A Few of My Favorite Things Friday {Gift Edition}

I decided that I'm going to resurrect my "Fave Fridays."

This week, I want to share my favorite gifts I've recently received.... 

specifically from this past Christmas.

1. The SKIL Octo Multi-Finishing Sander

I'm really excited to use my new sander! This was one of my gifts from Adam.  I've recently jumped on the bandwagon and taken up painting furniture. This is going to come in quite handy, as I'm a lazy sander. I love the small attachments for detailed and small areas. 

2. Brown Herringbone Toms

Also from Adam. I have worn the dickens out of my old Toms. My big toes are coming through and the soles are dwindling. I also wanted a more wintery pair. 

3. Massage Envy Gift Card

Yes, I'm a member at Massage Envy. I was before we went to EA, jumped right back in when we came back, and quickly found the nearest location within the first week we were in NC. I'm slightly addicted to massages, and it is really such a good deal. I've yet to not have a wonderful massage, definitely comparable to anything I've paid too much for at a high-end spa. I love the therapist that I'm going to. All that to say, one of my favorite gifts. 

4. Kitchenaid Stand Mixer

Hallelujah! Thank you Dad! I've wanted one for years. I'm loving it. 

5. And finally.... the most unexpected but AWESOME gift ever.....

A Segway Tour of downtown Raleigh! 

Adam's brother & his wife got online to search for something fun in Raleigh and found this. I've always wanted to ride a Segway. I will wear that helmet with pride! 

I'm thankful for fam who knows me well & were so thoughtful in picking the perfect gifts!  

A Few of my Favorite Things Friday {December Edition}

It's Been a While since I've done this.... So I thought I'd just give some of my favorite things for the whole month of December (and 7 days of January). 

 Lots of faves....

#1 .....SNOW!!!

It RARELY snows here, and clearly when it does.... it's not so pretty but still.... it's SNOW!

it didn't stick to much..... the ground still looked like this outside our apartment

So as not so magical as it was..... it was wonderful none the less. Hannah & Janessa ran through the streets of our village yelling, "SNOW!!!! SNOW!!!!"

and speaking of snow.......

Fave #2- What consumes a significant part of my thought life right now......

STAYING WARM! 

It got REAL cold all of a sudden..... yes,yes I know that it has been brutally cold across the southeast & midwest US for the last month or so. But I never realized how much I took central heating for granted until I moved here. 

This is how we live in America- We live in homes that have vents that run through them heating every inch of our houses at the touch of a button- it can be as warm as you want it to be. THEN when we do need to venture out, we walk a few dozen feet to our cars or better yet, to our garages and get into our cars that heat up REAL quick. Then we arrive at our destination, and 9 times out of 10, get out, endure 30 seconds of cold and then dash into another centrally heated location. We don't have to endure much cold if we really don't want to. 

Now take away the central heat, the cars with heat, the cars period and you have a COLD house and a COLD means of transportation (on foot), and a COLD non-heated destination. Basically you are COLD! 

Poor Hannah got an indoor/outdoor thermometer from home for Christmas.... and yesterday when she woke up, it was a whopping 43 degrees in her room. Our houses stay somewhere in the 50's during the day. You just really don't get warm unless you are in the bed..... with.....

Your beloved bed warmer. 

This thing is so incredibly essential. It's like an electric blanket but under your sheets. It's rather stylish too huh? Good thing you can't see it. You turn it on before you get into bed and when it is time to head that way, it is nice and toasty. 

and we have dual controls, which is glorious since Adam can't sleep with his on. I usually wake up after a while and turn it off though. 

And then EVERYONE has a warmie.....

This is mine that I got for Christmas. It's a little plush-ish winking bear. 

They are just bags of water, with a little socket that you plug a cord into, that plugs into an outlet. In 10 minutes you have a little hot water bag that you can take everywhere with you. You can even buy warmie carriers- usually a stuff animal with a pouch that you put the warmie into and it can hang around your neck and stick your hands into. Pretty awesome. 

We really are willing to go to great lengths to stay warm.....

.......like filling up buckets of hot water, soaking our feet in them and then when it started to get tepid, we'd dump cup fulls of REALLY hot water into it. 

My next fave..... 

#3- getting pictures of my sweet, sweet puppy Lucy from far, far away (hint, hint, keep em comin!)...

How precious is she?!

