Wild Card Wednesday

The Kept Woman hosts Wild Card Wednesday where you can post a picture and tell what it's about and if it uses the letter W, it's a bonus. So here's my contribution...

W is for What the?!?! Check out that hat. This could probably go for Dallas K's Fug Thursday as well but we'll use it here today. Mr. J and his go USA hat that G bought at the NASCAR gas station for $4.99. What a deal, folks.

Mr. J and I traveled to Raleigh, NC this weekend to hang out with Mr. J's brother G. Let's just say that Raleigh is a little too "hot" for us literally.

Upon arrival, we find out G's air conditioning has broken and it's 85 degrees inside his house. After deciding that no one should make our sweat into colognes, we move outside and opted to spend the weekend grilling out and hanging out by the pool. A good call. Over all, it was a great weekend in Raleigh regardless of the heat and humidity.

The best part? I got to catch up with my college roommates A & B who I don't get to see nearly enough. It's so funny to see each other now that we're "grown up" and have real jobs. B is a realtor so her amazingly tanned skin is a result of doing work by the pool. Kind of makes me want to reconsider my 8:30-5:30 job. A is the same person I met 7 years ago when she commented on my flower pj pants in the hall of Hoey Dorm. It's a good thing these ladies don't change, they keep me grounded in many ways.

G and his girlfriend H were the reason we drove four and a half hours into the heat. We never get to see them and we are all about being around our family lately so this was a good excuse.

It actually made us both realize that there may be life after the big city. Lately, we've been sort of "what if"-ing a lot. What if we have a baby? What if we sell our condo? What if we find jobs in NC? Ultimately, that's the goal, move to NC, sell the condo and have a baby... it's just the timing that's all a little unsettling. But this weekend was refreshing in that we realized that if we do move back to NC, we will have a life. We will have friends around. We will have jobs that may not pay as much but provide us with the same quality of life that we have now. It may not have been so monumental for Mr. J but for me, it was good. It showed me a life that I don't mind living can be closer to home than I had expected. (Mom, no reason to start packing boxes yet, it will be a little longer before leave the big city)

Here's a few more pics from the weekend:

It's been a while...

since my last post, so this one is jam packed full of pictures for you to enjoy! First of all, Mr. J's birthday was in April so we went the Japanese route and ate at Sakura Japanese Restaurant. We invited some friends along to celebrate and had a great time. Here's some pics:

The cheesy shot of us (I know what you're thinking, man that's a big smile, what can I say, we are hams when put in front of a camera)

Our friends H&C

JR&C

And the new parents, D&S. What you can't see is that seated between them is baby WE sleeping in his car seat. He was exceptional during the whole meal but I hear nights with him are a battle.

What kind of wife would I be if he didn't have a cake, right? It was his favorite, ice cream, so it was really messy when we left (sorry Sakura employees, hope you got a bite before it was all melted). Oops.

Moving on in my super post... we went with JR& C to a winery out in rural Virginia. JR's friend is engaged to the vintner (is that a word?) who works with the grapes, so we got a private tour and lessons on grapes, wine and "snot" that apparently is the leftover residue from the grapes after being mashed. To me, it looked like a great mud bath that you'd pay hundreds for in some fancy spa. Hmmmmm, I wonder if I could market grape snot...? Regardless, if you are ever in Middleburg, please visit Chrysalis Vineyards. It was a perfect little vineyard for a Sunday picnic.

With the sun shining and the clouds parting, we had a perfect day. JR fell in love with this tree and I think if given the chance, would have peed on it just to claim it as his own... yep, he's that much of a nature lover my friends.

JR&C enjoyed the cheese and wine while Mr. J and I lived it up in the adirondack chairs we took camp in. Just sitting out in the open, looking out onto the most amazing grape vines, enjoying the sun... it was a great day.

Mr. J even rolled around in the grass for a while. And by rolling, I do mean rolling...

Over all, one great day. It's still sort of funny to see Mr. J with a wedding band on. I should be used to it, but here we are six months later and it's still strange to think that we are married. Maybe one day it will hit me, but for now, it still feels like we are playing house for some silly reason. Regardless, here we are enjoying the sun.

I promise I will write more soon!