Weekending: Stranger Danger

I am absolutely 100% in need of a weekend to recover from the weekend - heck, to recover from the last few months!

Even though this is technically a weekend recap post, our schedule has been so sporadic these last few weeks that I feel it's necessary to capture those fun details. This is a detailed post, but please stay with me until the end. I have something that I need help with. 

You may recall that E had a T&A procedure done on Good Friday. Recovery from this procedure can take up to two weeks. That's right, fourteen days of limited activity, watching her food and drink intake, and no school. Thankfully, our ENT said she could return to class after ten days if everything went well. However, we still needed to stay at home with her during the first week. I was able to work from home that Monday and our sweet Foxie came to watch E for the rest of the week. The week was filled with trying out the Walmart grocery pickup, covering Foxie in stickers, and getting Foxie out of the house in the evenings for Bible study, Thai food, and manis and pedis.

Personally, I had a very rough day staying home with E on Monday and while my mother has the patience of a saint, it was so important to me to try and give her a break in the evenings. Plus, I just love hanging out with my mother! I cannot seriously thank her enough for helping us out. 

Now onto the weekend....

A huge audit from HQ is being conducted for our division in a couple of weeks. We've been working on this audit (I don't think it's like your typical audit - remember, I'm in marketing) over the last few months and there has been some confusion over which sections need to be completed. Imagine my excitement when finding out that two parts needed to be filled out and I had only a couple of days before it was due. Ugh. My entire Friday was spent working on that and staying about an hour past closing time. Mom and I decided to go out to eat so E could get out of the house and I rushed home to pick them up for a girls night out. We feasted on Italian food and stopped by Dairy Queen for dessert on the way home. 

Before E's procedure was placed on the books, Foxie had already planned to sit for E while we had a date night to the Music & Miracles Superfest event in Auburn. Since she would be at home with E on Saturday night, we decided to venture out that morning with the hope of wearing down the toddler who started skipping her naps.

Our morning began downtown at a delicious restaurant that has the yummiest biscuits. This was perfect since E loves her some biscuits! The owner is local and owns numerous, unique eateries in the area. This one in particular boasts a rustic, eclectic design and is relatively inexpensive for breakfast food. I had a delicious biscuit sandwich with ham, goat cheese, and jalapeño jelly - my taste buds are watering just thinking about it!

Following breakfast we strolled through downtown, bought some produce from local vendors, and watched someone do more push ups than I can count (totally kidding, but it was a lot) to earn free food.

We headed back toward the house and I stopped at a local boutique to spend my gift card from Christmas on a dress and earrings for the concert that night.

Yes, I jumped on the tassel train. I really love this trend!

E also figured out how to open the door while we were on our way home.

That afternoon we headed to Acre for another delicious meal. This time I tried their salmon cakes and they did not disappoint.

Tickets were purchased so long ago that I totally forgot we were sitting on the field for the concert! Anyone who knows me is aware that I love ALL things Auburn. Sitting on the 50 yard line was right up my alley! I was THRILLED.

We basically missed the opening act, David Ray, since we were trying to get to our seats and grab some refreshments as it was quite toasty. Not as hot as on Game Day, but close. Budweiser was a sponsor for this event so I was able to have a cocktail in the stadium...legally. 

Kelsea Ballerini came on next and she was adorable.

Following her was Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Y'all.

My sorority, band-party loving self was beyond ecstatic to hear them play. "Sweet Home Alabama" in the Auburn stadium?! Yes, please!

We also witnessed the event crew climb up and down this structure throughout the evening. No, thank you. 

For those sitting on the floor, portapotties were set up on the lower level outside the stadium. J & I were pretty excited to walk under the stadium since it is my understanding that you only see this part if you are detained on Game Day.

The sole reason I wanted to attend this event was to see my boy, Thomas Rhett. He was SO good and charming. I love his music! Plus he brought his dad on stage who writes a good chunk of the songs on country radio. And my apologies for the pictures - my iPhone does not do well in concert settings.

