SCENES FROM SAPPHIRE, NC

Signs of fall on a hike with ak's mom




One of the many waterfalls of Horse Pasture River





More beautiful moving water




Wonderful nature





8th hole water hazzard; reflected trees





Butterflies alight on the flowers of our bedroom porch




View from our porch; Mt. Toxaway in background




Our totally SWEET rental-we ripped it up on the mountain roads





JGlow totally lacking in form & finesse at the driving range, as well as having some serious hair issues. I do like my outfit, though.


Prose to follow later-funny stories :)
Til then, peeps...

ALIVE AND WELL....

Brandon and JGlow playing....don't you love my beach attire??!!


Susan, me and Kim


The ODU gang












...hey y'all! (can you tell I've been spending a lot of time below the Mason-Dixon line??)
Just wanted to post some additional pics from Nags Head to placate the blog posse until I can get the most recent NC pics together along with the usual prose regarding our most recent adventure. It's been a bit crazy getting back into the swing of things....we're still sniffling, but overall the health status in the treehouse is much better :)

...more soon...later, peeps!

KIDS + TECH & WEEKLY UPDATE

Pictured right is my sweet-sugar godson, Nicky. I headed north to Langhorne last week to pay a visit to my Greek Meatball. Of course I had my mini Canon camera with me, and Nicky loved playing with it - he thought it was a phone at first, and kept putting ut up to his ear and saying hello, then to my ear for me to say hello. There was lots of giggling during this :) Then I could almost see the light bulb going off in his head as he turned on the camera, then took the 2 "in your face" portraits of himself, then turned the camera around to view the pics on the screen. Forget giggling-Nicky totally did a freak "look what I did" tribal dance while whooping. The dance was slightly off balance as he was recovering from the 2 recent flashes that went off in his face!


My camera is actually very hard to turn on, so his mother and I were completely amazed at his dexterity. I also remember watching the mini-Pinf working the laptop like it was an extension of herself, and my 12 year old cousin Alexis who regularly kicks Ak's butt on the Playstation, or their PSP's. Ak and I are amazed at the capacity kids have for absorbing the tech-they have no fears, and don't get all that fustrated if something doesn't work right the first time. And they have those tiny little hands and fingers!!!



Nicky is crying because I am leaving - talk about pulling heartstrings!! He knows who I am, and we almost have him calling me "Nouna" , Greek for godmother. If you ask him where Nouna is, he points to me, or the picture of me in his room. It gives JGlow the warm fuzzies :)



Tough week in the treehouse...both Ak and I came down with sinus infections. The week has been filled with tissues, soup, antibiotics, Mucinex, nasty cough drops, Gatorade...it is a DNA nightmare over here. I am craving a cheesteak badly, but fear I would suffocate while trying to eat it. I can't rememebr the last time air actually came out of my right nostril! I think we are finally on the mend, though, and hope to attend the Guthrie Invitational on Friday.

On Monday morning, we are flying to western NC (Lake Sapphire) to surprise ak's mom on her 70th birthday. She is currently peeved with us, as we are "sick" (literally!) and cannot make it down....she thought we were flying down Saturday. With the help of her best friends, Pinky & John, who also have a home in Sapphire, we are going to shock the hell out of her!! Pinky and John are having a birthday cocktail party for her Monday evening, then taking her out to dinner. We will be at P & J's from 4pm, and will hide and pop out when they do her birthday toast. I hope we don't give her a heart attack.

Later, peeps.

NAGS HEAD - The Saga of Ernesto, a broken foot & a runaway UPS truck

Akjn arrived in Kill Devil Hills, NC on Thursday afternoon. The drive was easy - Route 13 the whole way, and we encountered just a slight drizzle as we left VA and entered NC.
This is our college buddy Dre's (Andreas) house that we stayed in. It is awesome-cathedral ceilings, multiple decks off the back of the house, a huge screened in back porch, and central A/C that was buried at 65 all weekend.




