Recapping: Waking Windows

Ah yes, another one has come and gone (plus one day if you folks start your weeks on Monday like normal people). This past week was crazy at work and I learned that I am officially the most awkward interviewer ever. I told one fantastic applicant that I didn’t like NYC (where he’s from) very much and that “I have a lot of feelings.” Yeesh folks, yeesh. (He took the job p.s. so all is not lost). Anyway Friday night til Saturday afternoon I was pretty much working so I haven’t got much to say on that part of the weekend except YAY hotel busy season 😉

Saturday afternoon Zach and I met some friends at Waking Windows, a local music festival that takes over Winooski. The festival which has certainly grown since we went last year, took place at various businesses around the town of Winooski including a main stage and food truck area in the downtown area.  After meeting up we headed over to Four Quarters Brewing to catch a band called Iron Eyes Cody and grab some beers. The band was awesome and totally worth having to wait in line for the majority of it. Some of the beers put out by Four Quarters aren’t usually my style as some of their more popular options tend to be a bit too sour for my unrefined pallet… sue me. I was so excited to try their White Peach IPA, it was so crisp and refreshing and paired so well with being at an outdoor music festival. We all talked about how we easily could drink it all summer. This was the first Derby day that I didn’t do anything special for which felt a bit odd, I guess that’s how you know you’re really out of the south! Though there was cornhole at the brewery so I was real freakin’ pumped about that.

After the brewery we hung out at the main stage for awhile and rocked some delicious pulled pork poutine from one of the food trucks. I liked the layout of food options along the water this year and I wish we had gotten there sooner to check out some of the local artist’s tables. It’s awesome that Waking Windows is a 3-day event so you can pick and choose the day and the kind of music you want to hear at the different venues around town. I’m glad we got tickets for Saturday because all of the bands we heard were great. Though I will admit 5:40pm Kari was much more pumped for listening to new bands than 12:40am Kari… I made it 15 minutes into that show before casually stepping out to call an uber. Guess my Bonnaroo days are behind me…

Sunday was officially my first day off in 12 days and all I wanted to do was sit around the house and do absolutely nothing so that’s what I did. I debated doing something active knowing that I’d feel better about the day but the furthest I got was to the corner store for some coffee and I’m quite okay with it.

Monday I had set up to be filled with appointments and getting my cleaning/laundry done but that was quickly turned upside down when I managed to completely throw out my back. 26 going on 86, I tell you. I forced myself to get out of the house for groceries (had to ask for help carrying them to my car at Trader Joes) but other than that I binge watched Happy Valley on Netflix all day. So that was a win at least.

What’s your beer style?

Have you been to any fun outdoor events lately?

Recapping: Restaurant Week(end)

Greetings Earthlings! Let’s get right into a recap shall we? After Zach and I got back from a beautiful wedding in NYC we had all of 1 night before having my sweet friend Sarah come visit for a long weekend. This was her first visit back since Maria & I moved her down to DC in August for her brand new big girl life so it was great to have her back in town and the fact that it fell during Vermont Restaurant Week was a great coincidence!

Thursday afternoon we got our gossip on while getting our nails done before heading over to Pizza Barrio. I had been to Barrio Bakery many times during the day for some great coffee & delicious sweet treats but had never actually made it for the evenings that they open up for Pizza.

How cute is this place??

The restaurant week deal looked great but we ended up breaking it up a bit to try a few things between the three of us. The Focaccia and bacon marmalade was an awesome salty-sweet combination that we were all big fans of. My favorite part of the meal was the chopped salad that we decided to split. I loved how fresh the lettuce, avocado, and cherry peppers were and the buttermilk dressing perfectly accompanied the goat cheese. It’s been 4 days and I’m still dreaming about it. Will need to recreate…

We tried two pizzas for our entrees, the Tricolore and the Green Mountain. The Tricolore was topped with mushrooms, fresh mozzarella and Prosciutto di Parma which was great but the Green Mountain pizza with it’s fresh apples and honey drizzle was the show stopper. Honestly you can throw apple slices and cheese together on anything and I’m in love, it’s the Vermont way.

