Family weekend

Earlier this month, Husband and I headed back home to NoVA for some family time.  His sister was home from AmeriCorps (hooray!) and his oldest brother was in town with his two girls.  He lives in Vermont so any time he's near the VA area, we do our best to meet up with him.  

It was a fun weekend.  The girls are older now and at an age where their little personalities are really shining through.  The last time we saw them I think they were both under four and since we don't see them all that often they weren't quite sure what to think of us.  But this time, they were quite happy to have us around to play with them.  

There was lots of coloring and air plane making and playing catch and tickling and coloring and coloring.  

I think the most fun I had with them was at the playground.  The whole family headed to the neighborhood tennis courts so the boys could get some time on the court so me and MamaH played with the girls at the playground.  MamaH took Samantha (the oldest) to the little girls room and while they were gone I got to play with the youngest, Gracie.  

Like I mentioned before, the last time we saw them both of the girls were younger and slow to warm up to us - especially Gracie.  Gracie is most certainly a daddy's girl.  During our last visit with them, we were all having dinner and she was running around and inadvertently ended up near Husband, when she realized she was next to him she got the most scared little look on her face, and then ran in the other direction.  It was pretty funny to see a tiny child run away from my big, booming-voice Husband since he's a big teddy bear.  Luckily she was never that scared of me; I think it helps that I have dark hair and eyes like her mom.

Anyway back to the playground.  I feel like she really opened up to me.  She wanted to show me what she could do, it was cute.  I enjoyed being there with her and encouraging her to try things (and catch her, just in case her little arms didn't have enough strength).  

Gracie making her away across those pink things

On the fireman's pole...

..got it! 

Samantha on the twirly pole?  Geez I'm going to need play ground terminology before I have kids.

I think they had fun.  

One of my favorites, husband holding Gracie.  Look at those forearms. *swoon*

The weekend had some sweet moments, like being at the playground or coloring with the girls. But it was also confirmed that I am not ready to have kids of my own.  I like knowing where I stand on that issue: I want kids. Yes I do.  Just not right now.  I really like my sleep and free time too much.  But in the future, when I can let go of those selfish things I do want kids.  I could go on for ages about my excitement to have Husband as the father of my future kids.  Gah.  I have this gut feeling that he is going to be a great father.  Strong.  Encouraging.  Real.  Gentle.  Fun.  I'm so blessed.  One day we will have an awesome family.  Until then, we have a lot we need to do first...like being lazy on a Sunday evening.  :o) 

Hope you had a good weekend! 

Love & Hugs! 

Three years

Three  Years. 

August 8 marked my third anniversary with my husband.  It's hard to believe it's been three years already.  I feel like so much has happened since that blessed day.  

We've moved four times (that's a lot!) but each time we learned more about each other.  Learning to live with another person isn't easy, but I like to think we are doing a good job. 

We've learned to communicate with each other.  Communicating is something we will  work on for the rest of our lives.  But after three years, I would say we have made great progress.  Especially Husband. He is SO good at reading me and my tone.  I think he understands me more than I understand myself.  How wonderful and weird is that?  I love it.  He knows exactly what I need when I'm stressed out.  He knows exactly how to suggest improvements for whatever it is I'm doing.  And that is a feat in itself.  

We have taught each other so much.  How to play billiards together.  How to cook together.  How to take road trips together.  How to travel with each other.  How to play tennis together.  How to read each other.  How to provide for each other.  

To celebrate the last three years and toast to the next 30, we headed to Ten. Ten is a sushi restaurant in downtown.  It was swanky, low lit, minimal decorations.  Husband said it felt 'sterile,' which isn't such a bad thing when you're talking about raw fish. 

The food was delicious.  We ordered a sushi bowl, which reminded me of Chipotle...rice on the bottom, avocados and lettuce sprinkled in along with cubed tuna.  It was really, really good.  I would have been happy with just that.  But since we were celebrating we ordered the chef special.  Honestly I was expecting sushi rolls like so many I've had before, but the waiter came back with a plate of sushi lying on top of beds of rice.  

I was skeptical but I wanted to share the experience with my husband.  I put on my big girl pants, mixed a teeny bit of wasabi in with my soy sauce and got ready.  In the end it was all very tasty.  

After dinner we stopped by Dicks to pick some tennis balls - our latest hobby.  Before coming home we swung by Sweet Frog - my favorite frozen yogurt.  I love me some Sweet Frog.  

It was a wonderful day together.  I look forward to many more with him. 

Shopping, for real

I put together a list of items I was crushing on after reading J's Everyday Fashion: How to Set a Clothing Budget. I found her post immensely helpful.  Everything she mentions makes perfect sense and at one point or another I probably thought about all of those things.  But it was something about reading them all in one place, at one time that really helped it sink in for me.  She has an awesome blog and it's quickly become one of my favorites. I highly recommend checking it out. 

After making that list and having an idea of what I wanted to spend, it really helped my focus when walking around the shops.  Here's what I came home with.

From left to right...
Gap red, white & black striped cotton dress ~$30
MINT pants!  $70
Ann Taylor orange pencil skirt $30
Ann Taylor magenta skirt $30
Ann Taylor lace pencil skirt $40
Ann Taylor teal pants $30

The Gap dress was on sale (woot!) but sadly the mint pants were not.  But they were the one item I was willing to pay full price for.  Ann Taylor was having a GREAT sale and I find that Ann's clothes fit me well and I love the quality.  She's just a bit expensive so finding all of these on sale was a definite victory.

I've already worn everything but the orange skirt so I'll post those outfits soon.

I also was able to find a pair of tan, cute, but comfy flats.

 They were a bit expensive but I plan on wearing them very often this fall and winter.  Honestly I don't mind paying a bit more for shoes because I feel like the quality is worth it.  If I had bought a pair of cheap flats they would probably only last a season or two before falling apart and they would more than likely hurt my feet.  I would rather pay a bit more and get better quality that will last me much longer. 

Happy Friday!
Peach