Our Trip to Chattanooga

Austin and I just got back from a short trip to Chattanooga.  It is so nice to be able to get out and go somewhere once in a while!  We arrived on Sunday and enjoyed a walk all around the city before stopping at Mellow Mushroom for some delicious pizza. 

Waiting for our yummy pizza!

Gorgeous weather the whole time we were there!

On Monday we enjoyed sleeping in (what a concept!!!) and then headed to the Tennessee Aquarium.  One of my favorite things about our hotel is that it was only half a mile from the aquarium, so it was super easy to walk everywhere.  There's just something special about walking hand-in-hand with your husband.  :]

Of course we had to find Nemo.

Crazy lookin' fish.  I had fun imagining what all the fish were saying while we watched them.  #kidatheart

Aww, so cute.  ;]

Not gonna lie: I kinda bullied him into doing the touch tank.  It is quite the unique opportunity!

Austin's favorite part.  My favorites were the otters. 

Date day in the city!  jacket: Old Navy, dress: Target, purse: Target a few years ago, sandals: Tevas

Probably my favorite picture from the whole trip.

After the aquarium we got to enjoy some free Coldstone thanks to Austin's sister!  We'd been holding on to that giftcard since Christmas.  :]

Mine: cheesecake ice cream and fresh strawberries; Austin's: chocolate brownie froyo, coconut, and almonds

Walking around to work off our ice cream.

Next was a stop by the IMAX theater to see "The Last Reef."  It was cool and Austin really enjoyed it, but I think my days of watching 3D movies are over.  I started feeling sick 20 minutes into the film and didn't feel better until we'd been outside for 30 minutes.  Does anyone else get sick watching 3D movies?  Or am I just really strange?  (ok, maybe both, haha)

So once I was feeling a bit more normal, we ate dinner at Mellow Mushroom (again).  I didn't really feel like walking around a lot to find somewhere, so we just went with old faithful.  Austin always pretends to be surprised when I say I love pizza...but really, no surprise there.  Post-dinner fun included walking over some bridges and checking out the art district once again.  See how lame I sound when I say this: art is really cool!

Chattanooga!

Loving the sunshine and each other (cue the "awws").

Probably our favorite statue: Icarus.

Our hotel.

Tuesday morning found my husband on a long run over the aforementioned bridges and me chilling and enjoying the HGTV in our hotel room.  Once he arrived back and we checked out, we drove across the river to have brunch at a place I saw on Yelp, Aretha Frankenstein's.  The place was really cool, and the food made up for the really long wait.

So all in all, we had a fantastic start to our spring break.  I'd say there is nothing better than escaping for a few days to a new-ish place with the one you love.  Now, here's to some more adventures before the week is up!

Spring Break Thoughts

This past week has been my spring break and it has been a much needed break.  But honestly, I feel like I could use one more week off.  I guess instead I'll start my countdown until summer break...only seven more weeks!  :]

So here are my random spring break thoughts...

1. Crazy drivers come out to play in the daytime.  Normally I'm at work on weekdays between 8AM and 4PM, but this week I've been around town during those hours.   I've been almost hit twice this week by drivers who weren't even looking while backing up or running a stop sign around a corner.  Seriously, I don't know what's going on.  I have a 90 minute commute each day, and I've never seen so many bad drivers.  As a female I hate saying this, but I think it's a bunch of stay-at-home moms who don't know how to drive.  For reals. 

2.  While I'm ranting, I don't like middle and high schoolers.  That's the only bad thing about spring break...there are teenagers all over the place.  Mr. Biz and I felt like asking some of the "too-cool" teenagers when their mommies were coming to pick them up.  Haha, kind of mean, but a funny thought nonetheless. 


3.  Hikes are fun, but heights are terrifying.  Yesterday we hiked to Panther Creek Falls, and it was beautiful, but there were many places where the path was quite narrow with a sheer drop off to the side.  I am very, very scared of heights, so I may or may not have had a minor breakdown towards the end of the hike.  Of course, I still recommend the hike.  The falls were beautiful.

 

4. Spring break is a great excuse to eat lots of food.  Peanut butter oreos, breakfast wraps (for dinner, of course), pizza veggie burgers (by Morningstar...try them!), lots of coffee, and Java the Nut smoothies from Planet Smoothie.  If you have a Planet Smoothie near your house, make sure to go in and get a Java the Nut.  It has coffee, peanut butter, and bananas.  It is amazing.  Addictive, really.  I've had two this week. 

