Bring the Funk

This just MIGHT be my new favorite commercial. . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cNDSPutas8

The Chefs - Great Googley Moogely

I don't know if you remember the Chefs commercial. It's still one of my very favorite of all times. . . This year, the Chiefs are playing more like chefs-and not so much like football players. They don't look very good, and it's going to be a very long season. We'll be very lucky to pull out 4-5 wins. We have a bunch of rookies, and it sure doesn't help when your #1 and #2 quarterbacks get injuries.

Regardless, some friends of ours, Andrew and I attended Sunday's game against the Falcons. It was a lot of fun. Would've been better if the Chiefs had played better, but we've discussed this. . .

I was surprised by the number of Chiefs fans in attendance. It was good to see so many KC peeps! It was only my second NFL game, and we hope to get back in the near future.

Chiefs score a touchdown!!

Can't We All Just Get Along??

At school, we've been talking about democracy in Social Studies. One of our recent lessons included talking about the voting process. One of the activities they did with this was to come up with a "voter button" that had slogans encouraging citizens to go vote. Here's my favorite... Stop Fighting! Go Vote! What great wisdom from a 3rd grader-I want to say, "If only it were that simple..." but you know what, it is! Stop bickering about lipstick on a pig. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the 3rd graders in my class went on to do great things in politics! :o)

Boston baby!

One of the nice things about Andrew being in graduate school is the frequent trips to confrences. Andrew usually gets some good information from them, and it's a nice excuse for a mini-vacation. This trip found us in Boston for Labor Day weekend.

I met up with Andrew after school on Friday - he met me at the airport, and after a drive through the Big Dig, it was time for bed. (Got in at midnight.) I'll have to admit I was a bit afraid of crashing while in the tunnel. Not that we had a bad taxi driver...just something about being so enclosed with merging traffic. Ack!

Saturday Andrew presented his paper, while I slept in. We met up for lunch with a few other people from Emory at Legal Seafood Co. I had a wonderful mixed green salad and clam chowder. Perfect lunch! Then Andrew and I headed down Newbury street which had some great shopping! We didn't really take advantage, but that's ok. We saw some beautiful buildings-several churches. We then headed to the Public Gardens / Boston Common.

Here I am by the pond...where the ducks were. Made me wish I had a large loaf of bread...

While in Boston Common, Andrew pointed out while there was how very different Civil War memorials in Boston are from ones in Atlanta. Interesting. . . From there we found the start of the Freedom Trail. I'm a huge U.S. history buff, so this was so fun for me! The history in the city of Boston is amazing! The best part about it, it was FREE!! The only thing we paid for on the 2 1/2 mile trail was $3.00 to enter the Paul Revere House - totally worth it. We didn't get that far on Saturday - only about 4-5 stops before finding a Borders to redeem my gift cards. We then headed back to the hotel quite hungry and tired.

Sunday we picked up where we left off, and headed down the rest of the trail. It was a perfect day for being outside...sunny and warm with a light breeze. Fabulous! Here are a few pictures from our trail walk.

The Old State House - just outside is where the Boston Massacre took place. Then, 7 years later, was the place where the Declaration of Independence was first read to the people of Boston. Faneuil Hall: It has cute shops on the lower level. This is the building where they came up with the idea of "no taxation without representation."

Along the trail, right before we made it to the Paul Revere house, we found a resturant that had delicious lobster ravioli - Mother Anna's. It had a spectacular view of the city, and I got some sun on the back of my arms while sitting on the patio. Perfect! :o)

Paul Revere's House & the monument with the Old North Church in the background.

Bunker Hill Monument. We thought about climbing to the top, but there's no way we would've had enough energy to make the trek back to the train station!

The U.S.S. Constitution with Boston city skyline in the background. After about a 3-4 mile walk around the city, we were tired and ready to head back. It was a very fun day - relaxing in a way because we were doing what we wanted.

On Monday, we had a 1:00 flight, so we got up early and headed to Harvard, & Fenway before heading out. The trains were on holiday (Sunday) schedule, so it wasn't the easiest getting around. Harvard was nice to see, but we didn't spend much time there because of the train schedule. Plus, all the freshman were moving in. There were a LOT of parents running around campus with a camera. Many pictures being taken in front of the library, on the lawn, etc. We didn't get the opportunity to see Harvard Square either. That's on the agenda for next time, because I've heard it's a cute little area. We did see a very beautiful "Harry Potter-ish" building. We wanted to go inside, but weren't allowed. Oh well, I guess that means we get to see what we want in our imagination.

Then to Fenway to see another baseball stadium. I'm NOT a Red Sox fan what-so-ever, but as you all know, I am a baseball fan. It would've been nice to see the inside of the stadium, but time did not allow on this trip. Another thing to do in the future. Andrew and I agree that we really could've spent a full week there and done something different every day. While around Fenway we did get a better understanding of why they have so much money. Their team store was gynormous!!! It was insane. Waaaaaay too much Red Sox gear - I could only stand it for about 5 minutes.

To the hotel to get bags, and then to the airport to head home. We had a great weekend, and can't wait to come back to do more in this very fun city!

I lost a few pounds. . . of HAIR!

I've been thinking a lot lately about getting my haircut, but hadn't had the guts to go through with it. Now, I know this sounds weird, but I've only gone to one lady my whole life to get my hair cut. She's in Kansas City - a little far, but she manages to get me in when I'm in town. She always does a fabulous job, and I just didn't want to trust anyone else. (Or pay the price of a good Atlanta haircut)

But, with a trip to Kansas City not coming until the holidays, and picture day next week, I went ahead found a place. And, I love my "new hair"!! :o) She did a great job, so I'll go to her again in the future. Yay!

