A Dream Along The Way: September Fun!

5 new posts in 2 days and about 10 more to go!

Not only does the beginning of September bring Labor Day; it also brings my birthday and this this year, my birthday fell on Labor Day! I got the most amazing gift this year too- one of my best friends and former NYC roommate came to see me from Ireland (From France, currently living in Dublin).

She told me a few months prior to September that she wanted to come. When it was getting closer, she stopped talking to me and I figured she wasn't coming/couldn't work it out for whatever reason and just felt bad telling me. Derek came home at his regular time Thursday night, but the weirdo knocked on the door instead of just coming in. I opened it and there was Malika!

I just love her! I love talking with her. I can talk to her about anything. She is very intelligent and a good listener. There are very few people who are actually good listeners- I do consider myself a good listener though : D

Malika treated me to a day at the Ballantyne Spa. It was wonderful. We exercised at the fitness center, swam, sauna, relaxed, ate their healthy snacks, and got facials. We were going to get our hair cut/colored but couldn't work it in and boy does my hair need some help. I haven't had it cut since Easton was 6 weeks old. That was almost18 months ago!

The photo below is only here to show you how clear my face was. See, a week and a half before this picture, I started a new face regimen- the Oil Cleansing Method. I wanted an all natural cleanser instead of putting all of those chemicals on my skin. I know a few people who use it with great results. Me? not so much. It wrecked total havoc on my face and I'm still not back to normal. Slowly getting there, but wow. It was so bad that I went to a dermatologist and was given "very strong" antibiotics for infection. It helped a tiny bit. I have since read about others who have had the same exact reaction that starts with teeny tiny bumps- not really pimples all over. ugh.

Then:

(taken two years ago in NYC)

Now:

We took Malika to see the lovely downtown/uptown Charlotte that was almost completely shut down for the DNC. All was not a waste though. We met a cop from the Atlanta area and I set her up on a date with him! Ultimately my goal is to get her to marry a nice man in the states-preferably in the south-so I can see her often!

On my birthday, Arden went to a friends birthday party and I made my own cake. How wrong is that?! I didn't want to, but I did want a cake. You're never too old to have a birthday cake. Malika made a delicious vegetarian dinner and after dinner and cake, I put Easton to bed and Malika and I headed uptown to meet John.

I just had to add both of these photos because I love Arden's face.

Here is a video of the cop. He and his crew were all over the news including CNN the next day. When we first met them, they were not doing this so it was a shock to see them all over the news the day after their date.

Malika and I met them while they were still eating dinner. After dinner, we went to Howl at the Moon-a dueling piano bar- mind you NO one was there because of the DNC and private parties going on everywhere. Really. We were the only ones in the place and it was so fun. I loves pianos and singing. After listening to a few songs, John got up and gave a note to one of the piano players and the next song was ***Happy Birthday. That was really nice of John, but Malika and I were laughing so hard, we were crying.
Malika left the next morning and Arden and I were very sad. Arden took to her really fast.

More September fun playing with cousing Briggs in his cool car