An Eventful Week!

Whew! Its been an eventful week for sure! Started with Sunday- Mother's Day (love you Mom!) and then continued onto Hubby's birthday!! We had so much fun last weekend celebrating with our super fun friends we met here in Phoenix.

Tribute to our favorite show, SUITS! Hubby says he's Harvey.

Fun at Copper Blues with Robin and Saunders!

It's Hubby's Birthday!!

Robin has a painting that gets better with each drink you have...

We had a fun time for sure! Never a dull moment with Saunders and Robin! Can't wait for this weekend too. we have a very busy weekend planned. For our birthdays Hubby and I decided to get ourselves Beach cruiser bicycles!!! You know, the old school looking ones with fenders and bright colors? Tomorrow we're heading all the way out to the East Valley to shop for bikes. Can't wait to show you what we found! :) And for tonight, movie and cookie cake (hubby's birthday cake request)! YUM!
Stay tuned!

XOXO,

Run for the Roses- Arizona style!

And they're off! One thing I really miss about Kentucky is the horses; in particular the horse racing. My family and the court they live on always have a Derby party. Ever since I moved away from Kentucky I have continued the tradition at my house (or someone's house).

This year was a little different. Like i've mentioned before, settling into Phoenix has been a little difficult for Hubby and I. We just haven't been able to meet many people. Not finding a good church we fit into has been a big factor as well as the second shift fiasco Hubby had to endure for 6 months.(Yay for being on first shift again!) My work friends all live in the east valley about 30-40 minutes away and not to mention we haven't signed up for cable yet. Having a derby party just wasn't in the cards for us this year. So, we decided to mix it up a little this year!

Phoenix has their own horse track a little north of us called Turf Paradise. Cheesy name and not at all like Keeneland but it was the best we could ask for. They were having their own derby celebration and with the price of admission to the track you got an official derby glass! The glass came empty and I still had to pay for my mint julep but I was a happy girl.

There were local races going on every 30 minutes at the Turf Paradise track and they offered betting for several other tracks including Churchill Downs.

Hubby and our friend Robin in the Grandstand!

I won the first race we put a bet on!

Me and our friend Robin

We had a lot of fun! We bet on both the local races and Churchill Downs race, including the derby. We lost more money than we bet but that's part of the fun right!?

Next year we might have to go to the actual Derby since Hubby's never been... Who wants to join us!?

xoxo,

May in Retrospect, part dos

WOW. Where did the time go?? I cannot believe I haven’t posted in so long. Oops. These past couple of months feel a little like summer vacation when I was a kid. I didn’t have anything structured to do and the days just kind of melted away in a blink of an eye! No leads on a job yet. So I have been busying myself with other things like reading (I’m on my 5^th novel), decorating, DIY projects and the stupid internet. I’ve come to find out; I can waste some serious time on the internet.

So here we are again, more about that infamous month: MAY (part dos). I am super excited to show you all my pictures from the cruise but first a shout out to some awesome Atlanta people! Around the middle of May, our small group hosted a baby shower for the expecting members =). The theme was “Little Man” and everything had mustaches on it. It was SO fun!

A snippet of the fun we had in our homemade photo booth!

Don’t we have the best small group ever!? I miss them. (We tried a small group here in Phoenix and it was disastrous. Everyone had at least 30-40 years on us. Sigh)

OK! Now onto our cruise adventure! In honor of our 1 year wedding anniversary, Hubby and I decided to go on a 7 day cruise to the Western Caribbean. It was my first cruise ever and we had a BLAST! The ship stopped 4 times during the trip: Cozumel, Mexico; Belize City, Belize; Roatan Bay, Honduras and Grand Cayman. Only two days at sea.

About to board the ship!

Before dinner on the balcony after our first day at sea.

At our first stop, Cozumel, we decided to hail a cab to take us to a quiet local beach where we could get a drink if we wanted and just lay in the sun. He took us to the awesome tiny little beach with a bar and lounge chairs. It was pretty much empty except for us and an occasional diner. It was awesome! 

