birthday weekend post

we had a beautiful weekend to spend with my family in fayetteville, and we took full advantage of it.

after getting in late friday night, we went shopping some early saturday afternoon--part of it as a birthday present and part just for fun. i found some great deals at kohl's and a couple of cute shirts at old navy. the birthday present part was stocking up on some "basics"--tee-shirts and tanks in solid colors that just needed to be updated or replaced. after multiple washings and dryings, some of my basic shirts need to be thrown out, and i wanted to get some that were longer, too. i also found a second pair of amazing jeans that i bought during the after holidays sales last time i was in fayetteville. i love wide-leg dark wash jeans, and these were perfect! i couldn't find them at the kohl's at home, but they still had a pair at the store where i found them the first time :)

after our shopping outing, we headed out to the cape fear river walk, a four mile trail that follows the cape fear river and is perfect for biking and walking. we'd walked it once before with mom (the full four miles, leaving one car at either end of the trail) and chose to just walk in a mile or two and then turn around to walk back out.


it was a GORGEOUS day and i couldn't be happier to be outside. if i could find a place that stayed in the mid-60s or 70s all year round, i'd move there in a heart beat.

there were nice little waterfalls along the river, as well as this awesome train track. i only had the little camera, but i loved how it looked against the woods and river underneath.
and pepper walked quite well. we wore her out with our 3 mile walk!saturday night, we went to see "west side story" at the local theater. i was familiar with several of the more popular songs, but it surprised me how many of the songs i didn't know. overall, i thought it was an excellent performance, but i don't know that it is one of my favorite musicals. i think i'm just more of a rodgers and hammerstein girl.

sunday, after we went to church and had lunch, we came back home to play with pepper in the back yard (she loved staying at mom's house this time!) and made a visit to my favorite dollar tree of all time. there is a huge dollar tree here that is the size of three regular dollar trees combined. they have a great selection, and i always stock up on puzzles, games and craft supplies for work. i just feel better knowing something "was only a dollar" when it gets destroyed at a client's house or all 8 colors of play-doh get mixed together.
some of my favorite birthday gifts--i got my own copies of several great "therapeutic" games. i borrowed a copy of the ungame from my supervisor for a while, but now i have one of my own! with additional sets of cards specifically for "kids" and "teens." i also found another board game made by the same company called life stories, which is better for including entire families. these games are perfect for keeping in the car when my plans don't work out, or for getting kids and families to open up and start talking without realizing it.
i also got a "life is good" necklace from dad--so cute!
my gift from justin will be my "camera upgrade." i think i've finally found a buyer for my nikon d40 camera with the kit lens, and i'll use that to purchase a nikon d60 with kit lens. eventually i'll upgrade my 50-200mm lens to get the one with VR, but that'll have to wait. i'm so excited to jump up to the next level of camera quality, and one that will auto focus with my 50mm lens. i've loved the pictures that i've gotten with that lens on manual focus, so i can only imagine the results with a camera body that will autofocus! i'm hoping to have this transition done before the end of the month, so i will have it in time to document patrice and matt's new baby boy. i'm so excited that i will get to be a part of this amazing day :)

that's all for now! this week should be easier--thank goodness--i could use a more relaxed week just to get caught up on other things. later, y'all.