Washington DC- Check!

Believe it or not up until a month ago, I have never been to Washington DC! It's even more crazy that this never happened since my oldest brother lived in northern Virginia for 5+ years. Anyway, my dad gave Nick and I tickets to the Quicken Loans National golf tournament. Nick is a HUGE golf fan so we had to go. It was my first time at a golf tournament and I must confess, it was a pretty cool experience. Maybe it should've been on the bucket list? Anyway, the tournament was in Maryland, right outside of DC. We decided to make an impromptu weekend of it so I could site see in DC!

We didn't have all the time in the world, but I was happy to walk around and just see the monuments. The weather was beautiful, so we hit the streets! The first evening we strolled to the Washington Monument, the White House and downtown. The following morning, we walked to the Lincoln, World War II Memorial, Korean and Vietnam Memorial. Washington DC is a pretty special place that reminds you of a lot big moments for our country. I would love to go back with more time to visit some museums and more of the monuments. We left with sore feet, great memories and a heart filled with even more pride and respect for our country!

Donate Hair- Check!

As many of you know, my hair was very long! As many of you didn't know, I was growing it to donate. I used to color my hair all the time, but once I decided to go natural and grew out all my color, I knew I wanted to do this. The warm weather hit last month and I was ready to chop it all off.

After talking to friends and coworkers about donating hair, I discovered that I needed to do my research. Not all organizations actually will donate the hair you donate to them! I wanted to make sure it was given to someone in need. After hearing some negative comments about Locks of Love during some research, I decided against their organization. I chose, Beautiful Lengths which is a partnership between Pantene and the American Cancer Society.

I wanted to make sure I liked my new do, so I called Bella Styling Salon. My family has been getting haircuts by Joyce for years so I knew she would do a great job (and she did)! 12 inches later, I had a ponytail of my hair for someone who needed it way more than me. The haircut is a change, but knowing that I'm helping a women battling cancer feel beautiful makes it all worth it. Here's to many more ponytails and a wish to inspire others to do the same!

Mother's Day!

It's so important to go through life appreciating all that you have and all that you do, which is the main point of this blog, to slow down and do those big or small goals. Today it's not about another thing to cross off the bucket list, it's to take a moment to show appreciation for someone who has taught me to do just that, live life to the fullest.  For whatever reason I woke up today with an urge to write about my mom. Probably because it's Mother's Day, probably because this is the first year of my life that I'm not right down the road, but who knows. She is very special to me in so many ways and has taught me so many important things..

1. The importance of creativity.
    ~No project is to small to take on. See it in a store? We can do it that better. Doesn't look like the one in the picture? That's your creative spin on it. The amount of creativity and talent my mom has always impressed me. As I grow older I have more of an appreciation for it and strive to be like her in this way.

2. Better to be overdressed than underdressed!
  ~Self explanatory, and always held true in any circumstance. If you know my mother, you know she is always looking her best!

3. Live life to the fullest.
  ~Follow your heart, go for it if it feels right and don't miss out on any adventure and just go! (but be safe!)

4. Family is everything.
  ~My family, we all have each others backs and have so much love for one another. Who do you think is at the heart of that? Mom. She treats us fairly (though my brothers may disagree for the one time I had a later curfew and don't have to cut the grass... don't blame me for being the baby) and will treat the deserved like our family. She always reminds us to accept one another despite any differences because we're family. When things get tough, I think of family because I know they will always be there. The person who makes me realize that is mom.

5. Always be honest and talk it out.
  ~It's always better to tell people how you feel and to talk it out. This will lead to the best relationships and will show who matters. Honesty can hurt but it's the best route. I was taught at a young age to practice this and growing up I realized this isn't always something people's mothers teach them.

6. Mom's know everything.
  ~They really do. She gets protective towards those she feels will end up hurting me, she knows where I can find that one pair of shoes, and she knows how to do just about anything else I end up asking her. Who needs Google? Mom knows. Lucky for her I use Google so I'm not bothering her all the time!

There is a million more things but there are the first things I think of. I appreciate you mom and love you very much. Xox Happy Mother's Day!

Tennessee- Check!

If you know me well, you know I always talked about going to Nashville. Last spring, I was telling Nick all about how I wanted to go and to my surprise my non country listening boyfriend said, let's go! By doing some research we found that Nashville has a "Music City July 4th" festival every year with all kinds of free music, fireworks and more! So we decided to plan our trip during that time and I waited patiently for July to come.

July was quickly approaching and as always I was on my computer doing research on bars, restaurants and other things going on in Nashville. I stumbled upon the Grand Old Opry and realized that Carrie Underwood was in town performing one evening during our stay. Of course I got really excited and then went to work asking the girls if they thought I could convince Nick into going to see Carrie with me while we were there. Their response was, "What guy wouldn't want to watch Carrie?". Knowing that I'd see Nick that evening, I had my speech ready to try and convince him that we needed to go to the Opry! In the middle of my begging, he had a big grin on his face and asks me why I always ruin my own surprises. Which is true, I accidentally always do this! Apparently he had already gotten the tickets and was going to surprise me when we got there!!! Have I mentioned how great of a guy Nick is?
The day we were leaving arrived and I had my cowgirl boots packed up ready to go! The drive there was pretty easy and not too. too long. As always, we had fun killing time listening to the 7 mix CDs I had made for the trip. We stopped for a while in Kentucky (see previous post) and got to our hotel in no time!

