{Monthly} Midweek Ramblings

 April 2023:

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Highs of the Month:

• Celebrating Ryan and I's first dating anniversary! I feel like I blinked and our first year of dating has passed. What a year it's been! I shared a recap of how we celebrated in this blog post. 
• Getting to attend the Newport News and Norfolk tours for Virginia's Historic Garden Week! This is an annual spring event that takes place in cities and towns all over Virginia. I was able to get complimentary media tickets through work for two of the local tours. They're all self-guided tours, and you get to see stunning local private gardens, as well as the insides of some beautiful homes as well. I hope to attend some of these tours in future years as well.
• Spending a weekend in Richmond and getting to catch up with my friends Caroline and Cara! I love Richmond and I don't get up there as often now as I did when I lived in Charlottesville. This was also one of the weekends with the least amount of hip pain I've had, and I was able to walk the whole weekend pain-free. (I am still recovering from a partial tear and bad case of bursitis in my left hip since late January).

Lows of the Month:

• This has been one of the most randomly expensive months of my adult life. Being financially responsible is very important to me, but there were just so many random (yet necessary) expenses that all hit in April. I know that it's okay to have the occasional expensive month, and I am thankful that I'm diligent about saving so that I won't be experiencing any credit card debt and can pay these bills in full next month. But there's still a weird guilt feeling I haven't been able to shake this month. Can anyone else relate when you haven an unusually expensive month?
• My hip pain coming back at the end of April. The bursitis had really felt like it was healing up for much of early April, but last weekend I was in a lot of pain again and had to go back to taking the medicine I had been on in March twice a day again. I'm wrapping up physical therapy in the next two weeks and a little nervous about that since the pain has been bad again lately. I'm so ready to be fully pain-free again and back to my normal workout routines!
• A lot of health anxiety in general. Between my hip pain flaring up again and being nervous for an unrelated health screening that I'll be having later this week, I feel like I've been in a constant internal state of health worries so far this year. 

April Weekend Recaps:

• 31st-2nd - My friend Kelly was visiting this area from Charlottesville, and we met up at a local cat cafe in Norfolk on Saturday morning! Such a fun morning meeting some cute cats and taking a stroll through that part of Norfolk after. On Saturday evening, I had my friend Sierra over to bake and decorate Easter sugar cookies. On Sunday, Ryan and I went to church and then went for an afternoon walk at Norfolk Botanical Garden. April is such a lovely month at the garden.
• 7th-9th - Easter weekend! On Friday night, Ryan helped me cook dinner at my place, and then we caught up on Love is Blind. I had tickets from work to a Chase Rice concert in Downtown Norfolk on Saturday night. I took a few friends from Junior League to the show with me, and we had dinner beforehand at Luce, which is a great Italian restaurant in Norfolk. Sunday was Easter! Ryan's parents came to our church with us, and then we went to lunch after. I spent the rest of the day watching Masters Sunday and baking cupcakes.
• 14th-16th - On Saturday morning, Ryan and I went to a coffee meet-up with some other 20s-30s somethings from our church. I hadn't gotten too plugged in yet with my church in Virginia Beach, so it was nice to finally meet some other people our age! Afterwards, I drove up to Richmond for the night. I spent Saturday night at my friend Caroline's house, and on Sunday I met up for brunch and city exploring with my friend Cara. That night I tried stay up past my bedtime to watch the Love is Blind live finale, but as we all know now that was a huge disaster for Netflix. 😜
• 21st-23rd - I spent Saturday morning volunteering at our largest Junior League fundraiser event of the year, Touch-a-Truck! On Saturday evening, I went to my friend Bea's 30th birthday party. It was a garden themed dinner party, and just a wonderful evening! Sunday after church Ryan and I headed up to Cape Charles for our anniversary day trip! 
• 28th-30th - On Friday, I went to my first workout class at the gym in three months (Unfortunately I think I overdid it, as I had a good amount of hip discomfort all weekend). After the gym, I went to Ryan's apartment, and he cooked me a delicious dinner! Ryan makes an amazing chicken piccata and it's always a treat when he makes it. On Saturday, I met my friend Kelsie at a new winery and restaurant in Norfolk called Water's Edge for drinks and charcuterie! On Saturday evening, I took a solo trip to the beach and then treated myself to Dairy Queen. On Sunday, Ryan and I went to church and then to his parents' house after. Then in the afternoon, I met a few girlfriends for Afternoon High Tea at The Cavalier Hotel! Going to a formal tea is always such a treat. There was a bad tornado in parts of Virginia Beach Sunday evening, I am very thankful it didn't hit my neighborhood! 

April Purchases:

• I did very little shopping for myself this month as it was an expensive month in other ways. Ryan randomly gave me some Kohls gift cards that he'd had for a while and didn't want anymore, and I did use those to get a few things. My favorite purchase with them was a fun spring/summer work dress that's maroon and pink. The exact one I got is sold out online, but it's from this clothing line!
• I also picked up some new t-shirts that I have to tell you about. I feel like sometimes it can be tough to find a truly good quality yet flattering basic women's t-shirt. I picked up three of these t-shirts in various colors and I love them! They're frequently on sale, too. I  happened to catch them on a super deal and they were under $10 each!

April Blog Posts:

• HOTEL GUIDE: The Caribe Hilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico
• TRAVEL GUIDE: San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Relationship Monday: Our First (Dating) Anniversary Recap

    

      God Bless,

      xoxo Annaliese