F*ck it!

Sitting here getting my oil changed and was trying to decide how to make the best use of time – fortunately, I brought my computer AND they have free wifi!  Heading up to Richmond next weekend, so trying to be as productive as possible and get things like this done so I can enjoy my weekend, made an early appointment and the only downfall is I didn’t get to enjoy my morning walk like I’ve been doing for the last couple of weeks. Picture below fully proves why my walks are SO MUCH BETTER than they were when I lived off Southside!

My morning walk last week 😍

Today, will be a no-exercsise day because I have big plans to see my sister and aunts this evening 🤗 I am back in the “do something active everyday” mindset, but I couldn’t figure a way to do it today with oil change, work and then dinner, but I guess that happens and I won’t let it discourage me.

On that note, I have started a workout/food journal – it has been fun and motivating. I add little notes to remind myself of things that I’ve done and how it makes me feel.  Yesterday I heard something on a podcast that I added to my journal and thought I would share because I have done it SO.MANY.TIMES!

The worst thing you can do for yourself is say “F*ck it!”

I am INCREDIBLY guilty of this.  Just this past weekend, I went to Fernandina Beach to bar hop, so what does bar hopping lead to – not caring about what you are putting in your mouth.  I drank so much – from beer, to wine, to a liquor coffee drink (I don’t even drink coffee) and even had a cocktail.  Then, of course, after all those drinks, I was in the “F*ck it” mindset and ate a calzone for dinner.  This continued to Monday because  I didn’t go to the grocery store over the weekend and said “F*ck it” AGAIN and decided to eat a buffalo chicken wrap at a food truck for lunch that day.  Don’t get me wrong, it was FANTASTIC, but I was regretting my decision for the rest of the day……and not to mention, feeling gross all day afterward!

Two other things that have been on my mind and thought I would share:

1.  FREEZE YOUR CREDIT!  Who knew?  I didn’t, but why have it available unless you are needing to purchase something large.  It took less than five minutes to do it through the three credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion and was super simple.  When you need to make a large purchase, ask the seller/lender what credit bureau they use and simply unfreeze it!  BOOM!
2. I recently got a new journal – not the food/exercise journal mentioned above, but this is a 365 day journal for five years.  Every day it has a different topic/question and I love it!!! You can find it here! One of the questions this week was “what have you done for someone lately” and sadly, I couldn’t think of anything, other than help someone at work, but REALLY, do I want to say that’s the best I could come up with?!??! So this week, I’m making a cautious effort to help someone with something!!!

Anyway, there’s that, I have 8% battery left, so I will leave with photos from Fernandina.  It’s always such a great time to make the trip up there and we plan on doing it more often!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!! 

Happy Thursday!

Happy Thursday!!! This has been an exceptionally good week for really no reason at all other than being productive, eating “my version” of healthy and waking up early to walk to Intercoastal Bridge. It has been overwhelmingly nice to be motivated to get out of bed again. I haven’t been getting out of bed to workout since I moved to the beach and missing my Pure Barre morning classes.  Now I am back at it and feeling good, maybe I’ll get back to Pure Barre, but the classes are 30 mins earlier and that would mean my alarm going off in the 4:00 hour – granted it would probably be 4:55, but still, setting that alarm is ALARMING! 😝

I went out for drinks with an old friend, Cheryl, who is one of my few followers – THANKS CHERYL 😃 – and had a really nice time. I wasn’t ready to go home, but that’s me, when I’m having a few beers with good company, it’s hard for me to leave. Fortunately, she and her husband didn’t eat, so they needed to have dinner and I was forced to head back to sobriety.  Turns out, this was a blessing in disguise, because I’m currently doing intermittent fasting, so the more I drink the longer I’d have to wait to eat the next day and I was definitely HANGRY by lunchtime today! (I make up my own rules to this “fasting” thing)

I started this Intermittent Fasting thing this week, in addition to eating less carbs and I haven’t had MUCH of a problem with it, however, I haven’t technically doing it religiously either.  But I’ve been living off rotisserie chicken and hard-boiled eggs.  Granted…..beer has carbs in it, but I only had three last night –  so, I’m feeling pretty good about that!

