Today truly is a very happy Monday….since this particular Monday marks an entire week of relaxation up north with family and friends, plenty of time to do literally whatever I want, laying in the sun, new restaurants, and no work for seven more days. I am writing this post from the deck of the house that we rented for the week, listening to music, watching the boats go by, and drinking a rosé spritzer. What could be better?
But backing up to the start of the weekend….
Friday
After an easy work day on Friday, Chris and I went to run a really exciting errand – picking out our wedding bands! I am obviously in love with the engagement ring he picked out for me, but when I went to the jeweler to get it re-sized, I loved the guy he bought it from even more. He is so sweet and fun and knowledgable and friendly and just has one of those personalities that makes you want to buy stuff from him and be his friend haha. So it was a no-brainer that we would get our wedding bands from him, too.
Now I am potentially one of the most indecisive people in the entire world, so I truthfully wasn’t looking very forward to having to sift through tons of rings to find the perfect one. I thought it would be near impossible. However, after being there for literally less than five minutes and telling our guy what I was kind of looking for, he pulled the absolute perfect ring for me. I think both him and Chris were surprised at how quickly I decided and wanted me to think about it for a little longer, but I just knew it was right.
And Chris’s was almost as easy to decide on, too! He went in with a particular kind in mind that he thought he would want, but ended up picking something totally different. It looks great on him though! I wanted to take mine right out of the store with us (they had to order a different size for him), but knew I would be too tempted to put it on or show people, so the store is holding onto it safely for now.
Once we took care of that, we went to a cute little bar/restaurant on the water for beer samplers and sandwiches for dinner before heading home to pack and get ready to leave the next morning.
Saturday
After waking up on Saturday morning and getting in a hot yoga class, Chris and I packed up the car, closed up the house, and headed out on our 4-ish hour drive to Ludington, Michigan. On our way up we stopped in Grand Rapids to eat lunch, but made really great time other than that stop. When we arrived at the house my dad found to rent for the week, we were pleasantly surprised to see that it was literally right on the water! Complete with a small boat, kayaks, rafts, a hammock, and plenty of swings/chairs to sit out on.
The house is plenty big (except for the whole two bathroom situation…) for the 9 people we have staying here and has a huge kitchen that allows us to cook most of our meals here. Saturday was spent just unpacking, sitting out by the water, grilling for dinner, and sitting around the fire at night.
Sunday
Sunday morning Chris woke me up to go for a run with him and although I certainly didn’t want to initially, I felt way better about myself after we started off the morning with four miles through the woods surrounding us. We got back home to my dad making coffee and my mom starting breakfast for all of us (wish I could have that every day!). So we cleaned ourselves up, ate breakfast, and piled into cars to head into the little town of Ludington to go to the art fair.
That really didn’t entertain us for too long so Chris and I wandered even deeper into town to explore some of the little stores and ended up stopping at a cute rooftop bar for some cocktails and lunch. After that I spent way too long in a used bookstore (my favorite) and we headed back to the house.
It was actually a little cool in the afternoon, so I read a book inside for a little while and eventually made it outside to lay out in the sun for a bit while it was still warm enough out. I swear – there is something about laying on a beach chair by the water in the sun that seems to make me lose track of time. I love not having to know what time it is, because there is really just no need to. It’s wonderful. My sister Olivia also snapped this gem of a picture of a group of us eating goldfish and drinking margaritas.
Finally I headed inside to help my mom cook dinner for all of us – homemade spaghetti, salad, and bread. After dinner we all just hung around playing cards and games outside for a while before heading into bed. I love days like this – no agenda and just doing whatever you feel like in the moment.
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Like I said, this week really has no plan other than hanging out and doing whatever seems fun at the time. I think weeks like this are so necessary every once in a while to reset and step back from the structure of everyday life. It really makes me realize what the important things in life are and what I want to prioritize long-term.
So the next few days are going to be spent without much technology, almost completely outside, and with some of the people I love the most in the world. I hope that you are getting plenty of opportunities this week to get out of the normalcy of responsibilities and really enjoy yourself with your favorite people! It’s something that I know I tend to take for granted and really don’t want to do that anymore.
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