friDIARY #1 | Parties, Birthdays, the 4th & Some Realness

Keep up with everything going on in my life with my new series, friDIARY!

New series alert, my friends!

I’m working on year six (holy cow!) of my blogging journey, and lemme tell ya, I’ve let it stress me out way too many times. I miss the days where I published content that was easy to write because I was authentically sharing my thoughts and writing about things going on in my life. Even if those aren’t the posts that are going viral on Pinterest, they are the posts that I personally enjoy going back and rereading.

My blog has evolved about as much as I have over the years, and with so many changes on the brink, I want to not only document my journey, but also be able to share that journey with my friends, family and followers. In my new series, friDIARY, I’ll be sharing unfiltered bits and pieces of my life along with lots of pictures (*ahem* selfies) and plenty of random thoughts.

MURDER MYSTERY PARTY
Last week, I hosted a murder mystery dinner party, and it was so much fun! I’ll be sharing all the details with tips for hosting your own murder mystery dinner party later. For now, all you need to know is we had a pasta bar for dinner, and now I feel like I should have a pasta bar at all of my parties, and everyone got into character and dressed the part, including me, who played a man.

SISTER’S BIRTHDAY
My sister turned 22 last month, and we did a couple little celebrations. On the evening of her birthday, she, my mom, and I went to dinner at Copeland’s Cheesecake Bistro. We all got drinks and shared the crab and crawfish bake for an app.

Random fact: I used to work at Cheesecake Bistro as a hostess during my senior year of high school and my freshman year of college. Part of our training was to try things on the menu. The crab and crawfish bake was by far my favorite appetizer. They never give you enough bread though.

For dinner, I had the crawfish ravioli – my go to. For dessert, we shared a turtle cheesecake, and holy geez, it’s been so long since I’ve had cheesecake! It was freaking delicious.

The weekend of my sister’s birthday, she, her boyfriend, her two best friends and Kyle and I went to the Dare pool at Horseshoe Casino. The last time I went was when Kyle promoted to Captain, so I was excited to go again. The experience was wayyy different than what I remember. Let’s just say, people were gettin’ pretty wild. I had fun enjoying a couple strawberry daqs poolside though.

SHIP FRIEND REUNION
While I was working on the Carnival Elation, and I was so lucky to meet some incredible people, including my friend, Sharene, who made a trip to Louisiana. Another one of our ship friends, Holli, was competing in the Miss Louisiana pageant (and she won!), and Sharene drove to Louisiana to surprise her. While she was in Monroe, we decided to meet up for brunch at a restaurant called Cotton. It was worth getting lost on my hour and a half drive. We got to catch up over a delicious meal (I had bottomless mimosas and shrimp and grits) and chat about life. It made me miss ship life so much, but it also made me appreciate the friendships I made while I was on my year-long adventure.

Now I’m counting down the days until I get to have another ship reunion in August with Dann in Seattle!

JULY 4TH
My 4th of July was spent celebrating my friends’ engagement! They had a pool party with authentic Mexican food made by the bride’s dad. Kyle and I spent most of the evening lounging in the pool and sipping on Watermelonritas.

Prior to that, we went to Graft Raft Brewery to attend their annual “Independents” Day event. It was the first time Kyle and I had been to Great Raft in so long because we’re pretty privy to Flying Heart, and after we got there, I remembered why. Great Raft is the only brewery in town that solely serves craft beer. As a non-beer drinker, I’m less likely to go to these places. We still had a great time though.

We got a half rack of ribs and truck fries from the Southern Fork food truck. Neither of us had ever had their food before, and it was freaking amazing. They had a BBQ sauce called “Best Damn BBQ Sauce,” and I believe it. It was so tasty with the truck fries. They also had a series of different bands playing throughout the day, and while we were there, the Savage Trio was onstage. Kyle and I are a big fan of seeing local bands, but this was our first time seeing them, and we really enjoyed it. They played some great covers.

THE HOLLOW DECKS
Speaking of local bands, Kyle and I went to see our favorite local cover band, The Hollow Decks. They’re a 90s cover band, and this was our fifth time seeing them. They played at the Tiki Bar, which we had never been to, and our friends, Sarah and Thomas, joined us. We always have an amazing time seeing the Hollow Decks because they play all of our favorite songs from the 90s.

THE REALNESS…
Along with enjoying the limited amount of time I have left in Louisiana, I’ve also had a few days where I got caught up in self-doubt and questioning my worth. I take things very personally. I wear my heart on my sleeve, and I’m the most emotional person I’ve ever known in my life.

I truly believe that friendships and relationships are a give and take. You should get out of it what you put in, and when you feel like you are giving so, so, so much more than the other person, then maybe it’s time to take a step back and reevaluate that relationship. To me, friendships aren’t supposed to be stressful. People are brought into your life for different reasons, and there are so many different kinds of friendships, but when the negative aspects of a relationship start taking over, it may be time to cut ties.

I’m the worst at this because I give people the benefit of the doubt to the point of it not even making sense, but the older I get the more I realize how incredibly unhealthy that is. You don’t need people in your life who don’t prioritize you and who don’t listen to you. The people who deserve to be in your life are the people who value you and give to you as much as you give them.

I’ve struggled so much in the past because I put way too much value in the opinions of others. If I don’t feel valued in a friendship or relationship, it takes a toll on me. I had a huge breakdown earlier this week, and I’m beyond grateful that I had people there to listen to me and pick up the pieces. Remember that not all people are meant to be in your life forever, and if there are people who cause you more negative thoughts and feelings than positive ones then it may be time to change things up a little. You have to do what’s best for you, and you have to make sure you always prioritize yourself and your sanity.

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.