Oh mercy, where do I even start!? At the beginning I guess.
I grew up in Memphis, but was born outside of Boston. Most of my extended family still lives in New England; we spent a lot of childhood summers up there. I graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and I bleed orange, and I will talk football until I’m blue in the face. I am a die-hard RedSox fan, in fact I have a tattoo of the B. I am a Pats girl, but I honestly can’t stand Tom Brady (there, I said it). Yes, I might slightly worship Peyton Manning, but you would too if you saw him in the hall in Humanities every Tuesday and Thursday of your senior year. I moved to NYC shortly after graduation because I could NOT get out of the South fast enough. I love that place. I made some incredible friends in my time there, but after six years of cold and crazy rent, I came back to the South with Josh in tow. And 14 years later, I’m still here.
In those 14 years there was a marriage, a baby, a divorce, second marriages, and another baby! Our family confuses a lot of people at first, and then it is not a big deal. There’s Eileen (my Mini Me), daughter of me and Josh. Then there’s Bill and I, married. And there’s Josh and Sarah, married. And there’s Edie Kay, daughter of Josh and Sarah (Edie Kay is Sarah’s Mini Me). Got all that? Good. Because there’s also Grampie, my stepdad who was with Nana, my mom for almost 30 years. Nana passed away in 2015. There’s Grandpa and Beanie, my dad and stepmom. There’s Grandma Joyce, Josh’s mom. And there’s Grandpa Roger, Sarah’s dad. And there’s Famma and Bob, Sarah’s mom and stepdad. And last but certainly not least, there’s Mamaw and Papaw, Bill’s parents. Did you count all that? That’s a lot of grandparents for our two girls, and they love it. It’s pretty damn awesome. There’s also some aunts and uncles and cousins, but I’m not going to list all of them or I may be here typing until 2020.
We operate as a large unit. I wouldn’t have it any other way. It is fantastic for the girls, awesome for homework (see, I am SO NOT CRAFTY but Sarah is a designer, so she gets to handle all things art, and I tackle all things English and History- jealous?!). All of this didn’t happen overnight, but with a lot of hard work by we four parents and a lot of dedication to these girls and our families, here we are. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.
I’m sure you’re curious about the active part of the activewear! (You can see more on activewear here). I’m a runner. Not a fast runner, but a runner. I’ve been running solidly since 2002, I’ve got some big races under my belt (there’s a tattoo for that too!). I’ve been a thin runner, an overweight runner, a fit runner and a totally crap runner. But a runner nonetheless. All that running led to a general love for working out, which then led me to discover Orange Theory Fitness in the summer of 2015 (and if you follow me at all on various social media outlets, you’re well aware of my love for OTF). This place has not only upped my fitness game, upped my overall self-confidence, upped my desire and passion for eating and living well, it has given me some incredible friends, without whom I’d be lost. Working out with friends might just be one of the best things on the planet, and if you’re not doing it, I recommend you start!
I’m the definition of hybrid… half New England girl and half Southern Belle, a lot of tom-boy but a stickler for hair and makeup and a lot of pink, I live for football (College and Pro) but could not care less about hockey. I love (and miss) the Big City but I also wouldn’t trade the laid back Southern Life. I adore red wine (is it wrong to adore wine?), and I certainly like a beer now and again. (warning: you may find a lot of pictures of wine throughout this blog). My daughter is a mini-me with a shot of my sister in there somewhere, and in case you weren’t sure, everything I do, I do for Mini.
All of those opposites make for a pretty open-minded me. I (strongly, really strongly) believe love is love is love – who the hell cares if it is two men, two women, or a man and a woman. It is not my business where you choose to worship, or if you choose not to worship at all, as long as you treat people well. I think that if you are in this country illegally, but are contributing to society and not committing crimes, then let’s get you legal instead of sending you away. I think if you are on welfare, that you should have to take random drug tests. I’m happy to share my dollars to help you out, but I want you to prove you’re doing the best you can. I believe if you cause harm to a child or to an animal, there’s a special place in Hell for you. I also believe that our government is ridiculously over-run with corruption, out-of-touch officials, and frankly there are way too many old, rich white men. You get a bunch of women – moms, not moms, working moms, SAHMs – up in that DC Corridor and damn, I bet we’d have this country ship-shape in just a couple of years.
I digress. I honestly try to keep the politics at bay, because despite my strong opinions, I try really hard to honor the mindsets of “to each his own” and “treat others as you’d like to be treated.”
Ultimately, I think I’m a pretty simple girl. My family is my reason for being, I would be lost without my friends, I do like my wine, and working out & running are my happy pills.
#nowyouknow
Adventures In Active Wear 