Alabama + Graffiti

B had ordered some oysters from a company, and they finally arrived on Friday.  He chargrilled those guys, put some garlic butter and parmesan on those suckers, and we had them for dinner.  They were so delicious – we paired them with a fresh loaf of French bread, and it was the most perfect way to start the weekend.

Saturday, we got up and got ready to head to Atlanta!  We were finally going to meet my oldest friend’s (20+ years of friendship!) baby, Zach.  He was born last May, so I had only gotten to see him through photos and videos, and I was so excited.  We got there around lunch, and it was just so good to see them.  The last time we were all together was for the Peachtree Road Race in 2019.  He was just the smiliest, cutest little thing.  We went and got some lunch and brews at Sweetwater Brewing – the weather could not have been better.  We got a ton of food at the table, and the kids had a good time playing, too.  After lunch, we headed over to the Botanical Gardens.  There was so much to see and do – plus it gave Sheff some time to tire out and run around.  After the Gardens, we went back to their house and just chilled out.  Sheff gave their chickens (they have 7 chickens!!) some food and played around with one of Brett’s nephews while the adults enjoyed some wine and catching up.  They did a burger cookout for dinner, which was delicious.  After the kids had gone to bed, we had some more adult beverages and played Mexican Train dominoes until after midnight!  It was such a fun game, that we ordered one for ourselves that night!  We got up on Sunday, had some breakfast (we were so spoiled this weekend!), and drove back home.

Sunday was pretty much spent outside just hanging out – the weather was so beautiful.  Bennett put some cool water into the inflatable hot tub, and we just enjoyed the weather.

On a side note, B and I did get our Covid vaccines last week.  We got the J&J one, and it really did knock us on our butts for that second day.  My arm was sore for pretty much the whole week, but the fever and chills and headache were done by the end of the second day.  We were thankful that Alabama opened it up to 1b essential workers, and we jumped on the opportunity to get it.

I hope you all had a great weekend!

 

(linking up with Steph & Jana for SUYB)

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue – VE Schwab // I’ve seen some seriously mixed reviews on this one, but I absolutely loved it.  A girl makes a deal with a “devil-like” god, and lives until she is ready not to.  I loved how it went back and forth between time periods, and how she plugged herself into works of art to keep her memory alive.  Wasn’t completely thrilled with the ending of the book, but it didn’t keep me from loving it.

The Wife Stalker – Liv Constantine // I don’t know how I feel about this book to be honest.  The ending confused the crap out of me, and the book was all over the place.  I felt like the authors had a great story, but maybe missed writing something in the beginning?  Or maybe I’m just dumb- I had to reread about thirty pages to make sure I didn’t miss something.  Really liked how they made you think one thing the whole time, only to find out you were completely wrong – that I can get down with.

The Hunting Party – Lucy Foley //  This book took me a minute to get into – I’m not sure why, because at about page 30, I couldn’t stop and finished the rest in an afternoon.  I love these psychological thrillers that take place in the middle of absolutely nowhere – I always feel so terrified for the characters, because I do not handle lonely quiet wilderness well, and it always makes my hands sweat.  I put down The Guest List after about 50 pages, but am definitely rethinking that decision now.

The One – John Marrs // I loved the premise of this book, and I loved the twist at the end even more.  Basically, it follows four main people after they have been “matched” – which is to say that their DNA has scientifically been linked to someone else as being their “soul mate.”  It was such an interesting concept, and I really really loved the ending.  It was beautiful and devastating all in one.  Definitely a quick and intriguing read.

The Wrong Family – Tarryn Fisher // Whew – this one took me for a fun ride.  I honestly had no idea what was happening most of the time, but it wasn’t in a bad way.  This one also had that feeling where you think you know what’s going on, but in the end, you were completely wrong.  Good, quick read.

When We Believed in Mermaids – Barbara O’Neal // All I have to say is wow.  This book – going to take a long time to come down after this one.  It was written so beautifully, and I fell in love with every single one of the characters.  And it made me cry – it has been a long time since a book has done that.  Definitely the best one I’ve read in 2021, and will stick with me for quite a bit.  Read it.

The Answer is… – Alex Trebek // To say that I am a huge fan of Alex is an understatement.  For one, the dude looks like my dad.  And I almost always remember having Jeopardy! on in our house.  I obviously knew nothing about Trebek or his life, and it was fun to get a glimpse inside.  He seems like a pretty normal dude, and I’m glad he decided to write this before cancer took him away from everyone.  A good read if you’re a fan of Trebek and the show.

On Friday night – we had a mama/Sheff date night.  We ordered waaaay too much pizza for the two of us, but we ate a lot of it, and watched Toy Story 4.  That movie makes me cry, you guys – I’d watch it 8000 times if I had to.  Sheff is clearly a fan of pizza.  Those are pizza slices in his hands – completely unprompted – he was just that happy to have gotten to choose his very own pizza – sausage and pepperoni.

