2013!

2013 was definitely a year of change for us. From our first full calendar year of being parents to our move to North Carolina, we were all about embracing (or at least trying to) change. Here's a quick wrap up of 2013 via Instagram photos.

My favorite moments of 2013 in no particular order:

Our trips to Destin, Florida, Myrtle Beach and the Outer Banks.

Enjoying lots of first holidays with Chloe. 

Moving to Winston-Salem and making new friends. 

Running the Richmond Half Marathon.

Chloe's first big road trip to Atlanta.

Enjoying the fall by going to the mountains, pumpkin patch and trick or treating.

Spending Christmas in our new house.

While I've loved the adventure of moving to a new town and meeting new people I do hope things settle down some in 2014. Hoping for another great year!!!!

Birthday Weekend

Things have finally slowed down from my birthday weekend so I thought I should recap!

I got to sleep in that morning, which is always a treat. We went to one of my favorite restaurants for lunch that day, fourth street filling station. Tried to get a good family photo. That morning Clarke asked if I wanted to go buy a Garmin, which I had been debating if I really needed or not, but I decided to go get one. Of course I got the pink one and I love it! My mom came into town later that afternoon and I got to open up some more presents. She stayed with Chloe that night and we were off for a really fun evening.

We went to dinner at Fratellis, which was really good. It's an Italian steakhouse, two of my favorites. We spent the night at The Graylyn which is only about 10 minutes from our house. We were going to go away but we were still recovering from moving so decided just to stay in town. This place was so nice, I'm glad we did.

Took these pictures the next morning while we were exploring. 

They had a gingerbread house of the estate, it was so cute. The whole place was decorated so pretty for Christmas.

Friday morning we ate breakfast there. They had a buffet with so many yummy things! Since our checkout time wasn't until noon we went back to our room to take a nap, I know so exciting, but it was great! I loved staying at the Graylyn, and it was fun exploring something new in our city. 

Later that afternoon Clarke watched Chloe while my mom and I painted our family room. It only took us 4 hours, I was happy, and I loved how it turned out. (Pictures coming soon but I used Revere Pewter  after seeing it on young house love, it's the perfect gray)

Saturday I went for a run with some of my teammates at Salem Lake, and I got to use my new Garmin. Still figuring it out but I love it. My mom and I headed to Ikea in Charlotte since we both wanted to get some new things for our houses. Sunday we went out to lunch before my mom had to go back to Richmond and I started putting together our new furniture. 

So that was my big 3-0 birthday weekend. I'm thankful I got to spend it with my family, and just relax and enjoy it.

Christmas 2013

This Christmas had been very different for us. We decided to stay here in our new home and spend it as a family of three. We have been traveling so much and just needed a break, plus we were so excited about our new home we thought it would be fun, and it has been. 

Clarke got off work early on Christmas eve, so we watched Polar Express, opened a few gifts and had the Palmisiano family traditional Christmas eve dinner (meatball subs with homemade spaghetti sauce that simmered for over 24 hours). It's what I had growing up every Christmas eve. Chloe loved it!

She also loved Christmas morning. We opened up presents, and she loved playing in all the wrappings and ribbons.

Our Christmas wasn't totally uneventful. Our downstairs toilet got stopped up, and when Clarke took a shower it overflowed. We finally got it cleaned up and then when I was doing the dishes it happened again, water everywhere. We called the plumber and I felt so bad he had to come out on Christmas to fix it. After two different machines and over 4 hours it's still not fixed. They are coming back tomorrow morning with a camera and some kinda vacuum. All they know is something from outside messed it up. At one point it felt like we were in our favorite Christmas movie, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Oh well, I guess one day we will look back and laugh.

And because I'm feeling nostalgic here is Chloe last year in the presents. She has grown so much since then. 

I made a simple Christmas dinner this year, but the chocolate cake was a hit with Clarke and Chloe. I hope y'all had a great Christmas too!

Catching Up: Home and Holidays

It's been over 2 weeks since I blogged and I'm going through withdrawal! I have been beyond busy moving into our new house, trying to enjoy the holidays and just daily life. I decided to do one big post to try to catch up on here!

I'll start by introducing you to our new house. We're in love. I never blogged about it because I wanted to be sure everything worked out, and after closing we were busy painting Chloe's room and moving lots of boxes. 