Our basically private beach and bar service!

Our next stop was to Belize. We spent our honeymoon in Belize last year and the only thing we didn't do then was go cave tubing. So, we had set up an excursion to go cave tubing when we got there. unfortunately due to heavy rains the river was flooded and the park rangers closed the river. So, we went snorkeling and grilled out lobster and chicken on the beach afterwards! Not to mention free rum punch!

after snorkeling on our tiny private island! Literally: a dock, palm trees, a bathroom and a grill. that's it!

 Once we got back to the ship dock, we had time to kill before the ship was set to sail. So, we stopped off at a local bar and had our local favorite from the honeymoon: Belikin Beers!!

 In Honduras, we had signed up for zip lining and were super excited! There were wires strung up all over the jungle. It was a relatively new set up and everything was very secure (to my relief, especially since this was right after that GA student fell off a homemade zip line and ended up in the hospital).

I highly recommend zip lining! It was exhilarating!! Afterwards they had a little monkey out that could sit on your shoulder.

He really liked my sweaty hair. Honduras is a really beautiful place! Still very natural and underdeveloped.

This is an old boat that got stuck on the coral about 20 years ago.

Roatan Bay, so pretty!

 Later that night, we had a formal dinner. I've come to realize I get a little seasick when the boat is over rough waters. The whole trip we were chasing a storm and this night- we found it. Dramamine is your friend! But don't take too much or you won't be able to keep your eyes open. Just trust me on this one...

 The next and final stop was the Cayman Islands. It was raining most of the day but when the rain finally let up a little we decided to venture out and go shopping since the Caymans are known for their shopping!

 We didn't find anything awesome. Turns out, the Caymans are also expensive! Our last day was a day at sea and we spent most of it enjoying the sun on the deck and reading. I totally understand why people love cruises! There is so much good food, constantly tons of stuff to do, exotic places, the beach, all wrapped up in one cost effective package! I think we might need to try out some more cruises... you know, just to make sure they are all equally as good... ;)

The last big May event that I didn't delve upon was our official 1st anniversary, the day after we got back from the cruise. Just to keep you on your toes, i'll save that for next time =) Until then...

 

Stay classy,

May, in retrospect, part uno

Heyo! I'm here to fill you in on the happenings of MAY. It may have to be in parts, we'll see how long this post gets. I know you all are busy people and don't have time to read long novels about our life- nor do I want to sit here and write you a novel. SO- let me see where we left off... whoops, looks like there is still a little of April left too since the last thing I blogged about was my birthday!

Let's get started. On my Atlanta bucket list, one of the things I wanted to do was hike the Chattahoochee river with Kane. So for part of my birthday celebrations, Hubs and I took the monster down to the river!

It was perfect weather and we all had a blast. We even packed a picnic! I just wish we had done this more often while we were in Atlanta. I am sure there will be times like this in Phoenix too, as soon as it cools off some.

Derby marks the first Saturday in May, every year. I usually host a Derby party a my house but since Hubby was gone, our friends Laura and Matt volunteered to host it. AND since it was also Cinco de Mayo, we had a Cinco de Derby (Derby de Mayo?) party! Actually, we had such a good time at the party, I didn't remember to take many pictures!! oops. But luckily, I did snap a few before I had any margaritas!

half Cinco de Mayo, half Derby!

My hand painted Derby plate is adorable, but looks even better with my made from scratch horse cookies on it!

Laura was in charge of Cinco de Mayo decorations. Didn't she do an awesome job!? LOVE!

