My beloved Old Town Alexandria
Ready or not, Friday is upon us, people! I hope you have a fun fall weekend on tap. We’re excited to go see family and cheer on the Panthers in Charlotte! This was a monumental week for my family, but I usually do these in roughly chronological order, so I’m saving the biggest news for the end. (Suspense!)
/ONE/
Room Escape DC Date Night!
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Will and I checked an item off of my September goals last Friday in a BIG way. I know the goal was to go “with friends,” but we kind of realized on Friday that we hadn’t been spending enough quality time together just the two of us over the week before, so we impulsively booked the “Dating Room” at Room Escape DC, and it was AMAZING. Who knew there are like 15 different room escape game companies in DC? I picked this one because it was the only one with a room specifically for two people. Y’all, it was so. much. fun. and we escaped with eight minutes to spare! Basically you use any kind of clue you can find in the room to solve a bunch of puzzles and open locks that help you along the way, and if you do it right, eventually the door opens! I loved that it was hard enough to be very challenging, but still gratifyingly doable! BONUS: I was talking about how much I miss Ted Drewe’s and Andy’s (Missouri treats) on the way there, so Will found Freddy’s and we had concretes after our escape to celebrate! We both agreed it was the perfect date night for a couple of nerds like us, haha.
/TWO/
College Football Saturday 
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Saturday was also amazing this past weekend. We gave ourselves a break, didn’t make a the cute SEC-themed appetizers and drinks I had planned, and set up shop in our favorite sports bar instead. But we had our college football binge-watching day, and it was glorious. We also explored Clarendon Day, which was really encouraging to see. It’s a festival with live music, a race, and booths to celebrate local businesses. There was everything from the juice shop to dance studios, churches, gyms and theaters. Celebrate you local community, friends! We ended the day with Uncle Julio’s take-out and friends at home watching another heartbreaking last-second Mizzou loss. But Drew Lock is looking good, and I have a cute new Mizzou scarf, so all is well. Love you, Mizzou!
/THREE/
The Kiwake App
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This was a find from Bailey during the Blogtember Challenge! I am an early morning person, but don’t always succeed at the getting-up part. I tried this Kiwake app and love it! It makes you take a photo of something away from your bed with the lights on to prove you’re up and then play a game and review your goals/motivation for being up early. Mine has a few kinks where it went off at work at a time I hadn’t set it for, but otherwise, it works really well gets me up.
/FOUR/
Living Proof Products
As I’ve mentioned, my hair has gotten straighter in the last couple of years, and that means I have to approach it differently. I have been a Deva Curl devotee since middle school, but I realized after months of complaining about my hair being limp and greasy, it may be time to try something else. So I ordered travel sizes of Jennifer Aniston’s Living Proof line (because Jennifer Aniston has great hair), and I really like it so far! My hair feels cleaner, the curls are more defined, and it’s softer. I think I need a smoothing serum for flyaways and frizz, but the dry shampoo and volumizing spray are miracles.
/FIVE/
Goodbye Ashland Hills
Mom and Dad in the moving truck!
Whew, I’m feeling all the emotions looking at this picture. My mom and dad moved out of my childhood home of almost twenty years this week. As a farming family, we didn’t move much, and we had a great family house that we loved, so there was no need to. All of my formative years since the fourth grade were spent in that pink brick house, from jumping on the trampoline in joy because I won a math competition (nerd alert!) to bringing my first boyfriend (Will!) home as my husband. I couldn’t begin to list the memories of the in-between I’ve thought about this week, but that house knows them all.
This moment reminds me of a monologue I wrote for my senior acting class in college talking about the day my dad told me he had to take my treehouse down. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t such a sentimental, nostalgic person, but I think it’s important to honor these moments too. It’s hard living so far away, and I wish I had been there to see this move happen, get some closure, and say goodbye, but I’m excited for my parents too. They’re ready for something smaller and more updated with less yard to mow and a master bedroom on the first floor for their golden years, and they deserve that. I can’t wait to visit their new place! In the meantime I’m just trying not to listen to The House that Built Me.
In less important news, here’s what went on around here this week:
I picked my favorite blog posts by topic so far.
I shared our beach trip to Emerald Isle!
We wrapped up the engagement photos on Wedding Wednesday.
I rounded up all the fall things I have my eye on.