 

Between Thomas Rhett and the headline, J decided to take a nap. Old man can't hang. 

Before Blake Shelton took the stage, one of his team members from The Voice (did I say that right?) came out to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner." Apparently, it was Morgan from season nine and she did a fantastic job - beautiful voice!

Finally, Blake took the stage and rocked out. He has such a fun personality and was entertaining to watch.

We didn't stay for his whole performance since we had to drive home and wanted to miss traffic. It also started to rain so we headed back to the house and got home sometime after midnight. 

It was a long day, but worth it! One thing that impressed me is that all of the artists sounded great. Sometimes you don't have the same experience with other genres of music. 

And I'm still bummed that I didn't have a football on hand to run in the end zone. 

Onto the stranger danger part....

While J and I were dining in Auburn, I received this message from Foxie:

First, let me declare that we do not order pizza enough for her to know the delivery man, thanks in part to Whole 30.

Secondly, I have read "stranger" themed books to E with the hope that she will pick up on stranger danger. Clearly, this is not working. 

Parents, any advice? Keep in mind that she is three, but I would LOVE some ideas to help us convey that everyone is not our friend. Please help!

*Linking up with B Loved Boston, My Glittery Heart, and HoHo Runs

   

Weekending: A-Day Style

The weekend came and disappeared way too fast. Unlike the crazy weather last week, these past few days were nothing short of perfect with sunny skies and cool breezes.

I feel like I have alluded to my hectic last few weeks at work and Friday was more of the same. I stayed almost two hours late to tie up loose ends, catch up on email, prepare for the upcoming week, etc. My schedule for this week is spotty so in an effort to relieve any stress I may feel today, I kicked off my weekend at the office. I simply do not have enough hours in the day and sometimes enjoy how quiet it is when everyone is gone. For the record, I do not want more work hours in the day.

By the time I left to head home, Aunt Foo Foo was already in town! We made dinner and went to bed early in anticipation of A-Day.

What is A-Day you ask?

A-Day is the spring scrimmage game for Auburn. It's held in the stadium and is an event where you get a glimpse into what the upcoming season holds. My sister and I thought it was interesting that neither of us attended as students and it happened to work out that we could go to our first A-Day game together.

If you've never been to Auburn, it is a beautiful campus (I don't care who you cheer for, the university is gorgeous) with tons of unique boutiques and eateries around town. We made reservations at one of the restaurants my sister and I dined at last year and yall, if you are EVER near Auburn you must visit Acre.

The food is incredible and the experience is nothing but pleasant. Everything is local - they literally have gardens on site, plus the Southern cuisine is like no other. The decor is rustic, charming, and eloquent. It's a great place for your family gatherings, girls night out or date night. I'm obsessed and kind of thankful that it wasn't around when I was a student. I would have been broke(r).

I am still on a round of Whole 30 so I couldn't partake in the majority of the menu, but had the most amazing salmon salad. My sister ordered the goat cheese guacamole and claimed it was the best she's ever had (hope her husband isn't reading this)!

Following lunch we headed to the stadium for the game. Our seats fell in the shade shortly after kick off which was a nice change from our normal spot.

We stayed until halftime and decided to head back before E acted like a threenager (she was a diva that morning) and because we needed to pick up our new mattress.

It was around dinnertime when we pulled into the driveway, but we had enough time for E to attempt to dye Easter eggs.

Once again, my Instant Pot came in handy when it was time to prep the eggs.

It's been many, many years since I have participated in this tradition and some of our eggs came out a bit funky.

Sunday was equally busy as we headed to church and then stopped at the pediatric urgent care to have a strep test done. E was not herself this weekend and with her procedure scheduled for the end of the week, I wanted to confirm that she was okay/discuss options with the doctor if it was positive. For the first time in a long time, we received a negative result. Good news! I honestly question the validity of it though as she displayed (and still is) her symptoms before strep usually rears its ugly head. Since she has the T&A in a few days, the NP ordered a throat culture. Hopefully that will be clear and we can head into this final chapter of strep drama. Bravo would have had a winning series with us.

