Anniversary in Asheville

A week ago today we left Chloe with my mom and headed to Asheville. It was such a great trip, a much needed break. We started our trip with lunch at Tupelo Honey. So many people recommended this place to us. It was right in the middle of downtown and was really good. Their biscuits were amazing, so were the goat cheese grits!

Then we checked into the hotel and took a nap. You know you are parents of a toddler when taking a nap is a treat. We got dinner at an Italian place, Travinia by our hotel. It was good, nothing special but it was nice to be able to walk to it. 

We spent Saturday at the Biltmore Estate. They don't let you take pictures inside but it was amazing. 

The gardens were in full bloom and just beautiful. I think this was my favorite part.

The food at the Biltmore was probably my other favorite part. Everything we ate was so good. The vanilla ice cream was probably my favorite.

We ate dinner Saturday at Early Girl back downtown. This was my favorite place (Clarke's was lunch at the Biltmore) . 

We went back early and watched Netflix in bed, the perfect ending, haha. I didn't get any pictures of our breakfast either morning but it was a buffet at the Hilton where we stayed. It was so good! Sunday we came back pretty much right away, I missed Chloe so much!

This was such a great trip. It was nice just to sleep in, eat a nice relaxing meal and spend time together as a couple instead of mom and dad. I'm glad we got to see what all the hype about Asheville and the Biltmore is too, we loved it. 

First Steps

I was going to post about our trip to Asheville (which I will still get around to doing) but this is more fun:

I'm so proud! This milestone has definitely been the biggest deal. Yes, Chloe was quite the late walker so it's extra special that she is doing it now.



 This makes me happy. Such a sweet girl, and I'm so lucky to be her mom. My mommy heart is so full. :)

5 Years

Today we are celebrating 5 years of marriage! It almost seems surreal to me, that I've been married for 5 years already. We are headed to Asheville for a long weekend away, my mom came down to watch Chloe, I am so excited.  

Our first anniversary in OBX.

We have this tradition of going away every year on our anniversary. We don't do gifts, we spend time together and this year it's exactly what we need. Last year we didn't get to go away on a trip, it was right as we were trying to figure out about moving, and having a 5 month old, it just didn't happen. I think that's why I'm so excited for this trip. As life goes on and things become more complicated I've become more aware that intentional time together is precious and with a baby it's even harder to come by.

Second anniversary at the Homestead.

Third anniversary on the Oregon coast. 

Fourth anniversary at The Melting Pot in Richmond.

I am truly thankful for Clarke in my life. There is nobody else that I would want to do life with. Can't wait to celebrate this weekend!!!

Happy Anniversary Clarke, I love you!!

Last Weekend

Happy April!! I'm super excited about all the fun things going on this month, and lots of visitors coming too! This past weekend was our last weekend without something planned until after the first weekend in May, so we didn't do much. 

I did run!! It was such a good run too. I'm running the Raleigh Rock n Roll Half Marathon on April 13th and I totally haven't been training well. Between the awful weather, Chloe being sick, and being gone a week for Florida and a week in Virginia I just haven't been motivated. I knew I needed one long run before and it was suppose to be this past Saturday. They were calling for rain. I went anyways and the rain held off, it drizzled some but it was warmer and actually really nice. My training team ran from Salem Lake and it turned out to be great. 

So my 12 miler is done and I'm excited about the race now. If I hadn't already paid for it I probably would have quit but I'm glad I stuck with it. 

Sunday we went to church and volunteered in the nursery. The Winston Salem dash came to church before service. Chloe was very curious. 

Of course Chloe was really into the car again. Thankful for a fun weekend with the family.

Media Wall and Den Updates

When we moved into this house I knew decorating our den would be a challenge for me. I love that it's nice and big and roomy, but deciding how to fill it on a budget was kinda hard. I knew we wanted a sectional and I knew something big had to go on the back wall. Here what we came up with:

I love how it turned out. I got the idea on Pinterest, kinda combined a bunch of different shelving and wall mounted tv pictures I saw. I got that garden stool at Marshall's for $38 I was so excited when I found it. The whole media wall ended up costing about $100, which is far less than any tv consoles that were the right scale. All the shelves are the lack series from Ikea. The top two were mine in college and I spray painted them black (about $10 for paint). I bought the big bottom ones for $20 each. The tv wall mount was $50 from home depot, but we had a coupon for 10% off. Here are some up close pics:

One thing I love about the upper shelves is Chloe can't reach them so I don't have to worry about her breaking anything. I've had that print above for years, but it was a free printable I found on Pinterest here.

I got these prints on Etsy here. The top one is Virginia and says "Virginia is for lovers" and the bottom one is NC and says "In my mind I'm going to Carolina." Love them.

And I had to organize my books by color like everyone else on Pinterest, lol. Seriously what would I do without Pinterest?

Here's the new sectional. It's big! But I love that it's so functional and looks nice. I would love to get a bigger storage ottoman and I'm still trying to figure out what to hang above it. Oh and more pillows!

My mom got me this big W for Christmas and I finally found a place for it right above the window. I tried to get a picture of it with the curtains but  my flash wasn't working right. 

Overall I'm loving the progress of our den. It finally doesn't feel so bare and unpersonal. Up next I want to show you the playroom, I rearranged it and I'm loving that space too! :)

Weekend Catch Up

I've gotten so bad at blogging about the little things in life recently. I love to remember all the fun trips we've been on and big events but sometimes its the little things like a low key weekend at home that make such great memories too. 

Saturday was beautiful. It was sunny and warm and we really enjoyed it. Went to a new place we've never been before to eat some pizza out on the patio, then to a park to play. 

Sunday we volunteered in our church's nursery. Chloe found this car and was loving it. It was so cute to watch!

We got lunch with some people from our church afterwards. Sunday turned out to be a rainy day so naps for everyone was in order. We also started working on our media wall in the den. We are both really excited about it. I'll post pictures when we finish soon. Thankful for fun weekends with my family. Life is good. 

A Wedding in Richmond

This past Saturday one of my best friends got married. It was a beautiful day. Not only was the weather  perfect (65 and sunny) but everything else was too. 

I was so happy that it worked out for us to be there. We came up the Saturday before for the bachelorette party and stayed the week. My mom even got a snow day one day which gave us extra time with her. It was a great week catching up with everyone.

I was a bridesmaid, along with other childhood friends. I loved being apart of the wedding and getting to share so many special moments with the bride. 

Me and Clarke set them up almost 3 years ago. I really have loved watching their relationship grow over the years. I'm so happy for them!

I will say it was hard to get good pictures while being in the wedding. But, I'm glad I got these few!

It was great being back in my hometown, and for such a great reason. I always love weddings, but this was such a special one. I guess when you've known someone so long and see them so happy it makes you happy too. So much joy that day!