why i DO declare! eating our way through charleston & running at the zoo

matt and i spent a fabulous long weekend in charleston last week. we try to take one trip alone together each year and we look forward to it very much.

we had a GREAT time.

here we are in front of our inn, it was so cute and quaint.

here we are outside before we went to the
courtyard for wine and cheese (nom nom nom)

over the weekend we ate at fig, blossom and s.n.o.b. (slightly north of broad) for our evening meals and had southern fare at jestine's and another local cafe (the name escapes me at the moment) - we seriously ate our way through charleston. it. was. awesome.

we stayed at the fulton lane inn, a very small and charming inn right in the heart of of it all. the location was perfect, just perfect (right on king street)! here's a link to their site, if you are going to charleston it's a neat place to stay. very private and very accommodating.

matt had a meeting on friday so i went out on a run down through the battery - it was an awesome run, for real - one of my best. i am sure it had something to do with it being so flat there. you know i love me some flat terrain. i took a few photos of my morning...

down by the water

i usually don't run on brick roads, but did here

friday afternoon we went down to the water to watch the practice for the air show. those dudes are CRAZY. i loved it. we once went to the show in chicago but i think it was super sunny and we had to leave before the blue angels came out due to an impending sunburn. so this was my first time seeing them and they really bah-lew my mind. i took one photo, they are super tiny though.

these guys have a license to fly like
bats out of H-E-double hockey sticks

we were walking back to prepare ourselves for dinner and went by the mill house hotel. this is where matt was staying the night we had the house fire. ah, memories.

mill house hotel

here i am at our hotel's wine and cheese hour. matt and i went there every night - good wine and yummy cheese. we are wine and cheese connoisseurs if you didn't know...

to me!

the cute hubby

can i say that we looked in about 10 different stores for a cool shirt for lottie sue. none of them were anywhere near cool but we finally found one that would work.

not this one

but oh yeah, i did find giant flip flops to fit my giant feet - finally!

just like cinderella

we also went on a carriage ride, the kind that gives you the history of the city. i know i may look like a dork in there but i go on them wherever i go - you learn so much and get to see all of the big stuff. so next time you travel somewhere just go on it, you'll be glad you did.

here we are waiting on our buggy to go out, i'm chatting with lottie sue

this was our GIANT horse, larry
(ashton kutcher told us he could pull 9 carriages
and not blink, he's that strong of a horse)

this is our guide, ashton kutcher - i mean COME ON, he's a dead ringer

here are a few shots i took on the way...

that afternoon we walked over to the aiken-rhett house for a tour. it's a preserved home in charleston, not restored - so everything there was old old old. it was cool - and this really tells you how much matt loves me...ha. i don't have many photos, they don't allow photography. poo.

a photo from the internet

here matt is outside wearing his headphones for the walking tour.

nerd alert

this is what he was looking at...

the back of the home

so after the tour that day we went back and got ready for dinner. here i am outside our hotel.

happy for happy hour

ooh, and here i am with wine and cheese - i'm about to gobble it all up. yummers!

pre-dinner fun

this photo is of the wall in the courtyard

now we move on to our dinner at s.n.o.b. - my favorite of the trip. and here is a photo of the best martini i've ever had - so smooth. i ordered it upon the recommendation of maureen - so thank you, maureen!

seriously, so smooth and delicious

we ate at s.n.o.b. years ago with the linkers - LOOK! we are babies here! i think matt and i were recently married.

i really like my hair here

here are a few other photos of the time we went to charleston with the linkers - good times!

jamie and john on the battery

a squinting me and mowmow

here we are playing games
(matt's thumb is bandaged up, he sliced it cooking a few days
prior at home in chicago and we had to run through a rain
storm to get to the hospital - he was pretty much blue when
we got there and i almost passed out when they stitched him up)

another cute photo of us, i know - it's too much

we really missed the kids but enjoyed out time together. bb and granddaddy sent a few photos of lottie sue (gramma and papaw had little rowdyman - said he was the perfect gentleman)...

she loves to mess around in the water, very
helpful with your gardening as well

now on to another topic, my running - whee! so far i have completed two races, the first almost killed me but the second one was way better. i am getting better as i go along and while i'm slow (like a turtle, not kidding) i will get faster as i drop weight and get in shape. i am quite proud of myself. i pretty much rock. i have a 5K this saturday and then a 4-miler next saturday (somewhat nervous about this one but it's supposed to be flat flat flat so i think i can do it).

