A WEDDING SHOWER

Or is it called a bridal shower? 

I am not up on my wedding etiquette. 

My baby sister is getting married in September and we had her shower this past weekend. A little purple, a little yellow, and sweets galore shower... cause she's sweet as sugar. No, really, she's not, don't let her fool you. Wait, what? Ignore that, Rin.

 Do not enter if you are on a diet. We warned you.

My mama and sisters. 

Purple.

Yellow.

Sweets.

Of course we had this shower when I am trying to not consume massive amounts of sugar. But, hey, when a girl needs a cheat day, a girl needs a cheat day. Can I get an amen? If you make anything in your life you should make oreo truffles. Second only to making babies is making oreo truffles. You might as well just make the filling and spoon feed it to yourself.

Also, mini fruit pizzas rock my world. They were handcrafted by me, I'll let you know, and I only ate one that day. Rude. Get the pillsbury cut apart cookie dough logs. Make your own cream cheese frosting and top with your favorite fruits. Perfect.

The fabric garland is probably my favorite go-to party decoration. It's simple, costs nothing if you have fabric lying around, and totally customizable. Get a rod of wood, or cut a leg off of a table.. whatever works really. And tie long strips of fabric to it in your event's colors. Tie, tie, tie. Hang it up and, badabing. You've got yourself a pretty backdrop and saved yourself $50 that you were going to spend on etsy. You're welcome.

I am trying to recover from a food coma, still. You know what they say, have your cake and eat it too. I don't know what that saying truly means but I know tomorrow's Friday. Happy almost weekend, playas. 

A PRESCHOOL GRADUATE

My boy graduated preschool. He did it! I had this heart-pounding-out-of-my-chest, proudest-mama-in-the-universe feeling when they called his sweet teachers called out his name. Brody Timothy Burkleo. Gulp. Thump. Thump. Thump. Blink back the tears so I get it all on film. Click, click, click with my camera. 

It was sort of strange and overwhelming all at once. He was being so goofy and couldn't take his eyes off all of us in the front row cheering him on. He skidded his flip flops across the floor and beamed. He was so proud and confident. I was so proud. This is the first time I've seen one of my children awarded for an accomplishment in front of other people. I cheer them all on the time, but to see it in front of everyone else, all those parents, all those classmates, our family… I just wanted to jump out of my chair and scream He's mine! That's MY boy! Thankfully, for those around me, I didn't. But I did on the inside, don't you worry. 

 My preschool graduate.  My soon to be full day kindergartner. How can I even type those words? It messes with my brain to even go there, knowing it's only a few short months away.

Here's the thing. I'm every mom when it comes to schooling. I'm waving the yes you're going to school in the fall! flag with the public school moms. I'm excited for all that Brody can accomplish in kindergarten. I know that he will thrive, so much, off of a structured day in a classroom. But, I'm also with the I'm pulling him back into my arms, into our home, with all the homeschooling moms. I'm nodding my head in agreement with the private school moms that I want my boy to be educated by a follower of Christ, and to be taught creation and nothing else. 

But here I am, at a crossways, in between all three of these options. It's one of the hardest I've faced yet in motherhood. I'm throwing up my hands and bowing my head in prayer. We're doing what we feel is best for our boy at this point, and praying that it's right, and most of all, trusting the Lord with his precious life. He's not my own, even though he is. I find comfort in the fact that nothing is permanent and that as his mother, if we feel like what we choose isn't working, we can take him back into our home and figure it all out, as best we can. We're excited, nervous, and will cry our eyes out the day he starts kindergarten in the fall. 

Brody, Thanks for making me a mom. Thanks for teaching me so many things every day. Thanks for giving me grace and loving me all day long. Thanks for calling me mama, don't ever stop… please? And for asking the hard questions… thank you for that, too. I've never been proud as that day last week. You talk all the time about how excited you are for kindergarten. I hope you always have that passion for learning and I pray you always motivate me to be brave, like you do right now. I know you want to take the bus to school… but it just ain't happening, buddy. I can only handle one thing at a time. I love you to the moon and back. Love, Mom. 

