Getting spoiled over and over and over...

After my awesome shower given by my friends Elizabeth and Sami, Josh's aunts and grandmother decided I was in need of a luncheon.  If you haven't ever been to the Gift Box off of Keithshire (same shopping center as the Parent Teacher Store), it is a great little place for a gal's lunch.  Super cute gifts on the "store" side and wonderful food on the "cafe" side.  This luncheon was just for family and it was wonderful--small, quaint, and the perfect opportunity for all the ladies in my family to meet the ladies in Josh's family.  The food was so yummy!  Most of us opted for the chicken salad--shocking, right? ;)  My mom had a delicious chilled strawberry soup.  It reminded me of a smoothie but had a slightly different consistency.  One of the best parts of the luncheon was the centerpiece-a huge woven basket full of all kinds of gardening supplies!  I'm sure Josh filled his aunts in on my adventures as a new flower and vegetable gardener.  The basket was filled with all kinds of important tools, kneeling pad, books, seeds, and lots of other goodies.  As a gift to each person who attended, everyone left with an individual flower carton and packet of seeds to take home and plant.  It was all so creative and well-planned and the company was wonderful.  What a great way to spend a Friday afternoon!

Onto my next shower, given by a close family friend, Michelle McDonald.  Michelle was my first baby-sitter when she was in college and I was too small to remember.  Her parents and my parents have remained friends over the years and Michelle has watched me grow up.  She still sends me birthday and Christmas cards every year and is a very important person in my family's life.  She and her sister, Mary Beth, hosted a family shower for me on a Sunday afternoon.  Michelle caters as a side job, so the food was AWESOME!  There were lots of cute, personal touches and my favorite--cupcakes from Mondelli's Bakery. :)  Once again, another great afternoon spent with family and friends.  It was so great to see all the love and support from so many people whom I've known for so many years.  I've said it before and I'll say it again:  I am one L-U-C-K-Y gal!

                                              My family and Josh's family at the Gift Box.

                                                  My adorable gardening gift basket

                                               The fabulous spread at Michelle's shower

                                  Loved these!  I guess the secret about my sweet tooth is out :)

Oh MY Mi' Irie Mon

Today we ventured out to a new place and let me just say "Delish!"  This is a Betty Hester
word, reserved for the best of the best.  She enjoys abbreviating words sometimes a lot,
and I've found as I'm getting older I'm totally turning into her!  I hope she
knows this isn't a bad thing. ;)

This new Caribbean restaurant, Mi' Irie Mon, is in a very obscure place--off of
Fortune Drive.  For those of you who have been in this area, you know
it's completely industrial.  I guess it was actually a good business move to
put a restaurant over there as there aren't any other places to eat.

The people who work there--and possibly the owners--are from the Caribbean and
they know what's up!  We tried many things which included Johnnycakes (kind of like
a funnel cake), plantains, (my fav--lightly fried bananas), the burger, (YUM), pineapple
chicken kabobs (more, please), and sweet potato fries (as IF these could ever be bad).
There's a lunch special every day for $5 and even the regular prices are great.  3 of us had
lunch for $16--SCORE!  Every single thing was scrumptious and I said after one bite,
"We are definitely coming back."  They also have a full-service bar.

If you haven't tried Caribbean food yet, this place is where
it needs to happen.  I'm going back soon-maybe I'll see you there!

Wedding excitement #1

I have been so bad--I mean REALLY bad--about blogging!  Somehow this summer
is just slipping right through my fingers and I'm not really sure how time keeps
getting away from me but it makes me a little sad. :(  On the bright side, lots of fun
things have been happening!  We've had lots of fun wedding festivities and this post
is about Shower #1.

My two besties, Sami and Elizabeth, threw a wonderful wedding shower in early
June.  This one was mainly for my girlfriends.  Sami and E couldn't have put
together a more adorable shower, which was no surprise at all!  The food was great,
decorations were perfect, and almost all of my friends were able to come.  I am so
thankful for wonderful people in my life. :)  Here are some pics, and I have to credit
E. Coop for some of the photos--yours were better than mine so I kind of had to "borrow."

