Is that you, Spring?

Song of the Day: There She Goes by The La's

Ready...set...BLOOM!

The daffodils are popping up around town, poised to bloom. The high for tomorrow is supposed to be 68! And today was a beautiful day. Katherine was able to enjoy a lovely walk this afternoon to the downtown library to pick up the third installment of the Charles Lenox mysteries, The Fleet Street Murders. It certainly feels like spring, but we can't help feeling like we're being tricked. Is it too soon for spring to officially set in? Better check with the groundhog on Thursday...

This evening, we made one of our favorite dinners, linguine with tomatoes, garlic, roasted portobello mushrooms, and perhaps one of the most underrated vegetables: cauliflower. Fitz says it was delicious. Katherine says it was excellent comfort food, as pasta usually is.

Right now, we're watching our Tar Heels take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Katherine loves cheering for John Henson and Tyler Zeller. Zeller is a student at the business school, where Katherine used to work, and every once in a while, she would see him in the cafeteria. He is super nice and super tall. It's almost half-time, and it's looking good for our Heels! Here are two of our favorite little fans, although one of them is clearly not a Tar Heel...

Suit Up!

Song of the Day: If I Die Young by The Band Perry

What a lovely Saturday! Sunny with a high of 62. We woke up, and after Katherine finished her book The September Society (awesome read!), we left out on a mission: to find Fitz a new suit with some money his grandmother, Ma, gave him. We knew that JoS. A. Bank's was having an incredible sale, but sadly, Fitz didn't find a suit that he really, really liked. So, we went on an adventure to Brooks Brothers in Greensboro. We found a beautiful gray with a tiny light blue striped suit for half price! Katherine thought Fitz looked quite dapper in his new suit. Quite the successful shopping experience for Fitz!

And speaking of suits, this summer, be sure to catch Season 2 of USA's hit show, Suits:

And here's Barney from another wonderful show, How I Met Your Mother, suiting up:

On a sadder note, Fitz's favorite donut from Krispy Kreme, the Krueller, has been discontinued.

All Tied Up

Song of the Day: Follow You Down by The Gin Blossoms

Even at an early age, he looked good in bow-ties

 A gradual but obvious change has been taking place in the Barringer house over the past few weeks. While he once was exclusively a tie-man, Fitz has officially transitioned to being an exclusively bow-tie-man. Encouraged by compliments from those he works with, he has decided that he will only wear bow-ties to work from now on. For those of us who know Fitz well, the more shocking piece of this story is that he ever moved away from bow-ties. It was evident from his early years that bow-ties would become his signature trademark. "They're cleaner," Fitz says, "and not too difficult to tie." Katherine remarks, "We met at church, and I would always notice that he wore bow-ties. It's a very sharp look."

In other news, today was a delightful 65 degrees and sunny. Also, today is Katherine's Dad's birthday! Happy Birthday!

In other, other news, Fitz finished Stephen King's Salem's Lot, a story about a small town in Maine that is overrun by vampires.  Of course, listening to it while running next to Old Salem's graveyards made the story a little too real at times, but it was a great read (listen) nonetheless.  Now it's on to Whiteout by Ken Follett.

To celebrate our engagement, a bow-tie

A bow-tie among men

Wait, Bruno! How did you get in this blog??

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

The Boy Is Back in Town

Song of the Day: The Boys Are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy

Tulips Katherine bought today

Fitz returned safely this evening from his trip to Richmond! He heard oral arguments before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in three cases. Fitz went out to lunch today with the clerks from the judges' offices, and while it was a great trip, he is happy to be home! Tonight we're watching Royal Pains, one of the many USA shows we love. But we're really excited about Psych returning in early February. Oddly enough, one character from each show resembles one of Katherine's brothers. Evan from Royal Pains looks like a lot like Brendan, and Shawn from Psych looks a lot like Allen. See for yourself...Boys, you OK with me posting pictures? 

Allen

Shawn from Psych

Brendan

Evan from Royal Pains

State of the Union

Song of the day: Party in the U.S.A. (in honor of the State of the Union)

For the first time in well over a year, Katherine and Fitz had to spend the night apart because Fitz is in Richmond for work. It was dark when Fitz arrived in Virginia's capital city, but he is looking forward to seeing more of it tomorrow.

Tonight, he had dinner at
The Tobacco Company -- a fitting place considering Richmond is home to one of the largest cigarette companies in the world. He enjoyed his chicken with sun-dried tomatoes, but he is looking forward to Katherine's Mexican food tomorrow!

The State of Things

Song of the Day: MoneyGrabber by Fitz and The Tantrums

After a foggy morning, the sun finally broke through and we had quite a lovely day, reaching today's high at 63. Not bad for January!

Fitz made it to Richmond safely today. It will be a short trip as he will be back home tomorrow evening. Hopefully he will be able to see a museum or two, but regardless, it should be a good and educational trip!

Update: Katherine's mom AND dad made a remarkable connection between the weekend's update Vertigo and one of Katherine's favorite movies, Barefoot in the Park - lots of stairs. And a lawyer husband. And an eccentric wife. This was the only clip Katherine could find featuring the stairs. It's the only way to travel! Enjoy!

