During the month of December, the most popular person to kids is without a doubt jolly old Saint Nicholas. I remember writing my letter to Santa each and every year and waiting oh so (or not so) patiently to see what gifts he would bring Christmas morning. It was always such a thrill! The anticipation, did he eat the cookies and drink the milk? And an even better question, how was he able to be at the mall with us only a few days before he had to leave the North Pole to fly around the world delivering presents? Well, this year, he found him hanging out at the outdoor ice skating rink in Uptown Charlotte. Sat on Santa's lap and once again, told him what I wanted for Christmas. He was as jolly as ever and sent us off with a candy cane in hand.
Sure the meaning of Christmas has changed over the years as my siblings and I have gotten older. But it has changed in the best possible way. The season of Christmas no longer means seeing what new toy or game has been left under the tree and is now more focused on its true meaning. Celebrating each week of advent leading up to December 25th and spending time with family is cherished. This year, our family was all together for Thanksgiving, so that is when we celebrated our Christmas and I couldn't be more thankful for time home.
Number 54: attend an NFL game
Checked another off the list, (which is quickly approaching its end point, eek) attend an NFL game! It was a beautiful day sunday afternoon in Charlotte and I loved ever minute of attending the Carolina Panthers game with Mister. Tailgating before with good friends, walking over to the stadium, and cheering on our team with thousands of other yelling fans was awesome! It was absolutely an experience that I would like to do again and maybe next year the Arizona Cardinals will play the Panthers and I can cheer on my true home team!
To say the past four months have been amazing would simply be an understatement. It has been a whirlwind of fun, adventure and so much laughter all because of Mr. Mister. We met at a friends BBQ on a Sunday, went out on our first date the following evening and haven't looked back yet.
In a short four month span, some of the highlights have been:
• run two half marathons
• attended five concerts
• gone on three road trips
• fed giraffes
• visited countless breweries
and the list going on...
Looking forward to many more adventures in the future with this wonderful guy!
Over a year ago my sister and brother-in-law moved to Hawaii. Rough life, right? Talking with my sister before their visit, I asked if there was anything specific she wanted to do while here. Her response, "Eat mainland food!" So from the airport, of course we went straight to Chipotle and then the rest of the weekend followed! It was a blast having them here for the weekend and it was packed full of fun! We went to the US National Whitewater Center for Beast Feast, a food truck competition, cached around Charlotte and South Carolina, played in a ping pong tournament and best of all, we fed a giraffe!
Number 74: feed a giraffe! Check! Lazy Five Ranch, about 30 min outside Charlotte is basically a drive through zoo. It was wild having the animals come up and just stick their heads inside the car looking for buckets full of food. My brother-in-law had one deer tear the bucket right out of his hands and then proceeded to tip the bucket up and shower himself with all the food pellets. Sorry B.Wise, but it was hilarious and made it so much better that it was the very first animal to come up to the car! However, nothing beat the feeding of the giraffes! It was awesome and I was so happy to have the Wises come for a visit here in Charlotte!
Number 57: pay for the next person in line
Today I woke up late, didn't have time to wash my hair, threw on some clothes and rushed out the door. Not feeling very put together or well rested, today started as one of those days that I just wasn't feeling great about.
I decided I needed a coffee pick me up over my lunch break. Conveniently located about two minutes from work, is a cute little white wood Starbucks house that has a drive through. After placing my order I thought to myself, if I'm not having the best day, it could be similar for those around and spreading a little love is just what this Thursday needed. Pulling up to the window to pay for my coffee, I asked if I could pay for the car behind me. I have no idea who it was and it really doesn't matter. It's like the header on this blog states, I simply wanted to share a little of life's random hidden treasures.
You may have read the title of this post and thought something bad happened. Well, I'm here to tell you that something bad did happen! Number 16: get a bikini wax. Yup, told you, bad!
Already feeling nervous and anxious about having this done, I tried to maintain as much composure as possible. However all hell broke loose when I walked into the room and the first thing the esthetician says is "Okay, take your underwear off, lay on the table, put your heels towards your butt, spread your legs like a butterfly and we'll get started." I am sure my response was paired with a bewildered face as I retorted, "I'm sorry, you want me to do what?!"
After a minute or two of trying my best to buck up and take it like champ, I got on the table and did as she said. Let me tell you, a bikini wax isn't a walk in the park and it didn't go down quietly. That's right, I may have yelled ... more than once. All the while she kept repeating "You poor thing."
Once everything was said and done, I'm happy to report that I did it! The appointment ended with her laughing and saying "Yeah, you'll be back." In the moment, sure, I slightly wanted to punch her in the face but now a few days later, damn that hoe, she was right. I think I'll probably be back!
I may be a nerd for this but I will embrace it through and through, I love sending mail. I put on my 101 list to send snail mail and even though this was checked off months ago, I still find delight in sending little fun gifts. The most recently sent mail were Frisbees!
That's right y'all, you can send anything straight through the mail. Just slap an address on a side and there is goes, sending little love to those dearest to me...
Number 55: whiten my teeth
Yup! No shame! I felt that my teeth looked dingy and I wanted to do something about it! So I got my teeth whitened and knew that I couldn't pass up the chance of getting a photo all set up. I'm not totally sure how much of a change it made, so maybe next I'll try getting a tan to make them shine a little brighter!
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