Ernesto hit us early Friday morning around 2am, and thrashed until 6am. There was lots of lightning, thunder and high winds. We watched as much as we could from Dre's crow's nest, before having to get inside from the stinging rain. Very cool.
This is Nags Head beach on Friday at about 2pm. The sea was angry, my friends! All of the red 'No Swimming' flags were out, and the beaches were deserted.
The weather wasn't that bad - great breeze. Perfect for some shopping activity-akjn love the surf stuff, and the stores did not disappoint.



Saturday at the beach - glorious!!! That's Kevin, just in from surfing some 6 ft waves right in front of us. His mom is Susan, the blond bending over, and his wife, Kim, is in the lower right.
Susan and her husband Reeves live in Nags Head in the summer, then head to Isla Mirada in the FL Keys for the winter... not too bad at all.

They were amazing hosts who we pretty much hung out with every night. She had one fridge just for champagne, so you know JGlow had found her heaven.



JGlow and Kim, taking in the sunset while sipping the bubbly at Susan & Reeve's. Just fabulous! Kim could totally hang with the pollyanna girls - she is hilarious! Most of the college buddies wives are lame ... I think it is because those girls didn't go to Old Dominion ... we've got something they don't.

Later this evening, Kim and I teamed up as the only girls playing blackjack with the boys and won the whole pot ... $4.00!
I totally drunk-text messaged CNN, too!



JGlow and Brandon, Jeffe's boy. He is totally animated...running right into the ocean with no fear, talking all kinds of nonsense, walking up to strangers on the beach and talking nonsense to them, etc. He's a happy little guy, and very friendly.








Sunday was another beauty! We headed to the beach again (a record for akjn), and enjoyed watching Dre and Kevin surfing 8 footers. Then Kim noticed that Kevin was kind of floundering and drifting in the water...all of a sudden Dre was swimming after him along with 2 old ass lifeguards, a guard on a jet ski, and a guard on an ATV on the beach. Once he was on the beach, it was obvious that he had done something to his right foot. We headed to the hospital, conveniently located across the street, where it was determined that he had broken the top of his foot and all of the bones leading to his toes, would need surgery, pins, blah blah.

Note to readers: this is the start of surf season, and Kevin & Kim live 2 blocks off VA Beach-this was not good news.
We got Kevin back home and pumped that boy full of percs and pale ale, and we all hung out and watched the pictured sunset together. We were all glad that Keving was going to be okay. Drinks went down very easy and very fast that night for all of us.

Monday-Ak picks up Kevin so he can lounge in the back of the Lex, Kim drove her car, and I drove Kevin's totally rad black truck back to VA Beach. It was a funny convoy. Ak and Kevin looked like 'Driving Miss Daisy' from the back. We hung out with them for a bit at their casa, then got on the road and headed home. Another easy trip, knock on wood. For as much as I complain about living here, it was so good to be home, and throw open all of the windows. You can't say enough about sleeping in your own bed.

Tuesday-back to the grind: an appointment with mama, laundry, unpacking, grocery shopping to restock our fridge ... seemingly normal. Oh no, of course not! At around 3pm, we get a call from Dre in NC, saying that while Kim was driving Keving to see the orthopedic surgeon, a UPS truck with bad brakes hit a car, which hit them, and their Jeep rolled 3 times. Thank goodness, they are okay ... very bruised & so sore, but okay. Poor Kevin was laid out in the back of the Jeep with no seatbelt, so he just hurts everywhere. The guy in the first car may not make it.

Summary: An unforgettable weekend, with a storm, old friends, new friends, and good times. Then something happened that made akjn step back and take stock in the importance of our friends. Friends are the most important ingredient in this recipe of life.

Peace, peeps.

HOLY BARBIE DREAMHOUSE(S), BATMAN!

I had to post this picture....this is Arianna*, playing in her cousins' basement. Upstairs, her mother's 40th birthday party is kicking, with around 50 family and friends having a ball....just lovely. It was good to catch up with so many people; some who I hadn't seen in many years.

Back to the Pink Palaces.....even in my wildest dreams as a young lassie, I never could have imagined a set-up like this!