It also helped that Heady Toppers were $5 and our server though clearly incredibly busy and maybe the only one working (?) was fantastic. I’d highly recommend this cute neighborhood favorite.

After dinner we rushed over to the Vermont Comedy Club to catch “Belly Laughs” performed by the hilarious Unmentionables improv group. I know I have discussed many times how strongly I feel about free shit so you can only imagine how excited I was to walk into the show and receive a badass canvas bag filled with swag from various Vermont Restaurant Week sponsors.

It’s quite difficult to have a bad time at a comedy show (plus the free shit high that I was riding helped) but this was particularly funny. I love the comedy club itself, it feels low-key and comfortable while still seeing top-notch performances and really fits what Burlington is all about. True to form the Unmentionables crushed all the glorious awkwardness that comes along with improv shows. They based their sets off of two interviews with people in the local restaurant/cider game which I thought was a cool way to connect to restaurant week.

Check this swag out folks! #chevreforevre

We spent the rest of the weekend drinking *arguably*  too much alcohol, waking up  semi-hungover and hiking a mountain with growlers from Fiddlehead because, welcome to Vermont. We started Saturday with dinner reservations at Pizzeria Verita as classy ladies and finished the evening by eating delivery Domino’s pizza and watching Gary the Goat youtube videos on the Big Comfy Couch. 26 is a real transition year.

It was a great time to have visitors and totally worth the fact that I am now exhausted to begin the month of May.

Do you participate in Restaurant Weeks around you?

 

I Just Don’t Understand…

How has it been a month since my last post? I feel like I say “oh i should blog about that” to myself every single day and yet getting it to actual post just seems to be a real big problem lately. Let’s do a mini recap of the weekend, shall we?

I don’t normally have Saturdays off but I took this last one off because I was signed up to run the Half Marathon Unplugged. While I was signed up- I did not actually compete. This is the first race that I’ve not competed in after signing up. It was a really hard decision but I hadn’t been getting the mileage in to make it a pleasant experience and the thought of “pushing through” just to say I did it felt wrong. Fear not (I tell myself) I have a new half at the end of June to focus on and that training plan is coming along very nicely.

There are quite a few great brunch options around Burlington but one of our favorites is definitely Henry’s Diner. Typical greek style diner tucked away on a side street it’s always packed and for a very good reason. The food is delicious, the portions are huge and it’s all pretty inexpensive which is amazing for myself and all the college kids that frequent it. Post brunch Zach and I had some friends over to watch the Masters. While we watched, Maria and I made cupcakes for her boyfriend’s birthday.

May I present to you, the very first cupcake made by the newest addition to our family- Charlie Conway the KitchenAid mixer (as seen on my Instagram). It’s a Bourbon Chocolate cupcake topped with Maple Buttercream frosting and Bourbon Candied Bacon.

After baking, Zach and I headed out to dinner at Pizzeria Verita which was packed but they squeezed us in to the pizza bar station. It was a little weird to have our backs turned to the restaurant but I was so fascinated by watching those guys make pizzas right in front of our faces that I quickly got over it.

I will admit I felt uncomfortable every time I made eye contact with them -which was a lot because I was staring like a stage 6 creeper- but after a Focal Banger you’d be surprised how comfortable you can be. The pizza itself was one of their nightly specials that had turkey, sun-dried tomatoes, feta, basil and a balsamic reduction. It was great but I have enjoyed other pizzas on their menu just a tiny bit more in past visits. It’s such a great restaurant though I’d highly recommend it!

