BEACH DAY

 Today almost the entire junior team (we rented 31 beach chairs that the beach company thoughtfully arranged in a horseshoe) had a beach day at Folly Beach, which is LOVELY, in case you find yourself in Charleston. I continue to be SO FREAKING PROUD of myself for driving past my comfort zone by myself! Also! It was so hot that I GOT IN THE OCEAN which is NOT something I usually do. Dorothy had an absolute blast with her friends, and even though I spent the whole day watching her because she was out so far and not reading a book like I planned, it t was fab.

Selfie of the day:

Dancers on the beach

Lunch with a view

Me, all day

Dorothy all day

How cute is this little pack of kids coming back from buying snow cones on the pier all by themselves?

All the touristy things

 I realized that the only way I could motivate myself to drive in a strange city I know nothing about was to invite friends to come along with us, SO I did, and we had a super fun day eating and shopping and cruising.

I got up before 6 and worked out in the hotel gym to kick off an epic day.

First up: Dorothy's trio had their last performance-- they were awesome and got a double platinum (I have not idea what this means).

We brought an extra prop pillow for a friend who flew here

Last pre-show pillow fight!

Last warm up with friends in other costumes!

After awards, we all changed and headed to King Street to walk around and gawk at houses, find cool fountains, and shop. Plus have an adorable and delicious lunch.

Hill House Home

Dorothy acted all offended when the hostess offered her a children's menu and then ended u ordering... the kids' grilled cheese. LOL.

Rainbow row!

Thank god for this fountain we found on our way to the pineapple fountain because it was one million degrees and humid.

PINEAPPLE FOUNTAIN and me with muppet hair.

In line for gelato, they climbed in the cooler. RELATABLE.

Charleston is SO CUTE.

We came back to the hotel from shopping (Dorothy found stuff at Brandy Melville, but the line was too long and we had reservations, so I promised to buy it online) to swim for a bit, and then we had to get ready for our flapper-themed sunset harbor cruise. We both went with a loose interpretation of the theme.

I only took 2 pics, this one:

And this one of everyone trying to take a pic:

READY FOR BEEEEEEEED.

WE MADE IT!

 I have lost 10 pounds, and I am NOT going to gain them back in Charleston. 

But also! I am going to have fun and not obsess about food. I mean, yes. I did pack chia and flaxseed in 1-tablespoon-serving portions to put in my yogurt in the mornings, plus Larabars (my junk food stand-in), almonds, pumpkin seeds, and pecans. Also peanut butter and apples and cuties. Oh! And unsweetened dark chocolate (which I eat every day). Plus my sleepy tea. And magnesium powder. Also fiber powder. And B6. Melatonin. Fish oil pills. I AM HIGH NEEDS. BORDERING ON OBSESSION

But we had pizza last night!

And I chewed gum!

Plus I ate a piece of Harry's bday cake because OF COURSE I DID.

ANYWAY. Listen. I want to keep going on this current health kick (getting my cholesterol numbers checked again in 6 months (my choice-- I wanted to see if my excellent new habits are paying off)) even though I am taking a week-long trip and then an immediate long weekend. I brought my yoga mat and dumbbells for strength workouts and my clothes and shoes and weighted vest for the hotel gym. I AM NOT FUCKING AROUND.

I can be wrinkly. That's fine. I can have gray hair. That's fine. BUT I CANNOT ALSO GAIN A BUNCH OF WEIGHT TOO AT THE SAME TIME.

(My wedding rings fit again, but I have gained weight in my FEET WHAT THE HELL YOU GUYS).

Surprising perk of the magnesium: my muscles are SO FREAKING RELAXED that I can space out my massages. Which is good because I need all of my FSA dollarz for acupuncture. I go weekly, but I am pushing it out to twice a month and then 3 weeks, with the hope of going every 3-4 weeks... forever. It is hard to translate eastern medicine into western medicine, but I go for anxiety and peri-menopause, and it is miraculous. I highly recommend. The needles do not hurt AT ALL, and the table is comfy, and they always pout a heat light on my feet and cover me with a foil blanket and leave me alone in the dark liked a baked potato on a salad bar. IT IS PERFECTION.

Looking ROUGH when we left Lexington this am:

We stopped at Bucees!! And got Ben a wine sippy cup for Father's Day

Dorothy did this most of the day:

Best rest stop view-- we have hit this NC location a few times:

BEEEAAACH!!

Tween on her phone in the ocean.

This was super cute. I think that's where we'll go this week, but we might explore other options.

Literally RAN in here and wolfed down burgers (them) and salad with shrimp (me) before Ben caught his flight.

This felt right

Road trips with just one kid are a BREEZE+ happy birthday to the kid who made me a blogger

 Have I mentioned that my sainted husband is driving Dorothy and me to Charleston, flying home for the week, and then flying back to drive home with us next weekend?

Fear of flying and overpacking are two traits that FOR SURE complement each other.

DO you think we brought enough snacks?!?!

Snacks that Dorothy opened five miles into the trip.

We drove through some hideous rain in Indiana, but Kentucky was all rainbows.

Love this dive-- we have been there before, and the UK campus is a really fun place to break a trip.

Meanwhile...

TODAY HARRY IS 19!!!

THIS BABY

Clearly, we are gone, but we celebrated last night with steaks on the grill (cow chicken, Minnie says) and a cake with extremely drippy frosting. Oops. He's a delegate at the WI dems convention this weekend, so he's doing that and also celebrating a bit.

Jack made it to Iowa with his team! Can't wait for updates on his competition.

Seriously, riding in the car and NOT parenting is SUPER EASY. I read 2 books and have more on deck for tomorrow. (I also have a great Audible book and 2 Libby titles, but Ben is not interested **eye roll**)

I did make everyone listen to my 2025 playlist, so that's a win!