going home

This will be long, and probably sappy (and way overdue). Deal with it.

I hail from Williston, North Dakota. It's a sleepy little town - barely a dot on the map in the very northwest corner of the state - almost in Montana and not far from our neighbors to the north. Jon likes to tease me about secretly being Canadian - not quite, but I've been known to drop an "eh" in conversation from time to time.

Well, my sleepy little town, isn't quite so sleepy any more. You may have heard about the oil boom that's taken over Williston from the Guardian or New York Times or NPR or from any number of other news sources that seem to rediscover the story every few months. It's a strange feeling when people who struggled to remember if your from the "North" or "South" state can now identify your hometown by name. Almost overnight, Williston went from total obscurity to headline news.

My parents moved to Kansas right before I got married (they like their states flat and tree-less), and since then, I've never been back to Williston. It's been six years, and a trip home was long overdue. I could only keep hearing about the changes for so long before wanting to see them for myself. Plus, as Megan perfectly articulated, the home video project we did for Mom's birthday made both of us miserably homesick.

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That's the town, but now let me tell you about the people because they are really what makes Williston home. Growing up, life was ridiculously idyllic. We lived a quiet life on a quiet street in a quiet town. We never moved. I never even moved bedrooms. I came home from the hospital as a newborn and slept in the same room for the next 18 years. {This might explain my aversion to moving.} We went to the same church, the same school, and had the same friends for 18 years. Expect they weren't just friends. They were family.

Because we didn't have any extended family in North Dakota, these lovely people took us in as family. They had kids together and raised them together. In a way they grew up together, and so did us kids. They were at birthdays and holidays, celebrations and church functions. They make numerous appearances in our home videos - just like family would. They've seen me at my cutest (somewhere around age 3) and my most awkward (everything after 3). They grilled Jon when I brought him home. He didn't just have to pass the test with my parents - no, he had about 10 other surrogate parents who also had to approve. They've nurtured me, prayed for me, encouraged me and loved me. I'm grateful for each one of them.

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I left bright and early on Friday morning. You know it's going to be a great day when your alarm goes off at 4 a.m. I landed in Minneapolis, and was immediately happy to be back in the Midwest - where people smile, say "excuse me" and the airport sells Green Bay Packers items. I did a little preseason shopping at the ripe hour of 7 a.m. Who needs coffee when there is shopping?!

The biggest moment of the morning was boarding the plane to Williston. It was a real jet with a flight attendant, jet bridge and everything. This is huge. For a long time, the only option we had was a propeller flight to Denver with no bathroom or flight attendant...and it was a long flight. To add insult to injury, the propeller flights coming from the middle of nowhere aren't exactly given landing priority. I remember circling the air in Denver on numerous occasions. One time we spent 30-45 turbulent minutes flying around while we waited for Al Gore's plane to land.

First positive change: oil means more people and more people means more air travelers and more air travelers means more flights on real planes. Oil boom: 1.

Upon landing, Williston looked pretty much the same. Still flat. Still treeless.

Much like a face only a mother could love, it's possible North Dakota is only a state a local could love.

Mom and Megan picked me up from the airport - after I successfully found my bag at the baggage claim that was marked with a 8.5x11 printed piece of paper. They had taken the more scenic route to North Dakota - driving up from Kansas. The 4:00 a.m. wake-up call wasn't looking so bad compared to the 2-day drive.We immediately went to Nina's house for lunch with the ladies.

I failed to take any photos, but it was a lovely lunch. We stayed for almost 4 hours catching up. Upon leaving Nina's house, Williston gave us a proper welcome with a big ol' flat tire. The roads have never been great - the hard winters take their toll on pavement - but the increased traffic, especially truck traffic has really made things worse. We ran over something, and sure enough, as soon as we got out of the car, we could hear the air streaming out of the tire.

Meanwhile I waited on the steps because no one was home to let us in.

But old friends are the best friends, and after a quick call, Joe came to our rescue. Except he couldn't get the tire off. Mom's fancy new car had a difficult bolt, and fearing he would break it, we had to call in the roadside assistance people. About 3 hours later, we finally had a spare tire...and another volunteer. Tim took the tire to get patched early the next morning...while I was still sound asleep. Bless him.

Saturday was a big day. We bunked all weekend with Russ & Dorry, which was a great idea. Not only are they great hosts, but Dorry is one of the best cooks I know. Half of my recipes came from her. That morning she made scones. Then it was off to lunch with these ladies at the country club. Williston is apparently very fancy now. With country club restaurants and $25 entrees.

