In this week’s friDIARY, I’m sharing how I spent a full day with hot air balloons, going to a luau-themed party and more!
Countdown to leaving Louisiana: 13 days
Kyle and I are currently in New Orleans soaking up all the history of the city and, more importantly, eating all of the Cajun cuisine we can get our hands on. This 4-day road trip is like a pre-game for the 2 1/2-week road trip we’ll be taking next month on our way to our new home in Ohio. But more on that next week.
This past week was so fun. As our time in Louisiana continues to dwindle, we’re focusing on squeezing the most out of this little city as we can.
HOT AIR BALLOONS
Apparently the Hot Air Balloon Nationals are a thing. Even though they were held in Shreveport for the past few years, I never really thought about it until I volunteered for them this year. Who knew that hot air ballooning was such a big hobby? Not me. How do people even get into racing hot air balloons? Honestly, I have so many questions.
The company I work for started an initiative where we volunteer at different events throughout the year, some charitable and some not. Volunteering for the Hot Air Balloon Nationals was the first event for this new initiative. It took place throughout the week last week, and I volunteered on Friday the 13th (yikes!).
If you watched my Insta stories, you know I woke up before the sun at 4:15 am. My co-worker, Maddie, and I were put on a measuring team where we had to assist with scoring.
Here’s the cliff notes version of how it works: Competitors are given a list of places with specific coordinates, and during a certain time frame, they have to drop specific-colored beanbags onto a giant “X” placed in the those areas. As part of the measuring team, we had to measure the distance between where they dropped their beanbag and the middle of the X.
It was so cool to see all of the hot air balloons up in the sky. It’s such an interesting concept, and it was such a neat event to get to be a part of.
In addition to volunteering at the Hot Air Balloon Nationals, I also attended the Red River Balloon Rally that evening with Kyle. When the nationals come to town, they have a two-day event called the Red River Balloon Rally with fair food and drinks, tethered hot air balloon rides and live music. They also have a balloon glow and fireworks toward the end of the night. It was my second time going, but my first time seeing the balloon glow. If you saw my Snapchat or my Insta stories, you got a little taste of all the action.
YOGA ON TAP
After publishing my 30-day Relationship Challenge, Kyle thought it would be fun for us to take on the challenge together. We’re more than halfway through the month, and we’ve been killin’ it. We decided to go in an order that works best for our schedule, and it’s been working out really well.
One of the challenges was to take a class together, so we decided to sign up for a yoga class called Yoga on Tap + Wine. The class takes place at Red River Brewery, and the price includes a glass of beer or wine. It was my second time going to the class and Kyle’s first, and by the end of it, we were sweating our asses off. Y’all, that class kicked my butt. It was worth it though, because they drew prizes at the end, and Kyle ended up winning a free facial. While we were at the Rodan + Fields table waiting to get his prize, the lady ended up giving me a kit for a facial as well, so we’re excited to do our facials together later this month.
After the yoga class, we had dinner at Fat Calf Boucherie, which is a new addition to the brewery. It used to be a food truck, but now they have a permanent home inside of the brewery. Kyle had the boucherie burger, and I had the pork belly sliders. Everything was so tasty, and we’ll probably end up going back at least one more time before we leave Louisiana.
ROOMMATE’S BIRTHDAY
My roommate turned 30 this past Sunday, so she had a luau-themed birthday party to celebrate. It was an all-day event with lots of food and tropical drinks. Kyle and I played a couple games of ladder toss and enjoyed playing DJ with my Bluetooth speaker. I donned my favorite flamingo crop top, and he got the most wonderful yellow Hawaiian shirt I’ve ever seen.
The night ended with a game of Rotten Apples and an impromptu sing-along to “I Like It” by Sammie and “Kiss Me Thru the Phone” by Soulja Boy and Sammie.
The next day, we slept in then went to Another Broken Egg for breakfast. There was a 45-minute wait, so we walked over to Baskin Robbins to get some ice cream to celebrate National Ice Cream Day. I got the creole cream cheese in a cone, and it was absolutely divine. For breakfast, I had my go to – the salmon eggs benedict. It was delicious, as per usual.
MORE GOODBYES
This week, I had to say goodbye to my friend and co-worker, Addie, who is also leaving the company we both work for. She found an incredible opportunity, and I’m so excited for her, but I’m also bummed because we worked our last day together this past Wednesday. I spend more time with Addie than I do with anyone else since we share an office together, and it makes me so sad that my last week and a half of work will be spent without her a mere five feet away from me.
On our last day of working together, members of the leadership team went to Notini’s to have a farewell lunch. At the end of the work day, the sales team went to River City Grille for happy hour.
MOVING
As I mentioned, Kyle and I will be moving next month, but I had to make a temporary move over the weekend. My roommate and I are renting a house from one of our friends, but he is coming back later this week, so I decided to move to Kyle’s house to avoid complicated car situations and whatnot for when we all have to leave at different times in the morning and to make it easier for Kyle and I to get all of our stuff moved together.
On Sunday, I moved all of my things over to his place, and Kyle and I officially became roommates. It’s his first time living with a girl outside of his family, and if you saw my Insta stories, you know he’s thrilled ๐
This week, we’ve been getting into the rhythm of living together, and it’s honestly been so nice. It makes me even more impatient for our move to Ohio because I’m so excited to get to create a space together in our first home.
What have you been up to this week?
friDIARY is a weekly series where I share tidbits about my life along with [probably too many] unfiltered photos and random thoughts, including the not-so-happy ones. Check back every Friday for a new post! Click here to read my friDIARY.
