WOW!

Wow I suck at blogging. I just keep saying I should update it and leave it until the very last task of the day and then....I fall asleep. If you know me, you know I am a serious sleeper and when it is time to go to bed, nothing is stopping me. I will fall asleep anywhere and it is uncontrollable. Writing blog posts was just not a priority in April, but I'm back!

So, what have I been doing?

Well, first, we took a trip to Charleston over Easter weekend with Maggie and Jacob! We drove down on Wednesday night and spent all day Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the beach.

Such a nice vacation. We slept in, ate tons of fried seafood, walked all around downtown, went to the market, had bloody marys at Hyman's, drank beer and played bocci on the beach, flew a kite, played lots of board games, saw a band and danced like maniacs, went bowling and cooked some amazing food. We packed a lot into that long weekend!

Josh was wiped out on the way back! :)

The next part of my month was spent planning and organizing the 3rd Annual Community Volunteer and Internship Fair. Event planning is a bigger part of my job than I expected, and it also stresses me out a lot more than I expected. I will wake up in the middle of the night and worry about whether or not I remembered to email someone or order the right amount of something. Organizing events takes a lot more work that I always thought. The fair went off without a hitch though, thanks to some really good people I work with at State and friends and co-workers that helped with all the day of details!

Ewa and I working the registration table!

I was very happy when it was over! It was a big success, and we got finished early enough to enjoy a beautiful April day. We went back to my house and had a well deserved drink and a delicious cookout with some good friends. 

Our soccer season is over! It went by so fast. We finished 3rd in our league and are headed to the playoffs next week!

My soccer star, all ready to play!

Ewa before a game

You can always spot Josh because of those red shorts!

Look at him go!

Josh playing catch with one of our teammate's super cute kid

Worn out and happy!

I have had a busy month! I'm excited for the semester to be over and the office to get a little quieter...yeah right! My job does not slow down. At least tomorrow is Friday!

Date Nights

Even though we live together, Josh and I love going on dates. Having something to look forward to, dressing up for each other and exploring new places in Raleigh never gets old. One of our favorite special occasion places is Cafe Luna in downtown Raleigh. I had to convince Josh to go there the first time - most Italian food comes with some serious cheese, so he was pretty hesitant, but once he tried it, he loved it!

 Color coordinated for our date!

Notice my red chest from walking around at the St. Patty's day parade all day! We actually got to sit outside behind the restaurant on a little patio and we were able to watch the crazy people who had been downtown drinking and celebrating all day - we could not believe how they were still going strong 7 hours later! I always order the same thing - I also always think I'm going to get something new, but this dish is SO good I can't resist! I forgot to take a picture, but it is:

"Fiocchi -  Fresh Pasta Stuffed with Four Italian Cheeses and Pear Saute in Cream with a Touch of Fresh Tomato"

So good!

Caught Josh looking happy and hungry

The next weekend, I surprised Josh with a date to Moonlight Pizza. My friend Cara had told me how good it was and I saw it on Groupon the next day, so I went ahead and bought it. It was the perfect place to go on a rainy Friday night. We ordered the Earth Wind and Fire pizza, which had roma tomatoes, grilled chicken, red onions, avocado and pepper jack cheese. 

Josh liked it!

After that, we went to Fox's Liquor Bar for a drink. I LOVE this place. It has such a good atmosphere, the drinks are amazing, and so far it hasn't been too crowded for us. We found a spot on a couch in the corner and started googling everything on the menu because we had no idea what some of the ingredients were. The drinks have crazy names and stuff I have never heard of in them, and they hand carve their ice into huge single cubes or tall spikes, depending on the glass.

My favorite is the Mexican Firing Squad and Josh likes the Champ, which has whiskey and mint

Check out all the ice packed into that cup!

 I wish I had better pictures from inside the bar, but it is SO dark. We have been there twice now and would probably go back every weekend if it wasn't so expensive. New favorite Raleigh bar!

This next place Brian took us to - so not exactly a date. But we thought it was so good we went back yesterday for a little date night dinner. I had heard of this place called Calavera that served only empanadas but didn't know where it was - it is awesome! It is a tiny little building with seating upstairs that overlooks the street - it is right across from El Rodeo downtown. The menu is small and simple - I love places like that. I feel like when a place really specializes in something, it's going to be pretty good.

My favorite was the Havana Jerk - spicy pork with mango habenero salsa! We also got cilantro jalapeno margaritas - worth going there just for those!

Brian hiding behind some flowers

One little thing we do is write notes back and forth to each other. I saw this idea on Pinterest and just thought it was so easy, I had to do it. I put a piece of notebook paper in a clear plastic frame and put it next to our bed with a dry erase marker. We write notes directly on the frame and leave them for the other one to find. We have opposite schedules a lot of days, so it is nice to come home to a sweet note!

Usually when we go out on a little date night that is all we do - go out and come home afterwards and just chill out. Going out to these little places makes our date nights feel special though, even if we do just come right back home and put on our pjs!