New Year's Weekend

Oh, Arizona!  After a bit of a rough morning we decided to spend Saturday afternoon at the park in my parents' neighborhood to cheer up a bit. It was a beautiful day- 77 degrees and sunny. What a New Years' Eve, right? It was a lot of fun watching Abe and Hank throw the football around (the photo of them makes me laugh) and Henry enjoyed playing in the grass since most of it up north at our house is dead due to the freezing winter conditions. I love that you can drive a short two hours one way and be in snow, and turn right around the other way and head towards heat. Pretty cool.

We spent the rest of our New Year's laying low, eating and laughing. It was the perfect way to ring in 2012! We're currently dealing with some family stuff- my Grandma isn't doing too well- so being together was great. Plus, Henry brings a smile to everyone's face. I was so tempted to wake him up at midnight for a little smooch but my responsible side won out.

Whatever you did, I hope you had the happiest of New Year's Eves! Here's to a great 2012. 

30th Birthdays and Early Christmases

What a weekend! It's been such a good past couple of days and despite a trip to the mall, my holiday spirit is still in tact. Friday we headed down to my parents' to spend time with family, get our Christmas shopping completed, celebrate our friend Jeffs' 30th birthday, and have an early holiday on Sunday with my Aunt Pat and Uncle Bob. Needless to say the last two days have been busy, but definitely in a good way.

Friday night we headed down south and spent some quality time hanging out with my parents' before heading to bed early. My Mom has converted the two upstairs bedrooms into guest rooms, so Henry sleeps in what used to be my sisters' bedroom and Hank and I sleep in my old room. It's a far cry from what it used to look like in junior high and high school (I had pictures and posters plastered in every corner of the room), but it's still fun to sleep up there- I'm always flooded with so many memories. If I'm feeling especially nostalgic, my big closet is filled with boxes and boxes of photos, notes from friends, and various treasures from back in the day. There have been so many nights I've gotten lost in those boxes, and it's incredibly fun (and usually embarrassing) to sift through all of it.

Saturday morning Hank and I headed out on a little daytime date. We first stopped by Green for lunch then spent the afternoon Christmas shopping. This year I tried to do most of our shopping in town, but there were a few items we had to pick up while down in the valley.  It was such a fun day though, and I most enjoyed just walking around and spending time with Hank...and ending our day with frozen yogurt.  I need to talk about this frozen yogurt trip for a minute too because it was probably the best combination I've ever had- Yogurtland's Madagascar Vanilla Bean with their Kona Coffee flavor. Delicious!



After shopping we came home and got ready for Jeff's 30th birthday party, whose wife Erin is a good friend of mine.  I've written about her many times before, but Erin and I met my freshman year of college at NAU when we both lived in Sechrist (one of the freshman dorms). We instantly clicked, and both ended up rushing, pledging, and joining Pi Phi. We spent all of college side by side, and have had some great times together. Since we all graduated from NAU back in 2004 our group of friends has stayed in tact, and it's pretty neat to go through so many of life's milestones together. Erin and I even had our sons just months apart. This past weekend her husband Jeff turned 30, and Erin threw him a Mad Men-themed party. It was a ton of fun, and all of the little details she put together were awesome. I'm not a big drinker and Hank doesn't drink at all, but it was still so fun to see all of the signature cocktails being made. Hank even got in on the action with one of the fake cigarettes pictured below and a Shirley Temple. :) It was a great night spent with really great people.

Then today we had an early Christmas with my Aunt and Uncle since we won't be seeing them next weekend. We ate a big dinner then had fun watching Henry open his presents. I know I've probably already said this 100x, but celebrating holidays with Henry is the best. He makes everything so much more fun. My favorite part of today though would definitely have to have been sitting around the dining room table with my Grandma, Mom, Aunt and sister girl-talking about everything and anything under the sun. We probably scared Lauren from ever wanting to have babies (birth story overload) but it was just so much fun talking for so long.










So, that was our weekend! I hope you had a great one too. xoxo

Our weekend, on a Monday.

