Memorial Day Wrap Up

This post is going to be really lame. I'm just not feeling very "bloggy" lately. So this post will be short, sweet, and to the point. I had a pretty relaxing long weekend in Savannah. I was truly thankful for the extra day and I have decided that I like 3 day weekends, especially when going to Savannah because it gives me a little extra time to enjoy the city.

Friday after work, I headed that way. I arrived in Savannah at about 8:30 and met David and his sister and her friends for a night on the town. His sister and her friends had rented a place in Hilton Head, SC about 1.5 hours north of Savannah, and so they wanted to come down to Savannah Friday evening to catch a little bit of Savannah whimsy during their travels. I met them at Rocks on the Roof, the roof top bar/restaurant on top of the Bohemian Hotel, my #1 favorite place in Savannah due to the view of the river. We then all headed down to the Olde Pink House for dinner. In all my travels to Savannah, I have never eaten there. David and I have tried to go on a few occasions, but without reservations, so we never wanted to wait. I have to say, it didn't disappoint. It was really good and I loved it! It was great getting to see David's sister and meet her friends. We all had a good time.

Saturday, we braved the masses at Tybee Island and went and parked ourselves on the beach.

It was pretty crowded and only got worse as the day progressed. My main form of entertainment was focused on the girl you see in the picture above. She was my age or younger and was with a man old enough to be her father. So I spent most of the day trying to ascertain if she was his daughter or if she was a major gold digger. I never got complete proof one way or the other :-) I will give her the benefit of the doubt and say he was her father.

I had a complete tragedy happen on the beach. There was a tropical storm rolling up the eastern coast, so the surf was CRA-ZEY! I dumbly wore my sunglasses in the ocean and a ginormous wave took me under, and my new monogrammed sunglasses were gone, never to be seen again.  I was upset, but luckily for me, when we ordered a pair of sunglasses for our cousin Caroline, the place screwed up the order and sent a pair with my initials instead of Caroline's, so I have a back up pair. Score! But that didn't help me on Saturday in the glaring sun. But the ocean giveth and the ocean taketh away. And although it took my sunglasses, it also gave me a replacement pair. A pair washed up on the beach, just minutes after me losing my pair. That was pure luck!

These were my new replacement pair. I couldn't believe my luck! After staying out on the beach ALL day, I came home with a pretty brutal sunburn. Good thinking Ashley, with that SPF 4 tanning lotion. Oh well, the red has now turned brown, so I guess I can't complain.

Sunday was low key. David and I got up to go downtown to one of our favorite brunch spots- J. Christopher's. We usually don't venture downtown for brunch, due to the crowds and stay out at Thunderbolt and hit up Tubby's, but I had a craving for J's pancakes. So we braved the loooong wait.

I snapped this picture of David. He looks so enthused! I don't know if you can see, but over his shoulder, that picture at the very top is a painting of a bunch of dachshunds running the wiener races. No wonder I love this place! We finally got a table and I could indulge in their signature blueberry crunch pancakes. These bad boys are so good. It's not even funny!

They are of course blueberry pancakes, but they put this granola crunch stuff on top that makes these things out of the world. My favorite! After brunch, we just walked around downtown a little bit and prayed that it wouldn't start raining (which it did). I made David walk me over to the Parker's Gourmet Market Store to get what has quickly become one of my favorite things- Chewy Ice. There is a local chain of convenient stores around Savannah called Parker's. On my drive up on Friday, I drove on fumes so that I could stop at the first Parker's on I-95 on Jesup Hwy just south of Brunswick so I could get my first cup of chewy ice.

This stuff is the bomb and it's like crack to me. I'm an ice chewer, which is a terrible habit, but I love it. This ice is the best stuff. It is kinda like Sonic ice, but waaaaaaay better. So after brunch, I scored a cup to walk around with downtown. Most people grab one of Savannah's infamous "to go cups" (of alcohol) I instead opt for a cup of chewy ice!

So I had my ice and I was a happy gal walking around shopping. Needless to say, I have a routine down concerning my drive home. I stop at the Parker's closest to David's house, score a cup of ice and then stop at the last Parker's on my drive home on Hwy 99, which is about an hour away, and grab another cup. It's pretty sad and I think I may have a problem. Especially since I have written an epic novel dedicated to the accolades of Parker's Chewy Ice!
Monday, it was rainy and gross, so we just stayed in. I made David some homemade biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast and we lounged around and watched movies. Am I the only one who was a little disappointed by The Vow? Then it was time for me to hit the road. So, that was my escapades in Savannah. Hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day! And I just want to thank all the men and women who serve/have served our country and the sacrifices that you make for our freedom. A big thank you!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

A very special lady celebrated her birthday over the weekend. My gorgeous, mother, of course! God totally hooked me up in the mom department. I am so very blessed to call this woman my mother. I couldn't have picked a better mom out for myself if I had tried. Love you bunches, mom! Hope you had a wonderful birthday!

Friday Faves

It's finally Friday, ya'll!!! Who's with me on high fiving the fact that it's a long weekend? I'm back today with a few of my favorite things from this past week. Here we go....

