May 28, 2014

Well hello there, long time no see!! I have been so busy with moving and working late at work that the last thing I want to do when I get home is set aside time to actually blog. I've still got so many decorating projects I want to get done and after spending the day in front of a computer, I don't want to do it when I get home too.


Well during my time away, I was nominated twice for a Liebster Award! I swear these babies never, ever get old! I am not going to lie, I don't have time to finish the entire leibester process, but I wanted to give shout outs for the 2 beauties that nominated me and answer their questions. So Let's roll!


My first nomination came from Daisy at Jet Settin Daisy. These are her questions

1. You walk into a bulk candy store, what's the first thing you put in your bag?
Reese cups & Air Head Extremes. They are my weaknesses. 

2. You only have ten minutes to make dinner (no frozen food in the house HA), what do you make?
Creamy chickn pasta, or as we always call it, "A man, A Can , A Plan, Named Stan"
This is the recipe here. It's delish, and super easy!

3. What is your favorite animated movie character?
Sid the Sloth from Ice Age. He just cracks me up!
or Kuzko from Emporer's New Groove. Classic!

4. You have a free day and decided to take a roadtrip. Where do you go?
I always, always, always head to the mountains to visit the cabin.

5. An anonymous benefactor (probably with a top hat and monocle) is gifting you with a trip anywhere you want to go but it can only be for three days (cheap generous bastard) and it has to be somewhere you've never been. Where do you go?
Nice of that gentleman to do such a gracious thing! Now where do I need to meet him to buy my tickets? ;)
Bora Bora to a little tikki hut on the water





6. The same benefactor gives you a $100 bill good to use at ONE store. Where would you spend it?
Today it would be DSW. I would love some new wedges.

7. He's now giving you two free tickets to a concert (who is this guy). Who would you go see?
Yeah, who is this guy? I would totally let me take me to see Garth Brooks. I gotta mark it off my bucket list at some point!

8. If you're at a food court, what do you usually end up eating? Sorry, the elusive anonymous benefactor is not paying this time.
I somehow always end up at the nice Asian place that offers me sesame chicken on a tooth pick. Suckers me in every. single. time. 

9. What ten things do you always pack for an overnight trip?
Nike Shorts, tshirts, straightener, shampoo, face wash, makeup, phone charger, ipad, toothbrush, undies

10. Last gift from the benefactor- a new car (nothing fancy). What would you get?
I'd love an Acura MDX, sweet Mr. Benefactor man! Please come into my life!!





11. What is your favorite memory from this year so far?
Spending time with my girls in Nashville

My next nomination came from the sweet Katie from over at A Worker At Home

1. What is your favorite season of the year and why?
This is a tough one. Growing up, I was always madly in love with Summer. I love the person Summer turns me into--wild, care free, young. As I grow older, I have developed a huge appreciation for Fall. I love the smells, colors, and festivals so much. 

2. Who inspires you the most?
My incredible grandma. There are no words to describe how truly amazing she is. There will be a post about her at some point this week, so stick around and find out why.

3. If you could speak any language fluently other than English what would it be?
I feel like Mandarin, though not a romantic language, would be very handy

4. What is your favorite household "chore"? (Usually we hear about people's least favorite…but there's gotta be one you at least kind of like?) 
I love organizing and general straightening up (you know, putting things back where they belong)

5. If money/schooling/etc. were no object, what career would you choose (besides being a wife & mom)?
I would love to be an executive at a record label. I would want to be the person that finds "The next big thing." I feel like I could be so good at that.

6. What is your biggest pet peeve?
ironically enough, overuse of the word amazing
people without respect for others
slow drivers
..oh you only wanted one. sorry 

7. What is your favorite type of workout?
Running

8. Would you rather have a complete home makeover or a complete wardrobe makeover?
Deff wardrobe!


9. If you had to eat one type of food for the rest of your life, what kind would it be?
Sushi or Mexican. Yum! :)


10. What is your favorite song right now (not of all time-- because that might be nearly impossible to answer)?
Don't laugh or judge, but I totally love this remix to "I can drink to that all night" with Jerrod Niemann and Pitbull. I hate the original, but for some reason, I can just get down with my bad self to this song. My second favorite jam right now is Wild Wild Love, also with Pitbull. I'm also going to let you in on a little secret, I know every single word already ;)



Caught you dancing, didn't I?

