Five on Friday - Beach Accessories and Summer Fashion

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Man, we got back from vacation and jumped in head first to so much busyness and this week has felt loooong.  I scheduled swimming lessons for this week a couple of months ago thinking it would be fine to jump right into them after vacay, but now I’m kicking myself because I forgot just how hard it is to get back into the swing of things after being gone.

I’ve been working hard all week unpacking and putting things away, doing laundry (like, 11 loads), meal planning and grocery shopping, sorting through pictures from our trip, and doing everything else that needs to be done in the real world after a week of being away, and I’m exhausted.  Throw in several doctor appointments plus swimming lessons every day and that just calls for chaos.  Needless to say, I’ve just been trying to keep my head above water this week and I’ve been giving myself a lot of grace.  I think I almost have everything back in order so I’m hoping for some relaxation this weekend!  Woo hoo!

Y’all ready for some favorites?  I have some really good ones for you today!

O N E – Beach Bag Jelly Pouches

These jelly pouches from Walmart.com have been floating all over blog land lately and I’m going to go right ahead and jump on board with everyone else and say these are awesome!  We have a huge beach bag that we use, and the entire time we were at the beach, I felt like I couldn’t find anything in the bag because everything was just thrown in there.  We also occasionally had wet stuff in there and I worried about the wet stuff messing up the electronics (phones, speaker, etc.). 

This week I purchased three of these pouches to divide up our giant beach bag as follows – sunscreen in one pouch, electronics in one pouch, and then an empty one to put wet stuff in.  Then toys, books, towels, and everything else can just get tossed in to the main bag.  This makes it soooo easy to find everything.  No more digging to the bottom of the bag for the tiny little face sunscreen stick. 

The pouches are way larger than they look so they hold a great deal of stuff!  They're clear, too, so you can see what's in there!  They also come in a lot of cute styles… I have the watermelon, the lemon, and the rainbow, and they also have a Beach Please, a unicorn, a mermaid, a bomb pop, a Suns Out Buns Out, and another patriotic one.  So many cute ones to choose from and only $8.97!

T W O – Best Sunscreen Stick

And speaking of sunscreen sticks, I wanted to share this one with y’all because we love it so much.  Gone are the days of slathering yucky white lotions on the faces of your squirming kids.  These sunscreen sticks are awesome, y’all!  Just a few swipes on their little faces and you’re done.  It’s wide so it covers quickly and it also goes on clear so you don’t need to rub it in.  We used these on the kids every single day at the beach and neither of them had a trace of sunburn ever.  So good.

T H R E E – Cutest Sign

Hearth and Hand for Target needs to staaaahp with all of the cute stuff, y’all.  They make me want to redecorate my entire house.  Instead of redecorating the whole thing, I held back and I just bought this cute little reversible sign for our kitchen.  On one side it says “Let’s Go Out” and then when you flip it over it says “Let’s Stay In.”  I’m a sucker for black and white stuff, so this goes perfectly with everything else in my kitchen! 

And if you like that one, then you might also like its sister sign “Stay Awhile.”  That one hangs on the wall.

F O U R – Amazon Dress

I’ve mentioned this dress on the blog a couple of times, but now that I’ve finally worn it, I thought I’d review it and let y’all know what I thought… it is the cutest dress, y’all!!!!  I wore it one evening in Seaside on our beach trip and it is just the perfect little beach dress.  Or date night dress.  Or summer dress in general.  I’m totally into gingham right now (well, always) so I chose this pattern, but it also comes in lots of other patterns, colors, and solids.  For only $21.99 you just can’t beat it!  It’s well made, it’s flattering, and it’s soooo comfy.  I highly recommend!

F I V E – Weekly Funnies

Now some memes for the week…

A little dad humor in honor of Father's Day

#Truth

Yep, I'll take all the big ones, please.

It didn't matter what you were doing... when that song came on at the club, you dropped everything and headed straight to the dance floor!

And in case you missed anything these last two weeks, here’s a little recap of what’s been happening on the blog.

Fourth of July Inspiration Round-Up

Our 30A Beach Trip by the Numbers

Five on Friday - June Goals

What I Wore - May 2019

What I Ordered From Amazon in May 2019

Summer 2019 (Week 1) - Relaxing and Beach Prep

And one final thing before I go, Olivia's big girl bedroom was featured on one of my favorite blogs (The Dedicated House) this past week!  You can see the post here.

