Unplugged

I’m so happy that I got to spend an entire week with my family at the beach in Emerald Isle, North Carolina.

Isn’t my little God Son, Beau, a cutie!?

I spend the majority of the week completely unplugged from the internet.  Sometimes it feels so good to do that (although I did miss reading blogs and I’m excited to get caught up with everyone!)

I didn’t blog on vacation because I wanted to fully relax and enjoy being with my family.  Being on the computer was not on my “to do list”.

I also didn’t blog daily because I literally did the same things day after day.  Those things included:

• Running on the beach
• Drinking on the beach
• Napping on the beach
• Eating on the beach
• Eating at the house
• Eating out at restaurants

You get the idea 😉

Do you notice a theme in the above pictures? 😉 I promise we did drink some water during the day too!

Some people love to have very active vacations and explore their destination.  I’m someone who loves to relax and sit on the beach. Call me crazy, but I love doing nothing! I can spend hours on the beach. 

Exercising on Vacation

Because I really do sit on my butt all day, I do enjoy getting out early and going for beach runs. This past week I split my workout up by running half of the time on the road and the other half on the beach covering right around 3.5 miles.

During the first half of my run I took in the sights of all the beautiful beach houses:

Then I ran up the public beach access board walk to get to the beach:

The last half of the run is along the water on the “harder” sand:

I love being right next to the ocean!

Can’t beat this view! I tackled 6 beach runs during my stay in Emerald Isle, NC (which took about 40 minutes each morning) and enjoyed every one of them.  I swear my body loves being by the water!

Post Vacation Blues

As my plane touched down in Cleveland yesterday I felt the “post vacation blues” setting in.  Luckily I had Andy and the pups to greet me and that cheered me up! I missed my little family while I was away! I told Andy that next year we both need to plan a week long vacation together.  This summer we’ve both had different activities going on and used our vacation hours for all sorts of things like weddings and camping trips. However we’re both heading to San Diego next weekend for a friend’s wedding. Neither of us have been there so I’m excited to see a new place!

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Question:

Do you prefer vacations where there are lots of activities (such as sight seeing and exploring) or vacations that are spent lying on the beach relaxing?

Congrats K and K!

This weekend Andy and I headed to Cincinnati for my good friend Kelly’s wedding. 

 

Kelly and her new husband Keith had a beautiful ceremony and reception Friday night at the Embassy Suites on the river. I loved that Kelly and Keith’s wedding was held at the Embassy Suites.  The location was beautiful, as it overlooked dowtown, and it was also convenient that the ceremony, reception and hotel were the same venue.  It made it especially nice for out of town guests!

 

Kelly and Keith

The evening started with the wedding ceremony outside overlooking the river and downtown Cincinnati:

Kelly look absolutely beautiful walking down the aisle with her dad. 

I was overwhelmed with all sorts of feelings as this is a friend I have known since the 7th grade.  We’ve been through so much together.  I still can’t believe my friend is married now! It’s hard to believe the days of making up dances in the living room of our parent’s houses are long gone and we are all grown up. 

The ceremony was short, yet incredibly sweet and heartfelt.  Kelly’s older sister, Holly, served as Maid of Honor and her two adorable daughters served as flower girls:

After the ceremony we went inside for the reception.  The room was beauitful, filled with green decorations, the color Kelly chose for her wedding and the bridesmaid’s dresses:

Dinner and Drinks

Dinner was delicious and there was a choice between chicken and steak.  I chose the chicken which had a marsala sauce.  It was served with mashed potatoes and veggies.  Along with our main course we also had salad and rolls.  Everything was great!

The open bar was in full force and our table was sat right next to it.  I’m positive Kelly did that on purpose.  She knows her friends so well 😉

We spent the evening eating, dancing, and taking pictures in the photo booth.  I’ve seen these photo booths at a few weddings now and I think they are such a great idea! Plus they are hilarious once everyone’s had some drinks…the pictures get a bit more creative!

I think the dancing was the highlight of the evening.  We were non-stop!

I was happy that I got to spend the evening with some of my best girlfriends.  Some of us have been friends for nearly two decades…crazy!!

The wedding was so much fun and I was so thrilled to be a part of Kelly and Keith’s big day! Congrats K and K!

Saturday

On Saturday morning Andy and I enjoyed the complimentary breakfast at the hotel with Kelly and some other guests who spent the night.  The breakfast was awesome as it was cooked-to-order…not just continental.  After a night of drinking and dancing I wanted something a little greasy and filling.  I opted for a veggie omelet, some home fries and half a bagel.  It hit the spot! 

We hit the road and headed back to Cleveland by late morning.  Usually I stay longer in Cincinnati as my parents and brother live there but they are all at the beach in Emerald Isle, North Carolina! Luckily I’ll be joining them next weekend for a week long vacation.  Can’t wait!

I was exhausted from the 4 hour ride and spent the rest of Saturday napping and hanging out at home with Andy.  We decided on Chipotle for dinner as neither of us wanted to cook or go out.  Take out it was! 

Today I am planning on grocery shopping at Trader Joes and doing some cleaning around the house. I hope you are having a great weekend!

Question:

Do you have any weddings to attend this summer? I have three! Bring on the celebrations!