cycle to the sea!

one of the most devastating things about my stepdad's stroke was the loss of his ability to do the physical activities he loves. he's a marathon runner and a double black diamond skier. he's been an athlete his whole life and a damn good one. so after his inpatient rehab, he started playing wheelchair rugby through his adaptive sports program. and through rugby, learned about this little event called "cycle to the sea," which is one of the two annual fundraisers to raise money for their program.

cycle to the sea is a 180 mile bike ride from monroe, nc to cherry grove, sc. the team completes the distance in 3 days, going 60 miles each day. as most participants are quadriplegics or paraplegics, their "bike" is actually a hand cycle. they ride with "able bodies" who assist when the hand cyclists need help up hills or just need a little extra push. i could go on for several blog posts about what a wonderful group of people it takes to pull off this event, but it still wouldn't do it justice. there are some pretty amazing people in our world.

each cyclist had to raise a minimum of $1,000 to participate in the ride. brian raised over $15,000, and there are still more donations coming. the most money ever raised by an individual before brian was $3,000. we are so lucky to have family and friends who believe in brian and what he is doing. this money will allow the program to continue to function the way it does - giving people who have lost everything something to hang onto. i am so grateful.

brian, proud doesn't even begin to cover it. you inspire me daily. you are a true testament to what it means to never give up.  i love you, b!

{taking off on day 1 from monroe}

{after i surprised brian on day 2 at their hotel. this is him & his best friend dan, who rode all 180 miles with brian. so thankful for friendship.}

{crossing the finish line!}

{champs.}

{team freak!}

{the whole gang.}

visit brian's fundraising page here.


brian's press:

charlotte observer article

news 14 carolina interview

#goTEALgo!

after working for a few hours on sunday, cleaning my room, and going on a short run, i headed to the gym for the charlotte allstar worlds showcase. i am so proud of TEAL and my sister and i can't wait for them to be awesome this weekend in disney world at their biggest competition of the year. my oldest sister, leigh, head coaches these amazingly talented cheerleaders. we both also used cheer on TEAL back in high school. i'm sad i won't be there this weekend to support them  - but can't wait to hear how awesome they are!  check out this video from yesterday:

good luck TEAL!!!

i broke the rules - part 2.

while shopping on saturday, i made some purchases. the good news is, i only spent about $100 on 4 things. the bad news is, i wasn't supposed to spend any money on clothes this month. maybe that was a little too ambitious of me...

1. leopard flats. after seeing a pair of steve madden leopard flats last week and swooning over them, i decided i would buy them next month.

{steve madden}

but then i foud these babies at old navy for $23 and couldn't pass them up.

{old navy}

2. bathing suit top. i got these fantastic high wasted bottoms a few months ago and have been searching for an inexpensive, solid, fun colored top to go with them. $15 - yes please!

{old navy - tons of colors!}

3. basic sandles. cause you can never have enough, especially for $15.

{old navy - also tons of colors!}

4. a fabulous, long awaited, pleated, maxi skirt. found at marshalls with an original price tag of $189. i got it for $50 and i'm thrilled. this skirt is similar - but mine is black. i can't wait to wear it!

{think black}

new.

i woke up on  saturday  morning extremely thankful that each day is new. it's an opportunity to start over and let go of yesterday and i did just that. i had to work for a few hours and was thankful for the distraction & company of our sweet banquets team. after work i scooped up lola and headed to my parents. katie & i then went on an adventure to chester, sc to go to a fabric store. we're hoping to make these babies but as curtains for the living room instead of shower curtains...

{colorblock.}

much to our dismay, the store was closed. so we headed back north and made a little pit stop for the world's greatest sammy at groucho's. i never knew i could love turkey and cheese so much.

{all turkey apollo}

we did some shopping (ruh roh) and then went to kate's mom's house for wine & dinner. nights like these remind me to love the unexpected. that there is peace in parents and their advice. that most of the time, it is way more fun to hang out in south charlotte with a few great friends than binge drinking on montford. i am thankful for random conversations and wine and sweet friends who always have my best interest at heart. 

{shimp &  pasta in a fabulous white wine sauce}

{my new friends, lynn and jack}

{trader joe's "no guilt" brownies & ice cream}

happy birthday daddy!

wednesday marked 56 years since my sweet dad was brought into the world. i am thankful everyday that god gave me to him and i am continually amazed by his compassion and generosity. i am glad for a day each year to celebrate him because none of us do it enough.

we decided to postpone dinner to friday night so that we could all attend. everyone in my family has very different schedules, so sometimes it's difficult to get the gang together.

we went to dressler's and started out the evening on the outside patio with wine & apps. it doesn't get much better than cakebread chardonnay and warm goat cheese.  we moved inside for dinner and more wine. i had the following...

