Girls Traveling

36 week stats | farm gal #2

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

are we all up for some more mirror belly selfies?

oh good. i was nervous my awkwardness was too much last week.

36 WEEK STATS | farm gal #2

WEIGHT GAIN | i'm sitting here at a downtown coffee shop sipping my decaf almond milk latte and munching (devouring) a slice of delicious pumpkin bread. this is my reward after a one pound gain this week. bringing my grand total to 16 pounds after a very long 36 weeks and three days...but who's counting?

SYMPTOMS | zip. nada. these are the facts. as in...no signs of baby coming any time soon. it's kind of how i roll.

if you've been reading for a bit you know kaye was nearly two weeks overdue and i was induced. call it mother's intuition, but i have a STRONG to QUITE STRONG feeling this one won't be interested in coming on her own either.

SIZE OF BABY | this gal is right on schedule. my belly is measuring right at 36 weeks and the doctor is still predicting right around a seven pounder. he even went as far to say i am textbook perfection. i responded with "if only that were the case in college."

at least i grow my babies real real good...so it seems.

SLEEP | either i'm getting better at the no-sleep thing or i'm just so exhausted i don't remember waking up in the night, but i'm feeling much better rested than i was a few weeks ago. this is an absolute godsend considering my attitude towards my poor farmer has been less than desirable.

sometimes i look at him, and just like the movies, i think, "you did this to me." hate in my heart.

but i've so so put my best foot forward to be sweet to him. sometimes that includes an, "i'm sorry i'm a total bi*ch-face 80% of the time."

that man - he's a saint.

WORKOUTS | i walked 18 miles last week. this is only possible because i'm obsessed with watching dexter on the iPad as i march it out on the treadmill and because kaye is still rocking three hour naps.

i do know i'm going to have to figure out something tricky tricky when gal-face #2 arrives because i will go insane if i can't run.

CLOTHING | farmer made the mistake of saying this morning, "black leggings and a cardigan again. surprise surprise." i asked him if he wanted me to drop some benjamins on some clothes that fit. he stopped talking.

GENDER | pink is the word.

CRIES THIS WEEK | hello week #2 in a row with no cries.

hey hormones - suck it. i win, you lose.

PURCHASES | i'm having some buyers guilt (not remorse) after my frye boots purchase last week (please see them pictured...i'm in love). so nothing new this week. i'm considering purchasing a new dresser for the nursery. we were going to move our old dresser in there, but it's just so huge it looks ridiculous. i also still need to get some girly accessories for the nursery like a pink pillow for the chair, a mobile, and some art...still.

here's to another week of being the mom of one. life is about to slap me in the face.

$205 cash giveaway...don't mind if i do

Monday, September 29, 2014

so...my birthday month is winding down.

whomp whomp.

what if i rallied all these ladies together and they just decided to GIVE ME the $205 cash so i can buy myself something pretty?

ladies? yes?

because, let's face it...with a new baby on the way and my almost two year old wearing all 3T clothing (she's literally as large as three year olds)...i didn't get to tell myself yes nearly as many times as i would have liked.

let's just say i have big plans for some post-baby clothes shopping.

oh yeah...and there's still the basement bathroom i'm going to drop some coin on and i've also decided to brighten our kitchen with a new backsplash.

tile isn't cheap.

so, aside from those frye boots i purchased (and turtle's uggs)...i said no quite responsibly. my farmer would be proud.

but just because i told myself no doesn't mean you have to! ESPECIALLY if you win this little giveaway. and by little i mean - $205 cash. that's not little.

and show these gals some love while you're at it. it'll be worth it, i swear.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

thank you so much for getting yourself entered...and very best of luck!

should you get a wild hair and want to participate in next months group giveaway, check out your options on my advertise page!

oh hey, friday! | fall is where it's at

Friday, September 26, 2014

*sigh*

i loooove fall. as in, i could have a love affair with it. like...i want to make out with fall.

things just got weird. i don't actually want to make out with fall. i just want to...make out with fall.

the days are crisp. the colors are vibrant yet calming (think - mustard, brick red, deep green, burnt orange). and while pumpkin recipes can be overdone, they are worth embracing for a few months out of the year. plus, if you put enough homemade whipped cream on anything...count me in. throw in some leggings, tall boots, scarves, and a latte...we're in serious fall business.

but before we get even further into my unhealthy relationship with a season, i want to thank all you fine fine gals for coming back week after week for this little linkup. amy and i love browsing through your posts and i hope you all are having fun finding fellow bloggers.

or...if you're new to these parts...thank you for linking up for the first time!

we really want to continue the linkup so don't forget to promote promote so it can grow and grow. the more eyes we have on the linkup means the more potential eyes on your blog. win/win.

