Odds & Ends | Photo Recap

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I always set out with the intention to do a detailed blog post of places I go and things that I do. Yet, that clearly doesn't always happen. After all, I spent nine months in California and I'm pretty sure I haven't shared half of the things or places I saw when out there. It's never too late...right? I saw Anne do a recent photo share from her phone and Kiki often shares her month in photos, so I thought I would take a cue from both of them. Here's a photo dump of some things I've been doing since the beginning on the year.

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1. My roommates and I moved into a new house in Midtown. We all love the midtown area and the house we found to rent is a super cute bungalow ranch style. Our landlords have done an incredible job in remodeling it, yet still kept a lot of its old charm. We have a fenced in backyard for the pups, an awesome front porch with a fan, and we are across the street from the oldest oak tree in Mobile (my favorite fact to tell people). 
2. Earlier in the year, some friends and I went on a Mobile Walking Tour. The Spanish Plaza in downtown has a great fountain and some beautiful benches. I did actually do a post on that outing. Find it here. 
3. Several friends entered a contest to win a ride on the Gulf Coast Duck Tours that we have here in Mobile. Two of my friends won! So four of us got a free tour before one of the Mardi Gras parades and the view of the city from the water is officially my favorite. 
4. Speaking of Mardi Gras, I mainly go to try and catch oatmeal creme pies. Success. And so delicious after coming off Whole30. ha. 
5. I took Cooper home with me one weekend and he loves the cat that my parent's have. Let's be real, he loves all animals and people and wants to be friends with everyone and everything. 
6. I finally tried rolled ice cream. Have y'all had this?? One, it's so mesmerizing watching those guys roll ice cream. Two, all. the. toppings! I went with a smores theme, but with strawberry ice cream. It literally came with roasted marshmallows. One is coming to downtown, closer to where we live and it's a good and bad thing. 
7. Cooper celebrated his first birthday! He had a peanut butter/carrot cake with dog treats and of course absolutely loved it. He did look at us crazy when we put a match on top because we didn't have any candles. 
8. Right before Easter I learned about this garden that is in my neighborhood! It is a small garden and arboretum in the backyard of a man's house. He begins each morning  with his quiet time there and then opens the gate. Whenever the gate is open, visitors are welcome. It is so peaceful and smells amazing! He even has a koi pond and a small Japanese garden section. I can walk to this amazing sanctuary from my house!
9. Anyone else love exploring cemeteries? One weekend, one of my roommates and I went driving around a cemetery here in town. It is huge and has amazing oak trees! We also discovered two smaller cemeteries and a Jewish cemetery that is also beautiful. I have more photos from this outing that I plan to share soon. 
10. Mobile has two major music events each year. 10/65 is a free event in the fall and occurs all over downtown with outdoor stages. It's been going on for a couple of years, so the headliners have been getting a little bigger. Last year I watched Judah and the Lion in the pouring rain. SouthSounds is another festival that occurs in the springtime and usually showcases local and regional bands. They have writer showcases throughout the weekend and it's a great time to support favorite local bands and find new ones. This was the first year I ever attended SouthSounds, but I totally enjoyed it and found some new favorite bands. I haven't stopped listening to Delta Rae since seeing them. I Moved South and A Long and Happy Life are two of my favorites. 
11. My friend invited me down to the beach this past weekend and I couldn't pass it up. It was my first time down this year and I'm hoping to hear those waves a lot this year. 

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