Happy birthday, Andrew!

Happy birthday!! We celebrated Andrew's birthday on August 6 (yes, I know I'm a bit behind). I'm not going to say how old he is, but you can see on the cake for yourself.

We headed to Edo, a Japanese Hibachi around the corner. We went for my birthday in May and had such a great time we went back. The cook had a great personality. He even had a shrimp sing happy birthday to him. It was cute. The people we sat with were also very friendly. It was a great birthday dining experience. I tried to get a picture of the onion flame, but was a little late.

We came home and Andrew talked to many people who were calling to wish him a happy birthday. Afterwards we had cake. I made him a strawberry cake with cream cheese icing - very yum!! I was quite proud. Then he opened his present. I got him SNL season 3 DVD. He was pretty excited!

It was a low-key celebration, which is exactly what he wanted. :o)

(Yes, I know there's not the right # of candles. . .)

Santa Fe

Ok, so I'll admit...one of my favorite movies growing up was Newsies. And every time I think of Santa Fe I think of my favorite actor singing about this city. Enjoy! Santa Fe ~ Newsies Now that we have that taken care of.. :o) Santa Fe, NM - it was our last day of vacation. Boo. Andrew and I headed out from Taos house a little after 10:00. We hadn't taken the opportunity to head to the square so we stopped there on our way out of town. We stopped and got a few post cards. We also found a nice spoon rest with chilies on it. It's cute and matches our red kitchen. Then we headed over to a quaint little book shop. I, of course, headed straight to the children's books. I can't resist. I got the book about needing a rock that I mentioned earlier in the week. I also got a few for my classroom. We study Indian legends, so I got one that had the Legend of the Indian Paintbrush. I was excited!! And, now ready to head to Santa Fe. We opted not to take the high road. We had seen most of it on our way up to Taos through Las Vegas. The road ran along the river for a while and had some beautiful views too. Andrew took some while I drove (thanks babe!) We ate sandwiches in the car, so when we arrived in Santa Fe we headed straight to the square. We found a parking spot close to the capital, so stopped to wander around. Not too impressed with the building, but good to see another state capital...We found that the square was being set up so a festival so it wasn't as pretty to look at. I remember it having a very open area, and it wasn't that way. We found another store that had water - very thirsty! The awesome thing is that we found a coffee cup to match the spoon rest from earlier. Same pattern and larger than your standard mug, so I was pretty excited. We continued to mosey around the stores. It was nice to just browse. Many things out of the price range, but it's fun to look. :o) One funny (annoying at the time) story was the lady in front of us at the ATM who thought there was something wrong with the machine when she couldn't pull cash out with her credit card. Duh!!! Not the brightest person we'd come across. Andrew and I found a tasty chocolate shop. We shared 3 chocolates including a tasty peanut butter, caramel cup. Then we found a bead shop. Jennifer and I had talked about wanting to find beads. The store I found wanted $2 for a tiny bead, so I opted for the $6 bag of mixed beads...one for me, one for Jen. Nothing done with them yet, but maybe soon. (Heck, I'm just now finishing the blog...) Andrew and I met up with Jennifer, Jeff and kids, Matt & Brandy and Mom at the Loretta Chapel. That's when we found out dad wasn't feeling well. :o( We entered the chapel and looked at the staircase. Andrew and I had been into 2 other chapels in Santa Fe, and to be honest, liked those a little better. We had both seen the staircase before. Pretty miraculous though... Headed to the hotel and rested up before dinner at Maria's at 6:30. We got there and poor dad and Jeff weren't feeling well. It wasn't a fun way for them to end the trip. No dinner, and an early exit from the restaurant to go rest. Many of us weren't particularly impressed with the food, and after our waitress about lost mom's credit card the last batch of us headed back. I will say they had very tasty sopapillas and I got a very cute picture of JC. After getting back, most of us called it an early night with so many not feeling well or just tuckered out. We had one last meal together in the morning - hotel continental breakfast. It was time to part ways :o( I didn't want to leave...Mom & Dad and Andrew and I were the last to leave. It was a great trip. Thanks mom & dad!!! You guys are the best...we'll have to do it again soon! More pretty views on the way home...I love the mountains! They are so beautiful and when you drive, it's fun to see how the view changes every 5 minutes. :o) We stopped in Tucumcarri to visit the dinosaur museum. Andrew's request, but I had fun too. It was good to have a break from driving. Another stop in Amarillo for a late lunch with Andrew's Aunt Cathy at Joe Taco - yummy! Then we stopped for the night in Wichita Falls, TX. Horribly confusing highway overpasses made it difficult to get going the next morning, but we did. Back to Waco about 3:00 on Sunday. We traded out cars...I don't think I mentioned that we used Brenda's new car - Toyota Prius to help aid with gas mileage and $. We figured we saved enough to make it worth it. Thanks Brenda! We also got to meet their new cat, Lily. Back in the car Monday mid-morning. Sooo tired of the car, but we have to make it home. Here I am about to go crazy. We stopped in Shreveport to get Cold Stone smoothies and walk around. They have a very nice shopping center by the river. Then stopped again in Monroe at Olive Garden. Did some more shopping. I got a few back to school outfits, so I was pleased. Finally back to Atlanta on Tuesday. Whew! We were pretty exhausted. I'm very lucky that Andrew takes care of me and unloads the car after a trip. I don't how that worked out, but I'm not going to complain!! All in all, it was a wonderful trip. Very good to get together as a family for an extended period of time. I have a feeling we'll do it again in another few years.