You may or may not have noticed my absence the last week or so. I am not here to apologize, because I don’t feel one needs to apologize for living life…you know? I basically took a break from everything. I did not open my laptop one time at the beach. I stayed off Facebook, Twitter, and just randomly checked in on Instagram to share a few moments of our trip. I didn’t think one time about work or how miserable I am. I didn’t think about the things we still need to get done around the house. I didn’t think about the mental list I have of accomplishments and dreams that are just sitting out there without any action. All I did was sit around our condo, take long walks with Zoe, take in the views of the ocean, and lounge around in the pool. (In one hour increments the best you can with a toddler who is go go go.) I ate some spicy Doritos and golden Oreos. We stopped at Steak n Shake in Prattville on the way down, as we usually do. We took Zoe for ice cream and out to eat one night at Sassy Bass where I indulged in crab claws and crab cakes.
On Friday morning, Chris and I took a walk and decided that we had enough vacation. We consulted with Zoe, who nodded in agreement that she wanted to go home, and packed up our car and headed back to Birmingham and our much more comfortable bed. Just like that, vacation was over and reality slapped us in the face. I had about 10 loads of laundry, Chris had a jungle in the backyard to tame, and poor Mac had a long overdue grooming that he needed recovery from.
This weekend, we laid low. Chris had a little side work to tend to. Zoe and I took a trip to the outlets near our house since I didn’t get to hit up the ones at the beach. (Where I discovered we now have a Michael Kors outlet store!!!!!!!) A rain storm came through while we were there, so we took cover in the food court where I decided it was high time that Zoe tried Auntie Anne’s! She was obsessed and kept saying “mo pwease”. We knocked out our grocery shopping for the week. I indulged in some Publix sushi Saturday night, Chris grilled hot dogs for lunch, and last night (thanks to Amy!) we enjoyed some paleo chick fila nuggets with garlic and parsley smashed potatoes.
I hope you all had a wonderful 4th week! Linking up with Biana.
We have a heat index advisory today. Hey summer, I see you. More like feel you. Gross. I will be chilling indoors with my AC on full blast if anyone needs me! We did get a little outdoor play in this weekend though.
Friday, Chris and I had an impromptu lunch date at Taco Morro Loco. I have been wanting to try this place forever and ever and just never made it over there. I have been missing out on the best tacos in Birmingham. I kid you not, they were seriously sooooooo amazing!!!! Unfortunately, the service was slow as shit because they had a million to go orders, and we ended up having to take our food to go because Chris had a meeting and we waited almost an hour after our appetizer came out. But it was totally worth it. I am already thinking I need to go back again. I ordered a chorizo taco, a beef one and The Pastor which was pork with pineapples. I can’t tell you which was my favorite, because each one was so fresh and amazing.
It was stormy and nasty on Saturday morning, so we spent the morning playing indoors and enjoying homemade waffles.
After Zoe’s nap, her and I made an Aldi run and then headed to her first classmate’s birthday party! She had so much fun running around and seeing a few of her friends from school. The mom did an amazing job on party decor. It was Peppa Pig themed and seriously a Pinterest Perfect event. I am going to have to step my game up big time if we invite school friends to her next party. She came home with a pretty sweet bag of loot too. I am glad that the rain had cleared out just in time for all the kiddos to have fun. Even if it was so humid that I stay soaked pretty much the entire time I was standing out there. Making a mental note to never wear my hair down to an outdoor party again.
Chris spent his Saturday getting this awesome Beat Saber VR game to work on his computer. It is insane the things that he is able to do.
Saturday night, I made a plate of black bean nachos and ended up watching The Notebook since it was on tv. Chris came up about half way through and admitted he never did actually see it, so I made him watch it with me.
Sunday, Zoe and I headed to the grocery store pretty earlier. When she went down for her nap, I made some Italian Sausage for Chris and I for lunch and let it simmer in the skillet while I cleaned the bathrooms, did dishes, put a few loads of laundry in, and started getting some stuff together for our beach trip. Zoe had taken a pretty long nap, because I had gotten a lot done! When Zoe got up, she had a snack and then we went outside to blow bubbles and draw with sidewalk chalk. We took a few quick walks as well. Zoe got her first skinned knees and handled it like a pro.
Sunday night, we ate the rest of the sausage for dinner and knocked out a few more episodes of Blue Bloods. It is seriously such a good show!
I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend! Last week was so crazy, I am hoping this week will be a little less so. Linking up with Biana. Happy Monday!
I have a child who didn’t nap all weekend and woke up at 3am this morning. My favorite thing is, she fell asleep in the car on the way to school. Someone just hook me up to an IV of caffeine please. I got a call Friday that Zoe was running a high fever at daycare. After a doctor visit, it was determined that it was just a sinus infection. I don’t know if the antibiotic is contributing to her new hatred of sleep or what…but this mama is exhausted! Nothing got done this weekend, except a little laundry and the floors were cleaned. But Zoe was walking around with Goldfish crackers this morning, in an attempt to keep her occupied while I ran around trying to get us ready to go. I heard a few uh-oh’s and some giggles…soooooo I am guessing my floors are no longer clean lol.
