Presents! Surprises!

Today was a day full of surprises! Nathan and I went to the post office this morning to pick up some packages that needed a signature. Lo and behold, we had packages from my parents AND his parents.

My parents sent me a box of Earl Gray Lavender tea and a bar of homemade peach soap for "just because" surprise. His parents sent him some clothes and some souvenirs for us from France. Now, we visited them in France a few months ago and considered that visit our souvenir. We definitely did not expect other presents!

Still, they sent me a beautiful shawl, a bottle of perfume from a perfumery we toured where they lived in Grasse, a Provence hand towel, a lavender sachet and a wall hanging (not pictured). They sent Nathan some delicious French dark chocolate with orange bits that he fell in love with while we were over there.

THEN, Nathan ran to the store to pick up a lime so I can make some vegan lime bars for when we go visit Yankee BFF and her family tomorrow in Maine. When he came back, he brought with him two dozen sustainably grown yellow roses--one of my favorites!

Here you can see all my presents except the tapestry:
Oh, and to read about our adventures in France (as well as Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey and Italy), pay a visit to Nathan and Rachel Ann Take on the World!

Not a regular August...

According to my brother, the fact that college is really, truly over hits you around October when you're jonesing for a fall break and you realize that people in the "real world" don't take those.

I think the fact that college is really, truly over is hitting me now because it's August and I'm not moving in early for Summit Orientation. I have no quad to meet Nathan on after class. I'm not buying textbooks. I'm not color-coding my planner with the information from all my syllabi.

At least I'm doing fabulous new things now like making dinner and spending all my time with Nathan and not having to track him (and his dead cellphone) down. We go to the grocery store and saute vegetables together. We no longer just pick out movies for Saturday nights, but rather pick out movies any night of the week we want. We no longer have to schedule our time around meetings and homework, but instead we know that 6 pm-7 am is just for us.

It's different, but it's nice.

Mmm...food...

Two quick thoughts about food (and a bonus thought about Alex and Wendy):

1. I've been eating reduced-fat Triscuits. I was intrigued by them and so bought them--didn't Triscuits originally exist to be the low-fat cracker? Isn't this like buying extra-low-calorie Fresca? Anyway, they taste as delicious as ever. I love that Triscuits remind me of Bible School snacks.

2. I made this pizza soup in the Crockpot yesterday. Yummy. This is definitely added into our meal rotation. We used veggie pepperoni and Italian sausage (obviously) which cut out almost all of the fat. Again, super yummy with a salad and flatbread. It seemed like something children would really like too. Oh, and we have days and days of leftovers.

Bonus thought: I rode the elevator with "Alex" the other day and got a peek at his nametag. He is officially freaked out by me now. Seriously. The man looks really uncomfortable when he sees me. Anyway, I learned his real name and that his security clearance expires at the end of September. Oh no!

Note to Self

If you purchase really cute Wellies on sale, then please, please, please check the weather forecast before leaving the house.


...all this rain and I have no Wellies, no umbrella, no raincoat. Boo.

Not gonna lie...

A few years back, a wonderful tradition fell into my lap: Ladies of the Lake.

Ladies of the Lake is a beautiful time of relaxation, shopping, ice cream, bad movies and fun at the Princess family compound in the NC mountains. While only a two-year tradition (and it is staying a two-year tradition because two of us are married, one's in grad school and one lives in the North now), it spawned many a catch-phrase, theme song, mix cd and comical rendition of praise song dance moves. I'm just saying.

Anyway, one such phrase that was uttered about a hundred thousand times during the inaugural Ladies of the Lake is "not gonna lie." Well, I'm not gonna lie, Boston today feels just like that warmish, coolish October weekend when Ladies of the Lake first came into being.

Not gonna lie, it feels amazing. Not gonna lie, I'm scared for February if this is August. Not gonna lie, I'm excited about wearing jeans and a long-sleeved tee to the grocery store tonight.

Oh, and not gonna lie--the Cape was beautiful. It was hot, but not sticky. Sunny, but not unbearable. Breezy, but not windy.

Here are one of my favorite pictures from this weekend:
I'll post more if the internet ever speeds back up.

Oh, and for the love of fall (and I do love fall--I mean, you can't beat pumpkin soy milk!), drop by and see Alex at Running Just as Fast as I Can and sign up for the fall swap. I did!

Oh yeah, and a huge congratulations to my Mama and Daddy who have been married for 35 years today! Wow!

In other news...

1. Am I the only crafty person in the world that cannot have more than one project going at once? Seriously--it makes me anxious to think about starting a project when I have one unfinished? Is this odd? I do have a tendency to have anxiety about things others do not.

2. Nathan and I went out the other night and I watched girls studying together at Panera and I almost cried that I don't get to study anymore. Nathan suggested I undertake a series of self-improvements and study up on things, but that won't do because I'd really miss the grades.

3. I started planning our Christmas cards today. I'll add them to the list of "crafty projects that need to be completed as soon as possible after the 100 pound knitting is completed."

4. That project gets heavier every day.

Juxtaposition

I'm the only admin person here in the office today.

This a few implications as the main bullet point of my job description is ANSWER THE PHONE. What, specifically, you might ask does this mean when I'm the only person here?
Answer: take the portable phone with you when you go to the restroom.

The problem? I can't stop drinking mugs of Constant Comment tea.