Birthday Weekend!

Yesterday, I turned the big 2-7 {if you can even say that with 27?} & I spent most of the weekend celebrating!  I was glad to finally have B home on Friday night!  We ate a quick dinner at home & watched some House of Cards…

Saturday morning classes were a lot of fun at the gym, followed by a little coaches meeting.  B & I picked up some Earthfare meal deal lunches & then I popped over to Blakeney for a little birthday shopping!

I found these cute espadrilles at Target & couldn't pass them up for only $30!  I wore them out Saturday night with some skinnies, the perfect shoe to transition into spring!  :)

Saturday night we started off at Lenny Boy Brewery, a local kombucha brewery here in Charlotte. {Kombucha is a non-alcoholic fermented drink made from tea, sugar, water, & a symbiotic culture of bacteria & yeast.  Some consider it a raw food with probiotics & health benefits!}  We've gotten into drinking kombucha lately since B has been training so hard for the Open & we haven't really been drinking too much alcohol.  We were excited to finally try Lenny Boy out!

Lenny Boy is tucked away in South End, their little tap room is really cute!  We got a flight to sample all of their traditional kombuchas & their wild kombucha ales (containing alcohol)…

Andrea & Karl met us for a drink before we headed over to Peculiar Rabbit in Plaza Midwood!

I took fun selfies in the car on the way to dinner, because it's my birthday, duh!

Warren & Kelly met us there & gifted me with some pretty flowers!  I failed to take a single picture at dinner.  Boo!  Major fail.

Dinner was delish & we were home to my Paleo Brownies, wine & bed by about 930 or so.  If celebrating 27 this way is wrong, I don't want to be right!

Sunday, we woke up slow, laid around & then got ready for the gym!  I started off 27 with a brownie {breakfast of champions} so as to do well on my birthday WOD & dropped this boy off for a haircut {as you can see it was much needed}…

An after picture to come, once I take one!  The weather was gorgeous all day Sunday!  We love to prop the gym doors open & let some warm air in!

Brandon redid the Open workout, getting 354 reps this time, then it was my turn!  I got 248 reps, which was my exact goal!  I got 5 rounds completed & 23 more double unders, so I was very pleased!

Aren't my cupcake earring so fun?

We spent the rest of the afternoon doing a little work, B made my very favorite bacon burgers, we watched more House of Cards {holy crap episode 1 of season 2!!!!!} & I ate a very large red velvet cupcake!!!

So far, 27 is looking pretty stellar :)  Thank you all for the sweet birthday love all over social media! You sure know how to make a girl feel loved!!

Valentine's Weekend

Happy belated Valentine's Day blogland!!  I hope you got to spend the weekend with the ones you love the most!!

Thanks to all the snow last week…

I had lots of rest & relaxation, which was a nice change of pace!!  We knew Friday evening classes would be light at the gym so I stayed home & made one of my fav meals as my pre-competition dinner!

Saturday I was off to Squad Gauntlet with some friends from our gym…

Team Purple Haze!

Me & Jackie ready to go!

We had 3 WODs to complete that day, a weightlifting WOD, a chipper (you chip away at the task) & then a relay to end!  We all PR'd on our weight lifts so we were happy about that!  We were just a few reps short of finishing the chipper in the 20 min time cap & finished the relay with seconds to spare in the 30 min time cap!

Team Purple Haze, sadly, did not come in 1st place {not that we were expecting to} but we weren't last either!  Overall it was a very fun day!!  Here are some highlights…

PR'ing my Clean & Jerk at 125lbs!  That's just over my body weight, I was pretty pumped!!!

B wore the right shirt ;)

Haha, I didn't even buy him that!

A few kettlebell swings...

Some goblet squats...

Good ol' rowing...

Pushups...

Oh, and my friend, Fran!!!  {If you don't know about Fran, just google her!}  

Thrusters...

and Pullups….

Some fun deadlifts…

And a final sprint to the finish...

That night, B & I went to McCormik & Schmichk's to celebrate Valentine's!!  We had never been before & we were thoroughly impressed!  So, so good!

I totally cheated on our Paleo challenge & ended my meal with some creme brûlée!  So worth it ;)

I squeezed in a mini workout Sunday morning, then attended a friend's baby shower, but sadly, didn't take a single pic!  It was such a great shower though, we can't wait to meet Baby Girl Sly!  We made banana pancakes for dinner (another favorite!) and watched House of Cards.  It was lovely!

