Springtime in Winston-Salem

Song of the Day: Color on the Walls (Don't Stop) by Foster The People

At Reynolda Gardens

Well, winter was short-lived. Spring is here! Winston-Salem is very pretty with its blooming trees, redbuds, and the dogwoods are starting to open up as well. Many of the daffodils are actually still in bloom and haven't crumpled up yet. It all makes for a very lovely scene. It reminds us a lot of Chapel Hill in the spring, particularly on campus, how pink everything is.

Fitz finished his last book and is moving onto A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers. Katherine, having read the last published book of the Charles Lenox mysteries, is trying to figure out what to read next. She's sure she'll have something figured out by the weekend. In the meantime, however, she is anxiously awaiting The Hunger Games on the big screen due out tomorrow.

Also, today is Melanie Simpson's birthday! Happy Birthday Melanie! Melanie was Katherine's roommate when she began dating Fitz. She was one of her lovely bridesmaids over three years ago now and is still one of her best friends. Here's a picture of Katherine and Melanie together with their mutual (and beloved) friend Greg in the middle.

Christmas time in the apartment! Complete with tree and penguins!

Barbecue in Space!

Song of the Day: Drive by Alan Jackson

Barbecue, slaw, hushpuppies, and tea!

Yesterday we took a little road trip to Lexington for lunch at Lexington Barbecue where Katherine is convinced they serve the best barbecue, red slaw (which is vinegar-based), and hushpuppies in the world. Fitz is a huge fan as well, and while we're living in Winston-Salem, we plan on making this road trip more often.

Of course it was packed...it's always packed...

Fitz is reading a book about the FBI these days called My FBI, and Katherine just finished A Burial at Sea this afternoon. We also watched 2001: A Space Odyssey last night. The movie had been coming up in many conversations lately, and we thought we needed to see it ourselves. We actually liked most of it, but the last part was a bit much for us. We're keeping a sharp eye on our computers, watching for any signs of a mental breakdown...

A Summer Place

Song of the Day: Help Me by Joni Mitchell

Today was a summer day. Yes, it's only March 14 (Happy Pi Day!), but it was a lovely summery day with a high into the 80s. Big fluffy clouds, blue sky, soft breeze, the perfect day.

Last night while flipping around on television, we came across The Newlywed Game, which neither of us had actually seen before except for a clip here or there. Intrigued, we watched a little, and then curious about how well would we do (3+years into marriage), we played our own (clean) version. Here are some of the results:

1. What is your spouse's favorite food?
Fitz: A nice seafood dinner.
Katherine: Carrots.

The correct answers are Fitz loves chicken parmesan and Katherine loves carbs.

2. What is your spouse's worst fear or phobia?
Fitz: Rotten cheese or food.
Katherine: Contamination.

We got those right.

3. What phrase or word does your spouse say most often?
Fitz: "I'm sleepy."
Katherine: "Press on."

The correct answers are Fitz says "Indeed!" and Katherine says, "What..."

And our favorite...because it says so much about us...
4. How would your spouse finish the sentence, Our marriage would be perfect if we could agree on ____________.
Fitz: A budget.
Katherine: Owning a dog.

The correct answers, Fitz would like us to agree to a budget and Katherine would like to own a dog. Clearly, our priorities are a bit out of sync. But we think we're pretty awesome as newlyweds if we still qualified.

And finally, in celebration of Pi Day, here is a funny picture Katherine saw on Facebook earlier today:

We Have Sprung Forward!

Song of the Day: Give Me Just A Little More Time by Chairman of the Board

What a beautiful day! It got up into the 70s, and the sun shone for most of the day. Winter was exceptionally mild this year, but we're not complaining. 

Yesterday was, of course, disappointing for us as we watched the Tar Heels fall to the Seminoles for a second time, but we were relieved that the score was so much closer this time around. And besides, good things happen in the NCAA Tournament when UNC doesn't win the ACC Championship, i.e. 1993, 2005, and 2009. We'll be filling out our brackets tomorrow. And we both will have UNC winning the whole shebang. 

In honor of how much we love Carolina, here are some photos of us wearing our UNC gear. 

Here's Freshman Katherine with some high school pals at Kenan Stadium.

Katherine graduates in the Dean Dome! Fitz wears a Tar Heel tie...so classy. 

Katherine shows her UNC love at Cold Stone with her friend Dayna during finals week.

Even in California, Fitz can't help but wear the correct shade of blue!

