T's first Halloween

My goodness, it has been a while since I have been on here! Life has been crazy busy with buying a "fixer-upper". Good news: there is light at the end of the tunnel!! We will hopefully be in and settled by Thanksgiving.
On another note: Turner had a blast at his first Halloween! We had a lot of his little buddies over to watch Mickey Mouse Halloween. It was so much fun!!

Turner's Special Day

Turner was baptized this past Sunday.

We had our families come up to help celebrate this special day.

Sadly, my sweet brother was unable to attend.

Surprisingly, the day was not as chaotic as I thought it may be!

We decided to keep the lunch menu simple:

We put a store bought ham in the oven, Macaroni & Cheese in the crockpot,

and had green beans set on low while we were at church. 

Then, we simply carved the ham and put rolls in the oven when we returned!

The whole family before the service

Thank goodness, this giraffe kept Turner busy for most of the service

He loves Pastor Dennis

The dining room table set

I did julep cups of roses and greenery at each place setting

A close up of the flower... Blue hydrangeas, white roses, and white poms

The kitchen table

I have to get more white dinner napkins monogrammed

I did not have enough for all the place settings, so I had to pull out the

green ones with blue monogram that I usually use with my Spode plates.

It still worked though....

The big arrangement set on the kitchen island.. we set the food around it

His yummy cake made by Your Perfect Cake in Greenville.

Strawberry with Buttercream icing.. my husband's favorite!

Turner didn't get any cake, but I let him have a small sample of the icing

Clearly Turner was more interested in the cake than smiling for a family photo 

A "Sprinkle" for Nikki

A few friends and I got together yesterday to host a "sprinkle" for our friend.  She is about to welcome her second child, her first little girl - so we needed to make sure she had plenty of pink! I got so caught up in mingling with the ladies that I kind of forgot to take pictures of all the little details.  So, I will just share a few broad pictures... Happy Sunday Y'all!

I love arranging flowers....  I had so much fun making this arrangement while sitting on the floor in my den watching the opening ceremonies for the Olympics and eating Pizza.  

Made for such a fun Friday night

We had a yummy spread of food....

chicken salad in pastry cups, brushetta topped with parmesan, spinach dip, fruit dip with apples and strawberries, a fab chocolate chip dip. monogrammed onesie cookies, cupcakes, and no baby shower is complete without pigs-n-blankets!

My grandmother's silver came in handy Saturday. 

I love having a party and using silver, silverware, and china

I even enjoy polishing it ( I know, crazy)

I set the drinks up in the kitchen (mostly because I ran out of room in the dining room)

to have the guests flow from room to room without all being crowded in just one.

This isn't the best angle... 

We had pink lemonade, water with lemon, water with raspberries, and a cooler of

sprite and diet coke. 

I used my grandmother's Waterford crystal vase for the pink roses and the silver tray

holds pink stripe straws (they were a hit)! I got these last minute from Michael's

but you can find them all over Etsy

I wish I would have taken another picture after all of the gifts arrived.

This was early in the day!

Nicole opening the presents 

She is such a beautiful mom-to-be & oh-so-sweet!

My pomeranian, Baxley, was trying to help Aimee put the trash away

It was such a fun day.  I love having little gatherings at my home.  I just need to remind myself to take more pictures of the little details around the party.  I had pretty pink bows in the topiaries at the front door and a large pink bow with balloons tied into to it on the mailbox.  The mom-to-be took the bows before I remembered to snap a photo.  Now, I just need another friend to have a baby or get married so I can do this over again!!

Bows

Busy, busy making bows and wrapping presents for the "sprinkle" I am hosting at my home tomorrow... More pictures to come!

Sunday "Fun"day

I ventured to my favorite nursery, Plant and See, to find new plants for the backyard.

We expanded our deck, so we need new shrubs to border the addition.

The challenges are I want something that has flowers, but stays green year around,

and that is sturdy enough to stand up against my 130 pound dog 

that likes to dig and lay on my new shrubs.

I opted for Azalea bushes (but have not put them in the ground yet).

I also picked up 10 bales of pine straw and laid that out (so much fun)!

I decided that I did not want my front door red anymore.

It seems the only times I love it are during Christmas

and when I have my 4th of July decorations out.

Other times, it is a hassle to find wreaths that will not clash.

Also, I am hosting a baby shower at the end of July and do not want

pink bows around a red door.

Painting the door was easy!

But, I did not think about the hardware.

The black on black was not working for me.

A simple solution: Gold spray paint!

( I hope it holds up well)

during the process of painting the hardware

Look, I had to venture back to Plant & See for 5 MORE bales of pine straw!

Yes, I will be back by the end of the week for EVEN MORE. 

If I had known I would need this much, I would have just hired someone.

Saturday in New Bern

We took a mini trip over to New Bern for the day!

I got to visit some of the most precious downtown shops & even got a great tunic.

Then, we ventured to the beautiful waterfront area for lunch.

The restaurant we chose to dine at ( there were many options & it was a difficult choice).

Persimmons is the place!

The view was amazing, with outdoor seating right on the water.

The service was fast and friendly & the food was delicious!