XPERIENCE DAYS: SARATOGA SPRINGS CULINARY TOUR

There are few things I love more than people and food. And people and food together? Well, that's just the best of the best. A couple weeks ago Caleb and I got to take a tour of one of our favorite local places, Saratoga Springs. Our trip started at the Farmer's Market with fresh goat cheese, homemade crackers, greek yogurt that knocked my socks off, and the sweetest blackberry jam. All along the way we got to hear each of the farmer's stories, some of them contributing to this farmer's market for over forty years. It was pretty amazing to hear and taste it all. 

I loved our tour guide for so many reasons. He was passionate about food and, in my opinion, those are the best kind of people. He was also passionate about Saratoga and it's history. Caleb and I both learned so much about this city we love's history. We had steak and roasted red pepper bruschetta at The Olde Bryan Inn and then headed up to Broadway. It was the perfect day and the perfect day date. If you're looking something fresh and new to do with your man, this is it. 

On Broadway we discovered Saratoga Olive Oil Co. I feel like this is Saratoga's best kept secret. Or maybe it's not a secret and I had just been living in the dark until now. Oh my goodness, you all need to go and sample all their olive oils and vinegars, straight from Italy and Northern California. It was amazing. I may or may not have sampled each and every one. And, it's free to sample! Go sample and then buy all your favorites. Have a night filled with gourmet cheese and crusty bread, dipping them into garlicy extra virgin olive oil, and spinach drizzled in, my favorite, the pear balsamic vinegar. It's perfect.

We also stopped in to several other favorites all along Broadway which included eating pulled pork sandwiches, sweet cream gelato, and sampling salsa after salsa. Our day ended with chocolate truffles, as every day should. 

Our Saratoga Springs Culinary Tour was an Xperience Days experience. It was the best kind of experience, if I say so myself. I love Xperience Days because I am the type of person who, when I spend money, I want to spend it on an experience. I don't need new clothes. I need a new food, a new place to travel to or visit, a new experience. Xperience Days offers just that. You can buy your Saratoga Springs Culinary Tour for two right here. Next up? Skydiving.  

Full Disclosure: Our Saratoga Springs Culinary Tour Xperience was provided for us, but all thoughts and opinions expressed here are my very own. 

LIFE VIA INSTAGRAM

 come follow along with me here. 

BACKSTREET'S BACK

Ohmigawd they're back again.

Once upon a time, I was a 13 year old girl who wallpapered her room in photos of Brian, AJ, Kevin, Howie & Nick. But mostly, Brian Littrell. In the late 90s I firmly believed that the Lord created Brian for me and that we would marry one day. I signed papers with Danielle Littrell (It rhymes. Perfect, I know.) and hummed Anywhere For You as I fell asleep at night. My older sister Meghan and I, along with our neighborhood besties Kori and Mandi, were, what some may call, CRAZY. STRAIGHT UP BOY BAND CRAZY. We traded cards, exchanged posters, recorded live performances on VHS tapes and watched them until the videos broke. We learned the dances, we knew every single fact about each of our favorite boys, and we even recorded and sang The Perfect Fan for our moms on mother's day. My conservative parents even grounded me when BSB showed up on Rolling Stone with just towels around their waist, as if it was my sister and I shirtless on the cover ourselves. (Thanks for toning it down nowadays, Mom and Dad.) But, I think my most favorite Backstreet memory might be our sleepovers. Once we had all calmed down and, my heavens, that took a while, we'd say our favorite thing to say at every.single.sleepover. What would you do if The Backstreet Boys were here RIGHT NOW? Like if we opened our eyes and they were sitting right next to us? I actually don't know what our answer was to that question that was asked 2948 times, but I am sure it was very, very scary. 

Well, here I am today and I have no shame to proclaim BSB as my first loves and you better bet that I got excited when they announced their 24 city North America tour for this summer. You can read the full press release, with all the exciting details, here. And, cause I know you can't wait a minute longer: Purchase your tickets here! Wanna partay with me? Join me at the Boston concert August 12th! Seriously, join me. What could be better than me, you, and BSB? 

If you were a tween in 1997 like me, or if you are over 2014's attempts at boy bands and want some quality man band music in your life… I've got a little something special for you today… 

 I'm giving away one set of two tickets to any stop on the tour! 

Details: The giveaway will be for one (1) pair of two (2) tickets to any stop on the tour. Open to US and Canadian residents only.

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FULL DISCLOSURE: Any incentives and/or product provided are being donated to you as a thank you for participating in Live Nation’s Backstreet Boys “In A World Like This” promotion. These items are not intended as payment for any favorable opinions.