Happy Spring!

We made it through the darkest times, we are now going to revele in the sunshine and warmth. 

Enjoy the new blooms, sunshine and warm weather. 

[[Spring is proof that there is beauty in new beginnings- Matshona Dhilwayo]]

Happy 5th Birthday Eleanor

Eleanor is FIVE years old!

Eleanor has been with me through so much in these last five years- Love, loss, sickness, happiness, Pennsylvania, the beach, the coast, and everything in between. She has been a great confident and a great adventurer. I cannot wait to see what the next five years holds for us. 

2018 was a big year!

When I went to go meet Eleanor for the first time

Seriously considering buying her (2nd visit!)

Ring the Bell! Eleanor is mine!

AH! She's a beaut!

All Mine!

First time parking at home

Eleanor has had some pretty memorable adventures over the years.

She's had some pink friends as passengers. 

She saw a full rainbow. 

We went to get our nails done many times. 

Eleanor finally understands what Starbucks is. She thinks its a human gas station. She isn't completely wrong.

We see our Dino friend almost daily. 

She even got to meet the Queen! 

There were many meals eaten together. 

We saw pretty sunrises.

We celebrated Christmas and saw pretty lights.

She experienced many snow storms.

SO MANY selfies taken. 

So many sunsets seen.

After 5 years, we hit 50,000 miles. 

Which averages about 10,000 Miles a year. 

One neat thing I stated doing when I got Eleanor in 2018, was picking up any penny I found and keep it in my door pocket. 

Over the years and over the adventures, I've amassed ALOT of pennies. I finally took them out and counted them. I have collected over 60 pennies in 5 years. 

I am a firm believer that pennies are sent from heaven and these were all God winks from loved ones. 

 Lastly, I think this every single time I leave Eleanor.

Eleanor, I hope you have a fantastic day and I can't wait to see what the next 50,000 Miles holds for us.

To get the full story of Eleanor, Check out her story.

[[Life's simple. You make choices and you don't look back- Han]]

Happy St. Patrick's Day

 Wishing you all the luck that this today and this year has in store for you. 

[[A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures for anything- Irish Proverbs]]

Friday's Joy

💚HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! I HOPE YOU ALL FIND LUCK TODAY! 💚

A little luck 

I'm linking up with Erika and Andrea today for Friday's Favorites. I can't wait to read your posts!

---------

Week in Review

Wowie! What a fun and interesting week this has been. 

I had a fun weekend (I recapped it in Weekend Rewind) and Monday morning I woke up and snoozed my alarm many many many times. 😅  It was rainy out and all I wanted was a few more uninterrupted hours of sleep. 

Mondays rain proved to be my archnemeisis and my focus went down the drain. Ha It seemed like everyone was feeling the same I was. Ha 

I went to the Monday evening and I found a gold coin in the locker room with a note to go to the front desk to claim my prize. The prize ended up being an assessment with a trainer. It was a nice surprise. 

Keith texted me Monday night to give me an update on his work trip and to let me know Penelope was being her normal self, causing chaos wherever she goes. LOL 

Tuesday I woke up feeling refreshed and ready for the day. On the drive to work, I think the weather was hungover because across the sky, it was three different weather systems. On the right, it was bright and sunny; in the middle, ot was snowing and to the left, it was super dark and cloudy and stormy looking. It truly made me laugh. 

Then when I was at work, I happened to look out the window and poof! It was a snow storm happening outside. Luckily it didn't stick and it was more of a wet snow with large snowflakes. What a day! Ha ha ha 

Wednesday I was up bright and early for the gym. I have been trying to figure out the best time for me to go to the gym, the last few weeks and today I realized that my 5AM gym time is my favorite and I feel my best when I'm there. I've also realized that after work is not the best time for me to workout. It's too crowded and I feel overwhelmed and very self conscious. 

Wednesday after work, I ran a few errands after work. My goodness, I am absolutely loving the sun being out for longer after work. It makes running errands more enjoyable and me not so sleepy.

Thursday I finally threw the towel in and said " my Brain is mush this week" and somehow by saying that gave me slightly more focusness. 😅 Also a mid-day doctor's appointment, helped the day go by much faster.

I know this is cliche but this was a LONG and wacky week!

