A Double Date

Hey Y'all!

I am still reliving this summer over here on thee bloggy and trying to still play catch up. As many of you know, I blog to capture mine and Kev's lives first and foremost. It's such an added bonus that I have met so many amazing gals through this avenue. Amazing, I tell ya!

Let's rewind to July when Kev and I doubled dated with Britty and Baby Brother. 

We went to one of our favorite local spots just outside of Cincy. Let's be honest, the Kentucky girl in me loves staying this side of the river (aka the promise land). We headed to Covington to a local area called Mainstrasse. It has some really great local restaurants, cute shops and some fun places to grab drinks. It's become one of our go-to's when we don't feel like crossing the river. 

Britty, Charlie, Kev and I tried out Main Bite for the first time. It was delicious. It's known for its's small plates and most of the menu items are grown in the backyard of the restaurant or locally. An added bonus too is that the majority of the entire menu is organic. It was perfect sized portions if you plan on having a few drinks. I left not feeling stuffed as we headed to the Old Kentucky Bourbon bar for some cocktails. 

We just love the Bourbon Bar. The cocktails are out of this world. It was the first time we had taken Charlie and Britty to experience all of it's magic. 

We also had a little rendezvous with my pals from work. Soooo great to see them outside of the four walls of the hospital. 

I can't even begin to explain how fun this summer has been having these two in NKY/Cincywith us. We have enjoyed every second of it. Looking forward to creating so many more memories with them in our new city as Brittany and Charlie have both officially started their new careers in Cincinnati. A very exciting time for both of them! 

Summer Outtakes

A few pieces of Summer that have yet to make it on the blog 

 A trip to Lexington on July 4th for a college friend's wedding.

We took my family to the Hofbrauhaus House in Newport for the first time. 

 A lot of our weekends were spent with out families visiting in our home. We wouldn't have it any other way 

Baby Brother moved in with us for two months. We enjoyed seeing him and Britty regularly so much. We also said farewell to Brittany for two long months as she traveled her way through Europe on the trip of a lifetime. 

Hubs and I enjoyed date nights, double dates with our family and getting healthy again. We enjoyed working out together in the back yard this summer. 

I attended the Trace Adkins concert with my friend Jeni in Cincy. 

Momma and I did a lot of antique shopping- this photo was taken the day we ran out of gas on a back country road. Whoops!

Traveled home to Eastern Kentucky to spend time with my fragile Mammy and Granny

We celebrated Uggie's 7th birthday with cake

Summer 2014 was a great one indeed! 

The Perfect Weekend!

This past weekend was one for the books for the husband and I. However, the truth is that we didn't do a whole lot of anything. We slowed down the crazy pace at which we have been moving at and took some us time. We realized this weekend that we have clearly not been doing enough of that. 

Friday night we headed to Louisville (after a major disaster, but more on that in a future post) to meet Chris and Dana to spend the evening with Joel Osteen. It was such a great message and so powerful. We even got to meet and shake Joel's hand. Although Dana and I tried, no photos were allowed. The man had the security detail of Kate Middleton and baby Prince George.

We love every change we get to hang out with these two. How did we function in life before them? But seriously??!?! 

Saturday was the absolute perfect day for Kev and I which consisted of 

Sleeping in with the puppies

coffee on the back porch

a trip to lowe's

lunch at whole foods

grocery shopping at whole foods

basement planning 

watching college football 

cooking an amazing dinner together (chicken parmigiana with spaghetti squash) 

beer and wine on the front porch

 an amazing sunset

and more wine on the back porch in a fall hoodie listening to country music

Our Saturday looked a little like this ......

We decided on Sunday morning that we simply needed more of those kinds of Saturdays in our life. Kev and I are true homebodies at our core. We love being in our home and spending time together as a family with our fur children. Absolutely love it!

Sunday we spent all day grubbing in the yard. I am rocking a horrible sunburn on my back to prove it. Yikes!

We also made a big batch of Turkey Chilli and have been loving the cool crisp air we had in the evenings this weekend. Fall is definitely our most favorite time of the year. We plan to be out on our back deck A LOT! 

Happy Monday Y'all!!! 

Sunday Funday

Last Sunday we had one of our favorite couples in town for brunch and a Reds game. It's something we had been looking forward to all summer long.

 Miss Angie and I go way back to the good old college days. We were roomies for over 5 years both during and post college. I don't have many memories in my early twenties that don't involve her. Her hubby also went to the same college as us and it feels like we have all been friends forever. Our friendship is easy and that's what I love so much about them. Girlfran has been busy finishing up her pediatric dental residency, so any chance I get to see her I try to take full advantage of it. 

Stephen and Angie arrived late Saturday night. We woke up early the next morning and all drank coffee in our pajamas all sitting around the kitchen table. They are currently remodeling their first home right on Lake Cumberland. We talked hours about house-ey stuff and designing her enormous walk in closet. Was so much fun!!!! 

We then all headed downtown Cincy to meet up with my brother for brunch at my favorite restaurant - NADA! It's so yummmmmmmy. I could eat a meal there everyday. We love taking our out of town friends there because it's always such a hit.



