Adventures in NC: Part 1

Oh yes.  You read that right:  "Part 1."  As in, "Part 1 of many."  Why so many?  Because it's been about 20 days since my last blog post.  Which means that I must have been busy!  I just got to take a fabulous trip back home to good 'ol NC.  Remember how excited I was to go home?  Well North Cakalacky (is that even how you spell it???? Probably not.  Oh well.) totally lived up to the hype!  I had so much fun, got to see so many people that I love, and got to eat an incredible quantity of delicious southern food (there will be an entire post dedicated to that later.  Caroline, get hyped for a ton of food pictures!).

My trip was broken down into 3 main phases:

1.  Raleigh/Wake Forest time
2.  Beach family time
3.  Tamara and Josh wedding time.

Consequently, there will be three blog posts, mainly with pictures, because let's face it..... y'all don't read what I write on here anyway ;)

However, before leaving for a 10-day vacation, I had a lot to take care of.  I have a small zoo that needs a-watchin', and a house that needs a-tendin' to, and lots of broke college students to help me out.  How do you get broke college students to watch your critters?  Tell them they can have access to your cable, your washer and dryer, and make them a TON of food to eat all week.  This is what my kitchen looked like the day before I left:

Before you judge me, let me explain that before this picture was taken the following was baked/prepared/frozen for student eating: lasagna, corn bread, biscuits, brownie cookie things, 3 chicken casseroles, 2 giant things of mac 'n cheese, a tri-tip (giant and delicious cut of beef for those folks who don't live on the west coast and have never experienced it), a pie, cookies, and pulled pork (seriously.... who wouldn't want to house-sit for me??? ;) ).

So after securing my peace of mine, I boarded a red-eye for the east coast.  I was promptly greeted in the morning with a giant hug from my mom, pops, and Ryan, and then, as any loving family would, we immediately drove to Bojangle's.  Hellooooooooo fillet biscuit combo!  Where have you been all my life???? er.... the past year.....

The next two days were spent in a whirl-wind of friend time!  Got to see my mingos for a lovely dinner in North Hill before they traversed around the wild west

Then I got to have a sleepover with Hales (and let me just say, this girl has the MOST COMFORTABLE bed in the world y'all) and we went to breakfast.  Somehow I didn't get any pictures with her on my camera, but I'm confident someone else did.  I did snap a pic of some deliciousness that was my grits and biscuits tho!

The next day brought visits with more friends in the Forest and R-town and a LOT of catching up, smiles, and laughs about old times

Saturday night brought a whole new class of fun, with a bachelorette party for the bride-to-be and some AWESOME down town adventures!  Because this was a bachelorette party, there are quite a few pictures that I can't let float around the internet machine, but here are a few teasers to prove that a grand time was had by all!  Let's just say that mustaches, a hilarious "find-a-man" card game, firefighters, and an embarrassing song or two were involved ;)

There were so many people that I didn't get to see (it's so hard to fit in everyone you love in a two day time span!), but I know that I'll get you see you all soon!  Next up:  family time!

ttfn,
ap

Food for thought:
Giiiiiiiiiirl....this is our JAM!
This dog is going places