Fun Fact Friday

I actually have several post ideas today. That's a new one! Looks like I'll be scheduling some for next week (woot!), but in the meantime, here are a few snippets that have passed through my noggin this week that I couldn't shape an entire post around but needed to have a little moment.

- Whenever I tell people I took archery class in college they laugh at me or don't believe me. Here's the deal: I LOVED archery. I couldn't wait until I could fit into my schedule. I had dreams of being a bowmaster. Unfortunately archery didn't love me back. I was in the remedial bow & arrows group along with the kid who thought Star Wars was real (I swear he'll name his first son - you know, if he makes it that far along in the relationship process - C3PO) and the girl who had never met physical activity and therefore possessed not a single ounce of upper body strength. Regardless, I still long to be a bow hunter when I grow up.

- While The Mummy made me squirm out of my seat and spend an hour and a half in a movie theatre restroom hiding out, I believe that Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is one of the most horrifying movies of all time. Ironically, I've watched it several times, and I enjoy the other Indiana Jones movies (clearly I'm not referring to the more current versions, because... come on), but I spent years having nightmares about organs being ripped out of my body as I became a burnt sacrifice... you know... pleasant. I mistakenly caught a snippet of it this week thinking I was watching the Last Crusade. I wasn't. Cue recurring nightmares.

- I played the keyboard in my middle school band. Yeah, I was that cool. I'm not exactly musically (or rhythmically... and as a point of interest, rhythmically is a very difficult word to spell) inclined, but a small sampling of piano lessons made me musically literate. I loved our band teacher, and he took pity on me and made me the band's keyboard player. Basically I just played the same whole note over and over for each and every song. I was a beast. And now I know you're ridiculously jealous.

Happy weekend!

Back to Good

What a weekend I enjoyed! My sweet, wonderful friend Y'all & Yanks returned home to the South for an all-too-quick, but ultra-fabulous weekend. Spending time with her is so refreshing, rejuvenating and just... good.

The festivities began Friday night when I swooped over to the airport to find the ultra-stylish jet setter waiting on her car service (ahem... me). We dashed back to my house to drop her bags and hopped on over to Bricktops for some Prickly Pear Martinis, fresh guacamole and a shared order of fish tacos. Despite the fact that we chat almost constantly throughout the week, there was so much to fill each other in about. From her Manhattan life to my Charlotte schedule, we got a lot of words in over a yummy meal. A trip to Yoforia (hello, pineapple + taro frozen yogurt topped with chocolate chips and strawberries!) finished the meal with a sweet ending, and the double batch of cookies we baked when we got home was the perfect chaser.

Saturday morning dawned bright and warm and was the perfect chance for us to catch up with another former coworker and friend over steamed bagel sandwiches at Owen's. Mmmm. This was one of my favorite lunch spots when I was at the agency, and I've been missing its steamy deliciousness. Following the brunch it was time to hit some shops around town. Now, Queen City shopping, while great, doesn't compare to New York, but Y'all & Yanks was able to find some Southern treats, and I had the opportunity to show off some Hems & Hers creations on the racks of Buckett's.

We headed over to Little and Daddy's for an M&M buffet (Daddy is the ultimate mixologist of M&M types... plain, peanut, peanut butter and pretzel) while we watched the Tennessee-Florida battle. Y'all & Yanks was such a trooper to let me watch and humor my sports geek side. The day finished on the perfect girly note, though, as we met two great girlfriends for drinks and tapas at Soul Gastro Lounge. We had so much fun catching up on our lives, families, interests, favorite infomercials and the uber-icky Diva Cup (more to come on that in a future post).

Thankfully, the Supermodel's (yes, pre-getting her own blog, Y'all & Yanks was known around here as the Supermodel) flight didn't depart until late Sunday, so we got in another full day including an emotional, encouraging, challenging and uplifting worship experience at Elevation, lunch at Zaxby's and a spin around Concord Mills.

Parting is indeed such sweet sorrow, and my heart is definitely sadder without the Supermodel here. However, it is so much fuller from the time we spent together this weekend. Nothing beats time with a best friend, and Y'all & Yanks never fails to deliver. Love you, sweet friend.

12 Days

I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since I popped in to update about life. Even with a 12 day delay, though, I still don't have much that's interesting to the reading public on which to update. Life has been a blur of fabric, sewing needles, iron burns, DVR, stationery, email outreach and boutique orders.

Little, The Intern and I are hitting the road this week for our first Hems & Hers collegiate trunk show. We couldn't be more excited! We'll be in Columbia visiting the Tri Delts at USC, and we've been hustling and bustling creating garnet and black frocks, skirts and tunics as well as other fun pieces of inventory AND filling orders for THREE boutiques all due by mid-October. PHEW! God certainly is blessing this business venture, and I'm just hanging on enjoying the ride.

I've been squeezing in time at the Y anytime I can between my part time job at the stationery shop and appointments with my beloved Bernina machine. I've taken to working out beside an elderly woman whose workout ensemble of choice is a one piece bathing suit and jeans. I giggle everytime I watch her trucking it on the treadmill or bike in her sweat-ready outfit. Maybe we should start some Hems & Hers athletic wear. I'd gift it to her, because it's just so ridiculous.

In other random news, in the wee hours of the morning this morning while preparing to retire to bed I watched a baby cockroach scurry across my bedroom floor. While I am none too paranoid about bugs or insects, I cannot deal with roaches. Disgrossting. Quickly trying to determine the best weapon I could yield to exterminate this little monster (and not in the fond Lady Gaga-sense of little monsters), I considered dropping my scale on top of its body, but felt like that would make me too Kathy Bates a la Misery (truly one of the most disturbing movies of all time, closely followed by The Mummy), and swiftly rescinded. When in doubt, a shoe is always efficient and delivers a quite satisfying crunch.

This week will be a whirlwind one, so I'm prepping my lungs to be able to catch my breath when I can, but I am immensely looking forward to Friday evening because my beloved and amazingly-sorely missed Y'all & Yanks is flying down from the metropolis of Manhattan to spend the weekend with me. I can't adequately express how excited I am to see her and catch up on life, girl talk and the like. I love this lady so very much, and I can't wait for the fun in store!

My goal this week is to squeeze in some time to update Polka Dots & Protein Bars a few more times and chat about my feelings about the new Tennessee Vols head coach Derek Dooley (love) as well as my favorite parts of college football season (everything) and various and sundry other topics I formulate while pleating, hemming, tailoring and stitching.

Dearly Beloved

If you've been reading my blog for a little while you'll know that the past 11 months have been extremely difficult for our family. I have lost three grandparents and an aunt, but this weekend was a fitting family celebration of a marriage in Dallas, TX. We've seen this side of the family for three of the four funerals we've attended, so we were all itching to let loose and just have some carefree fun. And that we did. I think all of us would say it was one of the best weekends we've had in a long time, and I'm still trying to re-hydrate from the 10 gallons of sweat I lost on the dance floor. One words sums it all up... amazing. I am so grateful and blessed to have the family I have.