Ahhh! It's The Great Tar Heel Pumpkin! 

Fitz graduates from law school wearing another appropriate tie for the occasion. 

Be Sure to Wear Carolina Blue Tomorrow

Song of the Day: Strange Currencies by REM

Although the official first day of spring has yet to arrive, it certainly feels like it has. Today reached a high of 73, and the sun did finally make it out this afternoon. As we discussed last night in Bible study, it's hard to believe that March is in full swing and February is gone (and has been gone for a while now). Time flies when you're having fun, they say.

Wake's Byrum Welcome Center

 And fun we are having! Fitz had a good day, nothing really out of the ordinary. He was sweet enough to go out to get Chipotle for dinner this evening, sparing us both from cooking late and dirty dishes. Katherine also had a nice day. She attended the Winston-Salem Arts Council Kickoff Meeting at the Byrum Center on Wake Forest's campus. It's a beautiful building with some particularly cute, small flowers planted right outside. At the meeting, Katherine heard a brief lecture on the Texas millionaires who insisted that while President Kennedy stayed in Fort Worth the night before his assassination, his hotel room be filled with famous artwork. She also heard a wonderful performance of a few Bach pieces on the piano by a music professor at Wake and another brief lecture on an exhibition called Domestic Bliss currently on display at Reynolda House.

We're both very excited about the ACC Tournament, and we'll be pulling for our beloved Tar Heels tomorrow at noon as they take on the Maryland Terrapins. Go Heels!

Those adorable flowers...violets or mini pansies?

A Chili Day

Song of the Day: L.O.V. by Fitz and The Tantrums

While today was sunny, the wind was a little too chilly for our tastes. But, spring is assuredly on its way and we're enjoying the weather as much as we can. And it's chili for dinner!

Katherine and Lindsay...

  

...and Carolyn and Katherine!

We had a super nice weekend. Fitz was able to play some golf with his dad, and they both played very well. Katherine was able to see her parents as well as two of her best friends, Lindsay and Carolyn. Lindsay was Katherine's roommate her sophomore year at UNC. While they have very different views on how neat one's dorm room should be (and Lindsay's view is the correct one), they are super good friends and made it through the year together without a single argument. Years later, as Katherine was taking some garbage to the dumpster in the apartment complex where she and Fitz were spending their first years of marriage together, she bumped into Lindsay and discovered that they lived in the same complex! Thus began weekly dinners at one another's apartments. Lindsay was the best neighbor ever, and we have missed her dearly here in Winston-Salem. However, life may be arranging for Lindsay to once more be near us in our next move...

Carolyn and Katherine met playing karaoke at a mutual friend's house one evening when both were new to the Grad and Career group at The Church of the Good Shepherd back in Durham. They became super fast friends and share many wonderful and exciting memories: watching a hawk swoop down and grab a squirrel in Coker Arboretum (that was more horrifying than wonderful or exciting), sharing desserts at Nordstrom Cafe, going on walks, and spending a lot of time sipping coffee and giggling together over the years. Carolyn is an amazing artist, and often Katherine wears some yellow earrings Carolyn made especially for her! Katherine is actually wearing these earrings in the photos, but are hidden behind her hair. 

It was a great weekend, and it's been a great start to the week. Fitz's trial is over, thankfully, so he should resume a more normal work pace and schedule. He looked very handsome today in his new suit. He plans on wearing his Tar Heel bow tie on Friday in support of UNC's game that day. 

And yes, we did watch the UNC vs. Duke game. We were very relieved to see them redeem themselves, and we have great hopes for them in March Madness!

Mussel Mania

Song of the Day: Nothing Ever Hurt Like You by James Morrison

We made it to the end of the week! We've seen spring, we've seen fog, and today we saw rain. It's been a good week, but we're happy to be in the weekend now. 

Oooh, pretty mussels...

This evening, we watched Jeopardy! as we usually do. For dinner tonight, we made mussels with garlic, tomatoes, white wine, and basil. We added some shrimp to the mix as well, and it made for a delicious dinner on a foggy evening. 

Now that's dinner over, we're going to sit down on the couch and watch Amazing Grace starring Ioan Gruffud. We hope everyone else had a great week and enjoys their weekend!

Also, check out these awesome magnets we got in the mail today! They're meant to promote vacations in the Caribbean, but we think they're going to be much more than that on our refrigerator door, i.e. a source of immense amusement. 

Katherine wrote the top sentence and Fitz wrote the bottom one.