Baby did not want to sit in the stroller and miss out on the view of the water.

He got tired of sitting with mommy, so he decided to play with daddy

The homes around the water were amazing

The trees and the area are so grand and beautiful, however, it makes it

a bit difficult to snap a picture of a home

Most of the homes had their flags flying and their patriotic banners out

I simply think an American flag adds so much charm to a home

Goodness, the porches on these homes were amazing.

I don't think I saw a single home that did not have a great front porch!

Sadly, the pictures just do not do these homes justice

My Afternoon Out

I got to take the afternoon off and run errands sans baby.

My first stop: A trip to ULTA to get my mess of eyebrows cleaned up

Thank Heavens for the BrowBar

I couldn't help but to visit the Philosphy area to see what new goodies were in store

I picked up 2 items:

Hope in a Tinted Moisturizer ( I couldn't find it on Ulta's site so I linked Sephora)

& Be Somebody ( a delicious smelling body scrub )

I'll post back & let you know what I think

Then, I ventured back to the Cottage Loft to order the fabric I decided on last night

And ended up spending 3 hours looking at other ones.

But, I think I have decided on the ones below! 

I am going to make drapes out of the floral

and use the yellow check on the chairs!

Now, I just need to order these on Monday before I change my mind again!

A close up of the floral.

I think it will lighten up our space and help bring in fun colors to our home!

Any thoughts?

Fabric overload

I'm on a mission to get new curtains and chair fabric before I host a shower at the end of July.

The fabric I currently have worked much better in our previous home 

which had much higher ceilings & more windows.

Now, we are in a home with dreaded 8 ft ceilings, and there is only 1 window

Also, when I chose the fabric & curtains, it was during Thanksgiving

and this darker fabric matched my Woodland Spode plates so well.

So, I'm on a quest to bring in lighter and brighter colors into my home!

I went to the Cottage Loft in Greenville today to look through their fabric options.

The ladies were so helpful and kind - check out their great Facebook page

But, after over an hour (with a 4 month old), I was still conflicted on what to do.

So, they suggested I take the books home and look through to see what I feel coordinates best.

I have walked through each room with the books of fabric, 

and instead of narrowing my choice for the dining room, 

I now have a desire to change EVERYTHING in my home.

My husband is going to kill me (or, just send me back to work)

Hopefully I will have it narrowed by the morning.... Stay tuned

Footprint plate & Outfit of the Day

I posted earlier about taking Turner to his 4 month check-up 

and to get those dreaded 4 month shots

Before we went to the appt, we stopped by Accidental Artist to make a footprint plate

I was so excited when they called to say it was ready!

I think it looks great, considering T was in the midst of a meltdown so he sat in my lap while I painted

Do you have any footprint plate ideas?  I have a few for fall...

Yes, I made it out 2 days in a row showered and dressed -- Hooray!!

This is my outfit for the day

Remember my white jeans from yesterday? Well, these shorts were the free part!

The shirt is J.Crew Factory, purchased with the additional 30% off.

Like many of you, I have coveted the J.Crew bib necklace and was thrilled to find this 

similar one on Etsy for under $30.00 - SOLD!! (I think I need more colors... agree?)

And the shoes are many moons old (2 years to be exact) you can find similar ones here the only difference is my logo is squared

Dinner is served

When my husband and I were discussing me becoming a stay-at-home mom,

I promised him if I stayed at home, I would learn to cook.

Now, I am eating those words literally!

Allow me to introduce you to my favorite summer salad:

 Marinate bone-in chicken in Light Italian Dressing & grill

Chop up the chicken & place over a bed of Spring Mix Salad

Top with chopped green grapes, glazed pecans, and Feta cheese

Drizzle Light Poppyseed dressing over & Enjoy!

The flavors work together deliciously

Outfit of the day!

Yes, this is cause for celebration!

I'm about to go out and run errands in more than just my gym clothes

( I wear them often, even though I can't remember the last time I ventured into a gym)

The jeans were purchased at the Limited during their buy one get one sale (they fit great!)

The blouse is a resent Karlie purchase from Monkee's of Greenville - visit their Facebook Page

 the belt is Chinese Laundry purchased at T.J.Maxx for 7.99 

Yea, I'm a Maxxinista!

And the shoes are my summer staple - Jack Rogers in platinum also from Monkee's
P.S. Please pardon the unmade bed in the background

T's Nursery

My sweet Turner is going to the Dr. today for his 4 month check-up.

How have 4 months gone by so quickly?!

So, I have spent the morning going through his pictures

And thought I would share a few of my favorite room in the house

My husband and I love Beatrix Potter & were thrilled to find these prints

His beautiful baby book -- I still need to fill in the pages (I'm so slack)

This giraffe was in my husband's room as a child
Added a new coat of paint, and it is good to go!

Chic Charleston

So, we took a small trip to Charleston & stayed at the very chic charleston place 

any hotel that has a Louis Vuitton store downstairs gets my vote 

(even though I had to shop with my eyes only)

It was a little piece of heaven there!

I'm still in shock my husband suggested this place,

seeing as he normally spends days searching for the cheapest place in town

Hopefully, if I am good, I will get to stay there again in 10 years!