Happy Friday, y’all!  And happy Father's Day to all of the daddies out there!

*Linking up with A Liz Adventures and Carolina Charm for Five on Friday, A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites, Meet @ the Barre for Friday Favorites, and By BMG for High Five for Friday.

Five on Friday - Ball Gowns, Instagram Reposts, & Girl Time

*This post may contain affiliate links, which means at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through or make a purchase.

I’ve had a super productive couple of weeks since the kids have gone back to school!  I’ve been doing #AllTheThings and it feels good to cross tasks off of the list.  We have a long weekend this weekend so we’re heading out of town tomorrow for a little day trip… it’ll be nice to reward myself after working so hard this week.  :o)

But first, some favorites!  Go ahead and grab your cup of coffee and join me, won’t you?

O N E – Amazon Dress

I’m still on the hunt for a ball gown for our ball at the end of this month (you may remember this post here?) and I think I may have found the keeper.  I got this dress from Amazon for just $37.99 and I love it so much!  The quality is good, the cut is super flattering, and it fits like a glove… although, maybe slightly too tight?  I want to keep it so bad, but it is pretty tight across my butt, so I ordered the next size up (medium) and I’ll have to report back when I see how it fits. 

T W O – Best Invention Since Cell Phones

As a mother of two I’m constantly juggling all the things, literally and figuratively.  Every time we get out of the car, there are bags and cups to carry and tiny hands to hold, and I cannot even tell you how many times I’ve dropped my keys in the shuffle.  I recently came across these key rings, and they are made so you can wear your keys on your wrist like a bracelet.  WHAT?!  BOOM.  It’s like magic.

I’ve been using mine for almost a week now and I am completely obsessed with this thing.  I honestly have no idea how I’ve lived all my life without one.  It’s such a simple concept and it makes me wonder how the heck I didn’t come up with this a long time ago!  I mean, genius, right?

And not only do they keep you hands-free, but they also prevent your keys from getting lost in the bottom of your bag.  With that big O attached to it, how could they?  Just brilliant.

I got the Rose Gold Confetti one, but they have all kinds of different colors, patterns, and finishes.

T H R E E – When Someone Famous Reposts Your Picture on the ‘Gram… and Twitter...

Y’all.  I had a total FREAK OUT fan girl moment last week because Lauren Conrad’s official fashion Instagram account reposted my Instagram picture.  I mean, WHAT?!  I posted a picture of myself wearing this top of hers a few weeks ago and apparently they deemed it worthy of a repost.  #Swoon  I’m still pinching myself.

She also posted it on her Twitter account, too!

And speaking of reposts, Pilot Pens reposted my picture on their Instagram account a few weeks ago, too!  I’ve been using the same Pilot Precise Pens forever – for at least 20 years – so I was excited that they decided to use my picture.

F O U R – Girlfriend Hangs

Y’all probably remember my friend Adrienne who blogs over at Bentley Like the Car?  Well, she had another sweet baby girl recently and is still on maternity leave, so I brought some coffee over to her house earlier this week and I got to get lots of baby snuggles while she and I chatted and hung out. 

We also got together on Thursday for a day date to visit this new indoor arts and crafts market in town.  They have so many cute handmade things – jewelry, signs, shirts, house décor, etc.  It’s basically like Etsy in brick and mortar form.  I’ll definitely be heading there again because it’s the perfect place to shop for birthday and Christmas gifts. 

While we were there, I saw a sign that I loved and I was wondering if it would fit in my kitchen so I whipped out my tiny measuring tape that I keep in my purse and Adrienne died laughing.  Lol.  She thought it was crazy that I keep a measuring tape in my purse so she whipped out her camera to document the moment.  And then she was thanking me for it later when she needed it to measure something for her house.  #ItsOnlyWeirdUntilYouNeedIt

F I V E – How I Organized My Entire Life by Creating a Series of Lists + How I Use My Planner

And since everyone has been asking me to do this post for a good four years now, I thought I’d mention it one more time today in case anyone missed it.  On Wednesday, I blogged all about how I use my planner to stay organized.  I went into GREAT detail (to say the least) about the planner and the new series of lists that I created that have quite literally changed my life.  I feel like I have totally decluttered my mind and I feel like my mind is at peace for the first time in years and years.  Head on over to the post here if you didn’t catch it earlier this week… if you love organization and planner stuff then you do not want to miss this one!

