Hey guys…long time, no chat, huh?

I didn’t mean to disappear from the blog all week, but with my office move, an ultra-clingy baby, and other life going on, I’m kind of glad I took a little blog-cation, if you will. It was nice to take a little breather from social media and focus more on the “here and now.” Plus, I haven’t been ignoring the blog entirely. Last week I managed to import all of my old files to the new space (hooray!!!), and I think we’re getting close to going live. So… stay tuned! 🙂

Now’s a good time to talk about the latest Top 3 Friday.

Top 3 Eats

1) Greek salad + California avocado sandwich // So…this last week’s meals were just OK, hence why this so-so combo from Atlanta Bread Company is making the top 3. Plus it’s one of the few things I photographed. The sandwich was good (avocado, tomato, lettuce, red onion + a dill mayo sauce), but the Greek salad was drowning in dressing. Next time I’ll ask for it on the side. ABC is good, but Panera is better. Lesson learned.

2) Brinner // Last night we cooked up some eggs, bacon, and waffles and called it dinner. Can you ever go wrong with breakfast for dinner? (The answer is, of course, “no.”)

3) Berry Beet Juice // Do drinks count as eats? I picked up these 2 new (to me) Evolution Fresh juices because they were on sale at Publix. The greens blend was OK (I’m not used to straight-up veggie juice since we don’t own a juicer), but the berry beet blend was really tasty. A little too sweet, but it was refreshing enough to buy again as a treat.

Top 3 Lows

1) Ok, this is a big one. We found out last Friday that my childhood best friend’s mother died. She had been in a nursing home/assisted living facility since early 2011 when she had a major stroke, but it still took me (and most, I imagine) by surprise since I’d talked to my friend’s dad no more than a month ago and she’d been doing ok (cognitively she was well, but physically she was confined to a bed).

This woman was like my second mother from age 3 until middle school. My friend and I, though we’re not as close now, were inseparable—we were “next door, next door neighbors” (one house was in between us), and if I wasn’t at her house, she was at mine. We were (are) sisters.

She was such a warm and loving woman—but the beautiful thing is how she lives on in her children and grandchildren. I’m amazed at her husband’s devotion to her—every day, save for the few that he was in the hospital for unexpected surgery—he was at her side. He retired early and spent the days visiting his aging father (who’s still living) and visiting her: reading to her, taking her outside to view the water, and just giving everything to her. I know it’s going to be tough for him to no longer have that sense of purpose. Thankfully, the children and step-children are very close-knit and will be one another’s support.

The service was beautiful—it was a perfect tribute to her and I know she would’ve been pleased with it. <3

2) These other lows seem trivial, but…I feel like I’m unable to do anything by myself at home because Bazooka’s separation anxiety and clinginess to “ma-ma” is strong. It’s a struggle just to pack our lunches in the morning because he wants to be held the whole time. On one hand, I love it because it means he wants to be with me and feels comforted, but it’s also discouraging because I need some space! Plus, it makes my sweet husband feel pretty terrible when Bazooka starts wailing for me instead of him. This too shall pass…

Random photo of the baby to break up text 😉

3) Our weekend trip is postponed. Mark’s grandma was sick this past week, so they’re not traveling to see my in-laws until later in June (hopefully). Since vacation days don’t grow on trees, we decided to postpone as well. I guess the good thing is we will have another quiet weekend at home, and Bazooka can continue to get over his cold (he’s still not 100% from last week). Plus, I think I’m coming down with a cold (my throat is sore as I type this). Ugh…

Top 3 Highs

1) My new office. I mentioned it last week, but I swear, I am just so happy to be surrounded by people again. I never realized how much I crave adult conversation until everybody moved from my old office and I was surrounded by cubicle walls. Since we’re still kind of figuring out my workload, I feel like I’ve been running my mouth nonstop. Hopefully I’m not too annoying?…

2) The Food Entrepreneur Summit that Nicole Culver organized. I initially felt foolish forking out $ for this (it wasn’t that much, but still), but I’m really enjoying the videos so far and have learned a lot. It’s so fun to put faces and voices with text, you know? Now I feel like I really “know” some of the bloggers whose words I’ve been reading for years.

3) I’ll go into detail on this later (I may devote a whole post to it), but I’m so pleased with the results of my survey from last week. Maybe it just means I’m not a popular enough blog to have any vocal “haters,” but all of the responses were positive and polite. It gave me some ideas for future content, too, and trying to appeal to what you guys like as well as doing my own thing. So thanks to those of you who took the time to answer!

Top 3 Links

1) Why Out-Exercising Your Diet Isn’t The Answer // Bucket List Tummy

2) Unstoppable: The Strongest Woman I Know // SuzLyfe

3) How To Make Healthy Habits That Last // Skinny Fitalicious

So tell me…

• What are your top 3 [pick a topic]?
• If you’re a juice drinker—what’s your favorite combination?