The Hodgepodge

1. Thursday marks the first day of spring...to celebrate would you rather plant a garden or go for a walk in the woods? Would either of those activities be possible on Thursday where you live? 
Looking outside it doesn't seem possible that Spring officially starts this week. On Saturday I might have believed you, but after the most recent dumping of snow on Sunday night, I have to think the calendar or the ground hog or someone is to blame for this absence of warm weather. I can't wait to be able to spend more time outdoors! One day I would love to plant a really functional garden with herbs and some veggies to use in my cooking but since I don't think the HOA would approve of me digging up the back yard I would have to choose a walk in the woods. Oh, how I am looking forward to being outdoors, without a coat and ear muffs, and mittens!

2. When did someone last spring something on you? (or when did you last spring something on someone?) 
Well, my manager decided to up and have her baby 2 weeks before her due date. And while it wasn't a complete surprise I must admit that I was pretty much in denial that she will be out for the next 4 months...

3. We often think of spring as a time for new beginnings. What's something you'd like to start doing this spring? 
I don't have room on my calendar to even pretend I'm going to do something new this spring. I have something practically every weekend from now through the foreseeable future. Maybe this spring will be the new season for not procrastinating- my specialty. And let's not forget that list of 101 in 1001 that I need to put a big dent in.

4. Where do you like to sit in a movie theatre? When did you last sit there, and what were you watching? 
Behind that bar that is usually behind the handicap seats, right in the center of the theater. I like to put my feet up on the bar during the movie.  It's much less annoying then putting my feet on someone's seat. Plus I'm pretty short and I don't like to risk having a very tall person in front of me. The last movie I saw was Lone Survivor and the theater we were in was pretty tiny and didn't even have the stadium-like seating. Before that I saw Saving Mr. Banks.

5. When you meet someone for the very first time, what do you want them to think about you?
I want them to think that I am kind and that I genuinely want to get to know them. Not just a quick "how are you? Good, thanks." reflex.

6. March is frozen food month (yes, really!). Besides ice cream (gotta make you think a little) what's your most often purchased frozen food item? 
That's easy- Amy's Macaroni and Cheese (not the gluten free/vegan kind), with a close second being sweet potato fries.

7. What's something you avoid? 
Gluten free/vegan/paleo stuff. I place every single catering order at our law firm. We have over 52 conference rooms and at least 4 catering orders a day. I can't tell you how exhausting all the dietary restrictions/preferences/freak-outs become after the zillionth phone call asking the caterer to please leave off all citrus, onions, chives, mayo, and bell peppers (and that was just for one order) and to please include a separate, specially wrapped and labeled gluten free/vegan entree on the side. Always everything on the side these days...

8. So I've been obsessed with the song "Let it Go" from the movie Frozen.
But I haven't even seen the movie Frozen...
The roommates and I are planning a girls night out next week and I think ending with ice cream and Frozen on the couch would be perfect. Have you seen this version of the song, sung in 20 different Disney character voices? So cool!

(head over here to share your post)

Saint Patrick's Day/ Snow Day

I had such a fun weekend in town! My one roommate and I started out the day by going to try on her wedding dress and pick out a veil. She suggested that everyday would be a happier day if she started out by wearing a wedding dresses. Hah.

After leaving the bridal store we were greeted by the sunshine and springtime temps. At our house we are all kind of homebodies, but we learned that warm weather and wedding dresses really pump us up! We changed into some green tops, rolled the windows down, and headed to her fiance's for a Saint Paddy's day party. He lives in a bit of a frat house which is kind of overwhelming outside of college but fortunately we were in a rare mood to go out!

It was so much fun to walk into town with sunglasses and bare arms. We braved the crowds, enjoyed some cheap green beer, and neither of us had to pay for a single drink ;)

I think I needed a day like this to be a little young, wild and free. You see I've turned into a bit of a fuddy-duddy when I'm not with TJ (and even sometimes when I am with TJ. It's just I love to stay in and cuddle with him, you know?). And the other weekends when I'm stuck at home I just want to sleep in, stay on the couch, browse Pinterest and book my next flight South.

Sunday I had an actual excuse to sleep in and then I spent the rest of the day getting music ready for young life club (which would end up getting cancelled), playing on Pinterest, and unsuccessfully working on A-Z posts.  Later all the roommates and boyfriends (except TJ- sad face) made pizza. Usually I hate when the crew decides to make pizza. They take forever, it's a huge mess, the kitchen gets really hot, the crust is usually too hard.  Honestly I prefer delivery.