5. Mr. Biz makes the best eggs.  I feel sorry for everybody else because they don't get to eat his eggs several times a week.  Eggs, cheese, and diced garlic= perfection!

6. We watched the new Muppet Movie the other night.  It was pretty funny, although it was weird to hear that guy from How I Met Your Mother sing.  He's not that great.  But overall, we enjoyed the movie.  I think my favorite song was the man or Muppet one...pretty darn hilarious.  I recommend picking it up from Redbox.

7. We ate at a new place: Egg Harbor Cafe in Johns Creek.  Very impressed with the food.  I had an egg white omelet with a black bean and chicken chili, whole wheat english muffin with strawberry compote, and some potatoes.  Biz had blueberry pancakes that were also delicious.  The only thing that was disappointing was the speed of the service.  They weren't too crowded, but it still took a long time for the two of us to get our food.  But we will be back sometime soon. 

Now it's just the seven week countdown till summer.  I have my birthday to look forward to in twenty-five days, so maybe that will be a fun distraction during the last few weeks of school.  Anybody else on spring break this week?

Finito.

[source]

Spring break is over.  :[

     I had an awesome week...camping, hanging out with dear friends, and catching up on sleep (hooray!).  Now I feel refreshed and energized--ready to take on the last several weeks of school!  Bring it on!  ;]

Delicious BBQ with two friends from college...such a blessing to see them.

What did you do over your spring break?

School's Out!

IT'S SPRING BREAK!!!

     School's out for a week, I won the March giveaway on Gussy Sews (ohmygosh, seriously), I'm getting ready to go camping, and on Wednesday my friend Sarah is coming to visit from Thailand. 

THIS IS ALL SO FANTASTIC.  (Yes, I was yelling that sentence.)

See ya'll on the other side!

MFT: Flowers

Happy Monday!

     Although the weather is telling me differently, I still believe that it's SPRINGTIME!  Wahoo!  My bike is sitting in the garage just itching to be ridden, but until this rain passes it's just going to have to wait.  *sigh*  Anyways, the favorite things I'm writing about today are flowers, and not just the ones that spring up (har har, that's a season pun for ya') this time of year.  How about we let the pictures do the talking?  :]

by Mary Anne Morgan (an AMAZING photographer)

They have bushes full of these flowers in Puerto Rico...I love them!

Wouldn't it be great to have a bike with flowers all over it?  :]

I would love to live in this building.  Gorgeous.

*pictures 2-7 are from We Heart It*

     Sigh, don't you love flowers?  My co-art teacher gave me some potted Narcicuss' today as a thank you and I'm so excited to watch them grow.  Remember to link up one of your favorite things below.  Also, I think I'm gonna make this a bi-monthly linky party...any objections? 



P.S.- I'm listening to this mix today on 8 Tracks...it's a great feel good mix.  Check it out! 

WIWW: I'm baaaaack!

     I've missed you all over my several week long WIWW break.  But with the onset of spring weather comes the onset of new outfits and my sandals...yay!  Plus, I charged my camera battery, so fewer of those awful cellphone pics.  :]  Remember to link up with Lindsey over at The Pleated Poppy.

Black dress and blue sweater: Walmart
flats: Payless
watch: Target
Boo the cat: a gift from Heaven ;]


St. Patty's Day...gotta have lots of green on at the elementary school!
button up shirt: Kohl's
Khakis: JCPenny's
lanyard: Vera Bradley (my favorite pattern- Hope Garden)


floral blouse: Kohl's
watch: Target
skinny jeans: Arizona from JCPenny's
sandals: Tevas from a random shoe store
nail polish: Gold Coin by Revlon...LOVE this stuff, and it was perfect for St. Patty's


Saturday: The World of Coca Cola
white shirt and bag: Target
grey sweater: WalMart
jeans: JCPenny's
sandals: brown Tevas
flower hairpin: Jordy is Crafty


red shirt: hand-me-down from my little sister
grey sweater and sandals: WalMart
necklace: made by women in Uganda--I got it through 147 Million Orphans
watch: Target
bracelet: a girl at my sister's college is selling these to raise money for her summer mission internship...they're made by women in the Philippines!  Half of the money goes to the girl selling them, and half goes to the Filipino women.
jeans: the same ones from Penny's

     It feels good to be back.  :]  Stay tuned for more posts later this week, including the art show, some sweet spring shots, and possibly some art ideas.  :]