NC/MI Lists

OK, I am freaking out that we only have a few days left here in NC. There just aren't words for how badly I wish JB could come down here, so we don't have to leave. His absence is the only (albeit MAJOR) flaw here. I want him here, so we don't have to leave the life I've wanted to live for years: close to my mommy & my 98-year-old Grandmommy, my BFFs Wendy & Christa, as well as more people that we went to college with than any other area, (and where people actually *know* what Davidson is,) the best neighbors in the world that we feel comfortable enough with to let them take our kids anywhere & have sleepovers after we've all shared dinner together & made s'mores by their fire pit, my happiest weather climate (no 50's during summer months whatsoever), and my home culture. (There really is a difference. Check out the confirming comments here, and that's only re: one single aspect of life. I don't want to live in a place where the norm is to be reserved & buttoned up; I'm not saying that's "wrong", but it's just not comfortable to me or how I want my kids to be.)

But I know God is sending us right now for a reason, so I need to psyche myself up for this. I'm gonna make some lists.

Southern staples I want to take with me back to exile ;-) up north:
* Duke’s Mayonnaise
* Ariston balsamic vinegar [I am a balsamic connoisseur, and this is the most amazing I've ever had for less than $40 a bottle, (& this is less than $10!) The Meat House here carries it = heaven!]
* The cucumber plant Will already has started & a tomato plant (although it's too late here for planting tomatoes, so I may not be able to find one!) so that I can have summer veggies on a Southern growing timetable instead of the northern (which is a month or two behind - their strawberries haven't even begun, yet, but we've been picking since April!)

Awesome things to look forward to in MI:
* Douglas J Aveda Institute - the cheapest, best quality spa & salon ever!
* Sweet & Sassy - Sissy's FAVE place to get special occasion hair-do's just opened there near 12 Oaks Mall, (and the Charlotte location closed last year)
* Cheap cherries - Mmmm! Most people go on about MI apples, but they don't seem as special as the cherries to me! (NC has great apples, too, but not cherries!)
* Lawash - the most delicious Mediterranean flat bread, like flour tortillas but WAY better! They make the best wraps, panini, & quesadillas ever, and since southeast MI has such a huge Arab population, it's readily available.

Decent start...