This was when the Goldfish were still in the container. At least she was all smiles this morning!
Zoe’s daycare does Swim Fridays now for the summer. It is so cute seeing all the kiddos come in with their swim gear on. Zoe got her pineapple swimsuit here and it is on sale this week!
Saturday morning we met up with my dad, sister and nephews at Cracker Barrel for Father’s Day Breakfast with my dad. Aunt Tracy spoiled Zoe by holding her most of the time we were there. Zoe loved it of course!!! Our breakfast was mediocre at best, but the Smores Iced Latte I ordered to go was the bomb.com.
We had some errands to run after breakfast, and we stopped by Bargain Hunt in Pell City while we were out that way. We found two dresses for Zoe for $3 each and got started on our Christmas shopping! When we got home, we fed Zoe lunch and tried to get her down for a nap….but she wasn’t having it. So we played around the house and got in some outside fun before an Alabama Summer Thunderstorm rolled on in out of no where.
Sunday morning, I made homemade biscuits and gravy for Father’s Day breakfast for Chris and then Zoe and I headed out to do the grocery shopping while Chris fixed our lawnmower and cut the grass. When we got back, we attempted to get Zoe down for a nap again with no success. So more outside play it was!
I made sweet potato gnocchi for lunch, and Chris had requested enchiritos for dinner. I found a recipe online and got to work. The food looked good, but it was just ok. The sauce was from scratch and it came out really bland. It definitely needs some tweaking. Maybe we will try them again but I will just do it my own way without following a recipe. We also had some orange chicken from Trader Joe’s this week that was so delicious!
After Zoe went to bed last night, we caught up on The Originals and watched some more Blue Bloods and called it a night. I have a feeling it is going to be a long Monday at work! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Linking up with Biana.
We are just cruising right through June, aren’t we? I quit doing monthly updates with Zoe after she turned a year old. Sometimes I don’t think I realize how much she changes from month to month, or even week to week since I am not doing them. She turned 18 months old on the 4th and I snapped a few pictures of her in her chair where I had been doing the monthly photos. Just look at my toddler. Cue all the tears.
She is walking and running and climbing all over the place. She wants to do everything on her own these days. Gone are the days when I would carry her out to the car after daycare. Oh no, these days Zoe wants to walk like a big girl and carry her own nap mat that is the size of her. She says hello and goodbye to everyone that we pass. She likes to put her own stuff away when we get to class. She seems to know which days the nap mat gets put up or taken home. She is eating with a spoon all on her own and cleans her face up by herself when she is done. She says a handful of words now, can bark like a dog and can point to every body part when I name them. She has learned that in the evenings, everything goes back where it belongs. She can’t have a single thing out of place before she takes her bottle. And you guys….this Saturday…..she climbed out of her crib. Well, it was more like fell out with a huge bang and lots of tears. I am SOOOOO not ready to transition to a toddler bed yet. She is only 18 months old!!!! Where did my tiny little baby go????
This weekend we had a lot of fun outside, despite the heat. Zoe loves going out and blowing bubbles, taking walks and riding in the wagon.
Silly girl has spent too much time around Mac apparently, now she is eating like him. I have never seen her do that before, she thought it was hilarious.
When she woke up, we decided to try out the new Mexican restaurant in our tiny town for a late lunch. So many people were raving about it on our neighborhood page, so we were excited. It was mediocre at best. Apparently these people around us don’t get out much. Zoe really liked the beans.
We ran some errands and then stopped by Chris’s parents house for a little while. Zoe loves running around their yard since she cant really do that at our house. (Too many hills.) Chris suggested we stop at BBQ Stop to grab some dinner to go on the way home. They seriously have some of the best BBQ and their fries are soooooo good! If you are in the Clay area, I insist that you stop!!! I ordered a cheeseburger and fries and Chris got pork and chicken to eat off of for dinner and lunch the next day.
On Sunday we knocked our grocery shopping out early and came back for lunch and nap time. Chris and I got caught up on The Originals while Zoe napped. We took her outside after she woke up and had a snack. She had so much fun with the bubbles and we took a family stroll. Thank goodness we have afternoon shade in the front of our house! It wasn’t too bad sitting there in the shade, even though it was around 93 when we were out there.
In other news, have you tried the Cascara Cold Foam Cold Brew from Starbucks? I cant remember who mentioned it last week, but I finally decided to order one. It was amazing!!! And way less calories than some of the other drinks there. Definitely give it a try!
This week I am just focusing on knocking out as much work as possible. I am trying to stay ahead so I dont feel doom for taking a week off in a few weeks. I am trying to get through the rest of Believe Me for the book link up tomorrow. And work outs. Ugh. I am trying so hard to stay on the work out train. Why is it soooooo hard to get my mojo back and keep it? If any of you mommas out there have any advice for transitioning to a toddler bed, please tell me!!!! I am hoping that the fall this weekend was an isolated incident for awhile longer…but my heart cant take another! How do you keep the kid in the bed??? I could totally see Zoe getting up and playing for hours when she should be sleeping.
