"I'm on a boat"

Slacker--I cannot believe I have not posted since May 13th! It has been crazy busy around here but I have to take a sec to relive the weekend I just had so that it doesn't turn into a dream.

Because that is what I thought Monday morning when I woke up, "was that all a dream?" Because as the reality of Monday sucker punched me with all its deadlines and laundry and phone calls to return and refridgerators to be filled and a baby completely off schedule, the only proof I had of my weekend was some pictures and bruises up and down my arm. Because that's all I could do all weekend was pinch myself saying "you're here, this is actually happening."

                              

About three weeks ago, I received this invite in the mail from my college friend, Catherine Anne, inviting Bert and me to Miami for her 30th birthday weekend. I looked over the cutest invitation I have ever seen and texted her that I would try to figure out a way to make it but that it may not be in the cards for me. She texted back, "we've got your plane ticket and hotel room--you have to come!" Now this is a friend who is there for everything! We moved to Atlanta together after college, went through all the "oh no, I'm a grown up" stuff together, and met our husbands around the same time. Not only that, she came to my wedding that was two days before Christmas and her baby was only 6 weeks old--That is a GOOD friend! 

Once we figured out that my parents were moving and my in laws couldn't keep Loulie, my sweet husband sent me without him saying to go and have fun! No trouble fulfilling that command :)

They put us up here. Seriously, I could have stayed at the Holiday Inn and been happy being able to sleep in and take long showers without interruption but our hotel was amazing! All I know, is that it is Gwyneth's favorite and she could recommend toilet paper and I would totally go out and buy it--I think she is awesome! So staying where GP prefers pretty much made my year.

At the SoHo Beach House with the birthday girl!

Friday night they had a birthday party at the SoHo Beach House. I'm not sure if it was the endless glasses of champagne, the lobster, the fabulous reggae band or the company of great friends but I could have stayed all night. After taking a not so planned tour through the old hotel (my favorite was the bar covered in white Christmas lights--if I could just get my backyard to look like that), we headed over to what we thought would be just a regular bar. 

Wrong! If you know Catherine Anne and Patrick, they never do anything half-hearted. The thing about this entire weekend is that it was supposed to be for Catherine Anne, except she just kept asking us if we were having fun and wanting us to enjoy Miami. So instead of hitting up the hotel bar (which was still out of this world), Patrick sent us on a detour into LIV. Now I haven't been into a club in about oh, 20 + 9 months; but this was pretty incredible. Although, it was tons of fun, it was the only time during the entire weekend where I felt my age. No longer am I used to music vibrating through my chest, dancing close to about 2000 other people and drinks being spilled. Lynmarie and I ducked out a little early so we would be well rested for the next day.

They rented the Never Say Never for the day. Now I tried to be cool about this but I may or may not have danced down the side of the boat at one point singing "I feel like Beyonce!!!" Because only someone like Beyonce gets to sit on a yacht in Biscayne Bay getting a massage while drinking champagne and having waiters bring you fresh scallops and crab claws. The joke was we might get struck by lightning heading back in because no one deserves it this good.

It was a weekend of such luxury and fun and friendship. I have known most of these girls forever it seems like now and any weekend with them would be fun. It was such a blessing and a treat to celebrate Cat Anne's 30th together in such a fun way--I know it will be a memory none of us will forget! We kept joking that this kind of living takes some of the edge off of aging and we really can't wait until she turns 40! ;)

All over the place

WARNING: This post may be all over the place which would be no different from my brain and my body this week.

First off, I want to thank everyone for such encouraging messages for my birthday and to my family for making it so special. I started the day off at church which was all about whether or not we really believe(in our heart, not our mind) that the Lord truly loves us. So I already had that on my mind when we got up to take Communion and out of nowhere the worship team starts playing one of my favorite songs. And as they are getting to my favorite part, Loulie lays her little head on my shoulder, snuggles in and starts to pat my back. It was all I could do to hold it together standing in the middle of the church aisle. What can I say--I am blessed and truly grateful to the Lord for all he has given me, most importantly his love.

The rest of the weekend was spent doing fun things as a family. We hit up the tree lighting downtown and the boat parade in the harbor. For whatever reason, Loulie was still going strong at 10:30 while Bert and I were crawling back to the car. I'm pretty sure she stopped and talked to every person from waterfront park to King St.

We decided to leave the little munchkin at home Sunday night so that Bert and I could enjoy a meal together (which has happened maybe three times since Loulie was born).

