A Lifestyle Blog about Marriage, Parenting, Fashion and Fitness
One.
Freedom of Speech. Pretty obvious, no? Not only do I love the fact that as Americans, we can speak freely, but we can do so on national television while making absolute fools of ourselves a.k.a., reality T.V. That brings me to my next point.
Two.
You didn’t hear? Anyone can be on a reality show! Just marry rich, have a bunch of kids, get divorced and, bam! Reality show. Our freedom of speech rights create a lot of entertainment, that’s for sure. Thanks, reality T.V.!
Three
Football. This may be more of a southern thing, but when football season rolls around, it’s okay and even acceptable to avoid certain friends and family members because they pull for the opposing team. In fact, if you’re nice to them and invite them over for your Iron Bowl party, everyone will hate you for it. There will be trash talking involved. Maybe a few thrown chips…either way, things are sure to get interesting. Football is life during the fall season, and year round for some. Wear your team colors proud.
Four.
Holidays. Did you know we have a day dedicated to most all food, drinks, and inanimate objects as well as people? Every day on Instagram I’m finding out from someone that it is national hotdog day, or national white chocolate mocha day. Who knew we had so many holidays?
Five.
Speaking of hotdogs, that’s reason enough to love America, is it not? Add a little ketchup and mustard and your good to go!
Six.
Everyone works out. Everywhere I look someone is jogging, on their way to the gym, swimming, climbing things, jumping off of things and calling it “exercise.” Women (and some males) are pinning workout tips and gear on Pinterest which makes working out so tempting and seem so glamorous. I can wear pretty tanks and leggings and take selfies at the gym? Sign me up! After all, everyone is doing it!
Seven.
Our portion sizes are nearly (or maybe are) double the size of every other country’s. I had to go to a McDonald’s in Paris because the little French cafe gave us hardly any food on our plate. I have been really spoiled being brought up by women who cook – a lot. They prepare food for what looks like 10 when only expecting 5 and worry about not having enough. We rarely have leftovers. Maybe this is why everyone is obsessed with exercising? I can’t imagine why we have an obesity problem.
Eight.
Everyone is so friendly. I can walk to any of my neighbors houses and ask for a cup of sugar, and they’d invite me in, fix me a cup of coffee and send me home with a whole bag of sugar and freshly baked cookies. No really, that has happened to me. People are so willing to help others. A woman passed out in church a few weeks ago and at least 10 people helped her up and took her into the lobby to check on her during the sermon. We go on evening walks and always get stopped at least 4 or 5 times to talk to neighbors who check on the baby, give him gifts, etc. It’s like Mayberry.
Nine.
Instagram. We live to take pictures of our food, coffee, kid’s, outfits, the sky, whatever! Our entire week is worked around what we are going to post for Throwback Thursday or Woman Crush Wednesday. #mcm #tbt #wcw #fbf I can’t say it any better than this song. Have a listen, and #LOL
Ten.
Finally, on a more serious note, we are patriotic. We have so many young (and old, I assume) men and women that sign up to protect us. They devote their lives to our protection and freedom so that we can do things like raise our children in peace, participate in #tbt, and watch our favorite reality shows without limits (unless you don’t have tivo). Our children are taught the pledge of allegiance as soon as they can speak and many children know it in multiple languages now days. The American flag is flown every where and Americans are proud of their country. We can disagree on politics, but we come together in tragedies and war. We come together to celebrate holidays like Memorial Day because we are proud of our troops. We love them and the hard work they put in to protecting us and the time they give up with their own families to do so.
Happy Memorial Day weekend! Lay out by a pool, eat a few hotdogs, sing songs about America and relax! I know I will be. 🙂
Why do you love America? What are your plans this holiday weekend? Will you be laying by a pool or going to the beach?
Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen
January, 2014 St. Martin’s Press
Synopsis from Goodreads: Suley, Georgia, is home to Lost Lake Cottages and not much else. Which is why it’s the perfect place for newly-widowed Kate and her eccentric eight-year-old daughter Devin to heal. Kate spent one memorable childhood summer at Lost Lake, had her first almost-kiss at Lost Lake, and met a boy named Wes at Lost Lake. It was a place for dreaming. But Kate doesn’t believe in dreams anymore, and her Aunt Eby, Lost Lake’s owner, wants to sell the place and move on. Lost Lake’s magic is gone. As Kate discovers that time has a way of standing still at Lost Lake can she bring the cottages—and her heart—back to life? Because sometimes the things you love have a funny way of turning up again. And sometimes you never even know they were lost . . . until they are found
My Thoughts: This book is on my 2014 book list, so I was pretty excited to read it. It was pretty amazing. Sarah Addison Allen did an awesome job on this novel. It had the usual mystical style we have come to expect from her books, but I loved the characters in this one more than any of her other stories. It was the perfect balance of love/mystery/excitement. I would definitely recommend it. I gave this book 4/5 stars.
Happy hump day, friends! I’m chillin’ out in Orlando with Ryan. I tagged along so that I could get away for a couple of days while he attends conferences. My mom is keeping Hampton for the first time for a couple of nights and I am missing him so much. It’s nice to have a break and rest, but not having my little munchkin around is tough. I have been able to lay by the pool, catch up on my favorite blogs and read. A lot. It has been so awesome.
Since I’ve been away, this has basically been my wardrobe. Lately, I’ve found this to be my go-to weekend look as well. Simple with a little pop of color. I know I know…already dreaming of the weekend. I can’t help it. I am obsessing over these accessories from Charming Charlie.
Earrings here // Wristlet here // Sandals here // Oversized top here // Jean Shorts here // Bracelet here // Necklace here // Essie polish here
What are some of your wardrobe staples? What do you wear on a casual weekend?