We headed over to meet some friends at The Archives, Burlington’s newest downtown “barcade.” I believe this was their first Saturday night open to the public (?) and there was quite the interest. The beer and cocktail list was extensive, we both ordered a can of Boom Sauce IPA which we’d had before and loved but I think the $9 charge was a bit high even for a craft-beer oriented town such as Burlington. They had quite a few old school arcade games and though it was a crowded Saturday night, they were all pretty accessible. I’m literally horrendous at arcade games but I have fun trying. Any new spot has it’s kinks (the token machines kept emptying and waiting for a beer took a lot longer than it probably should have) but I really see the potential in this place. I definitely can’t wait to go back!

I worked on Sunday morning but made it home in time to catch the crazy day that was a Sunday at the Masters. I can’t even believe all of the magic that happened on the 16th hole! My boy Rory left himself too much to do but the Danny Willett story line is why I love sports so much. Monday was my day off which meant thousands of loads of laundry, grocery shopping (because I refuse to go on the weekends) and trying out a new recipe for “Cajun Chicken Pasta On the Lighter Side” from Skinnytaste It was so good!

Is everyone having a good start to their week?

How are your arcade/video gaming abilities?

Fun Facts Friday: Birthday Weekend Edition

Well hello there!

3 posts in 3 days? Quite the jump back in to blogging and it probably won’t happen often but I’m just so excited. This Sunday I turn the big 26 so I thought I’d share 5 fun things I’m looking forward to this birthday weekend of mine.

1. Being a Mascot.

I have definitely mentioned this before on the blog but if it wasn’t clear enough then, let’s just make it clear that I want to be a mascot so very badly. Last year a few friends at Hotel Vermont pulled some strings to get me into their Penguin costume for a few minutes on my birthday. This year, they asked me TO BE THE FREAKING PENGUIN one of the nights at their Ice Bar event. So yeah, don’t mind me just about to have the time of my life.

2. Penguin Plunging for an amazing cause.

Saturday morning a few of my co-workers and I are jumping into chilly Lake Champlain to raise money for Special Olympics Vermont. I have a few close friends who have worked closely with this organization and I have many more who have taken the plunge so I’m honored to be a part of it this year. I’ve never done a penguin/polar plunge before so I’m a little nervous but I know it’ll be a blast!

3. Attending Hotel Vermont’s 4th Annual Ice Bar.

This will be my 3rd time attending one of my favorite events of the year. Ice Bar is a great combination of sampling local foods, beer & cocktails all while listening to fun music and checking out amazing ice sculptures. Most importantly it’s the perfect event to celebrate a birthday with some great friends 🙂

4. A Casual Sunday Morning.

I can’t wait for a relaxing Sunday morning. I’ll be irrationally happy to stay in bed and watch Netflix in our Penguin (keeping on trend) PJs til we head to lunch.

5. Super Bowl!!!

I love being a Super Bowl baby, you get an automatic excuse to overeat junk food (forget yesterday’s post cough cough) and hang with all of your buddies watching football. What could be better? This year we are going to have a pretty small gathering which will be nice (and easy to clean up after). I’m so pumped to see my Tennessee Volunteer Peyton and the insane Broncos D take on superstar Cam and the Panthers offense. Peyton winning and then instantly retiring (come on bro don’t make me sit through another season terrified of you breaking in half) that would be the best outcome. Though I wouldn’t be too upset seeing Carolina take it, they’ve played Golden State good this season!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend 🙂

Road Tripping! A Beforehand Guide…

It’s vacation week friends!

I don’t know about you but I’ve been running the roads for as long as I can remember. My parents would just stick the baby sister and I in the car and off we went! In particular the drive from Vermont to Tennessee and everywhere in between is one that I could do with my eyes closed at this point. Hell I lost my first tooth in a tuna fish sandwich on the way to Tennessee and cried for an hour because I was certain the tooth fairy wouldn’t be able to find our hotel room in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania. #trauma

Today I thought I’d share a few tips for getting through long car rides with the majority of your sanity.

Embrace your Ride

My little blue bullet of a car has A LOT of “special features” as we like to say in my family. Your car’s special features are probably heated seats, a sun roof and maybe even a GPS? Mine are more like no A/C, crank windows and not even a tape deck let alone a CD player.