1 | write up a little post about five things. anythings.

2 | head back over here and enter your link at the bottom of this post.

3 | and pretty please don't forget to link back to our blogs and/or add the oh hey, friday! button (found just below) by copying the HTML into the HTML section of your post so that others can link up as well! that's it. now get busy.

MY FIVE
1 | i started decorating because, let's face it, come mid-october i'll be lucky if i'm moving further than the couch to the kitchen back to the couch...and then once turtle 2.0 arrives...i'll be working diligently on flattening my rear because of the substantial amount of sitting that's going to be happening. so...on my birthday i popped into pottery barn and took advantage of some sale goodies. i snagged this glorious, plaid table runner and two cute pumpkins.

i also get to use this sign i made last year at christmas time. it's dual purpose because come winter all i have to do is flip the sign around and it says "presents" on the other side. (my farmer chose the words. originally they were supposed to say "thankful" and "peace"...but he thought that seemed too cheesy, so we ended up with "turkey" and "presents."

2 | another splurge for my birthday? some new leggings and some new boots to go with the new leggings...obviously!

source source

i'll do a review on the leggings, but for now just know they are hue brand and they are wonderful. they put my thin, j.crew leggings i've been trying to rock for the past two years to shame. i'll be purchasing several more pair. 3 | and let's not stop with fall. pottery barn has their holiday decor out already...and that makes me sweat because i want. it. ALL. if i could make it look like christmas threw up in my house six months out of the year...i would welcome it and my farmer would roll his eyes...a lot. regardless, here are some goodies i'm eyeballing...

source

but i mean...come on. who needs a woven reindeer head mount? me...that's who. 4 | i should probably get focused on my halloween costume, but let's face it. there's a solid chance i'll be on my back in a hospital bed. would it be appropriate to take kaye trick-or-treating around the labor + deliver/post-partum areas of the hospital? maybe the doctors will give her money? i'll dress her up as a surgeon...it'll be adorable. but probably not as adorable as her kitty cat costume from last year.

5 | i'm a part of a little giveaway over on amy's blog. i'm going to try and rig it so i can take my $115 in winnings and buy some more fall decor.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

and now...link-up time. get entered now!

about 4 weeks to go

Thursday, September 25, 2014

we have just over four weeks to go until turtle 2.0 is supposed to make her debut.

it was a pretty harsh slap in the face when i realized that i have more to complete than just packing my hospital bag.

i started perusing checklists on the internet and decided i better create my own and start crossing off tasks as the days wind down.

plus making a pretty checklist in photoshop keeps my hands off the canned frosting.

also...this is a call for help.

i know some of these items seem a little ridiculous, so if you disagree, just disregard. however, what are some goodies i might be overlooking?

thanks gals - i knew i could count on you.

the trouble when you want to be another blogger + Q + A with the modern tulip

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

sometimes we all get blogger envy. we know this to be true.

*wish i had thought of that post idea.
*wish my pictures were that beautiful.
*wish i could decorate my home that way.
*wish my blog was designed like that.

i could go on and on and on because this is the case when it comes to maegen from the modern tulip. maegan oozes confidence and beauty and grace and and...i adore. i can't help it.

and that's the trouble when you want to be another blogger.

but the good news...is this type of envy is not the thief of joy. maegen's the type of gal who just makes you happy with each of her posts. she's an absolute delight.

enviable? yes.
adorable? yes.
thief of joy? no.

the good news - i did a little q + a with our gal in hopes of sharing all her loveliness with you. enjoy!

KARLI | so maegen...let's not beat around the bush here - i want us to all get to know you better. do you have any hidden talents or party tricks?