BRIEF CATCH UP:  

SOCIAL LIFE:  I saw THE.MOST.AMAZING sunset last week, I went to visit one of my forever best friends and we walked down to the beach after a storm and the sunset was absolutely unbelievable.  Every time we turned around it looked even more beautiful.  The conversation kept coming to a halt with “OMG, Stephanie, look that way!!!” or “Elizabeth, this is absolutely crazy, look at how purple the sky is” (she’s the only one who calls me “Elizabeth”). It was a great night and I truly enjoyed seeing/catching up with her.

I was also able to catch up with my cousin who was visiting from Maryland.  She is so beautiful and I just adore her and her family!  Afterward, her sister and I went to the bars….but we both had guy friends who were catching up with us and I told her we have to go out again without boys because let’s face it, no boys are going to talk to us when we have other boys talking to us, even if they are friends!

DATING FRONT: Went out on three dates last week, two of them – meh, nothing good, but nothing bad to say either, so just MEH.  The other one, I actually really liked/enjoyed – but of course, he’s probably the most unavailable one of them all – story of my life! 🤷‍♀️ Haven’t heard back from him although he said he had a great time and we’d be seeing each other again…..but since I haven’t heard from him, I keep saying, it’s probably a “Blessing in Disguise”

BEACH LIFE: Really/truly enjoying it. I woke up on Saturday morning and went for a long walk on the beach, then grabbed my beach chair and sat on the beach for a bit and “read” my book – I don’t even read, but I’m trying to start! I had such a nice morning, that I brought Olivia out there to sit with me on Monday night and I think she loves it just as much, if not more, than I do!

I think that’s all for now, I’ve been up since 4:45, so I am going to shut this thing down and lay down.  It’s only 9:03pm 🤦🏼‍♀️

Antigua

After two months, I’m finally getting around to posting about my Antigua trip and other than it being an absolutely unforgettable week, I left there with a new perspective I was not expecting or anticipating.

First off, the trip to Antigua wouldn’t have ever happened if it weren’t for Bridget. Bridget is a close family friend who lived on this beautiful island for three years (I believe) and every time I saw her, she would say “you need to come visit” and of course, I wanted to, but never actually started the planning. Next thing you know – she was moving back to that states and I thought I missed my opportunity.  Fortunately we caught up drinks over the holidays and she mentioned that she had to go back for a wedding. She was taking the entire week off and asked if I wanted to join her…..ummmm…..no brainer….I was booking a flight two days later, hoping she was serious because I DIDN’T CARE, I WAS GOING!!! 

The new perspective came from Bridget and her friends. These were seriously some of the nicest/happiest/friendliest people I have ever met.  And that is what I will remember the most about this trip! Yes, there was beauty surrounding me everywhere, but the way these “Islanders” made me feel like I was one-of-them meant more than anything! I know I will see Bridget again, and even if it’s only a few times a year, I can always count on tons of laughs with her, but I doubt I will see any of the people I met on this trip again, which makes me sad because they were SO.MUCH.FUN, but I can hope I do!!!

To recap the trip, Bridget was the PERFECT tour guide, she took me to all the best spots and many that only the “locals” know about, she drove me around while I was clinging for dear life (not because she was a bad driver at all, but because I am not used to being on the other side of the road) AND on top of all that, she had to pay for me the entire time because I lost my credit card the first night I was there.  Never have  I ever lost my credit card and to do it in a foreign country, without even knowing where I was staying added a bit of stress, but I got it back a couple nights before I left and paid Bridget back, but damn, talk about a mess!!!!