The fix?

A baseball cap for when your windows are down on the highway and you don’t want your hair flying all around. An empty seltzer bottle for singing into all those *awesome* songs on the radio and a sense of humor for when your bum gets stuck to the seats after sweating in the car for 5 hours at a time.

Actually to ride in my car a sense of humor is incredibly important as the car is actually totaled from a hail storm 4 years ago. The amount of conversations I have had with strangers about this hail damage would make your head spin. I’ve even been stopped in the parking lot of the Emergency Room to discuss it, DON’T HAVE TIME BRO, I’M AT THE ER FOR A REASON…

SNACKS! SNACKS! SNACKS!

If I’m on a mission to get somewhere I’m not wasting time stopping for food. I’m more of a… Subway attached to the gas station looks like a nice Subway, let’s get a sandwich. As snacks are crucial to any good road trip this is my typical shopping list…

Seltzer (for drinking followed by singing into)

Iced Tea

An entire bag of 12-Flavor Gummy Bears from the bulk bin of City Market

Junior Mints (the mint helps with the digestion of said gummy bears, obvi)

Cool Ranch Doritos (don’t even come at me with Nacho Cheese, I’m not having it)

Fruit of some sort (I’m not a complete waste case)

Appropriate Attire

In addition to the non-AC managing baseball cap there a few other staples of road trip wear…

Yoga Pants- great for yoga, even better for endless sitting as learned from Netflix binges.

Tank top- but be careful not to place arm out of window for long periods of time or else you’ll end up with one of those rather unfortunate but also kind of amazing arm burns.

Flip Flops- no better time to put that $2.50 Old Navy pair to use than a road trip

Don’t be a rookie and forget to put on a bunch of deodorant- awkward sweating only looks cute during and after physical activity. This is actually just a reminder to myself, I’m sure y’all know to put deodorant on.

A Solid Road Trip Buddy

Finally, if you are fortunate enough to have a partner in crime on this adventure make sure it’s someone who will put up with your annoying photo taking habit, obnoxiously chatty nature and is going to order extra dipping sauce at the restaurants attractive!

🙂

Any favorite road trips tips or stories?

Any fun Memorial Day plans?

Fun Facts Friday: May 15th

Aloha Friends!

Let us get to the fun facts shall we??

1. I ran my first 5K of the year last night!

I ran with some coworkers in the Vermont State Corporate Cup Challenge and it went pretty well actually! I was expecting to run it around 37 minutes and came in at 35:30 final time which I was veryyyyy happy with given that I just recently started pounding the pavement again. The weather was perfect, a little chilly at the start but once we got going I was happy to have a cool breeze. There were about 4000 runners/walkers that participated which meant for quite a bit of congestion throughout downtown Montpelier. My goals were to just keep good form, use my yoga breathing and not stop to walk, thankfully I hit all of them!

2. I met my first blogger friend in real life!

The lovely Rachel of the blog Darlin’ Rae aka the other badass Vermont blogger and I knew we would be running in the Corporate Cup but weren’t sure we’d be able to meet up before it given the craziness of the event. As luck would have it I had just taken a spot in line at the start and noticed a bright and shiny new pair of birthday sneakers that I recognized from her blog (cause I’m a creeper and remember that kind of stuff). We got to chat a bit and give our well wishes for the race, she is such a sweetheart! If you haven’t checked out her blog before I don’t know what you are waiting for!

3. I tried an awesome new beer that I must find more of!

After the race we headed to The Reservoir in Waterbury for a little post run food & drink. I decided to try the Foley Brother’s Brewing “Fair Maiden” double IPA and was not disappointed. It was perfectly hoppy but smooth and probably way too easy drinking for it’s own good. If you have a chance to try it out I highly recommend it.

