Weekend Update

Good Morning!

I meant to write this yesterday while the kids were at school, but I got stuck filling out a background investigation for a friend trying to get on at police department in Texas.   

We had a pretty good weekend.  On Saturday I took my son to a birthday party at a gymnastics place. Parents could play on all the equipment...I immediately regretted wearing a flowy top and skinny jeans...but I still got myself up on the balance beam (I did gymnastics for 9 years) and walked around. I realllly wanted to do some tricks but it's been a loooong time and I didn't want to either bust my ass or flash all the kids and other parents if my shirt came up (or my jeans ripped)... 

After the party, we went to Mex 1 Coastal Cantina again (see here ) and then went to the soccer fields to kick around the ball and fly my son's kite (that we just got out of the packaging...only had it for about 2 years...).

On Sunday we got up and headed to Folly Beach for the first time.  It was sooo windy and a bit chilly, but my son had a great time flying his kite and playing in the sand.

 You can barely see him, but there was one lone surfer out there in the water.  Even with a wet suit on, that had to be freeeeeezing.
We cannot wait to go back to Folly when it's a bit warmer.  We were going to try out Rita's Seaside Grille because I've been dreaming of these nachos that Megan from Style Me Swanky
posted on her Instagram the other day.  They look delicious.  Soon!!

If you have a J.Crew Factory near you, don't forget the 40% off women's apparel runs through tomorrow. If you spend $125, you also get 20% off.  I grabbed a few shorts and a couple of tops there the other day...see here 

Hope y'all are having a good week so far!

Erika
 

Le Weekend

Heeeeeey.

We had a nice weekend...

I got up Saturday morning and went to the hockey rink.  I ended up not playing goalie because we didn't have enough people.  Luckily, I brought my other gear and we played half-rink, 2 on 2 with 1 goalie.  I had to borrow a stick because I didn't bring mine...it was about 5 inches too long for me, but I still managed to score two goals. I was pretty proud of myself b/c it'd been at least a year or two since I'd even been on skates and about 12 since I'd played hockey.

Got a couple of good bruises too..including this one:

After hockey, the fam and I went to a new restaurant in Charleston (West Ashley area) called Mex 1 Coastal Cantina

My husband had the Cilantro Lime Chicken Quesadillas

 and 

I had the Cantina salad

 

The food was excellent. My husband is now obsessed with the salsa and chips they give you before your order comes....so much so that we went back to eat there on Sunday.

Saturday night we ate at Sesame Burgers and Beer. 

I had the Ultimate Grilled Cheese which you can see here on my Instagram.

It was really good. 

Hope y'all had a great weekend! :)

e

Book Club Friday!!

Heeeeyyyyy!  

Thank you for the comments last week.  I have a horrible habit of reading comments via my email and then saving them to respond to at a later date...that later date is usually weeks later.  Sorrrry!! I will get back to you though!

This week I read:

  Here is the description from Amazon:

“There is really no better indicator you’re a mother than acquiring the ability to catch throw-up in a plastic bag, disinfect your hands, and immediately ask your friend to pass the beef jerky as you put on another Taylor Swift song and act as if nothing has happened.”

This is the type of insight Melanie Shankle offers in this quirky memoir of motherhood.

Written in the familiar, stream-of-consciousness style of her blog, Big Mama, Sparkly Green Earrings is a heartwarming and hilarious look at motherhood from someone who is still trying to figure it all out. Filled with personal stories—from the decision to become a mother to the heartbreak of miscarriage and ultimately, to the joy of raising a baby and living to tell about it—Sparkly Green Earrings will make you feel like you’re sitting across the table from your best friend. A must-read for anyone who’s ever had a child or even thought about it.

I saw this book on someone's Instagram the other day.  Before that, I had never heard of Melanie Shankle or her blog Big Mama .This book has a 5 out of 5 star rating on Amazon so I was really excited about reading it and had high expectations that it would be really funny.  While I did laugh a few times, it wasn't as funny as I thought it was going to be...  It was just an okay book.  I'd give it a 3 out of 5.  Not the greatest thing I've ever read nor the worst thing.  Anyone else read it?  What'd you think?  

