Friday Link Love

- I mentioned Ellen's dance-filled premiere show in the last Friday Link Love so I figured I'd give a nod to Oprah's premiere this time. I thought the huge flash mob her staff put together was cool, and the fact that it was to one of my fav songs right now doesn't hurt. Watch the video here.

- I'm loving this bridal shower and this baby shower. Makes me want to plan something asap!

- There's always some fun DIY-goodness over at There, I Fixed It.

- I've been hearing a lot about the movie Valentine's Day, due out, of course, in February. Could it have any more famous people in it? Julia Roberts, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner, Anne Hathaway, Jamie Foxx, Ashton Kutcher, McDreamy AND McSteamy, and Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner (who will reportedly be an item in the movie...awwww). Watch the trailer here.

- And a little horn-tooting. I'd link to this story on McKinney's intranet, but you all don't have access :-)

Ode to Fall

Am I the only one who can't believe it's OCTOBER? What the H September? Where did you go??

I love September because it's my birthday month, but this October brings our anniversary and lots of mini-trips, so I'm super-stoked for October as well.

And now that the weather has finally started to feel fall-like, I can't help but take a minute to think about all of the things I love about Fall:

1. Pretty leaves

2. TV is finally back!

3. Comfort food like chili and casseroles

4. I heart mini pumpkins (and Indian corn)

5. Jackets, scarves and my gold leaf-shaped earrings

6. Sleeping with the windows open

7. Two words: Candy. Corn.

What is your favorite thing about Fall? What are you looking forward to in October??

Lee Loves Sugar

And Sugar loves her daddy.

The like napping together:

And sitting together:

And dancing on the porch together:

And more sleeping:

And sleeping some more:

And Sugar likes looking cute:

And saying "pleaseeeeee don't make me go outside, I promise to sit here and look cute instead":

And they nap some more:

And then Sugar naps on her own:

Is this not the cutest dog you've ever seen?

I thought so.

Yard Sale

This weekend was our big yard sale weekend. A while back, we set the date to have a yard sale with Lee's sister and his parents at his parent's house.

For the most part, I hate yard sales. I like the opportunity to declutter and, of course, to make money. But most of the time I just feel like they're not worth the time and effort. They can also be frustrating too. You take something out of your house that you JUST had hanging on your wall and probably paid a good $40 for, and will someone pay $1 for it? Oh heck no. They have to try to haggle you down to $0.50 for it. I mean come on people.

Anywho, after spending all week gathering up our yard sale crap lovely items and spending a good two hours packing the truck, AND constantly checking the weather because the chance of rain on Saturday was, of course, something like 200%, we made it to Grifton and made it up bright and early Saturday to get everything set up. (Don't even get me STARTED on why yard sales can't start at a decent hour, like say noon?)

I have to say though, there is no yard sale like a Wade yard sale. Lee's parents' house is in the perfect high-traffic location...it's like a magnet for yard salers. As soon as we got started at 7am, we had no less than 5 people in the yard at all times until we quit at noon.

We were so busy I barely had time to catch my breath, much less take pictures, but here's one of some of the spread:

Not only did the rain hold out for us, but we had a very successful day. Lee and I made $458. All together, the three families made $1,083. Not bad for a morning's (well, more like a week's) work, huh?

Zoo!

Lee's family came up this weekend and we went to the NC Zoo in Asheboro.

It was lot of fun and we had near-perfect weather. Here are some of my favorite pics:

The new giraffe feeding deck has just opened, so we headed there first since it's only open two hours a day. We got there just in time, as one of the new giraffe babies was there feeding. Leah and Brett got to feed her some leaves. So much fun.

Playing in the helicopter:

This might be my absolute favorite:

We did A LOT of walking. And almost all of it seemed like it was uphill. Lee's parents were VERY happy to see this sign in the middle of the park:

Willy the polar bear was tired.

Puffin, meet crab. Crab, meet puffin.

I think our favorite exhibit by far was the sea lions because they were the most active. When they swim they just make it look so easy and fun and graceful.

When we got back to Holly Springs after the zoo we were pooped. We grilled out for dinner and were ready for bed by 9:30.

Before everyone headed home today, we had to take a picture of Lee and Leah with their citizenship awards. When Lee was in 5th grade, he won the Contentnea Elementary School citizenship award, which is the biggest award of the year. When Leah graduated from Contentnea this June, she kept it all in the family by bringing home the citizenship award 17 years later. Of course, after about 20 pictures with their awards, things turned goofy:

It was a great weekend and we're so glad they were able to come up!

Wordless Wednesday: Drool

I'm a V.I.P...at Chick-Fil-A

Remember this post I wrote about the new Chick-fil-A opening in Holly Springs?

Well, that post scored me an invitation to be a VIP at the Chick-fil-A premiere night. Sahhhh-weet! The restaurant doesn't officially open until Thursday, but Lee and I got a sneak peak tonight, as well as some tasty grub and nice swag.

What exactly does a Chick-fil-A premiere night consist of? Well, it starts with a red carpet arrival, violin players, and candles and flowers on every table.

Next was an appetizer of chick-n-minis (soooo good)...

And a salad course complete with a server walking around offering fresh ground pepper. (I look like a doof in this picture but it's the only one with me and my I heart Chick-fil-A sticker.)

We were waited on hand and foot, and were able to order anything we wanted off the menu for dinner. And of course, milkshakes for dessert:

Up next was a behind-the-scenes tour of the kitchen.

Buns and bevs:

One of the things that sets Chick-fil-A apart - they use name brand products in their food: Oreos, Keebler Nilla wafers, Hershey's chocolate, Dole pineapple chunks, etc., so you know you're getting the real thing and not some knockoff.

Lots o' grease:

This is the breading station. They hand-bread every piece of chicken served. It goes through a milk wash, seasoned coating, and then straight into the fryer/pressurizer. The bottom of the station is refrigerated so the chicken stays cool throughout the process.

Mmmm...yummy coating:

This is the bun station. Buns come out of the big silver thing. The little roller in the bottom right corner butters the buns (yumm) and the trademark pickles are in the silver bin.

It was a fun night and we left with full bellies and some sweet coupons. We ended the night with a goodbye from the Chick-fil-A cow:

Can't wait to go back for "real" next time!