. I don't know. But, I think she may have neglected the fact that this is our family member. I don't know what's happening in there. I don't know how serious this is. And yesterday, it became very evident to me how detrimental it would be for something to happen to her. I need you to be more sympathetic to me. This is not a gerbil. This is our 70 lb. ebony child whose mission in life is solely devoted to simply pleasing us, and you need to understand that.

I don't know. We'll see. I pick her up tomorrow.

How STUPID Can I Be?

Salsa had her 2nd yearly appointment this morning, and I'm sure your can imagine how wonderful that was.

Poor thing. I pull her leash out, and immediately her tail wags. (If only she knew . . . )

Uhh. Anxious isn't even the word for it. If the giant metal scale she had to stand on wasn't enough, the long, blue fecal "gathering stick" was.

Pitiful . . . she rarely lets us sit and pet her at home. Salsa would much rather be chasing after the ball, but as she apparently saw her life flash before her eyes on the big metal scale, she sat panting uncontrollably with her sweet little head resting on my chest. I certainly took advantage of those short few seconds.

Next were all the shots and blood test. She asks me, "Has she been on Heartworm preventative?"
(This is when you will all sigh and decide that I am a horrible, horrible mother.)
"No," I say.

But look, this is the story. I tried. A while ago, I tried. I decided I would try out "Pet Meds" online. So I researched it and did it. I gave our information- credit card and all. Pending that we had been to the vet and had a yearly appointment (which we had), I should have gotten the meds in the mail that next week. Well, for some reason, one of the Vets told "Pet Meds" we had not gotten a yearly, and it never went through. My intentions were to figure this out . . . but never did. Okay, now I confess I AM a horrible mother. It had been in the back of my mind for a while, and I just kept putting it off and putting it off. STUPID.

Well, we finally make it through (what I thought was the worst) and go to the counter to pay. Still anxious and very curious to see and hear the other dogs, Salsa comes with me to the front. I was pleasantly surprised how well she was handling the two dogs that apparently lived there and were roaming around on their own. Of course, it didn't take long before another large dog walked in the door and ruined her good behavior. Expected. The Vet, seeing this, escorts us to another waiting room while she gathers up the rest of her test results. Yep, she's officially "that dog," and that's just how it is.

Finally, after all this, and Salsa's little heart beating a thousand miles an hour, she brings us back up to finish up.

The Vet says to me, "Well, she has tested positive for heartworms."

In shock (although, I don't know why- it is clearly all my fault), MY heart begins to beat a thousand miles an hour. I'm trying to pay attention as she tells me all the steps that will need to be taken to get rid of these horrid creatures inside my innocent and sweet little dog's body, but am too distracted by my thoughts of how STUPID and IGNORANT I have been to allow this to happen. My eyes start to fill with tears, as she tells me about her two night stay and the pain medicine. I left her there for her treatments to be done, sick to my stomach and furious at myself.

How STUPID can I be? I guess I deserve to give my entire paycheck to them.

I called Grady and broke the news to him . . . today . . . on his birthday. Geez.



Yeah . . . pretty stupid, indeed.

Random Recipe # 3: The Side

We were excited to have our friends Royce and Jesse over for supper last night! They are so fun! And although they are moving to Clemson (boo!) at the end of the month, they promised they would be making frequent visits back to Cola!

One side recipe we had last night I felt I must share is the "Pesto Pasta." I don't know about you, but I'm always looking for a quick and easy pasta side to go with . . . well, to go with anything! I was really pleased with this one!

You'll need this:

• 16 oz. pasta (of your choice)
  
• 3 tbsp. ready-made pesto (usually located around the hummus)
• 2 tbsp fresh chives (or chopped onion)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
  
• salt & pepper

You'll do this:

1. Cook pasta. Drain.
   
2. Heat olive oil in pan. Add chives/onion and salt and pepper. Cook 2 minutes.
3. Add pesto. Cook 2 more minutes.
   
4. Add drained pasta to pesto mix.
5. Stir in parmesan cheese and serve warm.

Comments:
So quick and easy- and, again healthy! ( . . . well, more healthy than alfredo sauce!) I added more parmesan cheese than the recipe called for, only because we're quite the cheese lovers! I also added freshly shredded parmesan cheese on top, you know for a little presentation. :) It's fab!

Congratulations, Alanna & Craig!

We were excited to head up to Tennessee
for Alanna and Craig's wedding this weekend!

We were thrilled that Mr. Tim and Mrs. Ann flew
up for the weekend as well!

Grady addresses that Alanna finally "Wendt" down the aisle! (he! he!)

Rae, Alanna, Jess, and me

Alanna and Craig, we're so happy for you! We'll most definitely have to start doing some fun anniversary trips together in the future!

And . . . since Grady's parents flew up, it was necessary to rent a car. Mrs. Ann was most pleased with their selection, and I couldn't leave it unmentioned!

HAPPY 4th!

Mike, Kim, Devin, Lindsay, and John came to celebrate the 4th with us yesterday
(we missed you, Dave and Kristy)!!
And, there's nothing like a game of Bochie Ball to commemorate the 4th!

Salsa was especially pleased to be part of the action!

Fireworks!

Devin was most excited about blowing up his "Bin Laden" firework!

HAPPY 4th!

Alanna's Gettin' Married!

(Warning: Not a child-friendly post!)

Alanna was quite the trooper in Charlotte this weekend . . .
with her painted shirt and the (passed down) rubber penis!
We headed down to Buckhead Saloon . . .

. . . where the band was no stranger to the rubber penis!

Hmmm . . . who shall receive it next?