Mother Runner Favorites: St. Patrick’s Day

I started this series last month with Valentine’s Day and here is installment #2! Basically this is a roundup of my favorite things from motherhood to running and everything in between. I love all holidays, so let’s talk about some favorites leading up to St. Patrick’s Day!

1. Starting off with my brother’s birthday! He’s a St. Patrick’s baby, so he has to claim the top spot on this list. He may live literally across the country from me, but I miss him daily!

2. Extra Luck Necklace from Baublebar. Shamrocks were big in my sorority in college (Kappa Delta!) and since then I’ve always loved them. This one is so cute and less than $40.

3. An easy way to add some green to your run – this Life is Good shamrock hat! Cute and simple and can be worn year-round.

Keeping this short and sweet, but let me know some of your favorites for St. Patrick’s Day!

Tips for Stroller Running

Generally speaking, running is easy.

As a runner, I know running is actually a little more complicated than it seems. And, running with a stroller – while pushing a toddler – is even more complicated.

So here are MY tips for stroller running (do with these what you wish)

• Make sure your kid is happy! Pack snacks, a drink and maybe even a toy or two. I want Emery to enjoy being out on runs with me and that means I need to come prepared.

• Give it time to get used to running with a stroller. It took a while before I got used to which hand I wanted to lead with, how my stride might change and how to take turns.

• Know your times won’t be the same as running without the stroller. (duh!) Sometimes I’m faster than I think, but usually the stroller, the stops, the carefully going around breaks in the pavement, etc slows me down.

• Grace not perfection. Any miles with the stroller are better than no miles.

Mother Runner Favorites: Valentine’s Day

Here’s to a new series! A roundup of my favorite things from motherhood to running and everything in between. I love all holidays, so let’s kick off February with some favorites leading up to Valentine’s Day!

1. Foam Stickers

Emery and I have been doing all kinds of crafts lately and foam stickers are such a big hit! Hobby Lobby and Michael’s has a ton in stock right now, but honestly I have found cuter and cheaper ones at Dollar General.

2. Valetine’s-themed ProCompression socks

I have a pattern from 2017 that is so stinkin cute and I still wear them to this day.

3. Happy Everything Valentine’s Attachments

I love Happy Everything and have attachments for almost every season and occasion. It’s fun collecting and changing them throughout the year. The XOXO attachment is probably my favorite for this holiday.

4. Little Blue Truck’s Valentine

We love all the Little Blue Truck books and the holidays are the perfect time to switch them out. We try to rotate toys and books, so this a fun to share the holidays with little ones in a way they can comprehend.

5. Heart on Your Sleeve Run Sweatshirt

I’ve loved Sarah Marie Design Studio for years. All of her apparel is funny, cute and true AF.

What are some of your favorites this Valentine’s season? While Ryan and I don’t actually do much for the holiday in the sense of gifts, flowers, etc. We do like to do small things like candy or an extra date night. Plus we love showing some extra love to our favorite tiny human. Every day is a reason to celebrate!

A Christmas weekend in Nashville

Ryan and I were able to get away to Nashville for the weekend and crammed as much fun and holiday spirit into our 2.5 days as we could.

Friday was my work’s Christmas party. We started at Pins Mechanical playing old school pinball machines, foosball, bocce ball and duck pin bowling. It was a blast and I highly recommend the space if you have a large party to accommodate.

After Pins, we checked into the 21c Hotel and Museum. For dinner, we were treated to Jeff Ruby’s. So much good food.

This time of year, Nashville has so many holiday-themed pop-up bars. While we only went to the rooftop of The Bobby, there are so many to try.

On Saturday, we were scheduled to have massages at the Spa Haus but unfortunately we got a call that one of the massage therapists tested positive for COVID so they had to cancel our services. While I was bummed (I’ve been looking forward to this massage for weeks) we pivoted and went to the Opry Mills Mall, did some shopping and watch Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in IMAX.

At the last minute, we decided to snag some cheap tickets to the Titans game. It was a little chilly but it was so fun getting to watch the game live! This is the second year in a row we’ve gone to a Titans game during our December Nashville weekend – so it might have to become a tradition.

Last day of summer

We ended summer in the best way possible – with a trip to the pool!

I am so happy we decided to join our local country club this summer. Ryan has golfed more than he has in years, Emery and I enjoyed the pool and it was nice to meet other young professionals in our community.

We’re looking forward to many years on the golf course and at the pool with our little family!

Celebrating our girl (2-years-old!)

Over the weekend, we celebrated Emery turning 2! I can’t believe how fast time is going by and I love watching her grow and learn every day.

Of course, it was a million degrees with 99% humidity on the day of her party. But our girl loved seeing all her friends and family, the gifts and eating cake.

Here’s to another year with my tiny best friend!