I am so happy to be settled though. A very tiny tiny part of me was sad to leave the rental house. It's where we started our new life here in Winston and where Chloe learned to crawl. But honestly I was happy to leave. It felt like we were in this transitional stage and I was over it. I was thankful for a safe place to live and a place for my family to call home for that time period. But, I'm smitten with our new house. Although our study currently looks likes this:

It's slowly coming along. I find myself during nap time trying to get as much done as possible. I have to remind myself it just takes time though. Here is a picture of the kitchen I took the day we decided to buy it, which is probably my favorite part of the house. 

And here is our little mud room. Organization built into the house=love. 

I will post more pictures when it comes together soon hopefully. 

This past weekend I traveled to Richmond for a very quick trip. I went for the night to celebrate Christmas with my best friends. It was the first time I left Chloe overnight, and I was so nervous. I felt really weird driving out of town without her, but she did great. I'm so lucky to have a supportive husband who realized how important this was to me.

I love these girls so much! There is nothing like enjoying a great meal (and drink) with people who have known you for forever. This is still one of my favorite Christmas traditions.

Speaking of Christmas and traditions this one has been and will be very different for us. We decided to stay here in Winston for a couple different reasons. We have been traveling so much to Richmond with Chloe and just got burnt out. I think it will be fun to have Christmas just the three of us in our new house, but it will be very different. We didn't get a tree this year which has been kinda hard. I love picking out our tree every year, and decorating it and enjoying it as we watch Christmas movies and throughout the season. But, after moving and just feeling overwhelmed with my to do list we decided not to this year. Unpacking more things and having to put them away again, to enjoy it for a little over a week, I just couldn't. It's starting to feel like something is missing, but I've been reminded of the real meaning of Christmas. It's not about trees and decorations and how many Christmas things we did together. It's about Jesus' birth and being with my family. I loved this post about Christmas not being perfect, and could really relate. 

Well, if your still reading this I'll end with saying while moving during the holidays is definitely not my favorite thing I am so thankful for a new permanent home here in Winston. It's finally starting to feel like home here in this new city. 

Be back soon for Christmas recap, my 30th birthday recap (still can't believe it's almost here) and more house photos! :)

Moravian Stars and Santa

We've had a nice low key weekend, we'll call it the calm before the storm. We knew this would be our only weekend to do family Christmas things since we are moving to our new house next weekend.

I read an article in the Winston-Salem Journal about fun holiday things to do here, and where to see fun lights. So Friday night we all got in the car and drove around to see some of the lights around town. My favorite was this Moravian star on top of Wake Forest Baptist Hospital. It's huge, 31 feet and just beautiful. Photo Source: Winston Salem Journal

Saturday we took Chloe to see Santa in Old Salem. She didn't sleep well the night before and was kinda tired, and I knew she would probably be scared so I didn't have high expectations.

Walking over the bridge to see Santa, I love all the Moravian stars hanging. They are everywhere this time of year, it's one of my favorite parts of Christmas here so far. 

Chloe loved all the decorations, but Santa not so much. The whole family had to get in. She screamed when she realized I was going to put her in his lap. Oh well. 

One more in her pretty dress! 

Today we tried a new place for lunch and went to Lowe's to get paint samples. Oh, how I have missed having color on my walls! I haven't shared much about the new house on here. I told myself I had to wait until we closed. I guess I almost made it since we close Thursday. We are beyond excited and so ready to be in a permanent home finally. I will definitely share more once we have the keys!

Thanksgiving 2013

We had such a great time celebrating Thanksgiving with our family up in Richmond this past weekend. It was Chloe's second Thanksgiving, it's weird to me that she doesn't have anymore first holidays. But, she definitely enjoyed it!

Her favorite food from Thanksgiving dinner was hands down the stuffing. I thought it would be the turkey or mashed potatoes, but she loved the stuffing. It was so funny watching her eat it, sound effects and all.

Chloe loved seeing all her family. She really is so spoiled, but I love that so many people love on her. 

Once again my mom made a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner, we are still enjoying the leftovers. So thankful for such a great weekend spent with family. And just for fun here is a comparison of last year to this year, Chloe has changed so much!