happiness – Page 2 – Jaclyn Grace

Family is Everything

This past weekend was perfectly relaxing and happy. It had been awhile since I had a weekend with nothing planned, but sometimes that’s just what you need.

Friday night I stayed in and watched a movie with my family before heading to bed by 10 PM. Can you say grandma? No shame.

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early to enjoy a cup of coffee and indulge in a good book on the deck before going to my hair appointment.

There’s not much I love more than starting my day off in this very way. I hope there’s a lot more of this in my future! I was reading Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. It was a great story that kept me captivated from the first page to the last. I will admit that I did shed a tear or two throughout, but now I can’t wait to see the movie. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for an end of summer read!

After my haircut, I went out for a round of golf with my brother and my aunt. We were all having a terrible game, but had a great time together anyways. Unforunately, when we got to the fourth hole the thunder and lightening cut our game short. We packed up and decided to have a family game night instead!

On Sunday morning, the whole family piled in the car and headed to Boda Borg to compete in some escape room challenges.

There are physical challenges and mental challenges that each team must complete in order to move on in the quest, and let me tell you – they are not easy! We had a blast though! I don’t think any of us have laughed that hard in awhile. 🙂

We ended the weekend in the best possible way – with an ice cream from Kimball Farm.

I usually only get here once per summer, but it is always a highlight. I always get the cherry vanilla chocolate chip ice cream and love every bite.

Feeling so thankful to have spent a great weekend with my family.

xo,

Jaclyn

Girl’s Weekend

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a week and a half now but just haven’t gotten around to it. Working 40 hours a week plus 12 hours of commuting certainly takes a lot out of me. Most nights by the time that I get home, the last thing that I want to do is sit down in front of yet another computer screen. Regardless, I’m trying my best to keep up with this!

Last weekend I went down to West Hartford for a girl’s weekend. Most of us hadn’t seen each other since graduation, so we were super excited to be reunited! On Friday night, we want to Bar Taco at Blue Back Square.

It was such a cute and fun place for dinner and drinks. The food was good, but not my favorite as it was a little too spicy for me. If you love spicy Mexican food though, this is the place for you.

On Saturday morning, we woke up at 7AM to attend a free “Morning Yoga in the Streets” event. I loved every second of it.

Most of the yoga studios in the area participated and there were tons and tons of people there. The class was very fast paced and quite challenging, especially considering all of the different skill levels there. Since taking this class, I’ve been wanting to get back into practicing yoga more regularly.

Once we finished up, we headed out to brunch (my favorite part of any weekend) at the Pond House Cafe. The dining room that we ate in was located right in the middle of a big garden, with a beautiful patio that you could eat out on. They also had a huge banquet hall where they host weddings and other large events. Unfortunately, I left my phone at home and so I couldn’t take any pictures.

On top of the cute atmosphere, the food was phenomenal. I had a green apple, brie, and spinach omelet with a side of corn bread. All of the ingredients were fresh and very tasty! This was the type of place that I could imagine bringing my family for breakfast after church on Sundays. 🙂

After brunch we headed down to the Farmington River to go tubing, which was perfect because it was HOT all weekend.

We spent about 3 hours relaxing and floating down the river, all while catching up and snacking on cut up watermelon. I had a great day and would love to do this again sometime soon.

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On Saturday night, we headed up to Worcester to pick up one of our friends who flew in from California for the weekend and spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with her.

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There’s nothing better than laughing with your best girlfriends. I already can’t wait to see them again!

Sunday morning, Emily and I stopped for a bagel and coffee before our drive back home. It was my first time having Bruegger’s Bagels and I fell in love.

Anybody who knows me knows that I am a huge bagel person, and these certainly lived up to their reputation. I already can’t wait for my next visit to the area so I can have another one ;).

xo,

Jaclyn

Fri-YAY

It’s finally Friday night, which means that the weekend is officially here!

Last night I went bowling with a bunch of my friends. On Thursdays one of the bowling alleys near us has $11 unlimited bowling for college students. We went around 9PM and ended up staying until almost midnight. It was a blast!

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This was one of my first times bowling non- candlepin and I was absolutely horrible. Everybody had a good laugh over the fact that across my first three turns I did not score a single point.

