Run and hide your crazy

Happy day-after-Easter-Monday. Why today is not still a holiday? I have no idea. 

My favorite song of all time just came on the radio. I'm sure you could learn to sing along. The chorus is literally "Lover, lover, lover. You don't treat me no good no more" and you sing it twice. 

Why it's my favorite song? No particular reason. 

MC and I used to sing it really loud on the way to and from work. 

And in the family room. 

And the kitchen. 

Basically when we hear the song we just sing it real loud. 

So last night as I was falling asleep and dreading another week of boring business and confusing French classes I realized that I have only 1 little month left. 1 month- I can totes handle that. Also, today when I left my French class I said "bye" to my professor as I was walking out the door. I heard her calling after me, "Au revoir, Caitlyn- AU REVOIR!" 

I think I'm officially the worst French student. Seriously- if I'm not speaking English in class then I'm speaking German. And let me tell you, it's a serious issue when you speak German in your French class. I answer most questions with, "Ja" but that doesn't cut it in French. 

Stressful. 

But in better news.. March is over. So what did I do? 

I'll start with the St. Paddy's day parade. 

I went to a St. Patrick's day parade in downtown Raleigh. 

Everyone was wearing green- but this lady had the coolest pants. You can't really tell, but they're patterned and all fancy. I enjoyed her whole outfit. And her bag which says, "Cake for breakfast." 

Enough said. 

There were little leprechaun men everywhere. Lots of music and dancing and green.
It was a fun day. I mostly liked the big-headed leprechauns on wheelies. There were 2 and they were rolling all around on their little wheelies- made me want a pair really bad.

St. Paddy's day was a lot more exciting, but it was so long ago that I've forgotten the details.
So I'm just going to move on quickly to the next holiday.

EASTER.
I couldn't go home for Easter this year (or last year, or the year before, blah), so Dan and MC drove down to spend the weekend with me.
They're so cute like that. 
It was literally the greatest weekend I've had in a long time. The only thing that would've made it better would have been if Kyle could've made it too. Poor guy was stuck at work all break. We missed ya Kylie!

They got here Friday morning and we spent some good quality time together.
They were down for some good Bojangles to get the weekend started- MC wanted it because Scotty McCreery likes it, and Dan wanted it because he was hungry.
I think we were all satisfied.

Then we headed over to Meredith! The last time Dan was at Meredith was during Freshman move-in. So he only experienced the random craziness that happens when a bunch of girls are trying to keep it together while also managing to set up their little dorm rooms as their parents prepare to leave them for the next 4 years.
In other words, it was time for him to visit again.
This time was a whole lot less dramatic- omg.

We posed by the fountain because it was cool.

He really loves all of the attention that we so generously shovel his way.

Then we wanted to check out the ampitheatre. It really was the perfect day to walk around- clear skies, a nice breeze, perfection!
Dan was a big fan of the lake/pond thing. Which one is man-made? A pond? I guess it doesn't really matter because I don't know if the Meredith lake/pond is man-made or not.
So never mind.

Good thing he refuses to read my blog so he will never know that this picture made it to the internet. Mary Catherine was shouting names of random girls. That's how we get Smiley Dan in pictures.
Strategy.

Then he ran down all the steps and did some more posing after we called out even more names. We really have figured out how to work with him. And look at that- a brilliant photo courtesy of Mary Catherine. We also have a few dozen pictures of random trashcans and the ground courtesy of Mary Catherine, but we don't have to talk about that.

Oh, out of order. This was before he ran down the steps. I really don't think he ran up and down more than necessary. But who knows- he is full of surprises.

Then after Meredith, we went back to the Crains and made ourselves at home with a few thousand old photo albums including Lynda and Carter's wedding pictures.

 I, along with Jessica, was a cute 6 year old flower girl. Dan and Sam were the "bell ringers" (they literally rang bells) and Kyle was the ring guy.
Anyway, we had lots of laughs over the pictures of Danny from the wedding. I don't think we found a single picture where his bow-tie was straight and his boutonniere was upright. All of the pictures post-ceremony Dan's bow-tie is missing completely. Maybe you just have to know how he was as a child to appreciate all that- he was always doing something. He could entertain himself with a freaking leaf- not even kidding. So anyway, cute little Dan man was crazy hard to keep tidy.

After Memory Lane, we headed down Person Street and got ourselves some HOT NOW Krispie Kremes. A whole dozen. Let's not talk about it.

