Birthdays, Beaches, Bands, & Ballgames

As Brayden wrapped up her final exams at UGA and prepared to pack up her stuff and make her way home, I kicked off May in Treasure Island, Florida with my Triple B’s. We spent four nights together at a beautiful oceanfront penthouse condo with the main main goal to celebrate both Shelly and Heather’s 60th birthdays! The weather was absolutely gorgeous the first three days. We enjoyed an awesome dinner on the beach at Caddy’s (painkillers, yum!), followed by days of relaxing, evenings of dancing at beach bars, and incessant laughing. On our second night there, we had an amazing dinner followed by a whole bunch of shenanigans. We watched a rock cover band, then we went to The Toasted Monkey to wrap up the night with a DJ spinning some awesome tunes that we could dance to. We went to the Don Cesar to watch the Kentucky Derby, popped into Larry’s Ice Cream (a nostalgic stomping ground for my family when I was growing up and visiting Mimi & Dadaw) to pick up some dessert, and came back to the condo to eat leftovers we had in the fridge while we watched some incredible thunderstorms roll across the horizon and toward the beach. It is always so amazing hanging out with this fabulous group of friends. I love them all so dearly! 

Brayden officially wrapped up her freshman year at UGA. The year seemed to fly by for us, so I can only imagine how fast it felt for her. She finished the semester with another 4.0 GPA and we couldn’t be more proud. She formed incredible friendships, loved her dorm experience, and is very happy with her chosen major and concentration. As parents, this just makes our heart full. She’s where she belongs and is doing what she loves! Trent and the girls went to the Hicks’ Derby party and had a great time! Hanleigh had another flag football game, where she had some awesome plays! She’s just continuing to do so great and loving it! My employee, Fani, celebrated her birthday and Trent, Brayden, and I participated in the OMB Run Club on a Thursday evening. We were lucky to dodge an extremely crazy rainstorm once we were done, but had a great time while we were running. The next day, we toasted to Trent for his 52nd birthday! Mom, Fran, Terry, and the four of us all went to dinner at Nora Mac’s and then came back to have cake. Trent and I went back out after that and Heather met us up for a a celebratory cocktail. Trent shares the same birthday as both Giselle and his Uncle David, so happy birthday to them as well! 

Chase had his Catholic confirmation, which is a really big deal. We ordered him some funny and inspirational golf balls, since he is an amazing golfer and they would be a gift that he definitely would use, and hopefully smile when looking at them. Throughout the entire month of May, we really enjoyed watching the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It was so nostalgic thinking back to when we lived in Cary, NC 20 years ago (when I was pregnant with Brayden) and how we watched them win the trophy while sitting outside of the PNC Arena with thousands of other fans. It was so awesome and has been so great seeing them play their hearts out. We are such proud fans! For Mother’s Day, we had brunch at Legion Brewing with Trent’s parents and my mom…it was delicious as always. Trent gave me a beautiful bouquet of Feetures socks (this may sound silly, but they are the best socks ever!), Hanleigh gave me an enewton bracelet, and Brayden gave me the gift of time with her via a dinner that we would take in a few days at Flower Child. Later that day, I laid out by the pool, then Tonya and I went to Jia Foot Spa to get pampered, and met up with Heather for dinner at Rooster’s. Joe celebrated his 49th birthday and Justin celebrated his special day as well! Happy birthday, guys!

Since Brayden has been home from college, she has spent a lot of time with her high school friends, which I love to see. They really are making an effort to all stay in touch and are constantly connected while they’re at different colleges. While they hung out, Trent and I met up with Heather, Rob, Kendall, Andrew, Julie, Tonya, and Mike for an awesome night of ’80s music watching the band Cassette Rewind at the Amp. It was an awesome evening! Brayden and Hanleigh had a sissy date night at Skyla Credit Union dancing to the band Ole 60! Music was in the air that evening! The next day, Trent and I took GG to lunch to visit Brayden and she was our waitress, so naturally we tipped her well! Hanleigh was celebrating two of her girlfriend’s birthdays for a country club brunch. They all looked so beautiful in their pretty dresses! Happy birthday to Alison Sizer! I can’t wait to see you in July. 

I began planning an amazing trip for next summer that is timed around my 50th birthday and involves spending an awesome week with some of my best girlfriends! We are going to charter a catamaran in the British Virgin Islands, so we met to talk through all the logistics and get everyone pumped up! I flew to Chicago for a customer event that my team and I managed…it was really successful with over 80 people in attendance and included a customer facility tour, working groups, and a wonderful general session that took place in an amazing auditorium. The evenings consisted of wonderful networking events as well. Meanwhile, Hanleigh enjoyed and an end-of-season kickball game with her football teammates. Brayden went to Drew’s lake house for an annual “Cookout” crew get together. She was there for a couple nights and had a blast! Mom and I went to dinner at the New York Butcher Shoppe and Wine Bar and had an amazing time catching up! We decided we definitely need to do this more often, so we already have another dinner on the books. 

We went to the annual Pierpont Memorial Day pool party and it was the best one yet! It was such a treat hanging out with Amy, Greg, their daughter, Lizzy, and many other amazing neighbors. The weather was great and the company was even better! I had my facial with Amy, and Julie and I had a wonderful dinner at 131 Main. That place is always so delicious and of course, we had a great time! Trent joined up with a bunch of his F3 friends for their weekly bagel breakfast after workout and Hanleigh closed out her flag football season with a team banquet at Activate Games. The kids all arrived early to play and then we met up with them for the pizza party and awards portion of the evening. It has been so incredible watching her thrive on this team! I’m so glad she rekindled her love of the game. I have no doubt that she will stick with it and maybe even continue playing in college. Who knows?!? The great thing is that flag football finally became a sanctioned sport at her high school, and this means it will be offered in the fall, so she will begin practices and training very soon. 

For years, we’ve been waiting for a great opportunity to go down and visit the Mazzolas during December for an awesome concert called Live Fest. It starts at 5:00pm and consists of four different bands: an opener that may not be well known, a band that may have had some hits but a while back, and two country artists. This year, the country artists are Tyler Hubbard with Riley Green as the headliner. Anyone who knows me knows that this was a no-brainer to buy tickets. We’re excited to spend a few days down there with them and get out of the cold! Mom joined me for another hip hop class on a Saturday morning and I love that so much. I mean, how many 48-year-old women can say that their 74-year-old mom joins them to shake her booty? It’s the best! Later that afternoon, the four of us went to Owen’s high school graduation party. It’s so hard to believe that he’s already a senior and will be headed off to University of Tennessee in the fall! I remember when Kendall was pregnant with him. Time slow down!

• Hanleigh-ism: I’m going to go on Foot Finder to make money (umm, nope!).

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