Mangy Moose.

We went to Maine this weekend, and it was very, very fun. Sure, there was a small hurricane (or at least a threat of one), which caused it to rain non-stop from Friday night through late Sunday afternoon, but we didn't let that stand in the way of a good time. Doug and I didn't get there until late Saturday afternoon (much later than planned, unfortunately - we got caught up in trying to do house stuff, and Doug also made a birthday pie!), and once we got the tour of the fantastic-looking house we all headed out for barbecue. I will let Cotton talk more about the food, since that's his blog forte, but I will simply say that it was definitely one of the better barbecue places I've been to. The biscuits were EXCELLENT. Worth the price of admission.

One of the things that I love the most about girl Chris is that she puts you right at ease. Of course, I don't know if I'm ever truly at ease since I'm borderline socially deficient, but if there's anyone who doesn't make me feel overly self-conscious it's her. And her house is so warm and inviting. I say her house, knowing full well that the decorating and arranging was a collaborative effort between her and boy Chris, but still, from the moment you walk into their home you feel girl Chris in every space. The color flows from room to room, the decorations and accessories all have a definite style and theme, and everything just makes you want to put down your bag, sit on the couch and stay a while. I find that our house in Dedham has not reached this point yet. Not that I don't love our house, because I do, A LOT, but I don't think that we've hit that decorating/accessorizing breakthrough that has happened in Maine. Case in point - our bedroom. Now, before we moved into the house here I had visions of having a very put-together bedroom. One with a definite scheme and theme. Doug wanted a neutral color on the wall so we tried off-white, but that just washes out the room too much because there's nothing else in the room that is overly colorful, and the color looks more buttery than white. And we have that tired cow blanket on the bed and the rug that was in the living room in the apartment that now looks polka-dotted because the cats puked on it so many times (cats as in Wyatt, the barfer), and even though we tried to liven the room by painting one accent wall an earthy green color it just is not working. So I am borrowing some inspiration for our bedroom from the Chris's guest bedroom - this blue flower picture. Maybe the camera didn't quite capture the exact hues, but the teal green of the frame and the yellow of the center of the flower (I am forgetting the technical term for this part of the flower - the stamen maybe?), just really appeal to me. So this artwork will be the inspiration for our new bedroom decor (and I hope and pray that girl Chris and boy Chris don't think me really off my rocker for taking a photo of their house and posting it on my blog!). I am planning to start painting after I get back from the Internet Librarian conference.

After an afternoon of retail therapy in Freeport (and Doug decided against buying this VERY HOT looking shoe shown here, which is supposed to be some kind of shoe that when you walk in it increases buttock activity by 9% and quadricep activity by 12% and also makes you entirely unappealing to the opposite sex, the same sex, or maybe even dogs and cats, who knows), we (we as in Doug) helped Chris and Chris set up their sound system. Their house is wired in each room for sound, which is way cool, but only if it works, and now it finally works. Wham! in the kitchen while making dinner, Wham! in the great room, Wham! in the bedroom, and best of all, Wham! in the bathroom. A whole house of Wham!. This is truly a great feat. CHRIS and Doug worked hard to make the system work, and now that it's all figured out girl Chris's great vinyl can be heard again. I think that finally everyone can appreciate the vision that the previous owner had when he rigged up that very complicated sound system. And I for one know that that Wham! record will make its way onto the turntable a few more times, because no one Wham! raps better than George Michael.