After lunch, we stopped at Books on Broadway, where both Megan and I worked during high school and college over the summers. It's still a magical little bookstore, and one of my favorite places on earth.

Next up was the old neighborhood tour. This is where I grew up. It looks a little different, but mostly the same. We ran into a few old neighbors and got caught up on the 'hood.

We may or may not have broken into the backyard. Hey, that shed looks familiar...and like it needs a new paint job.

We couldn't walk down the block without stopping for a photo of our old mailbox #11. One time Megan tried to lick some snow off the top of it (ew) and got her tongue stuck to the box (duh).

That evening we had a cookout in honor of Russell's birthday. The gang was all there. Of course, we had to break out some of the home videos. We watched a few clips from church programs and had fun picking out all the faces in the crowd.

The next best thing about staying at Russ and Dorry's was spending time with their adorable grandkids. This little cutie. I die.

Sunday was perhaps my favorite day. Probably because it started with a true North Dakota caramel roll. Mom picked them up from two different spots and I definitely ate 1.5 rolls. I'm not ashamed.

Sunday afternoon we took the official driving tour with A+ tour guides Stacey & Jennie. I'll spare you photos of buildings that mean nothing to you - save Walt's Market because everyone loves Walt.

We made a pit stop out at Vance & Darci's house. This was a great choice because we got to take in their awesome view, and besides being great company, they fed us homemade ice cream and cookies. I swear people from North Dakota are the best.

We finally got back later that evening after a full day of touring the town. I was shocked at how much it has changed, but also how much it has stayed the same. It's really true that "the more things change, the more they stay the same." While the footprint of the town is now much larger (so many new houses, hotels and apartment buildings), it's still the same place where you run into the same people. That was somewhat comforting to me.

Poor Papa Tim had been entertaining Connor all day while us girls were away. I'm not sure which one of them was more exhausted.

We said our goodbyes to the Mendros and took a few photos before Connor squirmed away.

Monday morning we had breakfast with Karen and Becca.

And then one more meal at Russ and Dorry's before it was time to head to the airport. She even served ice cream with homemade raspberry sauce. She's the original hostess with the mostest.

More going away photos!

This is Bert. We became good friends over my stay at his house. 

Russell spilled on his shirt at lunch so he had to go Napoleon-style for these photos. 

Thus ended the trip home. It was a whirlwind. Mom's schedule kept us going the whole time. She was determined to see EVERYONE, and I think we did. But, I wouldn't have it any other way. There really is no place like home.

a weekend at salamander

What do you do when a flight cancellation leads to a trip cancellation? In our case, we hop in the car and head to a resort for the weekend.

As we sat on the couch mulling our post-trip cancellation options - our already packed bags sitting by the door just waiting to be whisked away for the weekend - Jon suggested we see if the Salamander had room. I had stumbled across the Salamander in Southern Living (they have the BEST regional travel tips) a few months ago, and it's been on our bucket list ever since. And hey, we deserved a little luck after our flight debacle. We called to say we were on the way, and by 8:30 p.m. we were checking into the hotel with complimentary glass of wine in hand. Ahhhhhhh.

view from the balcony

that bathtub…swoon

It's unlike us to show up anywhere without a plan, but I loved the spontaneity of the trip. Nothing is more depressing than unpacking a bag that you just packed 3 hours earlier. We were making the best of an annoying situation, and I'm really thankful we were able to enjoy a weekend getaway - even if it's not exactly how we planned it.

On Friday, we slept in and enjoyed room service breakfast. Ordering room service always makes me feel fancy - especially when it comes with white tablecloths and fresh flowers.

Later in the morning we headed to the spa. Spas make me feel fancy too. I got a facial and massage while Jon got a massage. It was definitely one of the nicest spas I've  ever been to. Even better, the spa had a private pool for spa patrons only. After our pampering, we spent the afternoon relaxing at the quiet, adults-only pool while the other resort-goers had to slum it down at the noisy family pool. ;)

It wasn't the most patriotic way to spend the 4th of July, but we made up for it by having BBQ for dinner, sitting by an outdoor fire, making s'mores, and watching some fireworks.

Middleburg is horse country. That's the only explanation I have for this. 

the good life

On Saturday, we sipped our way through Virginia wine country. Turns out we have some pretty decent vineyards right here in our own backyard. We've visited a few local wineries here and there, but this is the first time we devoted an entire afternoon to vineyard hopping. It was such a beautiful day.

