greatest hits

i am currently avoiding my youngest child's meltdown in time-out (i can tune out a crying child like nobody's business) because it's saturday.  and not just any saturday, a saturday free of training runs, t-ball games, nary a birthday party in sight.  we are free as a bird.

all that's on the agenda is a grocery trip to target (wild-and-crazy, y'all) and a date with my husband to sit on our patio after the kids go to bed.

cue the cartwheels.

here's my attempt to catch you up on the crazy:

1) sarah came in from portland for mystery girls trip.  and since she hasn't been home in a long while, we planned a playdate so that we could love on her boy ike and let the kids play before we left for our getaway.

we used this as another opportunity to take pictures of ourselves.

plus a few shots of (most of) the kids.

ikey's ringlet's had to be documented.

2) we said good-bye to kindergarten.

let me just say that kindergarten in amazing.  ben entered knowing the fundamentals of phonix and left knowing how to read fluently, add, subtract, infer, solve multi-step problems, on and on.  pretty remarkable what this cute little 26 year old accomplished with our boy.

3) daddy was celebrated on father's day.

the ladies went to pick up lunch for the guys at pecan lodge's new location, per request.

since we were ordering to-go, we were able to stand in the express line.

for two hours.

it seemed that every other father in the metroplex wanted pecan lodge bbq for their special day.

for good reason.  it was delicious.

4) summer break has made addy and cros even weirder.

5) the cubs wrapped up a season.

chris coached this year, which completely stressed him out, but it was so sweet to watch for this momma.

some of the boys teachers even came to a game.

go cubs, go!

6) my mom had knee replacement surgery recently, so on the weeks ben doesn't have camp, often times i bring him to work with me.  he loves it because he gets to do this:

7) ben had an adenoidectomy which has changed him into a happier boy.

8) we had two spraypark parties in one weekend.  crosby started staking claim on his turf.

9) crosby is going through "the change".  the transition from a delicious little snuggly two-year old into a three-year old.  for those that have experience raising three-year olds know exactly what i am talking about.  for those of you who have not yet, consider yourself warned.  two has got nothing on three.

looking forward to an upcoming holiday weekend at the lakehouse and celebrating our TENTH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY a little bit early.

how was your week?  what are you looking forward to?

love,

coco

local fave: hiatus spa

the year i planned our mystery girls trip, i was doing some online research for spas in austin.  hiatus spa kept popping up in my search, so sight unseen, i booked services for each of us.  the staff was incredibly accomodating and helped me arrange this surprise entirely over the phone.

once we arrived in austin, we were treated like queens.  there i had a pedicure unlike any other i had before.  it has turned into the pedicure that all of my future pedicures will be measured against.  does that sound dramatic?  likely, but that doesn't mean it's not true.  now granted, it's a pricier pedi than say, at that place down the street from your house where you sit in a massage chair and soak your feet in a giant tub while you read an us weekly.  no sirree, bob.

because my husband is a genius and/or a really good listener, he bought me a spa package at the hiatus spa in DALLAS (there is one here, too, hallelujah!) for mother's day.

i could finally have my pedi repeat.

let me explain the glory.

they soak your piggies in a copper basin and pour warm water from a pitcher over them to start.

then, once you select your color, they recline you in your zero-gravity chair (i'm talking, laying almost flat on your back, people).  

the manicurist then asked me to close my eyes while i selected my aromatherapy scent, just before she placed the neckroll behind my neck and a weighted mask over my eyes.

and the finishing touch, before she began the tedious work of srubbing the god-awful skin of my feet, she said, "enjoy your time.  see you in a bit", as she placed headphones on my ears which played thunderstroms for the next EIGHTY minutes.

my goal was to not fall asleep because a) i wanted to enjoy every second consciously and b) i thought i might snore and/or drool.  i entered some blissful zone between consciousness and unconsciousness for the remainder of my mani/pedi.

once it was over, i walked slowly in my comatose state to the locker room (surely they don't call it that in a fancy spa) where i saw a sign placed between the sinks which read, "D Magazine, Best Mani/Pedi 2013".  well, duh.

i think i'll go ahead and give them my vote for 2014 as well.

now go treat yourself.  

it's an order and you deserve it, i'm sure.

p.s. you are welcome.

xoxo

hiatus spa + retreat

5560 W. Lovers Lane | Suite 250 | Dallas, TX 75209 | 214.352.4111 

on my radar

dear readers, i have so much to tell you about; mystery girls trip, my recent spa day, a mini-camp with wee volunteer, plus a whole slew of goodies i've been saving for this and that.

but for now i will just leave you with a song.

you see, my big boy had his adenoids out this morning. so we are at home taking it easy. (side note: parents, always, always trust your gut.  ben has been a mouth-breather his entire life, and the older he got, the more problems it caused with the quality of his sleep.  i expressed a concern to his dr. long ago, who kind of swept our concerns under the rug.  eventually, we had to get a second opinion to confirm that in fact, his adenoids were incredibly large and impeding his breathing.  we are looking forward to meeting the well-rested version of benjamin).

what was i saying?  oh yes, the song.

i. am. obsessed.

i haven't been this in love with a song in a while.  while i love this artist's first single, take me to church (ben and i love to sing it at the top of our lungs in the car), the radio plays it approximately 42 times an hour.  this is hozier's second single, from eden.  it's still new and not over-played.  yet.

turn it up, friends.

have a fantastic weekend, lovers.  

i'll catch you on the flip-side.

love,

coco

p.s. here is a video we have already watched four times today on youtube, per ben's request.  he wants to grow his hair out, and i think jack white may be part of the reason ;)

hot tub mix

guess what, guess what, guess what?

mystery girls trip is this weekend!!!!! (if you are thinking to yourself, "what in the hell is mystery girls trip???", read here)

and even better, i am not planning it this year.  all i have to do is show up.  the mystery is bliss.

however, i never show up empty-handed.  i make a soundtrack of sorts every year for the trip to give to the girls.  usually i make one "mix-tape" but last year i made three because, well, i was in charge.

i shared each mix with you here and here, but i just realized i never shared my favorite mix with you on the blog.  so in the spirit of girls trip week, here is the final installment of last year's mixes.

*preface: the cabin we rented last year had a hot tub.  i got the giggles everytime i envisioned a bunch of whitey-white girls in their mid-thirties, sipping cristal bud light in the hot tub while listening to biggie.  it still makes me laugh just typing it.*

girls trip 4

girls trip 3

enjoy the music.

NSFW!!!!

love,

coco