The real truth: I hung out down there with her for 45 minutes, playing. It was fantastic! Within the Castle Complex were: a doggie grooming station, a jacuzzi, a pizza parlor, a beauty salon (of course) , a stable around the back, and so on. Anyway, like I said, I couldn't resist posting this picture-it is entirely too cute!!

*Arianna is no stranger to akjn...she made her pictorial debut May 4, 2006, in my "Easter Sweeties" post.

Later, peeps.

ONLY IN JAPAN - HELLO HILTON

JGLOW's personal nightmare come true......

My Hello Kitty heart is broken! Sanrio, the folks behind my beloved HK, have taken it to a lower level. They have created a signature Hello Kitty figure with a Paris Hilton look.
Thank the Lord it's only available in Japan.

The blonde hair is ridiculous...HK has fur, not synthetic extensions!!

I may have to go to The Betty over this. One thing that is helping me through this blasphemy is the Gallery of The Absurd take on this ad-check it out, it's one of my links.

I can't believe I have a picture of Paris on my blog...this is a low, but I needed to make everyone aware! I am truly shattered ... but you know I'll be in that store on my next KoP jaunt ;)

Shame on Sanrio!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CNN!

Leo the Lion

CNN's Birthday Horoscope for tomorrow, Friday, August 18, 2006:

You're feeling unstoppable today! Go ahead and reach for the stars, just make sure that you have the right soundtrack: load up your Shuffle with songs that energize and inspire you. Take in some beautiful visuals. Whether you're enjoying an art exhibit, flipping through a magazine or hanging with the FL honeys, feasting your eyes on something pretty will brighten your day!

Have a fabulous birthday; celebrate in grand style! Love, AKJN

SUMMER UPDATE

You must have noticed the changes here at AKJN...let's just chalk it up to a couple of very late nights in the treehouse. After some final tweaking today, I am finally pleased with the results, although I might have damaged my eyesight after poring over html color charts.

I'll start with a syllabus of my summer reading. First, a little background on my books and I-I keep and reread anything that I enjoy, so considering I started reading in kindergarten, my library is considerable. Anyhoo, I've been mainly revisiting Stephen King, which has been fantastic. I have each of his books in both hardack and soft cover, and some of the paperbacks are falling apart on me. Most of the world considers him the "horror" dude, but he is actually a master crafstman of the word and the way people really are. I forgot how much I loved his writing...I am almost through his work, and am currently reading the unabridged version of The Stand, coming in at 1152 pages-YUM! Also, for any of you interested, he writes a column/editorial once or twice a month in Entertainment Weekly, titled The Pop of King. It's very witty, touching on the current topics with a refreshing bluntness...check it out while your standing in line at the grocery store-its the last page of the magazine and a quick read so you can finish and not have to buy!

I always have a few books going at one time, and some summer standouts are: Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin; Postcards by E. Annie Proulx; A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick; and A Death in Belmont by Sebastian Junger. Tales was especially good, originally published in 1978, and about the intermingling lives of the tenants in a San Fran apt. building. The amazing descriptions of the city made me miss it so much...looking forward to getting back there someday soon.

Hey-I saw the Delco Idol winner on the 10! show this morning. The winner was Samantha Eisenman of Glenside, PA. She sang "Someone to Watch Over Me", and I think I remember her from the first round, but she wasn't one of our favorites. She did alright, but her pianist hit some bad notes. It was cool to follow the contest this summer...thanks to Sophia again for getting us to the very first show!

Here are my summer movie highlights: Superman A+, Failure to Launch A+ (hilarious, and you get to see Terry Bradshaw's old naked azz), Pirates II A+, XMen III A+, Clerks II A+++ (must see for Kevin Smith fans), and finally MI III with a D-just bad.

I'll wrap up with a recommendation to read an ironic essay in the 8/14 TIME magazine regarding the recent Mell Gibson debaucle, written by Joel Stein titled "Maybe We Should Just Make Mel Happy". Check it out.

Later, peeps.

