Mark's Grandma Ann is here visiting from North Dakota for a couple of more days. Since the weather there is ranging from -17 to 7 degrees right now, we thought it would be nice to spend as much time outside with her. On Saturday, Mark went golfing with some of his friends while Ava and I went over to the our neighborhood park with my friend, Jessica, and her son, Christian.
After he got back from golfing, we went over to Fort Lauderdale beach to have a sunset picnic with family.
Ava was extremely "vocal" at the beach...
She gets really excited when the breeze hits her face and starts screeching/squealing/laughing.... you name it. She is loud but it is absolutely hilarious to watch.
My happy place: with my daughter on our beautiful beach. Doesn't get much better for me. (My husband was taking this picture...he is included in my happy place :)
Mark with the ladies he loves most in this world: his grandma, his mama, and his daughter.
Then today, we headed to Riverwalk (near downtown Ft. Lauderdale) for the Suntrust Sunday Jazz Brunch that happens on every 1st Sunday of the month.
It was another beautiful day in south FL. Perfect for picnic #2 of the weekend. We had the usual spread: croissants, nutella, cold cuts, fruits, pasta salads, chips & salsa/guacamole, mimosas, etc...
"Ok, ma! Enough pictures... I'm eating."
Happy little thing in her rocking chair. She loves that chair so much.
See?
I love these jazz brunch days so much. Put me outside in my favorite city with brunch food&mimosas and I am set.
...And so is Ava
(but you also have to give her a cup or a plastic spoon. Then, she is set!)
We had such a great time with Grandma Ann this weekend!
And currently...
Mark and I are where you can usually find us before bed: on the back porch rocking chairs listening to music.
He is working from his laptop and getting prepared for the upcoming week while I am planning a few things of my own.
(I am a college football girl myself so the NFL really does nothing for me. But since I just felt the amazing feeling of being National Champions when my Seminoles won, I get understand the excitement of the Seahawks fans.)
Hooray.
Anyways...
On Friday, I drove to Miami to surprise my grandparents with a 5 hour house deep clean while my mother in law watched Ava for the day. Thank you, Debbie!
Since my grandmother's back surgery which didn't help one bit for her chronic back pain, she has never been able to clean the way she did for her whole life. My grandmother was always a stay at home mom and cleaned her house unlike anyone I know. (Actually, Mark's grandmother in North Dakota cleans like her as well.) I am talking "eat off the floors" type of clean.
So, since my grandfather refuses to "have a stranger come in a clean" and he claims he cleans just fine....
I thought I'd go in and try my best to give him a break and clean like my grandmother.
Needless to say, I came home and was happy to relax the rest of the night with my red wine.
Mark works SUPER late on the last day of the month - every month. People in sales know what I am talking about...
So I basically did that ^ by myself.
The next morning while Mark slept in (usually he is the one that gets up before me and gives Ava her bottle at 8, walks the dog, and makes breakfast.)
I knew he was exhausted so I did all that :)
I made us waffles with bananas and cinnamon. They were delishhh! Ava approved.
When Ava and Mark went down for a nap, I got some sun by the pool...
Sorry, I had to.
That night my mom came over as Ava was being put to bed so that Mark and I could go out for a date night.
Mark took me to this tiny little sushi place in Mizer Park {Boca Raton, FL for my non-locals}
It was delicious! We sat on their little patio and could hear the live music from across the street at Jazziz Nightlife.
So after dinner, we headed over there to relax with some cocktails and music. They also had 3 large humidors for a ton of cigars which was great for Mark. He enjoys the occasional cigar with drinks.
We opted to sit outside as usual.
Inside.
This woman...
made me want Ava to learn the violin. She was amazing. She told me that she started playing when she was 7.
On Sunday morning around 11 we headed over to Las Olas for the Riverwalk Jazz Brunch. I am so happy that my friend AJ reminded me about it. I always remember these jazz bunches the day after they happen! They are the 1st Sunday of every month from 11AM-2PM.
Basically, people show up and set up camp for the free live music. You bring your blankets, chairs, food, mimosas :)
etc. and have a gorgeous, relaxing Sunday afternoon with your friends. There are multiple bands so you hear music wherever you get a spot.
Thanks, AJ!
He is also the one who created these homemade, super fancy dancy desserts for all of us. We had extras so he made friends and handed them out to our neighbors. We already know they will setting up camp next to our spot next month for these delicious almond baskets (They told us... ha )
They had raspberry sorbet, vanilla ice cream, whip cream, and mixed berries to top it all. I am drooling thinking about them. If you come out next month, these will make your day. (Sorry AJ, I just volunteered you to make these every month.)
^That is CALLAHAN WALTERS ^ refusing to be in my picture. LAME.
Zach and Nicole joined us :)
Cal eventually came around... Cheese! (I've known him sine Kindergarten so I can tease him)
AJ, Me, Cal, Griffin
We got in around 4 from the jazz brunch and since Ava had just gone down for her 2nd nap, we also took a nap...
Well, 3 hours later Mark and I woke up and realized that we overslept and our daughter was STILL asleep.
(It almost scares me to think about even having another child because my daughter has been a rockstar sleeper since she was about 7 weeks old. The girl can sleep and I love it because so can I... If we had another child, I feel like my luck would run out, they would be up all night, and be horrible nappers. We may just stick to Ava and spoil her rotten...
:)
So after a late dinner for Ava, we played with Ava's princess castle that my friend Chelsea bought her when she tuned 1 while Mark made us Mahi sliders for dinner. He blended mango and cilantro together to top them - delicious.
And now Ava is asleep for the night and we are on the porch. We are on our rocking chairs, enjoying our cocktails, Mark is smoking a cigar and working from his laptop, and I am blogging away and planning a bachelorette party weekend in Charleston, SC for my friend Sarah. Can't wait until March! I've never been to Charleston.
How was your weekend?
Hope you had a great one.
Also, don't forget...
National Signing Day is Wednesday! WooHoo!
Florida State University:
"Five-star wide receivers Malachi Dupre (River Ridge, La./John Curtis) and Ermon Lane (Homestead, Fla.), five-star defensive lineman Malik McDowell (Southfield, Mich.), four-star offensive tackle Roderick Johnson (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) and four-star defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi (Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes) are some of the top uncommitted prospects who could end up signing with the Noles. On top of that, FSU could flip four-star athlete Javon Harrison (Lakeland, Fla./Kathleen) from a long-standing pledge to Virginia Tech."
