Holy crap, it's been a while!

Well, folks... it looks like we have quite a bit to catch up on!  Where do I begin??

I guess I'll start in the typical chronological fashion and back up to where my last post left off.  So, my last post was about two weeks ago and Mom & Adam had just left Philly and headed back to Florida.  Quite a bit has been happening around here since then.  The weekend after Mom & Adam were here, I got to experience Atlantic City for the first time with my "philly friends".  Vicki's birthday was the occasion so about six of us drove over for Friday night.  We went to dinner at a place called Continental at Caesars and then saw a Pink Martini concert.  Pink Martini is a band I had never really had too much experience with but they are Vicki's favorite and since it was her b-day, that was on our agenda!  So, we saw the concert, which was pretty awesome.  Very different from anything I've been to before but none the less, a great show!  After the concert we hung out in a bar/club in the casino and then hopped around to different bars/clubs and before we knew it, we were walking back to our hotel room at 5:30 a.m., yes, that's 5:30 in the morning.  Uh, I don't even remember the last time I was even close to staying up that late, much less past midnight!  But, we had a BLAST!  I LoVe the friends I've made up here and we have so much fun together.  They're intelligent, funny, a little crass (which I love), and honest (also another thing I love).  Vicki and Iris (who Vicki introduced me to one day over a game of golf) are probably my closest friends here so far.  So, Atlantic City was fun and I really think once you've seen one casino, you've seen 'em all but I've never stayed out this late at any of the casinos I've been to in Biloxi.  Oh, did I mention I didn't even touch a slot machine, poker table, blackjack table or roulette table?  The casinos made their money from me on the $16 drinks.  Blah.  And, mind you, $16 drinks don't make a hangover any better.  Vicki, Iris and I were pretty pitiful driving back to Philly Saturday morning.  haha

So, anyway, Saturday after AC was pretty much a dud.  Christian flew that day so he didn't get home until late that afternoon.  We had dinner out and then Sunday we decided to drive over to Jersey to look at some houses.  We found a couple that sparked our interest quite a bit but there was one that we both love.  It's in Moorestown, NJ and it was build in 1927 by a very popular builder during that time for his mother.  It's in a great neighborhood within walking distance to the little downtown and it has so much character.  We met with the realtor that day and told her that we weren't looking to move until the beginning of March but wanted to go ahead and secure something b/c of all of the traveling we have coming up.  So, we're in the process of negotiating rental terms.  I have another meeting with the realtor and the owner tomorrow to discuss everything (and to meet the owner for the first time).  So, keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer that we get this house!!!

This weekend we traveled over to western Maryland to visit with the family-in-law.  We got over there Thursday and got back last night.  As always, it was a good, relaxing time.  Christian's high school football team had a playoff game Friday night that we went to.  It was FREEZING but we had a good time and I got to drink my first hot chocolate of the year.  The hot chocolate brought back memories of the good ol' St. Ann's Round-up days (for those of you from Pensacola).  Christian played golf Saturday while I hung out and started Bush's new book "Decision Points".  It's a great book so far!!  I definitely recommend it (even for people who haven't had a great view of him).  We went to church yesterday morning with Christian's 91-year-old grandma, like we do every time we're in town.  The church also had their Thanksgiving lunch yesterday so we stayed for that and it was just a bunch of yummy food!  We got back home around 7:30 last night and Christian unpacked from the weekend and packed again for the week.  He left this morning for a five day trip over to Germany.  He'll be back Friday, I'll pick him up from work, we'll drive straight to Maryland to spend the night and then Saturday morning we'll be on our way to Florida!!!  I can't wait to get home!

Today was such a fun day!  I met Iris at here house around noon and we headed down to Philly to run some errands.  She's a self-proclaimed food snob so we went down to the Asian Market in South Philly to pick up some things and then ventured over to the 9th Street Italian Market in South Philly.  She introduced me to two shops in the Italian Market that literally made me feel like I was in Italy.  I stood there tasting cheeses and olives and pesto for about 15 minutes!  AMAZING!  I ended up getting some cheese and pesto.  It's so neat to have all the culture around since we live in a big city.  With every new little finding, I love Philly more and more.  After the markets, we went to Rittenhouse Square (another one of my favorite areas of the city) and had lunch at Parc.  After lunch, it was time for manicures and pedicures.  The great thing about Philly is that you can find services for SUPER expensive or SUPER-DUPER cheap.  We found a little place that did mani/pedi/massage for $45.  They literally massage your back the entire time you're getting your nails done.  Can't beat that!  Plus, our nails look great!  That pretty much wrapped up our day and we headed home.... where I am now.

So, tomorrow is the meeting w/ the realtor, I don't have anything planned Wednesday and Thursday I'm meeting Vicki so we can donate our quota for the Junior League thrift shop (one of our requirements for Junior League up here) and then we have a meeting that night for Junior League.  Friday is a packing day and it'll be time to pick Christian up and start our road trip before we know it!

I hope all of you are enjoying the fall weather wherever you are!  It's kind of gloomy and cool here for the next day or so.  I'm ready for that Florida sunshine and 70 degree weather!

Love y'all!  Have a FANTASTIC week!

xoxo,

Chrissi