The Beach

July 4th at the beach

This past weekend was wonderful. Although we had to work on Friday, we made the best of it and took a day trip to the beach at Topsail Island with friends for the 4th of July. It only took a couple hours to get there and it was totally worth it! We brought coolers full of drinks and snacks, set up cornhole and our beach chairs, and parked it on the beach for a solid 5 hours. We had so much fun! After several days of rain, the weather was perfect - it was comfortable sitting on the beach but hot enough to still want to get in the water. A seafood restaurant on the sound called our names for dinner before getting on the road to drive home. We did not see fireworks as we were driving while they were happening, but going to the beach on the 4th of July is something I could get used to. It just felt right. Work on Friday went by really fast, and then it was the weekend again! We got to relax, go to dinner together, grill out at home, watch Indentity Theft at our friends' house, and get things done at home like laundry, vacuuming, and a fun project that I will share soon. While I didn't exactly have a long weekend, it sure felt like one. I'm just really glad it's summer and I wish this season lasted longer!

Mini-vacation: Florida

I don't normally try to do "catch-up" posts, but we've had so many great weekends recently that I figured I should share a bit from each of them (and now that I finally have some time to catch a breath). This post is all about Florida!

Michael goes to Miami a couple times a year for work, so when we found out he was going down again in April we immediately started brainstorming how to make a trip out of it. Vacations are a lot cheaper when one of your plane tickets is already paid for! Michael's grandmother lives in Naples, so we figured out a way to spend a long weekend with her before his work commitment. We flew into Naples on Friday, rented a car to drive around for the weekend, and then on Monday drove across the state to Ft. Lauderdale, where we got some lunch on the water and then I flew out from there and Michael headed down to Miami to stay for the week. It worked out perfectly!

We had such a great weekend down there. I was seriously at my limit with the longest winter in the history of the world, and Florida was just the way to get me through it. Grandmom showed us around her neighborhood community (which was awesome by the way. Think a college campus with palm trees and golf carts, without the class part) and took us to Perkins for dinner. We spent our afternoons at the beach and soaked up that Florida sun we needed so much. We took Grandmom out for pizza and ice cream, and also to go see the sunset on the water. It was just a really great weekend.

Then I came home and it was finally spring! Thank you, Florida!

I had the BEST fish tacos at Casablanca in Ft. Lauderdale. If you're ever down in Florida and need a good lunch spot, this is where you should go! Not to mention the view was incredible!

Easter weekend

Oh spring, where are you? I keep thinking you're close by, and then winter comes charging in again with rain and wind in a mere 40 degrees (or sometimes 30!). Winter's been kind of a bully this year. I'm starting to get nervous that we'll miss spring completely, and that it will go from being freezing straight to hot and sticky.

The one thing getting me through this brutal spring - or lack thereof - is going to the beach. Where I can feel the sunshine on my face and take long walks outside, even if I have to wear more clothing than I'd prefer. Last weekend we met my family at Kill Devil Hills in the Outer Banks. It was so much fun to relax and get some quality time with my family, and also get that much needed vitamin D! We stayed in a funny little resort right on the water - the Star Wars pods, as we fondly called them. We also explored the dunes at Jockey's Ridge. I had no idea they would be that big! It literally felt like I went to the desert, except of course that there was water not too far away in any direction. We had fun jumping off the dunes and I got to try some new things with my camera. All in all it was a fantastic weekend! The only thing missing was going to church on Easter Sunday. That was a little strange to miss out on and it definitely wasn't the same listening to a sermon on the drive home. I am thankful to go to a church that I really miss when I'm not there.

You're going to hate me, but tonight I'm headed to Florida to visit Michael's grandma. I know... I am getting so spoiled with trips this spring! Michael has a work trip in Miami next week, and it just made sense to tack on a weekend getaway. It's supposed to be sunny and in the 80s all weekend. I am SO EXCITED. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

A weekend at the beach

I've been quiet here on the blog front lately. Not really sure why, but I felt like I needed the time off so I took it. And it was great. I'm excited to jump back on board!

This past weekend we spent down at Ocean Isle Beach. For the first time, Michael and I had his parents' condo all to ourselves, and it was incredible. Just what we needed, in fact. I certainly do wish that weekends were longer than 2 days! Friday night started off a little rough. First with not knowing where we put our keys to the condo, and then my little Prius had some car trouble just after we had really gotten going on our drive. So we turned around, drove home, re-packed all of our stuff into Michael's car and set out a little bit later than we intended. We decided to make the best of it and not let it ruin our weekend. It didn't really. We missed out on maybe a couple hours of hanging out at the condo on Friday night, since we didn't arrive until 1 am (!!) but we were so glad we decided to go anyway. We spent the weekend sleeping in, eating delicious brunch, walking on the beach, bike riding around the island, reading, eating pizza on the couch and watching a movie, and of course more beach walking. The weather was GORGEOUS - 70s and sunny, with some strong gusts of wind here and there. It was relaxing, refreshing, and I got some much needed quality time with my man. Seriously, the perfect weekend. We finished it off with lunch in Wilmington on our drive back, at the cutest ever cafe right on the water. Sometimes weekends are packed full of fun activities, sometimes they are simple and relaxing, and sometimes we get lucky and they are both. This weekend we got lucky!