Weekend update: DC edition!

Two years ago for Christmas, eddie's sister, Carrie, gave me a plane ticket to DC for a girls weekend. We did that trip last April and I got some kind of a stomach bug and while I had a great time, I was a hot mess the whole weekend. We vowed to do it again! Carrie's birthday was last week so we thought this weekend would be perfect for a sister trip to visit Carrie! 

Tricia and I left Friday morning after making all kinds of crazy plans-- the snow this past week messed up soooo many things! The boys were on a delayed start, Eddie had an early appointment, and we had a flight to catch! So dad took us to airport and picked up boys and took them to school...after a quick trip to dunkin!

We were so excited when we landed for our sister weekend!!!

We landed and went straight to lunch. And it was yummy!

We left lunch and headed to Carrie's to rest up and relax a little bit. 

Her cat really liked the way my hair smelled. He spent much of the weekend like this:

We had dinner reservations at a really cute place Friday night with two of Carrie's friends. We ate some amazing food and drank some fabulous wine. Basically, I was in heaven. We even got to sing happy birthday to the special girl!

We woke up Saturday morning--after a glorious night of not waking-- and it was snowing! We went to this amazing brunch spot with all you can eat and all you can drink. And we stayed there for over 3 hours. Well over 3 hours. 

Heading to brunch:

Cheers to us!

Heading out after brunch... VERY happy!

We needed to find a quiet spot for Tricia to make a phone call so we popped into a bar (in a hotel lobby where trish could go into a quiet corner of lobby). We had another round of drinks...and by this point, I was realllllly happy. 

So we decided to head towards the mall for some pictures. The snow was really coming down at this point so it wasn't crowded at all. I had the best time playing in the snow!

It wasn't just me who had fun...

We had plan to go to dinner Saturday night late, but the snow was really falling and the roads were getting bad... So we got some take out and watched a movie and it was PERFECT!! 

We slept in on Sunday and had yet another brunch-- we really didn't do anything but eat and drink the whole weekend!! We headed to the airport for our 5:25 flight... And it was delayed. We sent this picture to the boys telling them we miss them:

After our flight was delayed 10 times, we started worrying and then finally, the flight was canceled. We went to plan B and rented a car and drove home. 

We got a sweet Ford Focus and hit 95 south!

We pulled into the driveway right around 11:30-- and it was worth it to sleep in my own bed!

Another great weekend in the books!!!! Love my "sisters" and love spending time with them!!

5 FRIDAY FAVORITES

Several blogs I read do a series every Friday where they post their "Friday Favorites." I love the idea and am going to start doing it too-- or at least attempting to!

So here are 5 of my favorite things right now:

Favorite 1: MY FRIENDS!
 

I am so lucky to have a wonderful group of friends.  More than just these girls pictured here.... I love that I can call on them and they will be there for me.

 When Molly passed, they all collected money to donate to the Patton Children's Education Fund in my name.  When one of my friends brought over the envelope with well over $600, I wanted to cry my eyes out. 

 Not only are these friends there for me in good times:

...but they are also there for me when I am at my lows and so so sad.  These friends are incredible and I can only hope to be that kind of friend to them-- the kind of friend Molly was!!!

 Favorite 2: big ol' drank

This sounds so silly.  I know.  I have been Diet Coke free for over a year now (those who know me well know this is QUITE a fete! I was beyond addicted).  I am now onto unsweet tea.  I love it.  I don't drink coffee so it is how I get my caffeine fix.  There is a gas station by the boys' school that has these HUGE Styrofoam (it's gotta be Styrofoam!) cups with the yummy crunchy ice and some perfect unsweet iced team.  And, the kicker? It is only $.87.  That is a good deal.  And it makes this place one of my favorites! ha! It's the little things....

Favorite 3: Polar Watch 

This favorite is more of an obsession for me.  I LOOOOOVE this watch! I wear it when I work out-- it comes with a heart rate monitor that I wear under my sports bra, around my sternum.  When I got the watch, I entered my height and weight and where I want my ideal heart rate to be (there is a chart for this).  I press start at the beginning of my workouts and it keeps track of my heart rate so I can see when I need to push myself more, etc.  At the end of class, I can see how many calories I have burned.  It.is.addicting! I can't workout without it now. 

You can find them on amazon here. Below is my watch after a kids pop class... I love you can see the calories and the heart rate (in the above picture, you can see your heart rate "range" of where to aim to have your heart rate, and the heart in the middle moves up and down as your heart rate rises and falls).

This watch is far more than a favorite... it is an addiction!

 Favorite 4: North Face Jacket

 My mother in law gave me the North Face Jacket I am wearing in the above picture for Christmas and it has definitely become one of my favorites! It is soooo warm! I love the length-- booties get cold if not covered! We have had a cold winter and I am definitely getting good use of this jacket! I can't find it anywhere to post a link to it...I think it sold out this year.  If you are looking for a good jacket next year, get this one quickly!

Favorite 5: Blue Diamond Almonds

 I have been trying to eat healthy.... we have a spring break trip coming up and this winter weight isn't going to lose itself (I should note that as I type these very words, I am eating reeses pieces....sigh).  These almonds are SO SO yummy! This flavor is sweet, so it gets my sweet craving and they are crunchy so that satisfies my cracker craving.  AND, they are filling! I sound like a spokesperson for these things and I am not... I just really like them! I threw this little can in my bag when we went to Connecticut for the funeral and it was perfect to have for a little snack when in the airport.  I also love the salt and vinegar flavored ones. 


Okay! That's it for this week!!! Let me know your favorites too!

 

Snow/Ice Day(s)!

It is COLD in North Carolina!

Monday afternoon, there was a winter weather advisory, which in NC, you can never know how serious that will be.

The snow started and quickly turned to ice....

We had to take the dogs out to see the glazing-- and it was slippery!

It became clear that school would be canceled on Tuesday so we had Tricia and Tommy over for some cocktails and playing outside.  We went sledding on the road out in front of our house.  The boys thought it was amazing...

We woke up Tuesday morning to pretty much a solid sheet of ice.  Our driveway had a thick layer of ice on it.  Andy decided to make an ICE angel. 

Cal apparently decided to work on his modeling poses...? 

And Bruce did not know what to think!

We went back out into the road in front of our house for some sledding-- when it is icy like this, you can't really sled like you can on snow.  But they had a blast anyway!

All three of these guys had fun sledding!

Wednesday, schools were canceled too... the roads were all pretty much fine, but there were some back roads that were still slick. Wednesday afternoon, REAL snow started falling down and the boys were in AWE of it! These were the BIG thick flakes. 

Cal watched it fall out the window- it really was beautiful!

 School was canceled Thursday as well... it has been a long week home with the boys!!! I am pretty sure they will be able to go to school tomorrow... it is still freezing (currently 17 degrees!), but the roads are looking good!


 

#carriedaway: week 5

Week 5:

 Day 29: perfect use of "slumber" filter.

 Day 30: loooooove sweet Lily!

 Day 31: my little baller

 Day 32: loving on the big red dog before bed.

 Day 32 part 2: how we watched the second half of the super bowl. #myfourleggedsons

 Day 33: heaven got the most amazing, beautiful angel today. It is way too soon to take her away from her babies, though.  My heart aches for my sweet, precious cousin and her children who had to say goodbye to her today.

 Day 34: finding the positive in a sad situation-- bringing the four of us together as we travel to celebrate the life of an amazing person. Thankful for family. Thankful for friends.

 Day 35: phew, today was not easy.  Molly adored her kids and after meeting them today, it's easy to see why.  I loved loving on them...wish I could do it every day.