We started off 2017 by me, being the amazing, awesome wife that I am (hold for applause) planning and executing a surprise birthday party for Mr Tan Lines, again! If you recall, I planned a surprise trip to Smashville for his 30th so I wanted to do something special again! I planned a ski weekend with his best friends from Alabama, S&R and my sister and BIL!
So I found this amazing VRBO cabin and we made the trek to Beech Mountain, it's 20 minutes north, south or something who knows from Asheville, NC!
{Lunch at Wicked Weed}
{Gangs all here!}
I still can't ski/snowboard to save my life, but everyone else in the group did and really enjoyed themselves! We cooked some delicious steaks, played card games and all in all had a great weekend!
{Beech Mountain January 2017}
February had me traveling around for work, so I spent some time in Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head Island cruising around!
{Sonesta Resort, Hilton Head Island}
{The dirty Myrtle}
Back in November 2016 we decided to do this crazy stupid thing of running a half marathon in July 2017...the ONLY reason I agreed was because said half marathon was in Napa, yes NAPA VALLEY. AKA WINE HEAVEN. So we began training in January, in March we ran our first big race, Get to the Green 10k right here in Cola. It was raining, it was cold and it was 0% fun, but I got green beer and a hecka good chilaquiles at the end soooo there's that!
{6 miles in the books}
{Publico House for beers and food}
April brought on even more lake days and #sundayfundays!
{Let the sun shine that's why God made summertime!}
Why yes, that is a crazy person in a wet suit because he just HAD to get back out there. The water was icy y'all, no way I was getting in!
{Captain Lily}
{Marley boy}
In April we jetted back to Virginia in time to celebrate the twins very 1st birthday! It was Star Wars themed and it was amazing! We hosted it at Maggiano's in Tysons and that was so delicious!
{My nephews!}
In May we got to do one of the COOLEST things ever. I crossed off something from my bucket list that I never knew I needed, we got to attend THE Kentucky Derby! I'll probably do a more in-depth post about it with tips and details, but here is an overview! We arrived Thursday evening, and stayed at the infamous Galt House Hotel. It was amazing.
{Kentucky Oaks 2017}
Saturday is the big day, we got up early, the races start at 10:30am (if I remember correctly) and we made our way over!
We got to see the horses!
HAT HAT HAT HAT
It was SO much fun wearing the hat!
There is a trick to betting, but once we figured it out it was so much fun and super easy!
{When at Churchill Downs}
May brought on my 31st birthday and another trip to Nashville! We had some amazing food, Henrietta Red and The Southern just to mention a few, and we got to go to what was then the newly opened FGL House!
{BADONKADONK}
{Aperol Spritz @Henrietta Red}
{Deacon's House!}
{#springsteen}
The other reason we headed to Nashville was to see The Chief, Eric F*cking Church. No really, that was his slogan for 2017! He put on a FANTASTIC show, for just kind of standing there playing his guitar. We really had a great time!
June brought on more lake days!
#mermaidlife
Also, at this point I was trying to convince Mr Tan Lines that Hawaii should be the destination for our 5 year anniversary trip in 2018! We picked somewhere much better though!
July brought on the love! We spent the weekend prior to 4th of July in Georgia with Mr Tans Lines family playing in the pool and eating yummy barbecue!
We also got to celebrate our friends engagement which was so exciting!
{July 2017}
#milesofmemories
July was also half marathon month! We decided to spend a few days in San Francisco before making the 45 minute drive over to Napa!
We did all of the classic tourist things in San Fran, like calling it San Fran haha
{The Painted Ladies}
{Lombard Street}
{Walking down Lombard Street}
{Pier 39}
The place where we had the BEST clam chowder and fish n' chips guys!
We visited the famous Ghirardelli store and got some delicious ice cream Lt. Dan!
I got to do the thing!
One really cool thing we did was the Alcatraz night tour! It definitely heightened your senses! It was also nice because we had the entire day to see the city, then headed off to do this for the evening!
THE cell!
I guess I shouldn't look so happy standing in prison!
We headed out for Napa bright and early the next day, rented a convertible and drove over the Golden Gate Bridge which was so cool and yes I sang EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK the entire time!
This was the best view we got of the bridge! We tried 3 different times but got fogged out each time!
Napa & Sonoma were absolutely amazing and will definitely have their own posts at some point! We at so much delicious food and drank so much amazing wine! It was also one of the most relaxing vacations we have ever had! We made the trip with our favorites S&R. This was their 3rd time running this particular half and their favorite by far!
