Chesterfield County Fair

The Chesterfield County Fair might be the best fair I've ever been to - and that's saying a lot since I like to think of myself as a fair connoisseur. ;) But seriously, it was small enough to have that little town fair feel, but it was full of things to do. We watched a tiger show, and Rowan got to feed one of the tigers meat from a stick (!!). We watched a couple circus shows - one with dogs doing tricks, one with a man who rode a motorcycle inside a metal ball. Rowan and Jon rode a ton of rides (that little girl is a dare devil!). We watched a puppet show, pet an Ox, ate the most delicious Hawaiian shaved ice, took home the most gigantic bag of cotton candy I've ever seen, and we even saw a Liger (I didn't think they were real!). I'm already looking forward to next year (because I'm five years old - and fairs are my favorite).

Rivers and Spires 2013

Today is rainy and drab - perfect for sharing some fun, sunny pictures from the Rivers & Spires festival a few weekends back, right? The festival is held in downtown Clarksville on four different blocks, with a stage at the end of each street, so there's plenty of live music. Since this was most likely our last year to be in Clarksville for the festival, we really lived it up and spent Friday night, Saturday and Saturday night there, eating everything we could get our hands on, people watching, hanging out with friends and listening to some good music. (Pictures from last year's festival, when Wren was just a little bean in my belly.)

Pregnancy Update: Week 30 & Number 1

30 weeks, people! Only 10 more to go - or maybe less if this lady decides to come early (which I've been trying to convince her is a good idea). Here's a quick update on what I'm up to:

Wearing: Maternity clothes! My belly has finally outgrown all of my non-maternity shirts, so I treated myself to a little maternity shopping spree at Old Navy. Cords, jeans, sweaters - oh my, am I ready for fall! :)
Eating: Honey toast, double stuffed Halloween Oreos, mandarin oranges, cheese + crackers, lots of milk
Feeling: Out of breath - all. the. time.
Loving: Getting baby shower presents in the mail - it's so much fun to open things and set them up
Worried About: Labor! (I'm pretty sure this will be a main stay from now until the end.) Did anyone see the Keeping Up With the Kardashians finale? Courtney cried on her way to the hospital because she was scared of labor, and I cried on my couch with her. #ifeelyagirl
Excited About: Baby's first Christmas (Yes, I've already got holidays on the brain.)

P.S. - This also crosses number 1 off the list! We snapped this photo at the Tennessee State Fair this past weekend where we ate lots of good fair food (cotton candy, roasted corn, turkey legs, so much lemonade), played with some really cute sheep and threw darts at balloons. More photos from the fair coming up next week!

Festival Weekend

Happy Monday! This weekend was a super lazy one. The weather was terrible (rain + freezing cold), but we braved it for the Rivers & Spires Festival and stuffed ourselves with fried catfish, funnel cake and fried Oreos - and boy, was it all delish! Then we hurried back home to get cozy and warm and spent the rest of the weekend lounging around the house and catching up on some TV shows (one of my favorite ways to spend a weekend).

Starting tomorrow and for the rest of this week, I'll be participating in Week In The Life 2012, which I'm super excited about. I won't be making all of my photos into a scrapbook, though - just documenting on the blog with a few words as a way of getting back into the habit of taking photos daily. (I feel like I've been slacking on documenting the little details of my days.) So, wish me luck!

Happiest Moments

Did you see the editorial Joanna mentioned last Friday about life's happy moments? You can read Abbey's take on it here and the original editorial here. I thought it was so neat, the idea that there could be only a few moments of complete and total happiness that define our lives. Then I got to thinking about what mine would be, and I thought I would share.

Like Abbey, the first moments that came to mind were kind of predictable. Laying poolside with my sister in Vegas (or anywhere), Christmas mornings (especially the year we got AOL - it was all oooh. eeem. geeee!), Easter mornings (when we were really little and woke up to baskets overflowing with goodies), the day I adopted Cajun from the shelter (and the moments of snuggling him in the car before I drove him to his new home in Santa Monica).

Then there were some that surprised me a little. The hour I spent in the airport on my way to Kentucky to visit Jon in January (the feeling of excitement about starting this new life was intoxicating), waking up to a cool morning at our lake house and eating banana bread on the porch in my pajamas (this one brings me so much peace just thinking about it), waiting outside in my bathrobe for the Uhaul to pull up to my Manhattan Beach apartment the day my sister moved to California, the summer after my sophomore year in college when the world revolved around jean skirts and tans and romance, sitting in my parent's kitchen with my mom and sister eating Casa Ole chili con queso and talking (one of my happiest moments had to include chili con queso, right?).

Anyway, those are just a few that came to mind right away. Thinking about them makes me smile. What would you consider your happiest moments?

P.S. - I'm SO EXCITED about the Rivers & Spires festival this weekend in Clarksville, TN. I've been looking forward to it ever since I moved up here. Cotton candy, funnel cake, sausage on a stick - watch out - you are MINE! (I hope your weekend is filled with fun treats, too. Have a good one!)

A Day At The Fair

A few photos above from our weekend trip to the LA County Fair. We played with the animals, ate too much fair food (the Hawaiian Shaved Ice was to die for), did a little shopping and left with a photo strip souvenir (my favorite kind of souvenir).

What is it about fairs that make for such good photos? I swear, they might be my favorite kind. (If you're in the mood for more fair photo fun, I might know where you can find some good ones. Enjoy!)