Summertime Part Deux

I did it! I told you there would be a part 2 and there is! 

(Pretend you're reading this three days ago on Labor Day. That's when I was supposed to post it.)

Here we are, Labor Day. We meet again. You, signifying the "unofficial" end of summer. Me, still sweating my face off in the "unofficial" summer heat. But before I know it, summer will be over. I'll once again be searching the sale rack for new fall boots because I'm too lazy to get my old pair re-heeled and my Starbucks order will change from a venti (you heard me) iced green tea unsweetened to a tall nonfat chai. I'll also eat any and all things pumpkin. I'll be spending every Sunday watching football and yelling at the TV with my best football trash talk - 50% of which will be accurate. 

So, as summer comes to a close, here's the second installment of my summer scrapbook. (In case you missed the first installment - which was quite mindblowing - you can see it here. If you're truly stalking my summer escapades, you can also find last year's edition here.) 

My New Ride

 A few weeks ago, when my parents were in town, we went to the car dealership to "check out my options" since my lease is up this month. Six hours later, we left....with a new car but not with our sanity. The lovely new Honda Fit pictured above is mine. Well, at least it's mine for the next 3 years. After that, who knows. If buying the sucker means I don't have to spend six hours in a car dealership ever again, then I may just have to do that. Fortunately, my dad was there to help me weigh my options and negotiate the price. Thank God for Dads, especially my dad who is unbelievably patient. At one point - around 9pm, when all I could think about was the dinner I hadn't yet eaten - the guy came back with a counter offer that was worse than the original offer and that's when I had to lean over to my dad and whisper, "I don't know what's going on. $215 is greater than $200, right? Isn't that math? Am I losing my mind?" After a few more rounds (of negotiating, not drinks. Man, I wish we'd had drinks), we got everything squared away, signed lots of papers and arrived back at my apartment shortly before midnight with a new ride. We celebrated by eating a delicious midnight meal of wine, cheese, and potato chips.

So far, the new car is great. It hasn't been hard to adjust to driving it other than the fact that the air conditioning control is located where the volume control used to be on my old car. So every time my favorite song comes on, I get an intense blast of cold air when I go to turn it up. I like to think it just makes me look like one of those girls in the music video with her hair blowing in the wind while she lip syncs to the song with a combination of both grace and swagger. Although, in my case, I'm grimacing because the cold air is hitting me right in the eyeball and I'm most likely singing the wrong words. But otherwise, we're totally the same. Plus, nothing says "pop music icon" like a leased hatchback with a solid safety rating. 

Charlie County Fair

Believe it or not, it's been one year since I first started bombarding you with posts and pictures of my - dare I say, genius - nephew. That's one year since the poignantly titled  post, "I'll Just Buy A Bunch of Nipples." And what a year it has been.
To celebrate the momentous occasion, Charlie said he wanted to hang out with family and friends, eating barbecue, drinking beer, devouring cake, and aggressively competing in party games. He didn't so much say it with his words, but we knew that was what he was thinking. In order to make his dreams come true, my sister brilliantly decided the theme of the party should be "County Fair." There immediately was debate as to which county this would be modeled after. The only county fairs I'd ever been too were back in North Carolina and involved hog races and people handing out free samples of chewing tobacco. And jorts. Lots and lots of jorts. This isn't me stereotyping or making fun of my people, this is simply years of observation. Fortunately, Melissa and Pete decided to go with a classier county fair - one in which the guest of honor could wear a seersucker suit with gold buttons and a bowtie. Our own little Bible salesman. So handsome. Speaking of outfits, no county fair is complete without the local farmer. That's where my dad came in as Farmer Grandpa, rocking his overalls and hat. (Overalls with an iPhone clipped to the waist. Oy.) 

This me trying to explain what birthday presents are.

In addition to playing the fun party games Melissa had purchased, we all stood around and watched Charlie pick up handfuls of cupcake and drop them on the floor. He was totally unfazed by being watched by 30 people, probably used to having an audience since he frequently has dinner while FaceTiming with Grammy, Grandpa or Aunt Lindsay. It was a fun afternoon and a great way to celebrate Charlie's first year and thank the wonderful family and friends who were there to love and support him from the surprise beginning to the hospital Christmas. (No hospital visits in year two, Squeaks. That's an order.) 

I'm also pretty sure I ended up with the highest score at Plinko. It was 22. But who's counting. 



Bridal Showers, Happy Hours, Cook-Outs, Roofdecks and More

The rest of the summer was filled with-what I'm now calling- Bridal Shower Month, many lovely roofdeck evenings, delicious meals at new restaurants and miscellaneous fun times with friends. Unfortunately, I have no proof of this because I failed you by taking no pictures. Highly uncharacteristic of me. You'll just have to trust me.  The only other picture I could find on my phone from the recent weeks is this one that I accidentally took when I dropped my phone while walking. This is mid-fall. Where did it land? Under that new car of mine. That meant I got to get down on the sidewalk and army crawl under my car. There were lots of people walking by. It wasn't embarrassing at all. 

Summer, I'll miss your long days and your roofdeck nights. I promise to think of you fondly when I'm freezing in the winter. You've been good to me, but farewell for now. Welcome, football season. How 'bout them Panthers, y'all?