Spring Break

I'm not doing a very good job of posting lately, sorry ladies. It seems that every time I sit down to blog, I get sucked into looking at something else (i.e. pinterest). I promise to do better!

It was Spring Break for most of Georgia this week so J was home from school and I was home from "work." Here's a play by play of how we spent our Spring Break!

Monday

I started out the week with the best intentions of tackling several projects at home, the biggest one being my closet. I'd show you a picture but it is an ugly mess in there. Let me take that back, it isn't a mess, there is just a lot of clothes. My  OCD won't let me have a messy closet but it will let me have a full closet. So, I woke up and was ready to get started until I got a text from Keisha asking if we were busy. Why of course we are aren't! Sure, we will come right over! Project closet had to wait another day.

 I was so glad that I went because I got to spend time with my adorable god daughter, Kennedy!

See, I told you she was cute!

We hung out there all day and got home just in time for dinner! Great way to start my week off!

Tuesday

I am apart of a great mom's group! Our kids vary in ages from 2 months-old (I'm not sure how old our oldest member is). It's a great support group for all of us mom's with little kids! Anyway, Gianna planned a Easter Egg Hunt and picnic at one of the local parks for all of the mom's and kids! As you can see, we had a great time!

Wednesday

Same mom's group, different location! I love this group so much that I spent two mornings straight with most of them! Sierra hosted a "Sidewalk Chalk and Lunch" potluck play date at her house! There wasn't a lot of sidewalk chalk(ing) but there was a lot of playing!

Thursday

Ashish was off work! Jordan had a dentist appt in the morning then we picked Christopher (Kennedy's older brother) up and headed down to the Children's Museum in Atlanta. BTW, Jordan got a great bill of dentistry health! I was so excited. I don't know why I get nervous about stuff like that but I do! I digress, as usual, the kids had a great time! I'm so glad that Jordan has a close friend to grow up with. Keisha, Chris, Christopher, Kennedy, and baby #3 (due in August) are like family to us. We love them to pieces!

The boys were passed out in the back seat before we even got on 85N. Our small group met at Mellow Mushroom for dinner. I am not a huge pizza lover. I know, don't shoot me! BUT, they have an Italian hoagie that is pretty delicious! Ashish got a steak and cheese hoagie that he was equally as pleased with.


Friday
Ashish was off again! Purely by accident, but I'll take it! We did nothing! Well, a whole lot of nothing. We met some friends for lunch, did some shopping, came home for a nap, did some more shopping, and then had Mexican for dinner!

I have to brag about my shopping experience for a second! I can count on one hand the amount of times that I have had to buy shoes for Jordan. Why? Because my brother, Avery, buys all of his shoes. Jordan has much cooler shoes than Ashish or I will ever have. Someone once expressed to me how ridiculous she thought it was to buy your child high end shoes (i.e. Nikes, Adidas, New Balance, etc.). I'm going to climb up on a bit of a soapbox here...be prepared! My response to said woman," I'm sorry that you think it's ridiculous but I think that if all my bills are paid, Jordan has money for college, and he's happy, I should spend my money on whatever I want for my child." Aggressive? Maybe a little bit. She didn't know that I don't, in fact, spend tons of money on J's shoes, but even if I did, it's my money, what does she care? OK, stepping down now. Back to the story! We were on the hunt for black sneakers for the summer. We stopped in the Nike Outlet to see if they had anything worth buying. It was a zoo in there, it always is. I found a pair of black Jordan's that were a 1/2 size too big but would fit perfectly in the fall so I got in the checkout line. The tag on the box said $17.97, which is a steal for a pair of Jordan's. When I got up to the register the shoes rang up at $12.97 and I had a $5off coupon so I got those bad babies for $8.32 after tax. I was one happy momma! Uncle Avery couldn't even get a deal like that!

That wraps up Spring Break for us! Oh, and project closet had a "TBD" written next to it onmy To-Do list! Happy Easter!

Charleston

Ashish and I, along with my brother, Avery, and SIL, Tasha escaped for a weekend vacation to Charleston. Before I get into the details of the trip let me say this...stay for more than two days! That's my advice to anyone that has never been but would like to. There are so many great things to see and do, there is no way that you can do it all in a day and a half! Now, onto the details!!!

We left Atlanta about 3:30pm. BAD IDEA! Atlanta traffic is the absolute worst. Anyone that has been to Atlanta knows this. It doesn't have to be rush hour, it could be the middle of a beautiful sunny weekend day and the downtown connector will be at a stand still. It's ridiculous. So, I'm sure you're asking "why did you decide to leave in the middle of the day?" Well, Avery had to work a half day and that was the earliest that we could leave. So, after sitting in traffic we finally get rolling. We cruise through the eastern suburbs of Atlanta and into Augusta. I'd never been to Augusta and didn't realize that it was so close to the SC border. It seems like as soon as we crossed into SC the sky fell out. Luckily it didn't rain the whole time but there were bouts of heavy downpours every 30-45 minutes. I planned to take a pic but never got around to it.

