This Sweet Life

Ainsley's Birth 8.25.2018 I absolutely HATE surprises.  They aren't my thing.  I am a planner and I find comfort and excitement in knowing what lies ahead.  This causes some contention in my marriage because my husband LOVES surprises.  I read the last chapter of a book before the first, I enjoy knowing what my birthday gifts are weeks in advance and I always have to look at the menu and know what I am ordering before I walk into a restaurant.  He has often tried to plan "surprises" and it always ends in an argument.  I need to plan when I'm going to straighten my hair, I need to pick out an outfit, I need to eat salads for two days so I can pig out at dinner.  I need to plan these things and the older I get the less spontaneous I am. My surprise-loving husband had brought up waiting until delivery to find out the gender of our second child.  I honestly did not care either way whether we had another son or a daughter, so I pondered the thought...

Stay at a hotel by myself Everyone has their opinion on consecutive baby showers.  My personal opinion is if you want another baby shower, go for it!  I feel like big life events (is there a more grand event than a new baby? nope...) should be celebrated, doesn't matter if its your first child or fifth. I am a fan of celebrating anything really; a promotion, the end to a long week, the beginning of summer.  Life is meant to be celebrated and I enjoy finding any excuse to celebrate so you better believe I wanted to do the same with Baby #2! Although I wanted to celebrate in some sort of way, I also don't need anything and I didn't want friends to feel obligated to purchase a gift.  I decided that for my birthday (about 6 weeks before my due date) that I wanted to get a hotel room all to myself for a night.  I know it sounds crazy, but I have never stayed at a hotel by myself and it is something that I have always wanted to do.  I decided to have a little ...

Visit Fenway Park 10 Stadiums down, 20 more to go! I am 1/3 the way done with my goal of visiting all the MLB Stadiums in the country. I've always wanted to go to Fenway Park! For any baseball fan, it is usually on the top of the list with Wrigley Field. Five years ago, we got engaged on a trip to Boston.  It was in February so we obviously couldn't see a game but we did check out The Bleacher Bar which is field level and located in center field, outside of the stadium but with a good view of the ballpark.  We had to check it out again, especially since we were with our son this time.  It was packed and we didn't even get a drink, but definitely still worth checking out! My first impression was that I could not get over how small the stadium was!  We were packed like sardines and I immediately realized why our tickets seemed so cheap, there was a large pole blocking our view of the pitcher.  I had read about these poles but didn't even think about...

Attend an NFL Game I can't believe I haven't crossed this off my list yet! My husband actually hasn't either and I always enjoy when things we want to do or places we want to go seem to line up perfectly.  Growing up, my family and I attended the Florida Gator football games and college football has always been more captivating to me.  I enjoy watching NFL games, but I don't follow it as much as I do college.  When I moved to North Carolina, I decided to start rooting for the home team, which was the Carolina Panthers.  I am still not a great fan and the games don't make or break me but they are who I pull for.   At the beginning of every football season, we always talk about going to a game but with the fall being so busy, we blink and it's December.  For our 4-Year Anniversary this year, I decided to purchase them for an early weekend in the season.   We always do the "traditional gifts" for our anniversary.  This year was a tough one, "F...