MAEGEN | None that I should talk about publicly! Kidding of course! I can sing, but I refuse to let anyone hear me. When I was in high school my church had an "American Idol" competition that I won. Of course they filmed it so it's the only recording of me singing and it's mortifying to me! My hubs even goes as far as begging me to sing for him as his birthday or Christmas present. Isn't that sad? Maybe one day I'll grow a pair and you'll see me failing on The Voice or something. If you do, please vote for me.

KARLI | oh girl. you know i'll vote for you. but i have a better idea. do you want your blog to blow up...like...huge? post that american idol competition video on your blog and then shamelessly share it on all social media platforms. that's blogging gold! i can't believe you're sitting on that! moving on...

what made you fall for that hunk of a man you call yours all yours? any info on your first date? ps. thank you for this interview with your man. i desperately need to do a q + a with my farmer.

MAEGEN | Oh that hunk of mine, isn't he cute? I met him on a blind date (I swore I'd never do that), but his sister begged me assuring me we would hit it off. It turned out to be my fairytale! We met at his nephew's baseball game to keep the environment comfortable for all of us. It ended up being fantastic because not only did Jon and I hit it off immediately with no lack of conversation, but his parents and I hit it off as well. That's what you call an immediate SCORE! I do shyly have to admit the first time he saw me that day I was carrying down a coffee pot to the baseball field. (I like my coffee). And at the time his sister made the comment, "Wouldn't it be funny if you too got married and we mentioned the first time he laid eyes on you, you were carrying a coffee pot to a baseball game?" Guess what story she told in her speech at the wedding? #priceless

KARLI | oh girl. i love that story so so much. it's perfectly romantic! my farmer and i met at the golf course although neither of us are golfers...then i chased him for five years. that's a little less romantic.

so, you’re all knocked up. any big purchases in prep for baby? have you and your guy fought about anything? (my farmer and i endlessly fought about the name for kaye.) what’s surprised you the most?

MAEGEN | Gosh, I'm so pumped about being knocked up! The hubs and I tried for over a year so to say we're over the moon is an understatement! Feel free to keep up with my weekly pregnancy updates :) Since we still don't know the gender (come on October!) we haven't made many purchases, which is killing me! I'm ready to decorate a nursery and shop for baby clothes!

We have bought a crib and a stroller. Both of which I'm super stoked about because they were steals from Craigslist and a yard sale! I hate buying anything full price. So far we have argued over the types of purchases the baby needs. For instance when I bought the stroller I told him and he was excited because I got a deal on an Eddie Bauer stroller. Mind you this is an everyday, zoo, park, practical stroller. Then my sister-in-law offered to give us her jogging stroller since she doesn't need it anymore. First words out of hubs' mouth, "Why on earth do we need two strollers?". Why don't men get it? So instead of telling him why I made him go outside and try to run behind the standard stroller. You know, the one with the double wheels that turn every direction imaginable. Yeah, no need for an explanation after that.

What has surprised me the most is watching hubs turn into a daddy before the baby is here. I know that moms immediately feel like a mother because of all the symptoms taking over our bodies, but Jon has just melted my heart watching him fawn over my pregnancy. He talks to my belly, kisses it every night and is always game for anything the baby is craving. And it gets weird y'all!

KARLI | maybe that's the approach i should have taken with my farmer...instead i purchased first and tried to explain my actions after. foolish of me.

on topic of baby - what’s been the most surprising? does anything annoy you? are you a cryer like me? any fears?

MAEGEN | I think what has surprised me the most is the side effects of pregnancy happening so early. It was like a switch flipped over night. Suddenly I was always exhausted, always hungry and always emotional. Oh the emotions. I've cried over the dumbest things like dog hair on my sheets, or a small stain in my new rug that I still managed to get out. I guess it was the fact that I thought it devalued my rug? I swear hubs knows to just walk away when he sees my eyes fill up with tears because I don't want to be consoled. I know I'm being dumb, but I just can't help it! Read all my pregnancy hills and valleys here.

KARLI | oh girl. been there done that. the CRAZIEST part is after the baby is out and you realize your hormones are finally returning to quasi-normal levels. it's glorious. you start to remember the person you were before baby. get excited about that. :)

tell us all more about the boutique you run.

