Easy Weekend

Oh how I love my weekends, however, short as they always are!!!  Wahhh....seriously, can't we all band together to do something about this serious not problem & extend weekends!?  I really need a 3rd day!  Oh to dream.... :)

We were off to Raleigh this past Friday, doggy in tow, for a little business and pleasure.

Berkley had his first stay in a hotel (oh yes...we were those people with their dog at the hotel!) and did so well!!  He loved meeting lots of people, having the run of the room, and a lower bed so he could actually jump up onto it!  Haha, still slept in his crate, though like a champ!  Our little crate sleeper :)

Since we were away, it was one of those times where you're forced to relax, and I can't say I minded!  The weather was gorgeous, I got a good workout in each day, strolled with Berkley in a park nearby, did a little work, played a little candy crush, laid around!  Not too shabby y'all!

We grabbed a delish dinner out Saturday night at Cantina 18!  If you're in the Raleigh area, go there asap & have a skinny margarita!!!  So good!

I spent a good portion of my afternoon yesterday grocery shopping & then food prepping in the kitchen!  Eating clean, while not hard, does take some serious prep!  Well worth it, though!  After all...

;)

Manic Monday today wasn't so terrible, so I guess I can't really complain!  And I'm glad to have my hubby home for an extra night in the wake of everything that happened in Boston today!!

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In the midst of all that's awful, this quote gives me hope that maybe people are inherently good.

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There are always helpers!  Today, seeing the first responders run towards the blasts, we know some people are inherently good and it restores you just a little in the middle of all this evil.

I hope your Monday was easy and your loved ones are accounted for and hugged extra tight tonight friends!  Talk soon :)

3 Day Weekend!

Weekends are the greatest!!  Especially 3 day weekends!

My favorites

A whole lotta this went on, which I will never, ever complain about :)

There were some good workouts, some good cleaning around the house, and some relaxing with good friends!

Yesterday, I was off from school to observe Veteran's Day!  I have several Veterans in my family, so yesterday (& everyday) I tried to be extra thankful for all the sacrifices our brave men & women in uniform, as well as their families, have made/make for our continued freedom.

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Freedom isn't Free.

I, also, gladly welcomed a day off!!  It's the little things like watching the Today Show while I sip my smoothie with a white puppy snuggled in my lap, working out mid morning instead of in the evening, running errands with no schedule & dinner with a best friend....oh and a 4 day work week!  :)

Hope your weekend was splendid & that you thanked a Vet!!

And Merry, Happy, Almost Thanksgiving!  Can you believe it's next week!?

July 4th & VA Beach

Tuesday evening, B's travels landed us in Virginia Beach at our friend Justin's house, just in time for July 4th!!  Ok, I lie, it's not really Virginia Beach.  His place is actually right near the Bay {Chesapeake that is} and our friends Kelsey and Aaron live just a block from the Bay!  It's quite a good set up :)

**Warning, yet another picture heavy post!  And if you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen several of these already!  But you know I have to document it all on the blog :)**

Tuesday night, the 3 of us set out for Chick's for dinner!

It's any Oyster Bar so I wore my "get shucked" shirt, only appropriate :)  

Coincidentally, non of us actually like Oyster's, but it's still an awesome restaurant/bar right on the water!

after dinner :)

Andrea wasn't in town yet.  Such a shame, that pic had good potential!

We watched Act of Valor that night to prepare for the 4th!  Such a cool, intense movie about Navy Seals.  Real life, active Navy Seals were even in the movie!

We woke up Wednesday and got our workout on, and then enjoyed this delish breakfast inspired by my friend Danica & this pin.

We made ours French Toast Style and felt super patriotic eating it!!

We beached it for the day - it was H. O. T. hot!!  I think that was the theme of the week!

These skanks stole my phone while we were getting ready for dinner.

Word to the wise - you steal my phone and take pics, I will post them!! :)

Red White & Blue baby!!
RIP Andrea's poof.  I cut it off!  Oops :)

We got Mexican for dinner.  Very American right!?  Ha and then went and watched some fireworks on the beach!

at dinner

I'm such a good photographer!

Thursday, the boys worked.  So us girls, Andrea, Kelsey & I, beached it for the day.  A little reading, relaxing, lots of sweating, and some cool H2Ohyeah on the beach!

That night, Justin took us to one of his client's restaurants, Coastal Grille, where the owner promptly stuffed us silly!!  Dinner was SO good!  I had Shrimp & Grits, yum!

After dinner, we let all that good food settle, and then we were in for a treat.  A treat known as the 80's Cover Band, The Deloreans.

They were absolutely fantastic!  They sounded just like each band they covered, absolutely dressed the part and provided the most entertainment - seriously so, so fun!!  I'm going to find a way to bring them to Charlotte!

Then we can all have an 80's party!!  Deal!?

Anyways....Friday, we brunched it at Citrus with to die for mimosas...

...and then it was back to the beach for the day and back to Chick's for the night :)

Sun-kissed beach babes :)

We planned to stay until Sunday, but the heat of the beach, the lack of breeze, and our Ben Cat were calling us home!!  :)  We packed it in after a few short hours on the beach and headed back to Charlotte.

We had such a fun 4th celebrating America & creating all sorts of wild new memories!!  Hope you did, too!


P.S. - I'm am so dead serious about bring The Deloreans to Charlotte!  If anyone has a venue/bar that would be interested in bringing them down, please let me know!  They stay rather booked, but we'll get 'em here!  I'm determined!

Happy 4th of July!!!