For dinner that night, we headed to a nearby B&B called the Goodstone Inn. It was a charming little spot with lovely views and excellent food. I kind of wanted to move in and never leave.

On Sunday we headed home, but not before a delicious brunch at the resort. I was sad about leaving so I comforted myself with this little treat. These are butterscotch scones. They left them in our room each evening during turndown service (turndown service...add that to the list of things that make me feel fancy), and they had mountains of them at brunch. I thought about stuffing some in my pockets, but I went for the classier option of buying them at the local bakery on our way out of town.

My next order of business is to recreate these little mounds of awesomeness. It was a lovely weekend full of even more reminders of why Virginia is pretty awesome. Sorry we couldn't see you this time, Arkansas, but we'll be back!

a new job

After 4.5 years working at a small tourism development company in DC, I recently switched jobs. I really enjoyed my former job where I had some of the best colleagues around. I'm grateful I had a job, and even more grateful I had a job that I liked, but it was time for a change. When we moved to Alexandria, my commute grew to about 1 hour each way. I thought I would make it a few months, but I lasted 10 months.

I wasn't actively looking for another job, but I kept my ear to the ground in case something interesting became available. Lo & behold, someone shared a job opening on the neighborhood listserv several weeks ago that piqued my interest. This is a good lesson in actually reading listserv emails. The opportunity sounded perfect, I applied, and the rest is history.

I started last Wednesday, and everything has been a blur since then. I'm working with a great team of people at a small, boutique marketing recruiting firm. In layman's terms - we find & place candidates for marketing-related jobs in the DC metro area. I'm doing a lot of in-person training these first couple of weeks, but after that I'll be working from home full-time. I'm going from a 1-hour commute to no commute at all. I may never wear real pants again.

restor-a-finish dresser

We had a bit of an interruption, but it's time to talk about that stacked dresser.

As you may remember, the dresser looked like this when we found it at the barn sale. It wasn't in bad shape, but it needed a little love. There were no major scratches or defects - mostly it had lost it's luster after years of neglect.

We [we = me & Megan. Jon wanted no part in this project] toyed with the idea of completely refinishing it & painting it, but I couldn't settle on a color, and I don't always love the look of painted furniture. And if I'm being completely honest, I didn't trust my refinishing skills.

On top of that, I'm not sure what the long-term plan is for this dresser. Right now, it's going to live in an upstairs guest room that isn't finished yet (and when I say it isn't finished yet, I mean the only thing in there is this dresser). I hated the idea of going to the trouble of refinishing it before I was 1) committed to a color and 2) committed to it's permanent place in our home.

Thus enter Howard's Restor-a-Finish. I first came across this product on Pinterest. After extensive blog research, it seemed like a miracle product. We really didn't have anything to lose - if we didn't like the end result, we could always go back to Plan A: a complete refinish.

We purchased the restor-a-finish at Home Depot. I think it cost around $10. We bought 2 colors to try - walnut & dark walnut - but we couldn't tell a difference between the colors once they were applied. The process of applying the restor-a-finish couldn't have been easier. We just rubbed it on gently with 0000 steel wool and wiped it off. No waiting, no stripping, no elbow grease. The hardest part was pulling out all of the drawers. Ha! We followed the restor-a-finish application with another Howard product called Feed-n-Wax (also purchased at Home Depot), which you rub in & let sit for 30 minutes before wiping off any excess.

now which drawer went where??? 

almost there! we were smart enough to not put all the drawers back in until we had the hardware installed so we could easily pull them back out again.

The final step was replacing the hardware. We raided Anthropologie's hardware section, and we just couldn't decide so we got 15 different ones! I love the charm of the non-matching knobs. It's perfect for the vintage vibe of this old dresser.

i won't tell you how long it took for us to agree on a knob pattern we liked.

those knobs! *swoon*

I love how the knobs look with the camel print I bought in Dubai. Now it's time to get the room painted so I can hang the print above the dresser. 

As you can see, it definitely looks nicer, but restor-a-finish wasn't the miracle worker I hoped it would be. Contrary to the blogs I read and YouTube tutorials I watched, the restor-a-finish didn't make all the scratches or water marks disappear. What it did do is enhance the natural shine and color of the dresser's existing finish. What was a dull & drab finish, now looks more rich and hydrated. I would definitely recommend the Feed-n-Wax. It really helped put the finishing touch on the dresser.

some minor scratches didn't come out.
 luckily, you don't notice them unless you are really looking.

Overall, I'm happy with how it turned out. I may decide to completely refinish it someday, but since it looks fine as is, I'll probably get lazy and just leave it.