Month: May 2026

Busy week that got off to a great start, I picked up the Monday mornings at Dragonfly and arranged for Bridget to clean for me so I could head down to Richmond to see mah gurls – stopped in at Ashby and caught Jillian working her magic at the buy counter – quickly assessing clothes that were brought in by prospective ‘sellers’, she was so cute picking up an item giving it a good look over and making a decision. It was fun getting to spy on her for a moment before she sensed I was there, put her work down and gave me a big big hug!

I mentioned I was hungry and she suggested Sugar and Twine, has a yummy vegan sandwich (which I got) and picked up a sammy for her as well. She said I could eat my lunch in their breakroom and then took a photo of me playing my word games LOL she sent it to the fam and said “Mommy is on her break”. Amelia was off getting a tattoo, so I went to her house after my lunch break to get started planning her ‘packing party’.

We had lots of boxes, packing paper, sharpies, tape now we just needed the helpers! Amelia picked up some beer and ordered pizza – the helpers arrived, Eryn and Liam, Chevi and Kat, Dylan, me and Amelia and we got lots done. Packed up boxes for Amelia to take to Dylan’s, packed up boxes to go into storage until Amelia finds her “home”, and things to donate to a Free Fridge/Pantry came with me. I hit the road at 5:09 in 102 degrees, made it home by 6:30 and Amelia said that after packing, pizza and beer – the party was dismissed since collectively we got so much done! YAY!

FINALLY the day has arrived, Tuesday May 19 when I get my hair cut and colored since before our vacation in April (last appointment was in MARCH!!!) I don’t know how I did it. My salt and pepper hair under the brown really didn’t look too bad but who doesn’t love a fresh ‘do?!?!?! I love it, we are letting some of my gray stay lightly covered/colored and my dark stay dark. I love the space, too. Right next to the Rappahannock River – I saw some cool birds flying up high, definitely not bald eagles but they were something cool.

Wednesday early shift that ended with a panicked call from the person coming in next, her car broke down STOPPED on a busy road and was dead in the water. Had a little scramble to get her shift covered (we did it of course), met Shane to get Mike’s guitars (and Les’ bass????) back to the studio to finish up some tasks, dropped off the canned food and bag of onions from Amelia’s. I hit the Free Fridge at the right moment, elementary school bus stop and about 5 moms waiting who were thrilled to pick through the box, as soon as I walked up one mom said “oooh can I have those onions??” hell yeah you can, I threw in a garlic too! Then off to my dad’s. He was freshly showered, drinking a big glass of cranberry pomegranate juice and ready for our date; barber shop and Vinny’s (happy landings). Instead of putting on his playlist, I kept on the one I’d been listening to all week after Amelia put it on at the packing party; No Doubt Radio! When we got in the car Garbage (one of my tippy top faves) was on and my dad said “crank it up!” haha so I did! Great cooperation at the barber shop had us in and out, he loved his hot towel on his neck – oh he loved that it was 90+ degrees out (he said it every time we went outside) and at Vinny’s we split an eggplant parm and had our ginger ales. The place was HOPPIN’ with only two servers working they did such a great job. My dad kept asking me “did we forget to leave a tip” and I assured him, “we tip well!” Back to his house to chill in the AC while Shirley did some work outside, it was the best, peaceful day.

Came home to chill, had a sisters call at 5:30 and then delicious dinner and TV shows with Mikey.

THURSDAY!! THURS-YAY! Worked at element as per usual, picked up Jersey Mikes, blogged, games, and GODDDAMIN IT I-Y shouldn’t have told Mike the secrets to the word game we’re playing – he heard me scream from our room as soon as it came across my screen. 72 points – SEVENTY TWO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had to get up out of my comfy chair to give him his props, that is some great game playing right there! We’re still playing the same game today, he is going to beat me but it is fun to play even if I lose!!!!!!!!!

FRIDAY!! FRI-YAY!! Got up to go with Mike to an appointment, went to Dragonfly to see if I could get into the 9:30 class (I did!) ssssssssoooooooooooo good, thank you Melissa O! Had a 10:30 appointment at element soooooooooooooooooooo good, did a cold shower, 5 min sauna, shower, 1 min cold plunge (60) 10 min rest. 15 min sauna, shower, 2 min cold plunge (60) with my arms in (not my hands) got changed into comfy clothes and rested/read in the Quiet Lounge for 20 minutes and then came out and sat with Mike in the Community Lounge for a minute. Ran a Giant/Petsmart errand on the way home and now here I sit. In my favorite chair, in my favorite room with my two loyal pets. I’m all caught up (except for my April – Vietnam post) but I’ll get to it.

