Raising a glass!

This year marks the 10th year of me graduating college.

 

 

I’m sorry….I just died.

 

10 Years holy crap!  Where did the time go? What happened to my carefree days of unabashed reckless behavior and total lack of responsibility??  Oh yeah….I had kids.

SO me and 7 of my best girlfriends from college went on a fantastic trip to Paso Robles.  It’s the CUTEST little town about and hour from San Luis Obispo right in the middle of Santa Barbara wine country.  I seriously had the best time.  It’s amazing that I haven’t seen some of these girls in 3-4 years and I feel like it just picked up right where we left off.  It made me realize what good friends can mean in your life.  I said to them that I didn’t realize how much I missed them until I saw them.  Somehow….Craig and I have to get back to California

 

The house we stayed in was BEYOND gorgeous.  It was my best friend, Megan’s, Dad’s best friend from high schools lake house.  You get that all?  In short….it was free.  HOLLA!  Gorgeous views…I had my coffee out here in the morning and my wine out here in the evening…

We got to all cook each other meals, and I made pizza on the grill the first night whilst Megan picked out a wonderful assortment of cheeses and wines for appetizers, and the second night my sorority big sis made us shrimp, sausage, and grits.  TO. DIE.  I did not get a picture of that though…as I was thoroughly filled to the brim with wine and barely remembered I had a camera…

Anyone know off hand how to take a group shot and getting everyone in focus?  That was not my forte this trip.  Anyway….because we are now smart girls (as opposed to 10 years ago) and realize that people who drink should not drive….we got ourselves a limo for wine tasting.  Best idea ever.  Our driver was AMAZING.  I mean…not only was he an amazing driver, but an amazing picture taker, and he ordered lunch for us, and he was beyond a cutie, and funny to boot.  He’s 23 and in a barbershop quartet.  I mean….who does that??  What 23 year old does that??  So adorable!  I was really trying to hook up my Megan for a 3 night stand…you know….cuz one would just be slutty….

And of course…the wine was fabulous.  Even though I pretty much got hammered (mom+wine-kids and daily life=dangerous), I did happen to find out about a wine I had never heard of called a Mouvedre.  I like it very much.  I didn’t get a bottle at these vineyards as I had a carry-on only and I think that a bottle is well over the 3 oz limit…so I will be certainly scouring my liquor store for some.

Through all the ups and downs with various people I’ve had in my life, I am fully aware how  honored I am to have friends like these in my life.  There are truly no greater women in the world than these 7 ladies….and this weekend built so many memories for me and brought back so many more.  Great getaway with great friends.  What more could a girl ask for? 

A colorful Birthday!

My little Jagger turned 2 this week and I couldn’t be more mixed in emotions!!  I’m so happy that he’s big and healthy and adorable….and I’m so sad because the older he gets…the more likely it seems that he will be my last little baby!  WAH! 

I wanted to share with you all the party that we threw for him.  I’ll let the pictures do the talking…since with this many pics I can get a little wordy!  Since Jagger is a huge drawing fan, we did a colorful rainbow of a party…complete with a colorful cake, balloons, and crayons!  The table covers were the biggest hit with the kids and adults alike.  We just covered them with craft paper and set out crayons and let people go at it.  I also went insane at the last minute and decided that making a bunting out of scrap fabric 2 days before the party was a good idea.  Blah.  I was practically sewing my face off.  All in all it was a fantastic little party where everyone had fun…and that’s the whole point right?  Enjoy!

Late night date night

The weather here in the dirrty Jerz has been extremely summer-like.  By that I mean heat and humidity.  Blech.  The high note is that it becomes nice and cool in the evenings, perfect for a little breaking in of our patio.  We got pavers installed last September to extend our tiny little 10x10 patio to a sweet and comfortable 15x20.  It's not a lot...but perfect for a little table and chairs, the BBQ, and good friends. We would have loved to make it larger and grander, but such are the restrictions of living in a townhouse with a strict HOA.  Anyway, because we got it installed in the fall, we really haven't gotten a chance to use it.  Since the rain and thunderstorms are going to hold out until tonight....we decided to have a little burgers and beer on our patio to officially christen the space!

We're not sure exactly how we are going to finish this space...but we know we would love an outdoor rug, some potted plants, and definitely a new outdoor light.  Maybe multiple outdoor lights.  There's not TOO much I can do without first getting approval from our HOA (blast them!) so to make our lives simple we need to just decorate it to make it look nice.  I'd really like to put a console table along this fence next to the little bistro table.  That table used to sit on our front porch, but we figured it would get much better use in the back.  We got that on clearance 2 years ago at Target.  My thoughts are to spray paint it...not sure what yet.  Oh...and forgive my super tired yellow eyes.  I've been SUPER productive around the house lately and am ex-haus-ted.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand (my mind just whirls with ideas when I sit in an unfinished space)....we had a wonderful little date night.  Burgers, salad, beer, and juice boxes for Sonny.  He's totally a kid at heart.  We reminisced about how we used to often grill during the week, or how going out for a Tuesday night was not an absolutely absurd idea.  Then our wonderful neighbors came over and joined us for a little cocktail and brownie bites.  It was a great night to chill, talk, laugh, have a drink or three...all by the light of our baby monitors.  And now that I have sat out there...I see LOTS of work that needs to be done and my super-powered productivity continues!!  See those nasty weeds in the above pick.  SUPER NAH-STY.  There's more on the right in the below pic (in the beds).  Guess what I'm doing today?

Excuse this pic.  Sonny took it and got a bit of our fence on the left.  Awesome.  I can't complain as he is certainly getting better with getting behind the cam.  Alright...off to pick weeds, launder, vacuum....and see whatever else I can do....