Shout out to my dad who forced $100 on me before I left, and I begrudgingly took it just so he would let it go – definitely learned my lesson.  I guess your parents can still teach you things at the age of 37!

Anyway, I tried taking notes on what we did and where we went, but I didn’t have my phone on me most of the trip and considering it’s been two months, I will just have to use pictures to share the beauty and the gist of my trip!

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Comical Conversations III

How is it already summer and better question: how am I not “summer-ready”?  Well ultimately it boils down to the fact that I have not worked out, I’ve been eating anything I wanted and enjoying living out at the beach with my friends nearby.

But that’s all changing and I am ready to take on the challenge.  I realized that I will never be able to date happily until I am happy with  myself. So I’ve set a goal to lose some weight and I’m going to accomplish this (do you like how I didn’t use the phrase “try to accomplish this”) by doing intermittent fasting and meal planning.  Not prepping, but planning.  I am going to try to limit my carb intake and cook more at home – this is going to be hard for the girl who is so social.

I have been on a few dates recently and they’ve all been good in their own ways, but nothing seems like it’ll go anywhere.

I’ll go back to the “dude man” story-telling because those were always a hit, but in reality, I don’t have anything bad to say about any of them, so connotation may be a bit off.

Dude man #1:  Still talking to, but on first date, he told me he recently lost his job and there’s actually a lawsuit he has pursuing for wrongful termination.  There are various articles in the news and everything he said is, without a doubt, legit. But I feel he’s actually not in a great spot right now to date because a) he’s trying to find another job and b) he has to watch his pennies. (My words, not his – he actually seems to have it together pretty smart and said he’s got a lot of money in savings, so he’ll be fine) He did ask me out again and we’re supposed to go out this week, but I do feel weird since he doesn’t have a job and I do.  I KNOW, I SHOULDN’T, but I do.

Dude man #2: Went out with him on a spur of the moment Reggae Sunday – it was fun, weird because another friend of his was there when I first arrived, but also fun because I saw tons of people I knew and was able to talk to them without feeling guilty.  The really interesting part of the day was that he ordered seven shots of Fireball (I couldn’t help but count after the first couple) not sure how I felt about that.  He was responsible and uber’d home, but still weird for a first date.

What was interesting about Dude man #2:  he started to evaluate me and I asked him to give me three words to describe me.  He said calculated and guarded – I didn’t quite get that because I’m a HUGE open book.  Then he said he was struggling with the third one because he had three and couldn’t pick which one to use.  I said to give me all three and they were:  Intelligent, witty and confident.  (I’ll take that!)

SIDE STORY:  As I was sitting at Reggae Sunday, Dude man #2 ran out to get something out of his car, a guy who appeared to spend about 27 hours a week in the gym came up and approached me asking where my boyfriend went. To keep things simple: I just said “he went to get something out of his car and will be right back” He immediately started saying he doesn’t want any trouble, but if things didn’t work out between me and him, then I should give him a call.  This dude proceeded to hit on EVERY.SINGLE.GIRL there. It was comical and I told Dude man #3 and we couldn’t stop laughing while watching his persistence. 

Dude man #3:  Nice guy from Pennsylvania – he’s got a weird sense of humor, not in a bad way, just weird. I’m not sure if I want to see him again, he’s already asked and I made an excuse why I can’t – that’s not a great sign. I get a text from him every evening that says “how was your day” and I think to myself, GIVE ME SOMETHING MORE!!!!

Dude man #4:  (I actually forgot about this one until I looked at my calendar) This one is probably the best because he was a typical New Jersey guy. Here on business and said he’s not tied to NJ and ready to move.  He asked me out as I was sitting on the couch one random Tuesday at like 7:45 and my immediate inclination was to say “no,” it’s a Tuesday, plus I can’t be that available.  But then I realized “why not” so I did – he said his hotel had a bar and we could hang out there — UMMMM NOPE, I’ve seen way too many murder mysteries and I’m not stupid.  I truly don’t think he was being creepy, but that is extremely creepy!  Anyway, he came out to the beach and we had a couple drinks. I was home by 11 and it wasn’t bad.  But like I said, he was a typical NJ guy, I felt he was unknowingly rude to the server and I didn’t like it, he kept getting up in my personal space and I wish I could’ve been another bar-goer and seen my body language pushing further and further away!  I think he got the hint because I haven’t heard from him since and that is OK!!!

Dude man #5: I actually had this post all written and ready to be published, but had something happen to me tonight that was unlike any of the others and one of the most absurd of them all.  So I had to share!!! We “matched” like a week or so ago, his response times were extremely delayed, today he said “should we exchange numbers” and I said “Sure!” and I gave him my number.

He texted and we had a couple (maybe six messages back and forth) He called me after I got home from work, but it only rang once on my end, I sent a text saying “did you mean to call or did you dial by accident?” He said he meant to call and I said, “Wow, I appreciate that, but I’m about to work out, can I call you when I’m done?” His response (I’m still mind-blown) “I don’t typically do this, but we seem to be wanting two different things.” Me: dumbfounded,  said “what does that mean exactly?” His response:  “You would rather workout than have an intellectual conversation with someone.” I responded (and regret even entertaining it) with “not necessarily, but would rather be able to give full attention to a conversation vs. knowing I have things I need to get done in the back of my head.” His response: “Gotcha” My response: __________(Silence)

DUDE MAN #5 ALREADY TRYING TO CAUSE AN ARGUMENT AND APPARENTLY NEEDS THE WORLD TO REVOLVE AROUND HIM!!!! NO thank you! 🙄

My friends have sent me an article that was recently published saying “Single women without kids are the happiest”  I’m not going to lie – I’m pretty happy in my life, am I ANYWHERE where I want to be, absolutely not!  BUT I’m making the best of it and not complaining at all 🙂

I just re-read some of my previous “Comical Conversations” posts and these aren’t even comparable.  I am actually a bit disappointed.  Maybe I’m choosing better, maybe dating in Jacksonville isn’t as bad as I recall, but who knows, as I’ve said before: I’ll keep my account open and at the very least, have some stories to tell!

And as an added bonus, I had dinner with some of my best girlfriends (minus a couple who were out of town) from high school and it was SO INCREDIBLY nice to see them.  With six girls who don’t see each other nearly enough, the conversation was nonstop and I left with a huge smile on my face!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

It was a crazy busy weekend with an announcement I haven’t yet mentioned……MY SISTER AND HER FAMILY ARE MOVING TO JACKSONVILLE!!! So, I spent the entire weekend house hunting with them……and it was stressful……and I’m not even the one making the decision!!! The whole family loaded up in two cars and we came as an entourage to each showing to give our feedback (solicited or not) in hopes to help make the right choice.

This is beyond exciting to me that they are moving down here, and I have to say it’s crazy how things work out the way they are supposed to.  As everyone knows, I LOVED Richmond and I was absolutely devastated when it did not work out for me to move up there, but I now see why!

So….obviously the kids are a bit hesitant about leaving their friends and the place they’ve called home their entire life, so I wanted to help ease the transition and surprised them at the hotel when they first arrived with a goody bag. In the goody bag, I had a few gifts with a list I made up of fun things to do in Florida (and selfishly, things I’d be happy to do with them anytime!)

This is primarily a list that I put together real quick of things that are close to Jacksonville and not beach related. I probably should’ve changed #10 to iFly because that was the one thing my nephew wanted to do while he was here, but truthfully I didn’t even think about it.

After a long weekend of house hunting, I was ready for some R&R and caught up with my friends to hang out at the beach.  I drank way too much and apparently don’t know how to control my alcohol intake in the hot summer sun with no food in my system.  But we had a blast and I wasn’t irresponsible (at least that’s what I was told) and even got a “I love Drunk Pippin” comment 😉

Aunt Beth surprise!