After filling our bellies full of mimosas, chips, queso and chicken tacos, we headed to Great American Ballpark to watch the Reds take on the Braves.
It was soooooo incredibly hot and humid. We had been having amazing pre-fall weather up here in NKY/Cincy area, but Sunday the temps were in the low 90's.
(Talk about some swamp ass....sheesh)


That didn't stop us from making the most of it thought. We took frequent water hydration station breaks and also made several appearances at the craft beer booth. A little humidity and heat was not going to dampen our parade.
I'm not the biggest baseball fan in term of watching it on the television, but there is just something about the atmosphere at the ball park. I decided then and there Kev and I have not been spending enough time with the Cincinnati Reds right at our backdoor.

Such a Sunday Funday indeed!!!! 

My 30th Birthday

Let's be honest.....you only turn 30 once! So what better way to celebrate then dragging it out for a three week celebration? Standard right?!?! Kev and I planned a weekend to celebrate with friends, a weekend to celebrate with family and then there was a week in Florida with my bestie. Now that's how I like to celebrate!! 

We invited our closest Lexington friends up for a fun Saturday night back in June to help me bring in the dirty 30. 

We started off the day with pedis and manis with these two cuties. 

       

Followed by a little wine and getting ready time with my bff Megan. We hadn't got ready together in the same bathroom since we were roommies back in 2009. Was so much fun having quality girl time with her. 

Everyone met at our house before we headed downtown Cincy to one of my favorite restaurants....Nada! It's so yummy!!! 

 Baby brother met us straight from work in his cute business attire. We love having him in Cincy with us...LOVE IT!!!

And there were lots of photos taken....lots :-)

After dinner, we headed to Igby's. Kev treated us all to some delicious cocktails. We really enjoyed the side patio area there and the weather was perfect!! 

After dinner and drinks we headed back to our house for games. Taboo anyone?!?! We laughed so much that my abs were sore the next morning. 

Sunday morning my partner and crime and our hubbies hit up IKEA and Kenwood mall for some serious retail therapy. 

30 is off a to a great start!!!! So blessed and lucky to have all these people in my life. They sure know how to make a girl feel special.  

Memorial Weekend 2014

Hello Tuesday! You aren't so bad considering I have the day off. Don't be too jealous because I did have to work half a day yesterday. Holidays in healthcare??? aint no such thing! 

Memorial Weekend was pretty laid back and low key for us and we loved every second. 

I started off friday by cleaning the house, getting a workout in, getting a manicure and picking up fresh flowers for the house. 

Friday night baby brother, KR and I headed to the nearest patio for beers and sushi. Did I mention that baby brother is our latest house guest? He moved in a few weeks ago and is planning on staying with us till mid/late July. Kev and I are both ecstatic to have him here. Absolutely.over.the.moon. We may just not let him leave....at least for a while haha. 

We went to Drakes in NKY, a restaurant that is originally out of Lexington. We felt right at home getting our sushi on with some crab ragoon rolls. The boys sipped some brews and I enjoyed sipping my little beer flight. 

Saturday we had a date with the Jacksons (our faves - Chris and Dana) and the pool! 

Kev packed us a cooler full of drinks and I worked on snacks and broke out the skinny girl margarita. 

We had a blast catching up and laying by the pool. We ended our evening with Chris and Dana on our patio with take out Dewey's pizza and also picked up a strawberry shortcake for dessert. 

It was the perfect Saturday!  

Kev and I headed back to the pool on Sunday and have made fast friends with our neighbors. We really enjoyed getting to know all of them better. We are in love with the pool being so close to our house. I think it's safe to say we will be making regular appearances. 

Monday Kev finished up some mulch work around the house while I spent the morning at work. Major SUCK! We waited for baby brother to get back in town (we were starting to have withdrawals!) and headed to dinner and a movie in Newport. We saw Godzilla in 3D IMAX and I was impressed with how much I enjoyed it. 

I hated to see it all come to an end. Back to the grind today... catching up on housework, laundry and grocery shopping. I do enjoy this part time work/part time stay at home wife gig. 

Happy Tuesday Y'all!!!! 

Easter Weekend 2014 (better late than never....)

During my little bloggy hiatus, I totally missed recapping a very special weekend that we were able to share with both of our families. Easter has always been special for us, you can read all about why here and here

Easter was the first holiday we spent together with both sets of parents when we were engaged. Kev and I have started a tradition of hosting it at our house. 

We were thrilled to have my parents, baby brother and baby brother's girlfriend up on friday night and were able to take them to one of our favorite local spots in Cincy. If there is one place we fell in love with fast, it was Eli's bbq. Hello amazing and delicious bbq in a place that allows you to BYOB and sit outside on wooden picnic tables. It's right up mine and Kev's alley. We took a few six packs and posted up listening to some live bluegrass music. It was the perfect friday night. I was so over the moon to have my family in town. 

Saturday morning we all woke up early. I cooked it up in the kitchen most of the morning and put the boys out back with momma for some yardwork. The weather was absolutely perfect. 

Kev's parents arrived Saturday afternoon and we had Easter dinner on our back porch that evening. We loved having everyone under one roof. LOVED IT!

Sunday morning we headed out to Easter service at church. We were thrilled to have them join us. When we were back in Lexington, we loved taking our parents to church on the weekends that they would come and visit us. We were so in love with our old church and loved sharing that experience with them. We have became pretty settled in our new church and have definitely been getting more involved. It was great to share that piece of our new environment with them. Easter services was absolutely perfect and so moving. 

After church it was time for left overs followed by some pretty photo snapping in the back yard. 

Kev and I were so content the entire weekend. Family is such a priority for us and we try to make the most of anytime we are able to get together with the entire clan. Easter is such a special holiday for us and to share it again with the ones we loved most was just icing on the cake.