I seriously miss this dog more than anything! Adam keeps saying I should change the name of my blog to the joys of life withOUT Lucy. horrible. I'm real thankful for my bestest and her boo welcoming her into their family. Thankkkssss Matt & Jamie!

Fave #4...... Skype Convos with great friends

The holidays provided more opportunities to talk to people at home, which just made me that much more so incredibly thankful for skype. 

I made Betsy promise that Trey wouldn't forget me while we were gone, so I loved that for most of this conversation he kept his face an inch from the camera saying, "I see you Hay-ee!!" and would shush his parents every time they tried to talk.... not so cute to them though. 

THEN a day or 2 later, we got to skype into the Vandy Christmas Party with such fun friends! 

They even sang Christmas carols to us.....

and Catherine & Ashley got into a large dress together for us. 

It was so wonderful to see so many wonderful faces together at the same time. I am SO thankful for skype! 

Fave #5.......Peter's

Peter's is a western restaurant in the really nice large city we often visit, and every time we go I make it my goal in a weekend to eat there no less than 3 times. I have yet to fail at reaching my goal. 

This was one of our first trips with some friends way back in August. 

SO DELISH. Those waffle fries are amazing. 

My faves there: Chicken Chimechangas, Cheeseburger with Waffle Fries, Chicken Fingers with amazing honey mustard, and French Toast. 

AND they have Dr. Pepper. WITH ICE in a mason jar. love. 

I most definitely can't get enough. 

Fave #6.... The "Turkey Bowl"

Every year, a bunch of Americans get together in one city the weekend after Thanksgiving to play in the Turkey Bowl. I'm pretty sure it is the highlight of many-a-guy's fall here. 

It gets a little intense.... full contact on the line... and someone always gets hurt, but they love it. Adam was excited for weeks beforehand. 

And all the girls love coming to watch and cheer them on. Here I am with some of my favorite girls.... most of whom are intense. One not so much. She's real cute though. 

Fave #7.... Fun out of town weekends with friends

I lovelovelove any time we get to go to other cities to hang out with friends, and have so loved getting to know a lot of these girls over the last few months AND look forward to spending a month with many of them very shortly in a very tropical place that I can not get to soon enough! 

Fave #8..... a LEGIT western restaurant. 

You seriously can't fathom the excitement. Seriously. There is a Grandma's kitchen is some really big cities in this country, but I almost had a stroke when I saw this. We still don't even have McDonalds here! (seriously remarkable for a city of 2-3 million people in this country)... the only good western food to be found is at Papa John's (if that says anything), so you can imagine our astonishment

We went to the mall to grab Ice Cream one night in early December and while we were standing around talking I looked up and saw this sign- and screamed out loud. 

It has since opened; Adam & a friend went day before yesterday and had burgers. Yes please. Can't wait to go soon! 

Fave #9..... FUN teachers! 

This is our Reading teacher- He (like huh!) LaoShi. She is so much fun, such a riot at times, and I just love her. I don't mind spending 6 hours a week with her at all.

This was at a banquet for the international department recently. 

AND last and the MOST not least..... Fave #10....

Christmas Of Course. 

We seriously had such a fun Christmas here.... As I've already shared in several posts. Christmas has always been and will always be my favorite. 

That's all for now! Come back next week before I jump on a plane to a tropical {not so} far away land! 

Joyfully Faved Out, 

A Few of my Favorite Things Friday {Nov. 19}

2 weekends ago, Adam went to another city for a few days and all of our other guy friends were gone as well. That left me with girl friends for a GIRL'S WEEKEND! Which is one big favorite thing with lots of other favorite things with it.....

Fave #1......Ping Guo Ji Ding (Apple Chicken)

By far my favorite place to eat. We call it Apple Chicken- not real sure what it's really called. It is in an apartment (very common here- people rent an apartment, live in one small room, and have their restaurant or business in the rest of it) with such great food. You know how you have your "default" restaurant where you always go when either you can't decide where to eat or nothing else sounds good and you always get the same thing? In Nashville- Pei Wei & Mandarin Kung Pao chicken; In Lexington it was Applebees and the Oriental Chicken salad (I'm seeing a trend here...). Here, it is Ping Guo Ji Ding. They make all of their dishes on top of rice in a clay pot. So tasty. 

Here's Hannah eating that actual dish "Ping Guo Ji Ding". 

And here is my very favorite- Gong Bao Ji Ding - Bu La (no spicy stuff please). There is rice at the bottom of the clay pot with cut up cucumber or zucchini, potato, a little bit of cabbage, and cut up pieces of WHITE chicken MEAT (hard to come bye) on top.

I'm now realizing how ironic it is that it is my "go to" dish here, as my Nashville dish- "Mandarin Kung Pao Chicken" WHICH happens to be the America version of Gong Bao Ji Ding. Get it Kung Pao- Gong Bao? 

We all keep wondering when we will get sick of it- not there yet! 

Fave #2.....Cheese!

Oh sweet cheese how we love you. 

I think that cheese is the one thing that is absolutely absent from the East Asian diet. However, it is a staple in my diet. It'd be real sad if I had no access whatsoever to it. But hallelujah WalMart always come through (that's not entirely true...), and on most days they have some kind of cheese. Land o' Lakes sells American singles, and depending on the day has a small block of yellow cheddar, mozzarella, or on this glorious day- Colby Jack!!! Yum. The section may be small- the 2 middle shelves seen here in these 2 square feet- but it is big enough to brighten our days! 

Fave #3....... Beautiful Blue Sky Days 

This country isn't known for clear, clean air, and the area in which we live typically sees more rain and clouds than blue sky and sun. However, we've been extremely blessed with amazing weather lately. It has felt like fall and sometimes even better. The weather was so beautiful this day. It was (in Eve's words) a "no temperature" day with clear blue skies. You aren't hot or cold it's just perfect.

Here we are in the city- we live in the "village"(far stretch, really a district of a few hundred thousand people) outside of town. 

Wal-Mart is underneath us- it is underground in this park/plaza and the entrance and exit (in the left of the picture behind us) are glass pyramids that look like the louvre. Pretty funny. 

Can't get enough days like these. 

Fave #4......... These crazy ladies....

The weekend ended with a late Halloween party that the foreign students organized on campus. I was a party pooper and didn't go, but these 2 jumped right in on the fun. Aren't they good look Grannies? I think they did pretty well creating their costumes with limited resources.

ALWAYS a good time with these 2! 

I've always loved time with girls, but since being married (which is clearly the delight of my life), I love when I get a good weekend with just girls, especially when you get to have a slumber party. They both spent 3 nights in a row with me. The 1st night we all 3 tried to sleep in the same bed, but poor Hannah moved to the guest bed in the middle of the night.

Thanks for a fun weekend friends!

Joyfully embracing time with girls,

A Few of my Favorite Things Friday {Nov.12}

Ok 3rd times a charm right? Here are my favorite things from our trip 3 weeks ago.

Like I said, we went to another city- a much bigger, much nicer city- to see some friends.... which was so wonderful. This city is so ridiculously large....

This is looking out over just one little part of the city.... it keeps going on and on and on for miles with large skyscrapers and 34 million people. large.  

Our city has almost NOTHING as far as western restaurants or stores go- only Papa Johns, Pizza Hut, KFC, DQ and WalMart.... not complaining- so grateful for those. BUT there are a lot of REALLY big cities in this large country with nice western amenities... which I had the joy of enjoying with fun friends.....

So a few of my favorite things this week are.....

Fave #1 AND #2 ...... Starbucks AND these WONDERFUL friends!

I love these ladies and so love any time that I get to spend with them....

Anna B, Kristy, andAnna Mo have become some of my favorite ladies ever. Never a dull moment. 

I also love carmel mochas and banana bread......

so yum. just like home. seriously. 

This is Anna Mo..... 

She's definitely one of my faves :) 

Fave #3......SEPHORA!

I love Sephora in America, so I was pretty pumped to find it in this city. Even the people who live there were really surprised when they recently got it. The downside was that the prices were SO high- some things were reasonable- mostly the things that were specifically made for Sephora; but for instance- Clinique foundation.... around $50! no thanks I'll have someone mail it to me from home. But I did buy a small bottle of nail polish and a small compact of eye shadow.......

......And just enjoyed being in the store.

So finally- those are my faves in that fun city. 

I'm coming out of my blog slump and have fun things to share.... and our internet has magically gotten significantly better in the last 3 days. ptbg.