 

Saturday, I got up and did my very first live ride with Hannah:  a 45 minute EDM ride that got me revved up for the weekend!  Then Sheff and I went to get biscuits for breakfast – then just lounged around.  At 1030, we had Sheff’s very first baseball practice.  I absolutely loved his new coach, and he took the time to work with each and every kid – quite the departure from what we had with basketball.  It seems he really wants to help the kids understand the game and work on the fundamentals – we’re really looking forward to this season.

The weather was so beautiful on Saturday that we spent the rest of the day outside.  Sheff was playing with the hose, and testing out his newly found baseball swing, and I looked over and this is what he had written for me:  I made his cute little butt lay down next to it so I could take a picture.

We ordered Chinese food for dinner and turned in pretty early.

Sunday was more of the same – gorgeous weather.  A trip to Target and two books read – a few glasses of wine, leftovers and Billy Joel for dinner.  B also took the sweetest picture of Sheff and I when we were dancing on the patio.  I’m glad that he caught that sweet moment for me.

So glad for a nice slow weekend.  I’m hoping this spring weather is here to stay!  Hope y’all had a great weekend too!

Another week coming to a close – hallelujah!  Sheff has his first baseball practice tomorrow.  He’s super excited about it, and so are we.  This league is supposedly a little less competitive than the Hoover rec league, and focuses more on learning the basics of the sport as well as sportsmanship.  We’ll see how it goes!

This week was Read Across America week for Sheff’s school – we had a ton of fun trying to pick out all of his outfits.  My favorites were him as Prince Charming for fairytale day and his “scientist” outfit for what you want to be when you grow up day. That was zero percent prompted – he said he wanted to invent things and be a scientist, so we mussed up his hair a bit and threw a pair of glasses on him.  I’m missing pajama day, but I have a million pictures of him in his jams.

I’m so very glad that there are still new restaurants still popping up in the downtown area.  On Thursday, I headed over to Ampersandwich over in Avondale for lunch.  I got the Italian sandwich, and it was delicious.  The people in there were so sweet and accommodating – I truly hope they make it.  Plus – that happy dancing sandwich?  I’m here for it.

I don’t know what I was doing or how I stumbled across this, but E.L.F. Cosmetics is doing a collaboration with Chipotle – and look at it!  I’m super obsessed with that eye palette – such amazing colors.  It doesn’t come out until March 9th, but you bet your butt I got myself on that notification list.

Sheff and I are having ourselves a mama/kid date tonight – ordering a crap ton of pizza, watching movies and playing video games.  All in our pajamas, of course.  Hope you guys have a wonderful weekend!

Good Lord, I really did have plans on posting more than once last week (at this point in time, I can’t remember if I even did – did I?), but the week got away from me.  I’m a huge believer that full moons make the world go nuts, especially the week leading up to it, and of course, it did not disappoint.

Last Wednesday was world kindness day.  Sheff looked so cute in his little pink Be Kind shirt -I am definitely that mom getting all the pictures by the front door before he heads off to school.   I am also very aware that the shirt is gigantic on him – but he should get another use out of it next year.  I hope anyway.

Also on Wednesday, my sister and I went to a “Plant & Pour” event that was hosted by Botanica at a place called The Hive downtown.  Basically, we got three plants and a pot, and decorated the pots.  It was really a lot of fun -my sister and I got an adult beverage and shared some fried pickles.  And came home with new plants that I’ll surely kill.

I am still coming into the office about twice a week – on Mondays and Thursdays.  My last Thursday was awful – not that the rest of the week was rainbows and sunshine – but for some reason, I was just swamped.  So after work, I walked across the street to Chocolata – I had seen some CBD chocolates on their Instagram, and I definitely wanted to try them out.  And aren’t they so pretty?  They are pretty damn delicious, too.

Saturday, I got up and did a 45 minute bike boot camp on the Peloton app – it seriously killed me.  It was the hardest work out I’ve done in a long time.  I needed to reward myself with something delicious  – so Sheff and I went to Bojangles for biscuits and Bo-berry biscuits for the kid.  It’d been awhile since we’d gotten biscuits for a weekend breakfast, but I definitely want to start doing it more.  It’s such a good way to start a weekend.  Plus his little bed head hair kills me – just the cutest.

Later that morning – I had set up a lunch date with a friend at a winery in Calera.  They had a fun deal that came with a flight of five wines, a cheese plate and a lunch.  We ended up ordering two bottles of wine to share, and went home with a few for the hubs to try.  We were only there for a few hours – and the weather was gorgeous – albeit, a little humid.

When I got home, we all got into our very classy inflatable hot tub and played around outside until dinner time.  We had a pasta dinner and watched a movie instead of eating at the dinner table.  Bennett and I had music night and stayed up way, way, way too late.

Sunday was pretty much be productive day – got all the dishes done and put away – every single article of clothing, bedding and all the towels were washed.  I purged three bags of clothes and shoes from my closet (3!!!) and found a Joshilyn Jackson book, that I haven’t read, in a little free library on our walk.   We ended the night with brisket tacos, and I got really into When We Believed in Mermaids – hoping to finish it tonight!  Hope you all had a great weekend!