graduke

in the wee hours, i got a burst of energy and decided to make a little graduation banner to celebrate nate's accomplishment. embarrassingly, i spelled graduate g-r-a-d-u-t-e. i'm cringing at myself because spelling is usually my strong point. i pulled an elementary school move (you know, where you make your wrong letter into a heart or something) and made the banner say "graduke!"
and that is what nate is now–a graduke!

we were so happy to have my parents in town for the occasion. we arrived home from beach week the night they flew in and got right to it. sage insisted we take them to mapleview farms, our favorite local creamery on a farm...with rocking chairs on a porch for seating. we hit our other favorite spots, like dames chicken and waffles, hillsborough barbecue, the sarah p. duke gardens, duke campus, and i even squeezed in some shopping with my mom. we went out for a fancy graduation dinner at nana's, and it is nate's new favorite durham spot. the molasses wheat focaccia bread and house risotto are worth going for alone.

graduation day was hot and humid. my mom is a pro at getting the masters hood just right, but poor nate was sweating it out in all his garb as we trekked across campus. we snagged great seats on the floor of cameron indoor stadium with a front row view of the incoming graduates, but with enough space for a sleeping nora in the stroller. shane battier was the commencement speaker and i was surprised at how eloquent he was, especially since it was hard to hear anything with the echoey sound system.

congratulations, nate. we're both masters now (i beat him by fours years!).