Finally, before I go, a few funny memes that caught my eye this week. 

Every. Single. Time.

Weather in the south!

Me after Parenthood.  And Gilmore Girls.  And Breaking Bad.

Happy Friday, y'all!

*Linking up with A Liz Adventures and Carolina Charm for Five on Friday, A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites, Meet @ the Barre for Friday Favorites, and By BMG for High Five for Friday.

Five on Friday - My Announcement, A Blogger Award, and Other Faves

Oh hey, Friday!  I’m so glad to see you!  This week has been partly good, but also a little tough, so I’m ready to put this one behind us and move on to the weekend!

Here are some favorites…

O N E – Announcement

Remember how last month I said that we had something fun to announce but I wasn’t quite ready to do it?  Well, I’m finally ready to announce, and NO, I’m not pregnant.  After I posted that vague statement in last month’s post I realized that a lot of people probably assumed it was a pregnancy or some other life changing event, but that’s not the case, friends.  I didn’t mean to disappoint anyone, so sorry if that’s what you were expecting.

Anyhoo, our announcement is that WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!!  I didn’t want to announce it too early on the blog because we still haven’t told the kids and we didn’t want any family or friends to read my blog and accidentally spoil the surprise for the kids.  We still haven’t told them, but we’re hoping to possibly do it this weekend or this coming week sometime?  So anyway, family and friends who know and see us in person… DON’T DISCUSS THIS WITH OUR KIDS!  Haha. 

But anyway, the kids have been begging to go, so we decided that this would be our year!  We are going for Spring Break so the trip is approaching quickly and I think I’m more excited than the kids will be!  Haha.  I have only been once and it was when I was in seventh grade, but it was a whirlwind trip as we were mostly there for a cross country/track meet.  We only got to spend a few hours in Magic Kingdom and Epcot so I really didn’t get to see and do much, so I can’t wait to really explore this time!  And the best part will be seeing it through Jacob’s and Olivia’s eyes.

Since this is our first trip for our family, we’re going all out, and naturally I just had to have some fun family shirts made to mark the occasion!  I collaborated with Kayla at Mornin’ Sunshine Crafts on Etsy (I was gifted these shirts in exchange for my honest opinon) and, y’all, she was amazing!  She was so easy to work with, she responded to my questions super fast, and our order was made and shipped in record time.  When the shirts arrived I thought I was going to burst with excitement!  Everything turned out PERFECTLY and I am just dying to wear them!  The quality is excellent and she was able to customize them exactly to my request.  If you are ever in need of family shirts for Disney, Kayla is your gal!  She also has a huge selection of non-Disney stuff as well, so go check out her Etsy shop!  Thanks again, Kayla!  Our family is going to make wonderful memories in these shirts!

T W O – Hanging with Old Coworkers

I had two wonderful outings with old coworkers this week and they were by far a bright spot in my week.  On Wednesday I had lunch with one of my very favorite old coworkers and it was extra special because he has been really, really sick (like scary hospital sick) since January, and I haven’t been able to see him in months.  He is healing (very slowly), but it was so good to hug his neck and spend some time with him.

Wednesday evening four of my other old coworkers and I went to margarita night to catch up.  My old supervisor was there as well as his old boss (who was also my boss at one point) along with two of my other coworkers with whom I am very close.  It was just me and the boys and it was such a fun evening!  Of the five of us that were there, three of us no longer work for our old company… we all left within three months of each other and that was almost 60 years combined experience that the company lost when we left.  YIKES!

T H R E E – Hunter Boots for Target

Did you guys see this?!?!?!?!  OMG, Hunter Boots for less than $50!!!!  NEED I SAY MORE?!?!?!?!