oh yeah, and i know i posted about meeting the pink mom from biggest loser - the other day i saw that the pink daughter works out at my gym. i am two for two! i spoke to her for a minute and she was super nice, she said she has a few more weeks until they go back and she was working out like crazy (spinning is her fave). go pink daughter, hope ya win! ok, back to the zoo...

me, hilary, amy and megan before the run at the zoo
(we also saw lindsay but didn't get her photo, boo)

matt came down with the kiddos and got this great action shot of me

after the race we stayed and did the zoo with the kids. it was our family and the hussar clan. lottie sue was in a funk that morning and wanted to hog emery's car the whole time. to amy and chris, our apologies. but here are some photos!

amy and emery pick out the perfect animal for the carousel

this was the only shot i got of matt and lottie sue, that thing goes fast

lottie sue surveys the goats, who needs
a brushing the most she wonders

tail action

this is what rowdy thought of it all

more proof that lottie sue will talk to a wall or any person
(i rescued the college student, she told me lottie
was asking her questions about mopping (???))

and here i am with amy, my running buddy - whee!

oh yeah, look at me - i followed through with my monthly chair-photo-taking promise. i will NOT let you down!

early april 2010

early march 2010

i leave you with a few random photos of baby boy, he is 7 months old - GASP. for real, you say? real, i say.

what a big boy

alrighty, gotta go - i hear a lottie sue calling me. i leave you with this quote. i read it and liked it so i thought i would share...

"this is the true joy in life...the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap..."

-george bernard shaw

until next time!

matt scorsese, sharpies, flipping out, easter & lesley the buzzkill

this is out first foray into imovie, matt did most of the work while i did what i enjoy - being a critic here and there. with his creative genius and my discerning eye we have the final product. i LOVE it, it made me cry to be honest but what can i say - i love my family!

directed by matt scorsese

this past weekend the apples came down for Easter. the kids got along very well most of the time but sometimes notsomuch. the first night they decided to draw on themselves and each other with sharpies. becce and i went out to get a pedicure and came home to this...

matt and mike were babysitting, btw

here's a close-up of lottie...

matt went in to the study and found her drawing on her arms, body art

when we came home and saw them my first thought was how this was blog GOLD. it's hard to get upset when something is funny. i was truly happy they didn't draw on my precious chair, now that was honestly the first thought that ran in my head. full disclosure and all...

ever since my trip to the gymnastics place with the hussars i have been wanting more trampoline time. it is so much fun. so we took the kids on friday morning and of course had a great time. the adults played as hard as the kids, we were all pretty gross when we left. i had to take rowdy to his 6 month appointment and had to apologize for my appearance. BUT i am totally awesome, i did a front flip on the trampoline. i cannot tell you how great it felt, it has been YEARS upon YEARS since i did one. matt and mike tried to do one as well. they were very close, but no cigar. see for yourself!

flipping out

here are a few more photos from that morning...

matt digs lottie sue out of the foam pit

where's mike (a la "where's waldo")

matt got some major air on floor exercise, check out harlan running after him

mike doing a herkey on the trampoline

we have video of harland and lottie at the gym (and having a dance session at home to beyonce's "single ladies" - it's harlan's favorite song) that we'll put up for you soon. we are all about movies now. we're so hollywood.

we were lucky enough to have a visit from the gilmore family - little cj was in the house and looking as cute as a baby can. geez. seriously, he needs to modeling contract. stat.

becce with little man gilmore (and with a little BOY in her belly)

cj sleeps. a lot.

again...sleeping

after church on sunday we met family over at the crown plaza for lunch. we don't have many photos because we were managing kids but i have a this ONE of granray and rowdy.

both are super cute

lottie was eating and saw harlan in the floor so she then wants DOWN RIGHT NOW to roll around just like her cousin.

i am sure the floor was relatively clean

after lunch matt took a family portrait of the apples since everyone was dressed up and respectable looking.

matt showing mike a few shots as becce goofs off

the winning shot, i think it's so GOOD - it's going on our mantle

this is one shot of lottie sue in her dress, we didn't get a family shot due to rowdy going straight to napland once we got home. oh well, one day we will get a family shot.

little miss lottie sue picking me a bouquet of weeds

becce and mike drove harlan around campus to show him a few places from their past. mike took a shot of the rock, it's HILARIOUS.

geez, lesley - don't be such a buzzkill

i leave you with this, lottie sue participated in several easter egg hunts and had a ton of eggs filled with candy. i kept them hidden and out of reach (or so i thought) for two weeks but then i saw this...

she denied eating chocolates even when caught red-handed

i was in the kitchen and heard candy wrapper crinkling, when i went in the dining room she was under the chair on her belly with her feet kicked up about to eat her third chocolate.