But I decided to be a trooper.  I had been reading the Marshalls Abroad blog and she makes gorgeous homemade pizza and actually doesn't take forever. So I went rogue and followed her plan and it turned out really tasty if I do say so myself.

After enjoying our pizza we all sat down to watch Walking Dead, with snow falling outside. Yep, you read that right... Saturday it was 70 degrees, and today I woke up to this. 

So I'm writing this post from my kitchen table. No work for this girl today. Must be the luck of the Irish!

Five on Friday

one. Last weekend I picked up some tulips from Whole Foods on sale three bunches for ten. I put them in a couple vases around the house and it instantly felt like Spring inside- fresh flowers and sunlight do that, you know. They've lasted all week but unfortunately it seems the warmer weather we got to enjoy is not going to last. More snow coming...

two. I am not travelling this weekend. And I didn't travel last weekend. And actually I don't have any flights booked until April and that feels like a long way away even though I guess it's really not. I have been going going going every chance I get. It seems every other Friday I haul my suitcase to work and head out. Long distance is hard y'all but I think TJ and I are pretty darn good at it. We're good on the phone and we're good at putting in the miles to close the distance between us. It's nice to have someone to miss and know that you are missed. And I know one day we will finally be in the same place at the same time for more than a long weekend.

three. Along those same lines though... I am just counting down the days until Spring so that I can then start counting down the days to summer. It's not that I want to wish away the time, I don't. But I do. March just feels soooo long. Especially when on the horizon I can see friends' weddings, lake weekends, bare legs, flip flops, warm nights...

four. It's not too soon to be dreaming of these things is it?
Some of my most recent pinterest finds really give me away...

grapefruit cocktail  | sunnies | romper | Essie- Play Date | candle

five. Last April I participated in the A-Z challenge and blogged all about my travels (click here or here to see all those posts). It was hard work to blog 6 days a week but I really enjoyed it and felt like it helped me refresh my blog after a long winter. And I love looking back on those posts and having so many of my favorite memories documented. I want to do it again. Which means I want to start writing some posts now in preparation so I'm not doing them all the day before (or in a lot cases, the day of, from my desk at work....). The problem is I have so many thoughts but no theme and I really think I need a theme. Otherwise it's too overwhelming. I don't want it to be quite as specific as last year where each day was actual place. I want to have more room to let my words wander and explore- I want to have a little more freedom and maybe get a little more real.   Anyways... that's where I'm at with this. Maybe I'll do some brainstorming this weekend. If you're participating in the A-Z challenge let me know! Happy Friday!

(share your 5 on Friday post here)

Not a Style Blogger

For some reason unbeknownst to me, I woke up an hour before my alarm went off yesterday. Now usually I can look at the time, rejoice when I realize I still have an hour to sleep, and fall back into dreamland no problem.  But not this morning.... I tossed and turned and my mind wondered and was already stressed about the day before my alarm even went off. Annoying.... 

At some point I gave up trying to fall back asleep and jumped in the shower deciding to embrace the extra time. I took a curling iron to my hair and ditched my usual go-to black work pants and made an actual effort. Maybe the day was going to be long but my hair was going to cooperate dang it.

After work I wasn't ready to go inside. I wanted to celebrate the fact that the obnoxiously early wake up didn't knock me down and that there was blue skies after 6 pm! I decided to stealthily take some pictures in front of my house. I started by propping up my phone on the mail box and pretending I was getting the mail or looking at the daffodils that just appeared today, that sort of thing. 

But it was not working. I was way too aware of being in the middle of the cul-de-sac. 

How do you style bloggers do this for like every post?

Anyways, long story short- I went around to the back patio instead.
And it was still completely awkward.
Just posing with my tikki torch....

Pretty sure I wouldn't want an entire blog with just my face in a bunch of different poses but one post every now and then is okay I guess. We will now return to our regularly scheduled programming: daydreaming and recaps of my sweet weekends with TJ. Also, in case anyone had their doubts, I hit my snooze button 4 times this morning.

Greetings From Alabama

Yesterday I reluctantly returned from Dothan, Alabama. I spent the past weekend (and a couple extra bonus days- thanks DC weather) visiting TJ. He's temporarily stationed there for an Army flight surgeon training course and even though it's not everyone's ideal destination I couldn't wait to step outside into the warmer air and his waiting arms.

Saturday morning started off right with breakfast at Waffle House. I cannot explain to you how amazing it felt outside. Like I'd forgotten what it felt like to be warm in the sun. My fellow friends in the North... spring is coming and it is good!