My view from where I sit, like I often say to Uli, “it doesn’t get much better than this” and I believe it with my whole heart. Be a good person, be peaceful, don’t say weird things. Bye for now.

Got to be a part of Twin Thursday, the girls arrived and came to see me at element! They made great time, found a nice parking spot and stretched their legs walking to Sammy T’s for lunch! They got back just in time for me to close up and head home! If you know me you know how much my family means to me; not just my nuclear “fierce” family who are EVERYTHING in my life but my extended family of my sisters, sisters (and brothers) in law and all their kids – my adored nieces and nephews. I am so flattered that they would want to spend time with me, especially without their moms LOL. In November my oldest nephew and his girlfriend took the train down and we had a blast! Next up, his twin sisters took the drive and then next month my youngest nephew and his best friend are planning to come. I really, honestly, do love having my family here. We love to talk, loaf on the couch, listen to music, and laugh. I’m going to try my best to pick 2 photos from each day, my nieces have been muses of my photography since the moment they were born (well I didn’t get to see them at the moment but I was there as soon as they came home and stayed with my sister to help, it was crazy) You know what, I’m not going to limit myself – there are many photos that I know I will love to look back on and read about those moments.

Denise’s girls are just like mine, and my sisters and my pets too – they like to follow me around the house.

Shenny Friday! We ended the previous night having made our loose plans for Friday; get up and have coffee (me), leave the house by 8 and have breakfast at Frost Cafe in Culpepper. CHECK CHECK CHECK

We sat at the breakfast counter at Frost and had (in order of our photo above) oatmeal with sides of brown sugar, cinnamon and blueberries (BIG bowl, we all had some of it… sooooo good) and one fried egg. A bacon, egg and cheese on a BISCUIT (omg YUM yes we all had a piece of biscuit) and a fried egg and cheese on rye (I didn’t even bother offering a taste of mine) which was delicious. Coffee, waters, and watching the cooks work the grill. I think Lexi said she hadn’t sat at the counter like that before, I like it – I like watching people do things haha. I especially love the hair salon so I can watch hair being cut, colored, blow dried, styled. It’s so relaxing.

Next thing I knew, we were turning into Shenandoah National Park! I bought our annual pass and headed for Big Meadows for a rest stop break! After browsing the gift shop we drove to Dark Hollow Falls and the lot was almost full – good thing we got a spot and geared up. Our plan, go down Dark Hollow Falls (Moderate!)1.8mi 587ft elevation gain and pick up the Rose River trail (Moderate!) 4.1mi 902ft elevation gain and then walk the fire road back to Dark Hollow Falls going up to the car. Whoooooooo-eeeeeeeee we had an amazing hike – according to Brooke’s fitness tracker we did 5 miles in 3 hours. My ring told me I had gotten into Zone 4 which I am not sure I’ve been in that Zone haha (I’m checking now) I asked the Oura Advisor (chatbot) and it only said “You’ve been consistently spending very little time in High Activity” (bold is theirs) yes I did know that.

Got back to the car and ate all of our snacks, a trail mix I made that was perfect, some cotton candy grapes, banana, and chips left over from Jersey Mike’s night (healthy Doritos) back to Big Meadows for a bathroom and water refill break before we headed back through Skyline Drive. Stopped at some overlooks and took cute pics.

It was sunny and windy, the weather was absolutely perfect. My internal timer to get us back in Spotsy by dinner time allowed for us to take a couple of breaks in Sperryville on the way. I always want to stop, when I go with Mike, when I’ve gone with Denise, but we’re always so focused on getting home by the time we are done hiking. Somehow, the longest hike I’ve done in the park yet and I was energized to stop at Beechspring Farm Gift Shop, it always looks so cute and it did not disappoint. We checked out the stuff and each got a drink made by the farm (Peach Cider, Cherry Cider and a Black Cherry Soda – we all tasted each other’s and decided the best was the Peach Cider! Never would have thought I’d vote that way as Cherry is always my favorite.)

Got a text from Mike that said “don’t come home empty handed” LOL we all cracked up at that, decided we’d get Habit Burger for dinner and pulled into the downtown of Sperryville so we could visit Haley Fine Art Gallery and any other shops that happened to be open. This gallery curates the COOLEST works, it is in an historic building and has lovely ground and the owner is very cool. I’ve written about this place before, everyone in my circle loves it and now so do my nieces! Went to the ceramic shop next door, the jewelry store was closed and then back in the car to enjoy our drinks and the last leg of our drive.