1. Sweets!  I've had a good week in the sweets department. It's always a good time when I have a reason to visit the Cake Shop to pick up a dozen cupcakes. FYI..that mint chocolate chip was the bomb!

 Yesterday, I had to run over to our warehouse to drop off some stuff. It was so hot that I decided to run up the road to Chick-fil-a and grab a milkshake. Of course, I had to try their new cookies. I can't believe I haven't tried them before now. So yummy!

2. Dachshunds I love coming across random dachshund finds. I may have a problem! I came across this little fellow over in Spanish Fort/Malbis, AL when Stacey and I went shopping.

This was at the Scout bag display. They carry some pretty cute bags/totes! Check them out!

Image via

And any company that has a dachshund for their logo gets two thumbs up in my book!

3. Road Trips Loved my road trip with my girl.

Even if the road trip resulted in a little run in with the Alabama State Patrol. Oops....

That ticket, will not be making it onto my Friday Faves :-)
4. The Garden The garden has taken off and gotten all kinds of wild in no time.

We even have a few baby squash out there.

5. Spring Fever I've definitely got a bad case of Spring Fever. I'm ready for these warm months, long days, and more importantly a vacation! In the meantime, I will have to settle for a bright top and fun, funky shoes to get me through being stuck in an office all day instead of lounging on a beach somewhere!

6. Saving my plant My poor little plant that Stacey donated to my office was majorly struggling. I finally ran over to Espositos yesterday and got a bigger pot and some soil and repotted it. Hopefully that will help the little guy spring back to life now that it's no longer cramped in an itty bitty pot.

And I'm sure moving it over to the window and perhaps watering it from time to time will help too!

7. Wedding Planning! Calm down, it's not for me :-) My cousin Heath is getting married in December, so I've been pinning a few ideas for my aunt for rehearsal dinner ideas. I forgot how much fun it is to plan a wedding. It's even better when it's not yours! Heath is a farmer and avid hunter, so it's been fun pinning unique wedding ideas.

You can follow me on Pinterest here! Granted you may be disappointed. I haven't gone all Pinterest crazy, but I still pin stuff when I see something I want to remember later.

Alright guys, that's all I have for you today. Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. And I want to give a special shout out to my wonderful mother, who will be celebrating her birthday this weekend. Love ya mom!

I Actually Got Paid to Do This

This is pretty random. But I think it's worth mentioning because I am thrilled with the results. What you are about to see, is actually something that I did at work-and got paid to do. I guess you can add random photoshop work for a stuffed buffalo to my resume on top of all of the financial stuff that I am responsible for. I would love to see that on a resume- complete with a picture for back up. A few months ago, my boss commissioned me to do a job for him. He is really involveded in the Springtime Tallahassee organization and wanted to do something funny/special for this year's incoming new Andrew Jackson. The new AJ's name is Dave and he used to be a ski instructor. And Dave decided that he wanted his mascot to be a buffalo (I told you this is random stuff today!). So as a joke, Randy wanted to get Dave a "little Dave" aka the buffalo and have the buffalo on a set of skis in honor of Big Dave. So, Randy got a pair of Dave's favorite pair of skis and brought them into the office. One day he lugs those skis into my office and asked me to help him with this project. He had ordered a stuffed buffalo and had come up with the exact size the skis need to be in order to fit and be to scale on Little Dave. Randy wanted to the skis to be an EXACT replica of Dave's skis, right down to the sticker that Dave had put on the skis himself. So, Ashley had to get to work. Here is a picture of the skis I had to replicate (although this picture is the only one I could find online, and the skis are slightly different than Big Dave's actual skis).

Image via

I had a task to complete. So I got to work. Here is what I came up with:

All of the logos and stuff I was able to find online, but things like the stripes, and that weird purple and green triangle thing, I had to design myself. You don't even want to know how long it took me to make this ski! Randy finally got the skis printed up on some thick material of some kind and made Little Dave his skis. He brought Little Dave in yesterday, so I could admire my masterpiece. I think it turned out pretty cute!

What do you think? Ha! You ever get paid to do something at work that is definitely not in your job description? I would love to hear all about it!

To Catch a Bug

This weekend, my nephew Barrett had a big time playing with his newest toy, a bug catcher. He is absolutely fascinated with all things bug/animal related at the moment. This weekend, I slept in the bed with him and on Sunday morning, he slipped out of bed without me knowing and went and hung out with my grandmother (who I should mention is 89...). He convinced her to let him go in his parents room, grab the keys to the car, and go outside to fetch his bug catcher out of the car and walk around and look for bugs. Poor Mama Bernice. I'm sure that's exactly what she felt like doing at 6:30 in the morning.

Finally we had all gotten up and were at Barrett's mercy on his bug hunting mission.

First he enlisted the help of my father, then he got me into it. Which, I have to admit was pretty fun. Ha! We searched and searched. Looking on flowers, in the grass, out in the cotton field-everywhere!