MAEGEN | Oh my boutique... I have really slacked in this area lately. It's our second business and she has been put on the back burner due to a high demand with our other business. I hope to get started again late this year with adding new items because I absolutely love owning a boutique and shipping out sweet packages! My favorite item right now would have to be this emerald beauty and I think it's such a great color for Fall!

KARLI | oh yes. love love that piece! although i have zero clue how i would pull that off on the farm. but what i could pull off is this sweet, delicate love necklace. i adore.

so...i've said it once, i'll say it again...your blog is the best. it’s beautiful, classy, great pictures, excellent writing - can you give us all your #1 tip for successful blogging? like…is there anything that works really well for you that you try to consistently repeat in each post?

MAEGEN | Oh my goodness you are so sweet! I would say a game changer for me was learning to speak -err- write in my own voice! I'm a sarcastic/humorous person by nature (hence why I love Karli) so when I allowed that voice to come through my blog and I started writing the way I speak in real life, things flipped! My readers engaged more and I enjoyed writing because I wasn't trying to be someone I wasn't. I did share some other tricks of the trade not too long ago for those who are interested.

KARLI | brilliant. and thanks for the shout out. i'm glad you think we'd be friends. that was what you were saying, right? or did i just get creepy?

do you have any projects that have been pinned to pinterest that have boosted your traffic? i’d love if you shared it with my readers!

MAEGEN | Okay so I'm really lame and I hardly do any DIY because I'd rather buy it and make my life that much easier. BUT when I do DIY, I go all out. I made this dining room table for my husband before he was my husband. Basically because he had nowhere to sit and eat in his house at the time and I just knew we were going to be married one day so I made the table for him (the way I liked it) as a Christmas present secretly knowing it would be mine someday :) I absolutely love it and we always get tons of compliments on it from guests. Here is the tutorial I followed so you can make your own fancy-schmancy farm table.

KARLI | girl...you have got to be kidding me?! you made this beauty? i'm inspired.

anything exciting on the horizon you want to spill? (besides baby of course.) but like…if September FARM readers were to follow your blog, what can they look forward to, besides all your darling preg updates?

MAEGEN | I'm going to be revamping rooms in our home soon due to baby's arrival in March. I'll make sure to share before and after photos for everything. Which means there will be nursery updates, guest room updates since we will have family staying with us and house updates that we will be accomplished all before Baby Mills comes and takes over our lives in the best way possible :)

KARLI | i love it. love it so much and i can't wait to read along and steal all your great home update ideas.

thank you so so much for being on September FARM today.

and i'm sure September FARM readers will be especially jazzed to know you're sharing a 10% discount off an entire order at your boutique! all you have to do is use the code SEPTEMBERFARM. go have a look!

also, if you're not feeling shopping at this moment (we can't be friends) don't be afraid to pop over to all of maegen's other areas on the internets and some of her favorite posts. it's worth it.

BLOG | SHOP | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM

reasons to never see an earlybird movie

announcement that i'm preggers

and what kind of blogger would i be if didn't take this opportunity to promote myself! if you're interested in being on September FARM...just like maegen...check out my sponsor opportunities on my advertise page. questions? e-mail me.

35 week stats | farm gal #2

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

a little late to the party this week, but how could i not update everyone on the riveting growth of my sweet turtle 2.0 who kicks the daylights out of me all night long, causes excruciating heartburn, wild mood swings, and all in all makes me an absolute treasure to be around?

no seriously...let's be friends. i'll cry on your shoulder one minute and be manically happy the next. is everyone getting a little feel for what my farmer is dealing with on the daily?

he made his bed...now he'll have to lay in it...for like...4.5 more weeks.

35 WEEK STATS | farm gal #2

WEIGHT GAIN | no worries guys! i'm excelling in this department as of lately. since i've stopped running altogether but continue my nightly splurges on ice cream, nutella, birthday cake...or all three...the doctor informed me i'm at a 15 pound weight gain.

but seriously...having both my farmer's birthday and my birthday last week didn't do me any favors. i LITERALLY ate more than 90% of a deliriously delicious birthday cake from whole foods.

let it be noted...whole foods makes killer cakes.

