A Life's Checklist

Manicures? Check.  Pedicures? Check.  Facial masks at midnight? Check.  Shopping? Check...(duh).  Loads of giggling? Check.  Even a little partaking in sushi consuming? Check.

If you follow Her Late Night Cravings on Twitter, you might have seen something about me heading west to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia for a little mini-vacay to spend some much needed & overdue "girlie-time" with two of my favorite girls on Earth.  One being my amazing big sister, Tracy.  The other being this precious thirteen-year-old girl, and when I say precious I mean just that...this girl is precious to me in every way...

Life too often becomes way too "busy" to stop & smell the roses.  Sometimes you need that little reminder (or a swift kick in the butt) to put life into perspective & to be reminded that moments with the people that you love the most are going to be the memories that you'll hold onto forever...not cleaning the house or running errands or even painting your finger nails (yes, I said it). 

Well...consider me having just spent two days in the best florist shop in the world.  Not only did I stop & realize how much I have missed spending time with these two incredibly special people in my life, but I will also look back at those two days for the rest of my life as a pivotal moment when I realized that my one & only niece, Taylor, is blossoming into an incredible young woman...no longer our little girl.  This particular girl's zest for life & devotion to everything from her family to her friends to all of her MANY extra-curricular activites (and I do mean MANY...she wears me out just thinking about the schedule she maintains) makes me recognize that she's growing up in the blink of an eye.  I could swear that just a few months ago she was five years old & I was trying to get her to sit still long enough for me to put her hair in pigtails.  Some things haven't changed...I was still trying to get her to hold still long enough for me to do her hair, but now it's more along the lines of straightening her hair instead of doing pigtails.  And applying a little (age-appropriate) makeup for a mini-"photo shoot" that we decided to conduct on a whim.

We hit the Blue Ridge Parkway on Tuesday for some scenic stops to snap a few pictures of this girl before she grows up right before our eyes.  I hope that day will always mean as much to her as it will to me.  We didn't even let a little rain shower ruin our photo parade...

It had been far too long since the last time we had some good quality time alone together & I can assure you that it will not be that long until we do it again.  

And for those nay-sayers who say that gymnast aren't "athletes"...all I have to say is "Really??...Really???"  I beg to differ...

 

I was able to film a little of Tay's tumbling practice on Monday night.  She will be entering the 8th grade next year, but she has already made the high school JV cheering squad.  I'm only a little bit proud of her...can you tell?!?  ;)

Thank you guys for following the blog & for letting me ramble on for a minute about a couple of days that I will never, ever forget.

And a girl who makes me very proud to be her Aunt?? Check.

Mendi