Five on Friday: Travel Adventures

Hi all! I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve been in a blogging groove since hubby and I have been traveling for the last two weeks.  I’ve missed sharing with you all and reading/hearing your stories, projects, and ideas, and can’t wait to jump back into blogging now that we’re home and have a few weeks left of summer break!

Anyway…here are five random updates from our last two weeks!

1) All-Inclusive Goodness in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico

In case you missed my post earlier this week on our trip, we spent four days in Mexico! It was so fun to have endless Banana Mamas, coconut margaritas, and all sorts of other food and drink deliciousness handed to us for four straight days.  Even though I still probably would choose an adventure over a vacation, we loved our time in Mexico (and have some pretty epic sunburns to prove it, despite the five pounds of sunscreen we applied.  #gringos)

2) My Little Brother’s Wedding

My little brother Alex finally tied the knot with his middle-school sweetheart, Melissa.  Their wedding was on their seventh anniversary, and it was a beautiful ceremony centered on the idea that marriage is a covenant, or a commitment to love someone no matter how we “feel” or whatever happens.  I got to do all the decorations for their picnic themed rehearsal dinner and I’m glad I could be a part of it all, even if just a little bit! (Check out this post for details on how I made this super cute, cheap, and easy ribbon/fabric garland!)

3) Hanging With My Foodie Parents

My mom is a foodie to her core, and every time we go to California we have a list of yummy new restaurants to try.  This time, our favorite was the 4th Street Market in downtown Santa Ana.  A bunch of chefs and food trucks buy out little booths in an old warehouse downtown and use it to showcase their yummiest foods and drinks.  I had a delicious waffle burger with Gruyère cheese and truffle aioli, hubby and my dad had ah-MA-zing fried chicken with the best cornbread I’ve ever tasted, and my mom and aunt split some Thai red curry noodle soup and a secret off-the-menu burger made by one of the chefs.  For dessert, I had a chocolate-orange-hazelnut ice cream on chocolate chip cookies ice cream sandwich.  It was life-changing, folks, absolutely life-changing. (Follow me on Instagram to see more pics like this! #shamelessplug)

 4) Beachy Goodness

There are so many things I love about Kansas City and I would never want to live anywhere else, but I sure do love going home to the beautiful beaches of Orange County where I grew up.  My friend Haley and her friend/my friend Lauren were in town to shoot my brother’s wedding, and it was so fun to spend some time exploring Newport Beach with them.

Then, my mama and Jordan and I had a delicious last lunch in Laguna beach where we shared about ten little plates of bacon-wrapped dates, fried goat cheese with honey, braised lamb chops, and a mozzarella tomato flat bread (with some warm beignets and lemon blueberry cream + homemade Ding- Dongs served in a Spiderman lunchbox with milk for dessert).  So.  Stinking. Good.

5) Coming Home To Our Puppy!

It is so crazy how much my heart has grown for this little lady, and we thought of her pretty frequently during our trip.  The night before we left was the 4th of July and it was pretty traumatic for her.  She followed me around as people started shooting them off and then hid in the closet shaking and panting once our neighbors really got going.  Break. My. Heart.  Jordan finally carried her into bed and she fell asleep with her head on his chest and his hands covering her little ears.  (It might have made this girl’s heart beat a little faster about how cute he will be with future babies.  Just saying.) Seriously…Olive is our baby and coming home to her was the best!

This is where Olive stayed for most of 4th of July: right on top of my feet staring nervously toward the front door.

We loved our adventures these last few weeks, but there really is nothing sweeter than coming HOME.  We have three-four weeks left before we jump back into school and I am so excited to have more slow times with each other and friends and lots of time for fun house projects.  Life is good, y’all.

Head over to  A. Liz Adventures, Fitting It All In, Life in Leggings, Grace and Love Blog, Momfessionals Friday Favorites, and Running 4 Cupcakes for more Friday favorites!