In 1916, French artist Edouard Lefevre leaves his wife Sophie to fight at the Front. When her town falls into German hands, his portrait of Sophie stirs the heart of the local Kommandant and causes her to risk everything – her family, reputation and life – in the hope of seeing her true love one last time.
Nearly a century later and Sophie’s portrait is given to Liv by her young husband shortly before his sudden death. Its beauty speaks of their short life together, but when the painting’s dark and passion-torn history is revealed, Liv discovers that the first spark of love she has felt since she lost him is threatened…
In The Girl You Left Behind two young women, separated by a century, are united in their determination to fight for the thing they love most – whatever the cost.
I’ve been contemplating it for quite some time, but I had to close my eyes, and hold my breath when it happened. I love my hair. I’ve worn it long for many years. I have curly hair but it is easy to straighten. Because of it’s natural body, I’ve always preferred to wear it long. Plus, there was the whole I have to get it in a bun thing #ballerinaproblems.
Something happens to you when you have a baby. Lots of things women don’t warn you about. One of those things is you apparently lose your hair at alarming rates. I’m talking hand fulls in the shower every morning, and cleaning out your brush every day. Sometimes multiple times a day to the point where you almost become depressed about it. Definitely self-conscious. It makes sense because your hair thickens while you’re pregnant, so I guess when your hormones balance back out, you lose that extra hair? I don’t know. That’s my theory. Anyways…add that to my 6 month old pulling out my hair a thousand times a day (rough estimate) and I was fed up with it.
I talked to my cousin at her wedding a couple of weeks ago and she was telling me that she was going to cut her hair and donate it to Locks of Love once she got back from their honeymoon. I thought, wow what a great idea! I have thought about donating my hair since my sister did it several years back. Because I wanted to get my hair chopped any way, I thought why not donate it? So I did.
I went all Miley and got my hair chopped off.
When I was sitting in the chair, I had to literally close my eyes and hold my breath while Abbey (my friend and hair-stylist) cut my hair off. Turns out, I kind of love it. It is so much easier to deal with and Hampton hasn’t grabbed it as much. It is a huge change, but I’m enjoying it. So, this is the new me…at least for now. I’ll probably grow it back out, but for now, this is a nice and welcome change.
Do you ever get tired of dealing with your hair?
I’ve been wanting to run a 5k for a while now, and if you follow me on Instagram, you know that I ran my first 5k race on Saturday after having a pretty rough stomach virus. I struggled and came no where near my personal record, but considering I was still debating on whether or not to run the morning of the race I’m just happy I completed it.
Ryan was a sweetie and ran it with me the whole way while pushing Hampton. Normally I’m the one pushing him because I’m more used to it that Ryan is, but he pushed him the whole way for me. I was so thankful for him encouraging and pushing me along the way. I definitely couldn’t have done it without him under the circumstances. Sure my time was a little embarrassing, and I was beat by two 60+ and 70+ year old men. Who’s keeping tabs any way? I will do better next time. There will definitely be a next time and hopefully soon! I really enjoyed it and I’m sure I’ll enjoy it even more when I’m feeling better and not fighting dehydration. Thanks to all of my TIU girls for encouraging me and cheering me on. It was a great experience.
Of course I’m still a little ticked that my 6 month old beat me…HA! (little stroller humor for you).
Have you run any races this year?
I’m so excited to be linking up for the first ever #TotalSocial with Helene and Sarah! Even if you do not have a blog, you are welcome to participate on any social media! Use the hashtag #FirstsTotalSocial. Read more about it here.
Here are a few of my firsts:
Today I’m going to Instagram my first ever IG post from my personal account. Most of you have never seen it. Be sure to check that out today!
My first trip to NYC
May 13th is a special day for my family. This year, we celebrated my brother’s 24th birthday and my oldest nephew’s 2nd birthday. They were both born on Mother’s Day. How special is that? Last night, we celebrated my brother’s birthday with nachos, cookie cake and lots of laughter. These moments with family are so precious to me. We have so much to be thankful for. Our health, a roof over our head, money to pay the bills, we have everything we need. We are so blessed. We will be celebrating our nephew’s birthday this weekend with Ryan’s family and I can’t wait. Little kid birthday parties are so entertaining. It is always fun. Plus there’s cake…
Happy Birthday, Bub and T-man!
I am obsessed with aztec print. I loved it for fall and winter, and guess what? Apparently it’s in for spring and summer this year! I learned about stitch fix through several other bloggers and my eyes got really wide and I signed up immediately. The waiting list was long at the time and so I just got my first fix in the mail a few days ago. I kept this tank top but returned the other items.
So what did I think?
Pros:
I was very impressed with my first stitch fix box. The clothes fit me perfectly and they were exactly my style. I couldn’t have been happier with the choices they picked for me.
Cons:
The prices. I wasn’t expecting everything to be so expensive. If I bought all of the items, I could pay $219.00 but if I bought them individually or just two, etc. it was much more expensive. All of the items added individually were $318.00…so that’s how they get you. I didn’t want all of the items in my fix, so it was a bit of an expense to purchase the tank by itself, but I didn’t want my $20 processing fee to be wasted, so I paid the difference anyway.
I was pretty disappointed in the prices and probably won’t be doing it again. Although I loved the clothes, I just don’t want to spend that much money on a box of clothing every month. Maybe I’m cheap? I don’t know. I just don’t like spending much on my clothes. I mean, after all I am a girl and the styles change so much every year. I don’t want to invest a ton of money in something I may only wear one season.
Have you tried Stitch Fix? What are your thoughts? How much do you spend on clothing each month?