We need your support!

Recently, Andy and I have spent a lot of our time working to improve our neighborhood and surrounding area. As a first step in making Southwest Raleigh safer and more family-friendly, our neighborhood is asking the City and State to reconsider funding an extremely dangerous road that runs right behind our subdivision. The two-lane road has a severe curve in addition to a bridge that is #26 on AAA's list of the Carolina's NC Substandard Bridges list.

While this issue does not affect many (or any!) of you, Andy and I would sincerely appreciate you taking just a SECOND to sign the petition below. The widening of this road ensures a safer future for our family, neighbors and community.

http://www.renparkonline.com/tryonroad/

THANK YOU!

January 2010

It's been awhile since my last post, but there hasn't been too much going on with us this month!  The January weather is not what I'm used to, but I don't mind a 65 degree day every now and then!

To give our neighbors something to look forward to during this long month, a couple of us planned a progressive party - ("you know you are no longer living in the city when it takes five people two months to plan a party where you move the attendees between houses instead of bars...," funny, no?) - ANYWAY, my parents happened to be visiting us this past weekend during the time of the party, so it was great to have my mom here to help me with the desserts!

My mom got into town a day before my dad, so I utilized my time to drag her all over Raleigh to find a new coffee and end table for our family room!  We found both AND a new kitchen island!  I'm SO happy with how everything looks and love having the extra workspace in the kitchen.

While they were here we made pizza and pasta (same night - why not?)...

And visited the babies, of course!  Carson wasn't so sure at first, but once she realized that my mom could ALSO clap, they were fast friends!

Dean hung out with my dad and me for a bit (he's actually quite busy these days, so he doesn't have much time to just sit when there are toys to be carted around!).

Just a couple more from the weekend!  We missed you Val!

Great article...

Didn't you always know that your IT department could do more than locate your lost PPT???

Techies unite to brainstorm help for Haiti
By Doug Gross
CNN

Call it Techies for Haiti.

On Saturday, groups of programmers, Web developers and other assorted technophiles will meet in Washington and other cities to brainstorm ways computer technology can help in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake.

CrisisCamp Haiti will bring together professionals from tech companies, universities and government agencies for a free-form session of firing out ideas, then turning those ideas into action.

The result, they hope, will be tools that will help rescue workers find victims and help family members find loved ones, along with other kinds of computer-based assistance.

"It's a way to provide technological tools and expertise to help those who are on the ground in Haiti with their humanitarian relief efforts," said Gabriela Schneider, whose group, the Sunlight Foundation, will be hosting the Washington meeting. "It's kind of like the way Doctors Without Borders might go and help, or people from afar might get together to send goods."

The eight-hour event is being coordinated by Crisis Commons, a group which, according to its wiki page, "is meant to capture knowledge, information, best practices, and tools that support crisis preparedness, prevention, response, and rebuilding."

A similar get-together was scheduled Saturday for Silicon Valley, California, and organizers were trying to plan others in New York, Los Angeles, California, London, England, and Denver, Colorado.

As of Friday afternoon, nearly 100 volunteers had publicly registered to attend the Washington event. Their employers ranged from Internet startups to universities to government agencies, including the State Department and U.S. Geological Survey.

"It's a growing community that should not be underestimated," Schneider said. "They're tech-savvy and they know how to use networks well."

For Jonathan Nelson, a programmer and product manager who lives in Atlanta, Georgia, but telecommutes for a company in Washington, CrisisCamp Haiti is a chance to take some small action in a situation that otherwise felt overwhelming.

"You watch the news and it's like post-9/11 trauma again," he said. "Haiti is so far away -- you've got obligations here, but you want to contribute. I just thought, 'I've got to get up there.' "

Among the possible projects that participants plan to tackle:
• Building an open-source base layer map of Haiti that can be used by nongovernmental groups and others working in the country

• Creating an online locator system for families seeking lost loved ones

• Setting up an online communications tool similar to Twitter that would allow relief workers and others to talk with each other in real time

Other ideas could emerge. The group uses what's called the BarCamp model, which allows conversations and projects to develop organically and without hard and fast agendas.

"This is getting out of the red tape -- getting out of the corporate inefficiency -- and just having one common purpose and being very agile," Nelson said. "It'll all be a continual process."

"The Bachelor" is back!!!

While I am not a huge fan of Jake, I'm hoping that his mechanical behavior continues to make for awkward conversations and great TV! 

Cheers to a new season fellow Bachelor watchers!

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20334460,00.html

Happy NEW YEAR!

Ready to see what 2010 has in store for us!

We kicked off the start of the year with a VERY relaxing weekend hanging out at home (considering that I'm still not working I realize that I am not extremely stressed by any means, but one half of our union works quite a bit!).  We watched some movies, made pizza and took two sweet little munchkins to the children's museum!

