Tag Archives: weekend

The Ending of Summer

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That really isn’t an accurate title seeing as how it’s still 85 degrees here in St. Pete every single day. Which probably explains how I had NO CLUE that it was already October, and trips and vacations have completely crept up on me, leaving me a little anxious and overwhelmed. When the seasons don’t change and every day the weather is the same, it’s really difficult to tell that time is passing.

But alas, it’s Fall now, and the only thing different here is that the sun is setting earlier. I can’t complain too much though, I’m still loving the warm weather and the ability to do anything I want outside now that the humidity is starting to slowly (and I mean slooooooowly) fade away. October here always means running around like crazy at work and in life, so I cannot explain how excited I am about our upcoming trip to Italy. A much needed vacation of wine, food, and enjoying our relationship. Coming home fatter is definitely the goal.

The last few weekends have slowed down as far as plans and visiting friends have gone, so it’s time to recap what life has been like lately.

First up, a month ago (good lord), Timmy’s best friends Corey and Magda were in Orlando selling their amazing stand up paddleboards (yes, they were the ones to donate the amazing raffle prize), so we ended up partying the night (almost) away on Friday. It was so fun to feel young again, we hadn’t gone out with friends to drink and watch a band in FOREVER. Was the band my type of band? NOPE. But Corey and Timmy felt 20 years old again, so Magda and I let them have their moment. The rest of the weekend was devoted to online classes for me, super blah.

Next up, Lucie and Mathew, one of Timmy’s best friends, flew down for a quick weekend getaway. I ended up quickly shooing them out of my apartment so we could get to the beach in time to watch a lovely Friday sunset. And man, was it spectacular.

I’m not even sorry that I hurried them out the door. It was necessary to see these views.

We spent a lot of time drinking that weekend as we got out for Local Fresh Brews Beer Fest in downtown St. Pete, which featured only local craft brews. And you know how Timmy and I love our craft beers! We had a great time, until a little snafu with the bouncer and the turning off of a t.v. featuring the UGA football game. We rallied as best we could, but for me, after my first full week with an added self defense class from 8-10pm on Wed. and teaching my class Thurs evening, I was DUNZO.

nailed it
nailed it

Full disclaimer: I was not at my best this weekend. I was exhausted and I’m not the best day drinker. Once that sun set, I was pretty much done and couldn’t come up with the proper mature way to express myself. OBVIOUSLY, this started a huge fight between Timmy and I the next morning, which was clearly the last thing you ever want to happen with guests around. We ended up salvaging the day with a really fast beach trip (it started to rain almost an hour after we got there), so again, my apologies to Lucie and Mathew. I hope y’all still had fun, despite my lapse of etiquette.

The following weekend, one of my lifelong best friends came down with her son for a super quick weekend visit. We ended up at another beer fest (duh) which was really family and kid friendly, but Hank was having none of it. Heather ended up taking him back to my place for a little de-stresser, then came back for us in the pouring rain. Poor girl. We were super bummed they didn’t stay, but when momma starts to get stressed because baby is stressed, it’s just better for everyone involved to take a step back.

Timmy and I had a fantastic time at Green Bench Brewery, celebrating their one-year anniversary. We ended up hanging out with the bartender we met the weekend before, and the day culminated with a basketball game in the brewery. That night, the three of us played Cards Against Humanity, and had ourselves a super relaxing, fun night. All in all, not a bad day.

Hank and Floyd got along just fine
tug of war
riding dirty AND mean muggin
did you fart?
you did fart!
snuggles
basketball game in the Brewery…totally normal for St. Pete
best game ever

October is in the middle of its annual attempt to break me, so here goes nothing. I don’t plan on resurfacing for a while, not until it’s time for Italy. HOLY COW. ITALY.

♥, VB

Labor Day NAHS Shenanigans

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Oh man, this past Labor Day weekend was the freaking best. You know that feeling you get when you and some of your best friends are about to get the fun on? Not every friend or group, but a particular group of friends that you know are going to make you laugh so hard, you may pee a little. Just a little.

Don’t lie. This is exactly how you feel about having fun with a certain group of friends.