SUMMER POLYANNA BEAUTIES

KIM & CHRIS



CHRIS, MEESH & SUSAN



CHRIS, KIM & SUSAN



MEESH & JOJO











The summer pollyanna was so successful, that we are doing it again next month at Meesh's. Whay shouldn't we get together monthly? We have such fun together, and make each other laugh the hardest. Just being able to hang naturally with your gals is very relaxing. Talk is in the works for holding the traditional Christmas pollyanna at the Borgata ... PP's services may be required!

Jojo is a lucky girl ... just look at my beauty good buddies!

2006 SUMMER POLLYANNA

Charlotte & her baby doll


Aunt Chris with Charlotte, Wyeth, Nick & Alex


CNN & Charlotte












On Wednesday night, Kim hosted the girls of '87 for dinner. In attendance: Kim, CNN, Jojo, Meesh and Susan.

Kim's 3 boys were there-Alex, Nick and Jack; and Susan's 2 children were there also-Wyeth and Charlotte.

It was a treat to see all of the kids-they played well together without any fusses...you gotta love that. Anyway, the party favor of the night was 2 year old Charlotte. She played well with others and also by herself. At one point, Charlotte was playing at one end of the livingroom singing out loud...we have her signed up for American Idol already. The funniest thing was how all the boys listened to what she wanted to do and watch on TV-a true diva following pollyanna girl fashion!



It's getting hot in here...Philly is steaming! We're sweating it up in the treehouse, looking forward to fall. Stay cool, peeps.

HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN, MD

Last Saturday, Ak, myself and Jeffe (our weekend guest) headed south on Route 1 to Rising Sun, MD, to the home of one of my best buddies, Bobby, for a BBQ. Bobby and I met in the early 90's during my 6 year corporate stint at MBNA. We had a "crew" that we rolled with daily, and we called ourselves the DBS ... the Dirty Bankers Society. I can't tell you the fun we used to have ripping it up in DE and MD-our exploits can still be heard about in the bowels of the Blue Wing-our MBNA domain.

Anyway, Bobby, his wife Kathy and their 2 boys, Vincent and Marcus, built their dream home in Rising Sun last year. Bobby and Kathy were both born and raised there. Bobby's family has tons of land due to their mushroom farm, so all of their family members have built there homes on their vast acres, and it is awesome-an actual dynasty. The crops surrounding Bobby's house are all corn...think Field of Dreams and Signs...cool but creepy. He calls it his green fence.



There were about 15-20 young-uns running around. As you see in the pictures, there was a huge blow-up waterslide, and the Disney Princess castle moonwalk. We all wished that we were under 10 again and could run around in our bathing suits all day, because it was HOT!



There was an adult volleyball tournament, which got funnier as the sun went down and the players got more intoxicated. I tried to play, but Coach Ak pulled me out-he knew I would bust my hiney!

















It gets pitch black down there at night, and the stars were amazing to see without any city haze. We had a bonfire, smores and ghost stories, and JGlow herself got a little scared around all that corn :) It was such a great day, and I got to see alot of old co-workers that I haven't seen since '99. It was quite something to see all the "boys" with their wives and kids ... funny what happens in 7 years!

DELCO IDOL

Last Wednesday, July 5, myself, CNN, PinF, Sophie, Matt, PinF-mama, Lynn and Jerry attended the first round of Delco Idol at the Media Theatre. There were 30 singers ranging in age from 14 to 21. In the program, Idol is described as an "outreach program for area young people who are interested in theatre and the performing arts". Therefore, it differed a great deal from the TV show; 95% of the performers sang show tunes from current and moldy oldy shows (ie: Wicked, Aida, West Side Story, Thoroughly Modern Milly). We only got to hear 4 "modern" songs, and they are the ones we remember the most.







CNN and Sophie before the show starts!









Sophie was an excellent judge of the singers-we rated each with a thumbs up, down, or waving in the middle. The critique most heard from Sophie was "his/her voice was too pitchy". Look out Paula Abdul-we have your replacement ready!

