Marco Island, Florida

On Saturday we headed to the airport and cruised down to Fort Myers, Florida for Kevin's 40th birthday trip!  He didn't know where we were going until the night before when I started giving him clues.  The next morning he figured out we were specifically going to Marco Island which is close to Naples.

We had lunch at CJs by the Bay when we first got there!

And stared at amazing boats.

We tooled around then found our hotel.  We used some Hilton points I had been saving for awhile. It was right on the beach so was perfect for a few nights.

We went down to the beach and just hung until the sun set around 6.  Then we went in and got ready for dinner.

Dinner was at Verdis and the food and our waiter was good.  We had a not so great table for calling ahead for reservations a couple weeks ahead of time.  We told the snobby owner who could have cared less.  I had even told them it was Kevin's birthday.  Oh well, we still had fun.  Kevin had the sea bass and I had grouper.

After dinner.

Sunday AM at the resort pool. 

We headed out for a private fishing trip!  We were going to go offshore but the captain said they weren't catching anything.  Instead we went to the backwater and caught a bunch of sheepheads and snappers.

Kevin catching his first with Captain Steve.

This is Joe Biden's brothers dock and house.  The captain said he likes fishing there because it ticks Biden's brother off.  One time he came out and yelled at him haha.  We were happy to fish under his dock. ;)

The Dolphins were having a field day in our wake.

I could live on a boat. Most days I prefer a boat over a car or house.

We ended up going here for lunch after we got off the boat.  The Snook Inn.  Ended up being our favorite place.  Just a cool spot on the water, off the beaten path, not on Yelp or any of that and the best grouper sandwich.

The captain told us about it. 

Back at the Hilton, view from our room.

Back on the beach for the afternoon until the sun set.  

It was stunning.

We got cleaned up and went to a late dinner at Marco Prime which was probably one of our favorite meals we've ever had.  It was just a cool atmosphere. We had drinks at the outdoor bar then ate inside.  

Breakfast yesterday was at a local spot Doreen's Cup of Joe. This crunchy French toast - I wish I could have shipped some to my mom.  She would have loved it.  We stopped by the local insurance agent for the company Kevin works for and said hey after breakfast.  That was cool.  Happened to be the same day their numbers came out from their 2014 performance.  

We went to Naples and walked around some shops for awhile.  Eventually we headed back to Marco and I fell asleep for an hour.  We ended up going to a 3pm lunch back at the Snook Inn and this guy was playing music. Check out his hair!!  It almost touches the ground.

We decided to catch up on work emails from the day and chill until 7 or so when we walked to get ice cream for dinner.  Isn't that the best dinner sometimes?!

Today we are back in Charlotte and today is his actual birthday.  We are excited to get lil Mills from camp and know he will be extra handsome after his girl Elisa grooms him and his Spaw bath! ;)  We also have fun plans tonight to keep the celebration going!  Cheers to my Kevin!  Love you!

Five on Friday - Kevin Award, Lunch Club, Eye Shadows

1.  Bragging on Kevin - he won a big award from his company and he received it this week at their annual kickoff.  So proud of him!  I wanted to be there to watch him receive it but it's an internal kickoff only.  

2.  I've so enjoyed our lil monthly lunch club that gets together in Southpark.  Lauren got cut out of this picture by accident!  It's the best interruption during work for all of us and good to compare stories.  We're all in the same stage of life.  L to R - Sarah, April, Me, Lauren

3.  My favorite neutral eye shadows - L to R - NARS Himalia, NARS Dione and Clinique Strawberry Fudge.  The Himalia works best with brown and taupe tones.  Dione is more gray/black tones.  The strawberry fudge looks really pink but it's actually more of an every day and goes with black or brown.  I'm no makeup artist but thought I'd share a few neutrals.  I like visiting Nicole over at the Nordstrom Southpark makeup area.  She has such a natural look which is always my preference.

4.  Kevin and I decided not to get each other anything for Valentines Day.  I kinda decided we should get something for our house - like a chair or something but he has different ideas...aka nothing.  We'll see how it shakes out over the next week haha.  This is love!

5.  I got fabric to cover our currently gross and ugly dining room and breakfast table chairs and I need to figure out how to do it.  I hear it involves a staple gun which I will need to get.  Any tips?  I'm the least crafty and design-y person ever but I hope to figure this out.  The left one is for the dining room chairs and the blue is for the breakfast table chairs.  The white and gold at the top is a table runner from Target ;)

Happy Weekend!!!

Week 19 Pregnancy Journal

How far along? 19 weeks

Size of Baby: Heirloom Tomato - 6" long and 8.5 ounces

Gender: We're excited to not be finding out! 

Weight Gain:  None.  Still.  Doc says she's not concerned when I saw her last Friday.

Maternity Clothes: Not yet!