F O U R – A Funny Message From Instagram

As you all know, I’ve been working on purging, simplifying, and organizing our home since January.  Well, I’ve been documenting a lot of it on Instagram so I’ve been researching some hashtags that are relevant for that topic.  A few nights ago, I searched for hashtags about “purging” and this little note popped up from Instagram:

Y’all, I died laughing.  I didn’t even think about the other meaning of purging when I searched for that.  Instagram probably now thinks that I have some kind of eating disorder now.  And there is absolutely nothing funny about eating disorders, but this made me laugh since it never occurred to me that Instagram might take it out of context.  But hats off to the IG team for putting stuff like this in place for people who do need help!

F I V E – Blog Award

Finally, Joanne at Europafox nominated me for a Sunshine Blogger Award!  Here are the questions that she asked to have answered.

1. If you had 15 minutes in a super-market sweep to grab what you could, what would it be?  I would definitely grab all of the expensive items that I love to indulge in, but don’t love to pay for… Larabars, Halo Top ice cream, and Starbucks K-cups for my Keurig to name a few!

2. If you could invite five people to a dinner party (can be from history), who would they be and why?  I actually did a post on this here, but to summarize – Dave Matthews (because I’ve been obsessed with him and their music since I was twelve!), Justin Timberlake (because – Justin Timberlake… need I say more?), Jimmy Fallon (because he’s hilarious, and he and Justin are even more hilarious together), Courtney Cox and Matthew Perry as a package deal (because they’re my favorite TV couple of all-time and two of my favorite TV actors of all time and, yes, I’m still obsessed with Friends), and Pope Francis (because he is so inspiring to me). 

3. Describe your ideal party.  I love a good excuse to get dressed up and I also love Christmas, so I’m thinking my ideal party would take place at Christmas time, it would be a black tire affair (much to Brian’s dismay – ha!), and we would be surrounded by all of our favorite people.  The evening would start with cocktails and a live jazz quartet and it would end with beer and a good DJ or band so we could dance our booties off.  Oh hey, this night sounds exactly like our wedding!  ;o)

4. What is your favourite Christmas film?  Love Actually, hands down!  I didn’t even have to think about this one.  It’s not only my favorite Christmas movie, it’s my favorite movie of all time!

5. If you could institute one global law what would it be?  Oh sheesh, this one is getting deep.  There are several things I can think of – no more war AKA world peace (wouldn’t that be nice?), outlawing nuclear weapons, and that all men and women should be treated as equal.  There are so many women in other countries who are oppressed and it just shouldn’t be that way.  Every woman should have the opportunity to be who she wants to be and do what she wants to do!

6. If you could belt a tune out on karaoke better than the original artist what would it be and where would you sing it?  If I could sing as well or better than someone, I would probably choose Carrie Underwood.  Her voice is so powerful and her songs are always some of my favorites to sing along to.  My very favorite is probably Jesus, Take the Wheel.  She has such incredible range in that song!  And if I could sing like or better than Carrie Underwood I would sing anywhere and everywhere!

7. If you had to choose between living without make-up for a year or a smart phone for a year what would it be?  This is tough because I look rough without makeup, y’all, but I would die without my smart phone.  Haha.  Can I keep my makeup and carry an iPad around??  Haha.

8. Who inspires you most in your day to day life?  There are many people who inspire me on a day-to-day basis.  My Momma is one of them, and there are also many bloggers who inspire me as well!

9. If you could pick any epitaph for your life – what would you choose?  Gah, this is really hard.  Since an epitaph is for somebody who’s dead can’t somebody else just write one for me?  Haha.  But seriously, I’d have to go with something traditional like, “Loving Wife and Mother, and a Great Friend” because those are the most important things in life.

10. Who was your first famous crush?  This one is easy – Joe (now Joey) McIntyre from New Kids on the Block.  I was in second grade when they became popular, and I had posters of them plastered all over my wall.  Joe was right by my pillow.  #NoShame

11. Do you have a hair or fashion faux pas from the past you would like to obliterate with a magic wand?  If so what would it be?  Photos appreciated haha!  I actually don’t really think so.  I have always really loved fashion and I have always been one to participate in trends, but I don’t recall anything super embarrassing that I would take back or anything.  When I look back at all of my childhood pictures, I think I look pretty darn cute with my crimped hair, oversized sweatshirts, and stirrup pants!  Ha!  I did have an awkward phase in junior high… does that count?  I always cringe when I see pictures of myself in glasses.

Thank you again for the award, Joanne!  I’m honored!

Happy Friday to one and all!

