Alabama + Graffiti

Man, were we ever glad to see Friday last night.  I feel like I have said that about every week so far this year, but to be honest, 2021 has been about as kind as 2020 so far.  The crazy weather created chaos in the transportation world, and it continues into this week.  Anyway – we did our normal pizza and movie night.  We were all in bed pretty early.

Saturday morning, I got up and did a 45-minute Hannah ride that got me ready for the day.  We then just pitter-pattered around the house cleaning and doing things.  Around 130, we took Sheff down to my sister’s so we could have a date day!  We were pretty excited to get to do a make-up Mardi Gras day – the first place we headed to was Rougaroux for daiquiris and po’boys.  Y’all  – they had this king cake daiquiri that was so good!  And of course, super pretty covered in sprinkles.  After lunch, we headed over to Monday Night Brewing – they had a special going on hurricane drinks, so definitely needed to head over that way.  Unfortunately, the place was packed and super young, so we didn’t stay there very long.  We then went over to the underground bar, Pilcrow, and it was much more our speed.  Only two other people in there, and very spread away from us.  I had a glass of their sangria, and it was really really good.  For dinner, we hit up Bettola and had the most amazing antipasto plate and burrata.  We shared an amazing pizza – and came back home to watch Forensic Files.

Sunday morning, I really wanted to get up and get a workout in.  Since B wasn’t feeling the traditional exercise, we headed down to Moss Rock preserve and got a good three mile hike in.  The weather couldn’t have been better – I’m hoping to continue doing that with Sheff once the weather gets nice and stays nice.  There are a bunch of little streams for him to play around in and shorter trails.

Sunday afternoon, we took mimosa fixings over to my sister and had an impromptu day-drinking date.  My cousin was in town on his way down to Florida, so it was fun to hang out with him too.  We stayed way longer than we should have, and ended up not having a productive day, when, we had, in fact had one planned.  It was a good time, though, and I’m glad we did it.

We had leftover pizza for dinner and watched Soul again – Sheff really loves that movie!  We again called it an early night – I finished off a book and was asleep by 830.  It was such a fun and recharging weekend!

Whoa – who do I think I am posting four times in a week?  Feels like old times for sure!!

Favorite Moment:

On Monday we went to bed with the threat of some icy weather – when we woke up on Tuesday, it was an Alabama snow wonderland.  I woke Sheff up early and told him to go look outside.  Then we both quickly got bundled up and ran outside.  We threw some snowballs and walked down our street.  It was so quiet and peaceful.

We also did a super tame Mardi Gras celebration that night – complete with red lips and Mardi Gras headbands.

Favorite Purchase:

I know I’ve mentioned on here before that my child is the pickiest eater on the planet.  We had been sending Sheff to school without a packed lunch, because we thought he might branch out if he had to eat from the cafeteria.  HA!  Anyway, the teacher let us know that she noticed he wasn’t eating a lot at lunch, so we decided the next best thing was to start packing his lunches.  Well, hi, doing that you go through a ton of zip-loc bags, so I found these reusable ones on Amazon, and they’re dishwasher safe.

Favorite Workout:

No, I do not have a Peloton, but I do use the app and a conversion chart on my Bowflex bike.  I have come to really love Hannah Frankson, and this playlist and this ride was my favorite of the week.  Sometimes she makes you work your ass off, other times you’re there to enjoy the music.  This was an enjoy the music ride, and it was amazing.  It was full of afrobeats and dancehall, and it just made me happy.

Favorite Reminder

Been needing this one big time this week:  I need to stop feeling guilty for taking my non-work time and not working.

What is happening in TX and other parts of the country is inexcusable – it kills me to see some people losing everything, including their lives just to stay warm.  I also want to throw in a reminder to say something for all the truck drivers that are out on these crazy roads right now – you all know I work in transportation, and sometimes it’s downright scary to see what these guys do to make sure everyone gets what they need.  I had a driver have a piece of ice fly off a truck in front of him, completely shattering his windshield while he had a tanker trailer full of product.  Thankfully, he is incredibly skilled and no other accidents occurred because of his professionalism.  I know we don’t always think about the humans behind the steering wheels of 18-wheelers, but they are some of the nicest, caring people out there.  🙂

I hope y’all have a nice relaxing weekend!

I have put myself on a strict budget for all of 2021- I went a little nuts with the quarantine purchases last year – not like put myself in debt nuts, but bought a crap ton of stuff that I really didn’t need.  These are a few things that I’ve had to restrain myself from adding to cart – they are just so darn cute.  And so not needed right now, but I can dream and make fun photo collages, so here you go.

 

Happy Dance CBD body butter:  I bought this awhile back off an Instagram ad, because I’m a sucker, and love Kristen Bell (Frozen forever), but I really loved it.  It’s not too expensive, but it’s not exactly cheap either.  Fun fact about me:  When I get really stressed, my body tends to break out and get really itchy – this helped calm it down, even if the CBD really didn’t have that much of an effect on my moods.