We made it to our hotel at 9:00pm. Typically it would only take 5ish hours to get to Charleston but because of the rain, we were set back an hour. We stayed at the Radisson in North Charleston. All in all, it was a nice hotel. They have Sleep Number beds, Ashish was thrilled. I, on the other hand, not so much. We don't own a SN Bed, nor do we plan to, but I didn't like that the mattress was lumpy in the middle where the different "numbers" met. I digress, we hurried and changed clothes and headed out for dinner.

We didn't want to drive into downtown Charleston so we settled on a restaurant near the hotel called The Noisy Oyster. They had oysters. It wasn't too noisy. The food was AWFUL! I don't know if it was because it was nearing closing time or if they weren't that busy so everyone in the kitchen took a smoke break but it took forever to get our food. I ordered the bacon wrapped shrimp-fried hard as a brick, Ashish had the shrimp and grits-looked more like soup, Tasha ordered the gumbo-rice with sausage on top, Avery ordered fish, broiled, not fried-it came out fried. The waiter explained that he was new and hadn't quite learned the ropes so we gave him a pass but the food, not that great. After eating we left and decided to call it a night, we had a full day planned for Saturday.

Saturday morning we woke up refreshed, although I decided that I hated the SN Bed somewhere between 2-4am. The weather was dreary outside. My mood was a little in the dumps because it looked like the sky was going to fall out at any moment. We got dressed anyway and decided to take our chances. I'm so glad we did. As we were driving downtown the sunny came out and stayed out through both of the tours that we scheduled! We took a carriage ride through Charleston then went on a boat tour out to Fort Sumter, Folly Beach, and Mt. Pleasant. We had lunch a cute little restaurant called A.W. Shucks. Great food, I highly recommend it.

Always have to get a pic of a pharmacy-for those that don't know, my hubby is a pharmacist!

It can be yours for the low price of 13 million!

After our tours we decided to hit the outlets! What's a vacation without a little bit of shopping? Right? Remember me mentioning that the sky looked like it was going to fall out? Well, it did, right as we were getting out of the car at the outlets. We were SOAKED! Good times! Good times! We shopped anyway, in the pouring rain. Ashish snagged a new pair of Nike Shox. I scored a new COACH purse and a new watch! All in all, a successful shopping trip!

After all of that we headed back to the hotel for rest and relaxation before going out to dinner. We decided to eat at The Charleston Crab House. The food was okay, nothing to write home to mom about but good. The highlight of our night was going to The Market Place Pavilion rooftop bar. The night was great. From the rooftop you could see all of Charleston. I didn't expect it to be like a nightclub up there. There was a deejay playing all the latest music, drinks were flowing, laughter was loud. We had a great time!

Sunday, it was time to head home. J was staying with my parents. With all of the pollen, his allergies were going crazy and he wasn't feeling great. He had a miraculous recovery while were were driving home because he was completely fine once we got home. I think he just missed us!

We'd definitely go back to Charleston again, we had a great time!

Weekend Recap!

Good Morning, Happy Monday everyone! Did everyone have a good weekend? Do anything exciting? Here's what we were up to this weekend...

Friday:

Well, let's start with Thursday night, J went to bed at 10ish and was wide awake, screaming, at 12:30. Mind you, J just turned 3 and has been sleeping through the night since he was 9 months. I know his sleep schedule like the back of my hand. A and I take turns going in to check on him, threaten console him, but he still continued to wake up. After about 2 hours of this, yes, 2 hours, I finally decided to whip out the good ole thermometer. No fever. Okay....plan M (cause we've exhausted plans A-L), we let him come in our bed with us. Once he fell asleep, A and I feel asleep. I had to be up at 4 to workout so at this point, sleep was a foreign language to me. He woke up again, I said some obscene words in my head (honestly! I think it's so rude to curse at people, especially your children, despite how frustrated you are-stepping down from my soapbox now), this time he told us that his ear hurt! Ah ha! And there it was, a good old ear infection. Since it was 3:45am we gave him some Tylenol, some ear drops, and sent him back to bed. He slept until 9, I had to wake him up to go to the doctor.

So, back to Friday, I was exhausted. I trip to the Minute Clinic, some antibiotics, and my little guy was back to normal by 11. We raced home just cleaners to get there.

SN: A finally agreed to let me hire someone toe help out around the house. Not everyday, not every week, but once a month. I think that's pretty fair, considering I am away from the home 2 days a week, 2 days I am home but I have 3 little crumb snatchers, whom I adore ( don't get it confused), here with me, so I don't get a solid day to clean because who wants to clean on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?

I digress, the cleaners did an awesome job! Ashish came home early because he was exhausted from J's little night time episode. I decided that I was going to do some planting, not gardening, just planting. I jumped in the car, headed to Wal-Mart...the flowers were AWFUL. Not just ugly but AWFUL. I was disappointed. When I came back home, empty handed, Ashish felt so bad for me that he took me out for Mexican!