*Linking up with A Liz Adventures and Carolina Charm for Five on Friday, A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites,  September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for Oh Hey, Friday, Meet @ the Barre for Friday Favorites, and Cup of Tea for High Five for Friday.

Five on Friday - Favorites + a Big Announcement

*This post may contain affiliate links.

It’s been a dreary last few days but the chill in the air is back, so that sure does make me a happy camper!  I have lots of faves for you on the blog today, so let’s get started!

O N E – This Sweatshirt

Did you guys see my post on Insta Wednesday evening?  This sweatshirt is definitely a favorite right now!  I bought it several months ago and it’s just been hanging in my closet waiting to be worn.  Wednesday evening was dark and chilly and it had been a day at work, so it was the perfect opportunity for a glass of wine and my new wine sweatshirt!  I couldn’t find the original one to link, but I did find these identical ones on Etsy if you want to snag one for yourself!  All of you 80’s babies who were in your teens when Da Dip came out know what I’m talking about!

T W O – A Target Share

Target shared another one of my Instagram photos on their website this week!  It’s always cool seeing one of my favorite brands use my photos, so that was a definite favorite!  The link is here if you want to check it out!  I’m wearing my favorite Mossimo Skinny Jeans from there so that was the product they tagged!

T H R E E – A New Book

Emily Giffin, my favorite author, announced that she is releasing a new book next June!!  She doesn’t debut new books very often, so I am always thrilled when I see a new one out there.  Now to wait until June… 

F O U R – A New Christmas Album

Did you guys see that 98 Degrees has a new Christmas album?!?!  They were one of my favorite boy bands back in the 90’s so I am just way too excited about this!  I still have their original Christmas album from 1999 and it’s one of my favorites.  Their rendition of Ave Maria is so beautiful.  I can’t wait to see what they did with the new album… I’ll be downloading it this weekend for sure.

And speaking of downloading, did you guys see that T. Swift isn’t going to allow her new album to be streamed?  It came out today and apparently we are all going to have to buy an actual CD.  Haha.

F I V E – The Big Announcement

No, I’m not pregnant.  I know that’s usually the first thing people think of when a woman around my age says she has a huge announcement to make.  ;o)

As all of you long-time readers know, I have been wanting to be a stay at home mom for a couple of years now.  Well, that time has come, but perhaps a bit sooner than we originally wanted.  As excited I am for the opportunity, the circumstances surrounding the decision aren’t the greatest.  It’s a long drawn-out story, but I will try to keep it as brief as I can.

I have been working in sales and marketing for a global corporation the last 12.5 years.  I loved it for many years, but the past few years things have been steadily going downhill.  I haven’t been very happy for a while and just a couple of weeks ago something happened that became the last nail in the coffin. 

As a matter of fact, this text with Adrienne last week about sums everything up:

  

As you all know, this summer I did several rounds of a new treatment for my chronic low back and pelvic pain.  The specialist I had to see was located in Atlanta which is a long drive from where we live.  Therefore, I had to take full days off of work for each appointment, seven to be exact.  Well, at the beginning of this fiscal year at work, I knew that I wasn’t going to have enough vacation days to cover all of the appointments plus all of the time off I have to take with Jacob when his school is closed, so I sat down with my supervisor and discussed it with him. 

He told me that after our vacation days are exhausted we are allowed to take days off without pay, and that it wouldn’t be a problem for me to take several extra days off this year as needed. 

Fast forward six months – I have used all of my vacation days aaaand… my supervisor gets laid off.  I’m sure you can see where this is going… 

After discussing my situation with my new supervisor (whom I’ve worked with the entire 13 years I’ve been here), he told me he was fine with me taking days off without pay as well, but he had to go to HR to find out how to code the days off without pay properly in our system.  Upon discussing it with HR, HR promptly told him that nobody is allowed to take days off without pay.

Sigh.

My supervisor ended up setting up a meeting with the two of us and HR to discuss my options and HR told me that there was nothing they could do.  My options were as follows:

a)    Don’t take days off for the next five months.  Well this is absolutely not possible since Jacob still has Thanksgiving Break, Christmas Break, and Spring Break before my vacation starts over again on April 1.

b)    Keep taking days off without pay and get fired after the sixth occurrence.  (And keep in mind that this includes being sick.  We do not get sick time here and we are penalized for each day that we are out.  Hence the reason I always drag myself in even when I’m on my deathbed.)

c)    Resign.

