To the sweet sunny south, take me home...

I just came back from 5 days in North Carolina--I flew down on Saturday and came back Wednesday evening. Oh, I had SUCH a good time. I stayed with my friend Krista (who lives on one end of Chapel Hill) and Doug (who lives on the other end). The weather was absolutely gorgeous--5 perfect days of blue skies and heat and light breezes. I spent a lot of time sleeping in--perhaps I should've gotten off my tush a little more but heck, it was my vacation. The first night Doug and I grilled out on the deck--nothin' like burgers al fresco. I also introduced him to Cheerwine, a local specialty. Sunday Doug was studying for his real estate brokers' exam so I borrowed his car and wandered through Chapel Hill, poking my head into vintage shops and used book stores. Chapel Hill is such a pretty little Southern town, with itty bitty little bungalows and huge mansions with old, old oak trees along the streets. And lots and lots of greenery. Oh, my heart drank it up.

Chapel Hill has some adorable restaurants--one is called the Carolina Brewery and it has a CIA chef serving all sorts of Southern cuisine. Krista and I ate there and I ordered cheese grits topped with shrimp--oh my GOD, was it good. And I got bread puddin' topped with bubbon sauce. So, so, so delicious. Krista and I did some shopping and I got a darlin' little bag, a blue and teal canvas tote. I also picked up a little printed, smocked top for the spring--it'll look so cute with jeans and maybe a cowboy hat. Doug and I ate at a place called Mama Dip's in the middle of Chapel Hill. As fantastic as Carolina Brewery was, this place was better--I think this is the best meal I've had in a long time. I got the chicken-fried steak with gravy with sides of black-eyed peas and baked apples--I was pleased to see they called it chicken-fried, not country-fried, and they served it with regular (i.e., brown) not white gravy. Because that is how my Mother makes it and calls it, and that means it's correct! One bite of this steak and you can die a happy woman--it's beefsteak batter-dipped and deep-fried. SO delicious! For dessert I got chocolate pecan pie--fudgy and dark and rich and heavenly.

It was hard coming back to 50-degree chill and rain...

It's a step...

Eliot Spitzer to propose bill legalizing gay marriage.

Now I'll have to contact my state senator and rep to tell them where I stand on the issue.

New Yorkers, here is a way for you to look up who your state senator is (enter your zip code and whatever the results are, click on the senator's name, and then on the District Map at the bottom of that senator's page and check it against where you live). Here's the same thing for your state assembly representative.