My nephew is CRAZY!

Spent the evenings letting the kids play on the beach!

I don’t typically do selfies, but fun beach day called for one!

….and as a side note:  I picked these up at the grocery store and haven’t had them in years!!! It was so worth it in the Florida heat 🙂

Yup, it’s me – I’m back! (for now at least)

Well I’ve officially put the blog on the back burner. I realized it was taking more effort than it was worth and I was constantly struggling with things to post.  I will try to check in once a week, even if don’t have anything to write, but NO PROMISES!  Let’s face it, there’s been plenty of times I’ve said I didn’t have anything to write and somehow I can ramble on and on!  After all, this is supposed to be mindless entertainment and a quick read.

(DISCLAIMER: Can’t promise tonight’s will be a quick read considering it’s been about four months since my last check-in)

Things have been absolutely crazy and I struggled with how much has changed since my last post.  To start: I MOVED – not to Richmond, which I am still incredibly sad about, but it’s funny how God has other plans.  I am staying here in Jacksonville and living out at the beach. I have been a permanent Jacksonville Beach resident for about two months now and I TRULY love it!!! I think it’s the change that I needed and I couldn’t be happier with where I am right now.  This could be part of the reason I’ve gone MIA from this blog.

To be completely honest, I wrote a post on March 27th, but I had about 400 photos to go through and couldn’t even fathom with where to begin.

So…..some main highlights over the last couple months:

1. THE MOVE:  I had ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIC buyers who threatened not to close the night before closing.  I was completely O-V-E-R it, and them; and didn’t even care if the papers got signed. I would’ve gladly kept their deposit and either rented the place or sold as-is.  I was willing to call their bluff, but my dad and realtor (aka sister-in-law) were amazing and jumped in to get the deal sealed.
2. LIVING:  Time was running out for me to find a place to live and I went under contract on a place in an area that I didn’t want to live and a house bigger than I wanted.  The house was super cute and I couldn’t resist, because it was the only house that I looked at that I felt wasn’t at the top of it’s value and would appreciate when it was time for me to sell.  Unfortunately (although probably fortunately now) the inspector found structural damage to the home. I was closing on my place in a few weeks and didn’t know where I was going to go. Another long story short, I am now living at a friends furnished condo (she lives with her husband) and all of  my furniture is in storage. It actually worked out great for the both of us!
3. BEACH LIVING:  Loving riding my bike around, being so close to all my friends, waking up and watching the sunrise and walking to breweries. The only thing I need to get better about is not making a plan for every spare minute I have.  I can’t tell you how many times my beach friends want to hang out and I can only do something for a quick second because I made other plans.
4. DATING:  Well….NOTHING to report there. I’m sure this comes as a shock to no one.  I think the last time I checked in there was a guy I had been seeing, but that one is done.  The long story short of it, he was more of an introvert and I am more of an extrovert.  Opposites did not attract in this situation.  I am semi-back online – not sure if it’s for the humor or entertainment, but there’s nothing to report on the dating front!
5. ANTIGUA:  I went on a week long vacation to the beautiful island of Antigua.  This is a post in itself and I will add more, but basically I was fortunate enough to go with a friend who used to live there. I got to meet all her amazing friends who were so welcoming and unbelievably  nice!!! In addition, I got to see some beautiful sights and places only the “locals” know about! I had an absolute blast and so thankful for the wonderful trip!
6. UPCOMING GETAWAYS:  I am in the process of planning some trips. Thinking Austin for Labor Day, Cape Cod in the Fall and a big trip to Arizona next spring.  Also, have a bachelorette party in Nashville for one of my best friends, Kari – it’ll be a blast.  Not to mention: the wedding (or “party” as she calls it) is definitely going to be a memorable one!!!
7. MOTIVATION: My girlfriend came to visit me and we are motivating each other to get in shape before the Arizona spring trip. We are even using a little incentive – have to pay the flight (or a portion of the flight depending on the cost) to the winner! I will admit, since I’ve moved out to the beach I have not worked out at all (unless you call a bike ride to the bar a workout?) I have also kind of stopped caring about what I’ve been eating/drinking.  This is all going to change after Memorial Day, but until then I am living it up! 😉  I loved Pure Barre, but the classes are always wait-listed at the location closest to my new home.  So I am exploring new options and recipes to get me on track.
8. MISC:  Some other exciting (or not-so-exciting) things over the last few months: a trip to Universal; the wedding of two very close friends; a new baby brought in to the framily; mom had knee surgery and I played “nurse”; Kari got engaged and asked me to be Maid of Honor

