BF Friday

I really have the most amazing friends.Like I feel super lucky every.single.day.Some are more like family.Some I don't get to see often enough.Some are childhood friends,like since kindergarden.No lie! And I want you all to get to know them too.They are parts of me.
Amanda or 'B' as I call her is one my besties.
We met about 13 years ago.She was my little brother's first official girlfriend.I had my doubts at first,no lie. I am a fierce Big sister.But she won me over and even after the break up,I had to sit my baby brother down and let him know that she had become one of my bestest friends and wasn't going anywhere.So much for family loyalty huh? He was totally fine with it.My family adored her too and I must admit we are quite the bunch.She was a total keeper.
We ended up becoming roomies for awhile too.Crazy times while we survived on chocolate pop tarts and coffee.I kid you not, that was all that was in our cabinet and fridge.But we survived.Somewhere along the road we became more than friends and more like sisters.I like to think I am the 3rd Big Seester she never wanted but got anyway.Ha!
Amanda is a loyal and fierce friend too.I can call and dump all my junk on her and she will have the best one liners or pretend to cuss out whoever it is in a mock Convo.It's so awesome because professional therapy can be so expensive.
Amanda is my younger sista-from-anotha-mista too.She brings out my youth and keeps it real when I need more sparkle.She is the bling in my 30's.
From Eminem to old school Tupac,anything goes.No judgment here.We go way back,she and I.From P-funks to old school chucks', she remains youth in my pocket.
And talk about creative genius....B and I can ruin any budget together at Crafter's Wearhouse! We laugh hard,play even harder and there is no one like her.Forever she will always be....My B.

The Rowland's AZ pt.2

The girls and I road trip a ton. I always say that I may never know what it will be like to deliver a baby, all natural and stuff but...I think it might be close to traveling alone with young children. So I still feel like a rockstar for it. We ended up visiting a ton of friends, their new babes and families while we were in Arizona last month.

The Rowland's first.We just adore their family.Melissa and Todd (Todd-O) as we like to call him were great friends of our's while we lived in AZ.And right after we left, they grew their family and welcomed little Pierce to their crew. A short while later, they welcomed Scarlett too. I hadn't meet either of their new babes so I was thrilled to when we arrived. Can you say doll faces? And just to hang with Melissa again was so fun.We celebrated her birthday too.I won't give her age away but I think she should totally lie because the girl still looks 25.It's just plain sick. And I think I dropped enough hints to both of them about coming our way for a visit that I think they might actually take me up on the offer ( begging) cough cough...My favorite memory of Melissa is from AZ.We hadn't known each other very long and ran into each other at the local Food Store as she calls it.She's so East Coast.I love it. And she starts talking about her husband and how she thinks he has gone off the deep end with Jesus. And she was worried because she was wondering if this meant things would change Big Time for them and their relationship? I cracked up. I still laugh to this day when I saw how frustrated she was at that thought of her husband not wanting to have a beer or two with her.Or in her case, Vodka or a good glass of wine. I reassured her Jesus was all good and if things changed,it would be for the better,not worse. She eventually relented and things were just fine.But I always get a good little laugh when I remember that little moment that made me love this girl instantly. Thank you Rowland's for letting my girls and I shack up with you. Good times and beautiful weather.You have such a rad family.Thank you!

You should watch this....

Or rather, listen first, then watch it again. A fresh message from an amazing couple we happen to know. So blessed by this and excited to hear the entire CD. Yay Balli Family! Congrats and May Jesus richly bless you.

Love, The Phillips Crew

Dirty 30 Re-Do!

Rendered me absolutely Speechless!

Then came the laughter

And the shock and amazement

Even my girls were stoked!

Ohhhhhhhh and those cupcakes! Yumm-o!

Carys was coming out of her skin excited!

Oh The Love!

My sweet precious friends, who never dropped a hint to any of this!

The Ladies

Brenda, the absolute Beauty of the evening!

Mercel and me

The Birthday Gal herself

The man who pulled it all off without a hitch.

Oh there are stories which can't be written all in one post. I will be back to fill everyone in on just how my husband pulled off the party of the century. Until then, enjoy these snapshots of the evening.

Vino all 'round

A great group of us friends went for a little wine tasting over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Yummm-EEEE! Lots of fun and I even managed to bring some home to enjoy.. Imagine that?

Vegas Wrap up (pt.2&3)

Oh did we paint the town red or what? Funtimes with these ladies. And being able to celebrate such a sweet and dear friends birthday all.weekend.long in Vegas no less was just priceless. Love ya B. You are such a graceful, compassionate and giving friend. I am lucky to have you in my life.

One of the Greats

Satrina is one of the Greats. We celebrated her dirty 30 last week with yummy food and my first round of pool. Craziness I tell ya. Her husband and another close friend of her's celebrated, laughed and were just together for her.