I'm pretty sure the rain started as soon as we arrived and would only stop for short amounts of time during our entire trip, but we tried not to let it damper our moods! We booked a hotel within walking distance to Broadway (strategically) and did a lot of exploring. I'll break it down by the three best parts of Nashville.. the food, the bars and the music!

Food:
We ate very well during our long weekend. Some of our favorites were Merchants, 417 Union, and Jack's. All of these places were downtown and were recommendations from others. We ate at 417 Union twice during our visit because it was so close to our hotel and delish! I would recommend their breakfast AND dinner. Jack's had awesome barbecue food and we got there just in time before there was a line out the door waiting! Merchants had a throwback-cool vibe with awesome specialty drinks.

Bars:
The best thing about Nashville bars is the live music. The second best thing about Nashville bars is that there is NO cover charge. We did a lot of bar hopping down Broadway, which is what you are supposed to do right? Every bar not only had live music, but each of these cover bands were really good. Our favorites were Tootsies, Whiskey Bent Salon, and Silver Dollar Saloon. To say the least, we had a good time drinking, dancing and listening to the music. Not that into country music? That's okay because a lot of these bands were playing rock too! The only thing I didn't like about any of the bars is that when the bands were taking a break, they come around practically begging you for any cash you have. I guess that's what will happen when they aren't charging a cover at the door. We made plenty of friends from all over the states and we all agreed on something... we loved Nashville!!!

Music:
We were there during the Music City July 4th festival hoping to spend the day in the streets listening to band after band. Unfortunately because of the rain practically everything was canceled. Understandably so, because I sure didn't want to stand outside in the pouring rain all day. They kept the main event scheduled which was The Band Perry and fireworks! We braved the crappy weather and joined the massive amounts of people and could pretty much only hear The Band Perry. It was still fun and we weren't too bummed because they were playing with Carrie Underwood at the Opry the next night. Add in all the other music from the cover bands we had been listening to the entire time we were there and we were musically satisfied. I couldn't wait to get to the Grand Old Opry. Talk about a cool experience. They have been recording live shows there since forever and playing them on the radio. All of the artists play a few songs then the next one comes on. Of course, between the artists commercials played. There were plenty of older country artists that we didn't know, but the whole experience was unlike any other. The Band Perry was fantastic, but I was just so excited for Carrie. When she came on the old people left and the young went wild. She is so unbelievably talented! While visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame, she was the featured exhibit. We got to see all of her stages costumes as well as some other things. The museum wasn't my favorite compared to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame but still interesting. Anyway, after visiting Nashville it is very clear on why it is called Music City!

As you can see I have a lot to say about this weekend that went by way too fast. Nick and I still talk about how much fun we had there. We also continuously talk about how we can't wait to go back! That's all for now! XO

Kentucky- Check!

Last summer Nick and I packed up the car and took by far the best road trip ever. We were headed to Nashville, TN (I'll get into this later) and on the way there drove through Kentucky. I typically don't count states that I'm traveling through, but if I spend some actual time there I'll count it for my bucket list. Stopping for a while in Kentucky wasn't part of our plan, but once realizing we were driving through the Kentucky Bourbon Trail we had to!!

We didn't have too much extra time on our hands so we decided to just stop at one distillery, The Jim Beam American Stillhouse. I highly recommend adding this stop on any road trip going through Kentucky. The Stillhouse is newly renovate and even if you aren't into bourbon, it's a good place to stretch your legs and walk around. We just participated in the self guided tour. It was fun and interesting to learn all the fun facts about Jim Beam! With a couple hours left to the drive we didn't partake in the sampling, but you can if you're up to it. We enjoyed our pitstop but couldn't wait to get to Nashville!!

Ride a roller coaster with a loop- Check!

I'm playing catch up, but I'll get there. Last summer kept me busy with new adventures! I took Nick to Kennywood for the first time one very hot day this past summer. He was pleasantly surprised at the size of the park and we had a fun time riding all the rides! Somewhat recently, Kennywood has put in a new roller coaster called the 'Sky Rocket'. Previously, Kennywood had a roller coaster called 'Steel Phantom' with a loop, but I was too small to ride. By the time I was tall enough, they had replaced the roller coaster with the 'Phantom's Revenge' which had no loop. I haven't had a chance to visit any other amusement parks so I was very excited to finally get the thrill of going upside down on a roller coaster!

We rode the 'Sky Rocket' multiple times and I could finally check off riding a roller coaster with a loop off my bucket list! Xo

Michigan- Check!

Well, time to play catch up. Wasn't sure where to start but I think I will start with being able to scratch another state off the list I've never been to... Michigan! Fortunately for me, I fell in love with a Michigan guy. Fortunately for him, all he has to do is say a sentence with 'talent' or 'calendar' to make me laugh or hold up his hand to explain where he is from to someone. Though his tolerance for the winter weather is sometimes annoying, he makes me feel very lucky daily and I couldn't wait to see where he's from!










This past summer we hopped in the car and headed to Michigan to spend some time with his family and friends. We were greeted with a beautiful view. I got a personal tour of Mason and Holland, which are both near and dear to my man's heart. After a weekend gone by way too fast, it was so nice spending time with his family and friends in the mitten. Michigan is a little bit of a hike from WV but it's worth the drive and I can't wait to go back!