Mom's Visit

Happy Hump Day everyone :) 

The past three days have been so good...MOM CAME TO CHARLOTTE TO VISIT! Mom decided to take a few days of vacation time to come visit me in Charlotte, which worked out perfect because I am still looking for a new job and needed someone to keep me company during the day! Not only that, but Mother/Daughter time was way overdue and very much needed.

Monday around 3:00PM, I pulled up to the train station and waited for the train Mom took to arrive from Greensboro. While I waited in the car, (with Miller, of course) I made a list of all the places I wanted to take her while she was in town. I was anxious for her to arrive so that we could explore the Queen city together and was crossing my fingers that she wouldn't be too tired to venture out...which thankfully she wasn't!

When the train finally pulled in, I greeted Mom, helped her get her suitcase into my car, and we were off to head to the Condo (let me just add that Mom and I didn't waste any of the 49 hours that she was here)! Mom had yet to see the Condo and I was excited to show her all the hard work Will and I have put into it so far. After showing Mom the Condo it was time for us to get back on the road and make our first stop at The Container Store. I am obsessed with this place because I am OCD when it comes to being organized, so I was a kid in a candy store and within minutes, had already filled a cart to its rim--ha!

Mom @ The Container Store

 After clearing out half the shelves at The Container Store, it was time for us to finally eat dinner! I wanted Mom to see the NC Music Factory (which has a handful of venues, bars and restaurants) so I told Mom we were going to have some of the best burgers I have ever had from a place called Mattie's Diner. Plans had to change when we pulled up and noticed the sign on the door said they closed at 3:00PM on Mondays...which was okay because we headed right over to Amelie's! Boy...Mom had no idea what she was getting into; not only was this French Bakery full of funk and awesome decor, but they have a variety of items on the menu to choose from. When it comes to having a sweet tooth, both Mom and I are hands down GUILTY.

For those food lovers, Mom and I ended up getting the following to sample: Cream Cheese and Chocolate Croissants, Raspberry and Lemon Almond Tea Cakes, a Cream Puff and a Opera Torte (not pictured).

After looking over the vast menu, we picked out a number of sweet treats to-go, headed by Panera Bread to get some "real dinner", enjoyed a peaceful meal together at my condo and called it a night! We were two very happy and overly-full girls by the time we got into our pj's and headed to bed.

On Tuesday, we started the day bright and early as I told my Mom to make sure she had comfortable shoes on because I had planned a day trip to Ikea (which by the way, she had surprisingly never heard of). I told her it was a huge store, with showcase like rooms and was just a experience I couldn't really explain. As soon as we walked in and she saw that you could drop your kids off while you shopped, she knew this was a store unlike any other!

After about an hour or two of wondering around every single square inch of Ikea, we took a break and enjoyed lunch at the restaurant upstairs. Mom and I dined on the Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes, cream sauce and lingonberries. I am pretty sure that Mom was surprised at how delicious and filling her food was because she didn't even stop to break and talk between bites!

After lunch we finished up shopping and headed out with a Borgsjo Bookcase that we put together (as a surprise for Will) before picking him up from work and headed to dinner uptown at Rooster's. We enjoyed each others company, chatted about the day and just took in all we had to be thankful for.

The bookcase Mom and I put together!

After dinner, Mom and I went back to the condo while Will went back to work. We decided we still had a little bit of energy left in us and decided to unpack some of the boxes Will and I had yet to unpack and organized the whole kitchen (typical). Shortly after, our energy diminished and Mom disappeared to bed and called it a night :)

After sleeping in until 9AM, I decided that I wanted to treat Mom to yet ANOTHER meal at The Original Pancake House. We enjoyed french toast and talked about what we enjoyed most from the past two days and left, yet again, with overly full belly's.

I didn't want to drop Mom off at the train station overly exhausted, so I decided we should just head back to the condo to R&R some together. The hours went by quickly as we lounged on the couch, napped and watched TV. 4:30PM came before we knew it, so we got in the car and headed back to where our time together began; the train station. I love the feeling of seeing (and in my case, picking up) someone you adore...but dread the emotions I get when having to say goodbye. I HATE GOODBYES. I know today was not the last day that I would get to see my Mom, but the time we had together went so well that I wasn't ready for it all to end.

So if you can't already tell, the last 49 hours were awesome. I wouldn't trade them for anything and am so thankful that God has blessed me with this woman as my Mom and someone who I am continually growing closer to day by day. Our next visit can't come soon enough... :)