10 things i couldn't live without this week

1. as i mentioned, my sister haley came to town to spend a few day with me and the boy and the hubs....and stella. we had such an amazing time together. she's always just such a breath of fresh air. we crammed a weeks worth of activities into 48 hours - there were bike rides, beach trips, zoo tours, and sushi. it was perfect.
2. although i don't want to ruin the magic of the zoo for all of you i have to say that going to the zoo with someone who's profession is zoo keeping really is insightful! i learned so much about the zoo. not only some interesting facts about the animals and the names of some of the animals that i love and new nothing about, but also some trickery that zoos pull on us commoners.  very interesting folks. very interesting.
3. this seems a little silly and vain, but i died my hair back darker after about 5 months of being a very light red head, and wanting to shave all my hair off. here's the thing with me and red hair....i love it, but unless i really take the time to color it often and style it every single day.....i hate it. so back to the dark side. and miraculously the past few days i have loved my hair again.
4. we decided on a last minute trip up to orlando to visit our family friends the weekley's. friday night after the hubs got home from work we drove up. we arrived late to find a house full of kids, not only the two little weekley nuggets, but also the hubs old high school friends and their two daughters. it was a chaotic mess of giggles and bouncing. the boy was super shy at first but in no time he was chasing the girls and eating cookies. i am pretty sure that it was the latest that he's ever stayed up, he finally crashed around midnight.
5. momma weekley and i stayed up way past our bedtimes as well. with wine in hand we swapped stories of motherhood. i love spending time with mary so much. she's one of those mom's who is totally straight up, she doesn't sugar coat parenting stories, she shares every dirty little detail in a way that usually has me laughing in ways that would make a weaker woman tinkle. you know that web sensation "shit girls say"? well i swear that someone should have been taping us because it was totally "shit moms say" and it was hilarious. and i quote..."you know what i need? i need something really cool, you know like a fanny pack! - mary"
6. saturday morning we woke up foggy eyed and early. i think all the kiddos were a bit cranky from the late night partying, but once we got them up and moving and broke the news that we were headed to sea world everyone one was excited to start the day. heck i even started it with only one cup of coffee! so this was the boys first trip to sea world and it was magic! it was such a great day of laughter, marine life, melt downs, and dippin' dots. we even scored season passes so we will be heading back i the near future. you should totally check out the hubs blog about our recent trips to sea world and the fair....awesome perspective from the mans eyes!
7. i had the most delicious cupcakes this weekend! red velvet cheese cake! and my favorite thing about them was the lack of frosting.  i convinced/forced mary to share the recipe with me so that i could share it with you....so keep your eye out for that this week!
8. i am not sure that i would have made it through the week without some phone calls and texts from my step mom/best friend. she's my go to when the boy is giving my a run for my money. she always offers the best advice on how to deal with his insanity....even if that advice is opening a bottle of wine. haha. thank you lisa for checking up on me so much this week.
9. ok so the hubs and i don't watch football (or any other organized team sports really) it's just not our deal. but for some reason last night we found our selves involved in the 4th quarter of the super bowl. well, not really for some reason....i knew exactly why i was watching it. you see the season premier of the voice was starting after the super bowl and i was so concerned that the game would run over and ruin my recording of one of my favorite shows. but low and behold i found myself cheering and screaming at the tv. i was happy to see the giants win. not that i really cared or know much about either team, but you see my grand father and cousin are the biggest giants fans....so for their sake, and the sake of their wives i was pulling for the giants. great job boys.
10. after a week of craziness and traveling i have to admit that i am super thankful for the tropical storm that we are dealing with today....it's giving me and the boy to snuggle in our pj's all day. yeah that's right....tropical storms in february.

alterior motives

i am sitting hear mentally planning the trip of a life time! my sister haley will be here in one week. i get 48 hours to spend with one of my best friends. i am not sure that she knows exactly how pumped up i am for her arrival.

as i have mentioned before, i am much older than all 6 of my siblings. they range in age from 9 to 21....and me, well i am about to celebrate my 29th birthday.  haley is the closest in age to me (21).

it's been what feels like years since we have spent some quality time together. there have been a few short visits or getting to see each other in passing, but no real one on one time. and this trip in particular is especially important to me.

for one, i am considering it her birthday present to me! gracing me with her presence is about all i could ask for! and two...well two is my alterior motive. you see haley is recently done with college and at a point in her life where she is ready for a new adventure.  currently living way up in the pan handle she is so far removed from all of her family. i have been there. when i was her age i felt a little removed from my family as well, and i remember how badly i wanted to be with my sisters.

here are some facts about my sister:

• she is incredibly free spirited.
• she is far more beautiful than she knows
• she is a zoologist
• she belongs on the beach

here are some facts about lake worth:

• i describe lake worth as a bohemian mecca
• we can ride our bikes to the beach
• we have an awesome zoo
• the people here are awesome

so if you can't read between the lines here....let me spell it out for you.  i want haley to move to lake worth. bad. my plan? well it's going to be a whirl wind tour of everything awesome about south florida. bike rides, beach trips, zoo visit, maybe some bar hopping, adventures galore.

10 things i couldn't live without this week:

1. once or twice a year i make it out to my parent lake house on lake santeetlah. it is my heaven on earth. i think deep down inside (as much as i love living on the beach) that i was meant to be pickin' a banjo in the back woods of north carolina. spending the week up there was so rejuvenating (even if i was sick half the trip).

2. haley and paige drove up with my cousin to surprise my dad and spend some time with us at the lake. it was the best surprise! my dad was blown away. i had such an amazing time with them! the two of them are growing up to be such amazing women and i am so proud to be their big sister!

3. one of my favorite things about spending time in NC is checking out the local artist. we usually head into asheville and hit up some galleries, but this time we stayed very local. yellow branch farm and pottery as well as bee global will always be on my "must go to" list when i am up there.

4. the boy was so amazing on the plane. i was worried about the flight home since we didn't even take off until about 9pm. he fell asleep before we even left the ground and slept until every last person was off the plane. what a champ.

5. as i mentioned i got sick on vacation...bummer. but i must say, that if you are going to get sick you should do it when we are with 15 of your closest family members. i had so much help with the boy. it was the biggest weight off my shoulders to have all the help. thanks everyone!

6. as much fun as i had in north carolina this past week the highlight had to be getting home to see the hubs! unfortunately he couldn't make the trip, but we sure missed him! it is so good to be back in his arms.

7. nyquil - even though it makes me do funny things in my sleep.

8. sharing in the excitement with my two favorite people from ouraugust. not only is it their month (both of them celebrating birthdays in august), but these two little lovers just got engaged! jump on over and share the love with them! i know that they will have a long life together full of laughter and joy. best wishes!

9. the boy did his first zip line at his friend olive's birthday party. barrel o'monkeys is an awesome family run kids gym in delray beach. the boy and i have been before, but he was too scared to do the zip line before....but today was a new day! thanks to a little persuasion from mommy (i told him it was like a super hero....how could he say no?) and the instructor letting me take him on the ride....he did it!

10. i have not legitimately cooked dinner since i have been home from my trip (baked chicken and mac and cheese doesn't count). between me and the boy being sick and the lack of food in the house it just hasn't happened. all the pizza and take out is taking it's toll but sometime it's nice to have someone else make dinner. as i am writing this now the hubs in on his way home from picking up dinner at chili's. yum.

hip hip horray....

(source)

happy birthday to my beautiful and talented sister haley! i love you and am so proud of the woman that you are becoming. you are a wonderful sister, an amazing friend, and a beautiful soul.