That was 100% Labor Day weekend 2014. Some of my girls from NAHS (or Nof Atanta, as we like to call it…the Atanta came about because our soccer sweats were all misspelled, I kid you not. The Nof is just cause we ghetto) came down for the holiday weekend and we really packed it in. I of course planned the itinerary because I’m a major control freak  I knew what they wanted to do, which was mainly to chill out.

Crazily enough, this is now the 3rd Labor Day weekend I’ve spent with NAHS ladies in a row. Lindsey’s bachelorette party in Folly Beach, then Jessica’s bachelorette party in Charleston, and now this one in St. Pete. We apparently like getting married and drinking on the beach. Shocking. Unfortunately, there were no hijinks with a certain lingerie gift shower that involved a full body fishnet stocking or blindfolded “kiss the stud” game like at a certain person’s bachelorette (and NO, those picture will NEVER see the light of day. EVER), or poop talk for an entire weekend at another certain person’s bachelorette.

God, I love these girls. I’ve known them since I was 15, and they seriously rock my world. After an extended absence in each others’ lives, we can always come back to each other without grudges, without envy, and support each other through the good times and bad. I’ve seen these ladies come into their own, and I’m so proud. Fighting for who they want to become, securing lives that make them happy, but continuing to want progress and improvement in themselves. So admirable.

And they are funny as all hell.

We used to spend evenings at Starbucks on West Paces people watching, and getting drunk together after “borrowing” mini bottles from the Buckhead Ritz Carlton (don’t ask). We danced on bars. We spent many an hour talking about partners, extremely bad life choices, and crying over all the things we did wrong after college. We also spent a lot of time supporting each other through bad relationships, career changes, getting married, and making babies.

These are my ride or die chicks.

This past weekend, we spent a lot of time in the sun, paddleboarding, drinking, and especially laughing. It was one of my most favorite weekends I’ve ever had. Saturday, we spent the day at Indian Rocks Beach, and loved how we had no men folk to entertain because they can’t sit still for more than 30 minutes at a time. That night, we hit up my favs, 400 Beach and The Canopy. We took a million pictures that came out looking like we were club kids again, mainly because I still don’t really know how to work my fancy camera.

starfish jump!
post-starfish jump
no shiny foreheads here

Sunday, we paddleboarded for 2 hours in Ft. Desoto (which of course made my back hurt so bad I was practically in tears on the way back), and took tons of pictures. At some point, there is extremely shallow water, and it’s just a delightful spot to sit and relax. It was hot as hell that day, so we parked it for a few, and made fun of how white Jessica is compared to me. Being ethnic is fun. After that, we went to Madeira Beach for a hot second and ate snacks like we hadn’t eaten in DAYS. After 2 hours in the sun and working out, we stuffed our faces with homemade pimento cheese dip and chicken salad, courtesy of our resident chef, Lindsey. It was awesome.

ready to head out!
time for paddleboarding
so sporty
Fort Desoto
Meagan’s first time out!
break time
just gorgeous
ethnicity much?
Jessica and I
oh HEY
Lindsey’s selfie in the sun
Madeira Beach time

Early evening, we met up with Jessica’s sister Nancy and her man Miguel at our favorite brewery, 3 Daughters. We sat out the rainstorm, and took a bunch of ridiculous pictures because we’re just like that.

love this brewery
extreme Meagan selfie
seeessters
thumbs up Miguel
pretty picture
ghetto picture
la piece de resistance
ghetto Linds, stealing pint glasses

That night, we had taco night at home and had the MOST FUN EVER playing Heads Up. It was also the MOST FRUSTRATING EVER because Jessica is the absolute worst. I’m dead serious. The Worst. Take for instance this exchange:

The card says “C3PO”. I have to make Jessica guess what I’m acting out, with words as long as they don’t rhyme. (Disclaimer: I did get confused and thought I was supposed to do R2D2, but it really didn’t matter because the response was so crazy ludicrous…sigh.) 

I start moving my robot arms and say, “BEEP BOOP BOOP BEEP.”

Jessica’s response: “POLISH!”

Her response was Polish. Fucking Polish. TO A ROBOT MAKING THE NOISE BEEP BOOP BOOP BEEP.

