B #1: Boarding...
Last Saturday, Drew & I cashed in a GrabOne (it's a site like Groupon or LivingSocial in the US) deal for a stand-up paddleboarding lesson. Our friends, Will & Tally, bought the deal too so we all went together up to Lake Pupuke which is across the bridge in Takapuna. We got up there around 11 for an hour lesson and, luckily, the weather was really nice. Our instructor was a high school graduate from Italy who likes to bounce around enjoying an endless summer teaching SUP, sailing, etc. We all started out paddling on our knees, but eventually all stood up (I was the last one, of course.) We kept close to the shore of the lake to cut the off the wind and make it easier to keep your balance. Everything was going well...until we were told to turn around to head back to the dock...that's when the instructor told me to shift my weight in order to turn faster and...as you can imagine...that didn't end well for me. I ended up in the water, gripping onto my paddle and doggie-paddling to retrieve my visor that was floating away. The instructor felt bad, so he towed me back to the rest of our group and then I got to paddle in the last little bit. The funniest part was that everyone else thought I was just being lazy by getting towed in...they didn't even realize I had fallen in the water! All of that aside, it was a fun thing to try and I can see how it would be lots of fun once you get good at it :) I think Drew has found his new hobby...
B #2: Biscuits...We finally found a place that has real, southern, home-style biscuits here!! Beleive it or not...that place is Carl's Jr haha (for those of you not familiar, Carl's Jr. is the west-coast division of Hardee's.) Now, this is not a place we would ever choose to eat back home, but we saw an add for real biscuits and have to give them a whirl. They were surprisingly really good! Such a nice treat from 'home'!
B #3: Babies...
On Sunday, I had the pleasure of hosting a baby shower for one of my dear friends, Katie Bruffy. She's expecting her first baby...a boy...this June so we thought we'd go ahead and shower her with love and presents! We had a group of 10 girls plus the mama-to-be at a cute little cafe called the Chocolate Boutique over in Parnell. It was so much fun to get everything set up and decorated! We ordered lots of yummy desserts and drinks for everyone and had fun playing matching games where you had to match celebrity parents to their strange babies' names and one where you had to match the celebrity name to what the celebrity's birth name was. My unsurpassed knowledge of useless trivia helped me out, but I didn't technically play since I had made the games. After that, we got to watch Katie open all of the gifts and I can definitely see how people spend so much money on baby stuff...it's so stinkin' cute! I had also been able to get lots of notes, cards and pictures from a lot of her friends and family members from back home and complied them into a book with notes and predictions from the girls at the shower. Katie was overwhelmed to say the least...it a great way! It was such a nice afternoon and now we just have to wait for the arrival of Baby Bruffy!
B #4: Bags....
This week, Drew & I have been packing, packing, packing to come home for our 2nd visit to NC! We started doing all of our laundry, laying out clothes and gifts and weighing our suitcases to make sure they're not too heavy. We're only going to be home for 8 full days, so we're not sure why we have so much stuff, but oh well! We've also got a lot of stuff waiting for us back home that I've ordered online in the past few months...oops!
B #5: Books...
One project that I've been 'working on' in 2013 is to read a book a week for the entire year. So far, I've managed to stay pretty much on track...sometimes, I read 2 books in one week and other times one book takes me longer than a week...but it averages out! I'll admit that I've read several trashy, girly, beach-read kind of books, but I've read some other stuff, too! I'm going to try to create a whole post that outlines all of the books and my thoughts on each that I can post at the end of the year. Stay tuned....
So, as some of you know, I have recently accepted a part-time job working for my friend, Amy's, company here called Project Bridesmaids. I will be the head of marketing and social media and it truly is a marriage (no pun intended) of two things that I love...social media and weddings! Even though I won't officially start going full steam ahead until we return from our trip, I got my first taste yesterday when I accompanied Amy to a photo shoot for her new line of dresses. It was the first time that I had ever been to a photo shoot...aside from my thriving modeling career in elementary school...pause for laughs...and it was so much fun! They had models, photographers, a hair & makeup lady...all the real stuff! I got to steam dresses and style dresses...and it was all just so much fun. Then, after an issue with one of the models that resulted in her leaving early, Amy asked if I would want to get my hair and makeup done and stand in as the 2nd model for the last few shots.
Ummm....DUH! Of course I wanted to! I got to have my hair and makeup done, try on one of Amy's beautiful dresses, and get to be a real model...for like 20 minutes :) The pictures should be showing up on the company website in the near future...keep an eye out!
B #7: Bon Voyage...
Last but not least, we had to say goodbye to one of our great friends, Leah, last night. Leah was one of the first people we met here in New Zealand and we are so sad to see her go. She has been working at Google during her time in Auckland and was able to transfer to the Google office in Chicago. It all came about rather quickly once she found the job, so she heads out next Monday! Last night, we had our group of great friends get together at a bar called La Zeppa so we could spend a little bit of time with Leah before she heads off. It was a lot of fun, but sad at the same time. I tried very hard not to cry when we left, but to no avail :( She has been such a great part of our group and things won't be the same without her here. But we ARE glad that she's moving back to the States...and to a place that I really want to visit! Wishing her lots of luck in all of her future endeavors!
So that's a wrap up for us at the moment! Now we sit here, anxiously waiting to head to the airport where we can wait for our 12-hour flight to San Francisco, our 2-hour layover, 5-hour flight to Charlotte, and 2-hour drive to Greensboro. We'll be home soon enough!!
Cheers!
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