Skiing, Scouts, Sassy Nails, Greece, & Georgia

Every year, after a relatively relaxing holiday season, February rolls around and things pick back up again. This month was no exception. Trent flew to Big Sky, Montana with his close-knit group of friends from F3. Judging by the photos, it looks like they had plenty of fresh snow and an awesome time. That mountain looks huge and there are three major peaks that they try tackle over the course of five days. They are there for an entire week and use their two days off to do other activities. He has really enjoyed this tradition over the past five or six years and looks forward to it every year! While he was gone, Hanleigh and I met GG, Aunt Patty, and Abby for lunch while Brayden was working, so it was great to see her as well. Later that afternoon, Hanleigh and I went to our neighbor’s house to celebrate Nathan’s third birthday. I was able to go watch Owen, Kendall’s son receive his Eagle Scout award during the court of honor. I think I’ve been a part of one of these events once in my life, but it was so incredibly special seeing my best friend’s son receive such an outstanding accomplishment that so few achieve. Keep reaching for the stars, Owen! 

Hanleigh has turned out to be quite the little artiste, specifically with related to nail art. She’s always loved doing her fingernails and has combined her artistic talent for drawing into creating the most amazing designs on a small surface. I went and had a manicure and then came back and asked her to draw some fun designs that represent Greek art and she went above and beyond. Everyone thought that my nails had been done professionally. I did give her $60 as a thank you. I think she could really make some money doing her friend’s fingernails! Brayden went to her high school’s signing day, which is when all seniors who have committed to play sports at college are honored. Her best friend, Melanie, will be playing field hockey in Maine at Bowdoin College. Way to go! I headed off to Athens, Greece before Trent got home (we were ships in the night for 20 days…the longest we’ve gone without seeing each other ever, due to our overlapping!) for my company’s annual sales kickoff meeting. But before that, Trent’s parents came over to help watch the girls. During that time, Brayden went out for Sadie Hawkins with her girlfriends, all dressed up, to a nice dinner and Hanleigh went to Imani’s 14th birthday party. Terry and Fran, thank you so much for watching the kids while our schedules overlapped!

I flew from Charlotte to Madrid and had a four-hour layover which wasn’t at the most ideal time, so needless to say, I was completely delirious during that stretch. Eventually, I boarded the flight to Athens and was so excited to be there. However, jet lag is real. I’ve learned over the years to arrive for international trips a couple days ahead of when I actually need to be on point and my best business self. As luck would have it, my luggage got lost again. This happened two years ago during the same meeting that was in Spain and I lost my luggage for three days. Luckily, this time around I was only without clothes for one day. That being said, I maximized the time with my amazing coworkers and had a successful shopping trip to Zara. No complaining here. Then, the first restaurant we hit up was Ella Urban Greek Cuisine, which I recommended because we went there a couple years ago on our vacation. Everyone loved it so much and it was awesome to go back and see my stomping grounds from not too long ago. Our event hotel was at the Grand Hyatt Athens and the view from the rooftop pool was absolutely stunning: we could see the entire Acropolis lit up at nighttime. Once I had arrived in Athens, Trent had flown back home from his trip and hosted our annual Super Bowl party with our neighbors and friends. Judging from the pictures, it was a success and there was plenty of food! Thanks for holding down the fort, Trent!

Meanwhile, back in Athens, we had our networking reception at the hotel and the event kicked off without a hitch. The main event was probably the most successful one that I can recall, due to the fact that we really reshaped the agenda and our sellers learn from real case studies versus fictional ones. In between the three days of being in session, we did squeeze in some fun. This included learning and teaching our co-workers Greek dancing (thank you, Fani, for being our resident Grecian and show us the ways!), going on a scavenger hunt throughout the Plaka district, uncovering clues, solving riddles, answering questions, stopping for beers, and freezing our hands off. While Greece is not as cold as it is back home, it still does get in the ’30s at night time in February. The entire work week culminated with the annual awards gala and I invited the ladies to my room for our traditional champagne toast and hang out before venturing to the ballroom. Everyone always looks so beautiful when they are dressed up for this special occasion. The night ended with many of us going back upstairs to the rooftop dining area and dancing to the DJ. It was so much fun!

Once the work portion of my trip had concluded, the best part of the trip started: Brayden flew over to meet me. However, she also had a layover in Madrid and had some really bad jet lag. She thought she was actually sick because she had a bad headache and was nauseous, but I told her just to power through and that she would be OK. This was the first time she had flown by herself internationally, so Trent and I bet were a bit nervous, but we gave her some good travel advice like making sure to secure her belongings and set an alarm in case she accidentally fell asleep during her layover. She rallied and when she landed in Athens, she was really excited. We went to the hotel and hung out for a little bit, checked out the property, and then met up with my co-workers for cocktails and a delicious dinner at Forte Charitos. It was a true, authentic dining experience in that it was very crowded, played loud Greek music, and you could tell it got a little bit rowdy in the evening. There was a DJ in the corner as well and at one point, the lights went dark intentionally and there were some strobe lights. It was really cool! 