That should cover most of everything! And here are some photos of the last few months 🙂

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WHAT.A.MONTH

Yup, I’ve been MIA and I’ve been getting A LOT of grief for it.  Truthfully, I don’t have a whole lot to report, I know people loved the dating stories, but I have taken a hiatus from that (specifically online dating) and therefore I don’t have any very exciting stories!!!! I am tempted (and was requested) to stay on these sites just for the entertainment – I won’t disagree, it is pretty entertaining 🤣

But I’m happy (actually not very happy) to report that I have lived up to my promise of Dry January…..Friday cannot come soon enough and I am so excited to spend the evening with my best girlfriends!!!

Quick run-down on Dry January:

Did I lose weight – NO

Did my face clear up – NO

Did I save money – ABSOLUTELY NOT

So…..all this leads me to believe that I am not losing (or gaining) anything by drinking a couple of beers or a glass of wine every now and then…..ok, more like “every night” but who’s counting! But….how could I have not saved money?  Well…..one Friday night, instead of going out with my friends, I sat at home and looked for a car – THAT I DID NOT NEED, but of course I was looking – my car was 9 years old with 130K miles on it…..so I found my “dream car” – the one I kept saying would be my next car, but I didn’t have a need for it, so kept putting it off.  UNTIL I found one that was listed at a price to sell.

I won’t bore you with the details, but I purchased a new car!!! And now, I’m in debt a few $Ks and terrified to drive the car that is WAY bigger than I’m used to.  I’d said I’d drive my old car until it died…..well Dry January proved me wrong!

In addition to buying a new car, I decided I’d sell my house – WHY?  Well, why not?  I know I want to move, but I’m not sure where that will be yet.  Seriously, your guess is as good as mine and I keep saying “everything will work out the way it’s supposed to” – that is A LOT of uncertainty for a girl who is VERY MUCH A PLANNER!

Less than a week later and I don’t want to jinx this, but we have an offer on my place and sh$t’s about to GET REAL!!! Gotta figure the next steps….where am I going go?  What am I going to do?  How am I going to move ALL OF THIS STUFF 😳 DEFINITELY hiring someone, but still it’s going to be SUCH A PROCESS and SO EXHAUSTING!  All self-inflicted, so I won’t complain.  But send positive thoughts my way to keep my sanity!!

All this to say, that’s why I’ve been in hiding. I’ve been doing some fun things too and I will happily post those soon.  I’m hoping I’ll be back more in February – after all, one of my favorite things to do is sit down with a glass of wine and write posts!  And Dry January will be over……just need to think of new/interesting/entertaining topics!

TO BE CONTINUED……

DRY JANUARY

Apparently my New Years resolution should be to “not make any promises to update this blog consistently.” Honestly, I have found myself stressed to write something/anything, even if it’s nothing at all and I realized “Why? Why do I stress myself out unnecessarily?” I know good and well, no one is waiting for the mindless entertainment I often/ sometimes/rarely provide!

Last year, I did a recap of the year prior – this was a lot of fun and I fully intend to do it again, but who knows – at the rate I’m going, it’ll likely be in April!!! (Let’s hope not)

Anyway, I’m checking in to hold myself accountable.  The last few months, I have been on an “I really just don’t care” kick and in reality – I DO!  So, I decided to do DRY JANUARY for a couple reasons.