May 15, 2014

Excuse my Hiatus, I'm, moving

Queue the obligatory I'm sorry I haven't posted post. 

I was out of town this weekend at my parents, dealing with getting a cracked windshield replaced, and most importantly, f I have been packing all week to get ready for my big move that is already underway!

Yesterday I signed and I was handed a brand new set of keys to my new space!


I will post picutres as I progress with unpacking and decorating. I am so excited about the pieces I have already purchased and the DIYs I have planned. I can't wait to share with you all. Just don't hate me for the silence in the meantime. Feel free to come help me if you're in the neighborhood! ;)

May 12, 2014

The boys of summer are back

Even if you're new to these parts, you know that my life seams to revolve around baseball--hence the new blog name. In our world, there are two seasons--winter and baseball. However, even in winter, we still have winter baseball workouts. So, long story short.. It's baseball season again!

Note the little fuzzy blonde girl in the bottom watching the game too
About 2 weeks ago Billy's high school season wrapped up. We had the end of the year banquet Monday, which means it's officially done-zo. Saturday was the very first practice for his summer travel team, Team Elite. Summer ball is the the one I love the most and equally hate the most. I love the team, coaches, and the travel, but I hate the time it takes. Fall travel ball is easily my favorite season, because it's all the good stuff minus the heat and the events are all on the weekends so I try to tag along.

Billy coaches 17 year old travel ball of college and pro-bound athletes. Every single player will be playing in college or either be selected in the draft next summer. Yes, they're good. No, that opinion is not biased. They are continuously nationally ranked, and have established quite a name for themselves from the number of quality players that come out of their program. Some teams in the Team Elite organization have been invited to play tournaments at MLB stadiums and even the Junior Olympics!

and here we are.. going to a baseball game!
Until I started dating Billy, I never realized how big of a deal or how important travel baseball was. My eyes were opened at just how much time, effort, money, and SWEAT families pour out on their children. They travel all over the South East to college campuses and baseball complexes every single week throughout the summer playing multiple games a day at multiple locations. I honestly don't know how most parents logistically do it, especially when some of these road trips can last up to 3 weeks! Billy and his brother were lucky that his mom and grandpa were teachers with summers off and were able to drive them all over creation. I hear different parents who are in the corporate world (like me) tell me how they get it done and I am in awe. I've heard of one parent blowing all their vacation and sick days for half the season, the other blows all their vacation and sick days to cover the other half the season, and if they run out, grandparents step in. So much for that beach vacation, honey. 

An easy 3,000-4,000 people came out last spring to see two of their studs face off. Those two guys went 5th and 9th overall in the draft that June. This is only the home side!
Did I also mention how good these boys (and the ones they are playing against) are?! If you're wanting to go to the next level, summer ball is the best way to do it. Every game they play is set up as a showcase for college coaches and professional scouts. When he's not on the field, Billy is on the phone with parents, scouts, or college coaches getting these boys to their next destination. I wish people could see how dedicated these coaches are to getting these boys where they want to be. I cannot count high enough to keep track of how many times our dates have been canceled or postponed because a line-up needs to be made, practice ran late, or the restaurant closed before he got off the phone with some college or parent. True story.

As you can imagine, it's not exactly easy on our relationship. Even when he's not on the road, he's gone to practice or a game. I've blogged about what it's like to be a coach's girlfriend before here. Even as much as I dread summer ball, there's still a part of me that loves it. I love meeting all of the parents, the atmosphere at the ball park, and our baseball friends and support system that are more like family. I'm really looking forward to this season. I stopped by the field yesterday on my way back from my parents and got a first glimpse at some of this year's roster and reunited with some familiar faces on both sides of the fence. The first game is a few short weeks away, and I'm already eyeing out which roadtrip I might show up to ;)

Sorry boss, I'm taking the day off, I'll be at the field.

May 7, 2014

#WhoopItUpNashville

I am so sorry it has taken me so long to post this, but I have been so busy with work, the move, and a few things winding down the high school baseball season, but better late than never, right?