Joyfully enjoying the "finer" things, 

A Few of my Favorite Things Friday {Nov.5}

It's Saturday morning and I'm laying in my bed where I've been for the last hour and a half... am I sick, nope.... I'm home alone with nothing else to do! {clearly, our internet is back up and running} Adam left me here by myself at 6 this morning to go to another city for a few days. So there is no one here to judge me for laying in (my warm) bed with the computer for a few hours after I wake up {I'm sure my sweet husband doesn't judge me since he just moves to the couch with the computer to watch TV on the sling box on Saturday mornings} I love morning like this. Nothing to do for a while, no one to see so no need to make myself look somewhat presentable. ahhhh.

It is Saturday morning, but there are 3 more hours of Friday left in America, so we'll pretend that it's still Friday. I said I'd share my fun things from the our trip to another city a few weekends ago- well when I went to go get the camera from the office to attempt to upload pictures again, I realized Adam took it with him. bummer. next week. for sure.

So today will just be one of my favorite things....

Local Coffee Shops...

There are a few really fun coffee shops around here, and while they aren't as "upscale" as most in the states (you might be sitting behind a table full of people smoking, and sometimes they smell funny)- they are still a nice treat, and fun place to go with friends.

I don't have a picture of my favorite place that is right around the corner from my apartment {and I have no desire to go take one} but they have the best mochas. I might venture to say better than starbucks- I find myself tempted to order another one when I've finished the first. The price is actually about the same as a coffee at starbucks, but for here it's really expensive so I've yet to buy more than one at a time.

This cute place just opened a month or so ago, so it still seems "clean" {nice and "clean" don't exactly go hand-in- hand here}. My friend Janessa LOVES their mochas and insisted we go with her one night to try one. It was okay....

It looks like a glorified hot-chocolate milkshake- and kind of tastes like one too. Nevertheless, its a fun place to go with friends.

I took this picture before writing my last post on Monday (with my old camera that is not with Adam in another city) . This coffee shop on campus can be like a "haven" compared to the world outside. It's funny- you have to walk through the crazy loud {not at all like an American} cafeteria, to go upstairs to walk through a really loud smokey cafeteria/restaurant and then you open the door to this place and it's like another world. Quiet, clean, good American music, full of ikea furniture and decor, free wireless, never crowded, a few western foods on their menu, so nice.

This is their latte -it's pretty before you stir things into it- but not so wonderful tasting- but its most definitely worth it for the atmosphere in contrast to everyday life here.

Thats all for today. Sorry... a little lame I know. I'm off to the city with the girls! Need a few things at Wal-Mart (wish me luck!) and back to the fabric market again to get fabric to recover a wonderful old chair Hannah found, and to find as many crafty supplies I can to being working on Christmas decorations! Don't judge...... I need a head start here.....

Joyfully caffeinated,

A Few of my Favorite Things Friday {Oct. 22nd}

I hope you all have had a fabulous week! 

Here are a few of my favorite things this week.....

Fave #1.... Kentucky's amazing win over South Carolina last weekend! 

As spotty as our internet can be, I don't hold my breath that we will actually be able to watch football games when they air, but we woke up early last Sunday morning to a gloriously fast connection via our beloved slingbox and were able to watch the UK game live. And it was fantastic.

This is how we now enjoy football games. 

 Thank you Randall Cobb for being amazing....

Go Big Blue. 

Fave #2.......Fruit Snacks!

A little random I know, but this week as I was making a wish list of things I wanted from the states, I had some serious cravings for fruit snacks. Not just any fruit snacks though..... I LOVE Kroger brand. And not just any Kroger Brand- the variety pack......

And the "primary color" ones.... creepies, sharks, and dinos....

a little strange? yes. But the other ones are neon colored and I'm not a fan. 

I have also grown to love these guys .... and apparently they're healthy. Not that I really care as long as they taste good.  

And Fave #3......Old Navy Wool Coats!

Every year Old Navy sells fantastic winter coats in fun colors for insanely reasonable prices, and every year I say that I'm going to buy one and every year I kick myself when I don't. BUT this year, they are exceptionally cute. These are my 5 favorite..... (in no particular order)....

Yellow Ruffle Collar

Brown Double Breasted Coat

Blue Ruffled Coat

Oatmeal Toggle 

Green Peacoat 

love them. 

Those are a few of my extremely random favorite things this week. Get excited, because we are in a really fun city visiting friends this weekend and I have LOTS of favorite things from here. 

Joyfully delighted,