The next morning, Brayden and I braved the streets of Athens by renting a car and navigating our way out of the city toward the town of Delphi. In order to get there, you pass through another town called Arachova. The drive there is stunning and so impressive, as a matter of fact, that when we rounded the corner and the mountainside village was waiting for us, I broke into tears because of how beautiful it was. I don’t know where that came from, but I was definitely moved by how impressive and gorgeous it was. We proceeded to Delphi and it was the perfect day: sunny, a bit crisp, and not crowded. To think that the Greeks built all of these amazing architectural temples by hand and were able to carry the stone up steep mountains is beyond insane. We saw the amphitheater and all kinds of gorgeous temples and buildings dedicated to Greek gods. After we visited Delphi, we made our way to the the coast to a small village called Galaxidi, which we arrived by driving through gorgeous olive orchards. I think in my mind I thought the town would be a bit more expansive, but it was very quaint. We walked around for a few minutes, ate some calamari by the water, and then made our way back up to Arachova, where our Airbnb was. What I didn’t realize is how completely narrow the streets were there. I’m not exaggerating when I say that there may have been two inches on either side of our rental car when navigating the stone alleyways. It was absolutely crazy, but Brayden said I stayed calm under pressure. Thank goodness that we had purchased car insurance just in case. Miraculously, I didn’t have any scratches or dings on the car. Once we settled into our condo, we ventured out to dinner. We walked about 20 minutes to one place that was recommended, but when we got there, no cars were in the parking lot and so we decided it would be really lame and that we wanted to try another restaurant. We walked into town and it was much more lively! We went to an adorable restaurant, had an amazing lamb and chicken dinner, and split a bottle of delicious red wine. We returned back to our condo, got up the next morning, and walked around town a little bit more after having what was probably the most delicious breakfast we’ve ever had: amazing scrambled eggs on brioche with bacon arugula salad, and the most light and fluffy Nutella pancakes you could ever imagine. It was an overcast day, but we still enjoyed exploring. We made our way back through the narrow streets, watching the huge tour buses try to navigate past each other, which was quite amusing, and then made our way back to Athens. We were a bit early to check into our next condo, so we decided to take a four-mile walk along the coast near the Piraeus port. It was gorgeous seeing all the yachts and sailboats, something that we love to do whenever we are on a trip. 

We checked into our rooftop penthouse, complete with a hot tub that overlooked the Acropolis. It was absolutely stunning and I would stay there again and again. We met up with some of my co-workers for dinner at Ergon House, which is a really unique restaurant paired with a high-end deli. We came back to our Airbnb that we had with Stacy, and had a restful evening. The next morning, we stopped by the 72-hour bakery to pick up Nutella- and pistachio-stuffed croissants (these were probably the most amazing pastries we ever had!) and then a bunch of us took a ferry to Aegina, which was about a 40-minute ride. There, we explored Apollo’s Temple, had Aperol spritzes along the marina, and then went to the Temple of Aphaia. We all stocked up on anything pistachio that you can think of: pistachio butter, pistachio cream, pistachios, and candy-coated pistachios. I think I discovered I have a love for these that I didn’t know existed. We were all a little bit giddy on the way back because there was a Greek game show on the televisions on the ferry that was completely silly where contestants were making meals and then dancing a lot. We were cracking up and Judy was making us laugh so hard as she narrated over the Greek host. We had an amazing dinner that night on the Piraeus waterfront after walking a little bit too long for some of us.

The next day, Brayden and I broke off from the group and took a 90-minute ferry ride to the small island of Hydra where there are no cars allowed and the only mode of transportation is via donkey or walking. This place was more our cup of tea. It was not only stunning and completely charming, but everyone was so incredibly friendly and we had great weather. We were able to take a two-mile walk and do some exploring as well as a little bit of shopping in the boutiques. We would definitely go back here! When we returned to Athens, we had the most amazing Uber driver ever. He just had the best outlook on life and was so incredibly positive and we talked about how people form connections through the energy that they bring. This was another time that brought me to tears. He was very special and impactful. Sometimes the world brings people’s messages to you at the exact time you need them.

We concluded our trip with one more dinner at Ella, which did not disappoint. We ended the night with rooftop cocktails overlooking the Acropolis at a bar that we could see from our penthouse. It was such an amazing trip. I love my travel buddy and can’t wait to do something like this Hanleigh with when she is a senior as well! 

When we returned, Brayden went to see Ty Myers in concert at Coyote Joe’s with three of her friends and Trent took Hanleigh to Ballantyne Corporate Park to practice driving around the parking lots. She really enjoyed it and he said she did pretty darn well. Trent and I had a date night at Queen City Craft (which is closing…so sad…it’s one of my faves!), and the next day I went to a selfish club get together at Dana’s house where the theme was “bubbles and biscuits”. It was nice to see her and meet a few new ladies. We went over to Nash’s house to celebrate his eighth birthday, and it’s always awesome getting a chance to see everybody in the family. In other exciting news, Brayden officially committed to the University of Georgia! Go Dawgs! All these rights of passages are a bit overwhelming, but equally exciting. It will be a very eventful next few months! Hanleigh was also told that she will likely get her braces off this summer, which is very cool! And, she registered for her ninth-grade classes. Hard to believe that she starts high school in the fall! Trent, Kendall, Andrew, and I had dinner one evening at the Flipside Cafe, which was great. We typically don’t let the guys join us for a monthly dinners, but wanted to talk about some real estate stuff so invited them to join us.

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