4. My dress for baby sister’s graduation came!

The Loft was having a sale online a few weeks back and I snagged this awesome dress marked down from $89 to $33! I’m really digging this color for summer and it surprisingly goes with my current pale complexion though I hope a few rounds of self tanner will give it a little more pop next week 😉

5. Grey’s Anatomy Though?!?

All the feels for this stupid television show that I’ve never missed an episode of 11 years running.

Judge me as you feel necessary!

Have you ever met a blogger friend in person?

Are you part of the terrible television show watching club?

It’s (almost) my 25th Birthday! …Remembering Horrible Life Decisions

By this time tomorrow I will be the ripe old age of 25. This is the age that I will undoubtedly become a fully functioning adult human being because that is when that happens right? To celebrate (early) I thought I’d share with you some of the more horrible decisions I’ve made over the last quarter-century of my life and what I’ve learned from them.

1995: Kindergarten

I got a new hair cut and couldn’t wait to brag about it to my then best friend, Heather. I was so excited I didn’t even wait til the teacher stopped talking during class to blab on and on about my very fashionable bowl cut. Turns out if you talk during class you have to stay in during recess and sit in complete silence at your desk. This silence was and still is my nightmare.

   

My mother used to get so mad about those ears sticking out of the hat in all softball photos.

Life lesson learned: I have learned nothing from this to be quite honest. 20 years later I still talk far too much (a lot to my still best friend, Heather) and will tell anyone who will listen about my hair cuts and other relatively unimportant happenings in my life (aka having a blog).

2000: The Fourth Grade

I made the terrible mistake of calling my then nemesis Heather, a “bloody fish face” after returning from a family vacation in England. Heather did not enjoy this nickname and subsequently turned the entire class against me for an entire week.

European vacation photos with a cameo by little sister Meghan back when she smiled for photos.

Life lesson learned: Don’t assume you can use lingo you picked up from visiting a place for a week… it’s not your lingo… nobody will think you are cooler. Be yourself but don’t be an asshole. More 10 year olds need to hear that.

2005: Freshman Year of High School

Ohhh the Great Eye Brow Debacle of 2015… what a time to be an awkward teenager. I don’t even think you could consider my eye brows over-plucked… they just weren’t there. You wanna talk about a learning experience.

Sharing is caring. Don’t let this happen to you.

Life lesson learned: I wish I would have known that only two years after they finally grew back I would take a field hockey ball to the eye causing them to once again be ripped away from me. They are okay now but they will never be good. You know what’s cool 15 year old Kari? Eye brows. Keep them!

2010: Sophomore Year of College

Ah the year of the Bronzed Goddess. Jersey Shore was big, I was living in the south for the first time in my life and man did I care deeply about looking tan. So much so that I spent hundreds of dollars on tanning bed packages, spray tans and J-Wow Bronzing Lotion. I looked like an oompa loompa but nothing would stop me.

This was the night Casey and I also ate a 5lb bag of tater tots so you know… live and learn.

Life lesson learned: I practically sailed myself over from Ireland, never will it look “natural” to be a tanning bed regular. I mean besides the fact that it is horrible for you I’d go back and tell myself that even Snookie stopped tanning.

In all seriousness I’d tell 20 year old me to not get so hung up on fitting in. Don’t be so selfish and don’t spend every dime that you absolutely do not have. You are much more likely to not only maintain relationships but create new ones if you embrace the fact that you are a goofy, sarcastic, loud, giggly, dancing fool. I’m serious about the money thing though, former self, you are broke, please stop pretending you aren’t!

2015: The Big 2-5!

While it hasn’t happened just yet I hope that my worst decisions this year are eating too many McDonald’s french fries, being “too” good at applying liquid eyeliner and attempting to hug a police officer.

I hope I find balance between being taken seriously and not taking myself too seriously.

I hope that I take chances but make thoughtful decisions.

I hope that I keep smiling to show off my (first year on my own dental insurance) pearly whites.

I hope that when I drop the ball I find a way to pick it back up.