MC and I also spent some great time in one of our favorite places- the mall. We were very surprised to notice a new trend in the mannequin world- hair and long bangs. I think the hairy mannequins were only at H&M, but still... weird. Every single one had long grayish-white hair with bangs that they could easily munch on if they got hungry.
Hence the confusion on Mary Catherine's face as we tried to figure out the purpose of hairy mannequins.

I thought perhaps the hair was to make the mannequins more relatable to the average shopper. So H&M must have been thinking along these lines- "Maybe if we put hair on our mannequins women will feel more inclined to buy from our store since they can see more of themselves in our advertising."
(I just made awkward eye contact with a man sitting in the honors lounge. I thought he was sleeping but he wasn't.)
But that's not my point.
If this was an attempt to connect with the customer, I don't know how successfully the plan was executed. Mostly just because it confuses me.
Then again, it is H&M- a European clothing store- and maybe that's the only necessary explanation for this strange new phenomenon in the mannequin world.

Moving on.
Mary C and I also treated ourselves to some Gloria Jeans coffees conveniently located directly across from the hairy mannequins mentioned above.

We also witnessed a mall-crime and felt obligated to document it.
This is a picture of what you're not allowed to do on an escalator.
The picture is actually on the escalator so as to avoid any confusion.

We thought this woman might just be pretty confused. Either that or she has no respect for mall regulations. Or maybe rules just don't apply to her. Either way, MC and I felt pretty uncomfortable traveling up the escalator behind this hardened criminal.
What if that thing snapped and the child fell backwards?
MC loudly announced that she wouldn't be doing any life-saving. She said if the child rolled down toward her she would just step aside and let him continue on his journey.
I don't think she would actually do that- we were just appalled at the blatant disrespect this woman had for the mall.
Respect the mall!

We got away with shopping all morning on Saturday because Dan was occupado at the Crain's with this thing they call "construction".
Apparently Carter wants a bigger deck or a deck with bigger stairs and a patio and all this fun stuff.
(Woa... a man just walked by holding a tiny baby. Meredith is going crazy y'all. I don't know what to believe anymore.)
So Friday was demo day and Saturday was re-build it day (which doesn't sound nearly as fun as demo day). 

As the guys worked, us girls painted our nails and had a backyard dance-party.
JT was our entertainer and he did a marvelous job. 

Naturally, Dan was in his element.

Clearly, in his element.

Showing off- just a tad.

We also went to Brewsters for some ice-cream after filling up on authentic Mexican at Torrero's. Clearly we hadn't eaten enough Mexican.
Ice-cream just fills in the cracks. At least that's what mom always said (you say that, right mom?).
Dan and I would never miss an opportunity to star in a picture.
We are always prepared.

Sunday came all too quickly and suddenly it was time for the little one's to head north. We did manage to devour some chocolate bunnies and Easter eggs of the Cadbury and Reese's varieties first.
Then we started hugging.
Lynda and Carter are pretty proud of their "Crain Sandwich" and made sure to hug each of them extra long since we'll miss them extra much.

MC outwardly enjoyed the sandwich much more than Dan. I believe she actually ran toward their open arms as they chanted "Crain sandwich, Crain sandwich!"

What a colorful family I have.
Oh by the way, we're no longer calling each other "weird" or "strange" or "odd" because they have such negative connotations to them. Instead we've decided to call each other "colorful" because color is a good thing and we're all fans of color. And let's be honest, colorful people are the most fun people anyway.
MC and I know Rhonda is proud of our new rule.
(Rhonda = Sharon/mom)

So that sums up the rest of my March.
Soon April will be winding down too and I'll be watching as my junior year wraps up. I'm still not a fan of growing up, but whatever.

I also decided today that I'm definitely going to be getting a haircut really soon. According to my hair, today the humidity is at 3,000% and I'm not so okay with that.
Seriously though, my hair grew a few inches after I finished drying it this morning. It's ridiculous.
And yes, today is a warm day so I'm sporting capris and flip-flops like it's my job.

Here's to spring- the humidity, allergies, little green worms that fall from the trees and the end of the longest semester of my life!
Just kidding, I do love spring. I am Sharon Martin's daughter after all!

Happy April! 

It's about time

Guys, guess who finally made time to sit down and make some changes??

I did. This girl.

The last time I updated my blog was when I created it- pretty sure. So it was time. Let's be real. 

I was also hoping that this time I wouldn't have a huge amount of stuff to catch up on, but again I was wrong. 