For those of you that follow my Instagram feed or our trip hashtag, #whoopitupnashville, you've probably been up to speed on all of the debauchery that went on this weekend in Nashville. For those of you that don't, here's the details:

The girls met me at my apartment bright and early and we started our 3 and a half hour trek to Tennessee. The drive went by quicker than I thought because we decided to learn every single word to "Wild, Wild Love" by Pitbull.. We tried and tried until we got tired of hearing the song, but never completely mastered it. Oh well, it did it's job of entertaining us and making the trip go by faster. 

Our first stop once we got to town was for lunch. We decided we had to check out Broadway first. I also had some things I had to do at the office right quick. It was a win-win: free parking, food, and getting some things off my to-do list.  We ended up deciding to eat lunch at Broadway Brewhouse & Mojo Gril per a recommendation of one of my coworkers. For bar food, it was surprisingly good!








We went and checked into our hotel, napped, showered, and headed back out for dinner at one of my favorites, Demos, and our night out on the town. I just love their pasta. Paired with a glass of sweet white wine, it's hard to beat!


Why didn't anyone bother to tell me my skirt was crooked?


While we were planning this trip, the only major requirement we all had was that we went to Big Bang, the piano bar. So that was one of the first things we tackled while painting the town. I could spent the entire night at the piano bar if you would have let me. 





The next morning we attempted to go to the Pancake Pantry, but the line was around the block. This girl was too hungry to wait, and I'm not a big fan of breakfast either, so it didn't hurt my feelings one bit that we decided to jump straight to lunch. We decided to just head up to Opry Mills where we had planned on touring the Grand Ole Opry that afternoon and grab lunch there.

I know typical tourist trap, Rain forest Cafe
After lunch and a little shopping, we went around back and started our tour of the Opry house.







Minnie Pearl's Shoes

The women of country music dressing room. You Nashville fans might recognize this room from the show!
On one of the walls they have plaques dedicated to all of the members of the Grand Ole Opry. I had to snag pictures of two of my favorites: Garth and Bill Anderson.



The infamous circle






After our tour sadly came to and end, we decided to stop by Antique Archeology, the American Pickers store, to get a gift for one of the girl's mom's. I got myself a shirt as well, because they were too cute to pass up. We went back to our hotel to change for dinner. A few of us opted to also visit some of the little boutiques by Vandy while the others were starting their showers. We went to dinner at Jackson's and met up with one of my friends from college, Scott, who now lives in Nashville. I had some delectable shrimp and grits and it was great to catch up with him and see how his new life and career in Tennessee was going. He also gave us each a copy of his EP! You can download a copy for yourself here. We may be biased, but we totally loved it!





After dinner we ventured back down to Broadway for our final night on the town. The final goal for the trip was to learn a few new line dances at Wild Horse. We all got out there with great hopes and were determined to line dance. Halfway through the first song, we started to tap out one by one because we realized we were not cut out for it. 4 songs later, we look up to find Amy has not only mastered some of the dances, but is now teaching all the people around her how it's done. I have never met anyone to dance like Amy or learn new steps as quickly as she does.

sorry.. cell phone pic
We absolutely loved the bouncer guy. He sang and danced along with us.
I cannot wait to get back up there this Summer. Nashville is truly one of my favorite cities, and it makes me almost regret not sticking it out with music business. There are still so many things that I want to see and do. What should I add to my list of things to do on my next trip?

Amanda's Birthday and Sundy Best

Last week we went out to celebrate Amanda's birthday along with an even bigger occasion, Sundy Best coming back to Georgia. They played at Grazing Here, which is known for their grass fed burgers and steaks--holy delicious burger! I don't tend to like burgers unless they are Bubba burgers, but these will make my stomach do cartwheels (in a good way).

If you've been around these here parts for any amount of time, you know that I LOVE Sundy Best. I rave about them to anyone that gives me a chance to talk. If you've never listened to them, let me see again, that if you have a soul and good taste, you will fall in love with them too. They're such a blast live. We laugh so hard, and we especially love their medleys that you can only get at a show. Who can turn down Genuwine, BSB, Deanna Carter, and Nelly all in the same song? Not I

Here are a few quick pictures of our night.