Welcome to the Good Life!

a weekend getaway!

This weekend Rob and I are going to be taking trip away together.  We have spent so little time together this summer because of my work and traveling schedule, that I am very thankful for my sweet husband who has planned this trip!

Louisville is one of my favorite cities--in part because it's where I went to both college and graduate school!  I also love the city because of the restaurants, arts scene, neighborhoods, and of course the sports! :)

Some of the things on our to do list this weeekend include:

Dinner at Proof--an amazing restaurant right downtown!

A romantic dinner at L & N Wine Bar--I'm pretty sure this will be Rob's favorite thing about the city!! :)
Brunch one morning at Lynn's Paradise Cafe!  I love this place--the restaurant was even featured on Oprah and the Today Show.  I will take a million pictures for you to see here--it's one unique restaurant!
And, no visit to Louisville and the surrounding area would be complete without a trip to the Bourbon Trail!  We are going to Maker's Mark--where we'll be able to dip our own bottle!


We are also going to the Woodford Reserve Distillery--much smaller, but it's supposed to be one of the most beautiful! :)

Even though we have so many fun things planned, I am mostly excited about spending so much quality time with my sweet husband!  I have two more weeks of camping coming up after this trip so I am going to soak up all of our time together. :)

ten on tuesday!

One of my favorite blogging friends, Meredith, often links up with Ten on Tuesday from Roots and Rings and I thought I would join up with her this week!  I have been a nut about getting back to my real life now that I am home and I am SO pumped to be so on top of things that I can actually do two blog posts in one day.  Now...if you'll only want to read them. :)

Without further ado, here are the questions for this week!

1. What’s the recipe for your favorite drink? (Smoothie, alchoholic, coffee, whatever.)

My absolute favorite drink is an Arnold Palmer.  The tea can be black tea, green tea, fruit tea, it doesn't matter to me.  I just love this drink with all of my heart!  Perfect for the summertime!  

2. What kind of razor do you use?

I use a Gilette Venus.  I was using the original version until I left ALL of my shower stuff at home when I was at camp and so I upgraded myself to the fancy new Venus Embrace. :)

3. Who is your favorite Sesame Street character?

I wasn't a big Sesame Street person--Winnie Pooh had my heart!  :)

4. What makes the perfect salad? (Lettuce type, toppings, dressing, etc.)

I love love love the salads you get at Hibachi-type restaurants with the awesome ginger dressing.  In my regular life though, I love romaine lettuce, lots of tomatoes and cucumbers, and my favorite dressing is probably balsamic vinegar.  Yum!!

5. What was your favorite subject in school?

If we're talking traditional subjects, my favorite subject was probably Social Studies.  I had a pretty fun Global Issues teacher in high school.  My favorite non-traditional class was Banking.  My teacher, Mrs. Smith, really made the class fun--and we even operated a working bank in our high school.  So fun! :)

6. What’s your favorite summer tradition?

Grilling out and going to the beach!  Nothing beats a grilled steak and relaxing on the deck!  As for beach vacations--I don't think I need to really say anything here.  The beach=heaven :)

7. Do you suffer from season allergies? How do you combat them?

Oh good grief, do I suffer from them.  I take two Benadryl every night, along with a Claritin.  When times get really tough, I add in Nyquil and a nasal spray.  You're welcome!

8. How often do you have to charge your cell phone?

I charge my cellphone every night and also when I'm in my car.  I am OCD about not letting it die.  My cellphone is really an appendage to my body!

9. Do you have a bucket list?

Funny you should ask--I just made a Summer Bucket List!

10. Do you have any desire to go back to school?

Um. no.  After undergrad plus two Masters I think I'm set.  However, that doesn't mean I don't want to keep learning!  I love reading and finding out random pieces of trivia.  

 

I hope you'll link up at Roots and Rings as well!  Have a great Tuesday! :)

 

summer bucket list!

My sweet friend Stephanie has a Summer Bucket List (which was actually part of a link up) and I was so so jealous I hadn't though of the idea!  Fear not--here is mine!

1.  Weekend getaway with my handsome husband!

2.  Trip to Lake Erie

3.  Take a trip to the beach 

4.  Cincinnati Reds Baseball Game

5.  Columbus Clippers Baseball Game

6.  Go on a picnic in the park

7.  Movie at the local drive-in

8.  Read lots of chick lit while laying out!

9.  Perfect recipes on the grill

10.  Spend my evenings at home on the deck with Rex and Rob

11.  Develop a working budget for our family

12.  Workout 4 times a week--even when traveling!

13.  Celebrate my 28th birthday!

hair feathers!

I am so excited to actually be posting from my blog today!  I have a thousand and one things on my to do list today, including grocery shopping, a million loads of laundry, and a doctor's appointment.  I did plan in one one fun surprise for today to make it a little bit more bearable though!

