life - march edition

What a week.

Do you ever have a week that makes you totally regret becoming an adult? Welcome to my week of March 20th. Well, I'm just being dramatic but lets just say that moving, working, lifing, and being responsible (aka what every other adult does) isn't all fun when it happens at the same time. 

I would say that Natalie and I are pretty settled in at this point, a few things still need to be hung but mostly it is starting to feel like home. BUT, there is always a but. 

Our Verizon just got set up Friday,  over 2 weeks after the moved in. Trust me, you don't even want to know. Apparently the people that previously lived here did not disconnect their service. Our power has been cut off my mistake not once but TWICE in the past two weeks. Our couches got delivered and they couldn't fit them in our doors, proceeding to rip the couch and a hole in our dry wall. Lovely right? I've reminded myself that I'm fortunate to have a roof over my head and food to eat many times this week. 

End of rant. My wine consumption will return to normal tomorrow.

But really, I could use a an extra day.

Things have been busy and I have been bad about documenting, this is much more of a clear my phone in no random order type of thing. 

_____________________

My Dad came home for a week and as always we were very happy to have him around.

 He lucked out as his trip coincided with my move wonderfully, he would 100% argue with this statement but I was very thankful.  But in reality I know that you read this on occasion, THANK YOU! Thanks for hanging all of my "useless crap", assembling all of my "unnecessary" Ikea purchases,  and doing it all with a smile. I couldn't do it without you and we miss you already!

My Mom had a birthday, 53 to be exact.

Birthdays are hard, I'm not going to lie and I'm not one to try and sugar coat it. They suck, it doesn't necessarily get easier but it gets a little more tolerable each year. 

We miss her so much and I think of her often, it is hard to grasp that it has almost been 5 years since we lost her. It was a good day celebrating her and her life and of course an excuse to eat cake without feeling guilty.

Shamrock the Block has come and gone once again.

It was actually pretty cold this year but it was fun to see some of my very favorites that I don't get to see often enough. 

I'm never drinking a vodka Redbull again.

Then actual St. Patrick's Day rolled around and I would have done just about anything to be back in Ireland, I have the itch to go back. Actually I have the itch to just go to Europe, try and tell me that you can beat this view. 

 

I had a impromptu visit from Quinn and Lauren and I'm still trying to grasp how big she has gotten. I hadn't seen them since Q was born in January and I got a good recharge on my baby snuggles. 

I'm craving some Bodos so I'm thinking a trip to Charlottesville is in my near future.
 

The weather around here has been amazing. We have had a few cold days but mostly 60s and 70s, March is such a tease. You have warm days and then 20 degree mornings but it has warmed up this past week and allowed for some outside fitnessing and strolls around our neighborhood. 

Hello Spring, Goodbye Winter - I won't miss you.

 All in all things are oh so good and I have nothing legitimate to complain about, hard to bitch when you have a few like this a few steps from your window.

Cheers to Monday. 

this & that

Life man. 

Things have been more than great in my world recently and I honestly don't think I could be much happier. Everyone is happy/healthy, I'm moving this week, my Dad arrived in Richmond tonight, I'm loving work more each day, and the temperatures are rising. 

But (there is always a but) sometimes life throws you some curve balls and you've gotta just roll with the punches. That hasn't always been my strong suit but I'm often reminding myself that things I'm not faced with things that I cannot handle. Life isn't all peaches and cream, sometimes you have to have awkward conversations, make choices on a whim, and put yourself first.

I wouldn't say this post has any sort of real direction, it is much more of a "I need to get some of these random pictures off of my phone" or I'm never going to mention them type of thing. 

 

 Farmville sunsets, I know I mention these frequently but they are a real thing and one of my favorite things about that little town. 

I think that this was from my last trip down and the timing was just right.

 

I also accumulated a lot of t-shirts during my time in Farmville, literally everytime I turned around it was $12 for this t-shirt and god forbid $20 for a long sleeve. 

