Week 25: Newest Obsession: Settlers of Catan

I spent this past weekend in Asbury Park, NJ, visiting my good friends John & Leroy. It rained practically the entire time, so instead of beach time, we were stuck indoors. Luckily, Pepper anticipated this and brought Settlers of Catan, an amazing board game that we ended up getting addicted to very quickly.

Without getting too complicated, it's a strategic game of establishing settlements and cities by acquiring, then trading resources. In two days, we played four very competitive games, and soon forgot that we were even in a beach town at all. With great company and this new form of entertainment, we ended up making the most out of a rainy weekend.

Upon returning home, I've already played the Xbox Live version of Catan, and today I downloaded a new iPhone app called Kolonists, which appears to be a Catan ripoff (but at $2 a total steal!). Clearly I have a problem... That said, I can't wait for the next round of Catan!

Week 24: Happy (Early) Father's Day!

I spent this past weekend in Ocean City, Maryland with a big group of family and family friends. I know I'm a week early on Father's day, but I'll be out of town next weekend and unable to celebrate with my dad, so this is his early shout out! The beach with the family is always a good time... we enjoyed tons of food (what else is new?), including steamed crab (yum!), and dropped in on the shopping outlets to do some tax-free damage. Despite the cloudy weather, we still squeezed in some great beach time and overall, it was a quality bonding weekend.

Happy Father's Day, pops! You're the best dad ever.

Week 23: Playing hooky

I took a personal day off Monday of this week to take care of some business. That basically meant getting some things done around the apartment, taking a trip to Target, picking up Auddie from school, treating her (and myself!) to McDonald's, then heading home to plant a flower box of impatiens with my mom. As everyone knows from my Charleston photos, I love flower boxes, and now I have one to spruce up my balcony! Luckily it was a warm and sunny day so we were able to spend time outside before some scary apocalyptic t'storms and more June rain struck!

Week 22: Happy Sweet 16, Auddie!

On June 1, Auddie reached a big milestone and turned 16! This past weekend, my family celebrated her birthday with a big party at home, complete with a delicious Baskin Robbins mini-cone ice cream cake. I still can't believe my little sister is so grown up! It still feels like yesterday when I used to change her diaper and when she learned to walk and talk. Yet in reality, this week I was a passenger in the car while she took me out for a spin! She's still got some practicing to do before she gets her license, but so far, she's not bad! My, how time flies. The only thing that hasn't changed is that she's still one of my best buddies and we always have a great time together! I'm so happy and thankful to have such a beautiful, funny and mature younger sister. Happy Birthday, Auddie!