SYMPTOMS | the next time i forget my prilosec just put me out of my misery. seriously...i forgot to take it yesterday morning and was feeling pretty cocky most of the day because i wasn't having any symptoms. but from about 9 pm - 2 am i wished i was...i don't know what. but it was terrible.

also, i may have experienced my very first braxton hicks moments last night. do those hurt or just kind of feel like a cramping sensation?

SIZE OF BABY | i saw the doctor today and this little fighter (think MMA, karate, boxer) is the perfect size. he's predicting a 7 pounder + a few ounces on the due date. kaye was 7 lb. 14 oz. at 11 days overdue...so that sounds about right.

but right now this little gal is just over five pounds and between 16 - 18 inches in length.

SLEEP | oh sleep...you elusive thing you.

the other night my farmer fell asleep on the couch...and because i'm a super good wife, i left him there. things are super romantic up in here...up in here.

but guess what? i rolled to the middle of our glorious king sized bed and slept most excellently for like...three hours. i felt like a new woman the next day and i think i was probably a little more mentally stable.

WORKOUTS | no more running. whomp whomp. but i do get in some walking. plus carrying kaye around has to count for something. oh...and moving furniture and painting and hand polishing the hardwood floors...these all make me out of breath...so that's practically cardio.

CLOTHING | hello black leggings three days in a row. i'm particularly excited because i ordered some new black leggings that i've heard are the shiz. i'll be super jazzed when those land on my doorstep.

GENDER | girl...not that we've had any additional ultrasounds to reconfirm. but i swear...if this baby comes out a boy i'll be slightly disappointed for like...five seconds.

regardless, i worked on those pink stripes in the nursery last week and i changed the closet doors from an olive green to white...and they look SO. MUCH. BETTER. see...

CRIES THIS WEEK | sorry to disappoint, but ZERO cries this week!! who am i? clearly someone who is 100% emotionally stable.

PURCHASES | ummm...don't ask. i mean...it's september and my birthday month and the weather is changing and and and...i NEEDED them. but seriously...don't tell my farmer. just let him read the blog and let him remember that i'm carrying his child and that the last pair of boots i received about four years ago for christmas and that all he has to do is sell 2.5 bales of hay to pay for them. it's fine. i love you farmer. a lot.

source

running in the rain

Monday, September 22, 2014

we had the sweetest little rainfall yesterday.

what that usually means to me is cuddling up inside and moving as little as possible.

but when you have a turtle and a farmer with more energy than mice on crack, well, cuddles and TV watching just aren't typically in the cards.

so back to this rain...

i was playing mom-of-the-year and heating up (yes, in the microwave) a hotdog for turtle's dinner and looked outside...i had two escaped runners having the very best time getting soaked to the bone.

but we are talking pure joy on this gal's face. she absolutely loved every second.

plus it helps that our farmer is the fun one. thank god he's around or our gal would miss out on many an awesome childhood opportunity...like getting dirty or running in the rain...gasp!

and it certainly doesn't hurt that these two are beyond smitten for one another.

talk about a third wheel. sheesh...get lost mom.

i'm so unbearably bias here, but this gal makes me swoon. i know of no other person that can pull off this face and make it look so so turtle-tastic.

saturday confessional | lauren @ lot 48

Saturday, September 20, 2014

happy saturday! i love saturdays. i love saturdays even more when i have a saturday confessional to share. i love saturdays EVEN MORE when they aren't my confessions...even though i really do have a few stored up. i mean...we're talking some moments of insanity. i was that crazy girlfriend.

but back to our guest of honor! i have lauren on the blog today from lot 48 sharing all about her experiences in london ranging from the royal wedding to a brazilian - two things i could easily get jealous of...and i think it's safe to say i'm not the only one.