1. Make sure I get up and workout without any “I didn’t get enough sleep” excuses (I don’t do that often, but every workout counts
2. My parents and I have a bet to see who could lose the most weight in a month
3. My face has been breaking out and I am trying to rule out any/everything to figure out what it is
4. I love to test my willpower
5. It’s just good to DETOX every now and then

Ironically, as I’m writing this, one of my best friends posted an article on “why you should do Dry January” stating the benefits include:

• Sleep better
• Save money
• More in control of drinking habits in the long run
• Improved health
• More energy
• Lose weight
• Better skin

I didn’t make it very far last year when I attempted to do Dry January, but I had a good excuse when the Jags made the playoffs and there’s just something not right about watching football sober! Jags have already disappointed us enough, so I know that won’t be a deterrent!

I’ve set myself up for success by purchasing other drinks to have in the house. I don’t drink coffee or soft drinks, so I got drinks with electrolytes and flavored water!

So….here I go…..not drinking is 110% going to save me money, I can almost guarantee I’ll lose weight and I’m actually very excited about all the energy I’ll have (some will argue, I already have too much as it is 🤷‍♀️)

WISH ME LUCK!!! CAN’T WAIT TO GIVE A FULL REPORT ON FEBRUARY 1ST!!! 

Over Cocktails

This has been quite the week – all good though and I’m really looking forward to seeing what the future holds!!! (I have a feeling that 2019 is going to be A GREAT YEAR!!!)   

Considering my eyes are already getting heavy, I’m going to make this short and sweet! But wanted to share a few things real quick!  I had a great weekend last weekend, went to visit my brother/sister-in-law and was told to stay the night and I was thinking “No, I want to go to Pure Barre on Saturday morning” my SIL said “We can go for a five mile walk on the beach” and she had me sold!  I’m really glad I did stay the night too (even though I passed out on the couch watching Bad Moms Christmas and smoking hookah) because I woke up to watch the sunrise and then they made me a nice breakfast, then it was the walk on the beach and I somehow convinced my brother to take the boat out. We got A LOT done before 1:00pm. Unfortunately, I thought the empty contacts in my toiletry bag were ACTUAL contacts and I had to sport my eyeglasses all morning – it was H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E as you can tell by the picture below!!!

Then I rushed home to relax on couch before heading to one of my best friends work Christmas parties.  This is the third year I’ve gone with him and I truly look forward to seeing all of his work peeps – they put on such a good party, that I missed my own work party to attend!  

In typical fashion, I woke up the next morning really early (6:30am) – I mean who doesn’t do that after a night of drinking/dancing?!?! Anyway, it was raining, so I forced myself to go back to sleep.  By 8:30am, I couldn’t lay around any longer and decided to text one of my best friends – Ashley, to join me for coffee. I don’t even drink coffee, but it was my excuse to see her. She is a busy mom so I knew that would be a good/safe/quick bet and it worked!!!  She wanted to go to Another Broken Egg instead and she had the bartender/barista lady make me a peppermint mocha – look how pretty this turned out!!! And it was actually YUMMY – she even treated me for breakfast as a birthday celebration – SO SWEET!

Sunday, I joined my mom’s extremely close friends for their annual Christmas ornament exchange.  I have known these ladies most of my life, so it’s always great seeing them, and it’s such a fun concept. Unfortunately, I didn’t decorate for Christmas this year, so I wasn’t able to display the beautiful ornaments I received that were HAND-MADE!!!

I’ve actually been pretty good with not going out this week during the week, with the exception to Tuesday.  Joined my friends for Taco Tuesday and then the guy I’ve been hanging out with came over to watch a movie.  It was a really nice evening.  My brother keeps asking for his name and I said not until date #10, we are on #6 and I’m already regretting saying #10.

