Welcome Peanut: My VA Baby Shower

Wow. Just wow. This weekend was the most incredible celebration of love and I wish I could go back and do it all over again. Just to relieve the fun, joy and duh, food. 

Le Husband and I flew back to VA for my baby shower and it was seriously the best weekend ever. My sisters, mom and friends did such and fantastic job with all the little details and I just LOVED the Peanuts theme. 

What made the weekend even better was my BOFF flying in from Texas to attend the shower. I remember being so excited for her shower, 4 YEARS ago for her sweet little E. It was beyond special having here up with me for the weekend and I LOVED how quickly and easily she fit in with my family and my friends. Seriously, newest sister to the clan :)!

We also celebrated my sweet niece's 1 year birthday on Sunday and it was quite a lot of fun. She really enjoyed her smash cake and did so well with so many people in the house. Especially back to back days. It was a full weekend of chilling, dinners, food, girl talk, self care, celebrations and love. I am so blessed and feel so thankful to have so many wonderful people who care so much about me.

TBB Asks: Thanksgiving Edition

[source]

Yeah, yeah. I know I'm quite a few days late, but oh well. Thought I'd actually get a post together this week, which is better than nothing. Hopefully I can recap my trip to Arizona, but the travel drama is still too fresh right now.

1. Have you ever kept a Gratitude Journal? No, but will be starting one now. Life has come for me recently and many friends have reminded me gratitude can change attitude. I'm now daily writing down at least ONE thing I'm grateful for and more if I can.
2. Hosting Thanksgiving at your House? Nope, visiting family. I'm super excited
3. Favorite food from the Thanksgiving meal? Dressing, gravy & mashed potatoes.
4. What one thing in nature are you most grateful for? Fresh air. The breeze in the trees and the wind on my face.
5. Pumpkin Pie? BARFFFFFF!!!! Only chocolate pie.
6. Traditional Cookbook? Usually... or a paleo cookbook.
7. Oven baked or deep fried turkey? Golly, I love both. I grew up with oven baked though.
8. Thanksgiving leftovers? YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!
9. What is one household product you are most grateful for? My dishwasher, I hated dishes.
10. Are you most grateful for home cooked meals or restaurant meals? Both, love we have the option.

The Thrown Together Family Weekend

Y'all I'm tired. Last week was atrocious and this weekend was soooo jam packed and then Monday I woke up early to drive the eight hours back home to Tennessee. All worth it, though. ALL WORTH IT!

Sportsyspice is in town and decided to baptism her babygirl on Sunday so you know I drove my tush up there to be present. Sweet princess did so well during the service. She mostly slept {PTL} and just gave the pastor a funny look when he sprinkled her with water three times. Having her 'officially' part of God's family is a huge milestone and I was so thankful I was able to make it work out. I also just enjoyed being with my family and loving on my niece. So many baby cuddles were had. So many kisses given. SO many wonderful moments hugging. And just lots of fun. 

I was also able meet up with many friends and it was divine to see everyone. My soul received a well needed pump up and enjoying my old stomping grounds brought me so much joy. A bunch of people stopped by on Saturday and I was able to go out to dinner with a friend on Friday, too. My bestie also brought her one week old daughter over and it was just a treat to snuggle a brand new baby.   Mama B was also kind enough to treat me to a pedicure and it was lovely to just relax and hang out with her too. 

The drive home was long, but it was so worth it. I am sad to be away again, but we will all be together this weekend for a family wedding, so cheers. 

What's Up Wednesday {April}

Taking a bit of artistic license with this link up today. April basically consisted of three major things. Visiting my sisters where I met my niece, celebrating my birthday [in Vegas and at home] and not making the cut for an audition. Below are the highlights from each event, cheers to a pretty awesome April.

Arizona Trip:
Oh my heart, this trip. Everything I could have wanted, and more. It was all the sister time. All the baby time. All the warm weather. Lots of puppy love and ALL.THE.BABY! Seriously, my niece is so precious and I wanted to eat her up all the time. She was struggling with sleep while we were there, so Babyspice and I helped out mama Sportyspice in the mornings which means we enjoyed lots and lots of baby girl snuggles. We had pool time, food time, cleaning time, sunset photoshoot time, silly auntie time, singing time and just so much fun. I cried when Babyspice left and I cried when I left. Being so far away is so damn hard, so DAMN hard. I can't wait until next month when we will all be together again.