Sophie's fave was Erika Graham, who did a great rendition of Alicia Key's "Fallin". I liked Dan Wolf, who also played guitar during his song, as well as Jamai who did a great John Legend song. We met a few of them after the show, and got some pictures taken, and got the chance to shake hands and congratulate those moving on the the next round...it felt very Hollywood!


Sophie and Erika










Dan Wolf and Sophie











Now, there were some Seinfeld moments during the event...the straining button, the guy starring in the Media Theatre production of West Side Story whose notes were flatter than a pancake, the beanpole with the blackbelt that sang like a Vienna Boys Choir member, to the last performer who was singing in English, but made it seem like a strange foreign language. Lynn and Jerry had to remove theselves during the first part of the show because they got the giggles so bad! However, the bottom line is that these kids got up there and did their thing, and that was amazing to watch, and now Sophie wants to attend their summer theatre program....that's what it is all about.

The night was a total success, beginning with dinner at Sligo with the Pinfers and Pinf-mama, to the after party (Sligos again!) where we recapped the highs and lows of each performer. Due to some of the atrocious clothing that these kids wore, I may offer up my fashion services for free to help some of these kids out...we couldn't believe that some of the performers had parents that actually let them out in public in those outfits! Bad pantyhose, leggings, 80's prom dresses....and most of the girls looked 40 with the make-up they had on. Like I said, I may have a new job calling!

Thanks, Sophie for our tickets to Idol...a great time was had by all of us, and I know we'll always remember that night! Missing the Pinfers already, and can't wait until we see them again...Ciao!


The Girlz, enjoying ourselves @ Sligo

CLUB LIBBY LU - PART I

V.I.P. = VERY IMPORTANT PRINCESSES













CNN and I took Pinf's daughter Sophie to the KoP mall Friday afternoon. Sophie had a gift certificate for Club Libby Lu that was burning a hole in her pocket, and we spent it!! This store is quite amazing-girl power music, glitter, and a princess table...CNN and I got caught up in the madness, trying on tiaras and hats, and the 3 of us ended up with matching star stickers on our faces, and star anklets. Sophie's favorie design is the star, and her favorite color is pink. She picked out a new pooch and named it "Kiki". She also got some girlie make-up, and then we made some fairy dust together. You can make candy, lotion, and lip gloss, and they also have clothing, hair extensions and accessories, jewelry, temporary tattoos-the works!

We then went to the Sanrio store, which is the home of all things Hello Kitty. This is one of my favorite stores, and the prices range from a 25 cent piece of candy to a $350 Tarina Tarantino haute couture Kitty necklace. We picked up some pencils, stickers, mini gumball machines, and got some free goodies, too....Sophie got a hand held HK fan (perfect for the beach) and an HK magnifying glass.

Our shopping trip was very satisfying for all of us, and we had such a good time! CNN and I will expect to see Sophia each time she makes the trip up here-she's a special girl who worked her magic on us :) Thanks Pinfers!


You are now entering Club Libby Lu!













Sophie & new pooch KIKI

















Jojo, Sophie & CNN - THE GIRLZ












The party now moves to The Ponderosa. See following post!

THE PONDEROSA-PART II

We ended the day with Matt, Mary, BB gun, PinF and Flash at the Pondersa, where Matt and the boys cooked a wonderful meal, complimented by great wine and Chuck's cosmos. CNN, Sophie and I went through all of our Libby Lu/Hello Kitty purchases, and swapped some Kitty stickers, and looked at our digital pics of the day, all while listening fantastic music and smelling the delicious dinner cooking in the background. The adults (if you can call us that!) ended the evening on the patio, dogging the boys with Brokeback jokes and taking surprise pictures of each other-absolute hilarity!

An amazing day that will not be forgotten!

FRESCA...


Matt & Mary


Dinner


Sophie's Dessert


BB & jojo












...next stop: Delco Idol at the Media Theatre :)

THE ANNUAL 5 MILE AT TED'S

This year's annual fiesta at Tedman's topped all of the previous we've attended. The food was great, drinks were flowing, kids were running here and there, and the conversations were hilarious. You can find out who actually won this year, and past years by going to the 5 Mile website: www.media5milerace.com

Austin was fed many burgers and dogs to the point where he finally just walked around carrying a hot dog in his mouth that looked like a cigar.

