Thursday, February 28, 2013

Articles

On Monday night I cooked a pasta that's currently on the cover of Cooking Light right now and it was so delicious!!!
It tasted so fresh and light. Scott and I both loved it. I did a difference cheese and pasta than what they used because I already had it and didn't want to buy new but I don't think it affected it one bit. What I love most about this dish is that all of the ingredients that are in it are things that I ALWAYS have in my house. This will be one of those easy meals that I can always whip up and it will taste and feel like I spent a long time in the kitchen making something nice. You should definitely try it out for dinner sometime soon! The recipe is online if you don't want to buy the magazine.
I spent a lot of time working on the computer on Monday and Grace got in my lap and slept like this the whole time. It was so sweet! She felt like a little teddy bear.

As of yesterday and for the rest of the week I'm working for my parents at the high school state basketball tournament. My Uncle Wesley is staying with me and we're working it together. We're at the location in Fayetteville. It's not too hard to work but the days are long and it can get pretty boring. It makes a huge difference when you have someone to work it with you though. When I'm not selling shirts I keep myself entertained by spending countless hours on social media, playing solitaire and words with friends, keeping up with the latest celebrity gossip and flipping through those fashion magazines that pile up in my house.
I was reading Glamour yesterday when I stumbled upon an article that was pretty interesting. It was written by different divorce attorneys on the most common mistakes they see people make in their marriage. A lot of it was things we've all heard---Learn how to fight, share your feelings, don't ever say hurtful things because you can't ever take it back, etc. But one person wrote something that I thought was really interesting and honestly I don't think I've ever heard anyone speak much on it before so I took a picture and thought I'd share it with you all.
I love that she said 'everyone evolves. Everyone revises their life plans' because that is so true. It's great to have a 5, 10 or 20 year life plan together but it is important to remember that what you want and envision for your life at 22 may not be what you want even just 2 years later so roll with it when your spouse throws you a curveball (hopefully not a religious or political curveball though....that would definitely be challenging to work through!!). I just thought this was really great advice and I hope it spoke to you and will make you look at things differently like it did me! Keeping an open mind is always a good thing.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Snow Bunnies

I'm gazing out the window enjoying the beautiful snow that's covering the ground right now. I love snow! I always hope for a huge snow storm every year where you get snowed in. I only want to be snowed in for a day though. I've been snowed in for 3 days once and I had cabin fever so bad. I let the girls play in the snow this morning and they had so much fun!!
I had to give them all a bath afterwards though because they were snowy and freezing so it ended up being a lot more trouble than it was worth. I need to buy them a little winter coat for these types of situations. I always thought they were pointless but I think they would help prevent them from getting wet and if they don't get wet they can play in the snow more and I won't have to give them a bath afterwards. It's a win win for everyone.
This past weekend Scott and I drove to Little Rock to attend a wedding. It was nice getting to visit with my parents and do a little shopping. I took a selfie before I left because I liked my outfit.
We got back late Sunday night and I immediately hopped on the couch to watch the Oscars.
I brought Grace back with me and the girls are all having a blast together.
Last night Scott was laying on the sofa and Madison hopped on top of him to snuggle. She totally invaded his personal space and thought his neck would be a good place to hang out. I thought it was so cute and funny so I decided to snap a picture of them. Madison and her Daddy are two of a kind. They're both blinkers. Scott always blinks in photos and Madison does too!! Drives me crazy....
And here's a photo of Ivy so she won't feel left out.....

Last night I had sushi with some girlfriends then came home and watched The Bachelor. It's not as good to me this year. I'm ready for Bachelor Pad!! 
I think I'm going to curl up on the sofa now and enjoy the pretty snow. Have a great day everyone!

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Living

My living room is officially decorated and you cannot imagine how happy that makes me. I ordered a piece of furniture in November and it finally came in last week.
No more bare, empty walls in this house! The level of excitement I've reached now that my living room is done is a touch ridiculous. It's has taken almost a year to do and I'm really happy to see how it's all come together.
I had planned on doing a gallery wall going up my stairs but decided to put it in the little hallway leading to my bedroom instead. The large staircase wall was very overwhelming. The smaller space was easier to accomplish. I chose to do all personal photos instead of art like I had originally planned and I really like the feeling it gives the space. Even though I've seen the photos a million times I still enjoy pausing to look at them occasionally.
My house is snowy and icy and rainy and cold!!! I've kept warm inside all day but it's time for me to venture out and get a few last minute items for my party tonight.
Until tomorrow.....

