A Puppy, Petals and Patton's Ghost

Interesting enough title - right? The past week was interesting enough I suppose. The lead up to Easter weekend, a four day work week, the first full week that I was only working one job and the weeknights were all mine. I feel like Monday through Thursday afternoon passed in something of a blur of work, activities and sleep (the all important sleep) before the week really got going on Thursday night.

Finally got around to seeing "Insurgent" on Monday night.

I can't say I've ever been under a fire weather watch before...so that was new...

My Mom and I went to see Insurgent on Monday night - let me tell you, if you're going to the Alamo to see a movie, Monday night is the night to go. Our movie started at 6:20 and we arrived at 6 to zero crowds and only about 15 other people in the theater with us. I think the servers are a lot more attentive when they only have 5-6 people to take care of instead of a whole row - but then, I guess that would make sense, huh? Tuesday was a blustery day that teetered on the verge of a downpour all day and finally around 6 in the evening the rain let loose. We just stayed in and caught up on some TV while the rain poured and it kept raining all night, which always makes for really lovely sleeping weather, am I right?

Not a burrito but a wee pup - a very rotten wee pup.

A storm rolling in on Tuesday afternoon - it was less dramatic than the clouds would suggest.

I am absolutely loving my new home T! I also love what the company is all about.

As soon as I got home on Wednesday, I noticed I had a package from The Home T and so I tore into that pretty quickly to discover my new t-shirt that I'd been waiting for - and I say that like I'd been waiting for weeks or something, I'm pretty sure I'd only been waiting about a week, ha-ha. I immediately put my shirt on to wear to Wednesday night Bible study, because why wouldn't you wear an awesome new shirt? Check out the Home T and maybe you'll even want to get your very own! My Mom and I got supper at McAlisters on the fly; I don't know about the McAlister's in your town but ours...the service is always lacking, but somehow the food still manages to be delicious. It's also one of the only places around here (besides Chick Fil A and the Mexican restaurants) that serve sweet tea and I've got to get my weekly dose!

How cute is she? I guess I'll have to add "dimples" to the list of nicknames....

You can't ever go wrong with a Reester bunny!

The Bible study we are just starting is called Conversation Peace and it's by Mary Kassain, who also did the study we just finished doing and really enjoyed. We had a record setting 14 or 15 women on Wednesday night, so hopefully that group of ladies will all return each week. I really enjoy the ladies Bible study that I'm a part of; so far I've participated in two studies and this will be my third, I think this one will be just as enjoyable. Of course, I also love going to Bible study because I get to snuggle with my favorite baby and someone usually brings some kind of chocolate, ha-ha!

When a baby grabs the camera, things get blurry...

An absolutely delicious meal at Joe's Steakhouse on Thursday night for my Dad's birthday!

Thursday was my Dad's 53rd birthday (Happy Birthday Dad!) and we went out for supper to Joe's Steakhouse - which is absolutely delicious, I cannot stress that enough! Our waitress also happened to be the bartender and one of the drink specials for the night was something called Lulu's Peach Lemonade and let me tell you now, it was lovely. Just divine. Everything we ate was divine though - we all started with the soup of the day - a potato and ham bisque that was hearty and flavorful without being too rich. I chose to get the special for the day - a penne pasta with a roasted red pepper cream sauce, spinach and squash - I'm so glad I chose what I did too; I had wondered if it was what I wanted but I asked our waitress to make a suggestion and I'm happy I listened to her recommendation because it was SO good. The restaurant is in the Piccadilly mansion and the house is supposedly haunted by the ghost of Colonel George Patton, who died in the house near the end of the Civil War. After we finished eating we were able to wander up to the second floor and see the mantle that he's supposedly seen standing near - he died on the second floor near the mantle in the red room.

Exploring the house after dinner - searching for the spirit of the house.

Old staircases just really do something for me - not sure why, but I love them.

Joe's Steakhouse at the Piccadilly Mansion - delicious!

Not surprisingly - we didn't have any ghostly encounters. Not even a soldier peering out the upper windows as we left. Oh well, I guess that's just how it goes, right? Ha-ha!

I guess someone was in a mood on Friday...

Hoot Owl truffles - one of my first Easter gifts!

