Psssh....Who wants to be a cougar anyway?

SO here I sit, one day into my "30's".
The hubs, who is a a few years my elder, was poking fun at my no longer being a "spring chicken".
It used to be that woman shared an unspoken anxiety about switching age boxes, but now we have much more to worry about...now it's all about jumping to a different animal.  I am no longer a spring chicken, I am a Cougar...hear me Roar!

But here's the thing....I don't really want to be a cougar.  I feel like there is some sex kitten connotation that goes along with representing that over grown smelly house cat.  When's the last time you were at the zoo and saw a cougar and said to yourself: "self...that's one smoking hot cat?" NO? Me neither.

Why can't I be something cooler? I am not that much for cats anyway.
I want to be something more alluring. More intriguing. More magical.
I want to be a Unicorn! A mystical Unicorn.
If it's about the sex appeal, come on let's face it, what's sexier than a silky white unicorn with it's long flowing locks dawning a giant falic symbol strapped to the front of it's face?  I mean really? There is no competition here.

That's it.  I proclaim myself a Unicorn.  You can keep your roaring cougars! I am a Unicorn....hear me shoot magic rainbows out my ass!

30x30

Take care of your tootsies! 

This has become increasingly more important,

the older I get.

Mainly because my feet hurt so much, all the time.

Years of dancing? Maybe.

The cure?

A pedicure.

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First I must begin with a brief apology 

for Day 10's tardiness.

You see, it has taken my almost 30 year old ass

all day to feel like a human being again.

Needless to say,

I don't get out much.

But when I do, I tend to get silly.

Last night was full of giggles,

jokes about 30 year old boobs,

tender moments between friends,

and a very cold, long wait for a cab.

Friends of your 30's are so wonderful.

I was fortunate as a child and teen to move enough times 

to have a very formative and diverse community of friends.

Through the wonders of social media, 

I have really had the awesome opportunity

 to stay in contact with so many of those wonderful women.

I can almost pull layers of myself apart like an onion, 

and tell you who influenced that tid-bit of my personality.

Those tid-bits that make me who I am today.

The memories, laughs, tears, and fights that got me to where I am today.

And as I take a good hard look at the women, 

MY LADYBIRDS, 

who are major parts of mine and my families lives,

I am simply humbled.

xo

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Do you know who attended Day 15's activity?

Just me and the hubs.

Thanks right, just the grown ups.

We don't really "go out" much, 

and I couldn't remember the last time that we ate a meal in public with out the boy.

Day 15....Brunch Date.

It was a beautiful south FL winter morning at the beach.

No one minds waiting 45 minutes for a table when this is the view.

Brunch was delish.

The conversation was amazing.

The boy loves his new babysitter.

All was right in my almost 30 world.

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Day 16 was dedicated to friendship.

My initial plans for an over due skype date with my best friend.

I really miss her more than I am able to cope with.

Then the age old adage:

"make new friends, but keep the old.

some are silver and the other gold."

came into play.

This has always been one of my favorites.

I was blessed as a child and teen.

I had more best friends than anyone could imagine.

I changed school many times throughout my adolescence, 

which really gave me the ability to meet so many wonderful women.

And thanks to the powers of social media 

I am able to keep in such close contact with many of them.

But back to the silver lining.

While I did not get to skype with Jess,

Our wonderful friends the Tidwell's decided to throw a last minute shindig.

It was decided that it would be a fun relaxing evening 

with children scampering and parents actually getting to talk to other adults.

Trey, with his absolutely charming Tennessee way, made us ladies some delish coffee.

And the kiddos....well they all got very sandy.

I am still finding sand in between the boys toes.

The evening wound down with a bonfire and roasted marshmallows.

The boy caught his on fire, but it was Ay O.K.! 

His new friend, Maxwell, came to the rescue.

It was great to see all the kids being so independent and awesome.

I just love all their littler personalities maturing.

It was a perfect perfect evening!

Thank you again Tids' for hosting all of us! 

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Day 17 was declared 

"Ashyr Day"

I told the boy that he could pick 3 things to do.

Anything that he wanted. To an extent.

That sweet little boy of mine could only think of one thing.

Playing with one of his best buddies, Tosh.

(I had honestly expected him to come up with some elaborate plan 

to get me into a chuck e cheese.)

So, he informed to that he wanted to have a picnic at the park.

Check.

He wanted to play at the park with Tosh.

Check.

And he would "tell me the 3rd thing later."

His day went on with playing and laughter.

As the day got later and later I anxiously waited for him to "let me know" 

what his 3rd thing would be.

As I tucked him into bed and kissed him good night, he said:

"Mommy, the 3rd thing that I want to do for 'Ashyr Day' 

is go to Legoland...with Tosh...Right now!!!"

Nice try kid. Nice try.

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Day 18 was kind of a test run for something I would love to do on a more regular basis.

The boy and I had a silent reading date at Starbucks.

We started off with a lovely stroll through downtown.

We meandered our way into the Lake Worth Public Library.

After choosing our loot, we headed up the street to our local Starbucks. 

He did such a great job, although he felt the need to read the stories out loud.