This afternoon I have a hair appointment to get a feather put into my hair!  I am so so excited to have this done--and I have been looking forward to this appointment for a couple of weeks now!  Now that I am back in town, I can finally get one.  Here's some of the pictures I found online--what do you think?!

Rob is pretty anti-the idea.  I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm going to come home looking like this!! ha!

Do you Pinterest?

Hi guys!  It's Stephanie from The Rest is Still Unwritten and I'm back to guest blog again!  I love this little gig...it's just so fun!  Thank you, Becky, for allowing me to step in for you while you've been away.  

I can't remember exactly when I discovered Pinterest, but it was sometime in the winter.  Since then I've had an unhealthy obsession with pinning!  I love it!  It's so addicting.  It's a fabulous place to catalog items you discover on the internet.  It far surpasses the old school way of copying and pasting a link into an email and then sending it to yourself, only to put the email in a folder and forget about it.

It's perfect for housing recipes, DIY projects, decorating ideas, quotes, etc.  You can do just about anything with it!  And, now it's even accessible through an iPhone app!  Let me tell you, my husband fully enjoys when I "pin away" to pass the time on car rides...I'm sort of a back seat driver.

I'm currently training for a half marathon and I created a board called Keep Movin'.  Here are a few of my favorite pins from it.

 

 

If you want to see more of what I pin...everything from recipes to holidays to so much more...you can follow me here!

Hot fun in the Summertime!

Hi there!  I'm Stephanie from The Rest is Still Unwritten and I'm so excited to be a guest blogger on Welcome to the Good Life!  This is my first time doing a guest blog post so I'm a little nervous.  

Today I'm really loving summer!  I feel like since Memorial Day weekend we've been blessed with some fantastic weather!  And, living in the Midwest means you have to take advantage of every beautiful summer day you are given!  So how about a summer gathering?   

 

We'd have drinks

 

 

Gorgeous fruit

 

 

A new kick on an old classic

 

 

Munch on some ribs

 

 

Have a little competition

 

 

And satisfy our sweet tooth

 

 

Who's with me?  When and where should we have the party?!?  

happy engagaversary! :)

Today is our one year engagaversary!  I must tell you, in a million years, I never thought I would end up with someone as wonderful as my husband.  For so long, I would pray for certain qualities in my future husband.   I would pray for him to be a hard worker and to be fun to talk to, and a good listener.  I have to say, God went above and beyond when answering my prayers!  Rob is so patient--something I had no idea to pray for!  

When I diagnose myself with just about anything and everything on WebMd he is so sweet to listen to me freak out!  When I ask Rob to play the millionth game of Clue with me he humors me, at least for a little while! When I've had a rough day, I know Rob will show up with flowers, candy, or a sweet card to make me feel better!  I have a very good man and I am thankful every day for him!

Here is a picture of us just a few hours before he surprised me with a proposal on the beach!

And, here are a few of our engagement pictures!  Even though I don't get to be celebrating today with my man, we will be reunited in just a few days! :)  



Love you Rob! :)

i'll be guest posting today!

Hi all!

 

Today I am going to be guest posting for my sweet friend who was gracious enough to guest post for me last week!  She is going to be out of blogging commission spending time with her family for her sister's upcoming wedding!  So exciting!

So, follow me over to Dance and Dream Forever!

Have a great day! :)

i'll be guest posting today!

Hi all!

 

Today I am going to be guest posting for my sweet friend who was gracious enough to guest post for me last week!  She is going to be out of blogging commission spending time with her family for her sister's upcoming wedding!  So exciting!

So, follow me over to Dance and Dream Forever!

Have a great day! :)

Guest Post - Joanna Noel @ Dance and Dream

Good Morning Lovelys!

So I am very much like a cat and changed my mind about what I was going to post about today!

Since we are into full time Summer I thought I would give you a list

Drumroll please.....

Joanna's Must Have List for Summer(Not in any order)

1.Lotion..Its a must have! If you tan in a tanning bed, your skin will get dry. If you tan outside, your skin will get dry, if you live in the south like me, YOUR SKIN WILL GET DRY! Did I mention your skin will get dry! :) Also, on top of all that, Lotion smells amazing!

2.Painted Toe Nails..Naked nails are no good! I actually have my toe nails with paint on the 24/7 but for summer its a must have! And you have to go bright colored too!

3.Cute Sunglasses...Bling is perfered! They will go with everything!

4. Flip Flops .... Cute and comfortable, bright colors, and lots of bling!

5.Make Up...I recommend Mary Kay (my mom sells it so that's probably why!) Just make sure you get stuff that will help shield you from the sun!

6. New Summer Movies..Be sure to go see one!

7. Road Trips...They're a must for summer fun!

 

I am sure a lot of you have other things you could add to this list! Would you help me grow mine? Leave some in the comments!

 

XOXO

Joanna Noel