Since Pete's had no pictures.....

Here's visual progress of our one surviving watermelon --note the claw marks on its rind. How do we know when it's ready to pick? Please advise.

Shoes...OMG....Shoes

I bought a pair of brown oiled leather and a pair of black cabrio leather Dansko Professionals today. I have several pair already (in other colors), but figured since I'm leaving the shoe industry, I should have a couple in backstock.

I also ordered a shirt from Mini-Boden:

I realize this is a child's shirt, but how could I not get it?!?!? I can usually get away with a children's XL.....I'll let you know how it goes once it arrives.

Things to do when it's hot outside...

Pickle the peppers from your garden!!

I think we must officially be Kentuckians --we have purchased canning supplies.

NEWJOBNEWJOBNEWJOBNEWJOBNEWJOBNEWJOB

I know that I start every blog stating that it's been a busy weekend ---but it really has this time!!! Friday started off as a big day at work with me giving my Two Weeks Notice at John's. I had an awesome job interview on Tuesday, was offered the job on Thursday, gave my notice at John's on Friday. Friday was also my birthday, so it seemed like a good day to make a huge change. Twenty-seven seems to be getting a little old to still be working the retail job I worked while I was in college. I love, love, love the folks at John's and I will really miss working there --it's been the only thing I've known for the past 5+ years, but it is definitely time for me to get started on a career path. So.....I'm the newest Office Manager/Personal Assistant for Melanie Mauer Photography! I'll only be working 18 hours a week, so I will have plenty of time to prepare for and take the GRE before heading back to school in the January. I also will be using the first few weeks to narrow down my post-baccalaureate options. The front runners are Speech Pathology and Elementary Education with Reading specialization. I also plan on looking at the programs at both UK and EKU to see which will be the most expedient and affordable.
Please, please, please go to Melanie's website so you can see her AMAZING work! She is as nice and friendly in person as she seems on her page, and I am really excited to be working in such a positive environment.
Friday night after work we went to dinner at Bonefish Grill with Rachael and Sylvain, then had chocolate mousse cake for dessert back at the house. Pete was VERY generous with his gifts getting me a Green iPod Nano and, for both of us --a speaker dock.

Saturday night we had people over to celebrate new job/birthday; we had both cheese and chocolate fondue, with all the dippers. Emily brought this great giant bottle of champagne, and we spent the evening playing Apples to Apples, Catchphrase, and Charades.

Today was the Woodland Arts Fair --we got a nice print, but --and I'm SO ticked about this --MISSED the booth with the Scrabble tile earrings! We came home and cleaned up our party remains, went to the mall so Pete could get measured for his tux for an upcoming wedding, then came home to rest for the remains of our Sunday.

First Real Harvest

Finally! Our tomatoes are ripe and ready to pick --look how many we got tonight alone!
We've had a lot of fun (and success!) growing several varieties of heirloom tomatoes in our backyard. In other news, our new sink/faucet/disposal was installed yesterday!!

Before

and AFTER!!

Isn't it BEAUTIFUL?!?!?

A Midsummer Weekend

Thursday was Pete's 27th Birthday, and, if I do say so myself, I did a pretty good job at helping him celebrate. I made Eggs Benedict for breakfast --they're his favorite. (I had no idea Hollandaise Sauce involved raw eggs or I might not have been so generous.) I made Pete stay out of the kitchen all morning while I baked his cookie cake and secretly made him Chex Mix and Muddy Buddies. I finished decorating his cake in time for us to have lunch at Chic-fil-a and go to a matinee showing of the Bourne Ultimatum. After the movie we came home and Pete opened presents --nothing too special, the biggest surprise was a dispenser for his snackies PREFILLED with Chex Mix! Then it was off to Rincon for Pete's birthday dinner --we love our locally-owned Mexican restaurant. Rachael and Sylvain came over afterwards to eat cookie with us and enjoy the now-standard birthday fireworks.

That's right, it was a Scrabble cake!

The Birthday Boy

Friday night I came home from work and we ate a quick dinner before going downtown to see Paragon's production of Kiss Me, Kate! It's such a fun show and Pete and I knew most of the cast from Crazy For You, so it was an enjoyable evening.
Saturday I worked until 6, then went home to get ready for THE RACE. I'm not superfast like Pete, but I ran the whole 3.1 miles --no walk breaks! Pete ran it in 18:25 and I ran (jogged) it in 31:06. We cleaned up after the race and headed over to Rachael & Sylvain's house where they were having a little party.
Today was a pretty typical Sunday, lunch at the Co-op, trip to Target, I'm sure you have a similar routine. Rachael and I went to Mad Potter to finish some projects we'd started last week.

Rach and her beautiful vase

So that was our weekend. Tomorrow it's back to work as usual.

What a weekend!

Hot, Hot, Hot. It is SO hot in Kentucky right now, so what have we been doing? Lazing around our house being thankful for air conditioning and eating Dove Bars. Mmmm. Well, I ate a Dove Bar tonight, tomorrow night I'm supposed to run one of my last two runs before A Midsummer Night's Run on Saturday. We'll see how that goes. We had a pretty busy weekend, I worked all day Saturday--as usual --but met a girl from Texas, who currently lives in Chicaco, who shared some old friends of mine, it's crazy. Read all about our chance encounter at her blog. It's pretty amazing what a small world we live in. After work I finally finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I had pretty much abandoned Pete the past few nights, I would come home from work, change clothes, and start reading. Pete --wonderful as always--made dinner Thursday and Saturday night, and didn't mind at all when I scarfed it down to return to my reading chair. It was a good book, I found it to be emotionally exhausting, and now I'm a little sad that the series is over and we won't have any more adventures at Hogwarts.
Sunday morning we woke up early. Why you might ask? Because Sunday is long run day and I had a six mile morning ahead of me. I did it!! I ran six miles --I even got TWO blisters --truly the sign of a real runner, the need for Body Glide. After our run we came home and made a nice breakfast --Pete made himself some apple cinnamon waffles, and I had two Egg Beaters scrambled over an english muffin with strawberries and blackberries on the side. That's right --we have awesome breakfasts at our house --that's why Amy Dickinson calls it Spa Crawford. Well, that and the high thread count on our sheets. The rest of our day was pretty relaxed, lots of cleaning and laundry, a trip to Petsmart, etc. We closed out our evening with a game of Scrabble while watching Brothers and Sisters on TV.