sandy toes.

one of the major perks of my job: in-state travel.

that's right.  i effing love north carolina.

there are so many places inside the state that i have yet to see, or have yet to really have the opportunity to enjoy.

some of these places are SO remote that they seem to be a different country.  with a different, almost indecipherable language.  and different ethnic foods...like fatback.  and pickled pigs feet.

for others, the remote in-state location lends only to an incredible sensation of being in paradise.

current example: the outer banks.

i had the great pleasure of waking up in nags head yesterday morning, and took the photo at left while walking on the beach.

sandy toes.  crazy hair.  salt everywhere.

i love this perk of my job.

it gave me the sense of hitting the "reset" button on my life concerns, and it brought me back to easy, happy times.

i fell in love with the outer banks.

and i fell in love in the outer banks.  over two years ago, in fact.

it may sound silly, but i swear i fell completely and officially in love with my current boyfriend on our third official date, which happened to be in the outer banks.

i had previously always believed love to be one of those things that grew on ya, that took a while to develop until you finally realized you were with someone who might be THE one.

not this time.

i knew, right from the beginning, that this was my man.  the windswept hair certainly didn't hurt.

you may think i'm crazy.  i certainly did at the time.  but looking back, i couldn't be happier with the way things began.

according to this study, it's even to be expected.  love doesn't take that long to catch ya.

sure - it would have been easier if MY windswept hair had made the same quick impact on his heart...but i won him over eventually, and will always be able to associate an incredible location with an incredible moment in my life.