Ready for Spring to Come to Charlotte!

We have had some weird weather this winter! Charlotte has been cold, we've had ice and snow and just about everything in between. I decided to "Spring" up my blog! If I can't have Spring then I will create it! Blogger has been giving me some hard times with sizes of things and I don't know why, but I think I have the kinks worked out.

I guess we should be thankful for some cooler (sometimes down right colder) weather because during this summer I remember complaining about how hot is was! I am ready though for the flowering trees to grace Charlotte, the birds to begin chirping their Spring songs, baby birds, going outside without a coat or sweater on, sitting outside on the patio or porch, etc., etc. Yesterday while I was at lunch, I noticed the Bradford Pear trees around the restaurant all in bud!! So I hope that Spring will be visiting us soon! Everyone hang in there!

Back from Fayetteville!

Hi Everyone! I got back from Fayetteville this afternoon. I had a wonderful weekend with Angie! She is so sweet!! Friday night we went to this wonderful Italian restaurant in downtown Fayetteville. It was truly awesome!! I had Penne ala Vodka Sauce with Shrimp, which was divine! Angie had lobster ravioli (she was so nice she left me sample it and it was soooooo good!!!). We went to a lovely tea room in Pinehurst, NC on Saturday and then drove over to Southern Pines and walked along the streets and stopped at shops along the way. I bought a wonderful smelling bar of soap called Coastal Verbena and a pottery butter dish. We had a great time!! That night we thought we would go to the movie King's Speech. We got to the theater in plenty of time but there was a mix up in the time of the movie. Online it said it was 7 when in fact it was 6:30! We decided we didn't want to miss the first half hour of the movie so we went to a local restaurant and had burgers. I left right after lunch today and made it home by 2:30. It was a really easy ride home.

I had a wonderful time and want to thank Angie so much for her hospitality!!

Tomorrow I'm headed to Fayetteville!

Angie is the one on the right in the back row.

Tomorrow I am only working half a day because I'm going to visit my friend, Angie in Fayetteville! We are having a girls weekend, which is much needed! I met Angie through a Very Vintage Summer Swap that Heidi from Foxglove, Fabric and Folly had last year. When Heidi paired us up we both thought Heidi made a mistake and put our own information under the others name!! Almost everything was the same! Then Angie came up from Fayetteville and we went up to Penny's house. Penny is from The Comforts of Home blog. We really hit it off! We have so much in common! I am so excited about getting away. I'm sure Angie and I will have a great time!!

John's Scarf I knitted and some misc. yarn

I finally remembered to take some pictures of John's scarf! I knitted this scarf out of Baby Alpaca and Merino wool. It is so soft. The yarn brand name is EcoDuo. This alpaca and wool has not been dyed, these colors are the original colors from the alpaca and sheep! I love it, it is so soft and the colors are perfect!! The scarf took a little while because the pattern is knit one purl one, knit one, purl one all the way across. You keep repeating that pattern until you get the desired length. He loves it and wears it almost every day!




You can see all the different colors in this scarf really well in this picture.





The Cottage yarn is the shop I go to every Tuesday night for knitting group. The shop had a sale and here is some of the yarn I bought that day:

This yarn is golden and just plain lovely! It is silky, sparkly and just gorgeous. I plan on making a shrug or short sweater for myself out of this!






The picture of the shell top is the one I will be making out of this turquoise 100% silk! The picture doesn't do the color justice, but believe me it will be great for the spring and summer. Don't know when I'll find the time to make it but I plan on starting it sometime soon!


I bought this gorgeous Mohair too! I can make something out of it alone or add some other lovely yarn with it. I just couldn't pass up such a great price!

As you can see I have now added alot more things to my to do list! I am not going to stress myself out about it though. If it gets done wonderful, if not there is always next year!!

Now We Have Ice Here in Charlotte!

Ok so the snow is really pretty but ice is another story! No matter what vehicle you have ice is something you cannot navigate in! I am still home waiting for someone to tell us that everything is melting on the road and that it is safe to come into work. I got all ready and was getting ready to leave when I thought I better call one of the owners. Sure enough he said hang tight and wait until mid-morning and see. I am doing just that! I have a ton of things that need to be done at work but none of it is as important as my life! I am sitting here chatting with my friends and sipping tea, what could be better!!

Snow Hits Charlotte Again!

Today Charlotte woke up to snow coming down. We ended up having between 5-6 inches of snow with sleet/freezing rain on top of that. I didn't go into work today either. I decided that since I had my accident on 9/11 it just isn't worth risking my life or my car. John was home too which was really great! We slept in and then just did things like reading our books, I was knitting some and working on the computer. It was a great snow day! I love days like this!

Here are some pictures I took in our courtyard:


This is the courtyard all covered in snow!


My little garden fairy looks cold out there!


The picnic table looks like a big waffle!


Here's a closeup of the "waffle" picnic table.


This evergreen looks so pretty when the snow covers it. Snow makes everything look so pretty!

Friends are Wonderful!!

Last night John and I had a wonderful evening with our friends, Patty and Rick! We went to Patty and Rick's house and then drove to a wonderful Italian Restaurant called Portofino's. Patty warned us that this restaurant didn't look like much and was in a a strip mall but the food was fantastic. She was so right!! John had the special, which was tilipia and shrimp, which was served with fresh spinach with a white wine sauce, I had a veal special they were offering. This special was veal with fresh spinach, garlic, onions, etc. with a light sauce, which was fabulous! Patty was certainly right-everything was awesome!! After dinner we chatted for a bit and then made our way back to Patty and Rick's house. We had some tea, played cards, chatted a bit more and then came home. What an absolutely wonderful evening we had!

Evenings like this really make you cherish the friends you have and the good times! Thanks Patty and Rick for a really nice evening!