Merry Christmas!!!

Once again, Andy and I had a FABULOUS trip back to Chicago.  It was so nice to be home and see SNOW on Christmas.  My mom and I cooked, cooked, cooked and tried some delish new recipes!  We all drank lots o' wine and enjoyed being holed up in the house for two days straight! 

JUST what he always wanted...a membership to the Mustard of the Month Club!!!

Immediately after opening gifts, Dad got to work putting together his new humidor (while wearing a t-shirt that he had been given just moments prior...).

Andy's parents always send the BIGGEST and BEST poinsetta - this year's edition was bigger than Val...check it out!

**Thank you again to my friends for making time to see me!  I am always reminded of how lucky I am to have all of you in my life.**

FINALLY, Andy and I wish EVERYONE a HAPPY and SAFE NEW YEAR'S EVE!!!

Margulies family holiday dinner!

Last night Andy and I had his family here for a holiday dinner before we all go in seperate directions this week!

So, I decorated the table...

And made homemade gnocchi for the first time (which turned out TERRIBLE, but I'm hoping my sauce made up for it...)!

More importantly, we got to see these CHRISTMAS CUTIES!!!

How cute is this???

I'm not sure I have the patience, but I think it's such a great idea! 

http://jrmcphillips.blogspot.com/2009/11/ribbon-topiary.html

Christmastime is HERE!

Last week after I got back from Chicago I immediately got to work putting up our Christmas lights!  And that same night I made Andy go with me to the Christmas tree farm so that we could pick out JUST the right one!

Well, after a trip to Home Depot and a lunchtime discussion with Andy about why I DEFINITELY needed at least 10 more strands of lights...I finished my project!  I think it looks FABULOUS!

Our tree, also fabulous, if I do say so myself.

And in "news" unrelated to the holidays, I finally finished Andy's office!  I had pillows made while I was in Chicago, which was (the second to) last thing that I needed to do!  (Oh, the small joys of accomplishing something!  Thank you for indulging me!)

Thanksgiving 2009

This year I extended my Thanksgiving trip to 10 days!  It worked out perfectly - I got to spend a ton of time with my family and got to see ALL of my friends!  I'm so THANKFUL that I was able to stay while Andy was away traveling for work.

2009 marked the first year that we spent Thanksgiving with my family!  We kicked off the day with a Farrasso-Margulies Family Turkey Trot...

Then watched the turkey rotate for four hours...

And finally, sat down to eat!

On the Sunday after Thanksgiving we celebrated my sweet husband!!!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDY!!!!!!!

I am so THANKFUL for all of the quality time that I got to spend at home...

And THANKFUL that I got to see sweet little Addison (plus mommy KW!)...

Always INCREDIBLY THANKFUL for this man...

AND, finally, I'm THANKFUL for my friends that allow me to come home every so often and TALK THEIR EARS off...THANK YOU!  I miss all of you SO MUCH.

HOLD ON for year THREE!

Two years down!  Happy anniversary to us!!!

Charleston

I must admit that as much as I dislike the South, I began to have a (slight) change of heart after visiting Charleston for our anniversary weekend!

The city was gorgeous and the food was absolutely unbelievable!  From our carriage tour (thanks for the recommendation, Rach!) to wine tasting - we had an amazing second anniversary celebration!!!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Mayer!!!

For the last wedding of the season, we headed to NYC!  Not only was this a chance for us to spend time with Andy's college friends and wives, but it also meant that we got to hang out in our second favorite city!

We are so happy for Cassie and Justin and were thrilled to be a part of their gorgeous wedding weekend!  Everything from the food to the flowers to the band was perfect!

One more wedding post...this time with better pictures!

Back when I had MY CAMERA!!!!!!!!!!!!

***I'm pretty sure that I'm not technically allowed to post these photos.  As a disclaimer, they were all taken by photographers from the West Loop Studio.***

CONGRATULATIONS to the WAWAK'S!!!

I just got back last night from a fabulous weekend in Chicago and then a couple days at home with my family!  It was so good to be in the city and it was even better to celebrate KYLEIGH and CHRIS'S WEDDING!!!

Kyleigh was absolutely the most beautiful bride I have ever seen - she was so relaxed all weekend and she radiated happiness!  I took well over 100 pictures of her, Chris and their beautiful loft wedding - but, left my camera somewhere along the way home (due to a few glasses of champagne...).

My mom, on the other hand, took a total of 21 (not great) photos and made it home with her camera, so, I've included a few below...

Excuse the extreme close-up, but this is the only picture from our luncheon at the Wine Consortium. 

I had to mention this luncheon mostly because of the CHEF that cooked for us at the event...