Foggy Bloggy

Song of the Day: Green by Brendan James

Today was a very foggy day. Katherine finished both A Beautiful Blue Death and The Hunger Games, which is slightly problematic since each is the first of a series or trilogy. Lots more reading to do! Fitz is finishing Salem's Lot, which he listens to while he runs. It's pretty scary, and with the weather so foggy, listening to tales of the undead lurking in shadows make for an interesting run.

This evening we went to the first meeting of our Bible study group where we discussed C.S. Lewis' The Weight of Glory. We had a great time talking about the sermon which was given as England was in the midst of WWII. Everyone in our group was very nice, and we're looking forward to spending the rest of our time in Winston-Salem with them.

And right now, we're pulling for Kim Clijsters in the Australian Open! Go Kim!

Vertigo

Song of the Day: Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin 

The unthinkable happened today. As you may or may not know, we live on the fourteenth floor of our building, and we depend upon an elevator to traverse the distance between the ground and our perched nest. Fitz spent this morning at the library preparing for the busy week ahead. When he arrived back at our building and pushed the elevator button, no elevator came. He waited for several minutes before he realized what he had to do in order to get back home to Katherine. He had to take the stairs. All fourteen floors. Around and around he went, stopping only at the seventh floor to catch his breath, but not for long. He eventually made his way to the fourteenth floor and took this picture to commemorate his climb, nay, his feat (oh, his feet!). Fitz made it safely home and told Katherine his tale, and as she listened in horror, she realized she would have to change her shoes in case she also had to make this perilous journey, perhaps even prepare a water bottle. Thankfully, the elevators were working once again as we headed out to treat Fitz to a delicious Jersey Mike's lunch.

Who's on first?

Song of the Day: Boys of Summer covered by the Ataris

Friday was a busy day for both us. Katherine wrote her very first press release, and Fitz had a ton of reading to do. All this busyness made leftovers for dinner that much more delicious! It's one of our very favorite recipes by the lovely Giada De Laurentiis, Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables. We strongly recommend it! We leave out the peas and use regular mozzarella, but it always hits the spot!

Fitz and Katherine at a Giants game in May 2011

This evening we rented Moneyball, the movie about the Oakland A's general manager, Billy Beane, who used statistical analysis to lead his team to a successful 2002 season. We loved the movie, and Katherine was reminded that she once had an A's t-shirt, but she donated it a while back. Anyway, she's a Giants fan now.

And that's all we have to say about that.

Katherine with her A's shirt back in 2006

A surprise...

Song of the Day: 1901 by Phoenix

Exciting news: Fitz will be traveling to Richmond next week to sit in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals! It should be an extremely interesting experience, and he is looking forward to it. 

Today at Reynolda House, a mysterious present appeared for Katherine. It wasn't her birthday, so she was very curious to know what it was and from whom. When she looked inside, she was blown away...check it out! 

Hmm...what could it be?

AHHHHHH! It's the mug from Breakfast of Course!

 A dear friend from Reynolda House actually was able to get the actual mug from Breakfast of Course and give it to her! (See the Breakfast of Course entry...) She will be drinking all her green tea and peppermint tea from now on from this mug! It was a surprise and a delight! Thank you dear sweet Reynolda House friend, DJ!

On the road (again)

Song of the Day: Turn the Page by Bob Seger (sorry)

Katherine saw this picture today, and it reminded her of evenings spent playing Trivial Pursuit with her mom and dad, practicing for her high school's quiz bowl team. It payed off as the team placed second in state championship. And speaking of geeks, we went on an adventure today disposing of our Christmas tree. Unintentionally dressed in matching New Balance sneakers, jeans, and gray sweatshirts, we took our tree out of our apartment and tied it to the top of our car and subsequently drove around the city looking for a place to dump it. The City of Winston-Salem will actually collect trees off the curb, so we eventually found a residential street with several other trees waiting to be turned into mulch. Sadly, we tied the knots too well to quickly pull it off the car, resulting in a hurried and frantic effort to dump the tree and speed away. We basically looked like two criminals dressed in matching (and nerdy) outfits nervously dumping a body. Crime is not for us; neither of us are very cool and collected under pressure. Hopefully our little tree will be picked up tomorrow and journey on and never see the likes of us again. 

Geek Squad! Senior year of high school

Matching geeky outfits

Only 343 more days til we see owls again

Song of the Day: Pride by U2

Hoo Hoo Hoo!

It was a long weekend for Fitz as he had today off. Today was spent mostly lounging and reading. Fitz finished 24 Hours while Katherine is close to completing A Beautiful Blue Death. Also, we started packing away the Christmas ornaments, which is always a little depressing. Our small tree looks rather sad now that his decorations are gone. Some of our favorite ornaments are owls that we've received from one of our very good friends from Durham.

Tonight, we had the pleasure of having dinner with our new Bible study. Next week, we'll begin reading and discussing C.S. Lewis' The Weight of Glory, which is a compilation of sermons. We're very excited to start this new study as two years ago we studied Lewis' The Great Divorce, which was very challenging, interesting, and insightful. Also, last night at church, some of our favorite songs were sung. Here's some links to to them!
Be Thou My Vision (this was actually sung during our wedding!)
Here is Our King by David Crowder Band
What Wondrous Love Is This
Marvelous Light
Come ye Sinners

And of course, in honor of today, our song of the day and a favorite quote:

"I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together." - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

See you dear friends next year...

