April is always one of my favorite months, and this one has not disappointed. Spring finally arrived after a long winter (I had to forbid Dave from saying “I bet this will be the last cold front!” toward the end of March there!), just in time for so many fun celebrations that have taken place. I share a lot of these types of activities “live” on Instagram Stories, but like the idea of recording them on the blog too so I can add some stories and memories, and give them a place to last a little longer. Forgive any repetitiveness, if you follow me elsewhere :)

The flowers this year have been absolutely amazing! The way the flowering tree and bushes around here bloom one after the other in the spring always enchants me, and it seems as though all of the displays have been especially vibrant and abundant this spring. Since our church is directly across the street from the WRAL Azalea Garden, it’s easy for us to take a stroll through it weekly if we want to. The blooms are definitely in, or close to, peak right now, so if you’re in the Triangle, don’t miss them!

I made a 24-hour trip to Charleston to attend the GaL Meets Glam Collection anniversary dinner, which was such a joy! Since I work for GMG part-time and from Raleigh, I don’t get much of an opportunity to get to know the team in person, so any chance I get real face time with them is a blessing. Tara Guerard put together a gorgeous event at 86 Cannon and the whole evening was just so special for the whole team, and for everyone in attendance who has supported the brand from day one. I only snapped one quick picture of the table, but you can see lots more (better!) ones if you scroll down to the “Day 2 Dinner” section of this page.

A few days after I got back from Charleston was my 29th birthday! For the most part, it was a pretty normal Monday work day, but the GMG team sent me a gorgeous bouquet (which later doubled perfectly as Easter flowers) and Dave and I headed out for a date night downtown in the evening. We haven’t been to Poole’s, my favorite restaurant in town, since Charlie was born, because in our minds, it always meant lining up at 4:45 to catch the first seating if we wanted to avoid an hour+ wait. Well, apparently, such is not the case on a Monday! We were seated right away when we arrived at 7 and were digging into their legendary mac and cheese within half an hour :)

I meant to write a post about our Holy Week plans but didn’t get a chance to—next year! We went to Holy Thursday Mass as a family and Charlie handled it like a champ, even though it meant staying up two hours past his bedtime (something I typically avoid at ALL COSTS, ha!). We tried to keep Good Friday as quiet and focused as possible. Obviously, there are limits to that with a two-year-old, but we tried to explain even to him that we were making sacrifices for the day. I tried to get him into the spirit of the day with matching cross temporary tattoos from Just Love Prints, but Charlie’s lasted about five seconds :) Holy Saturday was a day of preparation. We did a bunch of cleaning, put up our Easter decorations, and ran a few errands to get everything together for our Easter dinner. Along with the Polish grocery store, that meant picking up our hot cross buns from Yellow Dog Bread Company! They have an amazing made-to-order Easter menu, and ordering something from it has become a tradition for us. Dave and I dug into the hot cross buns while drinking coffee on the porch during Charlie’s nap. So delicious!

On Saturday, I also met up with up with Emily for a rooftop workout class at The Durham Hotel, followed by coffee in their beautiful lobby. I think one of the greatest gifts in a friendship is when you can always pick up right where you left off—I used to sit next to Emily every day, so we knew pretty much everything that was going on with each other. Having to “catch up” with her once that was no longer the case was a little odd to me at first, but now, I’m just happy we can always do so without skipping a beat.

Finally, it was Easter!! Seeing our gorgeous church covered in Easter flowers never fails to take my breath away, and this year, they were especially stunning. Coral charm peonies everywhere! We soaked in a beautiful liturgy and then caught up with some friends outside and took our annual Easter family photo. This is one of the only holidays we have always been home for, so we’ve established some really sweet traditions for our family, this photo being one of them (here is the original!). We did a little egg hunt and a basket for Charlie (the latter for the first time) at home, made a tasty brunch, and spent most of the afternoon outside, followed by our traditional Polish dinner. After an especially heavy Lent, it was exactly the joyful and hope-filled day we’ve been longing for.

What has been the highlight of your spring so far? I’d love to hear!