Happy 4th of July, friends!!!!

all images via

I hope your 4th is filled with sunshine, laughter, friends and family, food right off the grill, red, white, and blue desserts, fireworks (unless you're under a burn ban!), sweet memories, American Pride, love for your country, and mostly admiration and honor of the heroes that serve this great land!!

God Bless the USA!! 

Random Updates

Mondays never seem as bad in the summer :)  Says the teacher!  Haha, but this Monday can't be that bad for most - I sure hope most of you will have Wednesday off and lots of people take the rest of the week off, or at least Friday like B is doing!

The 4th is one of my most favoritest holidays {A dead locked 3 way tie for 1st between Christmas, Thanksgiving & the 4th} because I really love my country and I love everything the 4th celebrates!!

More on that later though...

How was your weekend?  Ours was pretty great despite the ridiculous amount of heat that plagued most of the country.  Brandon and I worked out and did a few things around the house Saturday, then Andrea & I visited our favorite nail place, Polished, to get pampered for our week of vacation...

We were only slightly high maintenance...breaking a bottle of nail polish {it fell off the table attached to my pedicure chair as it was giving me a bouncy massage, oops!}, needing foil to remove a previous shellac manicure {Andrea!} and requiring refills of our wine glasses! :)

I seriously considered some Red, White & Blue nails in order to be festive...

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...but I just didn't know if I could rock it, so I went loud and proud and got some hot pink on the fingers & toes!

I made B and I dinner and convinced him it would be fun to go out!  So we met some friends at the new Ten Park Lanes for some drinks!  We didn't actually bowl, but we were very impressed with the revamp of the bowling alley.  It looked great and had a really fun atmosphere!!  We'll have to go back soon!

I'm currently writing this from the back seat of B's car as we travel up to Virginia today.  Man I love modern technology - a MiFi card, my computer & phone - I'm a happy traveler!  I did bring a book and 4 or 5 magazines as well :)

I'm traveling in the car with B today and tomorrow, but by tomorrow night we'll be at our friend Justin's place in Virginia Beach!!!  Andrea's coming up that night as she has the rest of the week off, so we have 3-4 days of all beach to look forward to {Brandon & Justin will be working Thursday, so probably no beach for them that day}!

I'm so looking forward to drinks on the beach, playing ladder golf, lathering on the sunscreen, grilling out, fireworks, sparklers, wearing my red, white & blue, celebrating & enjoying this great country, brunching, spending time with good friends....I could go on! Yes, this is why the 4th is my favorite!!!

For now, I'm going to clean out my email - another item to check off my "To-Do" list - and peruse the internets for sweet puppies to adopt! 

I'm really itching with puppy fever y'all!  But I want to find the right one for us, which is more complicated than I had imagined.  We're exploring lots of options from bigger pups {perhaps a golden doodle, labradoodle, German/Australian shepherds, etc} to smaller ones {a bichon frise, westie, coton, or some kind of mix}.

Although, I can't lie, I'm leaning toward small.  I like lap dogs and that they don't slobber everywhere like a big dog!

I found a few Bichon/Toy Poodle mixes at this Rescue in SC, but we waited too long and now they're all spoken for, I guess, since they're not longer listed as up for adoption anymore :(

But our pup will come at just the right time.  I have faith!  Any recommendations friends!?!

Happy Monday & July 4th week y'all!!

Memorial Day Weekend - 2012

Our Memorial Day weekend was jam packed with lots of fun, so I'm taking the easy way out and reviewing it in pics :)

Our weekend started Friday night with an attempt to go out uptown with our friends Justin & Andrea, JM, and Andrea's girlfriends that were in town for the weekend!

Handsome Men - JM, Justin, Brandon

Pretty Girls! - Alyssa, Lisa, Me, Adrian, Andrea, Lisa

We got a wild hair that taking a limo altogether would be the cheapest route - and it really was......but the limo was an hour late and started driving us the wrong way.... So we ended up taking the limo to get some pizza and going back home!  Haha - what a failure of a night!!  But fun was still had along the way, as evidenced by this pic below...

She loves me :)

Saturday morning called for bagels and schmear, fruit salad making, bathing suits and cover ups!  To the pool we went...

Cocktails were had by the pool as we lounged....

and by the end of the day, this was the result...

Ouch!!

I guess I was a little whiter than I realized...may tan from the cruise was apparently long gone.  Don't worry, I'm lotioning (yes, it's a word...now) often and it's pretty much all tan!

Saturday night it was back to Buffalo Wings & Rings for some good eats & some UFC fighting...

Me & my babe at dinner

I got a little picture happy....

And then we took the party home to the couch...we were tired after a long day in the sun!!

Sunday we kind of slept in and deemed it the lazy day of the weekend - the only semi productive things we did included mowing the lawn (well ok, B mowed the lawn, I cannot take credit), sweeping & mopping the floors, and a good run.  Other than that, we took naps, ate, and watched Tower Heist...

It was the perfect lazy day...and the best part about it...there was a whole other day to be lazy again!!

Monday, we slept in...

and then went for a run on the greenway...

post run

and then brunched!  We tried a new place called Skillets - SO good!!!  Perfect after a tough run!  Afterwards we headed back to pool...but not for too long, remember that burn?

Monday night, I made crockpot Beer BBQ Chicken - found on Pinterest - broccoli slaw, and baked beans.  Mmm mmm mmm!  It was good eats!!  The Perfect Memorial Day meal :)

via my IRL Friends - L&L Take Boston

I always love reading Facebook posts & Tweets on days like Memorial Day or the 4th - makes me swell with American pride!!  Freedom isn't free and I'm so thankful for the Men & Women that support this country and for the families that stand behind them while they do!  They are gone, but not forgotten!!

"A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself." - Joseph Campell