Saturday morning and I’m off to work, the girls are signed up for hot Yoga Basics, Bridget is coming to clean for me so we can start the rest of our Saturday a little early. They loved their class with Hannah S, I didn’t realize they hadn’t taken a yoga class in person before so that was cool and badass of them to start with a hot yoga class! We then went over to the Farmer’s Market to look at all the booths – got some flavored marshmallows, kettle corn (some Old Bay Kettle Corn for SD for Mother’s Day LOL), looked at the jewelry and art, then off to our (Mike, Me, Debra and Colin’s) favorite coffee shop – Agora before heading to my dad’s.

The weather could not have been more beautiful, when we arrived my dad and SD were already sitting out by the pool (it was opened on 5/6, needed galllllloooons of fresh water, and for the saline to work it’s magic so we didn’t swim). Had some lunch of Cesar salad, hummus and pita – lots of chit chat getting caught up on life and once it got too hot, I took my dad inside and the girls walked down to the river.

Big, fun, hugs goodbye – my dad takes direction very well and I think he has a little fun with us. I love him and these girls so much.

Had pizza for dinner, sat outside on the deck til it was dark and watched hummingbirds come to the feeder, fight for their spot, chirp and twitter – so cute. Listened to the birds out in the woods and once it got dark, everything went quiet. All the birdies went to bed and so did we.

Sunday and the girls are going home, but not before some Aunt Dianne oatmeal breakfast, a walk in the battlefield, Contrast Therapy at Element (Lexi went underwater in the 60 degree tank!!!!) and a quick visit to an old school beach vacation bestie, HLB!!

We really had the most perfect weekend, I could do this all summer long. Talk about ‘today is going to be my peaceful day’ this is how you do it. Eating right, moving your body naturally, listening to music you love, talking about life, loving your family and friends, doing things that make you feel good – right? This is what life is all about. I’m so lucky that Mike loves my family the way he does, they sure like to spend time with us. Love your people… Bye for now.

I think about my blog when I’m living my life, almost like I’m excited to document what is going on – the good and the bad. Thankfully, good stuff lately even if it is due to circumstances beyond my (or someone else I care about)’s control. All week I was so excited because my twin nieces were coming down from Long Island to stay for a long weekend. First time for Lexi to do the drive and it is a huge deal that she did it. Coming to stay at our house is becoming a rite, calling it the Smith Wellness Retreat or Aunt Dianne’s Wellness Retreat haha, we do love hosting guests to our cute little part of Virginia. We have downtown Fredericksburg to visit with hot yoga and contrast therapy, we have the Shenandoah National Park with lots of hikes, wildlife and fresh air, we have Opa’s out in King George on the Potomac River for pool time and hummus and pita (or air fried baguette!) and then just chillin in the woods at our house, out on the deck or in the treehouse, walking the neighboring battlefield parks and if you arrive on a Thursday you get to participate in Jersey Mike’s night (which is tonight as I write this YAHOOOOOIE)

At work on Tuesday night I ‘shadowed’ our new front desk associate, she had it down so I clocked out and took the Yang/Yin hot yoga class and it was absolutely wonderful. Got my 5:30am shift for Wednesday covered so I could sleep in 30 minutes and get up to open at Element and sub that day, so no trip out to my dad’s on Wednesday.

Woke up and checked Jillie’s location because she and JB were going to Chicago and I was curious if they’d taken off yet! They had the best trip. Took Uli for a quick walk. I had to think fast for my Tuesday night dinner since I’m always home for dinner unless it is my monthly Vinny’s dinner with friends (which I did have to bow out of for May because I was working/taking yoga) Mike had leftover brown rice in a bowl and we saved one vegan Italian sausage in sauce so I combined the two and had a very healthy dinner, that I probably shouldn’t have eaten BEFORE a hot yoga class but I survived with a little bit of gas pain LOL!

No photos from Wednesday – I do have one of Iris on my bed that I took when I got out of the shower, she was sitting there like she was waiting for me to get back in and rest with her. These pets love when I lounge in bed in the morning. Doesn’t happen too often but when it does we all love it. It’s peaceful, like my monks. Bye for now. Be nice.

I’m back, me! I’ve been thinking about my blog a lot, I missed writing every-ish day. My plan is to do a blog post for April that will be mainly our trip to Vietnam, returning home to a vibrant Spring and Mike’s quick turn around to head out for a short tour of the northeast and Canada. I just need to decide if I want to do a Flickr album of the trip and write something for each photo and then link it here or use the blog for that. I’ll figure it out, it’s what I do!