There were a few butterflies fluttering around the field, so we sat and watched and hoped that they came close enough to catch. I chased and chased those butterflies. I couldn't catch Barrett one, but apparently my father is the butterfly catching expert.

Here he is showing off his catch! I was a bit jealous. Thankfully, Barrett grew tired and had to rest, so we could all rest!

Oh the simple joys of being 4 years old again! Glad I could help him on his quest for his bug collection.

Graduation Party

Happy Monday morning! I'm feeling a little tired this morning after traveling this weekend to go celebrate my sweet cousin's graduation from high school. Stacey, Bentley, and I loaded up on Friday and headed west for the long journey to go see our family. We got into town in enough time to go meet up with my brother, his wife and kid, Stacey's brother Heath and his fiance Elisabeth and our friends Nick and Jocelyn for dinner. Well- they had dinner, we just visited since we stopped at Chick-fil-a on the way over! After a restless night of sleeping with a 4-year-old, I begrudgingly got up to start my day on Saturday. Stacey and I headed on over to my aunt and uncle's neck of the woods a little bit early so we could run down to Foley, AL and hit up the outlet malls before the festivities began. I didn't get too much shopping done due to a mishap on the drive over, but that's for another post ha!

We had a great evening just hanging out and enjoying spending time together as a family, since we are all spread out over AL, FL, and GA. Now let's see some pictures!

Here are Stacey and I will the girl of the hour, Caroline. When Stacey and I ordered our sunglasses a few weeks ago, we got Caroline a pair as well for her to have a little something extra other than just money! And of course, we had to get a picture of us all in our matching sunglasses.

Barrett was our entertainment for the evening. He had gotten a new toy that day at Bass Pro Shop and was breaking it in big time. It was some bug catching contraption. However, he was more concerned with his lizard that he caught instead of random bugs. This poor lizard...

We finally convinced Barrett to let him go, thankfully!

I love that last picture. All three ladies intently hovering over Caroline's shoulder. Ha! And after seeing my pasty legs next to Caroline really makes me want to get some sun on them stat!!

If you can tell, Barrett was refusing to cooperate with having a decent picture made. I can't remember what he was saying, but it definitely wasn't cheese.

I like how all the men were congregating on one side and all the girls on the other. Typical!

Brad was trying to hide from all the picture taking festivities. But you know I couldn't let him escape!

That was Caroline's party. I still can't believe she is old enough to graduate from high school!

P.S.~ You're welcome, Stace!

Friday Faves

Happy Friday! I don't have too much for you today as far as Friday faves. I've been pretty busy this week and haven't had much time to shop online or otherwise! However meager this is, this is what has made me smile this past week.

1) I think my favorite thing of the week came in the mail yesterday.

My Shutterfly order came in. If you have never used Shutterfly before, I recommend it. They are always super fast. I think I ordered these pictures Monday or Tuesday and had them by Thursday. They also offer the option to pick up in the store, which I think most of them are in Target. I haven't ordered any pictures in a REALLY long time, so it was a bit overdue for me to get some printed up. I was finally able to put some pictures in some picture frames. The ones in my bedroom have not had pictures in them for well over 1.5 years! I'm horrible I know.

The pictures on the left are the ones I have on my shelf. It makes me smile because they represent all my favorite boys: David, Moxley, Oscar, Brutus, JR, and Barrett! I also threw one of me and the boyfriend up there as well. When I ordered the pictures, I thought I only had one 5x7 frame, but as it turns out, I had two. So on one I had to improvise with some craft paper. The pictures on the right are the ones that I brought to work with me today. Here's a close up:

This will definitely put a smile on my face while I am working away. Sadly, this is really the first personal item that I have brought to the office. I am such a slacker!
2) My other favorite thing of the week are my earrings that I ordered.

I broke down and ordered the Octopus earrings from Bridier Baubles. Even though I think they kinda look more like impregnated spiders than octopus. They are still cute though!

3) Target finds! I ran in Target to grab a graduation card and some coffee and came across a few finds. I found a pair of skinny cropped jeans in a bright, summer color. I went with the orange pants. Mainly for lack of better options because that was the only color they had in my size!

I also picked up a statement necklace that I had been eyeing for awhile and just never bought. But when I saw it on the clearance rack, I decided to make it mine.

I love the tanzanite-purple color. Which BTW, is my favorite color :-)
4) I love coming across random dachshund finds and I really regret not buying this yesterday when I ran in Hobby Lobby.  I think it would have been fun in my office. But I was lazy because it didn't have a price tag on it and I didn't want to deal with the hassle of the cashier to have to figure out what price it was. So I left it where it was.

I should have gotten it because it represents my three babies. I'm stupid! I might run in there today and see if it's still there and pick it up.

5) And finally, my latest obsession....DrawSomething. I've been playing it for awhile but I figured I would own up to it today. I am totally addicted. I love it!

As you can see, I am such a talented artist. (NOT)

So guys, that is my brief (and sad) list of Friday Faves. Hope you all have a great weekend! I'm headed to Alabama for my cousin's high school graduation, so I'm excited to see all my family!