a weekend at home

life is good right now
 
sometimes i tear up thinking about how much i love bill and how lucky i am and how incredibly wonderful bill is and how 3 years ago i would have never imagined this and i lose my breath in all the "ands"

and sometimes i just need a weekend at home with my fur babies

and some good wine out on the balcony with my bill

and a day spent without fixing my hair and only a bath of doggie kisses

and a day spent snuggling on the couch

to be reminded what's important

and that this little space and those that fill it are all i need.

to the max

i'm obsessed with maxi dresses

i've amassed quite a collection since last spring

mainly i wanted a few for key west

something comfortable to wear around that wasn't running shorts and t shirts

and these dresses are incredibly comfortable

you don't necessarily have to shave your legs (sorry bill)

and you can still look pretty chic if you throw together a couple of accessories

but what started out as wanting 2 or 3 different dresses

has turned into...1,2,3,4,5....as of today

i stopped in tj maxx on lunch, in hopes of finding some cute tchotchkes

but immediately drew near the summer dresses...

i wanted to buy 2, but decided at some point i need to wear something other than a maxi dress, and only purchased one

even though, right now i am telling myself i will be back maybe tomorrow to get the other one...

the one i picked up today is a lovely bright teal cynthia rowley dress with thin criss-crossing straps

i'm thinking a bright coral or orange necklace would look really nice with it

 maybe something from lulubelles...

actually...i'm really feeling this one..

 
 here

if i were to ever be a stay at home/work from home mom - i'm pretty sure i would live in a maxi dress or caftan

a'la


rachel zoe




bohemian chic? frumpy? getting dress in 5 seconds?

whatever works!

grill season

i came home last night to the most wonderful smell

burgers on the grill and sweet potato fries

yum!

i love that bill loves grilling - it means i can take a break from cooking from time to time

but it also means that i can try out some recipes i've always wanted to try but haven't since i was sans grill for so long i hadn't (i'm so repetitive at times)

but last night, plain ole burgers were spot on

accompanied by my favorite frog ranch pickles of course!

annnnnd

my favorite husband

was a great evening that was then spent watching a few episodes of justified.

goodbye iphone

i got a new phone!

i said goodbye to my iphone 4 sunday

it wasn't planned, really.

i had thought about a new phone -i was slightly over my iphone - i had screen envy of the other phones, mine was only a 8gb and i had to constantly delete pictures so i could even update my phone

i was starting to not even utilize my phone because it was a pain.

so while we were at the mall sunday, we strolled by the best buy mobile store.

they had a deal on the samsung galaxy s3 for $75 with a new 2 year contract. 

i knew they also took trade-ins, so to be curious, i went in and asked how much my phone was worth,

he quoted me $105

which is about the same as i paid for it, which is nice, but my SILs recently traded theirs in for the iphone 5 and got $150.

not sure why there was a difference, but i decided since i was getting a discounted S3, it all worked out in the end.

so i traded my phone in, upgraded to the the galaxy, and spent the rest of my trade in value on a car charger, screen protector, and case!

i love the brighter, bigger screen!

i've spent the past couple of days taking pictures with it

excuse the messy floor - woodford never picks up after himself.

my point -n- shoot does panoramic shots too, but i love having the option on my phone.

my favorite test subject poses sometimes

just kidding - he's waiting for my phone to catch the sunlight and cast a light reflection on the wall so he can go batshit crazy.

which eventually wears him out...

are you phone loyal?  or do you like switching it up?

the last bit of vacation

i'm bummed my week off is now over

but i'm thankful to get to relive it this morning and share a few pictures

when i last left off, i had spent some time downtown and visited a few museums

we were outside on the balcony trying to come up with something to do on a thursday

we got dressed and headed out for a bit of

day drinking.

ok, so, we didn't head to the bar....but we did do some wine tasting

and met some new friends

i love how the fact that if you were to go to a bar at 1pm on a wednesday it would be kind of weird and maybe you have a problem

but the second you say "wine tasting" and put your pinky out...day drinking sounds all classy and sophisticated.

but we're not classy and sophisticated people

we came home

and ate pickles out of the jar (it's what the winos do?)

before heading down to the bats's baseball game

it was thirsty thursday after all...

and as you can see, the sun had taken it's toll on us that day - and the wine and beer was just too much

we were tired and hungry and burnt

and someone thought white castle was a good idea

i can tell you now

it was not.  it was a smelly, no good, ill advised idea.

but bill redeemed himself on friday, when he suggested we look for discounted jason aldean concert tickets an hour before the concert started.

and sure enough, we were out the door, downtown, and parked, with a few minutes to spare before Jake Owen opened up for him!

i tried to take pictures...but i just got some bright lights.  it was an excellent concert - with the exception of being in a row with the drunkest, classless, most ignorant hillbillies i've ever seen.  good thing the tickets were discounted!

saturday we laid low

do you remember our tournament bracket wall?

bill finally retired it

and came up with a great idea

a derby themed wall!

bill is actually pretty talented - he can look at a picture and draw it

he designed this wall on his own - i think it looks great! (he also drew a horse later)

i tried to draw a few things myself, but they don't look nearly as good as bill's

i had oaks on the mind - since i will be going again this year

the rest of our weekend was quiet - winding down to prepare for the work week

we grilled out

enjoyed the sun

and soaked up a bit more couch time

it was nice.  staycations are under rated!

