The Golden Arches

Or the Golden Arcs, as used in Coming to America.

Random story with 2 points.

1. McDonald's does have food for those trying to eat healthy.

2. Ronald McDonald does exist.

Chris and I made our way out to Natick on Saturday to do some last minute shopping for Father's Day, as well as to finish up shopping for work clothes for Chris. We didn't eat lunch before we left our place, so I was starving by the time we got to the mall. Starving? Why, you might ask. Well, after gaining a certain amount of weight, not to be disclosed, during the winter months of Boston, I decided it was time to get back into the skinny, happy to be me, get into all my clothes state of mind. I started a diet last Wednesday and I am doing well so far, but it becomes extremely difficult to fight off the hunger. So, we were on our way to Natick and the following conversation ensued.

Me: Are you hungry?

Chris: Not really, but I could eat. (His typical response.)

Me: Well, we need to eat before we go into the mall, because I will be famished if we wait. I can do McDonald's.

Chris: Isn't that the craziest statement ever? You are on a diet and you suggest that we eat at McDonald's.

So, we made our way to McDonald's where I had the Asian Grilled Chicken salad with low-fat Sesame Ginger dressing and it was actually pretty good. So, there. You can eat healthy at McDonald's. (If you were wondering, the salad has 300 calories, 10 fat grams, and the salad dressing has 90 calories and no fat grams. I opted to leave the almonds off, which saved me 6 grams of fat and 70 calories.) Chris opted for the not-so-healthy choice of a double cheeseburger, medium fries, and SWEET TEA (yes, they are serving this in MA now!). As exciting as this may seem, the excitement didn't end there......

As we entered McDonald's, I came face to face, for the first time ever, with a walking-talking Ronald McDonald. Honestly, as many birthday parties as I attended as a young child at McDonald's, I have never seen a person dressed up as Ronald McDonald. Anywho, I literally think I jumped as I rounded the corner and he stepped out. I think he might've gotten a good laugh out of it. Oh well. What can you expect if a large red and yellow person steps out from behind the drink machine? Below is a picture for proof.

The Barneses come to dinner....

I just had to write a post about The Barneses coming to dinner so that I could post a super cute picture of Alex. Chris and I kept Alex for an entire day in November when we he was about 4 months old. It was an adventure keeping such a young baby for the entire day and while we were exhausted, we had a great time!

Patrick, Patricia, and Alex will be in Boston this summer keeping me company while Chris is in Atlanta! Maybe we will even get to play Would You Rather?,the best game ever, that Patrick and Patricia introduced to us.

A fun-filled weekend with family and friends

Chris and I flew to Georgia last Wednesday, May 28th, to visit family and friends and attend the wedding of Laura Grosch and Robert Cross. We hadn't been to Georgia in almost three months, which an extremely long time for us to be away from our families. I can't wait until we see them on a more regular basis. Chris and I spent Thursday and Friday hanging out with both of our families while eating really good meals. There is nothing like a good home cooked meal or buffalo wings from Buffalo's. We spent Saturday at the pool with Jared, Karlie and Jake. It is so much fun to be around our niece and nephews. We really never get enough of them, because they are always changing. Our two youngest nephews, Griffin and Gavin, are changing the most, so it is always interesting to see what new habit they have started. We spent Saturday morning watching two baseball games in which Griffin and Gavin played. They are pretty good little ball players! The Jarretts are a family of ball players, but we didn't get to see Jared, Karlie and Jake play while we were home. Below are a fews pics of the kids.

Chris practicing his Guitar Hero skills.

Karlie does not like to have her picture taken.

Gavin....not too interested in the game, but oh so cute!

Griffin didn't mind posing for the camera either.

We spent Saturday evening in Atlanta for the Grosch-Cross wedding. Say that 5 times really fast, LOL! The bride was beautiful and the wedding and reception were a lot of fun! Chris and I were honored to be a part of their special day. Weddings have become somewhat of a reunion venue for Chris and I since we rarely get to visit our friends when we are in Georgia. It was so great to spend the evening with Elizabeth and Adam, Jess and Chris, as well as everyone else that we hardly ever see. I had a great time, of course, since I never attend a wedding that I don't enjoy. Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Cross who are honeymooning in Hawaii as I type, so jealous!

First Dance!

Elizabeth and I

Me, Lauren, Casey, and Elizabeth (where are you Jess?)

I love to dance! Another reason why I love weddings!

Aren't we sweet?!?!

After 3 hours of sleep on Saturday night after the wedding, we headed to the airport to make our 7am flight to Boston. No, we don't usually take flights at the crack of dawn on a Sunday, but we had to get back to Boston for a few special visitors. Jan, Kristen, Bill, Kallan and Marin took a little trip up north to visit Boston as well as NYC and we were happy to have them in town for two days.

We showed them around HBS and the Harvard undergraduate campus prior to heading downtown to get on our duck boat. Chris and I had yet to take a Duck Tour and to our surprise, it was a lot of fun. We will definitely be recommending this tourist attraction to any visitors that we have in the future. After the duck tour, we made our way to the North End to eat at probably my favorite Italian restaurant in Boston, Dolce Vita. They have amazing manicotti with cream sauce! I had to work on Monday, so Chris and I met up with the fam on Monday night at the Union Oyster House where my favorite clam chowda lives. It was so great to see them and show them the city we call home! Below are a few pictures from their visit in Boston.

Kallan, Marin and Flat Kallan and Flat Marin on the steps of Harvard University's library.

Chris, Marin, and I on the duck boat.

View of Back Bay from the duck boat.

My New Favorite Website

There are days when I get bored at work and have to find some way of entertaining myself. That time is usually spent on Facebook or Myspace or People.com, but sometimes I even get bored with that. This boredom leads me to thinking about what Chris and I will name our children. Laugh all you want, but it does pass the time by. Yesterday, I stumbled across the following website when I typed in "What is a good middle name to go with Carson?" in google.

http://www.babynamegenie.com/

This website has a variety of options for naming your baby. No, we don't have a baby on the way, but doing stuff like this keeps me content until we have one of our own. I particularly like the middle names for.... and first names for.... links. They also generate a name based on the last name with the Baby Name Generator. I love it! I will have to save this to my favorites for when we do FINALLY have children!

Just in case you were wondering.......one of the middle names to go with Carson that I liked was Claire. Carson Claire Jarrett kind of has a nice ring to it!