The weather is warmer this week, hallelujah, amen!  This girl is so ready for spring!!  Happy day y'all!

Lately

Here's what's been going on as of late…

1 - February is off to a great start!  We had family in town last weekend for my niece's 8th birthday! 8!!  Seriously, where does the time go!?

Wasn't she just this little baby?

Throw back - 2006!

2 - This past weekend we randomly stumbled upon this beauty at Home Goods & brought her home! The TV stand, not the cute cat statue ;)

A "grown up" TV stand had been on my wish list for the house since we moved in, but it wasn't a big priority.  We happened to randomly stop by Home Goods Saturday & couldn't leave without this piece!  It was a steal!  Getting the new TV stand meant we "needed" a new sound system.  So we swung by Best Buy & got a sound bar as well.  Happy Valentine's Day to us!!  :)

3 - I just love this song, don't you?  The video is really sweet, too!

4 - I printed this printable from Rachel at Kincaid Parade to frame in our bathroom!  It's a great reminder for us right now.  The weeks can seem very long at moments when Brandon's away & hours are long at the gym.  Don't get me wrong, it's so rewarding!!  But 5+ years of B traveling every week have gotten very old, for him more than me even, and it takes a lot of work owning your own business. But it is all a Great Work and we cannot come down right now.

5 - In case you hadn't heard, it's Snowpocalypse 2014 here in the south!!  It started yesterday & is supposed to continue through tomorrow!

It's pretty, that's for sure!  Be of course the whole world here shuts down.  We cancelled our 7pm classes last night, early classes this morning, & all our PM classes tonight.  Doesn't look favorable for tomorrow either!

6 - I guess the snow couldn't have come at a better time, though.  I seemed to have come down with some sort of head cold!  Yuck.  And honestly, I'm not home that often, so I'm soaking up this snowed in time & making the best of it!  Although, I wish B was here to be snowed in with me!

My cold wasn't that bad Monday, but yesterday I was really feeling blehh.  Typically I'm of the mindset to sweat it out, but I decided to nap it out yesterday & stayed home from the night classes. I slept so well last night & am feeling much better today!  Still super stuffy, but well enough to do an at home WOD!

I started with Man Makers!  Woo buddy, they're good!!  Jump out to plank, pushup, row on each side, jump up, squat clean thruster = 1!  I did 5x10 with my 10lb dumbbells & I was sweatin'!!

Then I did this WOD I found on Pinterest (by the way, CrossFit Pineville now has a Pinterest Page!) so I don't end up Fat Michelle while stuck at home!!  Did it in 17:23, care to try & beat me?  :)

This is what I looked like after, haha!  Just keeping it real for y'all... crazy hair, sweat, I love it!

7 - I need to be better asap, I'm in a local team CrossFit competition this weekend called Squad Gauntlet!  It's a 4 person team & I'm doing it with some friends from the box!  Should be really fun :)

8 - B & I have a fun little date night afterwards to celebrate Valentine's!  We're not super into the holiday, but love a reason for a date!

9 - I will not be eating lots of chocolate this Valentine's since we're doing a 6 week Paleo Challenge at the gym.  It started this past Monday & it's been great so far!  It's nice to exercise a little self discipline!  I'm sure I won't miss the chocolate that bad!  Mind over matter, my friends.

10 - I have nothing else for you, but I couldn't end on 9 :)

The Great Sickness of Christmas 2013

I have a rare night off from the box tonight, so currently I'm sitting on the couch, white dog is snuggled beside me chewing on his half dead squeak toy Santa from Christmas & Miss Congeniality is on TV.  It's quite lovely!  And my computer is open to blog…so here we go!  :)

I wanted to be sure to recap Christmas for the pure sake of having it documented here.  It's seriously the longest post every, so feel free to skip over this post or just scroll through all the pics!

Our pretty tree!!

Christmas started the weekend before Christmas for us!  My extended family was down from Virginia & this year we did a white elephant gift/gift card exchange at my brother & SIL's house & it was really fun!

Scarlett & Daddy :)

Chatty baby girl!

Jude's new crown!

Roen & her new baby carrier :)

Loves her wub-a-nub!!  Haha

Wells sporting his new crown! 

Abel on his bike!

I think he's a fan :)

Memaw got an iPad!!!  (Not from the white elephant, haha, that wouldn't
fit the $25 budget!)  She was so surprised!!

Erin & Ryan - miss them so!

