Best Weekend With My Best Girls.

For my birthday this year, I got a folder from my best friends with a note inside that said, "pack your bags!" They had planned a weekend away to celebrate, and when I say they planned it, they planned. They called my mom and made arrangements for Jack (sweetest ever) and planned out everything over two days so I wouldn't have to do anything other than show up (aka my dream weekend). 

shorts // top // shell yeah shoes
We spent the day shopping in Jacksonville, eating cupcakes at Sweet by Holly, and basically just dancing our way through every mall and outlet and Starbucks we could find (I told you, my favorite things).

I don't care how old you are, listening to music and getting ready with your friends is the best. Having an excuse to get dressed up and take way too many pictures is just fun, and everyone should do it every now and then. 

We ended up at my new favorite place (in the world, maybe?), River + Post. They had the most beautiful rooftop with the perfect view to watch the sun go down (translation: take too many Instagram pictures) before going downstairs to eat dinner.

DINNER. Oh my gosh. I have not stopped thinking about this food. I had shrimp and grits with gouda grits and I am not joking when I say I strongly considered ordering a second plate just because I was sad mine was gone. It was that good. 
After dinner, we headed to a speakeasy, and while I took no pictures there, it was one of the coolest places I've ever been. It was a post office on the outside and once you went in, it felt like walking into a movie. Everything was very prohibition themed, and it was so much fun. I was made for the twenties!

It wouldn't be a weekend of my favorite things if we didn't end up at the beach! It was the most beautiful day. There was a restaurant (The Lemon Drop) right on the beach, and we ate too much and drank too many of these colorful things and got too much sun and it was just perfect. 

It was seriously the best 48 hours. They really did cram all of my favorite things into two days, and it made me feel so special that they knew just what I'd want to do. I'm so thankful for my friends who love me so well. 
I'll remember the weekend forever, but more importantly than remembering the dinner (seriously - I'm gonna remember those grits until the day I meet Jesus) or remembering our beach day, I'll remember how special they made me feel. They're both in crazy busy seasons of life, but they took the time to plan this and then carved out time to spend with me. I'm so grateful and it makes me want to be a better friend. 
Cheers to friendships. One of the best gifts this life has to offer. 

More Moments That Make You Feel Alive, Please.

I get really introspective this time of year. I tend to treat my birthday as a personal New Year's Day of sorts, and I think about goals and dreams and where I'm at in life. 
Thinking about my girls' trip a few weeks ago, it was full of all these little moments I'll remember forever. And really, that's what life is-years made up of little moments, good and bad, happy and difficult, sweet and bitter. Just a bunch of little moments. 
If we get a say about our moments, and I think we do, then I say we have more of the moments that make you feel alive. 

More laughing with your best friends. 
More dancing in a room full of friends and strangers to songs you know will hold these memories forever. 
More honest conversations that are clear and deep and remind you what a privilege it is to be doing life with your people. 
More hot cups of coffee and cold moscow mules. 
More staying up too late, but not regretting it, because you remember that life is short and you want to squeeze it for all it's worth. 
More sandy toes and salty hair and chilly nights and sunny days. 
More moments that make you feel alive, please. 
Take note of them. Chase after them. Cherish them. 
More life. 

The Prettiest Place I've Ever Been.

My little brother moved to Colorado Springs a few months ago, and I finally got to go visit him last month!

I'm not exaggerating even a little bit when I say it was, hands down, the prettiest place I've ever been. I mean, to walk out of any give grocery store and have that view of the sunset over the mountains...come on. 

It's one of those places that, when people ask me how it was and I say oh, it was beautiful! I really feel the need to follow it up with, okay but really though it was BEAUTIFUL-BEAUTIFUL, I'm not just saying that. 

I live for the moments and places in time that force you to just stop and take it all in, and this was definitely one of those.

This was my first experience with the mountains, and I understand now what people mean when they say, The mountains are calling and I must go. 

Gyspy soul, ignited. 

Have you ever been to Colorado? 

ATLANTA.

I've taken a lot of trips this year, but this one was one of my favorites. I got to go see my random-college-roommate-turned-best-friend in Atlanta, and we got to see a band we'd wanted to see live forever now.

We ate all of the food and walked all over Atlanta and took all of the pictures, ever.

You know those times where you aren't really expecting anything big to happen, but somehow your perspective changes, your heart gets filled up? Like when you see a movie you're not expecting to touch you so much, or you have lunch with a friend and you're not expecting to open up and talk about everything? Unexpectedly, you leave feeling different. This was one of those times for me. 

I'm so thankful for weekends like this. Weekends where you can eat the unhealthy food, just for today. Where you can lay in bed and talk about everything and nothing and be reminded of how precious of a gift human connection is. Weekends where life seems to wave at you, saying, "hey, remember me? I'm actually kind of beautiful."

Life is short, and sometimes hard. But it's also just so beautiful and full of things like friendships and ramen, sunsets and rainstorms, live music and late nights. Cheers to more of the beautiful.

Happy Monday, friends!  

4 Things You Need to Do in The Outer Banks.

Okay, it's fall, I get it. But it's still 90 degrees here, which means I'm still thinking about the beach and summer and all the fun places I got to go during this one. One of my favorite new-to-me experiences was going to The Outer Banks. I loved all of it, but here are four things you really need to do if you go.

Get a donut at Duck Donuts. Don't hate me for this, but I'm not really the biggest donut fan. (I know, I know, first I tell you I've never read Harry Potter and now this. I will accept the bad blogger award, hand it over). I don't not like donuts, I just won't go out of my way for one, because, meh. 
But these donuts. They made me think that maybe I'd never had a real donut before. Because these are my new favorite things in the world. They make them to order, so they're hot and delicious and really just straight up magical. 

I had a glazed and a maple bacon donut. And I have no pictures of those because I inhaled them in about three seconds. 
If you think I will not find some made up reason to visit The Outer Banks again, with these donuts being the real reason, you do not know me. 
Get an acai bowl from The Spot. 

I have The Spot to thank for awakening my acai bow obsession. They were absolutely delicious, and on top of that, it was the cutest little place. Be still, my hippie heart. 
Get lunch at The Bad Bean. 

More specifically: Get the pork belly jalepeno popper eggrolls and whatever margarita special they have, because they use fresh fruit. I had a watermelon one and it was mostly blended watermelon, no fake syrupy stuff. It was so refreshing and delicious. And I'm still dreaming about those eggrolls. My mouth is watering just typing about them, no joke. 
Go to the beach.

I love me some Florida, but I adored this beach. It was beautiful. And trust me, after you eat all that food, you're gonna need to lay down somewhere. Might as well be on this gorgeous beach. 
Have you been the The OBX? I'm obviously going back for the donuts, so if you have anything I should add to my list, let's hear it!