I'm just a Girl

We visited Charlotte this past weekend again and I took advantage of some badly needed girl time with my friend, Holli.

 

Saturday morning we went and had our nails did!  It was only the second time EVER that I had a manicure and pedicure.  The first time was for my wedding and I have to say I never really remembered the experience because I must have been in a daze.  This time around I remember every tickle as they scrubbed my feet.  Hehe.  I have to say I plan on not waiting another seven years for my next mani/pedi.

 

With it being the Fourth of July week I opted to go with a sparkly red color.  Don't ask me what color it was, I didn't pay that much attention.  Holli had actually picked out about three to four colors and had to narrow it down.  I just went up to the wall and picked out the first purdy red I saw.  I'm simple like that.  :)

 

After that we just went and grabbed some lunch from Panera Bread.  Yum.

 

The next day, we met up in the afternoon to watch MAGIC MIKE.  Hell yeah!  =D  =D  =D  =D  BIG SMILES!  I don't think I have to say much more than that.  ;)

 

And while we were at the theater at Concord Mills we did a wee bit of shopping right after the movie.  I say that because I rarely ever go shopping and I actually had my arms full of bags by the time we were through.  I did get some good deals!

 



Check out my red toes in my cute new shoes!

 

Now to back it up a bit, Saturday evening we went to my friends' annual Fourth of July cookout.  I believe this is the third I've gone to now.  Lucas got to see fireworks!!  Although next time we need to remember to bring his cool ear muffs because they are a bit loud.  And boy was it a hot one this weekend.  North Carolina was well over 100 degrees the last few days.  Holy Humidity!

 

 

 

 

Also this past Saturday, Lucas turned EIGHT MONTHS OLD!  He's such a big boy, and definitely wearing out his grandparents.  They are in for it this upcoming weekend when they get to keep him without us...

 

 

 

 

Movies & Me

I love movies, I do.  But unfortunately I haven't been able to enjoy them as much as I'd like to lately.  This having-a-dependant-thing can really dig into your free time, eh?  {Love my boy!} 

The last movie we saw in the theater was Hunger Games!  Boy, if that's the case then it's been awhile.  I'd like to try to see at least one movie a month per my 101 in 1001 list.  And on the list I wasn't counting April, but May was a loss.  :(

Meanwhile, I've managed to get some great Groupon deals lately for our local movie theater.  And I mean GREAT deals.  I've snagged up two of the same deals so Hubby better be prepared to find a sitter so we can go. 

THE DEAL:  Choose Between Two Options

$15 for a movie for two (up to a $43 total value)

•Two tickets (up to a $12 value each)
•Two medium drinks (a $4 value each)
•Two medium popcorns (a $5.50 value each)

$27 for a movie for four (up to an $86 total value)

•Four tickets (up to a $12 value each)
•Four medium drinks (a $4 value each)
•Four medium popcorns (a $5.50 value each)

I purchased, on two separate occasions, the first deal.  I mean it's ridiculous right?  $15 for 2x2x2??  I was further surprised to see it came up a second time, and I hope that it continues to pop up over and over again.  This will be a sure bet order for me and my credit card.

Now I just have to find the right movie(s) to go see.  Any suggestions?  {First I should say...Any babysitters??}

And just for some fun facts, here are some tidbits about me when it comes to the movie theater...

1) My first job was in high school working at the local theater with my HS sweetheart.  I think I only worked there for a few months before I decided to switch from new movies to old(er) movies, and got a job at the local movie rental store instead. 
     You get more of a selection and it's pretty much unlimited!  Not to mention that while you get some free swag at the theater there are a lot of workers there so the swag spreads pretty thin - seniority gets first pick.  Meanwhile at the video store, there's even more promotional t-shirts and posters with fewer workers, which equals more free swag to go around!

2) My first real movie date was to see "Titanic" in 1997.  As awesome as the movie is it is just too long to sit through on a date.  Probably not first date material!

3)  I don't like 3D movies.  I just can't sit through them.  I don't know why they are so great.

4) When the movie "Over the Hedge" came out in 2006 I was excited to go see it.  I had actually bought myself a Verne stuffed animal {he's the turtle, of course} before it released to the theaters.  When it was time to go see the movie with Hubby I insisted on bringing Verne with me.  Yes, I brought a stuffed animal with me to the theater.  Yes, at the time I was 23 years old.  I even made a point to show him off to the ticket salesperson, not caring if they gave me any funny looks.  I'm sure I got a smile out of it!



Say "Hi" Verne!