Hello there! The rain has finally cleared on out of here, and it was pretty dry this weekend. Well, I take that back. It was hot as SHIT this weekend thanks to the humidity, so it wasn’t exactly dry. I kicked off Friday with a free donut at DD for National Donut Day! That is a holiday I can get behind.
Saturday morning I did a little work around the house, and decided to take Zoe outside after breakfast. It was around 8:45am when we went out there. Here was what the weather station reported.
It was already 86 degrees, feels like 98. Sweet Baby Jesus it was hot out there!!!! I think I lasted about 25 minutes with us blowing bubbles, drawing with side walk chalk, and taking her for a few rides in the wagon. I was soaked in sweat when we came back in, and we both downed entire glasses of water. Woof.
Despite the horrid temperatures, Zoe did not want to come back inside. She loves hanging out there. I had to bribe her with some coloring and painting. These are Zoe Originals, people! Beautiful work!
After nap time, we all headed out to run some errands and grab an early dinner at Village Tavern. Chris was craving some crab dip, and Zoe and I split the burger and fries. After dinner, we went to Nordstrom Rack in search of shoes for Chris. While I waited in line to pay, Chris and Zoe had a blast running around the store. She was so much fun and didn’t fuss one bit while we were out.
Sunday morning we headed out to do some grocery shopping. We also hit up Sam’s and Home Depot while we were out, and ate at Kemp’s for lunch. I think I know why big box retailers are having such a hard time competing with the internet. We were at Home Depot to get a gate for the top of our stairs. Chris knew the exact one we needed and had it already picked out. After walking around the store for a few minutes, I finally spotted an employee and asked him where the gates were. He told me they were clear across the store in Building Materials, and acted bothered that I dare ask him anything. He didn’t bother to walk me over there or anything, he told me I would know when I was there. Well let me tell you, they were NOT over there. Chris looked online and discovered they were in aisle 32 bay 1. So clearly, that man’s job is no longer needed in the store if he cant be bothered. We hiked it back across to the other side of the store and there were the gates where the internet said they would be. They didn’t have the one we needed though, but online said they had them in stock. We went back to the front of the store to customer service because there were no other employees to be found where we were. Showed them what we were looking for, the woman called someone. We stood there for 15 minutes and no one ever came. Chris got online, ordered it and told them never mind and we left. This is why big box stores are in trouble!!! I expect shitty service from Lowe’s, and we quit going there because of it. Now Home Depot too????
After that frustrating experience, we went to Kemp’s Kitchen for lunch. It is new and I had been wanting to try it. Another frustrating experience. Our server was friendly and quick to refill our drinks, but that is where it ended. My chicken tenders came out luke warm, and my fries were cold and disgusting. Chris’s philly steak sandwich was cold and his fries were also cold and disgusting. I have never not eaten my fries before. Never. Zoe seems to like her side of mac n cheese that she ate. Probably because she didn’t have to wait for it to cool down LOL Even she wouldn’t eat the fry I gave her, nor the chicken tenders. It sucks because I love supporting little local places like that, but we would have had a better meal at Sonic for a lot less. The fried green tomatoes we ordered for an app were alright. At least they were hot. Chris got on Yelp, and apparently lots of people complained about the cold food. So it wasn’t just our server not getting it out in time.
When we got home, I got Zoe down for her nap. She ended up getting her foot caught in her crib rails, and there was no napping after that. She had SO much energy the rest of the day….and we had no down time since she didn’t nap. I was exhausted come bath and bedtime! We made homemade pizzas for dinner and caught up on The Originals and called it a night.
I am linking up with Biana for Weekending and Andrea and TBB for TBB Asks. This month is all about summer!!!
1. Walk or Bike Ride?
I haven’t rode a bike in so long!!! I think the idea of it is fun, but my neighborhood suckkkkks. So not set up for bike riding. Maybe when we move, we can get more in to it. Birmingham isn’t exactly a bike-able or walk-able city. I do walk when I can.
2. Favorite Picnic Food?
Crackers and cheese or fruit.
3. Pool or Lake?
Pool. I don’t get in lake water.
4. Favorite Flavor of ice cream?
Mint Chocolate Chip or Cookie Dough
5. Ice Cream Cone or in a Dish?
I do love ice cream cones!!!
6. Flip Flops or Slides?
Both! I love that slides have really come back in the last year or so.
7. Jean Shorts or Jean Capris?
Neither. I wear dresses or jeans. There are no shorts to be seen here!!
8. Favorite summer Fruit?
Strawberries
9. Corn on the Cob or Cut Off the Cob?
Corn on the cob is life!!! Especially fresh off the grill!!!
10. Favorite summertime song?
AWOLNATION Sail
11. Favorite summertime activity?
Going to the beach!
12. Favorite Berry? Strawberry, Blueberry, Raspberry or Blackberry?
I love all berries, but strawberries are my favorite!
13. Bikini’s, tankini’s or one pieces?
I prefer tankini’s. You wont find this girl sporting a bikini. Probably never again. I like tankini’s because they tend to conceal things better than one pieces. One pieces are highly functional when you have a toddler though, as long as there is chest support. I find most swimsuits lack chest support. Sigh.