---------

Links

Cheer Others On! /// I am all for being supportive of others and I love this post by Syndey of Summerwind. She truly 

Lazy day /// Keith has been doing this for a while and in the last few months, I've jumped on this too! It truly does make a difference in my week. I am more apt to tackle the crazy weeks after a day of lounging around, binging a show and eating comfort food. 

Chunky hand knit blanket/// by total happenstance, Chunky tube yarn came into my possession and I just had to try this. Great tutorial to follow! 

Pi Day Facts/// Yay! I love these silly holidays. Here are some fun facts about Pi Day! 

Making friends as an adult/// Y'all! It's hard to make friends as an adult woman. This are some great tips from The Every Girl. 

---------

Looking forward

Another fun filled weekend for me. Yoga with Adrienne tomorrow morning then a St. Patrick's Day beer crawl with Keith and his co-workers. I'm so excited to meet them! 

Sunday is the Bubbakoos Taco Trot and breakfast out with my parents. I expect to be asleep very early on Sunday Night. 

---------

Posts 

Did you miss any of my posts this week? Find them below: 

Weekend Rewind | Lucky Girl Syndrome | Let's Look

---------

[[Your light will be too bright for some people. That is NOT your problem]]

Lucky Girl Syndrome

We've all seen on Instagram and TikTok circling around about "Lucky Girl Syndrome " and at first I was skeptical about this but as I read more into it, I realized that unintentionally I was doing this but never had a name for it. 

What is Lucky Girl Syndrome? 

First let's start out with what "Lucky Girl Syndrome" is: 

Happiful.com describes Lucky Girl Syndrome as "it uses affirmations (positive statements that impact how we think and behave) to influence what our minds focus on and to refocus on positive self-talk over negative."

Basically it's positive affirmations and manifestations that are more directed at how are you going to be in the future.  You are describing exactly what you want and how it's all going to work out for the best. You say what you hope life will be. 

I started saying/reading daily affirmations last year and there definitely has been a shift in thinking. This is an interesting practice and I am one for letting the universe guide you but you can't force it. 

-------

How has this worked for me? 

Okay now that we know what LGS is, let's see how it played out in my life without me realizing it. I manifested these things over the last 5 years without intentionally knowing what it was called.  I just thought I was growing and my mindset changed.

These manifestations came to with the type of ring I wore on my left hand. Let's see what happened:

2018-2019
Engagement Ring

At this time, the engagement ring was a HUGE deal for me yet it didn't feel real (as in I couldn't believe that I was engaged to be married) If I am being honest, it was a black cloud that I felt like surrounded me. I was sicker than I had ever been and I was not  excited about pretty much anything related to the wedding. 

2019
Rubber Ring

Once my engagement ended, that cloud moved away and I started to wear this rubber ring I had bought to wear at the gym. It was a placeholder until I figured out what I was going to wear on my left hand. 

2020
Beautifully Broken

Then the pandemic hit and like a lot of you, I was struggling with the pandemic and the unknown. I didn't think too highly of myself and I felt like that is exactly what I was- Broken. I thought the mess was pretty and poetic at the time. I am real and not perfect and its okay to be broken. 

I wore this ring ALL THE TIME and I kept telling myself I was broken and I wasn't good enough for a relationship that I truly deserved. 

2021
Thin Band

I added this to the 'broken' ring which at this point had lost a stone or two and was beginning to tarnish, I didn't care, I just continued to wear and think I was broken. The thin band looked much nicer online and when it arrived, it was nothing like it had seemed but I had settled because at that point I thought it was good enough. 

My self esteem was improving slightly and I was speaking up a little bit more for what I want but it still wasn't the best. I worked through things and while the pandemic was still going on, I tried my hardest. Just like with the thin band, I settled in my dating life because I didn't think I deserved anything more. I dreamt about more but I didn't have to oomph to go for it. I was happy to have something even though it was not the best for me. 

2022
Sparkly infinity band

2022 came and little by little I started speaking up more, gaining more and more confidence in myself and by the fall of 2022, I declared I entered my "villain era." I think after so long, I finally realized I deserved more and I ended a relationship that had been in for over a year. It was hard but I knew it was for the best. 