{french onion soup}

{filet with mashed potatoes and asparagus}

we finished up dinner with creme brulee & homemade cheesecake. court and i headed up to her condo and of course stopped to take our usual weirdo picture in the lobby.

court & i met maudie and her friends out at montford. no details needed but i'm thankful to have a sister who knows when i need to go home and is there to take me. i love you, sis!

i broke the rules.

... and i don't even care. i've had a horrible week and these are the cutest shorts i have ever laid eyes on.

swoon!

slacker.

i try to post about the weekends before tuesday, mostly because i find it hard to remember after that. but i've had a shitty week so far and haven't felt like doing anything productive. since updating your blog is so "productive." anyways.

after our trampoline fun on friday night, katie came back for a sleepover. i woke up to these beautiful faces on saturday morning.

i had to go to work for a few hours on saturday and spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning our house, doing laundry and also went for a run. after i showered and straightened my hair (for only the 2nd time in a month), i met up with my sister, her coworkers, her husband and his friends at whiskey warehouse. i've only been there once before and since then, they've added this awesome rooftop bar. we watched the sunset over the beautiful skyline and then headed to kickstand for dinner. court & i love that place and it was fun to take everyone else somewhere they'd never been before.

{charlotte}

{love}

{naked burger with provolone, roasted red peppers & avacado served with sweet potato tots and a dipping sauce to die for}

after (late) dinner, we headed to brazwells. eventually the rest of my friends showed up and we headed over to angry ales to meet some other friends. it was a good night & court came to my rescue when the bars closed.

{why am i so awkward?}

 we had a little sister sleepover and woke up sunday and headed to brunch at our favorite spot, flying biscuit. i spent the day helping my mom get the last minute touches done for the house since it goes on the market TODAY. boy, that's weird to think about. i watched midnight in the garden of good and evil and ate mellow mushroom (take out) with my rents and then headed home to these guys.

finally!

i've been wanting new knobs for my dresser drawers and nightstand drawers for years. i find myself touching every single one in anthropologie everytime i'm in there, but i never could afford them at full price especially since i need 13! every once in a while, anthro puts a few different knobs on sale. the problem lately has been finding 13 of one kind but i finally did & i love them! i ended up getting them for $2.95 each which came to right around $50 with shipping. i feel like i hit the jackpot - which means i'm totally getting old.

before...

after!

bouncing around.

while pondering with katie about what our friday night may hold, i remembered this cool place my coworker had told me about. this place is called sky high sports and is described as a "trampoline place." so last night after a good run and dinner at my parents, katie, court & i headed to trampoline world. cause what else would 3, single, twenty-something girls do on a friday night?

today's reminder.

thank you, timehop.

my current "i die" list.

since i'm moving in may and will have moving costs, plus an overlap in rent, i've put myself on a buying clothes diet in the month of april to try and avoid having to dip too far into my savings next month. so now i spend even more time lusting over things i can't have.

1. battenburg lace shorts from free people. could there be a more beautiful pair of shorts? lace & scallops? swoon.

2. twirl around cross back dress from tobi. as a redhead, jewel tones are my best colors. this little dress may just join my collection once it's no longer "no clothes april."

3. mint timbuktu backpack from pree brulee. wouldn't this be perfect for europe?

open eyes.

i haven't been able to stop listening to two songs on repeat. i am always getting obsessed with songs, but both these songs focus around the same thing that i've been thinking a lot about lately.

the first is open your eyes by snow patrol. i've loved this song for a while, but recently added it to my "can't stop listening" pile.

"get up, get out, get away from these liars
'cause they don't get your soul or your fire
take my hand, knot your fingers through mine
and we'll walk from this dark room for the last time

every minute from this minute now
we can do what we like anywhere
i want so much to open your eyes
'cause i need you to look into mine
tell me that you'll open your eyes"

the second is keep your eyes open by NEEDTOBREATHE. gosh, i love this band. this song has been my favorite since their latest album released in september.