Almost too cute to be packed away

What a hoot!

The MLK Memorial in San Francisco

A Saturday in winter

Song of the Day: This Modern Love by Bloc Party

Today was a bright but chilly Saturday with a high of only 43. For lunch today, Katherine made a quiche, which she is calling You Get What You Give Quiche, inspired by the New Radicals. As her mom can attest to, it's so much more fun to cook or clean while listening to good music! This afternoon, we visited SECCA, the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, where we saw some pretty interesting stuff! Our favorite exhibit was by an artist named Margarita Cabrera entitled The Space In Between. Using vinyl and other basic materials, she was able to sew together soft sculptures of everyday items. Fitz enjoyed her piano best, and Katherine loved the bicycles. Be sure to check out the link to see some of these amazing pieces!

Fitz is taking a picture of Katherine...

...and here Katherine is taking a picture of Fitz. 

A bright green chair

A sculpture of a dress floating on a lake

 

Inside the gallery

A bright winter sun floods the walkway

Return to Sender

Song of the Day: Such Great Heights by The Postal Service

There is The Postal Service, and then there is the postal service. Let's talk about the former. We're dedicating today's song to this amazing band and one of their most famous songs, Such Great Heights, which you may recognize from those awesome UPS commercials. This song has been covered by bands such as Iron and Wine, but perhaps a favorite cover is performed by UNC's a capella group the Achordants heard here.

We are pretty sure that one of those female "whooo"s heard toward the beginning of the video belongs to Katherine as she was present at this particular concert. A fond memory indeed.

And then there is the other postal service. Today, what was once deemed dead mail arrived in our mailbox. It was a Christmas card for one of Katherine's brothers, and sadly, it never made it to its final destination. However, it was a very exciting card, one that can now be shared with everyone. Merry Christmas...aarrrrggghhhh...

Tinker, Tailor, Lawyer, Spy

Song of the Day: Don't Gotta Work It Out by Fitz and the Tantrums

Welcome to the weekend! Well, almost at least. This evening, we went to see Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy at a/perture, the movie theater across the street from us. We both enjoyed it and thought all the actors did a wonderful job. Afterwards, we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Downtown Thai. The Pad Thai is very good and a favorite of ours.

This morning was quite the experiment. It is Fitz's usual custom to rise early and run before getting ready for work, and this morning, Katherine decided to try getting up at the same time and go to the gym while Fitz ran. We are pleased to announce that Katherine did in fact get up and go to the gym as was her goal. Now, we'll see if she can do it for a second morning in a row...

Fitz thought Katherine was so pretty at dinner...awww....

A blustery day

Song of the Day: Just for Now by Imogen Heap

Today is a soup day! It's rather dreary outside, but surprisingly we have a clear view of the mountains today:

Last night, however, the fog was so thick, we couldn't see anything outside our window.

Fitz is working hard again today, and Katherine was busy at Reynolda, compiling survey data from the Modern Masters from the Smithsonian Art Museum exhibit. The show was a great success for Reynolda, but next up is a photography exhibit called A Genius for Place: American Landscapes of the Country Place Era. 


On Sunday evening, we watched the series premiere of The Firm starring Josh Lucas. It was very exciting, and Katherine is insistent that we watch again this Sunday night to see what happens. You may recall the film starring Tom Cruise. The series picks up ten years later after the end of the movie/book. We are just hoping that the law firm in Charlotte where Fitz will be working will be nothing like what John Grisham describes!

Monday Morning

Song of the Day: Monday Morning by Fleetwood Mac

We spent yesterday recording some of our parents' vinyl albums onto our computer.  Fitz always knew his dad had good taste in music, and the self-titled Fleetwood Mac album is a case-in-point. For that reason, "Monday Morning" seems like a fitting song of the day!

BOC, or Breakfast of Course

Song of the Day: London Calling

After a long 50-hour, 4-day week for Fitz, it seemed a good idea to kick of the weekend with a special Saturday breakfast. We walked downtown to Breakfast of Course where we both ordered their famous Apple Butter Baby. Katherine asked for coffee, and when it was served, in came in this mug:

How delightful! Afterwards, a stroll to the downtown library to return a DVD. Back home, Fitz is finishing up Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and Katherine is starting The Keeper of Lost Causes. A great start to the day!

Such a lovely day

Song of the Day: Sister by The Black Keys 

Here in Winston-Salem, it's sunny with a high of 63 today. Reynolda House is always lovely, but it's especially pretty in the late afternoon light. We'd like to thank Instagram and the amazing work it does to make these pictures turn out decent.

 

A new year, a new chapter

2012 is here finally, and to start things off this year, we are each reading different books. Fitz is reading Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and Katherine has just finished Death Comes to Pemberley. Oddly, both are set in England, someone's been killed, not sure who did it, and trying to catch the killer/mole involves breaking for tea time.