At this point, we all fall to the floor in hysterics. No joke, we literally all fell onto the floor, tears streaming down our faces, because of that response. We couldn’t even finish the round before the timer went off, we were laughing so hard.

She is the WORST at that game. Just an FYI. (love you girl)

After that, we played a little Michael Jackson Wii and Just Dance, and talked until 2 AM. Just like high school.

Monday, we fed our inner fat kids and went to Urban Brew and BBQ (which was DELISH), and justlikethat, the weekend was over. I can’t believe it went by so fast. It’s so unfair.

Urban Brew and BBQ
two pretty peas in a pod
scrunchy face time
yum to craft beer
yum to this

Ladies, I heart your asses. Don’t ever change.

♥, VB

Strong Man is Mine

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A few weekends ago, Timmy had a major moment. I’m writing about it because HE STILL HASN’T CONTRIBUTED TO THIS BLOG AT ALL. But I’m not bitter or anything…

Timmy has been doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for a few months now and I’m super proud of him. He’s had a challenging time in Lake Mary by himself, and I’ve been pushing him as much as I can to strike out and meet people, gain a hobby, do something in order to get out of the house more. It’s hard, yes, making friends as an adult, but it beats sitting at home doing nothing. So he signed himself up at a local gym, and he’s been loving it.

What grown men get out of wrestling with other grown men, I’ll never understand, but hey, to each his/her own, right?

Obviously, as a former state champion-caliber wrestler, he’s definitely a little more advanced than novice. He claims that he doesn’t know what he’s doing, but after watching him a few Saturdays ago, I can honestly say he’s a big fat liar. Or he just needs to work on his confidence. Because dude knows some moves.

The Copa Grappling Tournament started at 9 AM in, shudder, of all places, Lakeland. The place we don’t even stop for gas on the way to each other’s cities because we hate it so much. The town that is associated with so many bad relationship memories, we’d rather pretend like it didn’t exist. Yea, that place. So we both drove to meet in the middle for his inaugural tournament debut.

He was freaking out a little in the days prior because he’d only been doing this sport for about 2 months, and not even that consistently since he kept destroying his feet on the gym mats. If you’ve ever seen Timmy’s feet before, you know they’re already a little raunch-worthy, but man, after jiu jitsu, GAH-ROSS. So clearly, he was nervous, but since he’s an athlete at heart, I knew he would be incredible the day of.

If you’ve ever been an athlete, you know the mindset. The zone. The ability to focus in on the goal at hand and get it done. Timmy’s like that. Once he finds something he can lock onto, he’s unreal. The problem has always been finding that thing to lock onto in the first place. I’m hoping he goes far with this sport.

We were in a high school gym on a Saturday from 9 AM until 5 PM. Of course the bleachers destroyed my back, but good lord, that is a freaking long ass time to wait. I wasn’t bored, which was nice, since they had matches going non-stop. I’d never really gotten a chance to go to wrestling meets in high school because their season always coincided with basketball season. I got a little taste of what it must be like for parents whose children do this type of thing. Lots of waiting involved. Lots of it.

Side note: I’ve never seen so many bare feet in one location in my life. I was fighting my gag reflex pretty much the entire day. Feet, everywhere. UGH.

Copa Grappling Tournament

Copa Grappling Tournament

Anyways, so we waited until almost 4:30 pm for Timmy’s level (novice) and weight class to go up. He had two other guys in his level and class. One was an entire foot taller than him. That match he dominated 9-0.

LEGS UP

The second match, Timmy won by submitting the guy with a move he had no idea he was doing. I also had no idea what he was doing and I’m pretty sure I stopped breathing for both matches.

He won first place in his first ever grappling tournament. It was pretty damn sexy to watch.

He also COMPLETELY tore up his feet in the first match, so much so that he bled on the mat and had to wrap his feet up. Big gaping wounds. Be glad I’m not sharing any photos because BARF! I later had to apply liquid skin on him, the material from hell that I remember so well from my ballet days. THAT’S HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS MAN.

You can see the videos of his two matches here and here. I have no idea what he’s doing other than trying to win. I’m trying not to pass out.