SATURDAY CONFESSIONAL with LAUREN @ LOT 48

hello September FARM readers!! i am lauren, and i blog at lot 48!! i am sooo excited to spill my confessions to you today!! i have been wanting to do this for a while actually and am so glad i am finally doing it!!
in spring of 2011, i did a study abroad in london. so i thought i would share some juicy confessions about my time there, because let me tell you, i sure have them!!

i lived right across the street from hyde park and my first day in london, you can understand that i was totally enamored with everything that i was seeing/hearing/smelling/all the other senses. i was walking into hyde park when a gentleman on a bicycle passed me and said "watch out love!!!" and i got all kind of giddy because it was my first real british experience.

and then i saw this guy and had to re enact him.
and then! and then!! guess what!! the royal wedding happened! some people from my group were crazy enough to go to buckingham palace the night before the wedding and camp out all night long so they could get a glimpse of kate driving to westminster abbey, but i was feeling sane, so i stayed in our flat and slept like a baby. but! the wedding was projected on enormous screens at hyde park!! take a look.

i can't remember if that is kate walking down the aisle or walking into westminster abbey. i think it's walking into the abbey.

this was a royal occasion!! of course you had to wear your best hat!! there were also tea in thermoses everywhere and crumpets, scones and cookies on blankets everywhere as well. picnic time!!

some people wore white dresses to pretend they were brides. i should have done that!!

my congratulations picture to the bride and groom!! hooray!! you can read a more in depth summary of the royal wedding on my blog here.

some of the girls who stayed up all night at the palace made friends with some lovely brits from brighton. when we made a day trip there, we went out with them at night after everyone else in our group had left. the brits are the man on my right and the girl on the far right. we still keep in touch to this day!! they were like "we don't know where to take you because you don't drink!!" so they took us to this lovely cafe where we had scones with cream and jam!! a british tradition!!

london was the happiest time of my life. sure, there was school and i had two classes but i really couldn't care less about them. the world was my oyster. there is so much to do and see in london!! every day was a new adventure!! we had class field trips and because it was a theater study abroad, we had mandatory plays we had to go to, so i saw about 6 plays at the globe theater.
actually, my ex was friends with two of the people on my study abroad and he was on a study abroad with his school the same time i was on a study abroad with mine. i was so paranoid the entire time that i was going to see him. that man broke my heart into a million pieces and is a scum of the earth. i don't hate a lot of people, but i really, really hate him. we went to a matinee at the globe theater of the taming of the shrew and afterward we were all hanging out and chatting...and there he was - the devil. i refer to him as voldemort because that is how evil he is. a girl that i was closest to on my study abroad was standing in front of me so i hid behind her and pulled at her jacket and said "that's my ex. the ex i told you about." and she said "wait, what?" it took her a minute to process because what are the odds of running into the spawn of satan thousands of miles away from home? i said "get me out of here. hurry, before he sees me. i'm going to run. come with me." and i ran. faster than i have ever ran in my entire life. my friend, camille, yelled at me, "slow down, i can't keep up!!" but i wanted to put as much space between me and him as possible. seeing him made me want to vomit. camille was going to school to be a nurse and she took my pulse and said "wowwwwwww." then we went to mcdonald's and got a cadbury milkshake and then went to a toy store.

i was feeling so crappy that night, but i wasn't gong to let voldemort ruin my plans with my friends. we had plans to go clubbing, so clubbing we went!! we didn't know where to go, so we got off the subway at picadilly circus and figured we would just walk around until we found a fun club to go to.
i saw a hip girl our age and said "look guys, a fun girl! let's follow her!" so we did and we totally freaked her out. she walked really fast and she kept turning around but i am so glad we followed her because that club was the best club we had been to in all our six weeks of living in london.
now, let me clear something up for you. if you read my blog already, you know that i have never had a drop of alcohol in my life. but that doesn't mean i don't like to go to clubs to go dancing!! you can read this fun post where i speculate what kind of a drunk i would be. i'm pretty sure i would be a sad drunk. anyway...