Why start my May blog with a loaf of homemade sourdough made by Allie? Because I missed it so much while I was on vacation, part of the reason I was stressed about going on our trip was because of my diverticular disease, I’m sure I mentioned it last month LOL but adjusting my diet 5 years ago based on doctors orders to go HIGH FIBER for the rest of my life really has kept me healthy. I love to eat the same things every day and my sourdough, avocado, everything bagel seasoning and hemp heart seeds with a side of sauerkraut has been my staple for at least a year if not longer. I couldn’t wait for Allie’s text to tell me the bread had been delivered to hot! It is always gorgeous, it is always delicious and I appreciate that I have a friend who bakes as a service! My gut held up while in Vietnam but was very happy to have it’s comfort foods once we were home.

Uli and Iris were happy to have us back, ready for lounging, playing, and spanking (Iris) LOL

While we were gone, right at the start of our trip we got the news that Amelia’s boyfriend broke up with her and moved out of the little house they were renting. We were rightly shocked, saddened, concerned… long story short – SHE IS JUST FINE! I’ll leave it at that, I think she is realizing that she feels lighter and more herself this month, but man April was a doozy for her. All that being said, Uli and I headed to Richmond on May 3rd for a sleepover, mommy/daughter(s) visit, tribe check-in, move out organizing and a little brewery break. We got out into the sun to see Caroline at Art in the Park – an enormous art event that had every kind of artist imaginable. We walked around, checked out the art, Amelia got some stained glass earrings and pottery. Uli was great, sniffing people as they walked by, laying around when we stopped to look at things or talk to people, he tucked himself into the shade under our table at Triple and made himself at home on Amelia’s couch as she inventoried some party supplies that she was posting to a Free Stuff group on Facebook. We made great progress getting some things packed up to store at her friend’s house. I took her cute patio chairs to my house for safekeeping, we ate well, we laughed, we cried a little but it was the beginning of her next chapter and I left her on Monday to pick Mike up at the airport with a good feeling in my heart.

May has been pretty crazy schedule wise at work, we had some people leave for full time work, some left for other reasons, but two people reached out looking for a job and both were perfect and their availability fit into our schedule needs! In the meantime, I’ve been doing a lot of subbing which is good for my savings but not for my restorative time LOL. I like being busy and am thankful for my EV Leafy, I don’t have to use a lot of gas to get back and forth to town.

Tuesday was a busy workday, I did the 5:30am shift at hot, came home and chilled then back to town to work the 4:30 shift at the main studio. I’ve been letting Spotify do my Daylists to listen to and am hearing tons of great tunes. I love this song Hypersonice Super-Asterid – it is crazy psych, synth, female vocals, space jam coolness. Plus I like the name, I did a big deep dive into this collective. Artists are cool.

On a drizzly Wednesday I worked in the morning, came home for a bit to hang with Uli and then out to my dads. Bobbi had texted the day before saying they were out at their boat if I wanted to take a drive out with my dad. When I got there I asked if he wanted to go see Dan and Bobbi’s boat and he said “sure!” Shirley mentioned that he had a little scare on the stairs and when I asked him what happened he said “I don’t have problems with stairs, stairs have a problem with ME!” LOL. Into the Pathfinder we went “This is a really nice car, it is warm and cozy” put on the Spotify Jammin’ with DRWD playlist

We had to walk pretty far from the parking lot out to Mai Tai, I was giving my dad directions in both English and German and he did a great job – he was nervous but he trusted that we wouldn’t let him walk straight off the dock and into the cold water. Dan said he was joking around with him while I was in the boat visiting with Bobbi (she was working) and looking around their BEAUTIFUL SAILBOAT. I hung out with my dad and Shirley and then back to work to do an hour and a half at the main studio.

Visited Gracie this week to make sure she knows how loved she is and how thankful we are that she took such good care of George right until the very end. Best girl, we snuggled, I gave her some breakfast and we had a little chat. She’s an apartment girl now with Catie.

Busy Saturday working at the studio, lovely Sunday enjoying the birds, Uli, my coffee, my peace. Grateful for two daughters that I’m so proud to be the mom of. Did virtual yoga with my sisters who are two of the best moms I know! Went to Ni River Reservoir for a mothers day kayak and then had a delicious plant based dinner that Mike made – vegan Italian sausage with red sauce and provolone cheese!!! Excuse the chipped plate haha.

Monday was my first day doing the 5:30am shift AND the 8:30am shift – but then I was done for the day at 11:30 and came home to my beloved sourdough, avocado lunch and hummingbirds. I’ve been wandering the yard in the morning, checking out all of my plants that are growing – peonies, sunflowers, dill, strawberries, obedient plant, sensitive fern, hellebores, Chelone, all the weeds that I’m letting flower for the bees… I saw a big patch of Mayapple across the creek in our woods – turtles eat the fruit and poop the seeds out, I hope they come poop in my woods so that I get some Mayapple, too. Be nice to nature, peace out, bye for now.