Today was a pretty easy day for me. David delivered a surprise coffee (along with my homework that I accidentally left in the copier at home) to my doorstep at 8AM, which was a great way to start my day! After that I went to class for a bit and then ended up spending two full hours at the gym. I ran on the treadmill for 45 minutes and spent the rest of my time using free weights and doing a combined biceps and back circuit. All followed by a short stretch of course.

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I did not intend on working out for that long but once I got on a roll I just could not stop. I love the feeling of accomplishment after a solid workout.

I showered and ran a few errands in the afternoon before heading home to cook dinner. I had the leftovers of some veggie chili that I made recently, and also made a delicious side of sautéed mushrooms and kale sprinkled with some grated parmesan cheese.

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I plan on spending the rest of my night watching Netflix, reading, and enjoying a nice big mug of hot chocolate.

Enjoy your weekends!

xo,

Jaclyn

21st Birthday

I could not have imagined having such a great birthday away from home, but it was perfect. I am blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful people. The only thing that could have made it better was if my family was here.

On Monday (the night before my birthday) we went to the escape room that I wrote about.It was a lot of fun and basically like being in a puzzle. We weren’t very good at it though and didn’t get out of the room. After we finished up it was around 10:30pm and they wanted to bring me to a pub in the city to wait until midnight. When we got there the rest of the group was there hanging out. We didn’t actually end up staying until midnight, but I was happy everyone came out for my birthday. I didn’t expect everyone to come out on a Monday night.

The next morning, on my actual birthday, I woke up and went to the gym as usual before showering and heading to work. When I walked into the office, this is what I saw!

They decorated my entire area in balloons and streamers and everyone was there waiting and singing happy birthday. They got me a nice card and a pin to wear – Queen For A Day.

Then they took it a step further and had a party pie lunch for the entire office and a cake complete with 21 birthday candles. My group helped them plan the whole thing, I couldn’t believe they kept it a secret from me.

As the work day died down, my group told me that they wanted to take me to pub to buy me a drink for my birthday. We left work around 5:30 and headed over to a place called ABC.

When we walked in everyone else that we are here in Australia with was waiting to surprise me!

I had no idea that everyone was coming and they actually told me that they had been planning it since last week. We stayed there for about four hours and had a blast 😊

Shannon surprised me with a chocolate covered waffle from a little cafe that we had been talking about and my group members bought me dinner.

Of course, everyone else just kept buying me drinks that we all ended up sharing. One of my group members tried to one up everyone and came back to the table with an entire bottle of moscato on ice with only one glass.

It was really funny!

Everyone was very very sweet and we joked that it was like a group 21st birthday… It actually was though. I will definitely remember this birthday for a very long time!

I can’t express how grateful I am to be in such a beautiful place surrounded by amazing people. I’m so sad that my time here is coming to an end in only two weeks, because it truly has been the time of my life so far.

xo,

Jaclyn

Weekend Recap

The last few days have been so hectic with the term ending and trying to pack for a 2.5 month trip. Usually at the end of the term, all I want to do is sleep but there is certainly no time for that now! I have been a little stressed about getting everything done in time, but luckily I was able to take some time out of the past few days to relax with loved ones and forget about this for a bit. 🙂

On Friday, Conor and I went out to dinner with my grandparents for an early birthday celebration. Since I’ll be in Australia when I turn 21, they wanted to do a little something special. We went to a little restaurant down the road and it was delicious. We had clam chowder, lazy lobster, and Papa and I each had a huge brownie Sundae. I couldn’t even come close to finishing mine so Conor helped. I loved spending a little extra time when them before my trip!

On Saturday, I woke up around 9:30 and immediately called to set up an appointment with the nail salon. I got my first manicure and pedicure in a very long time – and it felt so good! I always love getting my nails done before a big trip, something about it just makes me even more excited to go.

Around 12 o’clock, my Dad and Peggy came over and we went out to lunch. We went to a little brick-oven pizzeria in the area and it was delicious as always. They surprised me with the cutest little going away box filled with a ton of necessities for my trip!

It had sunscreen, plane snacks, motrin, bug spray, chapstick, baby wipes, Purell, and other travel sized items. This little guy was also in the box. 🙂

After lunch, I spent most of my day trying to finish packing and making a list of everything that I need to do before I leave tomorrow. Around 6pm my entire family (and some friends) came over for a party. It was a combination 40th birthday party for my aunt and a going-away party for me.

It was so nice that I got to see everyone before I leave!

I’m off now to run the rest of my errands and (finally) finish packing.

xo,

Jaclyn