Destin(ed)

Happy thirtieth birthday to my amazing husband! We celebrated the weekend in the beautiful Destin, Florida. My aunt Mary Jane and Uncle Jimmy hosted us for the weekend and we truly enjoyed spending time together. Their new home is absolutely incredibly and I was quite impressed by MJ’s talent in designing the home. Even Mac, their beloved boxer, was hospitable with licks a plenty. As soon as we settled in we made a break for the beach, ready to plunge our toes into the soft white sand. It was very liberating to wade through the water as the sun began to set. We kicked off our first night at the Red Bar for a drink and live music before heading out to dinner at Shorty’s. There’s nothing quite as tasty as fresh seafood, in my case some pretty delicious crab cakes. After dinner, we headed back home where we cozied up on the back porch, the sound of the ocean lulling us to sleep.

The next day was Jarrett’s birthday!! After sleeping in and lounging around the house, we stole off to Seaside, the cute touristy part of Destin. Seaside reminds me of the perfect little community, with kids riding bikes and genuinely happy adults prancing about. After lunch, the boys played golf while the girls rode bikes. I’ve joked before that trips to Destin are akin to a health/fitness retreat. The Parrishes are an energetic bunch (Bo is a sponsored athlete and has completed half a dozen iron man competitions!) and their endorphins are contagious. After a long bike ride and decent length run, Ann Wade finally arrived! It was so good to catch up with my cousin and dear friend. Even though we haven’t seen each other since the wedding, I never feel like I’ve missed a beat when we get the chance to catch up. We went out for another delicious dinner and enjoyed an evening of laughter, birthday celebrations, and MJ’s divine fudge brownies!!

Saturday morning after a long walk on the beach, we loaded up the car and headed down to the Seaside Half Marathon runner’s expo to help MJ with her vendor display. Over the past year my aunt has started her own business designing the Skite. It’s really a brilliant idea, and so many of the runner’s flocked to her stand to purchase this latest trend. The skite is a combination skirt and tight which is perfect for running, tennis, yoga, errands, lounging, and basically doing anything (because they are so ridiculously comfortable). Ann Wade and I modeled while Jarrett helped man the display, all the while catching up and enjoying the day. Just as I was feeling regretful that I hadn’t signed up for the race (scared off by the hefty entry fee), one of MJ’s friend’s gave me an extra BIB from a runner who was injured. Of course I was ecstatic and ran to the market to buy a bottle of water. After the expo, still on a high from the day’s success we were ready to lounge. We had the most amazing steamed shrimp and watched basketball and a movie with the soothing sound of rain as background comfort. As I fell asleep, I was apprehensive of the next morning’s weather. The thunder, lighting, and pounding rain seemed ominous and I surely did not want to run in cold chilly weather.

I awoke this morning at 5:00 to the unwanted fall of a steady rain. I decided to give it one more hour and much to my excitement when I woke up at 6:15 the sky was clear! Jimmy dropped me off at the start line and after a couple of quick stretches, the gun sounded and we were off!! The run had everything going for it with a course along the coast, plenty of hydration stations, more cheerleaders than can imagine, and a complete absence of hills. My body was trained for the race so it went very smoothly. My only complaint was rubbing a blister in a pair of test shoes I’m running in. I obviously didn’t come prepared to race, but all things considered I finished up with a time of 1:55:25. Along with a medal, all runners were given a Vera Bradley tote from the spring 2011 line. What a fancy schmancy “race bag”!! I grabbed a banana and water and trekked three miles home with tired piggies and plenty of goose bumps. Once the roads opened up, we headed back to Seaside for a celebration and farewell meal at the tasty taco stand. I wished and wished that we could have stayed another week. We had an amazing time spent with family, each other, and God’ beautiful ocean.