For Satrina and I we have lots of history. Our friendship has evolved over many seasons of our lives. Some parts were spent together and some apart. But what I find so fantastic about our friendship is this....we just pick up where we left off. Truly. It's amazing. We became the quintessential BFF'S back in 1990. Wow, did I just write that? Circa 1990 where zippered jeans, doubled down scrunch socks and up/down curled bands lived in all their glory. This was not Satrina though. We couldn't have been more different from jump. Satrina at the ripe ol age of 10, rocked Metallica shirts. I love her! We were inseparable for those elementary years. While there we were few friends my dad allowed over, Satrina was always a welcome sight to both my mom and dad. I think they might have liked her more than me at times. Just saying. She would throw out witty one line zingers that would make my mom laugh so hard. I would dress her up in my clothes and make her my real live doll. I'm sure she loved it. I'm almost positive. I ended up going to a different Jr. high and we grew apart a bit after that. But we reconnected again back at good ol' NSHS. And while we didn't hang in the same social circles, we still managed to have some classes together and snag a couple good laughs here and there. She prob lay doesn't know this but I missed her in highschool. And so did my family. So after graduation we went our separate ways in life....and survived our own madness. But a couple years ago....we picked up where we left off. Satrina and I reconnected again. And by far these past couple years of our friendship have meant the most to me. Satrina is an irreplaceable friend to me. And I think she doesn't even know why. There are few and I mean few, people that knew my mom that I still know today. And that has been a tremendous support for me throughout my life without my mom. Satrina remembers things that my own memory has failed me on. What a blessing it is. To have someone else remind you of how great your own mom was. My heart will not allow me to express my gratitude for that to her. Satrina is a survivor like me too. Which makes us both tough and vulnerable all in the same bite. Satrina is accomplished in dance and starting(surviving)her first business venture too. Oh and she is a fulltime mom of 2 and a wife! Her plate is full people. And this is why I think she is one of the Greats. And I just hope/pray she knows too how much LOVE went into preparing this life for her. She is loved by many. So I wish you, Satrina, another 30 years and more of love. More than you think you deserve or can hold onto. Happy Birthday! xoxo

Retreat Weekend

Over the weekend, Amber and I embarked on a women's retreat in Murietta, CA with Reality Carpineria. What a well needed and refreshing time I tell you. The weather was A.MAZ.ING. And the company wasn't too bad either.heehee. I tagged along with a great friend of mine and her church. A couple years ago I ventured out to this same retreat and it rocked my world. So she so kindly informed me of this one coming up and I was in. And I even got an extra surprise when one of my BFF's (really one of my sisters) decided to come with. Great time. Amazing workshops, speakers, the message, everything. We really enjoyed every moment. Am and I even did a little day out in Temecula which is about 10 minutes away. Wine tasting, Olive Oil and vinegar tasting, cheese tasting and shopping too boot. Did I mention I was kid-less for 3 whole days too? Sam man'd down the fort here with the girls. A couple stories from home consisted of Sam putting the girls to bed because (and I quote) 'The kids are done and so am I.' And then he tried to watch a baseball game with them and had to leave early because Carys threw a baseball at Bay's mouth, full force. Gushing bleeding, the whole nine. And then I think what was the funniest, to me at least, was he took them to the park and Carys comes running over, holding her butt saying ' I gotta go or I'm gonna poop in the trash can'. He got a lil taste. But he was a trooper. And I am very thankful for the time away. Mama's need that every now and then to keep the balance. I still feel like it was a dream. Much needed girl time and if there is an award for 'Best road tripper'.....drum roll please.... It would go to Amber. We laughed, cried and talked about everything under the sun. I just adore her and really cherish our friendship more than words. We even hit the Natural Hot springs twice. Stayed up til midnight or 1am both nights. I can't even say enough how much it was needed. Back to reality, well, my reality that is, refreshed and renewed about the true heart of God toward me. Can't wait til next time!

Linz and Me

Made ya laugh!

Meet the Wiezy's

These would be some of our favorite people. Yes, we play favorites around here. Luckily for us, (me in particular) NEVER have to choose. So meet our friends, the Weizy's. Linz (mom of the wiezy's) has been a part of my motherhood for a looooonnnnggggg time. Way before motherhood actually. She's the childhood friend I never had. Until adulthood,that is! I love her and her boys, if you can't tell already. I am a rare breed you see. The most dearest friends I have and the one's I seem to click with are mom's of boys. It's kinda funny.So that makes us quite the pair when we are together. Us girls can keep up I guess. Or we just enjoy the activity/humor/nothing ever boring times of boys too.The girls & I and headed up to where they recently abandoned/ooops! I mean relocated to for the day. And got totally spoiled in the process. Games, treats, hot dogs on a stick, merry go round rides, cupcakes, the lists goes on. And in between all that me and Linz got to catch up. Pretty nicely might I add, I can't recall one throw down between the kiddos. It was a Great day! We miss them so much but have no fear, we will be back for round 2 soon enough. Catch your breathe boys!

Best Friday Ever

This package of goodies landed on my doorstep today while I was out. If you know me at all (or if you don't) I love gifts, mostly giving actually but every once in awhile I will allow myself to receive. And one of my BFF's, I call her B, sent me this little love package. Made my day. She made me the two frames you see (click for a closer look),sent me cute cards, inspiration clips out of mags and a GC to Anthropologie! Hello! The girl rocks to say the least because seriously my birthday was like 4 months ago and we 'celebrated' if you get my drift.. She has been one of my dearest, bestest, sweetest friends for almost 10 years, yikes! Sorry B, I aged myself not you! She is an amazing mom, wife, and served our country for 4 years in the Air force. There are no words, you should just know her. So this is her intro to you from me. Can't you tell I'm a big fan. Thanks B for making my day.