Ending that relationship, ended up being a turning point for me. I took a look at those two rings-broken and tarnished rings on my left hand and said to myself, I need an upgrade. I had added a sparkly infinity band on my Amazon wishlist a while ago. I finally decided to purchase it. 

It arrived and I placed in on my finger and things seemed to get better and better. Things that I didn't think would ever happen, happened and I had a different outlook on life. I was more confident and more sure of myself than I had ever been before. I was a breath of fresh air for me. This sparkly infinity band on my finger makes me so happy every time I look at it. I am finally at a place in my life where I am excited for the future and all the good that is to come. 

The rings were a direct representation how I looked and myself and treated myself. I wore each ring for a specific reason and while when I was in the thick of it, this never occurred to me that I saw my self as broken or not worthy until very recently. 

--------

NEGATIVTY

I know there has been backlash on this because it could be toxic positivity or unrealistic thinking. I also could see how if you are leaning into letting the universe do its thing, that you might become complacent and not want to put in the work anymore. 

I have also seen some articles about how this is just another way of regurgitating "The Laws of Attraction" which I can totally understand and see but its 2023, there is always a new spin on something old. 

Harper's Bazaar points out that if you are focusing only on the things you want, you could be essentially avoiding the negativity and while for the short term that might work BUT in the long term, it might be detrimental. You need to take the good and the bad. 

With everything you find online, you have to take it with a grain of salt. Life can work in mysterious ways and perhaps positive thinking can be good but you also have to be realistic and grounded. It's a delicate balance. 

--------

I found some articles on Lucky Girl Syndrome and I found them interesting. 

The Every Girl | Happiful | Harper's Bazaar

--------

This was a fun post to write and seeing how manifestations worked in my life. I am happy to share my experience; Perhaps it was pure coincidence, but I truly believe that the rings I wore, directly affected me. 

--------

What you do you think about Lucky Girl Syndrome- is it fake or real?

[[Here's the thing about luck.... you don't know if it's good or bad until you have some perspective- Alice Hoffman]]

Weekend Rewind

It's been a while since my last weekend rewind and Oh my gosh! What a weekend this was! 

Lets start with Friday. 

My morning started with my photographer, mom, taking my #ootd photo and then we decided to snap a selfie before I left. 

I had a jam packed Friday with a lot of moving parts. People picking up things, hearings and a to do list that I wanted to complete. I was able to complete every single thing on my list before I left for the  weekend at 3 PM. I took a deep breath at 2:58 and said to myself "Gab, you did it! Go enjoy your weekend!" 

I basically ran to my car and got on my way to Keith's. I arrived in no time- with only a few random showers on the way. I couldn't wait to see him. We caught up on our day and he mentioned that he was thinking about going to Costco. I immediately said HECK YES! I've never been to Costco and I was so excited! He was in the market for a new TV and they had the exact model he wanted. 

I didn't know what to expect in Costco and it was HUGE! We found the TV and we decided to walk around before grabbing a flat cart to transport it. I was in amazement with everything Costco had. Storage solutions, tupperware, yoga pants, sneakers, steaks, household gadgets, snacks and glasses. If you can't find what your looking at in here, I am pretty sure you won't be able to find it anywhere. 

As we walked past the tables of clothes, I giggled and told Keith I had just seen a reel on Istagram where a woman was standing by these tables and cry/pouting saying "Honey, I swore to myself I would never by clothes from the same place I buy groceries. BUT these are SOOO cute!" HAHAHA I couldn't help to think, huh, these are really nice yoga pants. 

After a romantic walk around Costco, we found the flatbed carts and loaded up the TV. As we checked out, Keith said something about the famous $1.50 hot dog and drink combo. I immediately said HECK YES and  $3.20 later we were waiting (not for very long!) our dinner. I was giddy with excitement. We had purchased the TV and now we are dining in the same place we just saw almost everything we could ever need. HA! If you've had these hot dogs, then you know how good they are! I had the silliest smile on my face, it was the best thing ever; We got some exercise (walking around), we're eating (hot dogs and fountain sodas) AND we are people watching and being snoopy! This has to be one of my favorite Friday nights I've had in a long time. 

Clearly I was excited because I had eaten some of it already

HAD to document this evening

BUT the excitement did not stop there....