Walk the Bridge 2022

One of my favorite low-key events in Owensboro is Walk the Bridge Day! Yesterday, the bridge was closed for half the day for pedestrians to run, walk and bike across. It’s always fun getting to cross the water and check out the boats. Plus, we had the best weather yesterday for our walk!

EJ and I walked with one of my mom friends and her little girl. We had plenty of snacks, water and toys to keep everyone occupied during the 55 minutes we were out there. The girls also pointed out every.single.dog. we saw so that was fun getting to pet some cute fur babies and make so many new friends.

Alllllmost one mile later we were on the Indiana side of the bridge! We turned around and headed back up hill to finish our route. It’s such a way to explore more of where we live and get in some extra movement for the day!

Vacationing in Vegas

Ryan and I have been back from Las Vegas for a week now, so I thought it was time to recap our trip!

We spent an entire in Vegas! It was our first time that far out West, and it was an entire experience. The city never sleeps, there were so many people and all the lights were mesmerizing!

We jammed a lot into our first few days because we had a City Pass, but also because we were afraid we would too tired by the end of the week to go out and do a lot. #eldermillenials

After some flight delays, we arrived to our hotel (MGM Grand) around 1 a.m. Sunday.

We basically passed out once we got to the room by were up and out by 10:30ish that morning to start exploring the city! On Sunday, we conquered Madam Tussauds, walking part of the strip, checking out some free exhibits at the hotels (like the gorgeous flowers and waterfalls at the Wynn!), dinner and a show at Tournament of Kings and a night helicopter ride over the Las Vegas Strip! After that, we even made a stop at the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign!

Tuesday, we were up early to tour the Las Vegas Raiders stadium and then hit some more stops on our City Pass. We did some touristy exhibits (Marvel and Hunger Games) and ate lunch at Black Tap. We had some crazy milkshakes and I had maybe the best burger of my life.

Every time we went outside, we were just so amazed with all the building on the strip. The hotels are all crazy huge and are basically like their own metropolitans. I could have never left the MGM all week and eaten at a different restaurant every night and had plenty to do.

It’s also true what they say about Vegas – it’s hot, but it’s a dry heat. Temps reached 119 one day while we were out there and while it was HOT, thank goodness there was no humidity.

Other highlights of our trip included some burlesque shows, a cirque-de-solei show, dinner at Top of the World at The Strat hotel and people watching while gambling.

Our last full day included walking to the Bellagio, checking out their world-famous water fountains, the conservatory exhibit in the hotel and one of the world’s largest chocolate fountains.

This trip was so out of the normal for me and Ryan, but we are so glad we took this vacation! While we may not ever be back, I’m pumped to say I have experienced Vegas.

Friday Favorites v.112

I know this week was heavy on a lot of people’s hearts. I cried more than once reading about the death in Uvalde, Texas. There has to be change. We can’t care more about guns than we do the safety of our children and teachers (and people in general).

So while I recognize the sadness of this week, I also held my baby a little tighter and prayed for all the families who couldn’t do the same.

So here is my list of good things that happened this week.

1. Ryan and I have been doing some vacation research and I am SO pumped for a parent’s getaway this summer. We also decided next year will be the perfect time to take Emery to the beach and I’m already excited for that trip too.

2. Someone brought in this gorgeous bouquet to work earlier this week and not only were they super pretty flowers, they also smelled amazing!

3. I’ve been on the hunt for a good wagon with a shade for weeks now and we finally found one we love!

4. The last few years, I have become a big fan of the show Survivor. Wednesday was the 3-hour finale and I’m so pumped MaryAnn won! This season ended a lot better than it started and I’m already looking forward to S43.

5. Found this girl on TikTok and I’ve already bought a swimsuit she recommended! She’s a “mid-size influencer” (who knew size 12-14 was mid-size?!) and it’s just so refreshing to see someone with a body that looks like mine!

6. Since we’ve been trying to spend more quality time together AND spend more time outside – a date night to the golf course was the best combination of both.

7. This awesome story about a guy living in the moment and enjoying his beer.

8. Randomly making Reels for this guy’s Instagram account has been so fun.

Cheers to 30 years!

On Saturday, I turned 30!

This actually wasn’t a birthday that I was dreading. I’m excited for my 30s! My 20s were great — lots of life lived, lots of learning and lots of growing – but I feel like my 30s are going to be wonderful too.

For my actual birthday, I spent all morning with Emery and Ryan and then my parent’s graciously offered to babysit for the night. Ryan and I saw the new Doctor Strange before meeting some friends for happy hour, dinner and bowling. It was so fun getting out with friends who we don’t get to spend nearly as much time with as we want.

On Sunday, we had a lazy family day and ordered pizza. It was a perfect weekend.

Here’s to my 30s! I’m excited for this next chapter and all that it will bring.