Wednesday, June 22, 2011

BEACHED

WELL! Look who is alive! I am officially in my 28th year and made my peace with it. I just keep telling myself that all the Friends were all single at this point in life, too, and they all turned out okay, didn't they?

When I last left you, I was bragging about how exciting my life was now that I had free time again. That's pretty much still the case.

On Wednesday I added something to the 30 by 30 list (yes that's still moving along - I just haven't been updating you 100%). Kate and I channeled our inner Elizabeth Berkleys and went to pole-dancing class! It was really fun and I'm glad the groupon was for two classes because I am very excited to go back. Take this with a grain of salt, but apparently, I am really good at pole-dancing! Who knew? The instructor even asked if I was sure I'd never done it before. Yes, I'm sure! Granted, we only learned one "spin" where our feet left the floor, but I'll be sure to report back next week after Class #2 if I'm still so good. It actually was much more of a workout than I anticipated. The first 15 minutes are spent on the floor, doing ab exercises disguised with clever little names like "the Betty Boop" and "flirting" and "the Marilyn." So I was working up a sweat in no time. Then we took to the pole and learned a little routine that I'm guessing we will add on to in the next class.

The next day, I flew to Birmingham for the start of my vacation. Now let me just say that for years, I have poo-pooed the idea of flying between Nashville and Birmingham since it's only a 3-hour (or less) drive. And Lord knows I have done it a billion times. But when gas costs more than a round-trip flight, and when you're getting in the car anyway to drive 4 to 5 hours to the beach AFTER you get to Birmingham, a flight starts sounding better and better. I did not like having to get up early, but I was in Birmingham before I probably would have even left Nashville if left to my own devices. The entire trip was 45 minutes, gate to gate. It probably won't be my last time I fly betwixt the two cities.

Once I landed, Jennie picked me up and we flitted around town for a while. We made it to my aunt and uncle's house, where we got to visit with my cousin and her baby, neither of whom I had seen since Christmas. Tristan is a cute little boy, isn't he?

We got lunch and went to Mom's school to eat with her before retiring to the couch to nap before it was time to load the car and hit the road. Before we left, Jennie and Jamie gave me a birthday present, a fancy Calphalon grill pan, which I cannot wait to use!
We made it to Gulf Shores very late on Thursday. I don't have much to report or show about the beach but it was so much fun. We did a lot of relaxing. Isn't that the point of such a trip? Our condo was across the street from the beach, so each morning we'd load ourselves up like packhorses and mosey over to the sand. We'd stay until lunchtime, come in and eat, then float around the pool for the afternoon until time to shower and head to one of the five restaurants worth eating at in the Gulf Shores area. I hate seafood, so don't expect to hear too much here about how great the food was. We grabbed ice cream at Scoops a couple of nights, played Phase 10 a couple of nights, made a quick trip to the outlets, did a lot of reading collectively between us and laughed a LOT. Exhibit A:

I am hoping we will make a family vacation an annual thing now that we aren't some of us aren't having to travel for holidays as extensively as before!
I got home Monday night after a day of driving followed by a quick flight to Nashville. Then, in the most shocking part of this post: I unpacked my suitcase completely. Happy birthday, me!

1 comment:

  1. ok, if you get a night job after this class I am real worried! I think our beach trip needs to be an annual event for your birthday! Soooo Fun! Love you much!

    ReplyDelete

Oh goody!

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