getty villa

Last week, my mom and I spent an afternoon at the Getty Villa in Malibu.

The venue and the weather were equally beautiful.

We had a wonderful time {and I got to check something off of my summer wishlist - woohoo!}

dream a dream

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See that big beautiful ship? That's the Disney Dream. And I will be sailing to the Bahamas on her in a little over two weeks. My mommy is turning 50 and we are doing it right! 

I have never been on any cruise before so I am crazy excited.

We will be stopping at Disney's Castaway Cay twice, spending one full day at sea, and another docked in Nassau. There is so much on the cruise that I am looking forward to but am mostly excited for one last family vacation before I jet off to Hawaii. 

Have you ever cruised before? Any tips or suggestions?

picnic

When I grow up I want to be a sweet tea drinkin', rocking chair rockin', American flag wavin' Southern lady.

My BFF Lisa knows this about me and because she is so amazing {and is a legit Southern lady since she lives in Georgia} she surprised me and Alex by sending us a "Southern Starter Kit". 

Y'all...it was the CUTEST thing ever ;)

The kit had all the things we would need to go on an old-fashioned picnic. And that's what we did {six months after getting the kit...oops}

It was a beautiful day and I'm already looking forward to our next picnic -- eating your sandwiches and goldfish crackers is just more fun outside. 

Thanks Lisa!

christmas in july

Doesn't that sound wonderful?

My excellent wiki-skills taught me that the concept of Christmas in July came about for those in the Southern Hemisphere {Australia & New Zealand} who might want to celebrate the holiday during their cooler, winter months. From what I could tell though, most people still celebrate it on December 25 -- warm or cold!

ANYWAYS

If Christmas were happening this July that means that Christmas would be TODAY. I would currently be in my kitchen, making my favorite holiday french toast with holiday music playing in the background.

And if Christmas were today, you could find these things on my list:

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this pretty ring with the initials of me and the husband of course :)

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a pretty iphone cover like this would make me happy {ignore that fact that I am an android user}

{my own picture}

a date with that guy. i may even request the sunglasses.

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a pretty hawaiian quilt.

what's on your christmas wish list?

adventure

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I can't read that quote and not hear the voices from the movie Up but I'm ok with that because I like love that movie. {does anybody cry like a baby throughout the entire movie? or is it just me?}

Our move to Hawaii is sneaking up on us fast. As I'm packing up our apartment and deciding what stays and what goes, I can't help but start to feel a little nostalgic for what we are leaving behind. 

But when I start to think of all the amazing memories we have had here, I get so excited about all the adventures we are going to have on our island in the middle of the Pacific. 

Adventure is out there! It's just waiting for us to live it. 

the byrds are back in town

We're back!

We had an amazingly relaxing and fun-filled vacation. I could go on for days telling stories of the trip but instead I'll just leave you with the video I made to capture some of our time at the Pharm.

Enjoy!



Pharm 2012 from natashabyrd on Vimeo.

overnight

If you didn't already know, I work as a hospitality manager for a major hotel chain. As the manager, one of my responsibilities is to cover shifts for the front office staff as needed. For a little over a month we have been down a staff member so I have been working the Night Audit shifts twice a week.

Working overnight {the hours are 11pm- 7am} two nights a week, plus 3 other regular shifts is exhausting. I've never been a good napper so it's hard for me to get enough sleep during the day after being up all night. Even if we have no plans, I still wake up after about 3 or 4 hours and have this nagging feeling that I am wasting the day away. Alex is off on the weekends and I always want to be hanging out with him instead of hugging my pillows. Thankfully, my amazing husband closes the blinds tight, turns on a fan for white noise, and encourages me to sleep as long as I can.

The lack of sleep doesn't only effect my weekends but pours into the week -- I feel behind on chores around the house, I haven't been running as much as I want to, I haven't cooked enough meals for the two of us and I don't like any of it!

I'm really looking forward to a break from this schedule I've been on. I'm ready to get my energy back and get on track with my wifely duties :)

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