charlotte | celebrating twenty six.

this weekend was the weekend before my birthday, and so we celebrated. H flew in for the weekend, and we packed a lot of fun into a short amount of time.

i drove to charlotte on thursday, a day earlier than previously planned, because sometimes you feel like you just need a break from being a grown up and nothing makes you feel like a kid more than being around your parents (in a good way) (like, feed me cater to me nod your head sympathetically as i complain about my life).

ironically, the day i went home early because i felt tired was also the day things started to fall together. but more on that later.

on friday, i spent the day at my parents' house while everyone worked, and got some work done myself. my dad was home, hanging curtains and having a hard time with it. bailey, the most high maintenance dog i've ever met, spent a good portion of the day either whining or sitting on my lap.

later, my mom and T and i went to pick up H from the airport, using our sneaky departure pickup method, which involves beating the arrivals traffic by picking her up at the departures door.

on saturday, we got something to eat, luca fed himself with a grown up fork (with his right hand this time, which means he's probably ambidextrous, because of course he would be), and set off for a day of shopping at the outlets. we stopped at target on the way so he could get a monster truck to replace the one he broke, and it kept him happily entertained as we shopped in store after store. (it also fed into this thing he does now where T will ask if he wants to go to target and he'll say, "yes! truck!")

i took a video during our car ride of a so-funny-i-have-to-pee conversation we were having and ended up with these close ups of luca's face. i feel like he is so constantly changing these days, looking less like a toddler and more like a little boy. i just want to bottle it up.

sometimes he reaches for my hand and sometimes he is just fidgety so i hold my hand out, but either way this is one of my favorite things.

back seat bffs.

after dinner, i stood at the counter and had a bite of cake from these cute little jars lee got me. luca came over with his mouth gaping open, like you see here and it was so cute/funny that mom and H decided to join in.

girls night out.

drew holcomb and the neighbors happened to be playing in charlotte on saturday night, and i happened to put myself on the guest list before i quit.

penny & sparrow opened, and later came out to sing a couple songs with drew.

one thing i hadn't realized had shifted until this night was the difference between attending a show as just an attendee and not an employee. i've seen drew play multiple times, but they were either smaller shows, shows where he was the opener, or shows that were out of the ordinary (the ryman, moon river festival). it was so fun to watch him play a headlining set to a room packed full of people. i've said it before, but drew really is an incredible musician, and he puts on an incredible show.

it's easy to get caught up in the mundane (and sometimes frustrating) tasks that come with working in an office. it's easy to forget what the bigger picture looks like, and what (and who) you're actually working for. now that i'm back on the outside, it was so nice to see what it looks like, all put together. it was so nice to remember,

that is what i was working for

.

on sunday, we celebrated my birthday with a photo shoot and red velvet cake.

^ this series, highlighting the hilarity of awkward hand placement, makes me laugh.

(stoked that lee was a willing participant here.)

happy twenty six.

serious about our hand holding.

we ran out to do some quick errands, and he naps the best in the car. killing two birds with one stone and all that.

he was tired/cranky and the hand holding was a thing that made him less cranky, and simultaneously made my heart melt. when he fell asleep like that, it reminded me of the night before T and lee moved to charlotte, and T and i fell asleep holding hands. there's something about that level of love and comfort. that's what i drive to charlotte every month for, so that he knows i'll be there to hold his hand while he falls asleep.

(also, how strange it is to remember that time, before any of us moved, and before luca.)

playing soccer, and a terrible attempt at a high five.

this is what it looks like to facetime with luca. (also, his kiss face!)

a kiss for uncle J and abs.

and a kiss for auntie.

i got these things for my birthday. the black boots, the black leather jacket, and the black and white scarf. (black and white on black and white. life motto.) at random times throughout the day, i would say things like, "does anyone want to see what my new jacket looks like again?" and then proceed to put it on again.

which is why i look like this while facetiming inside the house:

i have no photos for what happened post-sunday, but it was a lot of hanging out and then driving back to nashville.