I Cried Over That English Ivy

The rain held off this weekend and I thought "awesome, another day to work in the yard!" So Saturday morning I was up and at Lowe's before 10am (who. am. i.) buying the remainder of the rose bushes I want to put in front of the house. I have this very specific picture in my imagination of what I want the yard to look like. I came home ready to knock it all out and that's where the day took a turn.
I decided to use the lawnmower to clean up the leaves in the yard, because raking took way too much time and effort. Of course, I forgot how much of a pain in the butt my lawnmower is. It was free, so I can't complain, but I'm going to anyways. It's not actually propelled. That part of the lawnmower doesn't work, I have to physically push it. Guys. I fell down trying to push the lawnmower. 

Once I finished with the leaves, I moved on to clearing the spot for one more of my rose bushes. I know I talked about the ivy last week, I could write a book on trying to get rid of that stuff. I *thought* that it was being held at bay, that it wasn't growing back where the pine straw was. Then I pulled a vine and it pulled up all of the pine straw up to the driveway. I was so frustrated, I really did start crying. 

I keep telling myself that this yard thing is a work in progress, that it will be better the more I work at it, that all of the hard work is building to something. It's just very frustrating to spend six hours working in the yard and for it to honestly be at that stage where it's a bigger mess before it gets clean. I'm going to keep on truckin' mostly because I don't want it to stay in the state of disaster it is in right now. Do you have any yard suggestions? 

Five For Friday!

WE MADE IT GUYS. This week was a long one, I really wasn't sure we would make it to Friday. It was one of those weeks when Tuesday felt like Thursday and you just couldn't catch up. I wish that today was Saturday though, because it's supposed to be sunny and 80 degrees today, but rain tomorrow. Can I just get a sunny Saturday please? 
1// Hot. Yoga. Y'all. yesterday I took a FIVE THIRTY AM hot yoga class at be yoga. It kicked my butt, but it was awesome at the same time. My core is still sore today. Remember that time I did 30 days at the barre?! I don't think I could do 30 straight days of this, but I think I might stick to once a week or something...

2// We're getting SO CLOSE to Beauty and the Beast. I'm seriously considering buying this shirt to wear to the premiere. I need everyone's input please. It looks so soft and comfy! But also I'm allegedly an adult, so does that make it a frivolous purchase?

3//Wanderlust. I subscribe to all of those travel deal e-mails and it's killing me. I want to buy one of the trips that are on flash sale and just jump on a plane. I confess, I enter all of the sweepstakes that they tease me with too. I know the odds of winning are about the same as winning the actual lottery, but you can't win if you don't play, right? Turns out heavy planning for Ireland & Scotland next summer isn't tiding me over. Have you been anywhere exciting lately? Can I go with you next time?

4// House of pups. I've been dog sitting this week, so there are more dogs in the house than humans. I mean, there's just Albus & Little Bear, but still. Albus was so stressed out about a dog being in his house while he was in his crate, that I've been letting him stay outside of the crate. We're 2 for 2 on days out of the crate without destroying anything, so hopefully we make it a perfect three for three today.
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5// Kroger. Flowers. I bought the manager's special daisies on Super Bowl Sunday, they're STILL pretty in their little vases all around the house. I don't know if we've ever talked about my obsession with daisies, but they're my absolute favorite flower ever. They just make a room so happy and bright and I just love them. Not that I'm too picky about any flowers that are beautiful, but feel free to make it a drinking game every time my instagram features them. I think this one yesterday makes at least three since I brought them home...
What were the highlights of your week? Do you have your Beauty & the Beast tickets yet? 

HAPPY National Margarita Day!

Let's start this out by saying I certainly don't need a day to drink margaritas, but I'm definitely using it as an excuse to talk about them today! I consider myself a bit of a connoisseur of margaritas, so I thought we'd talk about some of my favorite places to get a margarita. 

Obviously, my favorite place for margaritas is going to be my back porch. Maybe tied with poolside somewhere. Here's my go to margarita recipe. Simple, straightforward, nothing fancy. NOW let's talk fancy though. 
This. This margarita is from Chantico Burrito on the Marietta Square. This place is awesome. This was their summer margarita that hung over into fall a little bit. It was a peach puree and some spicy salt and oh my goodness was it delicious. They make all of their margarita stuff fresh, nothing leftover or mass produced. Even their house margaritas are all made fresh, no big batch sitting up on the back of the bar. 
Los Magueys is up in Paulding county by my dad's house. It's your typical little neighborhood Mexican restaurant, which is why it's delicious. They also have a pretty heavy pour when it comes to the tequila, which really is the way to my heart, if we're being honest. Plus. They have this dish called the Maguey Special which is rice drowning in cheese dip with shrimp and chicken or pork. YUM.
Last, but not least, we have El Taco in the Virginia Highlands. El Taco is a fun little place, they have a salsa bar, tasty food, and a fun little giveaway where everyone gets tokens and they spin a wheel at the top of the hour for prizes like free queso. They do make their house margaritas in a large batch, but the pitchers are super affordable and delicious

What are your favorite margaritas? Any favorites in the Atlanta area that I missed? Anyone craving a margarita at 8:30 am now?