Friday Favorites!

I’m back with another installment of Friday favorites! (said in best game show voice)

Last week I shared some favorites from one of my favorite Durham places- the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. I think this summer I have officially been converted to a baseball fan. And I’m going to miss it once the season is over!

Anyways, as you may have heard, I started a new job this week. I didn’t even get a chance to sit down at my desk until Wednesday morning, I didn’t get logged into my new old computer until Thursday morning, and my time surfing the net for stories and items etc, has been limited. It’s been kind of nice not having Internet time lately, but I really did miss it.

There were a few things that caught my eye this week that I deemed worthy enough of sharing:

A recipe for tomato and peach salad with feta. Nom nom nom. I am a feta machine. I’ve been adding it to a ton of different foods recently! Maybe I can catch some peaches still in season and make this simple salad this weekend…

This guy, Cass, is legit. I stumbled across his blog While Out Riding when a post about Peru was on the Freshly Pressed wordpress page! Of course I had to check it out. And I am so glad I did! I really love his posts- so vibrant in language and in photos! And so many of the images remind me of my time in Peru. I think it’s time to go back!

I like this idea for a chalkboard in my future home!

The Power of a Midweek Workout

Do you ever have those, “what in the world am I doing?!” thoughts???

I don’t know if I’m happy or ashamed to say that I don’t have those thoughts very often. Last night, however, I definitely was thinking that.

This week I started a new job. With it came lots of packing, heavy lifting, cleaning, unpacking, organizing, sweat, and exhaustion daily. (We just bought a new building and this was our first week in it!) I’ve gone home late and been so tired that I’ve hardly eaten dinner; merely taken a hot bath, read a few chapters of Anna Karenina, spent time online and crashed into bed around 11. What I haven’t had time for this week is cooking, blogging, and working out. Three things that usually make my weeks fun and interesting!

Anyways, back to my “what in the world am I doing?!” moment yesterday…

I got off work around 5:20. Without much thought, I instinctively started driving towards downtown Durham, an area I’ve grown to love as of lately. I pulled into the familiar sketchy parking garage on Corcoran and parked in the least creepy spot available. I popped open my trunk, grabbed my bag with my workout clothes, and headed towards Bull City Yoga.

If you follow me on twitter or talk to me at all, you might know that Friday is my yoga/explore Durham night with a friend. It helps me unwind after my week, and get charged up for the weekend. It’s my little weekly routine and I love it. But I also love change.

Words

Monday is almost over, I can hardly believe it! Today has been a long, busy day. I could go into detail about the first official day at my new job… the random questions that my coworkers and I asked one another and all about our conversations over a Thai lunch. Or I could talk about how much I despise jean shopping and how I bought three different pairs in three different sizes. Or I could share the apple cobbler recipe I just came up with (and it’s actually pretty darn good!). Or I could tell you all about what God has been doing in my heart recently. But, I decided to keep it simple, stupid.

That was lame, wasn’t it? 

Today’s post is simple.

Encouraging, inspiring & interesting words I’ve found from here.

My Favorite Things About the Durham Bulls

There are only 5 Durham Bulls games left this season. This seriously upsets me. 

You see, I’m no diehard baseball fan. Sure, I can appreciate a good play, yell at the umpires, and cheer when a player makes it to base, but I don’t know all the terms or rules. I simply enjoy watching the game and learning more about it at the same time. And to me, the best baseball games are the ones you physically go to… forget sitting at home in front of the tv watching it. I have to be there watching the action firsthand. (And keeping my eyes peeled to the field in case of fly balls!)

I have been to many a Durham Bulls game this summer, and it’s been absolutely grand. Because I’m such a seasoned Durham Bulls game-goer, I thought I would share a few of my favorite things about games.

1. The Beautiful Ballpark

I mean, come on. The Durham Bulls Athletic Park is so pretty! I don’t know if it’s the office buildings in the outfield, the classic Lucky Strike tower smokestack that can be seen from the stadium, the big Bull that’s been there as long as I can remember, or if it’s the pretty green field itself that I love… but I think the DBAP is so nice!