We put a 15 minute cap on it, I didn't want to push him

to long and put a negative ending on it.

Over all it was perfect! We will for sure make this a regular date! 

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When I told Brenda that I wanted to spend Day 19 going to a "u-pick farm",

 I had a vision of laboring out in a field.

So you can imagine my confusion when I pulling into a strip mall plaza 

that she had suggested for our family outing.

As soon as the initial shock wore off I saw that sweet strawberry car,

and I knew Brenda would never steer me wrong.

The Girls U-Pick Strawberries had all the kids screaming with excitement.

You enter through the country store that is stocked full of 

yummy fresh baked goods and homemade ice cream.

The shelves are full of "cracker barrel-esque" gifts and trinkets.

Local canned goods and hot sauces, gum balls and pop guns,

 needless to say our head were spinning.

When you step through the back door you are greeted by a beautiful garden filled with the squawks of hundreds of birds in the rescues sanctuary, turtles munching heads of lettuce and donkeys poking their noses at you.

All of this is surrounded by a back drop of strawberry pathces and cherry tomato plants.

And the kids were off.

No one was even that disappointed that the strawberries were not ready to be picked.

Laughs and giggles were interjected between each joyous pluck of a juicy red cherry tomato. 

These were the fruits of our child labor.  

We all had such a great time. 

The store even sells my favorite hard to find hot sauce, 

so need less to say, we will be back!

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Day 20. Oh how I love thee!

Nothing makes me feel better then a fresh haircut!

And there is no place better to get that bush wacked then...

Some think that I am crazy for driving 3 hours to get my hair cut,

but if you have ever been to Alchemy then you know exactly why it's worth it.

Best stylists ever!

I started my grooming session with a nice frosty beer.

My crazy mane had grown out of control, but my old friend Michael fixed me up nice!

Thanks again to all the staff at Alchemy for making Day 20 perfect!

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Webster Flea Market! Ah day 21...

It's sort of become a pre-birthday/MLK day tradition to hit up Webster.

It's one of my happy places.

You can find random art.

Pretty little things.

Lots of vintage.

And TONS of toys.

Lucky for me, the boy loves it too.

Side note:

This year the boy and I made a list of three things each that we were looking for.

We both found everything...gotta love that!

I'll share soon on a thrifty finds.

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Yesterday's 30x30 was one that I was not looking forward to.

(yes-I am a day behind now... I figured it was going to happen eventually)

The hubs loves scary movies...like really loves them.

Me on the other hand...terrified.

But, knowing how much it meant to him I wanted to really plan a scary movie date. 

One where I didn't try to immediately fall asleep on the sofa.  That's my normal defense against scary movies.  Not this time. This time I would "watch" the entire movie.

I mean, I am almost 30...time to grow up and face my fears.

To ease my pain the hubs set up a cozy little floor fort with popcorn and all.

We snuggled on with our hearts racing, his with excitement, mine with fright.

As the opening credits started to role I kinda thought for a half a second that I might enjoy this movie.

The soundtrack was starting off awesome and the cinematography was very cool.

Well, I made it about 10 second in before my face was buried in my hands and I was trying desperately not to hear the screams and shrieks booming from the surround sound.

I made it through the entire movie.

Most of my time was spent hiding from the gore. 

And the hubs rewarded me when it was all over with a

high school style make out session.

Moral of the story:

I hate scary movies.

But I love making that man of mine happy....

and I love making out. haha

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While today's 30x30 wasn't a complete failure, it has been a giant pain in my ass!

I have been lusting over these graphic sweaters that are popping up all over the place.

And then I saw this DIY on Curbly! 

Love that site!

So today I wanted to make a cross stitch heart long sleeve shirt.

While I started this little project with great intention, 

I quickly realized that I didn't have the correct size needle.

Then later on in the day ran out of thread.

So another day, you will see it done.

Need to catch up on the past 6 days? Here you go.   

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Today was Tech Free day in the 30x30 house.

The boy and I we with no TV, no computer, and no phone.

And well, the truth of it is, I cheated a little bit.

You see, the light in the American Apparel dressing room was way to cool to not snap off one picture.

So I did...and then my 3 year old yelled at me to "put my phone away."

Honestly, the entire day (which felt like the longest day of my life) was WAY harder than I expected.

I didn't miss our TV being on at all. 

I loved that we listened to records all day, because we couldn't turn the computer on.

I felt like a crack head trying to kick a habit with my phone,

and we completely lost track of all time and spent 3 hours at the park.

Would I do it again.  Sure.

Anytime soon? Probably not.

But, it was a great big eye opener to how much I/We depend on social media.

Lesson learned.

Follow the rest of my 30x30 list here.

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Today's 30x30 was to go for a family hike...well due to time and work constraints we actually did this last week.  I know I am cheating on my own project, but oh well.  You may have remembered seeing this picture on Instagram.  Here are some of my other PG favorites.

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Today's 30x30 was to do a photo shoot.

It was full of fresh squeezed lemonade, bright herbs, live music and lots of laughter. 

This one is kind of a three parter, so you will have to stay tuned for the rest of the details.