Well I’m sure you can probably guess which option I chose.  There was no freaking way I was going to let them fire me, so I resigned and gave a notice of two weeks.

My supervisor did fight hard for me.  He suggested many different things to try to keep me here, and he mentioned several times what an outstanding employee I am, but HR was not willing to work with me.  It is baffling how quickly they will cut ties with someone who has never had any issues with attendance in almost 13 years, someone who has worked her butt off for the company, and someone who even won the employee of the year award in our department.  Baffling.  But I suppose nobody is ever irreplaceable in corporate America.

My biggest problem, though, is that it was approved in advance for me to do this so my days were planned accordingly and then halfway through the year they told me it was no longer allowed.  The least they could do is give me a grace period to get me through the rest of this year, but nope, that is not an option. 

My last day is next Friday, November 17.  While I’m a little excited, I’m mostly just sad and scared.  I have made my own money since I was 11 years old when my best friend and I started our baby-sitting and car-washing business.  #TrueStory  I then got my first real job at the age of 16 so I have been in the work force for the majority of my life.  I’ve never been a “kept woman” nor have I ever had the desire to be, so this is going to be a whole new situation for me.  Not to mention I am going to miss some of my coworkers like CRAZY.  I’ve seen some of them five days a week for the last almost 13 years.  It’s going to be really weird not seeing them anymore.

Because this is all happening so suddenly, we are obviously not prepared financially, so the next few months should be interesting to say the least.  And yes, I could look for another job, but then we would likely end up I in the same boat with vacation days because I would likely start my new job with even less than what I have at my current job.

We are going to try to make it work with me being a stay at home mom, so more than ever now, I feel that I HAVE to figure out a way to make some money from home.  Ladies, PLEASE, if you have any ideas send them my way.  There’s always the blog (although that was not my original intent for this space), and I’ve also toyed with the idea of starting an Etsy shop (but what the heck to sell??) or a Facebook group.  The problem is that every single idea/market is just so saturated already because everyone is trying to be an entrepreneur these days.

Sigh. 

Anyway, I have always pictured myself quitting to be a stay-at-home-mom, but I have always pictured myself quitting after I had a thriving side business, not before.

Thank you for listening to me rant today, and as always, thank you for reading and for your support.  I have a feeling you’re going to be seeing a lot more of me now!    

2017 just keeps on sucking but I’m praying that it is going to be a blessing in disguise!

*Linking up with A Liz Adventures and Carolina Charm for Five on Friday, A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites,  September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for Oh Hey, Friday, Meet @ the Barre for Friday Favorites, and Cup of Tea for High Five for Friday.

Five on Friday - Favorites

Frrrriiiiday!!!!  I’m so looking forward to this weekend!  I am not, however, looking forward to losing an hour of sleep this weekend and having to put two kids to bed on Sunday while it’s still light outside.  Whoever invented daylight savings time obviously didn’t have kids.  ;o)

Now for some faves from the week!

O N E – Another Week, Another Concert

Wednesday evening this week B and I skipped out of work early, left the kiddos with a sitter, and then headed to Atlanta to see The Lumineers in concert.  We have been listening to them since their first album debuted back in 2012 and we have been loyal followers ever since.  We were able to see them in concert a few years ago when they opened for Dave Matthews Band, but they didn’t play a full set since they weren’t the headliner, plus we missed the first few songs due to the horrible traffic coming in to the venue, so needless to say, I was dying to see them again. 

When they put out their second album last year B and I were crossing our fingers for another tour and we were so happy to see Atlanta on the list.  Y’all, they were incredible.  I have been to loads of concerts in my adult life, and this one probably ranks in my top five.  It was that good.  There is just so much talent in their group, and they are so unique. 

It took forever to get there because #ATLTraffic but we ended up arriving just as the first opening band started (they had two openers).  B and I grabbed some dinner in the venue before heading to our seats – a burger and a Blue Moon for me, and a hot dog and a Bud Light for him – and we also happened to see my cousin there.  Random! 