"cause if you never leave home, never let go
you’ll never make it to the great unknown till you
keep your eyes open, my love
so show me your fire, show me your heart
you know i’ll never let you fall apart if you
keep your eyes open, my love"

i think  these songs are a call  to keeping looking forward. to be young and naive and to explore. to not get complacent in life, to not give up, to never stop moving. that it's okay to need people and that sometimes you need to be patient with the people you love & their darkness. that life is short, there's a lot to do and even more to see. i can't wait.

my parents' houses.

i spent this weekend bouncing back and forth between mom's and dad's. they live 1.69 miles apart (i know, because i ran between them on saturday) and about 17 miles from where i live in dilworth. sometimes spending the weekend feels like a vacation because i have to pack a bag and i get spoiled rotten. this weekend was no different.

friday i got to my dad's about 5pm and went for a little run. it was beautiful weather and i got in 2 miles before i had to get ready for dinner. my dad, step mom and i went to one of our favorite spots, villa antiono. this was the first time i've had pasta in 2012 and man, i forgot what i was missing. it was so fun to go with just the 3 of us. it's not something i get to do often since i am 1 of 3 daughters. i loved it!

when we got home, i decided to tackle the giant task of cleaning out my room. i haven't lived at home since the summer after freshman year (5 years ago), and crap has been accumulating since then. it was a daunting task, and i had to retire after the bathroom, dresser and nightstand were complete. i woke up on saturday and finished with my closet and under my bed. at the end of it all, i had 4 giant bags of trash, 2 bags for goodwill. it felt like i had a new room!

after that was done, i ran errands with mary ann and she even got me a new easter dress! later, i ran from dad's to mom's house - it was beautiful outside. leigh, derrick and i helped my mom and brian get some things done. their house goes on the market in 2 weeks, so we're helping finish a lot of the last details. after i indulged in some chicken lettuce wraps from jojo's - i went back to my dad's to shower for katt's easter party. court was there when i arrived, so i asked her to come with. we got WAY too dressed up for a house party, put on lipstick, grabbed two bottles of wine and went on our way. 

{true.}

{first time i've straightened my hair since st. pats!}

we died easter eggs and drank wine and courtney made friends with cooper! we headed to the bar for a little bit with some of the boys. interesting, but fun night.  after sweet brett saved our lives and found our keys, we headed back to our parent's house since we had to get up for church early. 

{court & cooper}

sunday we woke up and put on dresses and headed to church. i got to see one of my oldest and most favorite friends, and sit next to another old friend during the service. getting to celebrate jesus and see your old friends make for a great morning. we headed home to get things started for easter. every holiday around our house is BIG. my parents open their home to our friends and their families who may not have people to share the day with. it's always a running joke to see how many people we can get to come, but this year it was (only) 23. the food was delicious and i ate about 5,000 homemade peanut butter eggs. my step mom is the bomb. what a great day to celebrate the most precious gift we have ever received. i am continually amazed and blessed that this is what i get to call life.

{pap pap with his very special carving knife. brings it to every holiday to carve the meat!}

{yum}

{court & i with mema & pap pap}

{ladder golf was getting intense}

{porch napping}

weekender.

i've been doing a lot of "weekending" in 2012. i have spent about 4 total weekends in charlotte since the beginning of the year and i'm loving it. this weekend trip was to murrells inlet, sc, one of my favorite places on earth. we spend a lot of time here because one of our bff's grandma has a house that she lets us stay in whenever we want. we're less than a mile from the beach and about 2 miles from all our favorite inlet bars. it feels like our own personal beach house and we're so lucky to be able to stay at granny's all the time.

friday  i had to work late, so we didn't leave charlotte until about 9pm. my sister had a compeition in myrtle, so my brother-in-law rode down with me and i dropped him off with leigh. i got to hot fish club around 1am and received the world's warmest welcome from all my pals. the weather was perfect and so was the company. i was instantly reminded why i love that place so much.

saturday  morning i woke up and went on a coffee/donut run for everyone. it was POURING down rain and we were all wondering what the heck we were going to do all day. i ate like a million donuts and finally the rain stopped. i decided to go for a run and i am SO glad that i did. since i'm a newbie runner girl, i had never run on the beach before. i ran from the house, ran on the beach for awhile and then ran back. i went about 3 miles and stopped somewhere along the way to snap a picture.

i got back to granny's and wanted to go back to the beach. i love the ocean in a major way. i think it has a way of putting life back into perspective. it makes me feel small and reminds me of all the beautiful things that god created for us to enjoy. it was super cloudy but my friend laura came along and we spent a few hours talking about life and love and everything in between.

the night continued with drinks, dancing and the following things...

{apple pie.. the only way to go.}

{laura & i}

{baby ammie}

sunday  we woke up and started cleaning. we went to lunch at one of our favorite spots, the conch, before saying our goodbyes which are never fun.

i headed back up to myrtle to meet my sister & derrick. derrick and i spent the afternoon on the beach and had a few cocktails. i took an awesome nap and got a little too much sun.

{heaven}

we headed back to the competition and hung out with TEAL. we stayed to watch them compete and then headed back to charlotte. we got home around midnight and i am struggling in a serious way this morning. but as usual, it was worth it. i'm thankful for weekends like this, my sweet friends and sunshine.