I ended up giving the majority of mine away before I left, only keeping a handful that were special. Well, they were taking up a lot of space, they weren't being worn, and some just weren't in very good condition. 

I had thought about getting a quilt made for awhile and just hadn't done it but finally bit the bullet. I went with Project Repat and couldn't have been happier with the outcome. You pick the shirts you want to use and simply ship them off, the hardest part was cutting them up yourself but it was a lot cheaper to only send the side you actually wanted. 

The entire process only took around 15 days from the time I shipped the shirts to receiving my quilt that was finished, I would highly recommend to anyone that is thinking about it!

Days like below give me hope, this was a Sunday with 80 degree temperatures so I watched Netlfix on the front porch and it was a glorious 3 hours. 

I'm ready for 80 degrees to come and stick around, it doesn't get much better. We have had such a mild winter with only one small snow that I really cannot complain, especially compared to last year.

I think that this picture was taken the same day as the one above, the same beautiful Sunday. I headed home for family dinner with my Poppy. Sometimes you just have to go home for dinner, it brings you back to your roots, reminds you of what is important, and I just love it. I also love that it gives me a chance to escape the city for a little while even though it is only 20 minutes up the road. 

 I love that I'll have memories of eating dinner with my Grandpa on Sunday and talking about stupid stuff that happened during the week. 

Priceless if you ask me. 

Speaking of Poppy, he went to Mardi Gras this week and I had the pleasure of house sitting. He is 85 and way cooler than me, he also reminds me that he has always been cool que the picture below. If you ever meet him his stories of his time at Paris Island are the best.

I went a little lighter. 

I have dark brown hair and it is curly. So why not make it the complete opposite of what it is supposed to be in all ways. I'm liking it, it is a nice change and I think that I will be happy with it for the summer time. 

Last Thursday marked a year since my Mimi passed away and it is so hard to believe. I honestly cannot grasp that fact that I haven't talked to her in a year, I still walk in the house and expect her to be there sometimes. I miss her, I miss her laugh, and I miss having someone call me Princess at all times. 

 

Mimi started writing to me as soon as she found out that my Mom and Dad were pregnant and she kept this up until I turned 18. I have 5 composition notebooks filled with entries and they read exactly how she spoke. I was packing up some of my things that were still at my Grandparents this past week and came across these and they are so very special, it is such a fun tradition and one that I hope to carry on someday.

And last but not least. 

Happy (belated) Birthday Longwood!  Thank you for giving me the best 4 years of my life, making me appreciate the little things, giving me the most amazing friends I could ever ask for, bar nights on Thursday, Saturday karaoke, 202 in general, and of course El Patron white sauce & margaritas. 

You'll always hold a special place in my heart.

xo 

Cheers to procrastinating on packing up the rest of my belongings! 

Moves

I'm the complete opposite of an impulsive person. 

I'm a huge fan of lists, weighing pros and cons, thinking things through, "sleeping on it", and even taking the safe route on occasions. But sometimes I surprise myself.

 One of the speeches at my graduation told us to not be afraid to "pull the parachute" at times in life and this stuck with me, I'm honestly like the last person that would ever make decisions like this though. Well, I pulled the parachute. 

I'm moving. 

Just 6 miles down the road to the lovely Church Hill. What can I say? My time spent at Libby Hill Park got to me and I just didn't want to leave. 

It is weird situation, I was sent a Zillow link on Wednesday, went and toured it on Thursday, and wrote a check on Friday. Definitely not something that I ever anticipated being in the cards but sometimes the unexpected are the best surprises.

I'll be moving sometime next week, I'm not stressing about packing and getting everything situated...it will fall into place. Conveniently my Dad is actually coming to RVA next Monday through the end of the weekend, he got out of moving me into college 3 times so I'll be taking him up on his moving services.  

I'm excited for this journey, my next adventure. I'm excited to live in an area that I adore, surrounded by so much history, having the space that I need, the most amazing view I've ever seen, and to have a home base. It was the next step for me, while it might seem like a leap I couldn't be happier.

xo