Friday Favs

From here on out, I'm keeping my Friday posts short and sweet. Everyday I seem to have a whiny voice that shouts, "O my gosh, that's my favorite cookie, my favorite flower, my favorite book!" Guess what happens the next day? My favorites have already replaced. Hmmm.... Now I have a chance to say them loud and proud!

Here's what I'm crushin' on - Royal Wedding Themed 

Perfect curled waves. My stick straight hair just won't cooperate. 

Pumps meant to bring home the party (and Prince)

Tufted Couch (Anthro, you've done it again)        

Over the top hats. Over the top BEAUTIFUL hats. 

A fairy tale story along with a fairy tale kiss. 

Happy Friday! 

Sometimes being too far is too much to handle

My life in the glass half-full view is still on point, BUT my life as of today took a turn. I am facing the fact that no matter how much my friends and family are with me in spirit, they simply aren't here nor am I there. My dad caught some bug today and is completely wiped out and not the Pops I know. I can't believe this. Yesterday was his birthday and I was singing "Happy Birthday" like a broken record. Today, I am crying because my heart is broken knowing he is under the weather. Something is different about this bug. My Pops hates doctors and won't swallow any pills. He's a man's man. He is tough. He doesn't need pity or help. Right now, that's all I want to do. Being more than 2,000 miles away and on the opposite side of the country from my parents, I am hurting and trying to figure out how I can save up enough pesos to make it there to take care of him. I want to warm his soul with chicken noodle soup. I want to sneak Gatorade into his water. I want to do his job so he can rest. I want him to feel better and be back to being himself. Right now, I really want to be home.

It's tough growing up, it's tough seeing loved ones hurt, and it's beyond tough knowing at this very moment there is really nothing I can do but continue calling and continue crying. Tomorrow will be better for both of us. I need a good book, a good night's sleep, and a sweet dream. I need to know being this far away from home is okay and that one day we will all be closer.

So what was our Easter tradish?

Mike tends to shorten every word. And you know what they say, "The more time you spend with a person, the more you begin acting like them." Well this is true and now look at me saying tradish instead of tradition. O boys.

Okay, but the point of this point is to go back and answer my question of finding and implementing a new tradition. We searched high and low. We thought about dying eggs. We thought about not dying eggs. We thought about joining another family's egg hunt. He didn't really think about this, but I just kept sneaking it in. So what did we do?

It combines both of our past times. Here is a hint:

Really I'm nothing close to a pro-golfer, but Mike came this close [___] to playing in the MLB!

We ended up miraculously driving by a driving range and batting cage playground in one and thought, "Why not?" So after a bucket of balls, a few hundred softballs, and an afternoon of laughter we found our tradition. From here on out, every Saturday pre-Easter, you'll find us on the green and swinging a bat. This tradition is a little out of the ordinary, but it's ours and I couldn't be happier!

Egg-static for Easter

Yup, I took it there. It's better than eggs-aggerating my excitement for this weekend, or eggs-plaining my love for traditions. Okay I'm done.

It's something about holidays that make me want to celebrate this special day more than I did last year. It's something about beefing up the day as if it's better than other days. Some of my traditions include:  

• Halloween - Chili is the only dinner I will eat on my favorite holiday.   
• Thanksgiving - Walking a thousand miles (really like 8) with my best friend and then ordering our very first peppermint hot chocolate for the season. 
• Christmas - Pistachio and marshmallow pudding is my favorite dessert on this day (sorry frosted snowman cookies)  
• Easter - My friend Bee and I try to get together at least once a year and this happens to be our day. Soaking up the Charleston sun, stuffing our bellies with some amazing grub, and going to church is what I look forward to. 

Unfortunately, this Easter plans didn't follow tradition, and I am now trying to find something to fill this void. Mike, would you like to dye eggs? Mike, how about making some chocolate, coconut mini bird nests? Mike, want to sneak into someone's egg hunt? This poor guy is in for a weekend full of adventures I'm about to label traditions. hehe. 