I had Friday off - whooooo! There is nothing quite like sleeping late on a day when you are "supposed" to be awake and doing things. I met my Mom and our friend Margaret for lunch at a local soul food place called Sho Nuff Soul Food and while the chicken and mac and cheese were lovely, I wasn't as moved by the green beans...some of it was "sho nuff" good, but some of it...well, just wasn't. The company was excellent though! My family spent Friday evening grilling out and then having a House of Cards marathon because my parents are trying to get all caught up through Season 3....mostly so I'll have someone else to endure the wait for Season 4, ha-ha!

In the cellars of Philip Carter Winery on Saturday afternoon.

Barrels of lovely, delicious wine. Okay - only some of it is delicious...

I met my longtime friend Rachel (literally...I've know her since I was born...she's 8 months older than me) on Saturday afternoon at Philip Carter Winery for a tour and tasting. The tour was fun and our guide was excellent - he had quite a bit of personality, which he assured us wasn't because he'd been sampling a little too much of the wares. If you say so buddy. :) I actually found a red wine that I enjoyed, which blew me away because I am NOT a fan of red wines - they are much too dry. Once the tour was over, we took our complimentary wine glasses and decided to head through the mountains to have a late lunch at Flint Hill Public House. I rounded out my Saturday night taking a nap - because I like to live large - and watching multiple episodes of New Girl. I actually took a nap because I had a headache and the nap lasted all of 25 minutes, so...yeah.

I wonder what might be in this barrel....

A bit of a crack in one red wine barrel & some tools that our guide assured us weren't for S&M! Hehehe...

A couple cow jokes for you courtesy of the jovial tour guide at Philip Carter Winery

Q: What do you call a cow with no legs?

A: Ground beef!

*ba dum dum "jazz hands"*

Q: What do you call a cow with two legs?

A: Lean beef!

*cue the eye rolls...*

I definitely love the views around here - they're hard to beat!

Easter Sunday breakfast of champions!

Easter Sunday was crammed full - starting with a visit to the church house, although I didn't actually get to go to church service because I had nursery. I passed the hour of church time hanging out with Violet and Logan, making snakes out of Play-Doh, building castles and encouraging Logan not to eat 6 Goldfish as once lest he choke himself. Eek! After church my family went to Joe's Steakhouse (yes, that same place) to have Easter brunch...although if you eat it at 1:15 PM, I feel like it should really just be lunch, ha-ha! While I enjoyed the food immensely, I did have to wonder if they'd never done something like this before...the food was GOOD but they had a lot of trouble keeping it replenished! The most interesting part of the meal was when we arrived and discovered that someone had taken it upon themselves to just sit right down at our reserved table and get started on the brunch! It wasn't too big a deal though, because we got lucky enough to get to eat on the front porch and it was a gorgeous day!

A Pomegranate Blood Orange Mimosa to start off brunch.

An absolutely gorgeous tree blooming in downtown Winchester.

The Virginia State Arboretum - one of my favorite places!

Watson's Easter "treat" was a trip to the State Arboretum of Virginia on Sunday afternoon. I've been waiting to take him for a couple weeks now; waiting on that perfect day weather-wise to get him out and about to explore and Sunday was definitely it! Anytime we take a trip somewhere, he gets wildly thrilled and thinks life is pretty much as grand as it can get - Sunday was no exception. He was going ninety miles an hour all over the place and it was all I could do to hold him back for a picture or two - he was desperate to wiggle out of my clutches and be free! It was a great way to enjoy the afternoon because everything is blooming out like crazy - I do think we'll return in a week or so to roam again because the dogwood lane hasn't bloomed out yet, but I know that will be incredible. I'm so blessed to have this awesome place to go just 15 minutes from my house and we all love it!

Watson also really loves exploring the pathways, plants & meeting new people...

Flowers were popping their petals open all over the place!

Watson cracks me up in this picture - he looks so noble, ha-ha!

He was so not interested in taking pictures...there were way too many things to sniff.

Okay - these Iris were absolutely the prettiest flowers we saw all afternoon.

This little silly - enjoying his ride with his foot on the window & his ears flapping in the breeze!

Easter Egg Hunt ice cream in a green cone - it seemed fitting.

Completely worn out on the ride home - playing outside is hard!

We rounded out our Easter evening watching another episode of House of Cards - because nothing says Easter like the Underwoods, ha-ha! We also watched an episode of Who Do You Think You and I did my usual activity of organizing clothes for the work week ahead and I also unpacked my Easter basket. Watson pretty much slept the rest of the evening away; he was completely worn out from his adventures at the Arboretum. I hope you had a wonderful week as well as a wonderful Easter - I know I certainly did; it was a wonderful way to end March and bring in April!

Easter Bunny Goodness 2015!