Our seats were tenth row on the floor on the aisle dead center in front of the stage.  So good!  Halfway through the show, the whole band came down from the stage and walked up the aisle to another stage that was in the middle of the floor.  So for two concerts in a row now, the band members have walked RIGHT BY us.  So cool.  I’m totally fangirling here, I know.

They sang all but two of the songs from their first album, and almost all of the songs from their second album as well, plus that old Tom Petty song “Walls” (one of my favorites!) and a Bob Dylan song that B and I weren’t super familiar with.  They.  Were.  Phenomenal.  The whole performance was just amazing – the lights, the singing, the interaction with the audience, and the confetti that shot out all over us after one of the songs – seriously so great.  We will definitely be seeing them again if they are nearby.

We didn’t get home until after 1 AM and we had to be up at 6 AM to get to school and work, but every single second of the struggle bus on Thursday was worth it!

 

T W O – Feature

Chelsea at And Then Life contacted me a couple of weeks ago and asked if she could feature me on her blog.  I was very excited to say yes, of course!  You can read the post here.  Thank you again, Chelsea!  You are so sweet!

T H R E E – Olivia’s Well Visit

This past week was Olivia’s 3 year well visit.  While we waited, I wrote each of the letters of the alphabet on the chalkboard in our room and she identified almost every single one!  I have been working with her a little on letters for at least a year, but for some reason she has always struggled to remember which ones are which (she usually only remembers I, L, O, Q, R, and Y).  Well, they have been working on letters at school a lot these last few months and it seems to be working. 

The difference?  They are associating each letter with one of the kids in the class based on the first letters of their names… that has completely made everything click for her!  I will now write a letter and she’ll say, “A for Addison!  B for Brooks!  C for Cade!  G for Grant!  J for Jack!  L for Lucy!  O for Olivia!  S for Sarah!”  and so on.

So just an FYI, if letters aren’t clicking with your little one then try associating them with the names of family members or friends (apparently that works better for Olivia than associating them with objects).  (And just for the record, I’m well aware that she just turned three and that it’s completely OK and totally normal for her to not know the alphabet yet.  Jacob was just a freakishly early learner of the alphabet – he knew all of his letters before he was one and a half – so this is just new territory for us.)

Anyway, I’m totally off subject now – happens all the time – so let’s get back to the appointment.  Some stats:

32 lbs. – 70^th percentile

39 inches – 85^th percentile

We also had her tubes checked this week and we found out that the tube in her right ear is still in tact and looking perfect, but the tube in her left ear is completely out.  #PleaseLordDontLetTheEarInfectionsStartBackUp

Here she is with the sunshine that she drew all by herself.  She was so proud!

F O U R – Ed Sheeran Tour Dates Announced

When we were sitting at the venue Wednesday night waiting for The Lumineers to start, I glanced up at the announcement boards at one point only to see:

ED SHEERAN – August 25

WHAAAAT?!  I immediately Googled it, and sure enough, this past Wednesday he announced his North America tour, and he’s going to be in our neck of the woods in August!  #Dying

He is currently #1 on my concert bucket list and his new album has been on repeat since I bought it a week ago.  It is fantastic.  If you haven’t checked it out already, do so.  And make sure you have tissues handy when you listen to Supermarket Flowers.  I have heard it six or seven times now and I still cry every time. 

Tickets go on sale next week, so you better believe I will be waiting patiently at 9:55 AM with my credit card in hand.  Momma, Daddy, go ahead and mark it on your calendars… the kiddos are going to need a place to stay!  

F I V E – My J Crew Dress Fits!

Remember last week how I told you about the new dress I bought and I was worried because everyone was saying to size down two sizes?  Well, they were right!  I received my dress in the mail this week and it fits perfectly.  I typically wear a S and I ordered an XXS (which sounds ridiculous, by the way) but it fits just like a S would at a store with normal measurements.  Lol.

Finally, before I go, look what a saw a few days ago when I opened Instagram…

All round numbers, you guys!  Do all of those double zeros make anyone else happy or am I just a weirdo?  There's just something so satisfying about seeing all of those even numbers!

Happy Friday!

*Linking up with A Liz Adventures and Carolina Charm for Five on Friday, A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites,  September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for Oh Hey, Friday, Meet @ the Barre for Friday Favorites, and Cup of Tea for High Five for Friday.

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