Late night, Bill brought over his BIG BUD-a huge plastic Budweiser bottle CNN gave him that was originally filed with pretzels. I specifically did not drink from the communal cup, but those who did wore the unmistakable beer stain down the fronts of their shirts!

Thanks for a great time, Ted!


The Boyz


Austin "Smoke 'em if you got 'em"


Matt & the BIG BUD


The Official 5 Mile Cheerleaders


Fun with Ray while in line for the facilities











Also, Happy Belated Father's Day to all of you out there! Hope you had a wonderful day, and were treated like kings!

Days of May

This month has surely flown by! I did not realize how long it has been since I posted, and now I know that it has been much to long. At least this month has been chock full of activities, and not our usual couch potato exsitences.

My mom and I did something that I have been wanting to do since dad's been gone-we had our portrait done, and are anxiously awaiting the photos in the mail. One of the photos will go into our church "yearbook" that is done every 5 years, so it will be a nice tribute to pops as well, especially with his two ladies looking so lovely!

One of my childhood buddies premiered 3 pieces of her handmade jewelry on QVC, Friday, May 18th at 4am. Of course we TIVO'd it, and it was cool, funny and touching at the same time, all in the short span of 6 minutes. We all have an immediate stereotype in our minds regarding the HSN and QVC "buyers", but what we don't realize is the number of people out there who actually can't go out and shop for themselves or others. Anyway, her jewelry looked great on TV, and she had lots of buyers during and immediately following her premier. She goes on again in August....hopefully not at 4 am.

Ak's birthday was May 28th, so his mom came up for Memorial Day weekend, and stayed into the next week. We fiendishly cleaned the week before her arrival...I even spackled and painted....and the apartment was sparkling! I am a little manic when it comes to cleaning, and it's best to stay out of my way and/or follow my exact orders. Ak loves it when I get this way...NOT! Anyway, his mom's visit was perfect, and we did lots of stuff with my mama, too. It's the first time the two have been together since the engagement, so they had a ball together. We took the mom's to Total Wine in DE...ak's mom had found paradise, and my mom hunkered down with the cart in the front of the store and didn't move :) We hit our local fave Italian restaurant Antonio's, then for ak's bday we went into the city to Morimoto's where we met up with our gal CNN and had stellar time. On the holiday, we went to the Simon Pearce restaurant/store/museum, which is only 5 minutes from our place. It was fascinating to watch the glassblowing, and to experience each step of the creation process. The food at the restauant is yummy, and it overlooks the Brandywine, so we got to see a ton of tubers, kayakers, canoers and folks fishing. Of course there is the store, where we spent some time browsing at the beautiful glass, and purchased some cool champagne glasses (we seem to be drinking lots of the bubbly lately). We adjourned to our apt and watched The DaVinci Code, which we all enjoyed. I can't remember the last time I watched a movie with my mom! On Tuesday we went to KoP mall because ak's mom had never been, and she has heard about it for so long...it was fun, had a good lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, and came home a little poorer than when we arrived. Wednesday arrived, and ak's mom returned to North Carolina. The visit was fabulous!

Things are quiet now, and we're back in our normal routine. I am still shuttling mom around, but therapy begins next week and we are going to start looking for a vehicle for her...she's ready but doesn't realize it yet, and quite frankly, I think she is sick of me! Not in the bad way, but in the "I can't stand depending on you" way, which I can handle.

My next door neighbor graduated from college this week-he was born when I was in 9th grade and was my exclusive babysitting job in high school, and now he is a foot taller than me, handsome, smart, and is an amazing jazz musician. I am so proud of him, but it scares me at the same time how fast he grew up! I am copying pictures that I have of the 2 of us when he was a baby/toddler that I am putting together for his present-he is even in the pre-prom pictures at the house both years. Funny.

Summer is here, friends....