I hope I get that degree that has taken so many years and life lessons to get and remember how lucky I am to have been successful along the way to that little piece of paper.

I hope that this is the year that my brother thinks my stories are hilarious.

I hope that this is the year that I get a pony and figure out how to wear a tulle skirt in public.

I hope that I’m a better daughter, sister, girlfriend and friend to those I love so dearly but bring just enough dysfunction to keep making them laugh.

I hope that I become the coolest f&*#ing person on planet earth best version of myself.

As always, thank you so much for reading! You guys are seriously the best!

Feel free to share a hopefully hilariously horrible decision or a life lesson learned below!

5 Days Later… New Year’s Resolutions

Well hello there strangers!

This post is coming at you from the glorious comfort of my home Sunday evening… as in pre-writing a post instead of scrambling around Monday morning during my break at work per usual. I am delighted to share some 2015 goals with you lovely folks on this fine Monday morning 😉

Just for Me

Make a budget and actually stick to it. I’m one of the least budget oriented humans on the planet. On occasion I knock budget making out of the park but then it’s like “OOO look at all of this money I saved… must spend it now.” Approaching my 25th year of life I’ve decided it’s time to get serious about a realistic plan for my mostly hard earned cash. I’ve been researching apps and various articles/websites about keeping tabs on finances and hopefully I succeed in saving.

Volunteer. I’ve been a part of lots of groups in my life. All of those sports teams, clubs and social organizations offer so much but one thing I seemed to overlook was the fact that almost all involve volunteering. Now that I’m not part of as many groups I really haven’t done much by way of volunteering (unless you count the wine festival) in awhile know but I really believe Burlington is such cool place to live and it’s time to start giving back to the community.

Meal Plan. Actually cook the meals I plan. Truth be told I’m actually fantastic at meal planning. Organizing recipes and seeing how to use ingredients in multiple meals is so fun for me. Then there is that whole following through on actually making the meals that I seem to stink at. I get distracted with work or social events that constantly seem to pop up and then dinner becomes either out or cabinet specials. So far in the new year I have cooked 4 super simple but delicious meals and I’m so excited to keep that going. It may not be pretty but man oh man was it delicious.

Health & Fitness

Prioritize it! I used to put fitness at the top of my daily to do list. No matter what it was I made sure to get even the smallest work out in. While 2014 was better in terms of regaining that passion for health and activity, there is still so much room for improvement!  I mean I have the least expensive yoga membership ever & a gym in my office building… there should be no reason I can’t get in workouts.

Run 5 Races. Last year I ran a 10K and a Half Marathon and quite honestly I could have put in a lot more work than I did. I love training schedules and working the mileage into my daily routine. I think 5 races is an attainable goal and how could I not get excited about more race bibs??

I did it for the bib.

Strength Train. I don’t use weights… weights and I are not friends. We could be but I basically wrote them off the first time I met them. 2015 is the year I push myself to use them. Maybe even go to a cross fit class or two that my friend has been begging me to take with her for a year now 😉

Blog Life

Be more consistent. I’ve basically failed at maintaining any sort of consistent posting schedule. I may not need it to be all five days a week but if I could get to at least 3 a week I’d be over the moon. I also want to make sure they are as quality as they possibly can be. Writing posts the night before if possible and being able to tweak them instead of rush is a priority.

A Face Lift. I will soon be taking a web design class with the hopes of not only graduating (it’s required) but also learning more about how to do things with this fancy schmancy blog I’ve got. I’d love to get some better photos on here and clean up the joint in general. There are so many amazing resources out there that I absolutely need to take advantage of.

Be more health & fitness oriented. In addition to prioritizing fitness in my life I’d also like to share that on this blog more often.  I’m obsessed with following your weekly workouts and it’s so fun to see how the training process is going for everyone. I’ve mentioned random classes I’ve taken and fitness goals I’ve been working towards (getting a yoga membership was a big step) but I’m looking forward to sharing even more.

