"I made it special just for you...with LOVE"

~dude from bruegger's who made a special better bacon cheddar just.for.me. :)

so, this weekend was extra-super enjoyable. court went just fine on friday, they gave me my prayer for judgment and it only took 35 minutes from car door to car door to have the whole thing over with. and I saved myself fifty bucks in the process. :)

I also got the chance to clean my house which, if you know me, you know that I HATE doing. But, it needed it so badly that cleaning was actually kind of enjoyable--it's nice to see my floor, y'know? I even managed to go to a bead store, take a nap AND cook dinner, which I enjoy a lot when I can take my time doing it.

Friday night my friend Matt came down from VA to visit and we introduced him to the awesomeness that is How I Met Your Mother. And I made my Mexican Casserole, and we talked, ate and drank beer. And played with his iphone. I had already decided I'd be getting one for quite a few reasons, but if there was any doubt in my mind it is now gone!

In the morning Matt and I went to Bruegger's and went to the Tobacco Campus in Durham. My Matt met us there after soccer, and the three of us walked around taking pictures and chatting. And then we went to s'relyT (name is backwards, I'll explain in a sec why!) and had lunch. Mmmmm garlic fries. And took some pool pics, along with pics of our beer and stuff. While eating I decided to ask when the owner would be in and the poor waiter flipped and sent the manager immediately (I didn't sound upset at all). I told him--I'd like to take pictures of your restaurant, for free, and in exchange I ask that I be able to put them on my site, and ask that if you use any of them you credit me.

I showed the guy the pic of my beer and he was quite impressed. I definitely upped my street cred by showing him the pic--I went from "random girl who likes to take pictures" to "wow!" And he just called me back--and as long as I don't put their name anywhere it's all a go. :D I.Am.Excited!

I also practiced taking artsy shots like this. It took a lot of attempts, but I think I better learned how to do 'em. I'd only tried taking these of inanimate objects, and I'd never tried pool shots before. These were necessarily part of his session, per se, though I did take some less artsy guitar and pool table ones--but it was great getting to mess around with the camera since he's my friend and was a very patient subject!

Saturday after a nice nap we went on a quadruple date--Uno's and bowling. I was, once again, The Hammer, and had a fantastic finish, I must say. I'd granny-bowled the last three frames because my thumb had started to hurt, but on the tenth I had the 8 and 10 left after my first throw, so I actually bowled the second throw to get a spare. And I finished on a strike. :)

and Sunday was a fabulous afternoon of bargain-shopping with Courtney. We hit up all of the important shops--y'know, HomeGoods, TJMaxx, Ross and Rack Room Shoes. Other than taking their engagement pictures I'd never really hung out with just Courtney (and even then the boys were there) so it was a real treat! We learned that we shop well together, and I had such a good time!

and then--Sunday evening I started putting together the framed photos I get to hang up at Piper's. I am SUPER excited about this too. I will definitely take a picture once they are all up on the wall there!

aaaaaaand...now it's the first day back at work with NO holidays between now and, what, Memorial Day? Yuck. But I still have quite a few trips to go on between now and then, so at least I'll get some little breaks (Atlanta, Florida twice and then Wilmington, and I think maybe South Carolina? Yikes!) It is definitely the year o' the wedding for me!