Wedding Weekend at The Homestead

On Saturday morning my mom & I hopped in the car and started heading on our "journey" to The Homestead to celebrate the marriage of our dear friend Courtney to his now wife Emily!
Courtney has been friends with my older brother basically since we moved here some 14 year ago.

James & Courtney are the two standing

Anyway, I call it a journey because we made a couple of stops before actually arriving at our destination. The first was our request from the groomsmen - a box of Carol Lee Donuts. If you've been to Blacksburg, you can understand their need.  If you haven't, make sure a trip to the shop is on your to-do list if you're ever in town. SO. GOOD. Our next stop was dropping off my first unit in Roanoke. I've been working on that baby for a while -- felt so good to turn it in! It was a 1st grade math unit. Our third stop was to find gas. In Sketchville, Virginia I might add.  PSA: Iron Gate, Virginia is scary larry central. Beware. After finally finding a station without a line of cars & one that you can actually swipe your card at the pump, we were on our way for real.
Approximately 2 hours from leaving our house we arrived at the beautiful Homestead in Hot Springs, VA.

Been around since 1766. Sooooo beautiful - especially in the fall!

Found James as we walked up and then headed to the Jefferson Bar to watch the Hokie game (sad day) after checking in.

Donuts in hand :)

After lunch & catching up with friends, we did some exploring. Found the Crystal Room where the dinner & reception would be held. There was a smaller foyer area above/next to it where the cocktail hour was held.

The ceremony started at 5:30 in the Grand Ballroom. It was absolutely beautiful! Then it was on to the cocktail hour, dinner & dancing!   Caught up with James during cocktail hour. I don't know if you can see his boutonniere, but it's baby's breath...which I love! I was so happy to see so much baby's breath everywhere. 

I though my Lilly dress was perfect for the occasion & it was super comfortable!
The next morning we had the most amazing brunch in the world. Chipped beef, biscuits, hash browns, bacon, grits, fruit, the whole nine yards.  Definitely capped off a great wedding celebration!
I definitely would like to find my way back to The Homestead at some point in my life. Beautiful history, architecture and there is tons to do! We didn't get to make it to the natural hot springs but it's definitely on my bucket list :)

Congratulations Courtney & Emily! We love you!

Weekend Recap!

Here I sit procrastinating a school assignment :) I've done a lot today & am finally sitting down to do some work, but thought I would throw in a post first!
I had a pretty good weekend of running. I ran 5 miles on Saturday after I got home from class around town.  Felt pretty good & still had energy to walk around Steppin' Out. I ran 5 miles again today, but this time on the Huckleberry.  A friend and I decided to start at the "mall side" and run into Blacksburg for a change -- and let me tell you, it was a nice change! I've decided I like running from that direction more :)

Huckleberry Trail

I love having such a great trail to run on! It's 5.76 miles altogether, but they are adding on to it! Part of the Hokie Half Marathon will be run on the trail. I ran Saturday a little faster than I ran Sunday, but I am okay with that.  It ain't called a Sunday stroll for nothing.   Steppin' Out was super fun, as always!

 Just a little snapshot of what the day was like.  Everything was great this year - the vendors, the food and the music! The headliner on Saturday night was Laura Reed. So much fun - especially when her encore song was Killing Me Softly. Yup, jam time.   My purchases this year were a spoon ring (which I've been searching for the past couple of years) and three super cute prints from This Sweet Season :) She has an Etsy shop so YOU can buy some too! I love her work and will post a picture when I have my prints hanging up!  
The Rails headed to the CVCL tournament this weekend and made history making it to the championship game! Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it due to my work schedule & having Saturday class :(

So proud of this guy who had 3 saves :) Love him!  
All in all it was a great weekend, but flew by way too fast! However I'm ready for these next two weeks to get a move on so I can enjoy two weeks off :)
Happy Sunday!

An Adorable Market & My Weekend!

On the way home from the beach, before we reached Virginia, we stopped at the most amazing roadside market! The Grandy Greenhouse & Farm Market offered everything from melons to jams to peanuts.  I could have spent a lot (and eaten a lot!) if we had stayed much longer. We left with some strawberries, some peaches, a jar of strawberry preserves & a Cheerwine for the road :)

I've spent the weekend trying to readjust back home. Of course I still have lots (okay, maybe everything) to unpack but traveling is exhausting! I needed a day or two to recover... ;)

I got to watch Steven close game 2 on Saturday and then we headed home for the annual Summer Solstice Festival. This festival has a few vendors, mainly handmade items, a beer/wine garden, live music, a 5K race, a dog parade, wing eating contest and more! It's always a blast - and this year there wasn't any rain! It was wonderful.

Trying to zoom through the fence...

Cheers!

Now it's back to work & the real world for me! Hope y'all enjoyed the first official weekend of summer!

Sick & a Surprise Visitor!

Friday started off wonderfully! I went to kindergarten and celebrated being an American with the cutest little Americans that I know. We made eagle headbands and paraded around the room singing our George Washington and Liberty Bell songs! We also played for them God Bless the U.S.A. and, although they didn't know the words, by the end of the song they had caught along to the chorus and were singing along as Miss Willis and I tried to hold back our tears. During last week's craziness throughout our country it was heart warming to be able to talk about and celebrate our freedom with these precious kids. It was priceless!
However, fast forward a few hours and there I was on my couch from 2:00 pm until bedtime sick as a dog. Not fun! I guess that's what I get for spending my days with germy kids.
Friday was pretty rough - not to mention it rained all day long! - but then Saturday morning came and whoooo walked through the door at 9:15 am???

This guy!! <3
I don't even care that I look like a hot mess in that picture, it went public. Y'all have no idea how many times he has surprised me by driving home to see me. I still haven't be able to catch on this late in the game! I like to think I'm pretty sneaky, but I'm not. He had me fooled.   Needless to say, I was so happy to see him! I didn't think I'd be seeing him until the 9th of May or so. Definitely made me a happy girl. We had a really chill weekend - watched some baseball on TV and just hung out.  Wish I had been feeling better so we could have done more, but I know the purpose of his visit was just to spend time with each other no matter what we were doing...and that's exactly what we did!
I have the best mama, who made me food and yummy cold drinks to help me feel better, AND the best boyfriend who drove 6 hours to help me feel better!

Definitely feeling blessed.

p.s. 25 DAYS UNTIL GRADUATION, WHATUPPP!!!

Easter & Lilly on RLL!

HI FRIENDS :) I type this post 45 days out from graduation. FORTY-FIVE! More on that to come tomorrow...post-grads, please visit because I need advice!   I had such a wonderful Easter weekend! Although I was missing my family, I thoroughly enjoyed spending some time in Pennsylvania with Steven and his family. They are all so wonderful.  

I wore one of my dresses from francesca's!   We watched some baseball games - of course - but overall had a chill weekend. Just what we needed!  Hopefully I'll get to see one more series of games - if not, he'll be home in the beginning of May! :) :)   Today in Blacksburg the sun is shining & I am so hopeful that SPRING is finally here. I have a feeling April will be snow-free :) Praise The Lord! All I have to get through is one big test, several substitute days & I am cruising to get my diploma. I have a feeling April will go by very quickly! That's okay with me.   Speaking of spring, today, Lilly is on Rue La La! There is women's, children & gifts/accessories! TONS of cute things! Definitely a good boutique this time! Here's an invite to the private sale if you'd like to do some spring/summer shopping: Let's Go Shopping!

 I picked up some cute (& cheap!) pieces for the beach!! Which, by the way, is 2 months & 12 days away! Finally got something in You Gotta Regatta. That was one of those prints I adored from the start but had yet to find anything in! I just hope it fits! Happy Tuesday, y'all!

Yuengling Shamrock Anthem 1/2 Marathon

My second 1/2 marathon is in the books! Last Saturday we headed down to the 757 for race weekend. This was pretty much the best weekend ever...finishing out Spring break with a race & St. Patty's Day!   This was my brother James' first half-marathon which also made this very exciting. We picked a great race for his first! So flat. It was a nice relief from my hilly Blacksburg training runs.    For anyone looking to run their first half-marathon, or even just looking for a fun, fast race...this is it!   Our first green drinks of the weekend...and mimosas! When on vacation...

At the expo!

I can't see these things and not get a picture!

Haha this one cracks me up!

CAN YOU BELIEVE they had this shirt? Apparently I was the first Hokie fan to walk through! Of course I had to buy it.

Arriving at our hotel!

Didn't mind having this view from our room. Just wish it were warmer!

"Woohoo we're here!"

My outfit for the race. It was in the 40s, and yes the beginning was freezing, but I felt great while running! The headband is from bondiband (got it at the expo) and I loved it! Great no-slip, wide headband that you can use to cover your ears as well as keep your hair back.

6:45, ready to start!

I moved up to Corral 3 because...well, I do what I want. I tried to get up with my brother to find the 1:52 pacer but couldn't find him.

And, WE'RE DONE!

Reached our goals!

Official chip timing - was impressed to receive this in an email! This race was so organized.

With our sweet finishers blankets at the sand castle - those blankets were the PERFECT thing to receive...it was so windy/cold when we finished!

The perks of having Yuengling sponsor...4 free beers. Holla.

Very crowded beach tent! And this is only a fraction of the half-marathoners.

 Peeking down at the marathoners from our hotel!

Post race lunch at Beach Pub

More green drinks!

Went to the Virginia Aquarium!

So fun!

The river otters! My absolute favorite.

Last green drinks of the weekend at our hotel! These were so delish.

Overall I had an amazing weekend. I am so glad that I signed up for this race and pushed myself through the cold, sometimes snowy, training runs. It all paid off to reach my goal of running under 2 hours.   I'm already looking for my next race to sign up for in the upcoming months. Any suggestions? Also trying to decide whether I should take the leap into full marathon training. Any advice/suggestions would be appreciated :) Have a great Tuesday!