this is one of my favorite stories to tell about my time in london. we got off in soho, and being the newbies we are, we didn't know what that meant. it was late afternoon, and we were wandering around getting to know the city. we soon realized that we were in the red light district. oh dear, it was bad - sex shop after sex shop after sex shop. thank GOODNESS it was late afternoon and not night time!! we found this on one of the doors.
poor family who lives in that house! how many times must they have had their door knocked on by some gross person who wanted a prostitute??
now, this is the part where i don't have any pictures (!!!) and i can only tell you this because i am not writing this on my blog because my mom and my sisters read my blog, and i can't tell them this!
now for the GOLDEN STORY EVER OF THIS WHOLE THING. IT INVOLVES A HUNKY BRAZILIAN.
i met a very, very hunky brazilian man who gave me a very, very memorable last night in london. i saw him a few days before i was leaving and when i told him i was leaving on friday, he said that he needed to take me dancing on friday. this was the second time that we would have gone dancing, the first time i brought two friends with me, but camille realized she forgot her ID when she got there and was going to go home. but since paulo was a body guard and knew every body guard in the city he just talked to the bouncer and they let camille in.
anyway, this time we were going dancing just the the two of us. i waited for him at the tube stop as we agreed upon and was soooo excited!! but he was super late and he pulled up in a car with a friend. i was so disappointed.
he took me to a brazilian club where he taught me a traditional brazilian dance. oh, btw, i had turned 21 three weeks prior and he was a month away from being 32, but MAN was he fine. i really could not have cared less. he was talking to all his friends in portuguese and we were dancing real close and you guessed it, we started making out in the middle of this brazilian club.
then he dropped his friend off, held my hand, and took me to another club. he chatted with the bouncer there. and got us in for free. we made out at that bar, and then we went to another bar and got in for free again. we made out there and then i told him i was disappointed that i never got a picture walking down abbey road where the beatles walked in that iconic picture so to abbey road we went where he picked me flowers from someone's porch and bought me chocolates when he had to fill up his car with gas. it was just oh so very magical. what a way to send a girl back to america right??
so those are my study abroad confessions. paulo. oh paulo. what a sweet memory you are. you are divorced now. and who knows what you are doing. but i don't care. you gave me the best going away night ever. i got home at 3 am and i left for the airport at 6. worth it.

those are my confessions!! i know that was long, but i had so much to say!! london was just the absolute best time!! be sure to check out my blog lot 48 and you can also find me on pinterest, instagram and twitter!! thanks for reading!

oh hey, friday! | i'm 31

Friday, September 19, 2014

first and first and first...you gals sure do know how to make a fellow gal feel special.

thank you x 1,000,000 for all the birthday wishes. it was definitely a fun one. i DID get spoiled. i laughed a lot. it was a great day. yay september.

we're also up to bat with another oh hey, friday! which i just can't seem to get enough of. so much so, that i'm here at 11 pm on my birthday thinking about eeeeking out a post.

you're right. i just realized i'm too sleepy for that. so for now, just get yourself linked up. i'll be back in a few to get my five written down.

if you're new...here's the bizz -

1 | write up a little post about five things. anythings.

2 | head back over here and enter your link at the bottom of this post.

MY FIVE

1 | what do you do when one of your very most favorite people comes to visit your farm for five days?

answer - you basically have the best birthday week ever.

plus woody lives in LA, so it was pretty important that we give this city mouse some tastes of farm livin'.

but first...click here, here, and here as a reminder of who woody is.

okay, he's hysterical, right?

so farmer and i did our very best to entertain him while he sang for his supper. we took him to explore old, dangerous equipment on the farm, naturally.

this obviously turned into farm touring in itself.

during that outing, kaye ran wild.

2 | we took the boat out one. last. time. i think the weather is going to turn soon...but it was wonderful to get on the water. especially because turtle had her first experience riding behind the boat. she loved it.

3 | and i had my first experience of pulling my farmer and holding a toddler at the same time. kaye was supposed to sit with woody. she LOVES woody. but she was a little more than a little concerned that her farmer was in the water. it just didn't sit well with her.

so woody continued to not look at the camera...

and i drove.

actually, woody manned the camera and snapped these sweet pictures. i especially love the shot of kaye waving to her farmer as he skied.

4 | and my birthday. what's a birthday where you don't eat and eat and eat and eat? (especially when you're pregnant.)

my farmer had to stay on the farm to, you know, make us a living. as party of my birthday present, he also took turtle for the day so woody and i could head into boise. woody was an absolute trooper and did whatever i wanted.

we ate lunch at one of my favorite places. we did a little shopping at the north face store. we saw a movie, the giver. then we headed to the mall so i could get myself some new shades. we finished off our "girl's day" with some pedicures. and while i couldn't talk woody into a pedicure, he wasn't above the massage chair and the beer they offered...so there's that.