In case you aren't familiar with Aaron, him and his wife were on the sixth season of The Amazing Race.  Not only is he quite handsome, but he is a fabulous chef AND a stay-at-home dad!  So, enough about Aaron????

Okay...back to the wedding...my Dad with Pat and Andy at the most delicious rehearsal dinner (if you're in Chicago - check out Fianco on Southport - AMAZING!).

The bride dancing with her father - unfortunately, we (as in, my mom) didn't get any pictures of the bride AND groom!

The glowing bride with her friends!

Val and Pat - CUTE!

Andy and me taking a break from dancing - I was on tambourine duty for most of the evening - a pretty big responsibility.

My mom with the beautiful MOB and MOG!

A huge thank you to the Beach and Wawak families for including us in everything!  We had the best time and were so thankful to be able to spend so much time together.

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Madson!

Andy and I hit the road this weekend and headed to Atlanta to see Bill and Stephanie get married!  We had a great time hanging out with friends that we rarely get to see, checking out some delicious restaurants and exploring Buckhead!

As we continue on the fall wedding circuit - we'll be heading to Chi-city on FRIDAY!  After an intense immersion into all things Southern this past weekend, I'm SO ready to get back to the Midwest!

Congratulations Drs. Stahl!

Leah meets the Gov!

For KKG Founders Day last week, Bev Perdue, the first female governor of North Carolina (and Kappa alum) invited our alumni group to the mansion!!!

It was (obviously) an honor to be able to meet Governor Perdue and to hear her speak.  As a sidenote, the Governor's mansion (in Raleigh) has remained very traditional and has inmates working as the servers!

Let me tell you a story...

I started off this refinishing project with good intentions to do it all myself.  I researched how to remove varnish, what supplies I needed and how to properly ventilate the area.  I was all set!  Unfortunately, removing old varnish is not as easy as it looks - and I'm now convinced that you need professional supplies to do it right. 

Anyway, I checked out Craigslist and came across three people that refinish furniture - I got in touch with all of them for quotes and decided to go with the least expensive option since the buffet is not in bad condition and really just needs to be cleaned up.  Well, the least expensive option ended up being a person who prefers to go by "Little John." 

Little John lives in Coats, NC and does not have e-mail, nor does he have a phone.  So, I had to work with his brother-in-law to make the drop-off.  Since I had reached these gentlemen through Craigslist, Andy really didn't want me to go meet them by myself...but, seeing as I have bundles of free time to do things like drive out to the middle of nowhere to drop off a buffet and my dear husband is constantly working, I decided to go alone.  Little John's brother-in-law gave me directions to Coats (no address, just meet them at "Sonny's Mini-Mart - past the stoplight.").  So, I headed out yesterday morning (after Googling "Sonny's Mini-Mart") and made my way to Coats, NC.  I really had no apprehension about meeting these two, even once I made it past the one stoplight...

And, found Sonny's...

Here is where my apprehension sets in...Little John and his brother-in-law arrive at Sonny's in a car similar in size to this...

Which meant that I had to follow them to "the house" since they obviously couldn't fit my buffet into their car.  Around then is when I thought that I may have walked into my own CSI episode...but, decided to follow them anyway!  I drove behind them for about two miles, praying the entire time that their house would be close to the road and near other houses.  Those prayers were not answered...

We turned onto grass (their driveway) and I continued following them a quarter mile off of the main road (take a look at the "A" arrow in the picture above).  Not the smartest thing I've ever done, but I figured that I had made it that far and I had to keep going!

The trail ended at a series of shacks and a small house.  Giant alarm bells went off in my head, but I was determined to drop off the buffet!  Little John and his brother-in-law took the buffet out of the trunk and as I tried to get back in the car, they both wanted to chat.  Awesome.

Chatting with these two wasn't the easiest task considering that their thick Southern accents kept me from understanding what they were saying.  As Little John lit up a cigarette while standing in the doorway of my car (his body blocking me from actually being able to shut my door), I tried to keep my answers short.

Once I finally explained to Little John's brother-in-law that, "yes, I will consider purchasing frozen seafood and pork" when I come to pick up the buffet and "no, I am not looking to get rid of the lamp in my car, I'm just going to make a return" - I was out of there safe and sound!

Mom, Dad, Val - don't worry, Andy will be accompanying me on the return trip.

All I want is U2

U2 hasn't played in Raleigh since 1983, so in case they wait another 26 years before coming back - Andy and I thought we should show up!

We had our own wine and cheese tailgate and then headed over to Carter Finley stadium for the theatrics!  The music was (obviously) awesome, but the crowd was sooooo quiet.  I've never been to a show (except for the time that I went to see James Taylor with my parents...) where the crowd was so reserved!