VA Vacay

Since Maria moved out to Virginia in April, I’ve been excited about bringing Brad to see her and their new home.
Personally, I would go to Virginia every week if I could. This trip was, as they always are, super quick.
Still, it was so much fun (even though there were some setbacks)…

Brad and I left Friday evening. As expected, we hit traffic and got there about an hour and a half later than expected. The trip should be just shy of 6 hours, but with traffic and food/bathroom breaks, it always gets extended.

Artie had this bowtie on when we arrived. SO CUTE.

So, I took this photo on Saturday, as we headed to the beach. We were in the car for four hours without ever actually getting to the beach (that damn traffic) and I went MAD. If you follow me on IG, I had this up and deleted it. I never do stuff like that, but I was that angry. Also, it was a lie because we never ended up at the beach that day.

 

Saturday night got better. After naps and showers, we went to Norfolk to check out Field Guide for food and cocktails, and then The Birch for a variety of foreign beers. It definitely made up for the failure earlier in the day. Despite the fact that I wanted to go to the beach, I was also really nervous about the fact that we wouldn’t make it out to places like these, to see new things and try new restaurants. So it totally worked out.

 
 

On Sunday, it was a little rainy off and on, so we headed to Richmond instead of VA beach, and I love Carytown so much!
It’s such a fun place to shop. We started the day with Dixie Donuts and amazing Lamplighter coffee.
One of my favorite moments was at a book store called BBGB, a new shop that wasn’t there when I went last month.
It focuses on children’s books, but I saw some John Green in the window and had to stop and check out any YA.|
The woman who was working was amazing. She was helping a customer pick out another YA read (they were both older than me, proving yet again how important YA is to everyone!) and I fell in love. The customer had finished
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart and wanted something new! Brad ended up buying me a signed copy of
Grasshopper Jungle, which has been on my list since it came out. Honestly, guys. I would be so happy to just be surrounded by books all the gosh darn time. Books forever, right?

 

On Monday, we FINALLY MADE IT! We started at Zeke’s Bowls and Beans and had an awesome experience with great coffee. Then we headed to Virginia Beach and I read in the sand and swam in the ocean so much. Oh, to always be by the beach. I truly hope that, one day, I can spend a whole summer at a beach house. Or every summer for the rest of my gosh darn life. The dream, guys.

I can’t wait to go back. It probably won’t be for quite a while, but I’m sure it’ll be awesome whenever we do.

VA Beach

Last Saturday, we went to Virginia Beach as part of my little getaway.
We had such a great time. For starters, the beach mostly felt like ours because we were in a quieter part. Secondly, we brought food to eat on the beach. Last, the water, which would normally be a bit frosty this time of year, was perfect!

 

Cucumber and Mint sparkling water. Seriously, put cucumber in anything and it’s like…HELLO!
Maria made this pasta salad and I was craving it on the way home. YUM.

 

I’m looking forward to going back and spending more than one day at the beach.
There are very few things better than the sound of waves crashing.

A Trip to Virginia

I’ve been wanting to go and spend a legitimate weekend with Maria since she moved out to Virginia two months ago. I really wanted to go with Brad, but he’s been traveling for work and this past weekend worked perfectly this month, so I went for it. It’s always a little nerve-wracking for me driving somewhere new on my own…especially a place that’s over 5 hours away. I was nervous but, luckily, the drive is actually quite easy. Not a lot of twist and turns. Traffic for sure (since you pass by Washington, D.C.), but it was pretty straightforward and enjoyable.

 
I left on National Donut Day…a.k.a. FREE DONUT DAY! I also had a coupon for a free coffee so it was excellent.

A seriously beautiful day for a ride.

My ETA was 2:45 but I ended up getting there closer to 4, thanks to traffic.
I love their welcome mat…come on, how cute?!

Attention to details: Maria got cute flowers for my arrival.

Maria took me to a cool new movie theater to see The Fault in Our Stars and this was what we walked past on our way to the cinema. There was an outdoor concert happening and couples and families with little kids were all over, enjoying the music and each other’s company. It was awesome.

The theater we went to, Paragon, has power reclining “leather” chairs, a tray for food and a cup holder for your drink (which can be beer or wine, which they sell there as well). We had one beer as we waited to enter the theater, but we didn’t get anything else. That stack of napkins was for crying purposes only and I STILL didn’t have enough. Damn.

 

On Saturday, we went to Virginia Beach and had an awesome time. I have pictures on my DSLR that I’ll share later.

Our view during dinner on Saturday.

 
 

Sunday, we headed to Richmond and stopped at the Bacon Festival being held at the Farmer’s Market. We got Chocolate Bacon popsicles, interesting but perfect in the heat. We did some touristy shopping and got food at a small chain, Mellow Mushroom, a pizza place that was delightful.

 
 

We finished Sunday with drinks and music on the porch/balcony. It was such a perfect evening, comfortable and warm.

I left yesterday around 5:30 pm to beat the traffic.
I didn’t get home until about midnight, but I didn’t have to wait in long lines. Smooth sailing.

I am so sad to be back, but I am ready to start planning my next trip. Brad needs to head down there, so I think we will pick a weekend in the next month and hopefully stay down there a little bit longer. I’d like to be able to go to the beach for an extra day or two. Thank you so much, sis, for entertaining me this weekend! It was much needed.
Love you!

On the way.

Last Friday, we drove Maria out to her new home in Virginia. I drove with Maria (so she could bring her car) and my dad drove behind us with Artie. Super cute. The drive was interesting…apparently we didn’t take the “typical” route there and had a couple of moments of worrying we were lost (we were not). What’s a road trip without all that craziness?
Here are some photos from our adventure.

 

Making sure we have everything!

 

Officially driving…a road trip cannot begin without coffee! I had my first iced coffee of the season! It probably sounds super geeky, but I was waiting for the right moment to reintroduce it. I can’t think of a better time!

 
 

After a moment of “where are we?” , we stopped at Wawa.
I got another iced coffee (you can’t stop me now!) and we checked on Artie.

“Nice bridge!” Maria said. “Oh yeah, that is nice.” “No…it’s Nice Bridge.” As in, that’s what it’s called.

 
 

Arriving in Virginia and getting close to our destination meant driving with the windows down and enjoying temps in the 70s. Crossed another bridge with this beautiful bridge. We may have gotten there an hour or so later than intended, but we wouldn’t have seen this view if we arrived earlier!

Welcome to the neighborhood!

I have some more photos from our time, mostly sight-seeing on Saturday. Initially, we planned to stay into Sunday, but we ended up coming home late Saturday. I can’t wait to visit as soon as possible…I already miss my sister.

Go-Pro Mexico

So, for work, Brad has access to a GoPro camera. His boss actually recommended that he bring it to Mexico with him so that he could test it out. Why he would need it in his particular line of videography and photography is beyond me, but he had so much fun playing with it, and he got some super cool photos of us when we went snorkeling.

 
 
 

To be honest, I don’t think snorkeling is for me. It’s crazy to have those fish literally swimming right past your face, but the apparatuses are intense. And yeah, I was a little scared of the fish.