Saturday:

It was Ashish's weekend to work. Me Me and I met up for manis and pedis and then we had lunch. J hung out with his second favorite lady, my mom.

We went to hang out with some friends Saturday night for a couple's game night. I don't remember the last night that I laughed that much. The girls beat the boys!!!

Sunday

I rode with Ashish to work to get my car and pick J up (he was staying with Ashish's parents overnight). A quick trip to Sam's, lunch, and it was time to head home. I got ready for a baby shower while J took a quick nap then it was off to shower Abby and Baby Finn with presents and love!

All in all, I had a great weekend! How was your weekend?

It's OK Thursday

Hey Ladies!  I'm linking up with Neely and Amber for an It's OK Thursday!

It's Ok...

To love the Real Housewives of all of the cities! I do!

to eat most of your child's Starburst jellybeans

to watch soap operas

for me to be pee in your pants excited about our trip to Charleston next week

to eat ice cream for breakfast-hey, dessert is dessert!

That's all I have for today!

Link up with the ladies and tell us what's OK in your world!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Happy Wednesday! I've been away from What I'm Loving lately but I am back and in full force! Link up with Jaime over at This Kind of Love and tell us what your loving on this beautiful Wednesday!


I'm Loving...80 degree weather! I love the spring! One of the great things about living in the South is that the winters don't last long and we are usually the first to see Spring like weather!

I'm Loving...Becky over at From Mrs. to Mama. I spent a good amount of my weekend reading her whole blog. This girl is hilarious, I love it!

I'm Loving...that Hubby and I (along with my brother and SIL) are heading to Charleston next week! We are taking a little couples vacation, no kids, no work, just us! BTW, we've never been to Charleston so if you have any good restaurant, "touristy," must see places to recommend, please do!

I'm Loving...my husband! I love him every week, ever day, but this week he has really stepped up and shown me a new side to him. He is definitely making me step up my game!

I'm Loving...The 30 Day Husband Encouragement Challenge. Like I said earlier, I need to step up my game!


As always, I'm Loving these two!

Family

I love taking pictures of my family! My parents have a ridiculous amount of pictures of my brother and I growing up, unfortunately, we don't have a lot of pictures of our whole family. I never really understood it until I became a parent myself. I find that I am always the one taking the pictures, at the birthday party, the zoo, the aquarium, etc, that I am never in them. So, when I had Jordan I made it my mission to try and get at least one family picture at most events. Here are Jordan's 3 year old pictures:

Catching Up

Wow, it's been a over a month since I last blogged. To say that I've been busy would be an understatement! We're finally at the tail end of our busy months and it feels so good! Here's a quick recap of the past month!

I blogged about my birthday but never actually posted it...oops!

Tomorrow is my birthday, I will be 29. Am I the only one that continues to still have birthdays but believe (in your head of course) that you are still 25? Outside of the random tweak in my hip and back -thank you child birth, and the one stray gray hair that I found last week, I still feel 25.

So, what am I doing for my birthday? Well, in un-Danielle fashion, I didn't have any concrete plans going into this week. I wanted to do something low-key but fun. So, tonight, Ashish and I are going to dinner with some friends and then to see a movie. Tomorrow, we are having some family and friends come over for a Mexican themed birthday get together. That's it, nothing crazy or extravagant.

What I learned in year 28:

• That thinking about Botox injections and wrinkle creams is not all that uncommon
• 30 really isn't that old
• I can't expect people to do for me what I do for them.
• More often than not, people are late for things. I didn't just learn this, I've always known, I'm just now choosing to accept it.
• My friends and family are more important to me than anything.

So, here's to 29! May it be as full of blessings and love as 28 was!

My baby turned 3 on February 5. I can't handle it. The time has gone by so fast. Jordan wanted a Race Car themed party and that's exactly what he got!

The incredible cake made by Chelsie

Party in full swing

Happy Birthday boy!

Pinata time!

We reconnected with some old friends this month. Almost two years ago we decided that we needed to de-dramatize (is that a word?!?) our lives which meant taking a step away from some friendships. That step was one of the hardest things that Ashish and I have ever had to do in our marriage. It was Ashish's childhood friend and his wife, whom I was friends with. The wife contacted me this month and wanted to know if we'd be willing to have dinner and work things out. According to her, they were in a different place in their lives. She said that they've changed. There was a lot of hurt involved in the demise of the friendship. Things were said that can never be taken back. We decided to take them up on their offer. We quickly realized why it all happened, it was God's plan for The Patels. In the two years since the friendship ending we have found a church to call home, joined a small group, made so many good friends through the small group. We've learned how to surround ourselves with positive people, give it all to God, pray more,worry less, and the list goes on. God was using us, teaching us, and working on us.

We had dinner with the old friends on Saturday, it was awkward. I didn't expect things to be like they used to be, so many things had changed, we changed. I don't really know what will happen with that friendship. For Ashish's sake, I hope it can be rebuilt.

Until next time...