I Run Like A Girl

Things have been looking bright lately. My pregnancy nausea is completely gone, and I’m starting to feel like myself again for the first time in months. It’s allowed me to fill my calendar with travel, home-related projects, and other fun things. It’s been quite a transformation from being a sick couch potato to a busy bee again. Now that I’m feeling better, I have the mindset of wanting to complete all these projects and life things before the baby comes – these next few months are sure going to fly by.

These last few weeks have been productive, but the absolute highlight was my brother, Andrew, visiting! He drove all the way from Pittsburgh (8 hours) for the weekend, and we had the best time together. The three of us actually came to Raleigh last summer when Joe and I were scoping out the move, and it reminded me of that fun trip as we did a lot of the same things: eating out, some touristy stuff, and relaxing at home.

The main activities of the weekend were centered around food. Having lived here for 6 months now, Joe and I surprisingly have not eaten out in many places. Andrew visiting was a good excuse to try some places on our list. One of my favorite spots was Dampf Good Barbecue, an outdoor barbecue joint that sits on a farm. The food was AMAZING. There was a line, but it was so worth it. I loved eating outside picnic-style. This was my favorite barbecue spot in the area yet!

We also ate dim sum for lunch one day. We were all so stuffed afterwards. I will definitely be back.

Another highlight was having Andrew’s dog, Constantine, join us. He’s such a source of joy whenever we spend time with him. We spent hours playing with him as we missed him over the last few months.

The cats met Constantine for the first time. It was quite the event. Constantine has an alpha personality, so let’s just say there was a lot of chasing and hissing around the house. 😉 Smelly surprisingly did better than Ben as she’s braver and can handle bigger animals. Ben literally spent all weekend under our bed.

Fortunately, Constantine became best friends with our neighbor’s dog. They were so cute exploring the backyard together.

There was a major heat wave in the area, so we spent a little bit of time outside, but we were mostly indoors all weekend.

Our one outdoor activity was a hike around Lake Johnson. This hike has been on my list, and I’m glad we finally checked it off. We did a 3-mile loop around the lake. It was a really nice walk as it was a shaded, paved trail. I surprised myself by walking the whole thing – lately, standing for 20 minutes will leave me feeling winded. 😛

Afterward, we ate a traditional Chinese breakfast at Grand Asia Market, a place we found in last summer’s visit. We might just make this a tradition.

One evening, we grilled at home. We bought some marinated Korean meats from H-Mart, and we had a Korean barbecue meal. This was another favorite meal – every bite was incredible.

I’m so grateful for all the visits and trips we’ve done with Andrew over the years. As I’ve gotten older, I appreciate this quality time more. I’m glad we live on the east coast now as it’s significantly easier to visit each other. 🙂

Other than that, I’ve taken up some projects and new hobbies, including learning the banjo! I’ve always loved the banjo but put off learning it for years because I thought it was too loud for our small apartments. I finally took the plunge and bought a banjo to start learning. In a few weeks, I’ve come a long way. There are a lot of good lessons on YouTube that helped me get started. Another highlight of summer so far.

The garden is in full summer bloom. My favorites are the red dahlias. More pop up each day, and they are so beautiful.

I’ve been collecting fresh mint from our garden and making watermelon juice. I scoop half a watermelon into a blender, strain it, and muddle the mint leaves. It’s such a refreshing drink that’s always stocked in our fridge.

Lastly, our pet frog is thriving and growing! He’s pretty much always in the pond now as the new pond plants have made him more comfortable in camouflaging him. I’ve gotten quite attached to him and feel like I’m now the crazy frog lady. 😛

Be well, my friends!