Summer, summmer, summertime!

The last week of school is kind of like an overly long, overhyped New Year's Eve.

I always think it's going to be like 3.... 2.... 1... SUMMER!

Really, it's more like 3...2...1...

wake up to blaring alarm... press snooze...finish grades...box up room... shred important documents...skip workout to go to last meetings...8th grade "graduation"...sign a hundred yearbooks.... say goodbye...

crash.

I slept in until noon the morning after the last day of school. And Dan and I haven't stopped sleeping since then. Hence the two + break from blogging.

But now? I'm feeling like this:

3 ...

2 ...


1...


SUMMER!! IS!!! HERE!!!!!

Dan and I just returned from our mid-week trip to Ocracoke Island.

A nice way to spend a Tuesday :)

We stayed at this no-frills motel, which had signs posted with things like, "Please do not use bed linens for cleaning fish. We have towels in front office for that purpose." I shudder to think of what necessitated that sign. Seriously? There are people out there who need to be told not to gut fish on their beds??

At least the place rented bikes for $2 an hour. And it had a pool. :)

We biked to our favorite beer and gourmet store for happy hour both nights. (Side note: See the lights hanging on the ceiling of the porch? That's what I want to add them to our backyard soon!)




We knocked another new restaurant off our "12 restaurants in 12 months resolution", the Back Porch, aptly named for its huge screened-in dining area.

One gratuitous food shot: bacon wrapped scallops. I didn't try scallops for twenty-five years because I thought I was allergic. Turns out, I'm not, and I'm making up for lost time now.

Basically our trip was composed of swimming, sunbathing, taking walks, reading, listening to the same Beatles coverband two nights in a row (Dan couldn't stop smiling and rambling about the Abbey Road medley the band ended with both nights.)

Oh and, of course, we took cheesy photos.

This island has a serious pirate obsession.

My pirate face kicks the sh*t out of whatever Dan was doing.

Not that it was a competition, but if it was, I would have totally won:



Yeah, yeah, my face is not near the hole, but the pirate attitude is there, no?

I have several blog posts I finally have the time to write (yay for time) that will be coming soon. For now, I'm off to sleep without setting the wretched alarm. What up, summer?

Kicking it old school

It's ridiculous how much I love chalkboard paint. But you already knew that, as seen when I painted this mirror for our bedroom and a pumpkin on Halloween.

What's not to love? It covers easily, let's you write funny messages, and has that old school charm. Literally: old school.

See our boring kitchen door:


Then, when I saw this door on Pininterest, I decided to get painting:


It's too easy of a project to even give a play by play of the directions, but I will anyway. Wipe the door with a cloth, tape off the edges, roll on three coats, touch up the edges with a brush= instant chalkboard!






I liked it so much, I painted the back of the door too in order to have a place to write our menu for the week:


Ignore the messy edge at the top. I have some retouching to do still. Oh, and can you tell we love enchiladas? It's a weekly (sometimes twice weekly) meal.

Update on my spring to do list: 4 out of 5 so far.

X Paint a chalkboard in my kitchen = DONE!

I'll share another picture I took for a contest to win a freezer full of Ciao Bella icecream, since said photo includes my new chalkboard door. Spoiler alert: I didn't win. But did I really need a freezer full of gelato anyway??

(Ciao Bella's blood orange sorbet is my new obsession. 60 calories, no fat, absolutely unbelievable. If you haven't tried it already, go to Target and pick up a pint. For realsie.)

* Tidy up landscaping in front yard = still a total sh*t show

This may not happen before summer.

X Find perfect burger recipe that doesn't fall apart = DONE!

"Perfect" may be stretching it, but we were pretty pleased with above Bobby Flay oh-so-simple burgers, which you can't even call a recipe. They came out really juicy at our BBQ. I topped mine with guacomole and mango salsa.

X Have a cook-out for friends or family= DONE!

X Make our backyard somewhere we could hang occasionally= DONE!

Summer list coming soon!