The great sickness of 2014 began that weekend, also!  My nephew had a low grade fever & runny nose, but was a trooper for weekend fun!  My parents were staying with us while in town, it was fun to have them over!  My mom started feeling under the weather Monday.  DayQuil became her best friend & she helped me prep for Christmas Eve Brunch the next day!  I was feeling slightly under the weather, just some drainage & a little sore throat, but not as bad!

We made Cinnamon Bun Muffins, Uncle Warren Pancakes & Chocolate Pecan Pie (not for brunch, obvi!)!  All were a big hit by the way, if you need any gluten free ideas or a good Paleo pie recipe!

Monday night, B & Warren coached at the gym, so I stayed home & made dinner!  I introduced my parents to one of our favorite Spaghetti Squash dishes & it was a hit  :)

Tuesday was Christmas Eve, no one showed up at the gym for the 6am class (shocking right!?) so B & I got our own workout in & then came home to host brunch!  We did our sibling gift exchange, also!

The kids got to pick one gift to open that day!

Mama & baby girl - twins!!

Such a good gift opener :)

Sweet Wells wasn't feeling good Christmas Eve, he seemed to have caught what was going around!  My mom was still living on DayQuil - fevers & runny noses all around :(

Poor snotty baby - still smiley, though!

Dakota's favorite spot :)

We had soup night at my bro & SIL's & were planning to go to the Christmas Eve service at Josh & Callie's church, but had to skip it due to all the sickness going around.  Poor Wells & Mimi were fever twins & hung together that night!

Wednesday was Christmas morning!  We woke up, just B & I and my parents at our house & opened from one another!  My mom & I whipped up our own version of this breakfast casserole (cooked in the oven, not the crockpot) while we all showered up.

We managed to take a sweet family photo before heading back over to J & C's for breakfast & presents with the kids!  The breakfast casserole was a big hit, btw!  And everyone was finally feeling a bit better!

Michelangelo is his favorite!!

Legos with Uncle Brandon :)

We left their house & headed up to Concord to see the rest of the family.  We thought the great sickness was leaving us, but Brandon talked to his sister up in Michigan & she had come down with the flu!!  She was missing most of sweet Weston's first Christmas & was so sad :(  We were keeping our fingers crossed she would magically be better by the time we got there the next night, ha.

The poodles love B!

Scarlett loves to open gifts :)

Scarlett with her little squeak baby (that's what I always called mine, haha, aka a Madame Alexander Doll)!

Duncan likes BearGran pets :)

B & I snuck away for a Christmas Day workout since we'd be stuck in a car the entire next day!

We came home & cooked a yummy steak dinner for the 4 of us, relaxed a bit & packed for Michigan.  Berkley was sad to be leaving his Mimi & BearGran!

The day after Christmas we left super early for Michigan!  This is how Berkley prefers to ride...

Spoiled much?

Thankfully, we didn't really encounter any snow until we got to West Michigan!

I did such a great job of taking pics on our new camera while in Charlotte, then we got to Michigan & didn't bring it out one time!  Major fail!

B's sister was feeling a little better by the time we got there, not 100%, but a little better.  We all hung out a little while that night, the pups played & then we went to bed!  Traveling will wear you out!

That night, Weston came down with croup & after a short trip to the ER (see - it really was the great sickness of Christmas 2013!), everyone was home to recover.  He wasn't feeling the best, but he hung out most of the day.

Berk loves the snow!

We went to work out at our friend Paul's CrossFit again, then grocery shopped to cook for family Christmas that Friday night!  We made a Paleo dinner for everyone, including the Paleo pie & opened all our gifts!

Weston was a little unsure about opening gifts at first!

Cute big boy!

Saturday turned out to be worse for Weston than Friday :(  Croup gets worse before it gets better apparently!  He's such a busy boy, but just laid in his mama & daddy's bed all day!  Ashley & Weston had to miss Christmas number 2 with B's grandparents, but we were sure to bring home plenty of food for them, haha.

We laid low that night & talked CrossFit, a spring sibling vacation & life in general.  We sure wish we lived closer to them!  We snuggled these boys & gave them faux hawks...

Sunday was more of the same, hanging out, working out & then we got dinner with some of B's best friends!

It was a great visit, despite all the sickness!  That definitely put a little damper on things, but great to be able to stay for a few days & enjoy our time there!

We drove home the 30th, another looong trip in the car!  Once we got home we put all of Christmas away!  

Another Christmas in the books!  And finally recapped on the blog!  Thanks goodness, feels good to be caught up :)