Christmas in Colonial Williamsburg

When we moved to the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area a little over a year ago, I immediately made a list of things to do and try. And a day trip to Colonial Williamsburg has been at the top of that list. The timing just never quite worked out until now, which turned out to be a good thing, because visiting during the holiday season was extra magical. Every year the city has a wreath decorating contest. And it is beyond intense. 

If you live in the area, you are required to put up a wreath for the contest and there is an entire published manual on rules and regulations for what can and cannot be used in the wreath. Basically, it has to be all natural items, similar to colonial times. A community where tasteful holiday decorations are required, is definitely my kind of place. And while, it's a little crazy to think about, it makes for the best holiday visit to tour the wreaths with all the neighbors competing for the blue ribbon and bragging rights for the year. 

friday favorites 11.09.18

Don't ya just love Fridays? What a happy sunshiny day! This week has been a frustrating one so I'm happy to see it end. Either the computer system was down, limiting access to patient charts OR we were short-staffed at the clinic. So it's been a rough week where even the simple things were unnecessarily difficult. 

But not to worry, there were still plenty of highlights to this week. 

sunflower fields forever

 You guys, I've been trying to get us out to a sunflower field for years. I'm not exactly a patient person, but even I have to admit that this was worth the wait. 🌻

Sunflowers are one of my favorites and always have been. So when I found out you could visit a sunflower field, this climbed to the top of my to-do list. For 3 years, we attempted to visit the sunflower fields in the Boston area while Husband was attending school there for his PhD. With me being in another state, we never quite got things right with booking flights though. I was always in town a week before the sunflowers bloomed or a week too late. I had essentially given up when I discovered a sunflower field near us and our new home state of Virginia. We decided to make this long awaited visit extra special by bringing our puppy along and doing an autumn family photo session here. 

Enjoy a full photo overload with pure golden sunshine! 

Virginia is for Lovers ❤️

It's true what they say, "Virginia is for Lovers". At least, it's true for us. Because for the first time in our 5 year marriage, Tom and I have to place to call home TOGETHER.

the garden maze at luray caverns

This past week, we've been staying with my in-laws in the mountains of Virginia. They were kind enough to take us in when we evacuated for Hurricane Florence so we got some unexpected time visit to spend time with family that we don't get to see nearly enough. 

a laid back labor day weekend

Everyone who knows me was asking what I was up to this past weekend because 3 day weekends normally = a trip. But this weekend, I took it easy. It was full of biking, napping, moving, kayaking, blogging, setting all the denture teeth, grilling out, and just relaxing. 

Friday night I went to bed at 7PM-no lie. And I had no trouble sleeping through the night because it had been a loooong week. Then I stayed in town Saturday to work on a denture case in the lab, pack, and clean my apartment. After some early lab time Sunday morning, I made the drive to Virginia to spend the remainder of the weekend with my boys. And that's where the real fun began. On actual Labor Day, I did an early morning bike ride 🚲