i like what i'm herring: eleventy thousand reasons why may is the best month ever

Ok, if you've known me for over a year, then we've lapsed my bday at least once, and you would know that we call it:

RACHELPALOOZA!

I don't know why I love my birthday so much. Perhaps it's because it's always around Memorial Day weekend, so people want to do something fun (like the beach or lake) and I get to celebrate while on vacay with others. Perhaps it's because it's the perfect weather for being outside. Maybe it's because May is the only month that doesn't have to be abbreviated. WHO KNOWS! Here's why May is the best month ever for me (and it's not only bc of my birthday!):

1. Surprise birthday treat from Chick-fil-a! (ok, this one does have to do with mah birfday)

My mom gets us chickfila calendars for Christmas every year. Did you know Chick-fil-a coupons never expire?!? Even if there's an expiration date on the coupon, they'll take it! My sister used 2008 calendar coupons last year for several meals.. I'm sure they were thrilled.

Ol' chickfila has wised up and discovered that the public knows that they'll take expired coupons, so now the new calendar has a card to be swiped instead of paper coupons. Therefore once the month is over, they won't be able to take it. How rude/smart of them!

All that being said.. when you register your card, you put in your birthday, and look!:

They gave me a free cookie since Rachelpalooza is this month! WOO!

moving on..

2. Cinco de Mayo!

Any holiday that has it's own drink and decor (margs and mustaches, duh) is a plus in my book. My friend Anne Kimball is getting married and they had a Cinco de Mayo themed party. They had a pinata filled with mustaches! along with delicious tacos and some very strong margaritas of which I need the recipe..

My friend Trae was one of the hosts and his lovely wife made the delicious margs. Trae is one of the Dothan peeps and we've gone to school together since kindergarden. Aw wee! Apparently I was so excited that I got the crazy eyes.

The day after that party was actually May 5th, so naturally this happened:

Which brings me to #3:

Baseball season!

I'm not a huge baseball fan, but I am a fan of drinking outside. Lucky for me, Birmingham has its own baseball team, the Birmingham Barons. Candace, Brooke, and I went to the game on Sunday dressed in our finest sombreros. (You remember them from the D.C. trip)

Brooke caught this t-shirt.. HA!

It was freezing outside, so we warmed up with some brewskies.

Beer. Baseball. Birmingham. Barons. Beets. Bears. Battlestar Gallactica. (Office, anyone?)

We hoped we would get on the news. Did anyone see us?

The stadium is brand spankin' new, and I LOVE this giant Birmingham sign on the outside. So. cool. I also can't help but notice it's the same font as ol' Herring Design Co. :D

Well after the cold got down to our bones and some drizzly rain started to fall, we decided to go across the street to the Good People Brewery.

I had never been here, can you believe it?!

Of course we had to round out the evening with some cheap Mexican food and margaritas!

Ok we're getting off track..

#4: It's time for the big chop for Beautiful Lengths!

I'll be cutting this mane off at the end of the month (i think..). May marks a year of growing out this madness. If I'm standing and look up, my hair can touch my butt. I haven't been able to do that since 5th grade! As nostalgic as that may be, it gets annoying, gets caught in my armpits (sexy), and I find myself constantly messing with it.. braiding it, twirling it, tying it to my face to make mustaches & beards with it.

Don't worry. I plan on doing it all over again once it's chopped!

#5: It's LAKE SEASON!

Our family got a boat! Binky is dying to get a captain's hat.

Everyone loves boat rides!

Would you like to know what's still in our lakehouse?

a Christmas tree.

My dad thinks it will be hilarious to have a naked tree for the 4th of July, so he goes over and shakes it every so often so the needles will fall off.

We all met up at the lake for Mother's Day weekend.

I found this little gem while we were there. A while ago, I hid some Junior Mints in a random drawer that never gets used. I forgot about them, but dad stumbled upon them and left me this little note. HA!

This is what Cotton does bc she's so terrified of my dad.. sits in the back most corner of the porch.

Do you know who isn't afraid of him? Possum. They're practically BFF.

Ahhhh, I can't wait to come a million times this summer!

Captain Ray.

While we were hanging out one day, I decided it would be good to "shave" Cotton. I use quotations because I'm not actually shaving her.. I've gone through 2 sets of clippers, and her fur is so thick that it breaks them. So I used scissors.

Oh, are those flowers floating on top of the water? Nope. Tons of Cotton fur.

She sat on the dock by herself for about 15 minutes after I was done. Embarrassed? or trying to get a tan with her new short do?

Let me tell ya who isn't embarrassed of their do: ol' Ray.

Is that how you light a grill, or what?

We always have quite the spread at the lake. Shrimpies and burgers. DELICIOUS!

I gave mom some sweet tea vodka for Mother's Day, and we both got a little out of control.

Haha! I was drinking bourbon, working on some string arts, when I realized it was midnight and I could shout HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY. I turned around and she was out, so I decided this was more appropriate.

Maybe I should get my hair cut like this:

I don't know how I didn't get any pictures of Diesel (or Murray or Neanie). My schweet baby pup pups. This is my lame segway into

#7: Cotton and Diesel's Birthday!

Yep, I sure did dress them up for a photo shoot (that lasted all of 3 minutes). It is their 7th birthday after all!

Most people don't believe it, because they are opposite in every way, but they are brother and sister. Their mother Dixie is my pup back in Dothan. She got knocked up and I picked these two precious nuggets to come back to Auburn with me!

You can read all about their birth story here!

Some puppy pics, shall we? This is Diesel and their sister Biscuit. I knew I wanted one of the white ones.

We had tons of fun in Auburn!

I think this is my favorite picture of Cottonball.

AWWWWW!

Could they be any cuter?

Diesel just loves his sissy.

They're birthday is May 15th, so I gave them several treaties for their big day!

and the birthday excitement doesn't stop there..

#8: Sweet baby Cam's birthday!

That's right, I share a birthday month with the chosen one. Here's his cake from a couple of years ago:

Yep, he's smiling bc he also knows May is the best month ever.

And who else shares it with us?!

MURRAY!

#9: Murray's Birthday!!

Saved the best for last!

My dear sweet Mur mur's birthday is a mere 4 days after mine, so we've been trying to think of a fancy name to shout at the epic birthday weekend coming up..

Murraystock!

Murrayroo!

Murraymania!