It was awesome. Timmy, you’re my strong man for life.

♥, VB

Freedom on the Lake

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Obviously, the 4th of July was a few weekends back, but the further along we move into summer, the faster the time is slipping away from me. Honestly, what the hell is going on??

Bare with me while I catch you up on a super fun weekend spent laughing with friends, family, and my love at Lake Martin in Alabama. It was pretty much a perfect weekend. We flew into Atlanta Friday night and spent a few wonderful hours catching up with my parents. We then drove 2 hours to the lake the next morning, and parked our asses there until it was time to head back home. The wonderful Crosswy family welcomed us to their amazing lake house, and treated us to some boat time, amazing food, and the most relaxing time.

views of the boathouse
what an amazing house
imagine sitting outside here
upward we go
sunset views

They are also the family that won the BOTE stand up paddleboard grand prize at our birthday party, so they also invited us to take that beauty out on the lake for a spin. That did not suck and only made my craving to have my own paddleboard increase exponentially.

the whole gang with the paddleboard
Michael, Timmy and Mathew posing
evening paddle
that’s my man

We spent an amazing day with family, including Timmy’s mom and stepdad, whom we hadn’t seen in MONTHS, so that was a biiiig treat! Abigail’s stepdad made the most incredible potato salad that I kept sneaking bites of through the weekend and I don’t feel shame about that at all. When a potato salad is good, it’s the freaking best.

Let’s not forget our group’s attempt at a redneck-themed Fourth of July weekend. It’s quite clear that Timmy won the game there, but I feel like I got the best shopping experience when I was complimented by a Floridian woman who clearly didn’t realize that my purchases were a joke. Go FL.

yes this is America (Lucie & Mathew)
boat time
god I love the water
some sort of rock formation with graffiti and lots of boats. interesting
lounging like pros
floating lily pad-lounging is the best
Barbs and Trey, love them!
the whole big family. America!
sunsets
Timmy and Lucie trying to stay warm
sky on fire
I love this man
shut your face
family photo – lovely!
Timmy spotted in the background 🙂

Finally, after 100 attempts to take that lovely family photo above as the sun set and not being able to get the flash working, I decided to try a bunch of different settings in the game room on our last night. They aren’t fantastic, but god damn I love this camera!

pinhole shot of shufflepuck
Timmy and Michael in a pop art setting
grainy black and white of these dudes
light option of Abigail and Timmy acting a fool

I love little weekends like that, a quick getaway, filled with love, laughter, and delicious food. Thank you to the Crosswy family again for the hospitality, we adore y’all. And in case you were wondering, I’m keeping all my America gear. As Timmy’s life partner, I’ll probably need it again in the near future thanks to his hijinks.

♥, VB

Concrete Jungle

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Three weekends ago, Timmy and I took a weekend trip up to NYC to visit my bestie, Denise, and her husband Vinnie before they bring forth their love child around August. They are amazing friends and came to visit us last year and we took them to Universal Studios for their wedding present. It was as good of a time as one can have in Lakeland. The original plan for this year was to have them visit us again, but in a way better town than Lakeland, eating way better food, and generally just being a better time than last year. But alas Denise was too preggers and her doctor wouldn’t allow any more flights until baby comes.

Not that going to NYC is such a bad thing. Obviously I love it there, it was my home for 4 years during college. But now that I live in St. Pete, my life here is just so amazing. I feel like I’m on vacation a large portion of the time, and I’m always super relaxed. NYC is just SOOOOOOOOO much, sometimes too much, so trips there generally leave me more exhausted than when I left. Last time we went, we packed so much in that weekend because Timmy had never been, jeez, it was nuts. So although I knew we were going to be more chill than our last time to the city, it’s still a lot to psych yourself up for.

It was an under-the-radar kind of trip because our main objective was to hang with Denise and Vinnie before baby comes. I didn’t get in contact with a lot of people because I knew I wouldn’t be able to see them. It is so stressful to try to make plans to see so many lovely faces in such a short amount of time, and I was NOT trying to stress out this weekend in particular.

