Craigslist...who's craig anyway?

So, I decided to buy furniture instead of living with my echo-ing living room (thank you to all of those who thought I was living in a cave). My furniture was delivered this weekend so I decided to put my chairs and some other odds and ends on craigslist.

HOLY SHIT!

It's like moths to the flame. I actually had the furniture on a few weeks ago priced pretty high (after looking at other postings) so I figured that if I drop my prices (hell it ain't making me any money sitting in my spare room) that I may hear from a person or two. I heard from 6 people within an hour! One woman even offered me more money so that she could have them first. I am still waiting to hear from the first responder but if not, I am going to the highest bidder!!

This past weekend was good. I went to the Raleigh Flea Market...very fun and eclectic. I am looking forward to the State Fair which is coming next week. My friend who is a local says that it is the best place for fried food and people watching. Can't wait....fried snickers, here I come!!!

It is with great sadness that I say farewell to Paul Newman. I just heard on the news that he died and I am devastated. Not only did he start camps for sick kids but he makes killer salad dressing. Below is a quote tribute to some of my favorite Newman quotes:

• "A condemned man has a right to a last request doesn't he? I got my truck out back whaddya say we get in the back get naked and see where it goes from there? " from Nobody's Fool


• "But we are involved, Etta. Don't you know that? I mean you are riding on my bicycle - in some Arabian countries that's the same as being married." from Butch Cassidy


• "You gotta have two things to win. You gotta have brains and you gotta have balls. Now, you got too much of one and not enough of the other." from The Color of Money

Chicago...my kind of town!!!

So, I will be winding down my Chicago visit tonight by enjoying some yummy Indian Cuisine at my favorite place, Bombay Kebab House. Overall, this visit has been great but the definite highlight was the wedding of Sean and Ali. I really do not know where to start because the whole day was a blast so here are some highlights:

• Watch Sean and Ali tie the knot...so beautiful!!!

• Ride the party bus to keep the photos moving when in actuality I rode the partybus to socialize with my friends :)

• Sit down to dinner and within 5 minutes, start a fire by knocking over our table number into the candles. Thank you to Lee for saving the table from going up in flames and luckily Lauren's hair was not a casualty either. (see photo below)

• Celebrate with the best hostess ever...Cheryl Phelan!!!

• Successfully take another cute and adorable photo with Michael (what is this, wedding photo number eight?) We cannot help that we are so photogenic!!!

• Dance with the groom (and others) to our favorite Wyclef song..."just cuz she dances go-go..."
  


• With the help of Renata (no worries, I totally let Karen deal with this on her own), I successfully avoided the bouquet toss. THANK YOU RENATA!!!

• Karen, Michael, Treavor and myself(along with an unsuspecting couple who we probably owe a huge apology), decided it was a good idea to test out our flashlights by taking the "back way" down to the beach. Treacherous is an understatement but I would like to state that I made it safely to the bottom without spilling one bit of my drink unlike Karen who rode down on her ass!


• And finally, I managed to not fall into the bonfire thanks to Treavor and I think, Pat Murphy. Needless to say by the picture, I felt very successful that I did not perish in the flames!

The evening was topped off with a nap on Treavor's shoulder on the ride home and some yummy gas station food!!! Thanks Sean and Ali!!!

Chicago meets NC...

So, on my closing weekend, my girls (Deb, Kelly, Lisa, Stacy and Emily) came to visit and to support me through the chaos of the weekend.  They were a wonderful support.  The weekend started with pizza  (my first official meal in the house) followed by lots of unpacking.

On Saturday morning I awoke to a mini-housewarming party (see photo above) which included presents and yummy brunch with fresh ingredients from the Raleigh Farmers Market.

On Saturday night, we ventured off to the Durham Bulls baseball game (they won) and it was followed by fireworks.  The game was great and full of lots of surprises:

• I ran into an old Girls Hope coworker
• Lisa B ran into an old school co-worker
• I also ran into one of my current coworkers

Seriously, everyone I knew in the state of NC was there at that game.  VERY FUN!!!

We left for the beach on Sunday which was very fun.  We laid on the beach, frolicked in the sun and surf and read some VERY interesting literature. Deb and I dropped the girls off at the airport on Monday and she jetted off back to Boone.  

It was a terrific weekend and I couldn't have made it through without all of their help!

THANKS GIRLS!!

Almost finished...

OMG...this has been a process. I am now in my home!!!
I need to take pictures and promise to do so soon. In case you didn't hear the unending drama, here are the cliff notes...

The whole home buying process was crazy and a bit overwhelming. According to my mother (who has purchased many homes in her lifetime), I had more things go wrong than she ever has.

• Narrow down area where I want to live after seeing 18 places (UGH!)
• Find cute townhouse and pay $340 for inspection to learn AC is 24 years old ($5000), there may be a foundation crack and the hot water heater is original to the house...lose the $340 but get out of the contract!
• Find cute townhouse #2, inspector gives me frequent customer discount (seriously) and only pay $290 to learn I need a new air handler and a masonry pier under the house needs to be rebuilt (UGH). Luckily, homeowners agree to pay...yippee!
• Have original closing date of August 22 but owner decides to rebuild masonry pier under the house on his own (WHAT!) which fails 2nd inspection ($175 of my money) so now someone must be hired to rebuild it and closing is postponed.
• Realtor and Mortgage Broke get into verbal fight regarding the postponement and who's "fault" it is...seriously!!!
• Reset closing and learn air handler not fixed properly and company refuses to return since they forgot to buy a permit and the city found out via realtor (oops) and they are pissed off!
• Closing rescheduled for August 29th, the same day Emily, Stacy, Lisa, Deb and Kelly come to visit.
• Cry at my closing because mortgage company needs confirmation that masonry pier is fixed (sent to them a week prior) but they "lost" it.
• Leave closing having signed paperwork but not "officially" closed. Luckily homeowners' agreed to let me move in since I already hired movers!
• On way home, receive text from realtor that mortgage company called and I am able to officially close!

It was absolute craziness. I am still dealing with some little things here and there but I am trying to ride the wave of calm since I am at least 1) moved in and 2) have a roof over my head! It still doesn't feel quite real to be here. it's less weird that I own a home and more weird that I have no one to call for when a bug is spotted. I HATE bugs and I swear they breed them BIG here! they call them water bugs which is just a fancy work for COCKROACH. I had two in my house the other day (I blame my father who was fixing my dishwasher and had it open to the crawl space under my house) and I about died. I sprayed the shit out of the one (the one was still in hiding) and it finally died. In all fairness, I didn't find the other one until the next morning when it must have crossed my "spray barrier" and it was lying belly up on my floor.

At least I know the spray works. Housewarming presents of flyswatters and Orkin gift certificates are accepted!

Otherwise, things in NC are well. I am excited for my upcoming trip to Chicago for the Sean/Ali union festivities (aka: Wedding). I am sure it will be exciting and well documented by infamous wedding photographer, Michelle.

Oh, check out this website for laughs...its those motivational posters with a twist. We were cracking up today in clinic!!!