Oh yeah, I HAD A BLATE! My girl Courtney lives in AZ and we FINALLY met up. This blate has been five years in the making and it was the best. Chickfila with the kids and all the laughs. She is as pure as sunshine and just one of my faves, LOVE YOU GIRL!

Las Vegas Trip:
The drive from Phoenix was super easy, but kind of nerve wracking. There were multiple parts where my phone didn't get signal, which had me concerned since I didn't know where I was going, ha. Scenery was gorgeous, though. I was able to stop crying by the 2nd hour, because yes, I was a mess leaving. Le Husband was in Vegas for work and I joined him at the tail end of the trip and enjoyed two nights on his company since he was working. Thursday night we did dinner at Ceasar's Palace and then walked the strip because it's our favorite thing to do when in Vegas.

Friday we were both up early for a work out, then a quick trip down the strip to change hotels to the Linq. Love staying there, except their wifi is booty, bah. We ate breakfast/lunch at Hash House, which is our FAVORITE spot. We randomly started eating there back in 2010 when we stumbled up on it and it has become our go to for brunch. Word to the wise, they don't do reservations so get their early. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and then we made our way down to Fremont Street. Le Husband had a friend also in town and we met him downtown after our delicious dinner. I'd never been to Fremont Street and LOVED it. So much fun and such a change from the strip. Old foggies over here couldn't make it much longer than midnight, haha.

Saturday we enjoyed the gorgeous weather, ate delicious food and then headed off to the airport for our flight. Le Husband enjoys perks as a working guy and we were able to hang in one of the clubs while we waited which was so nice. Big fan of free food and drinks. The flight was pretty chill and we landed late on Saturday in Nashville where we stayed the night close to the airport. The trip was a whirlwind but so very fabulous for my birthday. Really made turning 35 so wonderful.

This is 35 (Birthday}:
April brought the beginning of my 35th trip around the sun. Am I where I expected? Nope. Would I trade it? Nope. College Pinky had me a SAHM with two kids and one on the way at this age. Right out of college Pinky had me traveling the world with the Peace Corps. Just married Pinky had me with a kid and still in Virginia. Funny, huh? I honestly admit I do wish life was a bit more settled and dreams were a bit more in grasp, but that's life right? I am beyond blessed because my family and friends truly made my day amazing. So much love for year 35!

Not Getting Presenter: 
Talk about a tough pill to swallow. I shared all of my journey here and truly felt I had a shot. A real shot. A GOOD SHOT and to have it not happen hurts. I honestly don't think I can expand on my post *here* so if you want the whole story give it a click. Almost good enough, but just not this year. I'm determined to get better so next year can be my year. Thank you all for your support from the beginning and through the disappointment. Your faith makes me smile.


How was your April?!??!?

What I Loved/Learned in March

Loved: making time to FINALLY get a library card and check out some books. I found a two new authors I really enjoy and found some gorgeous written novels as well as a new thriller series. Making myself write my SHOW US YOUR BOOKS post this weekend so I can finally post.

Learned: stretching before bed usually leads to a much more peaceful sleep and easier morning.

Loved: finally having a blate with my BOFF and Jess. You can read the recap here, it was quite the weekend and one I will remember for a long time to come.


Learned: how important it is to have GOOD girlfriends who support you quietly when life gets really tough. Loud, vocal support is important, but sometimes you need someone to quietly pray and champion you as you struggle through the mess.

Loved: the arrival of my niece! Three weeks old yesterday, wow.

Learned: how to deal with family far away when good things happen. It broke my heart I couldn't be there for my sister and it kills me I haven't seen my niece yet. However, I'm so beyond grateful for FaceTime, cell phones and pictures on family texts.

Loved: being brave and putting myself out there to audition for Les Mills. Practicing was no joke, preparation took a long time and the macro counting made me say no to a lot of yummy foods, yet it was all worth it in the end. So much for barely three minutes total of ME presenting, but it was the best day. A fun road trip with friends and I made so many more instructor friends that Saturday.

Learned: I am good at what I do. No matter the outcome, I hold in high regard the fact I was one of very few considered for this next round. Feedback given is already being put into place with my weekly classes and I feel so much more *YES* about teaching.

What did you love or learn this month?