The only thing better than one planner is two planners. One for daily life and one for fitness, meals and blog stuff.

Cheers to keeping me accountable in the New Year 🙂

Do you have any fun resolutions or goals for this year?

Can you believe it’s already the first Monday of the year???

Awards Season

I know it’s not actually awards season anymore BUT I was recently nominated for another Liebster Award (you can read the first one here) and it reminded me that I was also nominated for a Very Inspiring Blogger award forever ago so I thought I’d participate today!

First off thank you to Tried and Glue for the Liebster nom! If you haven’t checked her out please do so, she is incredibly relatable and has grown a tomato… I can’t grow a thing so I’m impressed. She is even taking a Japanese class which I literally think is the coolest thing ever!

Big thank you to Sam at The Running Graduate for the Very Inspiring Blogger nomination! Sam is in grad school just across the lake from me in NY and it has been so fun getting to (internet) know her! She’s passionate about running and enjoys a good beer and ice cream… you all know how I feel about beer and ice cream.

So here are the “rules”

• Thank and link to the person who nominated you. Woot! Woot! Thanks Sam 🙂
  

• List the rules and display the award.

• Share seven facts about yourself

• Nominate 15 other amazing blogs and comment on their posts to let them know they have been nominated.

• Optional: display the award logo on your blog and follow the blogger who nominated you.

My Seven Facts

1. I was 100% a tom boy growing up. 

2. I’ve known my three best friends for more than 15 years, we could not be any more opposite if we tried but somehow it works 🙂

Meredith is my boss friend, she is a currently a Second Lieutenant (soon to be 1lt) in the Army and is stationed all the way in El Paso, TX!

Heather is my nerd friend, she’s currently in New Orleans working on her master’s degree in Architecture & Historical Preservation at Tulane.

Maria is my hippie friend, she just graduated from Elon and wants to go into the Peace Corps.

3. I want to become a mascot someday, I once got a small taste for it in high school during a Blood Drive…

4. My spirit cheese would have to be a sharp cheddar.

5. I’ve skied/snowboarded 20 different mountains across the country and into Canada. I plan on making this number MUCH higher in the coming years!

6. I’ve always wanted to learn how to play the fiddle however I could not be less musically inclined if I tried.

7. I have an entirely irrational fear of ferris wheels. I love roller coasters and thrill rides but something about a ferris wheel makes me so freaked out.

Nominations

Nominations are tough because I feel like so many people I follow have already participated but I’ll throw a few out there and if you’ve already participated, my bad!

Tried and Glue

Andrea Out Loud!

Julie Goes Healthy

The Keen Peach

Baking In Yoga Pants

Thanks for the nominations guys, it was a blast!

Feel free to share a fun fact or two below 🙂

Cheers to Two Years!

Two years ago today I went on my very first date with the loveliest human on the planet.  We went to a great Thai restaurant just outside of Burlington and then enjoyed a couple movies at the drive-ins also outside of town.  I mention the out of town part because this date was an entirely secret operation. Nobody but us was to know.

We met while at work and being the brilliant young professionals we are (ha ha) we wanted to keep it to ourselves for as long as possible.  Unfortunately for us, his roommate at the time Mike, was also a co-worker. We managed quite creatively might I add (read: there was a ladder at one point) for about a month before I accidentally ran into Mike on the sidewalk in front of their apartment. I pretended like I didn’t know that was where they lived… it seemed like a smart play at the time… but I was caught.

To the rest of the co-workers we dodged every “are you dating??” question we possibly could but come Christmas party time (and a few too many complimentary cocktails) the jig was up. We were indeed dating and we haven’t looked back since!

I thought I’d share a few photos from the last two years so enjoy 🙂

Crushing some company league softball.

Our first Tennessee football game together!

Our first Thanksgiving together

Frolfing like bosses.

Most attractive yard markers you ever did see 😉

Happy Anniversary Zach, here’s to many more adventures with you!