After breakfast all I wanted to do was be outside. We headed over to Ft. Rucker to the Army Aviation Museum. I'll be the first to admit I don't know too much about all that the museum held but TJ has gotten to go up in helicopter and "play" with some simulators during his time down here so it was cool to see it all with him and let him tell me a little about what he's learned and see how aircraft have changed over the years throughout the different wars.

After the museum we drove around base and he pointed out where he's been spending most of his days. Then we headed to the National Peanut Festival to a gun and knife show- when in Alabama right? The National Peanut Festival is an actual festival sometime in the fall but it's also the name of the venue where lots of events are held. We actually ended up not staying for the gun show since you had to pay to go in but we didn't leave until after we snapped a quick picture with the giant peanut. Dothan is a hot spot for peanuts and the boll weevil, of which there was also a large statue in town.
Driving around listening to country music (it's on every radio station, including an entire station of only Garth Brooks) with the windows down we looked for something to catch our eye and couldn't help ourselves when we saw the putt putt course.  TJ ended up beating me but it was pretty darn close and as a consolation prize he let me take as many pictures as I wanted! He's such a good sport. 
On our way home we were enticed by a sign for Fresh Strawberries- the perfect sunny day treat. After a pretty full afternoon we took our farm stand haul and headed back to the hotel.

TJ had decided this would be the weekend I would watch the movie Rocky. Evidently it was a big deal that I'd never seen it before. Later for dinner we headed into town and met up with TJ's cousin for dinner and drinks. TJ and him have had fun spending time together these past couple weeks and I was excited to get to meet him.

Sunday morning came and I woke up to an email with a notice about my cancelled flight home due to bad weather in DC. After an hour on hold and finally speaking to a representative I was able to reschedule my flight for Tuesday. Usually airport problems make me batty and if this had happened on the other end of my trip I would have reacted differently. But this time, as I'm sure you can imagine, I wasn't too choked up about having to spend a couple more nights in Alabama with my guy.

Sundays are the worse day to travel- it totally ruins the day. It was so nice that Instead having my travel hanging over my head like it usually does we just got to relax and meander through the afternoon. 

One thing I had to do while in the South was get me a Publix sub. Publix is just the nicest, friendliest grocery store of all time (see this buzzfeed article) and I totally miss them up in Maryland. And y'all... their subs are so yummy. I recommend the chicken tender sub. 

We headed back to the hotel to enjoy our subs in the sunshine by the pool. You better believe I had completely forgotten about the snow and work and cold weather waiting for me up in DC. 

The rest of the afternoon we watched movies, went for a short walk, and enjoyed this surprise extra time together. We also got to watch The Walking Dead together and TJ enjoys watching me get all jumpy. 

Monday morning came and I while I didn't have to go to work, TJ had to go to class. So I got to sleep in, watch tv, eat the other half of my sub in bed, and basically wait around for TJ. 

He got home around 5 and since I'd been (happily cooped up) in the hotel all day we headed out for dinner. We shared a Hawaiian pizza and picked up Dairy Queen blizzards on the way home. We finished season 1 of 24 on Netflix and booked flights for another upcoming weekend together and then we called it a (perfect) night. 

Tuesday came much to early. We had to get up at 5 so he could drive me to the airport and get back to class on time. The early wake up was worth it though, for the extra days together. And I got to say Happy Birthday to him in person!

Happy Birthday T.J.

You know that boy I travel to see every chance I get? The one I actually spent the past weekend with? The one who has taken over my heart and a quite a bit of my blog content?

Well today is his birthday!
So I thought I would take some time and dedicate an entire post to him on his day so you could get to know him a little better. 

He is 26 years old today. 

He is so smart, I just... I can't even.

He is a planner. He makes lists and crosses them off.

He is a little bit better than me at making decisions.

He is on time and he is patient when I am not.

He is tall and steady. 

He has blue eyes and really cute dimples. 

He actually enjoys reading for fun.

His favorite song is Amarillo By Morning-George Strait. 

I think his favorite food might be peanut butter based on the daily ammount he consumes. 

He likes to look up the word of the day (today's word is hoodwink). 

He's adventurous and likes to get up and out and go. 
But he's always happy to snuggle inside and watch movies with me. 

He wakes up extra early to drive me to the airport or to put miles on his car to come visit.  

He texts me every morning to wish me a good day and he calls me every night to hear all about it.

He lets me go off about worries and woes but they all seem to disappear after talking to him. 

Life is definitely sunnier, better, more with him! I'm so glad he was born today, I'm so glad he's mine. 
Happy birthday TJ!