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Randoms

I posted this on Instagram yesterday but thought I would share here too. I saw this napkin and had to get it! I'm having a party at my house on Thursday night and these will be perfect for the occasion. My neighborhood has girls nights at each others houses and I'm hosting for the first time. I'm looking forward to it! We always have a great time.
I've finally replenished my coffee table books after my two little nuggets destroyed my first pair. My coffee table has two shelves and I love the look of books filling up the bottom. I wanted to make sure Ivy and Madison wouldn't destroy them again so I waited a long time before getting all new ones. I don't 100% trust them yet. Anytime I leave the house I drape a blanket over them. You never know with those two crazies.
Speaking of my crazies.....aren't they cute?

Monday, February 18, 2013

Per Usual

Hey all! How was your weekend? Mine was typical but fun!! Scott and I had leftover Valentines pizza on Friday night and enjoyed our favorite Friday night shows--Shark Tank and 20/20. I look forward to Friday nights because of those 2 shows. That may make me sound like a loser but I don't care.
On Saturday we had lunch at the Flying Fish. I'm SO glad they opened one here. Scott always shares the 1 pound boiled shrimp platter with me but he wasn't in the mood for that so I tackled it on my own. I ate almost all of the shrimp!! Should I be embarrassed to admit that? I don't think so since shrimp are like, 7 calories each and the rest of the dish contains 2 red potatoes and 1 mini corn on the cob (that I maybe eat 1 bite of) so.....yeah, I don't feel guilty having it all to myself. That evening we made Taco Soup (a staple recipe in this house) and watched movies. We're really exciting.
I may have set a world record when getting ready for church yesterday. I kept delaying getting out of bed. Church starts at 11:00 and it takes us 10 minutes to get there from our house. I hopped in the shower at 10:25, shaved (duh--always no matter what) got dressed and was ready by 10:45. Scott says that one of the things he likes about me is how fast I can get dressed when I need to. I'm not going to lie, I like that about me too.
The girls got groomed today. They look adorable of course!! As I'm writing this here is what Ivy is doing.......
Bone in mouth.....Not letting Momma out of her sight.....So typical.
And this is Madison........
What is she doing? She's just hanging out in the living room......by herself........on her back.
She is so crazy.

Friday, February 15, 2013

My Memorable Valentines Day


I hope everyones Valentines Day was better than mine. This years will always be a memorable one but not for a fun reason. I woke up around my usual time (7:30ish) and about an hour later my cleaning ladies arrived. While they were cleaning upstairs, Marta came down to tell me my toilet was stopped up. I thought that was really weird since nobody ever uses the bathroom upstairs. I went into the bathroom to check it out and it was doing something really funny so I decided to find my phone and call Scott and ask him what to do. As I was wondering around my house I noticed a strange sound coming from my living room. So I looked up at the ceiling and after about 10 seconds of starring at it with a puzzled look on my face the flood gates opened and water was pouring out everywhere!!!!!!
I immediately started moving my furniture out of the way so it wouldn't get wet then called my husband to let him know that our living room had turned into a rainforest.
Once I hung up with Scott I called one of the builders in a panic and told him what was going on. He was over here shortly after and brought a bunch of plumbers with him. Two hours later the storm passed and we have zero idea why that happened. Clearly it has something to do with the plumbing on our less than one year old house. They cleaned the pipes out really good so hopefully my house won't rain again. I never thought I'd ever say that.
After the rain went away everyone got me paranoid that my house was going to catch on fire so I had the builder send over the electrician to give me a peace of mind. (Thank goodness for brand new neighborhoods where sub-contractors are always a few houses down) If you want to find the silver lining in any of this I've really wanted a new outlet installed in this one spot in my living room so he put one in for me while he was here. Woo Hoo!
Another silver lining is that Madison thought the rain was way fun so......yeah......she's crazy.

