Weekend Perfection

I can't put into words how magical this weekend was. Actually, I can because I'm about to, but you get the point. It was perfect...full of fun, relaxation, dancing, new adventures and quality time with people I love.

The highlights:

I met my sweet momma in Mount Dora, a cute little town just outside of Orlando, on Saturday. We spent the afternoon browsing around the cute gift shops, grabbing lunch and getting the most delightful pedicure I've had in my life. My mom took me into the most adorable gift shop called Under the Cherry Blossoms to meet the owner, who she described as my female soul mate...haha. When she was in Mount Dora about a year ago, she met this woman and knew we would hit it off. We have a lot in common regarding our attitude and outlook on life.

As my mother usually is, she was right. We chatted for a bit and my mother and I picked out some really fun inspirational goodies. The store owner, Lynn, even gave me a "28 Days of Thanks" kit, which I'll have to tell you more about later because it is a new exciting project I'm about to start! I can't wait to get started on it and was so touched that gave it to me. If you ever get a chance to visit Mount Dora, you definitely need to check this place out. The ceiling of the store is covered in tissue paper cherry blossoms, each with an inspirational quote attached.  I absolutely love this idea!

The day was truly just perfect. These days with my mom are so important to me. No matter what is going on in life, I can always count on days like this for guidance, support, girl talk, relaxation and lots of giggles. We need to make days like this happen more often. I love that lady!

The most positive ceiling I've ever seen :)

I followed up my awesome day with my mom with a night on the town with one of my favorite girls, Laura. Between the UFC (I don't even know what that stands for) fight being on and the LMFAO concert downtown that night, let's just say the bars were packed and the crowd was....interesting. I can always count on Laura to have fun with me no matter what the conditions are. We ended up having a really fun night chatting and dancing. Girls nights are so good for the soul and I'm so glad we've been having more of these lately!

I'd say Sunday's theme was "Let's do something different." I asked My Sister's Ex (we are still just friends and my mom is probably shaking her head as she reads this) to go on an adventure with me. I didn't have anything specific in mind, just wanted to do something a little different than the normal weekend activities like movies, dinner, brunch, etc. He was all for it and told me he'd even come up with some ideas. His idea was to take me shooting. He's a police officer, so he is obviously pretty comfortable shooting a gun. Me on the other hand....I had never even held a gun other than picking up my dad's gun and putting it down right away because I got freaked out. In an effort to be fearless and open to new things, I told him I'd love to go shooting, but that I was a little scared. In return, it was my duty to plan something that took him a little out of his comfort zone. I decided on pottery painting because honestly, do you know any guys who have willingly gone to paint pottery?!?

Our day began with brunch, which included the most delightful Banana Granola Pancakes at First Watch (they are life changing, actually). Next, we were off to the gun range where I shot a rifle and a 40 caliber handgun. Eeek! I was so nervous to shoot and I've truly never felt so very out of my element.      

Just hearing all the gun shots as we waited to shoot had me freaked out and I hadn't even picked up a gun yet! I knew I'd feel a little better once I took my first shot...I just needed to get that part over with. I shot the rifle first and just like My Sister's Ex thought, I liked that much better than the handgun. Even though it was bigger and kind of heavy, it was much easier to handle and aim. I actually shot it pretty well and they said I did really well for my first time. I was pretty impressed by that and it's just another example of how we surprise ourselves sometimes. I can't exactly say that I am about to start hitting up the gun range on a weekly basis. I can't even say that I'll go back at all, but I'm so glad I went! It was fun to do something so out of the norm and try something new. Not to mention the fact that I'm sure he got quite a bit of entertainment out of my reaction to everything!

I can't even lie. I've never felt like such a badass before!

Our next stop was All Fired Up, a pottery place in Winter Park. We both painted coffee mugs and I'd say he was as out of his element as I was at the shooting range! I'm not much of an artist myself, so this isn't a normal activity for me, but you should've seen his face when the lady was telling us how to pour the paint, what to do with our brushes and all the different ways to design our mugs. It was pretty funny! We had fun but I'll tell you...painting takes a lot of you! By the time we were finished, we both needed a drink! We ended a super fun day with dinner and drinks at a place in Winter Park called The Shipyard Brew Pub.

This was such a fun day. I love surrounding myself with people who are open to being a little adventurous, trying new things and switching things up. It rained nonstop in Orlando yesterday, but that didn't stop us from having an absolute blast. Again, I'll refer to how frustrating it is to think of him as nothing more than a friend. Maybe that will change. Do those things change? I don't know. Either way, I loved this day and hope we can have more adventures like it! 

What a weekend! I sure wasn't home much, which I'm sure Blake wasn't too happy about (I made sure to give him extra snuggles and treats when I got home Sunday night), but I love that it was jam-packed with all kinds of fun adventures!

Have any of you shot a gun before? Were you as nervous as I was?