Daffodils!

More daffodils!

I came home after a week away for my vacation and I was surprised with the first daffodils of the season blooming in my front yard!  They’re so pretty.  Warmer weather is finally starting to come back and so are the flowers and happy singing birds.

I love Spring.

Also: lazy Sundays, alone time, new beginnings, more free books, learning to let go of old things to allow new blessings to come, sitting on my bed with 4 cats cuddling around me, finding a new breakfast spot, making plans, being able to help friends, Hello Kitty jewelry, and having a sweet understanding boyfriend who puts up with me.

Today I came in to work and found that Kelly had mailed me a postcard from England! She went to the National Portrait Gallery and picked this one for me, its a portrait of the Bronte sisters. I LOVE to get postcards in the mail, I’ve gotten them from all over the states and a few from other countries.

Tom and I got dressed up and went out for a date night last night at Tony’s Oyster Bar. We looked so good I made him take a picture of us, lol.  We used the self timer on my camera so I figure it counts as a self portrait.

Tonight I was going through my pictures and saw a few I’d taken with friends over the years, so I thought I’d include them in my SPT post.

Kelly and I about 3 years ago

Jackie and I the day she took me ice skating

At Charlie Brown’s with Dave

Tom and I beside Lake Johnson

This past summer, at the mall with Jackie after a bunch of us went to the imax theater

Downtown Raleigh with Tom, Brandy, and Jay last year

At Lake Wheeler with Tom

Yesterday Brandy took me on a little walking tour of downtown Raleigh.

I love seeing the mixture of historic buildings with modern ones.

One of the places we went was a thrift store called Father and Sons.

They had some pretty weird stuff, lol.

And some pretty familiar stuff.

I’m really enjoying exploring and learning about Raleigh, the more I find the more I love.

Also: warm weather for exploring, Earl Grey #13 from TeaGshwendner with milk, shopping in Cameron Village, meeting neighbors who also have a little dog, finally starting to learn my way around Raleigh,  cute refrigerator magnets, watching LOST while sitting in a comfy recliner, finding yummy a Japanese take-out place 5 min away, and being reminded of my blessings.

I snapped a quick picture on my lunch break, today was kind of crazy and rough but I survived. I think the only thing that kept me from losing my mind at work was the fact that I’m off for a WHOLE WEEK next week. Thank Goodness! I’ll be in Raleigh for most of that time taking a much needed break from reality.

I thought I’d throw in a pic of my new favorite necklace, I got it last month at Target. It’s simple and delicate, I love jewelry like this.

]]> http://www.nicolecarina.com/2010/03/04/self-portrait-thursday-3410/feed/ 0 http://www.nicolecarina.com/2010/03/03/franklin-street/ http://www.nicolecarina.com/2010/03/03/franklin-street/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:35:48 +0000 Nicole http://www.nicolecarina.com/?p=299 This past weekend Tom took me to Chapel Hill for the afternoon.

We had lunch at a sports bar and got there just in time to catch the Carolina game.  It was fun to be in Chapel Hill watching the game with a room full of home town fans, especially since we won.  :)

After that we walked around and took pictures for a bit.

I loved this shop display, a dress made of doilies and tissue paper, so pretty!

My souvenir of the trip, a fridge magnet (I’ve sort of been collecting them lately)

Before we left we stopped in at Sugarland to get dessert. I had a creme brule and Tom got a red velvet cupcake, they were so good! The bakery was very cute and cozy, I could have stayed there all night.

Tom hiding from the camera…  ;)

I really enjoyed myself, Franklin Street is beautiful and I’m looking forward to going back.

There’s a few more pics here at my Flickr account.

Tom found this book for me while we were in Barnes and Noble’s the other day, and said he’s read other books by the same author and thought I might like this one, I’m about a third of the way through and it’s pretty good so far.

Also: birds singing in the morning, girl time with Jackie, being lazy, pho, noodles, sitting by a fireplace, day trips, cupcakes, Chapel Hill, Franklin Street, interesting or funny fridge magnets, recording memories through photographs, remembering to wear boots when its a rainy day, looking forward to a week off of work, having good conversations, feeling the pieces of your life fall into place, feeling peace where you thought you never would be able to, and being optimistic about the future again.

I first tried Pho Soup at a Thai and Vietnamese restaurant and loved it, but haven’t had it since. Last weekend I found some instant Pho at an Asian market and have been hooked.

There’s something about the flavor of the broth. Its so good, and anything that cooks in less than 3 minutes makes me happy.

So much better than Raman. I could eat this every day.

5 tabs I keep open in my browser – twitter, gmail, facebook, nicolecarina.com, wordpress.org, google reader

5 favorite Teas – Scarlet Cloud (strawberry white) , Monk’s Blend (vanilla and other spices black) , Kyoto Cherry Rose (cherry and rose organic green), Earl Grey, Blueberry and White Cranberry white tea

5 things I always have in my purse – wallet, blackberry, lip gloss, keys, hair brush

5 things I want to do in March – see butch Walker in concert, become more familiar with Raleigh, simplify my life and focus on what’s really important, start eating healthy again, get back to going to the gym regularly

5 random things that make me happy – hearing birds sing, seeing sun rays coming down out of the clouds, getting up early enough to pick up breakfast before work, the look of pure love in my puppy’s eyes as I rub his belly, having an Amelie moment and cracking the crust of my creme brule