After the disaster was over I had lunch with Jaclyn at McAlisters. Then I decided Scott wanted to get me a shampoo/style for Valentines Day so I hopped on over to an Aveda salon and got a great blowout!! I'm very picky about how my hair gets styled and almost never like the way anyone ever does it but this girl did an amazing job. I'm definitely going to go back to see her more often when I feel like splurging!! I never splurge on hair stuff since I can easily do it on my own but it's nice to get pampered every now and then.

Scott and I didn't make any big plans for Valentines Day. We ordered a pizza and watched TV in bed. We can't turn on the television in our living room for 48 hours. Talk about torture.

So that was my day yesterday. Cool huh.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

With Love

Happy Valentines Day from these sweet mini Valentines!!



Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Baby Teeth

My poor little babies have had a horrible day. One of Madison's and two of Ivy's baby teeth never fell out so they had to have them pulled today. I didn't really think it would be THAT big of a deal but they have been pitiful since they've been home.
I took them in at 9:00 this morning and got to pick them up at 1:00. They were very sleepy and trying to come out of their anesthesia when I got them. I made sure everything was ready for them when we got home--blankets, heating pad, etc. I wanted them to lay on my bed and stay put all day and I knew they would follow me everywhere if I didn't lay with them. So that's what we did all day---lay in bed.
They've slept a lot but they've also cried a lot too. It's 11:30 and they're still crying. It's breaking my heart. Both of them have gotten sick today and have only eaten a little bit of wet food. I don't think either of them have had any water.
I just didn't think it would be this bad. I figured they'd sleep all day but I wasn't anticipating them getting sick and crying out in pain all day. I have a feeling they'll be so much better in the morning. I just hope we can all get good sleep tonight.


Monday, February 11, 2013

Obsessions

Hey all! Hope your weekend was good. Ours was pretty chill. I watched the Grammy's last night for like, a minute. I just don't care about it as much as the other awards shows even though I'm obsessed with music. How pretty did Rihanna look? I love her long hair and wish she'd always wear it like that. I guess I'm just so confused why she's with Chris Brown though. He's such a thug. Ew.
Let's talk about how Justin Timberlake is the definition of cool. How can one person be so awesome? I'm obsessed with watching him perform and I'm so glad he's back. If his new album is anything like Future Sex/Love Sounds.....I mean.....I can't even fathom.
These two escaped from the backyard yesterday---again. I knew I was going to give them a bath so I wanted to let them romp around and play for a little bit before they got clean. I went outside with them and they immediately darted towards the open gate that got blown open from the wind. You should have seen me chasing after these two greyhounds 6 pound nuggets. I don't even think Usain Bolt could keep up. I hope none of my neighbors saw because I bet I looked ridiculous. What am I going to do with these two crazies?
Madison is so obsessed with toys. She got a new love bug for Valentines day and really likes it because she can squeak it really easily. She's also really into that green thing right now. She thinks it's extra fun to play with these days.
Ivy, on the other hand, is obsessed with bones. She always has one. She brings her bone with her to bed at night and sleeps beside it and the first thing she does when she wakes up in the morning (after a stretch and good morning kiss) is start chewing that bone. It takes her so long to chew it. I think I gave her this particular bone a week ago. I guess she likes to enjoy it for as long as possible!

I went to Best Buy yesterday to buy a Tracy Anderson workout DVD. As I was checking out they had this super cool mini chocolate fountain sitting there so I snatched it up too. I couldn't help but laugh at the irony of my two purchases. I'm going to try out the DVD this afternoon. I hope I like it. All of the celebrities rave about Tracy Anderson and sometimes it's nice to work out at home instead of driving to the gym.
Until tomorrow....