Nashville Blanket Project blanket:  Not only are the blankets from this company super gorgeous, but they also donate a blanket to someone in need every time one is purchased.  $65 is a little steep for a blanket, but they are pretty and help the needy.

Spanx Moto Faux Leather Legging:  God, I have been obsessed with these for forever, but at $110, I always add them to cart, and never ever go through with it.  I love the regular faux leather leggings I have, but love the edge  these ones have.

Goldsheep Neon Tie Dye Stripe Sports Bra:  I love everything Goldsheep, but I cannot make myself fall in love with the price.  When I work from home, I normally put myself into workout clothes to remind myself that sometime during the day, I’m going to work out.  Sometimes you just want to look cute while working out – I am in love with this sports bra.

Saturday Morning Pancakes: Doing Hot Girl Sh*t Joggers:  I have loved Saturday Morning Pancakes for a long time.  I have ordered Sheff so many cute tees from them, but these joggers are so fun.  Plus absoutely everything I’ve ordered from them has been super comfortable.

Ana Luisa Celeste earrings:  I have been obsessed with these for forever.  They have a much cheaper version on Amazon, but they don’t look as good quality as these.  I’ve always been a big fan of everything celestial, and these float my boat y’all.

Have you been dreaming of anything fun?

 

To put Mardi Gras into words this year – it’s just not the same.  I miss NOLA.  I miss Commander’s Brandy Milk Punch – I miss fried chicken and king cake on the parade route. I miss Bennett hoisting Sheff on to his shoulders so he can get all of the good throws.  I even miss having to buy a $10 drink just to use the bathroom somewhere.

I miss strong drinks in plastic cups – I hate that we don’t get to add any plastic cups to our collection this year.  I missed Muses, and Hermes, and D’Etat.  I missed Iris and Tucks day, followed by an Endymion night.  And don’t even get me started on Bacchus.  I missed making friends on the parade route and seeing a best one (she’s up there in that picture).

It was made even suckier this year when an Arctic Blast came and dumped snow (SNOW!) on Alabama, causing schools to close, and all of our Birmingham Mardi Gras haunts to close.  I even decided that it was probably just best to cancel my day off, as I was going to be locked inside and frozen all day anyway.

Despite all that – I’m wearing my wig and Mardi Gras attire.  I’m drinking a banana daiquiri, and we’re making shrimp and cochon de lait po’boys.  We’ll listen to Mardi Gras music, and watch our favorite Mardi Gras episodes of Treme.  We’ll revel far into the night and regret it tomorrow morning.  We’re doing what we can to still make this our favorite day of the year – Happy Mardi Gras everyone!  Hope you’re warm!

Friday, Sheff came home with his Valentine’s box from school – the weekend before, Sheff and I went traipsing around town finding stuff to make his box.  It was his favorite – those Italian plumbers we all know and love – The Mario Bros!  Check out how great it turned out – we were proud!

Saturday I met up with my sister for some shopping and a late birthday lunch.  We hadn’t hung out in the longest time, and pretty much spent the entire day out.  We got some lunch at Beef O’Brady’s in Helena and some margs, and it was perfect.  We shared the steak nachos and the spinach dip – and both were delicious.

Sunday we got up, did our Valentine’s swap and headed to Dunkin for some hearts doughnuts and the pink velvet macchiato.  Neither B nor I liked the macchiato much, but the doughnuts were amazing.  For dinner B had gotten filets and twice-baked potatoes and the “nice” bottle of wine (nice meaning cost more than like $15, but not much more), and we had a nice Valentine’s dinner.  We followed that up with watching Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel before bed.  A rare steak and true crime = definitely the way to my heart.

But the real fun of Sunday was Sheff’s bball team being in the playoffs!  They were the number 1 seed going into the tournament – and had an undefeated regular season at 8-0.  When I tell you that sports mom anxiety is real, oh it is real.  I wasn’t hungry, my heart rate was above 100 the whole time – it was insane.   But they won their first game, so I  could breathe for an hour.  The sweet coaches handed out individual trophies and medals with the kids names on them for their undefeated season, and after that, we headed out to find food.  Bennett is the only one that really ate – I think Sheff was really feeling the nerves, and I definitely was.  Sheff was not on his A-game, and even attempted a shot at the wrong goal (luckily he missed, but only barely).  But the eeked out the win in the championship game and are 2021 Hoover Kindergarten champs!  It was really fun to watch them all come together and pull it out.  I don’t know if basketball is in Sheff’s future, but this season sure was fun.

 

We are supposed to be getting some freezing rain today – schools were canceled today and will most likely be canceled tomorrow.  B and I had taken the day off work for Mardi Gras, but at this point seems pretty useless, so I’ll end up working anyway.  I hope you guys had a great weekend and are staying safe and warm!