Labor Day Weekend 2016

We had a great and relaxing Labor Day weekend and even though I'm so thankful for a day off work, we could totally use another one ;) My sister was supposed to come down on Saturday but since the hurricane went right through Tallahassee, her plans for Friday night were cancelled so she headed our way that afternoon. She arrive right after we got home from work then we met our friends and her parents at a local restaurant. After dinner, we all went to the local minor league baseball game. This was the last weekend the team will be playing at the stadium so close to our house so we had to see one last game! After the game, we watched some TV before calling it a night.

Saturday, we slept in, made pancakes and then got ready to head over to Downtown Disney. Caroline hadn't seen the latest renovations so we had to show her. We enjoyed walking around, window shopping and of course, Ghirardelli's. After Downtown Disney, Stephen and I wanted to go to the J Crew outlet since they had 50% the entire store. The 3 of us ended up finding some great deals - I got 2 new outfits for work that look more professional along with a new fun, fall plaid tunic. By the time we got home, we were so exhausted so we just relaxed and played nerts.

Sunday we went to church, ran to Target and then came home for the rest of the day. Caroline and I relaxed while Stephen mowed the lawn and then later that evening, we grilled out. Caroline wanted a big grill out to close out summer and that's exactly what she got - complete with peach cobbler on the grill (I'll be sharing that recipe soon)! Stephen did an amazing job - as he always does! After dinner, we watched a movie before going to bed.

Monday, we slept in and then made breakfast before Caroline headed back to FSU and we started to look at cars for me. We have at least a year before we're going to start thinking about kids but we decided we should try to look into buying me a mom car SUV by the end of 2016. Right now, we're focusing on the new Honda Pilot and Toyota Highlander. Yesterday, we looked at the Pilots and next weekend, we're going to look at the Highlanders.

Moms of young kids, I really need your advice: is leather worth it? I can't decide between the model without leather and with leather. The model with leather is about $3k-$4k more expensive but has leather and a few other features. The other features I would care about is 1 button seat movers to get into the 3rd row and an automatic hatch for the trunk. The leather quality didn't seem super durable so I'm not sure if it'll get damaged quicker but I know it'll be better with spills. I'd love to hear if y'all think it's worth it!!

We're also entertaining the thought of selling my car privately - any suggestions for that!? I'm super intimidated by it but I could get more money for my car so we're looking into that option.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and if you're back at work today, at least know you only have a 4 day week!

Five on Friday

It's been quite some time since I did a Five on Friday and it feels good to be back!! It's been very exciting around here so let's get to it!

One
I cannot believe it's officially September and therefore, officially fall! I couldn't be more excited for fall to finally be here! Now let's be real, it won't get cool until January but we have some weekend trips to "fallish" places and I just love all things fall! Since we're going to be pretty busy this weekend, I'll probably decorate the house next weekend...nothing like decorating in early September and it's 90 degrees outside ;)

Two
I've been wanting to add a chair to one of the corners of our living room for a while and on Wednesday, I ran into Homegoods in between rain bands after work and found the perfect chair. I was a little worried it was going to be a little too short and wide but I think it fits amazingly! I'm so excited I was able to find something so quickly in the store and I think it makes the room so cozy and complete :)

Ignore the mess in the right corner - I just threw our workout gear over there to move the chair in

While waiting at Homegoods for Stephen to measure the space at home, I wandered over to the baby section and was able to find some amazing baby items for friends and family for cheap! I couldn't believe the amount of books that they had! My SIL always said they have the best stuff and she wasn't kidding.

I was also able to snag like 8 picture frames for pictures from our CO trip. I'm so excited about them and can't wait to get them filled! Now I do have a question for y'all - are there any good and cheap picture printer companies out there other than just using our local Walgreens? I've had some problems the last few times I've used Walgreens and that makes me nervous when I'm about to print a handful of bigger photos.

Three
After coming back to work on Monday, I was greeted by a giant "figure" of my boss. He was off at a conference the week before and one day before work, a few guys put this together. It was a riot and everyone was taking pictures with it. Since it stood taller than the cubicle walls, you could see it all the way down the hall and it was a little creepy.. it's since been taken down but the picture of his head is taped inside his desk which still gets me sometimes lol

Four
On Tuesday, I saw that our primary election ended that evening so after work, we ran out and voted real quick. Since we always mail in our ballets, I had to get a picture with our "I Voted" stickers. This place was so quick, so I'm hoping we can do early general election voting here - because let's be real, I want that sticker again!

Five
I'm sure most people have seen that FL is getting our first hurricane in 11 years (which I find hard to believe!) but thankfully we shouldn't get it too bad. My sister is in school at FSU and is bracing for impact since it's supposed to go right over them. Thankfully, most of the rain and wind happened at night so I didn't have to drive in it to and from work.

As for our plans this weekend, we're hoping the rain will be gone by this evening so we can go to dinner and a baseball game with our friends. Saturday, my sister is coming down to stay the rest of the weekend with us and I'm so excited! We're hoping to do a big cookout and then maybe go show her the new Disney Springs area on Sunday :) I'm really looking forward to a fun weekend at home since we've been traveling the past 2 weekends and a day off work is the icing on the cake!

I hope everyone who's in the way of Hermine stays safe and isn't affected too much!

#hirstcoloradoadventure Day 3

This day ended up being one of our big adventure days and we had so much fun! We knew we wanted to do something special we wouldn't normally do so we started throwing out the idea to go horseback riding in one of the towns we visited. We decided to do it in Vail since we were staying 2 nights and had a full day. There were a lot of good looking stables but we ended up going with a 1 hour ride at Vail Stables and it couldn't have been more perfect.

Our ride started at 9 am on Monday morning so we got there around 8:15 and watched them get the horses ready for the day. It was shaping up to be a beautiful day and we couldn't wait to get on the mountain! The employees at Vail Stables were so nice and accommodating - they really helped me feel confidant on a horse and I loved how they treated their horses.

Stephen was getting some go pro footage for us 

We finally got on our horses - I had a super sweet and calm horse named Yeller and then we were off!! We couldn't believe we were like legit climbing a mountain with a horse but thankfully, the horses were pros. We went for an hour ride through a mountain with the most beautiful views! An hour ride was really the perfect amount - we were hurting by the time we got done lol

After our horseback riding, Stephen wanted to hike a trail that he did with his intern friends one summer. He told me it'd be 2 miles up to a waterfall and then 2 miles back down. I figured this would be no problem... except 2 miles in FL is 100% different than 2 miles in the Rocky Mountains. Oh my goodness, it was basically a vertical climb 90% of the way and so difficult. Stephen didn't remember it being that hard and poor guy had to hear me complaining and gasping for air the whole hike up. Thankfully, the falls were beautiful and we got some great pictures.

All smiles before we knew what we'd be facing...

The falls were beautiful but we were so glad when we made it down off the mountain and headed over to Vail for lunch. We ate at a Big Bear Bistro in Vail then walked around the town before heading back to our hotel for naps. After waking up, we heading back to Vail Village to walk around and get dinner. We split the best pork shank at Mountain Standard before calling it a night.

You can see Day 1 of our trip here and Day 2 here

Linking up with Jessi