After we got done with our hot dogs, we made our way back to the car to load the TV up and head back. WELL, as we approached my car, Keith immediately realized that this TV was not  going to fit in; I didn't realize this yet, I just started to clean out my trunk and putting the backseats down. At this point, I was saying to myself, I should have taken all this stuff out back at Keith's. I finally realized that this was not going to be a simple push in and close the door operation. I couldn't stop laughing. Keith couldn't stop laughing. Looking at Eleanor and the TV, he said "we need twine or rope." We didn't go back into Costco for it because we knew it would be yards and yards of it and we didn't need that. 

He sent me to the Target at the other end of the plaza while he stayed with the car. I laughed and I was off. As I passed each store, I thought to myself "do they have rope?" "nope" and moved on. To my surprise, I came across Joann's craft store. BINGO! They would definitely have something we could use. After a few laps, I landed on Tube Yarn and rope like ribbon. Two options are better than none. As I made my way to the register, I said to myself "Gab, you need something to cut this stuff with." I found the scissors and THEN I made my way to the cashier. Our cashier looked like Winston from New Girl. I couldn't stop giggling! I called Keith on my way out of the store with excitement about my finds. 

Back at the car, I showed Keith what I found and he ended up picking the tube yarn. A couple of knots expertly tied, later, we were back in the front seat ready to drive home very slowly. We made it back to his place, safe sound and with a new TV.

Poor Eleanor but this made for SO.MANY.GIGGLES

We got it inside and the fun part begins- getting the new TV out of the box. I cannot tell you what TV he bought BUT I can tell you how thin this TV is. I honestly thought we were going to break it trying to get it out of the box. 

After we finagled it out of the box, I started to giggle (again) saying "Gosh, technology has really come a long way; I remember when my parents got a big screen TV with the big box on the back of it and now look at this! Its as thin as a mirror! "

When we finally sat down, I looked at my Fitbit and said "How in the world did I walk eleven thousand steps today?!" Keith looked at me and I said in the next breath "OHHHHHH that's right, the TV not fitting in Eleanor adventure" We both laughed and settled in to christen the new TV with Fast and Furious: Toyko Drift. We are making our way though the Fast and Furious series before the next one comes out in May. 

As we were watching the movie, I kept looking over at the skein of tube yarn. I remembered I saw a tutorial about hand knitting a while ago and I figured since I have it, why not try it. I found a simple tutorial and off I went. This was my first time trying this and I am pretty impressed with myself how this little doll blanket came out. It's not perfect but I like it. Maybe I will add to it and make it into a useable adult sized blanket. It feels like a weighted blanket but its not as claustrophobic as a real weighted blanket. 

Saturday was filled with lots of fun.I was up early, I had some quiet time before breakfast. Pizza for breakfast is totally underrated and after getting dressed, we set out to get Eleanor back to her original state. After our adventure the night before, I left the car a wreck- my trunk and backseat stuff all over and dishevled. While I worked on that, Keith fixed the rattling noise in my vent. After Eleanor was back to new, we decided to venture out to Target to pick up a few remaining items for Keith's work trip. Back to the Costco plaza for round 2. 

This Target was SO pretty and large and bright. Keith and I wandered up and down almost all the aisles; I touched all the different fabrics. It was a great way to get our walk in when the weather was less than ideal to walk outside. After finding what we needed too, we headed back to finish packing Keith up before binging a few episodes of Outerbanks. 

OH MY GOSH! I know I am late to the Outbanks series (3 seasons late) but its so so good! It's also ridculous and crazy but I can't look away. HA!

We got ready around 3 and then we were off to our late afternoon date at Top Golf. (Back to the Costco plaza for the final round.) I did not know what to expect with Top Golf. The building looked HUGE, people were everywhere and some even were bringing their own clubs. This was legit. 

We made our way inside and there was a lot going on. Keith checked us in and as we waited, we wandered into the bar to take a look around. Our reservations were ready pretty quickly and we made our way up to the 3rd floor to find Bay 311. There were a lot of people there and while it was technically outside, there were heaters above us that kept us warm the whole time. I was pleasantly surprised about this- I was so worried I was going to be miserable and cold. We had pre-regiersted and Keith got us set up with TOP GOLF game and we were off. 

