Francesca's was closing early for special holiday hours, so tonight, Kelly and I went to a new eatery in downtown called the Beyu Caffe (pronounced Bee-You) for our weekly coffee outing.

It was GREAT! If you are looking for a totally hip new Durham-loving hang out, this is it!  It isn't a study spot and I think they may frown on that; sorry Dook students. And they probably would not appreciate the local go club meeting there, either.  So if either of those is your thing, please continue to patronize Francesca's.  It's a great place, too!

Beyu serves dinner, but they are happy to serve just coffee drinkers, too. There are couches in a lounge area and there are more traditional cafe tables and chairs surrounding that. The coffee was good; Kelly and I both had stylish minty coffee drinks.

While we were there they turned down the lighting, which is something that I thought would make for better evening ambiance.

Besides the great coffee, my favorite thing about the place was the giant (long) panoramic picture of the downtown Durham. It is worth going in just to see that photograph, which Kelly said I probably could buy for $1000. :) maybe not.

Sorry Francesca's, you really are great, it's just I think we found our new coffee date location. Really it's me, not you... can we still be friends?

Note: The downside to Beyu being our late night coffee spot is that there is not a lot of great parking. Two girls walking around downtown late at night kind of freaks us out... we'll see.  Really what we will have to do is plan on parking near each other and walking to our cars together, problem solved!

Beau is not in many fun, family outing pictures. It makes me feel bad that I don't have fun pictures of him participating in the events that we do. Then I realized this is why...

 

I wear him all the time and I am usually the one taking the pictures. (This picture was taken by Miles at the 5k he ran last week) 

Speaking of wearing babies... I have to give a shout out to Kristen for mentioning a few years ago that I would like the Beco Baby carrier. Which I do love! The ability to carry in the front or the back is WONDERFUL! It made navigating through the airport with two children, three bags and one car seat much easier.

When we are out I just put it on at the first stop take him in and out as we go through the day; then at the last stop I take it off and everyone happily survives even long days of errand running. I can wear him all day and it doesn't hurt my back, shoulders, hip, etc.. Totally worth the cost, and it is super cute!

Thanks Kristen for the GREAT recommendation!

Harris Teeter is not my usual grocery store; it is more expensive and farther away than the Kroger that is pretty much across the street from our house. But they have parking spots that are designated "shoppers with children" right up front. AWESOME!

Taking a page from Miles' blog, I decided that I would start a "Things that I love" strain on IMR.

 

Andes Mint Chocolate Pillow Cookies are a Granny (my dad's mom) specialty. She makes them during the Christmas season, and they are WONDERFUL! Since I wont be home this year for Christmas, I have to make them myself. (They wont be as good, but I'll make due.)

Other Granny cookie favorites are Honey Funny Men (Halleigh's fav.) and Hamburger Cookies (Miles' fav.).