Again, guilty as charged.  Quite a lot has happened in the past week, and neither of us have written anything.  We've been occupied with a variety of things, some of which are finally signing for a new apartment in Avondale!, road tripping to Missouri for my dear friend Mary Sue and her new husband's nuptials, and having a few deliciously indulgent days inhaling the The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy.  The latter of which I am in the middle of right now.  Reluctant attempts at productivity have been a lost cause.  It is truly finally summer for me because I am letting myself read pleasure books for hours on end.  Heavenly.

Let me catch you up to speed.  We had a delightful vacation at Sunset Beach, NC.  I am ready to plan next years trip, it's going on the calendar for the week after July 4, 2012 if you want to come!  Here are some more beach pictures.  It just makes me feel good to look at them.

Early twilight walk's are the best. 

Posing for Nick. 

Posing for me. 

On our last day, it was rainy so we went to visit the Caswell light house, one of only a few functioning lighthouses.  It was also on a residential beach that was beautiful, but not even close to Sunset. (Bias recognized)

Seagrass is something special. 

And Nick learned how to fly. 

Actually, these are three different photos.  Check it out, he can fly!  Look at the glee on his face! (And for the record, did NOT twist his ankle).

Well, after all the beauty and hijinks at the beach, Nick, Theresa, Arnie and myself all made it home after a quick Cincinnati sleepover to break up the trip.  

We were just in time to catch up with lovely friends Katie and Emmanuel, who are gearing up for a move to Ireland.   These two are the dearest, most genuine friends I could ever ask for.  

Wish we could live down the street from you!

And I can't get away without filling you in on Arnie.  As I mentioned in a previous post, Nick was feeding him canned salmon to get him to go into his crate willingly.  Here you see Nick feeding the dog a fried egg on top of his dog food.  Yes, that is one of my organic, free range, omega 3..... egg$.  What are we getting ourselves into.  

Of course, who could fault him?  Arnie is the best dog ever. 

In other news, we were stunned (and kind of thrilled) to see a Catholic mass taking place in the street in front of our apartment the other day!  They closed off the street with garbage cans and proceeded to have a full mass.  I am not sure of the occasion, but I loved that the community was coming together for something other than lighting firecrackers off at 11am. 

Things like this make me happy to live in Pilsen (if only for another week). 

And then my friend Mary Sue got married!  

I love weddings, especially after my own.  It feels a little like we're renewing our vows by supporting and being present for a friends wedding.  It reminds me why we got married ( over 1 year ago!), and why I am more in love every day. 

To end this massive post, I'll leave you with Nick's view of me for the past few days.  He sees only the back of my head, and my faithful reading companion, because I cannot get enough of Steig Larsson and his characters.  Lisbeth Salander is the perfect summer distraction.  I am already worried about what I'll do when I finish the last book. 

Seriously, this is what you'd see if you could peek into our apartment: loving reading and my dog.