                                                 

                                                        My adorable mom and cousin.

                                 Cookies to match the invites and refreshing drinks for the hot day.

Thanks, ladies!  I loved every minute of being "showered!"  Wonderful hostesses and friends :)

Hour long lunches = little summer luxuries

One of my favorite things about being a teacher is obviously summers off!  I also love that Josh and I both teach, meaning we get to spend lots of time together in the summer.  We decided last week that we were going to go somewhere for lunch at least once a week.  I wanted us to try all new places, but I know we'll be making trips to some of our favs like Windy Corner or Stella's Deli.  Last week we headed to McAlister's on Euclid.  I got an amazing salad with a black bean corn relish, chicken, and guacamole.  Josh opted for the Club (he's so predictable!) and we were stuffed and satisfied when we left.  If you're looking for a quick and filling lunch, McAlister's is a great choice.

Today, we tried Shakespeare and Co.  I had heard so much about it, I must admit I had high expectations. Sometimes I don't really like to hear much about places beforehand because it becomes difficult for me to wait and form my own opinion.  The atmosphere and decor were really cool and we overheard one of the managers tell another customer the owner's wife hand-made all of the furniture herself in Abu Dhabi.  The food was great--once we finally got it!  I would recommend the herbed goat cheese and sun dried tomato pizza to anyone.  I can't say the service was bad because our server was very sweet but overwhelmed with the number of tables she had to take care of.  The kitchen staff definitely wasn't the fastest, and I can soon see this being the type of place people say "I love it if the service was better."  I hope they can iron out all the kinks of being a new restaurant soon because there's so much potential.  If you're going to go, plan on waiting a longer than usual amount of time for you food.

Also, being new to blogging means I forget to take pictures of EVERYTHING, and that's exactly what a blogger is supposed to do.  Hopefully I'll remember to take food pics next time.

Not sure what's on tap for next week but I'm already looking forward to it!  Hope your summer is off to a great start as well. :)

Fun in the Sun

Last weekend we went to Florida for Erin and Will's wedding.  Will has been a close friend of Josh's since high school and he was also a groomsman.  The weather was amazing and the company was even better.  I had a great time getting to know some of the other "girlfriends" better while Josh did whatever it is groomsmen do. :)  The wedding and the bride were both gorgeous!  It was my first beach wedding and it was a great experience.  The entire weekend was a blast, and it made me even more excited that I'll be marrying my best friend in a few short months.

                                  The girlfriends and fiances at the rehearsal dinner.

                       I hope Josh isn't getting nervous?  He looks deep in thought! :)

                                  Super windy weather didn't make for a great hair day!

                                             Last morning at the beach--see you soon!

The BEST surprise

Engaged.  Fiance.  Words I thought I might never use in the same sentence as "me" or "I."  But somehow, it happened.  And boy did it happen BIG.  Here's the story of how he liked it and he put a ring on it, 5-star style.

Our one year anniversary was coming up and we knew we wanted to do something fun.  Maybe Nashville for the weekend or go to his dad's in Florida.  Finally the week before our anniversary I wouldn't quit asking him to finalize some kind of plan.  I guess I was probably driving him nuts because he told me to calm down and that he MIGHT have something planned.  I am like a kid on Christmas when it comes to surprises--and he wouldn't budge.  Not a word or a hint until I tried to start packing.  "Hot, maybe some rain, bring a couple nice outfits.  And we'll be flying."  That's all I could get out of him.

On Thursday morning on the way to the airport he finally told me he'd been planning this trip for 2 months and had been working with my mom and my aunt (whom he'd never met!) to make this happen.  We were flying to New Orleans to stay with my wonderful aunt Patti and have an amazing weekend in the Big Easy.  I LOVE THAT CITY and miss my family who live there.  I, of course, immediately started crying.  Emotional is an understated way to describe me.

