March 2022
2022,  Birthday,  Brayden,  Charlotte,  Family,  Hanleigh,  March,  Vacation

Football Fever, Florida, & Fun Friendships!

I’d say March was a pretty well-rounded month with a bit of travel, but mostly local activities that kept us busy having fun. Hanleigh went on a field trip Uptown to see the orchestra play, which was pretty cool and she really enjoyed it. Brayden had an awesome evening celebrating her friend, Annee’s, birthday with other friends that she hadn’t seen in a while, and I enjoyed a dinner out with Julie, Renee, and Megan.

One of Trent’s Christmas presents was two tickets to see the inaugural Charlotte Football Club game versus the LA Galaxy. We made a long afternoon of it and went uptown for lunch and cocktails with the Whitcombs before making our way to the stadium. The streets were bustling with so many fans who were all super stoked for this new professional sport to finally make its way to Charlotte. Ever since I was little, soccer has been a huge part of my life as both my dad and my brother played, so I really love the sport as does Trent. In order to be approved to have our own MLS team, our stadium had to be completely retrofitted to accommodate and adhere to the rules and regulations of the football league. They created a new tunnel from which players emerged onto the field, but the coolest thing they did (which was not a requirement) was add a ton of black lights that took all of the fans by surprise when the lights went down. The game set an MLS record in terms of number of attendees as well! We even have our own resident DJ, who has a booth setup in a lower corner on the field. This guarantees that fans are dancing and pumped up the entire game! Although we lost one to zero, the team put up a hard fight and the city has football fever now! We are looking forward to going to more games.

Mom joined us for dinner one night and Brayden went to her first concert without us to see Conan Gray at the Fillmore. This is such a cool venue and her and her best friend had a blast! While they were at the concert, Trent and I had another surprise date night. We headed to Soul Gastrolounge for a cocktail and then made our way over to the Bohemian Wine Bar for dinner. It was incredible. Just when I thought the night couldn’t get any better, he grabbed my hand and led me over to a local small music venue called Amos’ Southend. Trent had researched who was playing that night and as we approached the bouncer, I could hear some loud screams. Not knowing what was around the corner, I had no clue what band we were going to see. It was March 11th, so my first guest was a 311 cover band. Nope. Even better, it was two cover bands playing System of a Down and Alice in Chains songs. Happy Trent and Becca. We had an absolute blast. It was so fun!!!

Our group of college girlfriends, adoringly named the “Crazy Bitches”, got together for a long weekend in Boca Raton and stayed at Kristy’s house. She was such an incredible host and her house is gorgeous. There were seven of us out of the 11 in the group that joined and we had an absolute blast. The weekend was filled with tons of amazing conversations, limitless laughter, and constant dancing. We all arrived on St Patty’s Day and had organized an evening of us all wearing green dresses, going out to dinner and then dancing at a club. The next day, we laid out at Deerfield Beach, soaked in the sun, and ate lunch at one of the nearby beachfront restaurants. That evening, we came back home and spent some great quality time on her back patio discussing life and relationships. These girls are gold and no topic is taboo! That evening, we went to Kristy’s parents house for an absolutely delicious dinner followed by some fun games. Their house is incredible and they really know how to entertain. The next day, I went for a seven-mile run in the morning (finishing up training for the Cooper River Bridge Run) and then we all headed to the beach again! That night, we went to this incredible Mexican restaurant in a very trendy shopping area and had an absolute blast dancing (where a DJ was set up in the corner) while we waited for our table. After dinner, we migrated to a dance club in Delray Beach. Yet another fun evening with the girls. The next day, we layed around until it was time for all of us to fly back home. We try to get together once a year in some capacity, but it’s been harder over the past few years…as you can imagine. Because this group consists of 11 women with even more kids between us, we usually have to plan these trips a year out. Needless to say, we’ll start planning our next trip soon.

Brayden enjoyed a birthday dinner with her friend, Sara, at Little Mama’s, which is one of our favorite Italian places to visit! I love seeing her get together and form friendships that could last a lifetime. Hanleigh had a consultation again to see if she’s ready to have braces and the orthodontist told us to come back in about six months and she should be good to go. I always think it’s pretty funny how elementary school kids are so excited to have braces. I guess it’s a rite of passage, but once they’re on, all they start doing is counting down the days until they are off. I attended Hanleigh’s middle school orientation, which made me think that I want time to slow down. I really can’t believe that she’s going to be in middle school next year. Needless to say, she will not be going to the same school as Brayden due to some redistricting, but I am beyond impressed at where she will be placed. The school is smaller and the staff seem completely engaged with the students and very disciplined in keeping it as one of the best middle schools around. I’m excited to see what classes she gets assigned! She told us that she was really nervous about going to middle school before, but now she’s super excited!

In work-related news, I now have three employees working for me and I used a couple days to drive up to Raleigh to onboard one of my new hires who lives nearby. She is a total rockstar. I also used this as a great opportunity to stay at Melissa’s house, who is the best hostess ever. I was greeted with some goodies on my bed such as a “boss babe” shirt, espresso-covered coffee beans, chocolate, and an awesome candle that talks about how good friends make you laugh so hard you pee, which has happened way too many times throughout our friendship… and I know will happen much more! When I arrived to Raleigh, the two of us joined Heather for dinner at a local wine and tapas Bar. Dos bees!!! We had a fabulous time at dinner. I miss these girls so much.

We met up with Dad and Christel for lunch one Saturday at Bossy Beulah’s, which is a relatively new small fried chicken restaurant that is known to have one of the best sandwiches in the whole city. I think the hype is true. It was incredible and it was awesome to spend some time with them. Hanleigh attended her friend, Kam’s, birthday party where they had a photo shoot set up with all kinds of props. They had an awesome time! While she was at that slumber party, Trent, Brayden, Mom and me got all “dolled up”, and went uptown to have dinner with Kyle and Cammy at Essex prior to making our way to Blumenthal to see Jesus Christ Superstar. I had seen this play when I was probably in middle school, so it’s been a while, but it was absolutely incredible. They definitely modernized the costumes and choreography. Plus, our seats were up in one of the boxes closest to the stage. It reminded me of those old men from the Muppets that sit up there and make jokes! Dadaw celebrated his 92nd birthday as well! Happy Birthday, Dadaw! We love you so much!!!

Hanleigh-isms:

  • She was walking around the house singing Madonna’s “Material Girl” song, but pronouncing it as “Matreerial Girl”. So cute!
  • She was being a bit snippy one evening and asking me to do something when I was tucking her in bed, so I said, “You are being bossy. Say please.” to which she responded, “I know. I’m a natural-born leader according to my zodiac sign.”

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