I would love to work in one of those buildings

Lucky Strike

the iconic Bull

Recent Tunes

Well, it’s been a while since I last shared some of my favorite music with you (thank you : Milo Greene) and because I don’t have much else to write about today, I thought I would share more music I’m loving lately!

I am constantly on the search for new music. Constantly. One day I will be listening to Pitbull and Far East Movement at work, the next day it’s Abba and the Hairspray soundtrack, and the next day I’m listening to Ray LaMontagne and Jake Owen. Yes I love a wide variety of music! So I’m always thankful when a friend shares a favorite artist, when iTunes has a decent new free download, or when I hear a song at a Durham Bulls game that I like!

Here are a few of my recent favorites:

Ho Hey – The Lumineers

This song has literally been on repeat. I love it and the other tracks on their record “The Lumineers.” And I’m mad at myself for not going to their show in NC this past weekend. Argh.

Smile

I don’t know about where you are this Monday morning, but here in the Triangle, it’s rainy and yucky outside.

Traffic was rough this morning due to the weather and the influx of people back into the Durham/Chapel Hill area for school, and my feet got soaked walking to my building and trying to dodge all the rain puddles.

It’s mornings like these that I would love to be home, curled up in bed with a cup of coffee and a book (I’m currently reading Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. Nerd alert) Instead, I’m at work.

via

Today on the extremely rainy bus ride into work, I saw a familiar sight, but one that broke my heart even more today than it normally does.

Friday Favorites

This weekly post takes so much time for me. Throughout the week I’m constantly emailing links to news stories/videos/stores to myself, then Friday morning I try to weed through them and pick my absolute favorites to share. It’s a tough job, y’all 😉

Summer Veggie Flatbread recipe: found here. Mmmm. (This is one of my favorite food blogs, by the way!)

I’m the nurse in your famous shot: from Letters of Note.

Seriously loving these city prints from Loosepetals on etsy. Too bad there’s no Durham, NC. They need to get on that pronto.

If I planned a Dr. Seuss party, would you come?

I’ve never seen “Dirty Dancing”, but it was filmed at Lake Lure in Western NC! This weekend is the 25th anniversary, and there’s a festival tonight at Lake Lure. How could would it be to watch the movie lakeside where it was filmed?! If I started driving now, I could make it there in time… 😉

Freshman Year Flashback

With colleges starting back up all over the country, I thought it appropriate to do a quick flashback to my freshman college days. (besides this one I did back in February)

I was young… 18. A North Carolina native transplanted into upstate South Carolina, knowing only one person on the entire campus. My major was undecided, I was sure I would get lost trying to find my seat in chapel (we had chapel 2x a week and were required to go), and scared about gaining the “Freshman 15.” I had no car, no job on campus, and no plans to get involved with any clubs/sports. I was excited yet nervous about what the next 4 (which turned into 3 1/2!) years held for me in college.

As the days and weeks and months passed, I quickly met more people, found my chapel seat without a problem, and eventually decided on a major. I still didn’t have a car, but got a Spanish tutoring job freshman year, and got involved in random ways on campus.

Here are some random pictures from freshman year, taken from my creative facebook albums. Seriously, I had 10+ albums from freshman year alone, and I always tried for the album names to be song lyrics or titles. Oh so silly. I’m telling ya, we were crazy. Not crazy in the typical college sense, but in our own way. And I had so much fun.

Like that one time my friends and I went “water sliding” all over campus one night when there was standing water everywhere. Or when I joined a bowling league and learned to bowl like a pro. (who am I kidding?!) Or trips to Dunkin’ to pick up a dozen donuts. Or random drives through the mountains. Or a day trip in a small mountain town. Or Walmart runs 3 times a week. Or decorating our dorm for a LIFE themed Halloween. Or making little videos while cleaning our bathroom.

The memories just keep coming back…