The weekend was incredible.  I got to show Josh around and take him to all these great places and restaurants.  It was so wonderful to see my family.  On Friday he told me he'd made reservations at my absolute favorite restaurant, Commander's Palace.  It is a serious 5-star dining experience, and just happens to be owned by one my mom's best friends, Lally.  We were getting ready upstairs and he kept telling me how beautiful I looked.  I was thinking what a great guy he was and how incredibly lucky I was to have him.  As I was walking out of the bedroom, I put my hand on the light switch and I heard him say, "Babe?"  I don't know what it was, but I could hear something in his voice.  When I turned around, he pulled the ring box out of his pocket and got down on one knee JUST LIKE A FREAKIN' FAIRY TALE.  I laugh now when I think of my initial response, which was "Shut up!  Stop it are you serious???  Shut up!"  He had a smile a mile wide on his face.  I practically tackled him and said yes over and over.

It was amazing.  Perfect.  It makes me smile just to type this story.  We went to dinner and had champagne and a three course meal and two of my favorite desserts.  We laughed and had a great time. I got teary-eyed again several times throughout the night as I looked across the table at him.  He was really mine.  I had waited so long for this man to come into my life and it was DEFINITELY worth the wait.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself.   It really does feel like a fairy tale and I don't think that feeling is ever going to go away.  I wake up everyday and am so thankful for my prince charming.  In just a few short months I'll be Lauren Lynch and, of course, we all know what comes next in this story:  "And they lived happily ever after."

                                         Right after he asked me to spend forever with him.

History

As promised, here's the story about WHY this has been a real-life fairy tale.  Three years ago I became a 4th grade teacher at Sandersville, which is where I met him.  We both had other things going on in our lives and it wasn't until the winter of 2011 when things started to shift a little.  I don't know exactly when it happened, but suddenly he wasn't just Mr. Lynch from down the hall.  He was Josh, this really funny guy who I loved being around.  I started to put more time into picking out my outfits in the mornings and I would get kind of excited when I realized it was time for him to come in and collaborate in my science class.  It was like a force of nature when it hit me--I want to spend every second with this guy!  I couldn't wipe the smile off my face--and I LOVED it.  It was what I had wanted for so long, and there he'd been, right under my nose!  Well, actually, way above my nose since he's 6'8, but you know where I'm trying to go.

Fast forward one amazing year later and we're getting MARRIED!!! I honestly never thought I would find such a wonderful, kind, funny, thoughtful, caring person--and I definitely don't think I deserve him.  I wake up every day and my heart just smiles knowing he's mine.  Hope I haven't bored you with all the details but if you're going to follow my blog, I just thought you should know a little about me.  I'll share our engagement story soon--it's a good one!

According to Merriam Webster, the definition of a fairy tale is "a story in which improbable events lead to a happy ending."  Even though I don't know the ending yet, it's been a ridiculously great ride so far and my fingers are crossed it just keeps getting better!

Never say never!

Well, I couldn't resist.  I tried to look the other way.  I tried just reading posts and blogs from others and when I heard that little voice that said "you should do this, too" I tried to silence it, push it deep down inside, but it didn't work.  So, here I am blogging world!  I must admit I'm a little nervous.  I mean, I feel kind of like the new kid at school.  I really want everyone to like me but what if they don't?  What if my posts aren't cool enough or I don't talk about the right kind of makeup (especially mascara, for those of you who know me well!), and what if I'm not funny??!  I guess all I can do is go in and give it my best shot so here goes!

This is my short intro but this blog is going to backtrack a bit so you can all get a better understanding of why I named it "Once Upon a Time."  That's how all fairy tales begin, right?  Well, my life has been nothing short of a fairy tale for the past year.  So, I plan to fill you in on that and other random happenings in my day-to-day life.  I can't wait--hope you'll join me!