Not that lots has happened, but what has happened is pretty monumental in my opinion. Like a BTR concert with the UNC Clef Hangers- that was pretty cool. A bunch of preppy guys decked out in bow-ties, flair-filled vests and khakis can serenade me any day! 

We helped ourselves to their vests when they foolishly left their dressing room unattended. It was like they begged us to try their vests on. 

No one got any phone numbers- much to all of our disappointment- and I think everyone cried about it. But we did get a semi-group picture with BTR and some of the Clefs. 

Us girls decided to go stomping through Raleigh the other week- that was a fun time. We found a random wall filled with color and we asked a kind-looking passerby to snap a quick group shot for us. 

We also found a cow sticking out of a building and had to take a picture with that too. It's not every day that you see a cow's rear-end sticking out of a window in downtown Raleigh! 

Then we walked around and acted crazy and drank coffee. Good group bonding time- you know. 

You know what else was really monumental for me?

Turning 21. 

Since my birthday was on Monday, we decided to celebrate all weekend long. Doesn't everyone do that? 

Kyle surprised me by flying down Friday night in the middle of this freak ice-storm that Raleigh just so happened to be experiencing. His flight was delayed at least 3 hours and our previous plans were pretty screwed up by the weather stuff. Lynda was going to have him show up at dinner wearing a big red bow to surprise me. 

Since that didn't happen, we all waited up playing Mario on the Wii until 11pm, then headed out to the airport to pick him up. The weather men were advising us to stay indoors what with the treacherous road conditions and all, but nothing could keep us from rescuing Kyle from the airport! Not that he was in danger, but for real- who wants to be stuck in an airport on my birthday weekend?? Not this girl. 

We did so many fun things that weekend, it'll probably make you really jealous. So if you can't handle it, if you're going to get all upset and start to really hate us, then just stop now. 

I'm serious. 

So serious.

Okay so here we go. Saturday we started the day off right- with a trip to Jubala for coffee and biscuits with the Crains, John and Harry, me and Kyle. 

Lynda and I had matching outfit concepts, and that was enough for us to pose appropriately for a photo. 

Boots, scarf, leather jacket- very similar concept. 

This was Kyle's first visit to Jubala and I'm pretty sure it was a huge hit. I know he was a big fan of the ham and cheese biscuit, but they lost a good 10 points when he realized he couldn't order a caramel macchiato (his number 1 go-to-drink). But he ordered the brown sugar cinnamon latte, and I think that he actually liked it. 

He drank it down to the very last drop anyway. 

Then someone took another picture of Lynda and I. We don't ask for these things, they just kind of happen! 

Just kidding, we totally asked someone to take this for us. 

Deal with it. 

 

After coffee we headed over to The Alley for some good, retro bowling. 

No computers, oldies music, and the foam gutter-guards. 

Perfect.

 

Harry and I decided to pose like the bowling pin on the window. I think we did a pretty great job. 

Then Kyle had the brilliant idea of making me into the lumpy bowling ball beside the pin. Of course, how silly of us to have originally ignored the poor little guy! 

And again- nailed it. 

 

Unfortunately the bowling part of things didn't go well. 

In case I didn't tell you before, I can't bowl. 

We tried the same thing last year for my birthday with mom, dad and MC, and I had similar results.

Except this time I didn't drop my ball, so I guess you could say I'm improving.

So yes, Kyle beat me. He was nailing strike after strike and I was all, "Oh good, I got 4 pins!" 

So yeah, I was a little bit disappointed in the score- which I conveniently don't remember.

After bowling we headed to some very random shops and of course posed with the most outrageous things we could find.

 

First to Sugar Magnolia for some crazy colorful hats. Kyle was tempted to buy that hat- it was a great deal and I'm honestly shocked that he left it behind. 

At least I know what to get him for his birthday this year.

Then to Father and Son's- the world's most random store filled with everything from paintings to furniture to vintage clothes and hot-pink mannequins. 

Lynda found a great pair of sunglasses. Can't you just see her lying on the beach sporting these babies? She didn't get them though- too bad. I think she was looking for something with a little more pizzazz. 

Kyle came around the corner at one point and very seriously said to me, "Cait, I found your wedding dress! You have to come see this!"  He was all excited as he grabbed my arm and quickly led me across the store and into a room with this. 

I told you. Hot-pink mannequin. 

The fact that she's pink- kinda weird. Then we see that she's basically chewing on her bangs and is missing a left hand and... do you have goosebumps? Because I really do. From all the weirdness. Moving on.

