Favorite Things: A Wish List

Well I am back from my trip to Charlotte.  I am not really ready to put words to my experience in a post yet, so suffice it to say that the trip took my breath away.  Except not in a good way - more in a "someone kicked me in the stomach and knocked the wind out of me" kind of way.  I'll talk more about it next week when I've had more time to process it.  I still have a job but that is the only silver lining I can find at this point.

So today, I need to do a mindless, happy post.  I started sharing Friday Favorites last month when I talked about my nephew date.  This month I thought I'd talk about some of my favorite things which I wouldn't mind receiving for my upcoming birthday, which is just under a month away!

Here are some things I am wishing for these days....

1.  Medal holder.  Over the years of racing, I have started to accumulate medals, which I just shove in various boxes and nooks and crannies.  It is time to properly display these medals that I have worked so hard to earn.  There are lots of medal holders out there, but this one (pictured above) is my favorite!

2.  Apron.  In my world, a girl can not have too many aprons!  Given my recent obsession with all things yellow, I am particularly smitten with this one!

3.  Chopper.  While I do find it soothing to slice and dice veggies when cooking, sometimes it would be nice to swiftly chop up veggies into uniform sizes!  My mom has this chopper and loves it, and I know I would get a lot of use out of it (and might be more apt to make homemade salsa more often!).

4.  Lasagna Pan.  I have several cake pans, but I do not have a lasagna pan so each time I make lasagna, I struggle to get it to all fit in the pan!  Anyways, this one also comes with a roasting rack so maybe I could also use it to learn how to roast a chicken (I feel a bit sheepish over the fact that I am almost 32 and have never roasted a chicken).

And there you have it.  My 2013 birthday wish list. I also feel a bit self-centered posting a wish list, but I think the people in my life who have to shop for me (hi mom!) like a little guidance every now and then.  And I loved reading other people's wish lists around the holidays!

If it was your birthday next month, what would you be wishing for? 

Friday Favorites: Nephew Dates

Greetings and Happy Friday!  I have seen other bloggers talk about their favorite things on the occasional Friday, so I thought I would play along and do posts like these occasionally.

I thought I'd kick off the Friday Favorite post series with one of favorite parts about being an aunt:  Nephew Dates!  Now, I do not have nephew dates nearly enough, but my outing with 2 of my nephews last month reminded me I need to do them more often!

I'll let the pictures (mostly) do the talking!

The afternoon started off with a trip to this awesome children's bookstore called Wild Rumpus.  Besides having books, they have lots and lots of animals (like the cat pictured here, held by Matthew)

After the bookstore, we headed to my favorite local ice cream shop.  It was such a nice day, we were able to sit outside for awhile while the boys enjoyed their ice cream (Andrew had raspberry chocolate chip and Matthew had chocolate)

We got a little cold so moved back inside and Andrew demonstrated how to eat an ice cream cone without getting all messy...

... while his younger brother acquired a chocolate mustache and beard.  ;)

After a couple of hours of book browsing and ice cream eating, it was time to return home. 

I enjoyed the whole afternoon, but I especially liked the car rides as it gave me a chance to really talk to these two.  Oh my gosh they made me laugh, especially Matthew.  First he told me I am a pretty angel (he is going to be a charmer).  Then he said that my GPS was too yappy (which means talks too much. He also confessed that he can be too yappy sometimes, too).  Then we had a discussion about the different meaning of the word cool (temperature and the way of describing a person's personality) and he told me that my clothes are not cool, but they are very pretty.  You've gotta love the honesty and perspective of kids.  ;)  Neither Matthew nor Andrew could get over how SMALL my car was (my brother drives a truck and my SIL drives a crossover), but they both said it was very 'cozy'.

They each got to pick out a book and it was so exciting that Andrew is able to read chapter books now!  It has been so fun to watch my nephews learn to read and it always amazes me how they all seem to hit a point where the 'light goes on' and they really 'get' reading.  It makes me very happy that they love books!

I only wish my niece and other nephews lived closer so I could do things like this with them, but I will just have to make a point to do outings with them when we are at the lake or when I am visiting them!

Do you have any nieces or nephews?