seeing history

good morning!

hopefully everyone avoided those storms last night - we got stuck in them while out to eat and made a bee-line for the car while the hail was coming down

we don't always make smart decisions.

yesterday was spent downtown

where we visited the slugger museum

bill tested out his catching skills

and i took selfies with derek jeter.

besides the wax figures, we actually got to see a real living baseball legend. 

while on the tour (where no cameras are allowed - bummer :(  )

I see this guy in a wheel chair with a cigar in his mouth.

i knew right away he had to be important, because there is definitely no way just some joe schmoe off the street comes into a factory with a cigar

our tour guide let us in on who he was - monday, MLB players wore the #42 in honor of jackie robinson - the first baseball player to break MLB's color barrier

and touring the facility just a day after was Chuck Harmon - the first black american to play for the cincinnatti red(legs)s
 

by my calculations - he's just shy of 80 years old now

it was pretty neat to see living history - especially in light of the jackie robinson tribute games and the movie being out

after the slugger museum we headed over to the muhammad ali museum

where if you need a big dose of conviction you should check it out

muhammad ali fought for his human rights in a racist white society, fought for his spiritual rights to worship and be accepted as a muslim convert, and challenged those same oppressors when he refused to join the draft - they weren't fighting for his rights as an american, so why should he fight a war for america.

i had never been to the muhammad ali museum - there is A LOT of stuff to see.  LOTS!

a few interactive exhibits keeps it interesting for those with a short attention span

and LOTS of inspirational stories and quotes

i recommend checking it out if your downtown some time- it may have been my hormones, but i teared up a few times.

all day the clouds looked ominous

but we made it back to the car without encountering any rain

or gum for that matter - thanks in part to fellow activists.

my favorite part of staycation so far?

day drinking on the patio (it was allllmost 5...) with bill and playing cards.  i can't remember the last time i played a card game.

we're sitting on the patio now, too, only now we're getting our coffee in before heading out for the afternoon.

i'm vaguely remembering a list of all the stuff i wanted to do on break and silently laughing at myself for being so ambitious.

i'm going to keep on taking it easy - and if some of that stuff gets done, then great :)

monkeying around

i'm gonna rub it in real quick

i'm so well rested!

i've slept in until about 8:30 the past two mornings and it's been glorious.

or course - come next week this could be a nightmare when i have to get up at 6:30 again.

but of i could make sitting outside with my coffee a normal routine i would be all over that.

so the past 2 days of staycation have looked a little like this

sunny! and warm!  we got pretty red saturday and promptly picked up new sunscreen sunday morning.  am i crazy for buying new sunscreen each season?  bill is pretty fair skinned, and i burn a few times before eventually getting dark, so i'm always afraid that last season's sunscreen will be expired.  we spent about 15 minutes in target looking for one without oxybenzone that wasn't $20.

freshly lathered in sunscreen, we headed to the zoo

i've made it a point in my adult life to head to the zoo once a year.  typically it's in the hot hot summer and i swear all the animals are always sleeping. 

but not sunday!  it was still a bit cool early in the morning and the animals were up, feeding, and active.  definitely felt like i got my money's worth this go around.

this fella came right up to the glass and said hello to me.  like lookin in a mirror...

seeing this big boy run around was my highlight this trip

 or watching this little guy splash around.

we saved our dollars and avoided some sub-par zoo food, and headed down to the highlands for lunch.

where, as we stopped and shopped a bit, we came across this gem

a new kids' on the block comforter!  bill refused to let this go on our bed...but i'm thinking guest room?

i did, however, find some art work for the living room

this 18*24 poster from the 100th kentucky derby of downtown louisville is going to get framed (and matted if i can figure out how)

also, unpictured, we picked up two new wine glasses with fleur de lis on them - i'm sure they'll become useful soon :)

monday was a more relaxed day - we ran some errands, went to trader joes - and at 2 pm on a weekday i can vouch they are as every bit packed as they are on the weekend!

i browsed tj's but we ultimately came for the wine.  not the 2($3) buck chuck, but they carry this red german table wine that i absolutely love - got it and 2 others.

our last stop monday, was to the grocery - we were about to grill our first chicken ever!

i've never grilled, and bill has limited burger and dog grilling...so...it was about to get real.

and i can say that we were 100% successful!  i only seasoned the chicken with a spice rub a tiny shake of salt and the chicken was juicy and flavorful!

i did load up some kabob's with onions and peppers - but we didn't put enough coals on the grill and by the time we put the kabob's on, the heat was fading, and it was taking forever to cook.

lesson learned!

so the plan for today? bill has a teeth cleaning this morning, and i'm in charge of planning the afternoon.

there are a couple of museums we've never been to - in our own city! and a few we haven't been to in awhile.  so i'm about to get times and schedules and plan this all out

i hope to have perfected my lemonade making, too, by the end of this week - trying to reduce the sugar, and or sweeten it with honey for a less glycemic overloaded drink - and share with ya'll!  i can't begin to tell you how much i love juicing lemons.  i'm also bound and determined to make some all purpose cleaner with those lemon rinds - throwing them away seems sop wasteful.