These past few days have been wonderful, and one of those weekends that you really don't want to end. It started off with Taylor Swift on Friday with Sarah. She had gotten us tickets months ago so it was really exciting that the day had finally come!  It's funny though because even though Sarah is one of my close friends, I had no idea that she was a Taylor Swift "superfan." I consider myself to definitely be a Taylor fan, but I don't know every word to every song, or even the story or meaning behind all of them.  Sarah definitely did, as well as every word she would say during the show due to watching so many youtube videos! ha! It was awesome. The show was great and I pretty much fell even more in love with the lovely Ms. Swift. She's so adorable and her sweet personality really shines through, even from the stage. The set design was out of this world also- I loved all of the various scenes and artwork, and beyond that all of her outfits were to die for.  Overall it was a really fun night and I went to bed with a smile on my face.










The next day Hank and I woke up early and headed out for a day of fall and winter shopping. My Mom graciously watched Henry, so Hank and I spent the day out and about, shopping and then lunching at Green. It was a ton of fun and we got a lot check off of our to do/to get lists. We got home later in the day and got ready for Chad and Michelle's wedding reception, then headed over. Michelle's Aunt hosted it at her house and it was SUCH a good time. Really delicious food and sweets, and I even got to reconnect with someone I hadn't talked to in years and years. It was fun to celebrate Chad and Michelle, and they sure know how to throw a party. Hank and I got silly in the photobooth, ate too many cookies, spent time with great friends, and drove home listening to top 40 radio. Success? I think so.

from Chad and Michelle's makeshift photobooth - they took an iMac and built a photobooth around it! So awesome.
the newlyweds





Sunday was family day so we did my parent's usual Sunday morning routine with them. Breakfast, then Trader Joe's. We picked up tons of fun things, including some delicious pumpkin cream cheese. Yum!  I can't wait until TJ's opens up here in just a few months. So many of my favorite things come from there, and not having to stock up every few weeks when we're down in the valley is going to be fabulous. So we shopped, then spent Sunday doing family stuff, and ending our weekend with the biggest vegan meal courtesy of my mama before we hit the road.

Fall at Trader Joe's! My favorite.

It was a great weekend! :) I hope you had a good one, too! xoxo

Memorial Day Weekend

This past weekend was nothing short of wonderful. I'm a big fan of birthdays, and I've never been to type to get bummed out at the start of another year. I actually really enjoy getting older, weird, I know. I don't know if I'll always feel that way, but for now I just really feel like life only gets better with every year that goes by. I always wonder what great things the next year will hold. So, as I turned 29 this weekend I was more than happy to usher in the last year of my twenties.

Hank, Henry, Madeline and I spent the weekend down in Mesa at my parents', and had the best time. Friday evening my best friends surprised me with a little dinner party and I drifted off to sleep that night with a full belly and a happy heart. Saturday morning my Mom and I had a great workout, then came home and we all went out to Chandler Fashion Center to shop. I ended up meeting the most adorable reader (hi Sarah!) and she totally made my day. While there Hank also got part one of his birthday present from me, an iPad!  He was so happy and surprised, and it was great to walk into the Apple store and let him know he could go ahead and pick one out. For months I'd been discouraging him from buying one, so he really had no idea. He was beyond happy and jumped around like a little kid. So awesome. Afterward we all went to Green for lunch. The rest of the day was spent relaxing until we headed out to North Scottsdale for Nate's 30th birthday bash at Greasewood Flats. We listened to country music, played horseshoes, and had such a great, low-key night.

Sunday was my actual birthday and it was kind of a dream day for me. To summarize without going into too much detail, it included sleeping in, working out, eating ice cream cake, a trip to Target, swimming and taking lots of photos at the park! My sister also gave us an amazing gift...tickets to see Britney Spears and Nicki Minaj with her. Believe it or not Hank really and truly loves pop music and especially Britney. Yup. So feel free to make fun of him when you see him!

I just feel so thankful for the past few days.  I have a feeling this year is going to be amazing, and I'm excited to see what it has in store for me. This past year has been filled with a lot of personal growth...and is it weird to say that I'm proud of myself? 'Cause I am. I hope I'm just as proud of my 29-year old self at the end of this year.

Here are some photos from the weekend: