What I’m Loving Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday ladies!  I hope you are all having an excellent week!  Here is what I’m loving today:

1.  Spring Break!  No, I don’t get to participate in Spring Break myself, and haven’t for 9 years…however, Metro Nashville schools are out for 2 full weeks and that means NO TRAFFIC!  Woohoo!  It’s definitely the little things in life and a 20 minute commute to work absolutely qualifies!

2.  My new monogrammed sweatshirt!  Pink Lou Lou opened my eyes to the wonderful world of Marley Lilly and I snagged this amazing lovely item last week.  It arrived this weekend and Sunday’s weather was perfectly chilly enough to wear this lovely jewel.  I seriously love it!

3.  A Trip to Charleston!  Yes, as usual, my beau and I are planning a super fun trip after tax season, and this year we will be headed to sunny Charleston, SC.  I can’t wait to show Patrick a town that I spent so many summer vacations visiting!  In true Melissa fashion, I’ve even ordered a travel guide.  =)

4.  Time with girl friends.  I obviously don’t get a lot of that this time of year.  However, not only did I have dinner with Kat last weekend, I’m also having lunch with Laura tomorrow.  I love catching up with some of my favorite ladies…just wish I could do it more often!

5.  And finally, I’m loving my beau and my Zo:

Weekend Updates!

Well, ladies, I made it through the first major deadline of tax season, and hopefully, I’ll be back at the ‘ole blog for a few weeks!  Let me back up and tell you a little about my last 2 weekends.

Last weekend was actually filled with lots of work on my part…however, it was also my beau’s birthday, so I wanted to make sure he celebrated in style and as much as possible.  On Friday night, I went to Zumba at the office, then headed home and relaxed for the rest of the evening. 

Saturday was spent working for most of the day.  However, that evening, Patrick and I had a yummy, quick dinner at Jim ‘n Nicks before heading bowling with friends for Patrick’s birthday celebration.  We had a great time and several people showed up to enjoy the evening.  After a couple of games of bowling, we headed to Broadway Brewhouse West for a few drinks to wrap up the evening.  Soon enough, it was time to take the birthday boy home (he’d had quite a fun night celebrating in true Patrick fashion).  Here are a couple of pictures of the evening:

On Sunday, I had to put in several hours of work and then I headed to the Y to take a Step class.  It was important to work off some calories before Patrick and I headed to his final birthday celebration, dinner at Rodizio Grill.  For those who haven’t heard of Rodizio, it’s a new Brazilian steakhouse in downtown Nashville and it was to die for…and I’m not even a HUGE red meat person!  Trust me, if you are in a city that has this restaurant, definitely check it out!

This weekend was very different than last…especially in the work department.  Because of the March 15 deadline, we started the weekend off early at the office with a few beverages out on the patio.  After that, I ran some errands and then went home to do some much needed chores around the house. 

On Saturday, because we were told to “take it easy” this weekend by our tax partners, I only worked a half day.  After that, I went for a walk, and then headed to get my much anticipated mani/pedi.  Trust me, it was glorious!  I loved every second of it and was super excited by how “springy” my nails looked!  I even decided to branch out a little and try the “make one nail different than the others” look.

That evening, my beau had his 20 year reunion of his college fraternity (not HIS 20 year reunion, although that is only a few short years away…Ha!), so Kathleen and I decided it was time for us to have a much needed catch up dinner at Chuy’s.  We met there at 6:30, and the next time we looked up it was 11:00…yes, we sat at the restaurant and chatted for over 4 hours!!!!! It was great to catch up though and we decided that if we did this more often, it wouldn’t be necessary to stay so long!  Ha!

Sunday, was an absolute wonderful day!  Patrick and I got up early and headed to the gym to take a spin class.  I was a newbie and since Patrick has done a few classes before, I wanted to go with him my first time.  It was a serious workout, but I can’t decide if I liked it or not.  It was a little on the boring side, and for me being bored and working my butt off don’t really go hand-in-hand!  Oh, well, I felt super good once it was over with!

That afternoon, Patrick and I headed downtown to do a  Nashville scavenger hunt with the Stray Boots company.  It was tons of fun, but honestly, would have been a little better if it didn’t include soooooo much walking.  I know what you’re thinking…”Melissa, you did know this was a WALKING tour, right?”  To answer that question, yes, I did…however, it started at one end of downtown and ended on the absolute opposite side.  It would have been a little better if it had just been a little more condensed.  Either way we had a great time! 

We got to see Fort Nashborough…

We petted the dog at Events on 3rd…

We hung out in Printer’s Alley…

And we even held up a stack of really heavy books…

After that, we had worked up a pretty good appetite, so we decided to head to The Pharmacy Burger Parlor & Beer Garden.  I have been working out pretty hard all weekend, and also saving all my Weekly and Activity points because I have had a serious craving for a good burger lately.  It was to die for!  Seriously!  Take a look at this…

The rest of the evening was spent getting ready for the work week, doing laundry, and getting the house straightened up for our new cleaning lady to come tomorrow.  Yes, you read that right…the Suns have decided to hire someone to clean our house occasionally!  I am seriously pumped about it!!!!!!!!!! 

Well, that’s all from me lovely ladies!  I hope you all have an excellent Spring week!

Out of Pocket...

Hi Friends!  Just wanted to pop in really quickly to share that due to this week being one of the busiest of my year work wise, I will be completely out of pocket!  Don't worry, I'll be back next week to share Patrick's fun Birthday weekend!

Have a great week!  And if you think about it, say a quick prayer that I make it 'til Friday!

Peace out!

Happy Birthday, My Love!

Tomorrow is my favorite guy’s birthday, and oh, how much I love celebrating his special day!  Not only is he an excellent husband to me, but he is so much more than just that!  He’s an excellent daddy to our fur-child, Zoey; he’s a great Mr. Mom during tax season when I can’t pull my weight in the household chore arena; he’s a great son to his Mom; he’s an excellent conversationalist and can chat with anyone at any time and any place; he’s a great son-in-law/brother-in-law to my parents and siblings; and he’s pretty much the best thing that ever happened to me!  Patrick, I love you more everyday and I look forward to many years of birthdays!

To celebrate the special day we are going bowling with friends tomorrow night and then to dinner, just the two of us, on Sunday.  Although I’ll have to work most of the weekend, we really hope to make the most of the time we have!

The Main Event!

So, I’m not even going to waste your time doing a weekend update this week.  If I did, it would be 2 sentences:  I was sick, and I worked.  The end!  Instead, I’m going to tell you a little about our wedding ceremony.  Patrick and I knew we wanted a Christian ceremony, and we asked Rick Britton who is the minister at St. Ann’s Episcopal Church here in Nashville to do the service.  Everyone said it was a very nice ceremony, and I agree.  First let me start with the procession.  The first to be seated were Patrick’s uncle and my aunt:

The next to be seated was Patrick’s Dad:

Then, Patrick’s Mom was seated.  She also lit a candle in memory of Patrick’s step-father (who he was really close to):

Last but not least, my Mom was seated by my brother:

Next up, the guys walked out from the side (don’t they all look so handsome?):

After the bridesmaids walked in, then came the flower girls.  Are these 2 not adorable?  How sweet!

This picture is so cute because this is almost precisely the time that Hannah freaked out because she couldn’t see and Adam (the best man) had to walk her off stage to her mother.  To this day, Alacia still feels bad about this, but Patrick and I both agree it just added a little character to the wedding!  =)

Then, it was time for me to see my groom for the first time!  I had been looking forward to that moment all day!

One thing I failed to think a whole lot about was the fact that my dress was very difficult to walk up stairs in (or to sit down in, for that matter).  You should have heard me begging my dad to be sure and not get in a hurry when we got up to those stairs…man were they steep!  Thank goodness he came through for me as I knew he would and was very helpful when we got to that part!

My friend, Elaine, who I met at my first internship in college and we have been good friends ever since, did a reading.

I absolutely love this picture of the ladies!  They all look so pretty!

First kiss as husband and wife!

The introduction of Mr. and Mrs. Sun!

This is one of my favorite wedding pictures!  I just love the look on our faces!

Well, that was our wedding ceremony!  Short and sweet, but just what we wanted!  I’ll be back soon with the after wedding pictures!  =)