Baby Snuggles and Bear Sightings

Oh...where did this past week go? It seriously feels like one of those weeks that I blinked and it had passed! The week itself seemed like it sped by; work, home, eat supper, sleep...repeat! The weekend was wonderful, filled with movies, tea with friends and a beautiful Sunday afternoon spent in the absolutely beautiful Shenandoah National Park. It was certainly a week for the books, even if it passed way too quickly!

A smores bar from Firefly - I mentioned last week, this place is going to be dangerous!

If I look half asleep, it's because I was.

My grandmother is visiting us for the next few weeks and so we've been spending even the weeknights trying to show her around the gorgeous mountains and valleys of Virginia - although this past week wasn't too eventful. I'm sure she thought we go to Wal-Mart all the time since she went on Monday morning with my Dad and again on Monday evening with my Mom and I. I promise we don't go to Wal-Mart all the time, ha-ha! I did have a wonderful surprise waiting for me on Monday evening; I received a package from my sweet friend Nickolee, the super cute mug that you see my clinging to for dear life in the above picture. Clinging to it for dear life because I needed my coffee...ha!

A little light reading until the 6th book in the series comes out...

Trying to play peek-a-boo with him...I don't think he was very amused.

The rear view as I drive to work every day - I love it!

As I mentioned, the new bakery/cafe Firefly...which is located literally a very short walk from my office is so dangerous! I had lunch there on Monday with my friend Trish; the pulled pork on ciabatta was absolutely to die for, and of course I had to try out a Smores bar because it looked way too delicious. Thursday they had something called a Samoa Cheesecake bar and I got a little message from my Mom saying she thought she might need one of those, ha! I walked down to the Cafe on Thursday afternoon with my co-worker Danielle and proceeded to buy out the bakery case (not really, but I felt like it...) so that I made sure I'd gotten something for myself, my Mom, my Dad and my Nanny...I didn't want anyone to feel left out. Suffice it to say that I'm thrilled they are so close and have such awesome lunches, but I'm going to have to throttle my will power to 110% to avoid the bakery portion on a weekly basis.

Samoa Cheesecake bar, Coconut Macaroons, an Oreo Rice Krispie Treat...& of course, COFFEE!

Walking Watson on the golf course on Thursday evening - such pretty flowers!

Old Navy shoes that I absolutely love!

Friday morning dragon snuggles...

Friday night we wanted my Nanny to experience the Alamo (nothing to do whatsoever with remembering the Alamo, although both are memorable...for different reasons) and so we went to see "Age of Adaline". I had an absolutely delicious Hatch Green Chile burger - that thing was topped with tortilla chips, queso blanco and hatch green chiles - it was so yummy and also completely difficult to eat! The movie was lovely and I'll detail that in a later post; however once the movie ended I really had quite the letdown...

A good movie & a good burger - pretty perfect Friday night if you asked me!

Once the movie ended on Friday night, my parents were really wanting to stop somewhere and buy some ice cream..I didn't really have any interest in that, I wanted some Starbucks coffee and I wanted it with a single-minded determination! We chose to go to Target to buy ice cream because there is also a Starbucks in Target! It was going to be the perfect solution; we'd only have to make one stop and everyone would be thrilled. Except it didn't really work out that way. When we walked into Target, the lights at Starbucks were still on and I headed straight over, phone out and ready to pay for some delicious, lovely coffee...and the girl (as she hands another customer her lovely, delicious coffee) tells me "we're closed, I can't make you anything." I just looked at her and she said "just go across the street, they're open..." 

So, yet again the Starbucks in Target completely disappoints me. I by-passed the offer of ice cream a second time because I still had my heart set on that wonderful Starbucks coffee...and after all, it was only right across the street. We climbed into the car (ice cream in bags...) and drove across the street to the stand-alone Starbucks...it was 9:08 PM, certainly not a late hour...especially on a Friday night. As we pulled up to the drive-thru window, the girl's voice crackled over the line "we're closed...sorry.." and my mood was just completely shot. I turned down ice cream, having faith in Starbucks and was doubly disappointed. I mean, who closes at 9 on a Friday night?!? Apparently Starbucks. I did finally get my coffee on Saturday morning, but I was feeling pretty moody up until then...

I finally have my coffee - hallelujah!

Apple blossoms in abundance at Marker Miller Orchard.

So pretty!

And soon there will be apples...

Of course I wore my awesome Spring shoes - because why wouldn't you?

Canola as far as the eye can see....

And it was almost as tall as I am!

Gorgeous Spring blooms everywhere you look!

We did a lot of driving around this weekend - Saturday wasn't the most beautiful day, but we made the best of it by going to look at the apple trees in bloom at Marker Miller Orchard and stumbling on to a field filled with yellow flowers, which we later discovered was actually Canola. As in, the stuff they use to make Canola Oil. My Mom and I took my Nanny to one of our favorite places; the Coach and Horses Tea Room for afternoon tea and we were joined by some sweet friends, Joyce and Marcie! As always, the tea was absolutely delicious and the food was to die for...as well as more than any one person could ever eat! We rounded out the day with another movie, this time "The Woman in Gold" which was excellent and finally headed home in the rain!

Pimento & Cheese, a lovely fruit tart & some yummy Papaya Ginger tea!

Help yourself to the goodies!

Such a wonderful movie!

Reunited with my sweet Squeaky!

Giving kisses to Jimmy before church started...

She doesn't do this too much anymore, so I had to enjoy it while it lasted. So sweet.

An Eastern Bluebird has moved in to my little chapel...

We rounded out our weekend by heading into the park on Sunday afternoon after having a delicious lunch from the grill, cooked by Jeffrey! Everything is blooming and really starting to look absolutely amazing and we figured it would be the perfect opportunity to explore. I got pretty tickled because every time we would pass an overlook (or stop at an overlook) my Nanny would say "oh..that is just beautiful...isn't that beautiful?" Hehehe! She also said all day that all she wanted was to see a bear; she'd never seen bear before. All the way into the park, we saw nothing more than birds and bugs...we had supper at Skyland Lodge (delicious, as always) and then started our journey out of the park. First a bobcat crossed our path, slinking across the road and down the side of the mountain. Second we saw two deer grazing on the side of the road...one wearing a fancy radio collar that I suppose lets him be tracked in the park.

A gorgeous day in the Blue Ridge Mountains!

Just being cheesy!

The dogwoods were blooming all over the place!

Nearing the top of the mountain!

Again - I guess I was feeling extra pose-y.

Supper at the Skyland Lodge - so yummy!

We were beginning to despair because we only had about a mile to go before we needed to exit the park and head home... We rounded a corner and a small group of people were sitting on the rock wall, staring down the mountain. I rolled down my window and asked what everyone was looking at and the man simply (and quite happily) announced "BEAR!" Well, there wasn't just one bear - there were 3 baby bears climbing a tree and the Momma bear was standing guard over her three little charges. I was just so thrilled that we finally saw some bears and I know my Nanny was absolutely thrilled too!

Three little bears, climbing a tree...

Hang on tight guys...it's a long way down!

I got home on Sunday night in time to take Watson for a spin around the yard, put on my comfy clothes and then crawl on to my bed to watch Game of Thrones. Not a bad way to end a week if I do say so myself...