5) Before that, in 2005, "Brokeback Mountain" was released to theaters!  {I was so upset that they didn't win at the Oscars, and even later on about Heath's death.}  Anyway, I was set on going to see this movie in the theaters.  Sooooo determined that I didn't even bother asking Hubby to go with me because I figured he wouldn't want to see a movie with guys kissing {etc.}.  So I was headed out the door and was stopped and asked by Hubby, "Where ya going?"  "I'm going to see..."  "Okay, I'll go with you."  {insert SHOCKED face here}  And, yes, this is a true story.  I did NOT force him to go see "Brokeback Mountain".  He offered to go with me.  Although if asked he'd probably say the opposite.  :)

a Wicked good time {and the difficulty it took to accomplish it}

As I mentioned on my birthday, we got tickets to see Wicked the Musical.  Scheduling finally made it possible to see it this weekend.  :)

Praise goes out to Auntie Holli for babysitting and to my MIL for standing by as backup.

Lucas sitting with Auntie

 

First, I mentioned the difficulties of making this event happen.  We bought these tickets months ago and had originally got tickets for the May 13 show.  That being Mother's Day.  We thought it would be a great idea to see it on Mother's Day since it was my first and also the day before my actual birthday.  But finding a babysitter that was available without having to take the following day off work proved to be difficult.  We didn't have anyone local since who we would ask had other places to be so that wasn't an option.  And like I said, those that could babysit would have had to take time off work that following Monday and I didn't want them to have to burn a vacation day.  So...I called and found out that we could reschedule our tickets.

I resheduled them for Saturday, May 18.

I was then informed that Hubby was actually on-call with work this weekend so that put a bind in my rescheduling {I couldn't reschedule again}, but because of the scheduling problems up until this point we decided to risk it  -- hoping that no machines went down and he got a call to run into work to fix the problems. 

The plan being that if he actually got called into work before the show started then Holli would be my date and my MIL would babysit since she would be nearby anyway.  Further on if he got a call during the show then he would just have to run out and leave me to watch the show on my own {not the best option but I'm not going to miss out}.  I would either get Holli or my MIL to pick me up when the show let out, or worst case, call a cab.

Now why would I go through all this trouble?  Why wouldn't I just get someone else to go with me and let Hubby sit at home to watch the All-Star Race while waiting to be called in to work?  Well, surprisingly enough to some, Hubby actually wanted to go see Wicked, or at least he wanted to take me to see it.  Such a sweetheart.  <3  He's no stranger to musicals.  He took me previously to see Mamma Mia {my second viewing} as well as a dinner theater version of a Grease spinoff during our honeymoon.

So...here is how the weekend played out.

First off, a machine went down.  He had to stay late at work Friday night, until about 7:30 I believe.  Then he had to go in for several hours Saturday morning but made it home before lunchtime.  Shortly after that Auntie Holli arrived and she and I headed out with Lucas to run some errands.  Fortunately by the time we got back home Hubby was still there, not off at work.  We made some dinner at home opting not to go out to eat. 

It was finally time to get going so Hubby and I left by 6:45 {for the 8:00 show}.  We arrived at the DPAC with plenty of time to get some drinks and mingle before finding out seats. 

We made it through the whole show.  :)  Hubby didn't get called in to work.  And the show was Fabulous.  Definitely strays a lot from the book which I should have known because most things do.  I don't know why though but I expected it to follow the book.  Of course the show would have been three times as long to get through all those details if that were the case.  But anywho, the show was Awesome and Hilarious!

Of course there is no photography or videos allowed during the show, so the following are pictures from my phone before it got started.

The Program

View from our seats of the stage.

It's my Special Day!

Woohoo!  Today is all about me!  It's my birthday, so I'm another year older...

And to top it off it was Mother's Day weekend.

Hubby and I got tickets to see WICKED The Musical to celebrate my birthday.  But we aren't going until next weekend.  After some scheduling conflicts and babysitter finding we should be set to celebrate my birthday next Saturday.  I can't wait for this show! 

I read the books previously.  Hubby didn't; and I didn't make him.  They are definitely a difficult read.  You have to get used to the way the author writes (syntax) and it takes the whole first book to get used to it.  And because I'm a diligent reader I had to read the other two books.  Eh, they weren't any better but at least I can say I read them.  But I don't plan on reading any of his other books.

But back to ME and MY weekend.  So it was my first Mother's Day.  I am grateful to have joined the club and to be able to share this special day with so many others.

I got to cuddle in bed with my baby boy before I had to get up.  I was supposed to have breakfast in bed, not that I expected it, but apparently I got up too soon so I ended up being served on the couch.  Oops.  :)  Hubby picked up some strawberry topped pancakes from a local eatery and I gobbled some of it up.  Then he carried Lucas in while Lucas carried a Mother's Day card to me (by carrying I mean in his mouth slobbering on it).  Of course it had a turtle on it!  Perfect.

Later we went to a local nature trail, West Point on the Eno, where we spread out a blanket and ate some sandwiches, enjoyed some lemonade, and played with Lucas.  Hubby was nice enough to take several photos of our Mama-Son time.  {Thanks Hubby!}  Afterward, we spent the rest of the day being lazy, taking a wonderfully long nap, and enjoying a romantic Salmon and Merlot dinner.



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