Nursery:  We got a lot done on the nursery last weekend when Mom was here.  I just think it's special that she can be a part of the planning and decorating.  We got some pretty gray fabric for the glider and the guy is lined up for the week of March 30 to recover it.  He couldn't fit it in until then.  We got the PBK Kendall Crib!  Should be delivered in the next week or so.  Got the Harper Collection navy crib skirt and bumper when they were doing their big 20% sale last weekend plus another 20% off one item (I got them two separate days).

And I couldn't resist this Serena and Lily crab crib sheet!

Movement: Not yet.

Symptoms:  I can't go go go like I used to.  Well, I can but I crash hard later.  This rib pain is killing me.  Mom has high ribs too and it helped to talk to her and the doc about this.  The doc isn't concerned but it hurts so much.  Every day while sitting.  Thankfully the headaches were better this week and I didn't have to take my medicine once.  Just a lil caffeine helped.  I'm honestly fine but the rib thing is pretty much not fun. 

Sleep: Good...been up once a night.

Cravings:  Cold fruit is good but I like cold fruit.  It's not like a 2am I must have this right now thing.  I just pick that out for meals.

What I Miss: Nothing!  

Best Moment This Week:  Finding out that all is well at the 18 week anatomy scan.  It was very cool that they ruled out so many things that could go wrong with the baby.  Less things to worry about!  They also took my blood for a spina bifida test which they expect to come back fine judging by seeing the spine in the ultra sound.  We didn't peak to see boy/girl!  Cannot believe I've held strong but I'm so glad we have.  

Looking Forward To:  We have a little getaway coming up that I'm very excited about.  Not a babymoon...(PS I really don't like this term for some odd reason).  This is for Kevin's birthday!

Dallas

Woke up in Dallas this AM after a great time with Lindsey!  It's such a treat to see her when I come to town!  This time I got to see her hubby and pooch too.  

My coworker listened to us gab the whole time!  She is low key and didn't care.  She and I did some damage for an hour after our meetings ended early. We went West Village and she got the cutest dress and I got a shirt and long cardigan at Flirt.  

Dinner at Mesero was sooo good. 

Back to Charlotte today.  Then out of town again tomorrow but it's just driving somewhere so that's minor.  

Chat soon!

Bathroom Inspiration

We are super excited to redo our bathroom in March.  I will definitely take before and after shots. It's really bad right now....imagine pink tile with designs in them.  Knowing the couple that built the home (we bought it from them) I'm sure it's fancy tile, but not for us. 

This is what our shower will look like but we won't make it steam so we won't tile the ceiling.  We are redoing our plumbing to have a shower head come from the ceiling and also change the wall the plumbing is on now.

We are going to keep our jacuzzi tub but modernize it a bit with woodwork on the front and tile around the sides.  The front face of it will look like this. 

Currently we have a half wall between the shower and tub.  We plan to rip that out and have the shower look like this with glass instead. 

Okay this is the biggest thing we are pondering at the moment that I'd love your opinion on.  We are using the carerra tile (12x24 tiles) in the shower and will use the carerra marble countertops.  We feel like using carerra tile floors in 16x16 may be too much carerra.  Any thoughts?  

So these are three options that Kevin and I picked out...

1.

2.

3.  Carerra 16x16 tiles

Can you let me know 1, 2 or 3 in the comments of what you think looks best and is most practical?  Thank you!

We are also redoing all the hardware and the first delta one below is our top choice.  

These are the tile samples our guy dropped off. 

It's so fun picking all this stuff out and we will feel new and improved afterwards.  We use this room every day so we are excited to have it new and ours!

Weekend with Mom

Mom arrived Friday morning and we got to work on doing nursery stuff!  It was fun!

First stop was Mary Jo's in Gastonia to pick out fabric for the glider and chairs in our kitchen and dining room. 

Next Kevin's and my mom came to our 18 week anatomy scan!  That was really fun and all is perfect!  We are thankful!

Mills wouldn't leave his Nannies side the entire weekend. That night we met Kevins parents for dinner at Macaroni Grill...one of Kevs favorites!

Saturday we ran more errands and spent lots of time in pottery barn kids. We picked out and got the crib bedding!  And!  We got the crib. It's called the Kendall crib. We are so excited. It should be delivered in a couple of weeks!  We also went to regular pottery barn and got the Henley Rug for our dining room. I can't wait to get that later this week!  I'll be sure to update you all with pictures!  

After a productive day, we went to Firebirds.  These two were double trouble  together. I was the driver! ;). I don't know why we don't go to Firebirds more often. It's so good!

Sunday looked like this. We went back to Mary Jo's, met my friend Kimmy and her little boy at Starbucks/Target and got a couple other small things done. 

We lounged Sunday afternoon and made some apps for the Super Bowl.  It was fun. 

Mom being in town was a huge help getting some of these must do items knocked out.  I just don't have the time during the week so it was so nice getting it done on the weekend!

She is flying back home now but I think they'll be back soon. Mills is in a state of depression after his Nannie left. None of us are too happy she left except Dad who is pleased to have her back I bet. Thanks Mama!!  Thankful to have you help us!