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:

{via}

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

{via}

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.

{via}

a pretty hawaiian quilt.

what's on your christmas wish list?

adventure

{via}

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 :)

{via}

san pharmcisco dreamin'

The countdown is on.

In a little less than a week, the husband and I will be heading off on a much needed {for me anyway} summer vacation!

We are starting off in San Francisco. Alex has a conference and I am just tagging along for the ride. Hopefully we will be able to squeeze in dinner with his Nana and auntie! While Alex spends his day learning about computer stuff {over generalized because it's way over my head - sorry babe!} I plan on running, reading, and exploring the city. I've only been once before -- have any suggestions for things I shouldn't miss?

After the conference is over, we are flying to Minneapolis where we will pick up our rental car and make the drive to the pharm {aka my grandparent's house}.

The pharm consists of 80 acres of pure magic {for our family anyways} in the UP of Michigan. A large chunk of my family is going to be there this summer at the same time as us so I am really excited!



Of course, I have a list of things that I want to do while we are up there. Here are some of the highlights:

...have a bonfire, visit fortune lake, make bread with grandpa, shoot off fireworks, go to ishpeming for the fourth of july, walk around the property, tip the canoe in the pond, hang laundry on grandpa's clothes line, go to copper harbor, eat dinner at the drive in, help grandma make pasties, listen to grandpa's stories, go into the attic and look for treasures, go to the strawberry festival...

the list could pretty much go on forever. I'm so excited!

Where are you headed to this summer?

organize

Office supplies are my weakness. Send me to the store and I will drool more over the notebooks and calendars than the designer shoes and handbags.

I bought a new calendar about a month ago that starts in July and have been dying to start using it -- I'm almost there!

While I am excited to start using my new one, I cant help but wish that I was about to crack open an Erin Condren life planner. I have never owned one but based on reviews and website browsing I am convinced it is the holy grail of planners.

More times that I would like to admit I've found myself on the website, designing my dream planner and imagining the lists that I would fill each section with. It makes me happy.

Someday, this will be mine!

{via}