Our View

Now I had taken golf lessons 7ish years ago and I honestly cannot remember the last time I went to the driving range. While we were setting up, our waitress came over and we got maragritas, soft pretzel bites and wings. 

I will admit, it took a few swings and a few balls for me to get use to this. Once I did get use to it and figured out how to swing properly (with some help from Keith), I was hitting them pretty hard. Keith was hitting them so far! 

Between drinks and snacks, people watching and the good music, we had the best time. We ended up playing 3 rounds in the 90 minutes we were there. Between the two of us, we hit 120 golf balls. Keith's top speed was 124 MPH and mine was 85 MPH. We both were able to hit it to the white target at the back of the range and I am pretty sure Keith hit the back net. I was giddy like a little kid, I had so much fun. Before our time was up, I asked our waiter if he could take our photo and he did such a great job! Different angles and orientations. Below is my favorite one:

We left Top Golf in agreement we wanted to come back, especially at night when they have more music and it's like glow bowling but its golf. We had to stop at the step and repeat before leaving and the nicest employee took our photo. 

We were able to catch the end of the sunset as we made our way to dinner at The Chicken or the Egg. The original one is on LBI and its a well known local place that stays open 24 hours a day in the summer and has the best wings. The LBI restaurant does not have a liquor license and its cozy. The new Chicken or the Egg or CHEGG is HUGE; 250 seats inside, a bar and a beer garden. We've been wanting to go here for a while and we thought this was a perfect night for it. 

We were shocked to see how big the inside really is and even with a 30 minute wait, it was totally worth it. We were pleasantly surprised by how many employees were working and how smooth everything ran. Keith got an order of wings and I got probably one of my favorite breakfast sandwiches I've ever eaten- Goshdarnwich. 

The Goshdarnwich had two pieces of French toast as the bread of the sandwich and it was filled with 2 eggs, bacon and cheese. It came with breakfast potatoes and syrup for dipping. I did not think I was hungry but judging from my almost clear plate, I really enjoyed this. I wholly recommend it!

After eating, we headed back to Keiths to settle in for the night and watched the next movie in the series- Fast and Furious. No surprise, I promptly fell asleep; It wasn't because the movie was boring (its a really good movie) but after being so active, eating and drinking, I was tuckered out. I really thought I was hiding it well but Keith caught on quickly and he nudged me. I would startle awake but totally say, I am not sleeping. HA! Clearly, we had a big day and an exciting 24 hours already. 

Sunday morning came bright and early. Penelope was joining Keith on his work trip and I sat her down and told her the rules and what is expected of her. I really hope she behaves with Keith. HA! (Keith gave me a report that by the time he got to the second airport, Penelope had already eaten ALL the jelly beans, tore up the paper that was in the pocket with her and lied about having money. Let's just say, Keith will have his hand full with her HA HA HA!) I saw Keith and Penelope off to their work trip; they left at 6:20 and I got ready to go to 7:30 Mass.

I got my stuff together and headed for Mass. I wasn't sure what to expect at this Mass. Keith and I usually go to the 9:00 Mass but I wanted to get home earlier to get some things done. This mass was a little different- there was no music and it was about 40 minutes long. Very nice but not what I was expecting. I missed seeing our "friends" and the music. 

Before heading home, I popped into the Medford Bagel Shop to get some bagels and then Starbucks for an Americano. There was no traffic and I was home in no time. I did laundry and got my clothes together for the next two weeks. The shadow box picture frames arrived and I wanted to set those up. I am in LOVE with how these turned out. The photos, sand and shells are from my Panama City Beach trip back in November. The sunset photo with the shells is my favorite and I can't stop staring at it. I love that I got sand when I was collecting shells. Perhaps that will be a tradition for me, and I'll have a bunch of shadow box frames filled with sand and shells from all over. 

My parents and I enjoyed the bagels and chatted about our weekends. I had this silly smile on my fave all Sunday and I was really happy it didn't go away. This was a fantastic weekend full of giggles, adventure and my favorite people. 

-------

I love these fun filled weekends but I am also a huge fan of lowkey relaxing weekends too. A nice balance of the two makes for one happy girl. 

I hope you had a fantastic weekend doing what your heart desires and I hope you have a great week ahead!

[[A Sunday well spent bring a week of content]]