(I THINK THIS MAY BE A RECORD POST AND I AM BEYOND EXCITED TO GO TO BED!  FOR WHOMEVER IS STILL READING – I REALLY HOPE I PROOF THIS AND ADD A BIT OF EXCITEMENT BEFORE IT GETS SENT OUT IN THE MORNING!)

Regardless, I have a very exciting weekend ahead:

Friday night:  Jacksonville Ice Hockey game with, Jeff – a fantastic supporter of this blog and even better friend!

Saturday: Wreaths Across America, then I have to make deviled eggs for an annual Christmas party that is always a blast and I am truly looking forward to it

Sunday: Christmas with my family in Jacksonville since my brother/sis-in-law won’t be with us in Richmond for Christmas!

That’s all for now – GOOD NIGHT (or good day, since I post these in the mornings!)

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND! 

Checking in con’t

I was ready to leave work yesterday and hit the publish button WAY too soon, so instead of an “Over Cocktails” post, it’ll be a continuation from my last “Checking in” post.  First and foremost, I have said this before, but it is definitely worth repeating.  I H-A-T-E-D my previous job, but I met some amazing people and for that I am thankful.  Fortunately, I have kept in great contact with most of them and we always use our birthday’s as an excuse to get together and catch up.

I made a pact this year that I didn’t want gifts – I wanted experiences and I got just that as I caught up with a couple of my girlfriends (Yvonne and Alison) for lunch and then pedicures! That may have been more of a selfish request because my feet were in desperate need (desperate is an understatement) and I figured it was a great opportunity to sit and relax with friends.

The birthday celebrations continued a week after my birthday when Carole and I caught up at J. Alexanders for dinner. That place is way underrated and I never think to have dinner there, but it’s always so good!!!  Dinner started with a glass of wine as an “appetizer,” then another glass of wine with dinner and then another drink for dessert!  Clearly, we were having a great time as we were catching up, laughing and swapping various horror stories. We have determined if I’m not living in Jacksonville for her birthday in July, I am flying her to wherever I am living and showing her my new city 😉 this is so the birthday tradition can continue, but in reality we know it’s so we can continue our wine courses!

I do see these ladies throughout the year, but it’s never often-enough. It’s always nice knowing that there are staple months that we will 110% see each other and I hope that trend continues!

One exception to me not wanting gifts for my birthday, was I asked my sister to get me a weighted blanket.  They have been all over the radio, social media feeds and tv, so i wanted to give it a shot.  IT IS SO COMFORTABLE to lay under, BUT you have to be in just the right position or you’ll struggle to move.  I am also struggling with the “do I sleep with it, or leave it on couch” dilemma.  Currently it is on my bed, but I may be moving downstairs because I think it’s more of a lounging around blanket.  It gets too heavy/hot at night 🙂

It hasn’t been a secret that I REALLY loved Richmond and I have been wanting to make it my permanent home.  This is well known around my office and I may be jobless in the next couple months because I think my job is already posted.  But my company has been incredibly good to me, so I wanted to make sure I gave them enough notice. I feel like I’m in limbo a bit, but the future is exciting and I am looking forward to what it holds!!!

I took my friend and his 7 y/o to see the sunrise, it was a cold morning and very cloudy, so he wasn’t as interested as I had hoped, but it is always beautiful to see and of course I had to post an Insta-story to capture the moment.  I am going to try to do this kind of stuff as much as possible, because I may not be a Florida girl much longer, so I gotta enjoy being 15 mins from the ocean as much as possible!

Finally dinner was nice last night with “five date” guy, we had a bottle of  wine (thank you Katie and Mike)  and enjoyed the pot roast that I made.  I wasn’t super sold on it though becasue last minute I decided to throw in pepperocini’s and I think I threw too many in because it overruled the flavor.  We both still cleaned our plates, so it must not have been too bad!!!

Have a great weekend!!!