We had an awesome time, a bunch of people came over and we informally bet on the ponies by drawing horse names out of a bucket. The son of our small group leaders won it all! I think he thought he was rich! The pot was worth almost $40!! Hopefully we'll be able to make some cool friends in Phoenix that we can invite to next years party. Otherwise, all of our friends in Atlanta are going to have to fly to Phoenix for the first Saturday in May 2013 ;)

The next significant even in May was Hubby's 30th birthday!! I made him a special little carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and may have gone a little overboard with the presents. What can I say? I really love to see people open gifts!!!

Kane likes to help open presents too. He is eagerly awaiting present opening time in this picture. You should have seen him when we were unpacking from the move. He was ripping paper off everything!

Even Kane got to have some ice cream! Frosty Paws!! Nose lickin' good!

Overall it was a success! The night prior to his actual birthday, we went out with a bunch of our friends to a great little Indian restaurant on Buford Highway. If you know Buford Highway, you KNOW it was good! But, like my milestone birthday, it was slightly overshadowed by the impending move and the fact Hubby was already in Phoenix =(

MAN! May was an eventful month! Lots of pictures and events to share! I think I'm going to break here and leave you in anticipation for part dos! heh heh heh

On a side note, there are NO squirrels in Phoenix. I'm talking zero, zippo not-a-one that I've seen in the 3 weeks that we've been here. Kane has noticed too. His new favorite animal to hate is the pigeon. They come and sit on the telephone wires behind out house and he goes nuts. Barks and barks at them. But they never fly away so eventually he gets bored (or hot) and gives up. ...until he notices them again and the whole scene starts all over again. sigh.

That's all I got! Over and out until next time =)

xoxo,

Birthday Extravaganza!

This year, my birthday fell on Easter Sunday. So, Hubby and I decided to celebrate it the Saturday before! We jam packed the day with fun things to do...
First, we started the day with brunch at one of my favorite Atlanta restaurants: The Flying Biscuit.

I had an out of this world egg white omelet with all my favorites in it and a to die for fluffy biscuit. The biscuits are simply amazing. If you haven't had one, stop what you're doing and go there right now.

You can get a 1/2 dozen to go.
You won't be sorry.
seriously.

After that, I had to get my car's emissions checked. Stupid Dekalb county requires it. That's the only depressing thing about your birthday- your car taxes are due!

Hey! Happy Birthday! Pay $200 in car taxes! Baloney.

Next Hubby and I signed up for a Wine Class as part of a groupon I bought a few months back.  It was meant to be April's date in Hubby's monthly date present.

The wine class was at a little wine boutique in Midtown. The lady teaching the class was very knowledgeable but she was also a little intense. Still, we learned a lot! For instance, did you know you are supposed to store all left over wine in the fridge? Even red wine!

Once the wine class ended, we headed over to Buckhead Church for a Saturday night Easter service with some of our friends from small group. It was a good message, you should check it out!

After church, we all drove over to The Sound Table for a birthday dinner! It was delicious. It was one of those eclectic places in the middle of Old Forth Ward which should tell you something right there. There were some interesting painting on the wall outside the restaurant...

 

Right across the street from the Sound Table is this funky little bar called Sister Louisa's Church. I've heard that it's definitely a place you need to go to at least once, just to say you've been. So, after dinner everyone decided to see what it was all about.

Let me tell you, this place is CRAZY. Once you get inside, there are pictures of Jesus and Jesus memorabilia EVERYWHERE. Some of the things were funny and others pretty offensive. They had pews to sit in and choir robes to wear around. They have pipe organ karaoke once a week. It was overwhelming! Hubby and I decided to try out the choir robes...

We had a pretty fun time! We love our small group! I'm really going to miss all of them =( Hopefully we'll make some good friends like them in Phoenix too. Chances are slim any Phoenix friends will be as cool as our Atlanta friends though...

Disclaimer: I know I am like a month or more behind on posting this stuff but I WILL catch up! I promise. Its been pretty hectic around here with our impending move and vacation (woohoo!) So keep checking back as I will update the blog as I can! Stay tuned for pictures of the derby and Hubby's big 3-0 birthday par-tay coming soon!!