Luckily, we hit the weather jackpot AGAIN (we went in August 2012, and the weather didn’t get above 80, which is UNHEARD of during city summers), and had an amazing time. They live now in Hastings-on-Hudson, which Timmy excitedly pointed out is where they’ve shot a few scenes of HBO’s The Leftovers (he clearly has never accidentally (or on purpose) walked on set on the way to class many many many times, as nearly all NYU students can attest to). Their town is freaking ADORABLE. We couldn’t get over how quaint it was, and just a 45 minute train ride from the city. It’s amazing how you forget all that’s close to the city yet so completely different.

Hastings-on-Hudson, complete with hash marks

loved this little theatre

We arrived Friday morning, which was key to getting all we could out of this trip. We spent Friday afternoon wandering around the city after grabbing lunch with Alex, one of my dearest friends from college. Man I love that guy. We stayed with him in his AMAZING condo in Tribeca last time we visited, and I only get prouder and prouder of all that he’s accomplished since we graduated. Once you own your own condo where the elevator opens up into your place, you know you’ve arrived like a BOSS.

He chose a super tiny Mediterranean place in the West Village (man, my friends know me so well. Both him and Denise know how obsessed I am with Med food, and both planned equally delicious meals for me to come home to) called Moustache Pitza and it was legit. The two things I miss most about NY are the transit and the food. You always hit it out of the park with food there, and it’s always the smallest, most unfamous places.

art at Moustache Pitza
legit homemade pita
lamb and rice is always a good idea
love my Alex!

Later, we wandered around the West Side Highway up to The High Line, east to the Chelsea Market, which remains one of my favorite places on earth where Timmy’s head almost exploded, and then back north to Denise and Vinnie’s. What an amazingly chill and super fun day.

West side views
a shot of Freedom Tower
love this quote
sunflowers next to the garbage trucks: NYC in a nutshell
amazing architecture
random art in NYC
yessssssssss
High Line views
love this place
OMG the seafood at the Chelsea Market
I wish I could’ve taken it all home
this color…
STOP IT
wall o knives
views of Grand Central

The next day, we went back into the city while Denise and Vinnie took a parenting class and OF COURSE WE WENT TO THE MUSEUM OF SEX. I hadn’t been there since 2005, but knew we HAD to go as soon as I saw what their new exhibit contained: a boobie bounce house. SHUT YOUR FACE. The entire exhibit was set up like a sex carnival, with a “Find the G Spot” mirror maze that gave me immediate motion sickness and I had to sit it out, a galloping dick skeeball race (which I intelligently re-named SKEETball, to which the museum employee laughed and thought was the most amazing thing ever), the bounce house, and Grope Mountain — an orifice climbing wall. Needless to say, we had a freaking amazing time.

Grope Mountain
climbing the orifices
scaling orifices in a skirt = BOSS LADY
gripping tight
hello hand grips
yes, that’s the end
Museum of Sex and deer threesomes
Timmy and the Flatiron

Later that night, we took Vinnie and Denise out to Harvest on Hudson, which was where they actually had their rehearsal dinner. It’s absolutely one of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to, and since it was summer, we could actually see outside and watch the sun go down over the river (we couldn’t in March, it was dark at like 5 PM). Leah and Mike joined us (which is incredible to see college friends so many times in one year. That hasn’t happened since actual college!), and we laughed our asses off while Mike and Timmy inappropriately discussed prolapses and other medical conditions.

Yum to this restaurant
my meal was spectacular
Leah and Mike
love these two (nearly three!)
the entire group
sunsets are pretty
even prettier over the Hudson

Sunday arrived WAY too quickly, and we went to have a late brunch in Astoria with our other close friend Nikki, yoga goddess extraordinaire, and her close friend from CA. We ate at Locale where I continued to stuff myself with homemade pasta and love on my friends until our flight. We watched the Netherlands vs. Mexico World Cup game and it was all good.

Locale brunch time
stuffed and happy
Hello Mrs. Iglesias!

This trip was crazy fun. Denise and Vinnie are going to be such amazing parents, and for us to see their new place, their new town, it was so amazing. I’m so proud of them and I can’t wait to meet the newest addition to our crazy little circle. Until next time NYC.

♥, VB