Where have you been bluemopheads: book two

Happy fall! It's been a while. Over 4 months since I last posted. What have I been doing since our spring break trip to San Francisco? A little of a lot.

Here's my story...

Chapter 1: My boy becomes an adult. In June, we traveled with our temple to Israel for almost two weeks. It was an amazing trip. One we will never forget mostly because my older son had his bar mitzvah there --  something I highly recommend. A short preview of my upcoming blog post.

{old city of jerusalem}

{spices -- machane yehuda market in jerusalem}

{view from the top of masada}

{hummus at every meal}

Chapter 2: Diary of a swim team mom. As is custom, the month of June revolved around my younger son's swim team season. I'll keep this brief. If you want to get a comprehensive overview of country club swim leagues, read diary chapters one and two. The Israel trip put a crimp in the schedule. Missing two weeks of practice does not bode well for a receiving a coveted spot on the championship team. To help secure one, my husband found places for him to train all over Israel, including Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and a kibbutz in the north near the Golan Heights. This is serious business. Geography was not going to get in the way. The hard work paid off.  They won both of his relays and the overall team championship. Everyone was happy. I, of course, was relieved when it was all over.

 {highlight of the season -- drink beer and keep track of your kid's events made easy!}

Chapter 3: Independence Day in Rosemary Beach. We rented a house in Rosemary Beach for the July 4th week. I was so looking forward to it. But things got complicated with the championship meet (that I wasn't counting on), which took place that Tuesday night. We ended up going to the beach in shifts. My husband flew back to Atlanta to watch the meet and then flew back with the champion Wednesday. Lucky for me, they streamed the meet live online so I got to watch it with bloody mary's in hand. The best of both worlds although I admittedly was happy to be on the Rosemary end of the deal.

{gulf side beach reading. i highly recommend disclaimer}

 {what's new on 30a? joe loves lobster rolls not to be missed}

{and, beautiful new homes on the south side of alys beach}

Chapter 4: My baby turns 1. Rory spent six weeks training in the country. She was supposed to come to the beach with us, but that plan was foiled for reasons I will not disclose. We were disappointed that we couldn't celebrate her first birthday with her. But, she did have a pool party with her gun dog friends. Although her water retrievals improved significantly, she returned home with few noticeable changes in the obedience department. Seems you can take the girl out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the girl.

{happy 1st birthday rory!}

Chapter 5. Namaste and noshing. I officially put pilates on the back burner and took up yoga at Form Yoga in Decatur to improve my strength and flexibility. Love it! My goal is to do a hand stand. It might take a few years, but I'm determined. In pursuit of that inversion, I purchased some cute (but pricey) yoga clothes from Sweaty Betty -- my new go to for active wear. As Derek Blasberg points out -- the gear impacts the performance. So true. In between classes, I spent most of my time eating (and drinking). You could find me at least once a week at the Krog Street Market or over on the west side dining. I don't want to spoil any of my upcoming blog posts, but some notable faves are JCT Kitchen, Superica, Fred's Meat & Bread and Yalla.

{photo credit: form yoga studio. i'm currently at handstand stage #2. final stage tba}

{oh so healthy cheese steak & fries from fred's}

Chapter 6: Decatur does Rosemary. We just returned from another fabulous week in Rosemary for fall break. Rory came with us. She put her water skills to good use. Lots of our Decatur friends were there relieving us from too much family togetherness. Always a good thing. The weather and company were perfect. Can't wait to go back.

{first stop: dinner at george's}

{my little pool otter}

{i love rosemary beach}

{one of many spectacular sunsets}

A good note to end on.

I'll be back soon. Until then, you can find me most days on Instagram.