Happy Birthday America!

Fourth of July is definitely one of my favorite holidays

it is no secret that I love a day spent on the beach or boat with family and friends 

and that is what America's birthday in Wilmington is all about

this year marked my seventh year spent on Figure Eight Island with the same group of wonderful friends

the hubs and I nailed it with our Walmart America gear

Jared and I spent the evening at a wine and craft beer spot just up the road from my mom's house where we sipped drinks, listened to live music, watched some fireworks and discussed our move back to Raleigh

perfect ending to a perfect day with a perfect guy :) 

Fermental, the cutest little bar near Middle Sound

with the Fourth being on a Friday this year, it meant we had even more time at the beach

so yep, you guessed it, Saturday was another day on the island

Jared and Will had the brilliant idea of bringing a dolly for the coolers and trekking it all around

major fail: they ended up getting in too deep [literally] and almost drowned with that damn dolly getting out to the boat

happy happy happy 

what better way to end a day like that?

with dinner and drinks at Dockside of course 

the next day we traveled back to Raleigh with my mom to look at some open houses

I did the unthinkable in the house buying process

I fell in love before we knew where we stood on pricing

not good Lauren, not good. 

on another note, I bought a new curling wand with recommendation from Megan at Style Me Swanky

using the Remington Teardrop Curling Wand from the ever so lovable Target hit the spot

loved the way it made looser curls and gave it a little carefree feel

finally, have I mentioned that I love my coworkers

our patient advocate found me yesterday and said, "I have a surprise for you!" and gave me this Coke with my name on it! 

so sweet :) 

yep, that's my name!

sadly, today is my one day off this week

which means it will be filled with errands and cleaning