If someone knows how to make eggs look this vibrant, I need your secret.

If you have any traditions you would like to share, please pass my way. 

Have an egg-cellent weekend!

Peep Peep

You know you have a best friend when out of the blue you realize it's 1) Easter (soon), and 2) you haven't stuffed your face with Peeps or Cadbury eggs. There is a problem. Did you hear that, Houston we have a problem! This girl, me, couldn't have asked for a better combination of candy to be sold at the same time than Peeps and Cadbury eggs. Okay so back to the best friend :)

I just came home to a box labeled "priority." Goodness gracious, what could be shipped that deserves to be labeled "priority?" Well Meghan knows me best and prioritized something I've neglected - my spring sugar fix. Yup, she took off the Peep packaging plastic, slipped in a cute Easter card, and sent me heaven in a box. On a side note, what's with the removal of plastic? I love sugar coated marshmallows puffs, aka Peeps, hard and dried out. It's something my Pops passed down and it's something I one day hope to pass. (Remember it's the little tips in life we all should know.) I couldn't stop smiling. My stomach couldn't be happier. I wish I could reach out and give her a big ol' thank you hug! So what it comes down to you is you know you really have a best friend when the simple things in life that you somehow forgot about knock at your door, are ready to be consumed (no waiting 2 weeks to dry out), and leave you going to bed the happiest girl in the world!

Thank you, Meghan! Good night, sweet dreams, peep peep!

Creature Comforts

We are creatures of habit. We like our routines even if we pretend we don't. We know our favorite spots, streets, treats, etc. This is our element. This is what makes us comfortable.

If you were to ask me at this moment, what I love most - it's what I did tonight. 

- Orioles baseball game against the Twins. We won!

- Sitting next to my love, in front of some annoying guy, and behind a former baseball star (I'm terrible at sports facts and names).

- Driving home and seeing the temperature > an ever so perfect 81 degrees, 0% humidity!

- And to top it off, coming home to devour a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. 

It really is the little things that make me smile. Nothing says comfort to me like a toasted, melts in your mouth peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm. 

It really is a good thing.

Sometimes (more than sometimes) I have to remind myself it's a good thing that stuff like this takes place:

1) Your phone at work always seems to be ringing when you are in the middle of a project. > Good or bad someone has something to say, ask, etc. It means you are in business.

2) As many times as you think you've just painted your nails better than you ever have, they will chip by tomorrow morning. > This is a good thing. You have 20 other colors waiting for their turn to shine.

3) No matter how far away from home you may think you are, you still have a home. > Quite frankly, I feel like I have a part of my home in Boise, Salt Lake, Sydney, Denver and now Baltimore. Five is better than one.

4) Whenever I see Mike he first leans in for a kiss, a hug, or wants to hold my hand. > This is the best thing any person in love or like could wish for.

5) Looking forward to paychecks and knowing what it feels like a few days before when you only have $25.00 to your name. > That's $25.00 worth of savings.

6) Having family and friends so far away from my heart. > No matter the miles, you still have people you love and who love you nearby.

7) Hearing my neighbor's child run like a wildfire above my bedroom ceiling. > At least you don't have the responsibility of a child and thought of feeding someone else before yourself.

8) Coughing up a lung and wishing my mom didn't live so far and could take care of me. > Realizing CVS is only 5 minutes away, I can drive, I can pay for my medicine, and really I just need to drink some tea. Being sick brings a person back down to reality and makes them (me) remember how wonderful my mother is.

9) Stressing out about the next 5 years of my life and what will happen. > Calm down, B. Look how far you came over the past 5 years. It's only going to get better. Chin up!

10) Feeling as if I have too many things to do, too many books to read, too many places to visit, too many restaurants to try, too many this and too many thats. > Too many is better than too little. Life is too big for us to realize what it was all about until it's over.