The big THREE-OH

Okay, so I never did post about my birthday. Being jobless and such, I have tons of time, but I've gotten really L-A-Z-Y. Nicole's trip out here was super fun! She arrived early in the morning, so we stopped at Waffle House for breakfast. New for both of us. Pretty much like a Denny's. Later we explored the shops on Salem Street in downtown Apex. They were all very charming. That afternoon we got pedicures. My guy took extra special pride in the design he painted on my big toe...kind of funny. He stared at the blank toe for a while, and made some brush stroke motions, as if planning out his masterpiece. He made me promise not to look until he was done, because he wanted to surprise me. It turned out to be kind of like a firework, with sweeping lines of gold and white bursting from the upper right corner of the toenail. But my interpretation was wrong! He told me, without a drop of sarcasm, that it was a depiction of the sunrise at 6 am. Mmm-hmm, whatever.

Anyway, the next day we went out to see the progress on my parents' house. Then we drove up to Chapel Hill to explore, and stopped at Southern Season because I'd read it was like this huge awesome store. It was fun to browse but all we got were some Kindersorpresa chocolate eggs (a reminder of Italy!). We drove all around just checking everything out, and Nicole played navigator. We almost made it to Duke, but using the Rand McNally street map while driving can be tricky. We wrapped up the day at the Streets at South Point in Durham, which I'd also heard was fabulous.


Fabulously crowded!! It was INSANE! The wait for The Cheesecake Factory (always long anyway) was two and a half hours. We opted for Firebirds Rocky Mountain Grill because it was only 90 minutes. While waiting, we sauntered over to the Bose store and listened to their top-of-the-line demonstration. Pretty cool, but also pretty pricey! When we finally got seated, the food was great, and I got a happy birthday creme brulee (sans the embarrasing singing) for dessert.

Sunday we went to the movies to see Dreamer with Dakota Fanning. Very heartwarming. I love me those happy endings! I also learned to knit. Nicole was incredibly patient with this clumsy student. It was so humbling to feel completely incompetent at something I know is so simple. But, I'm catching on, and can even watch TV now while I knit without having too many dropped (or added) stitches. So far I'm about halfway done with my first scarf. It is far, far from perfect but I'll still wear it with pride. "Dude, I made this!"


Yeah, that whole widening part there, totally unintentional.

Monday we hung out and relaxed, knitting and watching Fever Pitch. We'd watched Mad Hot Ballroom her first night here, which was so-so, cute but not a keeper. Unlike Fever Pitch, which was totally a keeper! I love romantic comedies, and Drew Barrymore is one of my favorite actresses.

All this fun kept me so busy I didn't really have time to reflect upon turning thirty. It's kind of weird to think I'm in that decade, but whatever. I can't help but feel a little behind, though, considering when my mom was my age she already was married with two kids. But there's no sense in brooding on it--if it's meant to happen, it will happen. If not, well, there's a LOT to be said for living alone! I am in love with my new apartment, it is so roomy and comfortable.

Well, that's it for now. To all my loyal readers (ha!) stay tuned, because I have updates on my parents moving into their new house, as well as the saga of assembling my birthday present--a new entertainment center!