This was from the first day, picking up our race packets at Cornerstone Park!
Two hours in and I already wanted to move there!
So we went to A LOT of vineyards and restaurants over the course of four days, so I'll just post one picture from each and a few notes!
{Andretti Winery} Yes, owned by Mario Andretti!
Also, doesn't it give you ROME SAVE ME VIBES
{Ty Caton}
The vintner was there and gave us a private, first class experience!
{Meadowcroft}
One of my favorites, we joined their wine club!
{Rams Gate}
{Rams Gate cont}
We also did a palate play, and got a 4 course meal paired with wine!
{Cline Cellars}
{Jacuzzi Winery}
{Quintessa}
One of my favorites! Stunning views!
{Quintessa cont}
{Castello di Amorosa}
Honestly, this place was our least favorite. It truly is the "Disneyland of Napa" and there were children everywhere! It was a circus! And the wine was bleh.
{Peju Winery}
{Beaulieu Vineyard}
{Sweet Scoops}
Worth the flight alone!
All in all, fabulous trip! Would do again in a heartbeat!
We flew out of SF so we headed back the next day, but had to make a quick pit stop at the EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK house
{Full House house}
I also got to cook a lot more over the summer!
{Bruschetta, Shrimp Alfredo, Red Velvet Cupcakes}
{Arroz con Pollo}
{Chicken Cordon Bleu and Brussel Sprouts}
Our first wine shipment came in August!
My family came down to visit in August for the coolest thing ever, the solar eclipse! We happened to be in the path of totality which was SO INCREDIBLE!!
{Columbia Fireflies game}
#letsglow
{Liberty on the Lake}
{Solar Eclipse}
Then this happened and my life was forever changed.
"Look What You Made Me Do" by Taylor Swift came out and that bitched f*cking changed the entire music world with it!!
I also went up to Virginia in August to spend time with the twins, they are getting so big!
I got to see my BFF and gamble in the new MGM at the National Harbor!
{Besties}
I won $0
September meant football season was back! We headed to Auburn for the season opener!
{married life}
{WAR EAGLE}
Mr Tan Lines also spend the summer building, yes, he built these two amazing pieces of furniture for our house! A custom coffee table and matching dog crate for our babies! Next up will be our matching dining room table!
{Custom dog crate}
{Coffee table}
{Puppies enjoying a gorgeous October day at the puppy park!}
And then we were in October! Anniversary month! Yay! What were we to do?? Head back to Nashville with S&R that's what! We hit all of our favorite places and dined at Husk which was fantastic!
{The Row}
I feel like this is such an accurate depiction of our marriage.
Sis and I!
Happy 4 years of marriage to us!
I got to take a picture with my favorite Nashville start Kayley Hill! PS she was on The Voice last week and is on #teamblake!!
And here was my sappy post!
"We were young, we were wild, we were restless, had to go, had to fly, had to get away, took a chance on that feelin', we were lovin' blind, borderline reckless, we were livin' for the minute, we were spinnin' in, maybe we were a lot of things, but we weren't crazy.." - Josh Gracin
Thank you for FOUR amazing years of being my husband! I am so lucky to call you mine every single day forever <3 — with Benjamin Ronk.
{Celebrating in style}
November came and brought the greatest gift to mankind ever. REPUTATION LADIES AND GENTS.
Almost a year later and it's still the only CD in my car that I listen to.
We headed back to Auburn for the game against the then, #1 ranked Georgia Bulldogs and well, well, well, do I smell an upset? WE FREAKING WON AND IT WAS AMAZING!
{Row 2}
{ROLLING TOOMERS CORNER}
Headed back a few weeks later for the Iron Bowl and OMG WE DID IT AGAIN WE TOOK DOWN THE #1 RANKED CRIMSON TIDE!!
{It's a family tradition}
{GOODNIGHT ALABAMA}
We went on to lose to Georgia for the rematch, but man, what a season!
December, phew finally, if you're still here I SALUTE YOU!
{Christmas parties}
{Got my Taylor tickets}
{Hosted our annual Christmas party}
{Church}
{MGM National Harbor}
This time I won $150!
{New Star Wars in IMAX}
{Mom's birthday!}
{Love this woman!}
{Christmas 2017}
WOW WOW WOW! 2017 was truly incredible! I forgot how much fun we had and some of the things we did! I will update you on 2018 either later today or tomorrow, promises!!
Thank you so much for reading!
MUAH!
