of pigs + art.

We went to our friend's 2nd Annual Pig Pickin Jubilee on Saturday. I did bring my camera, but I left it in the car which was parked far away. We went over there early (they live <5mins from us) to help them set up (poor Kelly [1/2 of the husband/wife hosts] was sick!) and oh gosh, was it ever hot. It had stormed really bad in the morning but cleared up beautifully, leaving us with blue skies and air so thick you could cut it with a knife. By the time people started showing up we all had a nice shiny coat of sweat. The good thing about living so close, after a couple hours we ran home to check on animals and change clothes! The pig pickin was a success though! So much fun was had by all. I am a little sad that I didn't get my camera out at all, but there were so many people there with fancy cameras taking pictures so I'm sure I'll be able to get my hands on some digital memories in the near future. John ate some of the pig, because, yes, there was a whole pig on display, and deemed it delicious. Rhianna did not eat the pig and stuck with the 3 different kinds of coleslaw to be had on the side dish table. Rhianna made lots of new friends and loved socializing with everyone. John entertained everyone with some tuneage at the open mic stand (highlights include playing while a sick Kelly [such a trooper! she gets 1,000 gold stars!] sang "Sally Ann" and playing the guitar for a 9 year old boy that sang "Soul Sister"). John and Rhianna both wanted to steal a precocious and adorable 4year old boy named Ethan. It was a wonderful hot & fun day.

Sunday we had our first meal out since our month long experiment! We actually went back to the local restaurant where we had our last meal out on July 4th. We like to do things full circle. The restaurant we chose also doubles as an art gallery for local artists and we happened to be sitting in front of some paintings while an art reception was going on in another part of the restaurant. People kept walking up to our table, standing uncomfortably close beside us, to look at the paintings. Once our appetizer came it got a bit too weird for us - joking that we should hand write a sign on our table "Young Adults Eating - living art by John & Rhianna" - so we asked to be moved one table over (by the windows, not the paintings). We laughed as the young hostess ended up sitting (& eventually moving) 3 more couples at that table. Obviously she didn't get that the people coming for the food instead of the art didn't like to be treated as art. Oh well.

We ended our weekend on a fun note...

...with a marathon of The OC. We settled in with our three animal babies and watched pretty people resolve superficial conflicts with a good punch in the face or drug overdose. ;) We adore teen melodrama in our house.

mouse ears.

We've been going going going lately and we've been fortunate to have some great experiences.  Just this morning we said goodbye to two of my dear friends, Lauren & Cecilia.  They came and stayed a long weekend with us.  It was lovely to catch up with them -- talking, eating good food, lounging in the pool, and being lazy watching television.  I'm very thankful that I got to see them and hope to see them again soon.   But before they came over we were in Florida visiting Mister's mom, hanging by the beach, going to the Kennedy Space Center (more on that tomorrow), and... as you've probably guessed -- going to the most magical place on Earth -- DISNEY WORLD!  

Enough with the talk, here are a few of the pictures I took...

outside the Magic Kingdom

the coolest mice on the planet

Alice outside the Teacups.

ELEPHANT! 

Mister with our Mickey treats

I got a new charm for my bracelet

It was a most magical day for sure.  I got some Minnie Mouse ears and wore them the whole day while at the park.  Unfortunately due to time & money we only got to explore one park so we chose Magic Kingdom (as if there was any other choice when you have to choose just one).  Of course this means we are going back as soon as possible to hit up all the parks -- shooting for October to be specific so we can celebrate my birthday and attend the Wine And Food Festival.  

Even though it was just one day and one park, it was still a m a z i n g.  A place where no one cares that adults walk around dressed like kids with spontaneous music numbers in the streets and everyone is happier than anywhere else?  This is where I want to be always.  I've worn my Minnie ears many times since we tore our eyes away from that shining magical castle that night.  We rode Splash Mountain 4 times (we got stuck on it for 20 minutes the last time & got free fast passes for our trouble).  In Frontierland I was pulled into a musical performance and danced and clapped and smiled and laughed.  We rode the monorail around and toured the pretty hotels.  We had dinner at Wilderness Lodge.  And we got to see so many tiny princesses walking around the park that had visited the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique -- so jealous of them!  I totally wanted to have my own fairy godmother make me into a princess.  It was just lovely.  So so so thankful for that experience.

next time, I'm buying a balloon!

If you have the chance to go to Disney World, you should.  If you've visited many times, that's awesome!  I hope to be a regular Disney goer in the future. 

See ya real soon!

playing favorites.

I went to my parents house the other day to help mom look for something.  While in one of the unused bedrooms, affectionately known as "Rhianna's Junk Room" (storage boxes with all my junk that either I or mom cannot yet part with) mom found some things saved from school.  One of these things was a little brochure where I drew a picture of myself, titled it "Facts about Rhianna," and on the inside wrote a paragraph with only the most important facts about 7-year-old-me.  My favorite things about this:  it looks like I erased the comma after Michelle and put another one before the And on the second line; the fact that I like animals and have freckles were very important (and still true to this day!); and I single out my brother, Bobby, as being the only of my 5 siblings that I actually like - bahaha. 

That is 7 year old Rhianna for you.  Although I might have been 8, but I was either of the two because the first 3 names are girls that were my friends during those ages & probably the friends that were assigned to my table instead of being BEST friends - as I don't have any special memories of those particular girls during that time but I do remember who they are.  No clue what they are doing now - hope they're well!

Hmm.  Oh well.  Mom and I found a few other gems.  But that was the only one I snapped a picture of with my phone.  Why did my mom keep all that junk?