The one good part of this store came in the form of a vintage couch that just happened to be my favorite color- mint! 

I want this couch. I want it in my cute downtown apartment that I don't have. 

Let's be real- this couch would make the look 100% complete. 

 

After the random shopping/browsing/entertainment, we headed off to Mellow Mushroom for some dinner. 

Kyle kept calling it "the mushroom". It was pretty cute. 

So there we are with our left-over potato pizza. It was literally a baked potato with sour cream, bacon bits, and cheese on a pizza. I didn't think it was possible either- but it is guys. It really is. 

Since this happened before my birthday, when Carter got a free fountain beverage coupon he quickly handed it to me and loudly exclaimed, "That's for you!" 

This is me being super happy for my free fountain beverage. 

Once again reminding me that I wasn't yet 21. 

 

Then after eating at The Mushroom (ha ha) we walked at least 5 miles down the street to the Cupcake Shoppe. Yes, it was 5 miles I'm pretty sure. All uphill too. It's like they wanted to kill me. Ugh. 

But the cupcakes were good- Kyle's never seen a fancy shmancy cupcake shop that only sells cupcakes. Apparently Lock Haven isn't into that?

They're missing out. 

 

 

Then Saturday ended. Saturday was a very long day- like never-ending, but in a good way. 

Then along came Sunday and whoever can guess how we started our day can call themselves special. 

That's right. Another Jubala start- pretty fantastic. 

 

Kyle and I enjoyed our lattes a lot. I actually look quite surprised to see mine. Kyle looks really excited. 

Basically that's exactly how we were feeling. 

We do get normal every now and again. Someone at school told me that they think Kyle and I look alike. I wondered if she had her eyes shut while she was looking at the picture. Just kidding- but I do think it's cool that someone things we look similar. It's cool.

 

 We also went to see a movie Sunday afternoon- Silver Linings Playbook- with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. 

It had 4 of my favorite things: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, lots of Eagles talk, and a lot of crazy. Seriously though- great movie. One of my new favs. 

Of course we did dinner in style- Bull City for some freaking amazing burgers. We were all big fans. Kyle told us that he liked Bull City the best of all the things we did that weekend. It was pretty cute.

 

There's all of us after devouring our burgers. Seriously, amazing. 

And then came Monday- my actual birthday. 

My actual 21st birthday! 

It started off pretty mild- Kyle and I had the morning/afternoon to ourselves so we went to the mall for some Gloria Jeans coffee. Kyle and I agree that it is the best coffee we've ever had.

So of course we took pictures with our favorite coffees. 

Then we went to Target because Kyle didn't believe me when I said that they have an entire isle of wine. 

There he is, in his isle of wine. He was in his heaven. 

Needless to say, he was pretty impressed. 

We did a pretty fantastic dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant with fabulous food and a waitress who was very attentive to my birthday needs. 

 

I don't know what I ate- some kind of pasta with chicken that was top notch. I'm actually sitting here drooling over the picture of that food.

My first drink was some kind of nutella something. Honestly the name was "nutella" so I didn't ask questions- just went with it. It was delicious! 

I was forced to wear some party glasses and a couple strands of garland. When I say forced, I mean someone literally put the garland around my neck and the glasses on my face. To be fair I really didn't fight it, I thought it was funny. 

You only turn 21 once, right? 

After dinner we headed off to sing some Karaoke and I had a blast! I picked some songs that really did nothing extra to highlight my vocals, clearly it was my first attempt at karaoke. There was a woman there named Lisa who really dominated and had obviously thought through what she was going to perform. I just got up there and had a fun time if I'm being honest. 

So that's how my 21st birthday went. It was a great time. Kyle left on Tuesday evening and I had to come back to classes and my new routine on Wednesday. Before he left he kept saying "I can't believe Christmas vacation is over already! I don't want it to end." 

At that point it wasn't quite February yet, so I guess that makes sense. I usually like my Christmas break to last through all of January too.

Back to reality, blah. This weekend is pretty quiet. I have loads of homework to catch up on after not having done anything last weekend. BTR is singing for some kind of high school leadership thing tomorrow morning at Meredith. We have to be at the Chapel at 9:30- please pray for me. 

Now I'm going to cuddle up and watch a movie. A girl just came by asking if I had Clorox disinfecting wipes for her to use. I don't know her, but I think she lives on my hall. I'm convinced that my life would win if I ever entered a "most random life" contest. Not that I would ever enter a contest like that, but I had to make my point. 

So there's that!