Hope y'all have a great weekend!

Don't forget to link up here or here!

Erika

Random Thursday

Heeeeey.

Sooo...have you heard of the app called Endorse ?

 Every Thursday they have new items that you can get money back on.  Pretty much every other week, I have gotten 100% back on coffee (I think it's up to $3)...any coffee...which means I high-tail my butt over to Starbucks and get an almost free tall mocha! All you have to do is upload the receipt and they'll credit you at some point during the day.  You can use receipts within the last 6 days (save them!!) so this morning when the new items popped up, I had 10% on fast food and laundry detergent (any brand) which I had just purchased a couple of days ago so I was able to get money back on both of them.

If you go to Target, Old Navy, American Eagle, or Best Buy, etc.  you should also check out shopkick. You get points whenever you walk into certain stores which you can eventually trade in for gift cards.  Stores that don't have points for walking in sometimes have items that you can scan for points too.

Anyways...

My niece (below) has been doing some Spring Lookbook modeling for The TuTu Cute Bowtique in GA.

 More pictures on their full website here

Most of their items seem to be under $50 so check out them out!

I found a group of guys that play roller hockey around here so I decided after a 12-13 year hiatus, I am going to get back into playing hockey.

My equipment had been in storage for years so it was pretty gross, but I have gotten everything cleaned up (and smelling somewhat good)...  I've also been putting on gear (and maybe skating around the house) to make sure everything fits...

 Trying my pads on...with Sperrys...

I'm going to play this weekend, so wish me luck!

I hope I don't embarrass myself!! :P

Hope y'all are having a great day!

Erika

Book Club Friday

This week I finished Catherine the Great.  

Here is the description from Amazon.com:

"The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Peter the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra, and The Romanovs returns with another masterpiece of narrative biography, the extraordinary story of an obscure German princess who became one of the most remarkable, powerful, and captivating women in history. Born into a minor noble family, Catherine transformed herself into empress of Russia by sheer determination. For thirty-four years, the government, foreign policy, cultural development, and welfare of the Russian people were in her hands. She dealt with domestic rebellion, foreign wars, and the tidal wave of political change and violence churned up by the French Revolution. Catherine’s family, friends, ministers, generals, lovers, and enemies—all are here, vividly brought to life. History offers few stories richer than that of Catherine the Great. In this book, an eternally fascinating woman is returned to life."

I really enjoyed this book.  I have always loved Russian History and even taught myself Russian before studying it in college.  This book was named one of the Best Books of the Year by numerous publications when it came out.  I can understand why, but I don't think it would be of interest to someone who didn't enjoy history or biographies.  I thought it was very well written, but there were a few things that were mentioned but never explained (such as Catherine's son Paul was eventually assassinated when he was Tsar but no further info given). 

Look forward to seeing what everyone else has been reading!

Have a great weekend y'all!

Erika

Linkup here and here

It's been a long week

On Sunday night my sweet dog Sandy, who was adopted by my Dad and stepmom when I moved, was having difficulty breathing.

On Monday she was seen by the vet who diagnosed her with a possible tumor on her lungs.  Sandy was an old girl so we didn't want to do anything invasive...by Tuesday evening, she had died :(

 My daughter was really upset...and my son just doesn't get it...although he has told everyone we see that "Sandy died".  We are so lucky to have found Sandy (at a shelter in TX)...she was the sweetest, most laid back dog I've ever been around.  I am so thankful that she has been a part of our family.

On Tuesday, I also had a doctor's appointment for lower back pain. I may have been putting this appointment off for some time...like a year.  I had an x-ray which, according to the tech, looked fine.  Then was ordered to go to physical therapy.  

I went to that yesterday...wearing my super cute ThomasKelly Pandaro pants (see here )

Wearing the pants was probably the highlight of that... basically my back is tight and I need to stretch it more...which is good news, but I feel like I wasted my time and money to find that out.  I probably should have just gone and gotten a massage. 

I am so glad it is the weekend.  Two days off of not waking up at 6:20!!!  Wooohoo.  

I hope y'all have a great weekend!

e