Our Sunday School class had a family picnic scheduled for that afternoon so we picked up Chipotle and headed to the park for some fellowship and food. The rest of the afternoon was spent napping, saying bye to Aunt Foo Foo, and laundry. The laundry never flipping ends.

One of the highlights from Saturday was receiving a few customized memes from my DJ. We took a couple of pictures in front of the house prior to our Auburn outing and I posted a couple on social media. A few hours later, I received these gems:

These seriously made my day. I laughed so hard when the texts came through.

I'm obsessed with our fur babies and now Miss Friski has made her meme debut.

This week will be a chaotic one for sure so my posts may be sporadic.

On a sunnier note, Easter has become one of my favorite holidays as an adult and with Holy Week upon us, I hope everyone has time to remember how much God loves you.  Trust me, it's something I will be clinging to as my imperfect, hot-mess self will be running around like a wild woman these next few days.

*Linking up with B Loved Boston, My Glittery Heart, and HoHo Runs

**This post may contain affiliate links.

  

Whole 30 Jalapeno Poppers

Fixings

• 6-10 Jalapenos
• Plain cream cheese from Kite Hill,
• Compliant bacon (I buy the Maverick brand from Publix)

Fix It

1. Wash & cut the jalapenos lengthwise. Deseed the peppers accordingly (I wear gloves when doing this ever since my sister cut jalapenos and even after washing her hands, tried to change her contacts. Three days and a milk wash later, she lived.)
2. Spread cream cheese on each pepper. 
3. Wrap in bacon (I cut each strip in half). 
4. Place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and cook for fifteen - twenty minutes at 400 degrees. 

2016: My Best-selling Storytelling

Can you believe 2017 is finally here?!

I feel like I have reached that point in my life where the days, months, and even the years are flying by. #OldPeopleProblems

I for one am looking forward to a new year. For my family, 2016 was a time filled with many joyful moments mixed in with some really, really BIG lows. During a chat with a close friend, she stated “Man, 2016 has really sucked for y’all. I hope 2017 is better!” I guess I had not given it much thought, but truer words have not been spoken. This last year was a doozy. 

Like any good story (or reality TV show), ours was filled with everything an audience could want – conflict, heroes, tension and victory. You could even say that our 2016 narrative falls into multiple genres, such as:   

Romance

J & I really kicked up our dating life this year. One of our best dates was seeing Elton John in concert. From someone who appreciates pop entertainers such as Britney and Gaga, Sir Elton did not disappoint. It was such a fantastic performance!

We also attended a local Auburn club event where we met Kodi Burns and Jonathan Wallace. You can read about that event here. For our anniversary, we headed to Atlanta to watch the Falcons play the Carolina Panthers. 

Of course, who can forget Saturdays in the fall spent in my most favorite place ever? Auburn gamedays are usually my favorite dates!

Adventure

This year we were able to take our little munchkin on her first beach trip to Florida. E had a blast and it was some much-needed time away from our normal busy routine. Our days were spent building sandcastles, exploring the ocean, and witnessing wildlife. 

Evenings consisted of delicious dinners (food taste THAT much better when I don’t have to cook), ice cream treats, and drinking wine on the balcony while listening to the waves. Take me back, please.

Family Saga

New chapters began in 2016. Dance class became part of our weekly schedule and E is an absolute hoot. Like her mama (or so I’m told), she marches to her own beat and knows how to steal the show. I am brought to tears from hysterically laughing when we have the opportunity to sit in on her class. However, one of the best (if not THE best) moments from this year was having my sister and BIL return to the United States. Words cannot express how thrilled I am to have these two people in the near vicinity.

While our tale for 2016 has ended, the prologue for 2017 is underway. I have faith that the Author will continue writing what is best for our family, complete with all the necessary themes and details to produce a fascinating read.

You know what would be an ideal kick off to the new year? A Sugar Bowl win for Auburn. Here’s to hoping my Tigers can pull off the upset! 

And of course, Happy New Year!