Weekly Wins {The One With Birthdays and Trips}

Happy Friday, kids. I'm back with some wins and also bringing you a quick [kind of] recap of our trip to New York City. We had such a great time, I'm honestly still smiling from it. But first, two wins.

>>> Wednesday was T-Bone's 92nd birthday, woohoo! He'd been feeling sick recently so we weren't sure if we'd have to wait for the weekend, but thankfully he started feeling better that morning. We celebrated with margarita's and prosecco and he really enjoyed his coupon book for 'work around the house' from us. It was all Le Husband's idea and it was hoot when T-Bone finally realized what he had in hand.

>>> Yesterday was Daddy's birthday and we tried to celebrate him as best we could from afar. The girls reached out to family to have tons of letters sent his way. He seemed touched which made it quite wonderful.

Wedding day pictures are my favorite. 

Those are the two big wins of the week, now on to our winning weekend in NYC. My Christmas present from Le Husband was a weekend in NYC, which in itself was awesome, but the main part of the present was a visit to an Athletic Movement Protocol facility. We flew out Thursday night and landed in DC for an evening layover. Which meant we met up with family and friends for dinner that night. It was so lovely seeing people and totally worth the late night before an early morning. 

Friday morning we were up bright and early for our quick flight into La Guardia. I must admit, the NYC skyline is quite fabulous, especially Miss Liberty. 

To save money we took the bus and the subway instead of an uber and it was actually quite fun. I grew up using the DC metro and NYC is soooo different, very well laid out though. Since it was still cold tourists were quite minimal so we had tons of space to move around. Le Husband travels so much for work now [three days up to two weeks at a time] he has racked up some pretty insane Marriott points so we stayed a Courtyard Marriott right in Times Square. We dropped off our bags and took of in search of lunch [more on that below] and sight seeing fun.

Both Le Husband and I wanted to see the World Trade Center memorial and on a whim we decided to take the One World Trade Center tour. Tickets weren't horrible and we both thought, why not. The elevator ride up was not my favorite but the view was spectacular. Saw lots of Instagram husbands doing their thing for a special photo. We just snapped the quick one below, ha.

Afterwards we spent time around the memorial. It's quite moving and very well done, definitely tear inducing.

 Someone Le Husband convinced me to walk the 30 (!) blocks back to our hotel before dinner. It was quite chilly and a few times I wanted to tap out and take the subway, but the people of NYC kept me pretty entertained. There was a quick stop to a bar for a whiskey and then it was time for dinner.

Saturday morning we headed to Penn Station to catch the LIRR out to Long Island. Mad props to people who do that often, woof. The whole trip was based around visiting Athletic Movement Protocol which a friend of Le Husband owns. He took us through an hour assessment, gave us an hour of treatment and then an hour of drills/workouts to implement on our own.

I learned a TON about my body, specifically I have an anterior [forward tilt] in my shoulders which causes my lats to be loaded constantly and keeps strain on my neck aka TENSION headaches. The treatments were DIVINE and the drills are savagely simple to keep up with so I'm excited for progress. If you're in the New York area needing functional/mobility you must check out this facility.

Lunch was quick and then it was back to the city. Our dinner on Saturday night was also Le Husband's birthday celebration and we found this fabulous French bistro a few blocks from the hotel. The evening was warmer so there were quite a few more people out, which was fun for people watching of course.

Sunday morning was for sleeping in and getting brunch before the trek back to the airport. Best part of Le Husband's travel is his Admiral's Club access, free food and quiet, wahoo. Soon we were up up and away in the clouds on our way back to DC.

Le Husband timed our layover long enough for us to do a quick trip to our favorite Arlington restaurant, Pollo Rico. Mom and dad picked us up, Babyspice met us there, we ate dinner, had birthday cake for Daddy and then went right back to the airport. It was the perfect ending to the perfect weekend.

Our eats: None of our food was planned, we just YELPed around the area with thoughts, so us.

PHO!!!!

Macaron and cappuccino after lunch 

Whiskey to keep the cold at bay.

Street corn at Mexque 

Pomegranate margarita 

Tuna ceviche, Lobster & duck tacos

 Our delicious French dinner was incredibly authentic and made me reminisce about our European trip.

There you go, our weekend recap. Wishing you a wonderful weekend, friends. Catch you back here on Monday!