He took me to Husk for my birthday. I included a picture because the best thing about this place is how beautiful it is. How bad do you want to live in this house? I requested this place because of the hype that has been built up around it. The winner of the James Beard award opened it a few weeks ago and is only using local ingredients to prepare his courses. Right up my alley, right?--no! It turned out to be a real disappointment. The service was great, the atmosphere is beautiful but the food was some of the worst I have ever had. Hopefully, they will get it down soon--it would be such a waste for this place not to be successful. My suggestion--for now, just go to the bar. It is in an entire separate building. I so badly wanted to pull out my camera and take pictures of the exposed beams, slanted brick due to Charleston's last earthquake and the vines that they left growing in and out of the ceiling from outside; but I contained myself and you'll just have to go check it out yourself.

We also finished decorating or are at least close. After my last chaotic post, I thought I may not hang the first ornament but we all chipped in and now Loulie can tell you exactly where our tree, Santa and baby Jesus are in the house at all times. She still gets a little confused at times..

"Loulie, where is baby Jesus?"

"Ho, ho, ho"

"No Loulie, that's Santa. Jesus is Happy Birthday"

Then she starts to blow like there is a birthday candle in front of her which is my clue to chill out because I really don't think she needs to fully grasp the virgin birth at age one!

Have a good rest of the week!

xoxo,

thirty something

Summary

A quick summary of the past ten years...

Graduated college

Moved to Atlanta

got my dream internship

got my own first place

got my first grown up job

got my second grown up job

got engaged

moved apartments

lost my grandmother

got married

moved to Charleston

got a really grown up job

had a baby

lost a lot of sleep

TURNED THIRTY!!! Will I have a longer or shorter list for the next decade? Only the Lord knows!

Congratulations to Hannah and Matt--I now get to share my birthday with precious little Henry!

For 1980/81 babies...

I found this list online a few weeks ago. I thought it was a little funny, somewhat thought provoking and a little stupid. Some I have never done, some I am definitely still doing and some I have already left in my mid twenties. For those of you born in 1980/1981 here is a checklist for you!

1. 1. Buying clothes from the junior section. Hate to admit it--still hit that section sometimes. It's more economical
2. Forgetting her parents’ birthdays. Would not ever forget--October 19th and February 16th
3. Making out with her BFFs at bars for attention. Umm--no thanks, not ever.
4. Making out with her boyfriend at bars for attention. Again, no thanks.
5. Filling her bed with stuffed animals (really, even one is too many). Between Bert, Bridget and sometimes Loulie, my bed is already a little full but Holley Dog is upstairs in my closet.
6. Carrying a torch for anyone she hasn’t seen in the last five years. Can't even validate this with an answer
7. Rebelling against her parents for the sake of rebelling against her parents. Never did this--love them, they're the best!!!
8. Declaring an entire gender “all jerks.” Again, never.
9. Holding a grudge against anyone who wronged her in high school. No, I think the fact that they are probably in jail is resolution enough for me.
10. Skipping regular gyno exams. No comment
11. Going to bed without washing and moisturizing her face. Are you kidding?--My skin is the one thing I am paranoid about now. I actually just splurged on my first old lady product--a DDX Revolver.
12. Being “that person” who had a bit too much to drink at the office party. Did this once at 23, never again.
13. Crushing on Justin Bieber. More like Taylor Lautner and turning 30 or 40 0r 60 will not change mine and Taylor's relationship ;)
14. Thinking she’s got it all figured out. I daily wake up trying to remember my own name. I would never make this claim.
15. Calling her father “daddy.” What would you have me call him, Big Tom?
16. Engaging in sibling rivalry. Peaks and valleys on this one.
17. Trying to get by on her looks. Don't think I would have gotten very far even in my early 20s
18. Living paycheck to paycheck. This is not an age issue--it's a 2010 issue.
19. Expecting a man/knight in shining armor to swoop in and save her.
20. Aimlessly jumping from job to job.
21. Using MySpace to pick up guys. Strange and dangerous
22. Expecting a man to do all the wooing.
23. Wishing she had someone else’s life. Is it so wrong to envy Kate Middleton?
24. Expecting everyone to drop everything because it’s her birthday ...
25. ... or because her “boyfriend” of two weeks dumped her.
26. Measuring her self-worth by a number on the scale.
27. Being cheap. Or you could call it thrifty
28. Quitting a job without having a new one lined up first (especially in this economy!).
29. Blaming her mother for all her issues. I blame Obama.
30. Romanticizing her 20s. Hmmmmm