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Hide & Seek

I snapped this photo of Ivy and Madison last night and posted it on Instagram. I think it's so sweet!! They made a heart and are holding hands while they snooze. I know I say it all the time but they just love each other so much and it melts me. I'm so glad they have each other. They are best friends and you never see one without the other. I'm so entertained watching them. They've invented this game that they play multiple times a day and it's hilarious. It's a mixture of hide and seek and catch. Madison runs behind the sectional back and forth and Ivy stays on the other side and tries to catch her. They never run around the sofa though. They stick to their designated spots. I'm going to film it one day and post it on here. It's so cute and any time they play their game Scott and I stop everything we're doing to watch. Life would definitely not be as entertaining if we didn't have these two!!

I saw this segment on Good Morning America yesterday where they tried all of these different mascaras at different price points to see if the more expensive ones really were better. Every single one looked the same!! I do splurge on make up and I enjoy playing with new colors and brands but I have never bought expensive mascara. My whole make-up wearing life I've used Maybelline's Classic Volume Express mascara but a few weeks ago I decided to try their One by One Volume Express and I really like it a lot! If you're looking for a new mascara give it a try. I think you'll like it!

It's supposed to rain today and I'm glad. I don't have much on my agenda so staying in, snuggling with my puppies and watching Downton Abbey (such a great show BTW) sounds like a pretty good Thursday. Have a good one folks!

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Hat Ladies

I'm blogging from a new laptop!!! I'm so excited. We've needed a new laptop for about 3 years now. Our previous laptop was anything but. Unless it was plugged into the wall you couldn't use it. So yay for new computers!!
I had lunch with my MIL today at Fish City Grill at The Promenade. I really like eating there. I usually get a bowl of their gumbo but I tried the tilapia tacos this time. They're supposed to be fried but I had them blacken the fish instead and it was de-lish. They give you FOUR of them though so it's definitely a meal meant for sharing. While we were eating lunch Jodie told me she made an appointment to cut her hair all the way. I cut it last Wednesday into a little bob when it first started coming out. Yesterday she made the decision to just get the process over with. She didn't ask me to do it. She knows I couldn't handle it. Doing that would be really hard.
After lunch I snapped a pic of us together in our hats. I knew she'd be wearing one so I thought I'd sport one too!
While we were at lunch we decided to have dinner together tonight so I could see Jodie wearing her wig for the first time. She rocked it and looks awesome! I'm so amazed at her bravery. I cannot even begin to imagine how she must feel today with the changes she endured. Nobody would ever guess she's wearing a wig. It looks so great!!!
Today was one of those days in this process that was really hard. It has definitely sunk in that cancer is invading our lives right now but moments like today are really tough and take you back to the "I can't believe this is happening" thoughts. I told Jodie today that 10 years from now this time will seem like a little blip and she agreed. This too shall pass.....

Monday, February 4, 2013

Super Bowl Weekend

Hey everyone! How was your weekend? Mine was fun! On Friday night I went to a sending off party for my friend, Anna. She's moving to NYC this week and I'm so excited for her. I'm sad she's leaving but I know she's going to do big things and I can't wait to watch it all unfold.
On Saturday the girls and I were ridiculously lazy. We laid around all day and watched movies. I didn't leave the house once the whole day. It was kind of awesome. Every once and a while days like that are really good.
This is how my mornings begin and I was glad Scott was able to get a picture of it yesterday. Both of my girls climb on top of me and demand their morning massage. Ivy is a lot sweeter about it than Madison. Madison insists upon it and Ivy understands if Momma just isn't in the mood to give a 10 minute long massage.
After church I came home and let the girls play outside. They love playing in the backyard. I'm never comfortable just letting them play by themselves though. I like to sit on the porch and watch them. I'm that overprotective Momma who is worried something will happen. Yesterday my irrational fears became a reality when I literally turned my back on them for 90 seconds and Madison disappeared!!!! Scott and I freaked out and he stormed out of one gate of the back yard and I went out of the other. Low and behold, there's Madison right outside of our gate sniffing around. She got in so much trouble and felt really bad for her escape. I have no idea how she got out but obviously she slithered under the fence. They lost their outdoor privileges after that. Ivy told me that she told Madison not to do it. Ivy was very concerned that her sister broke out and wanted no part in it. She doesn't like to break the rules.

Once my heart stopped beating a zillion beats a minute Scott and I headed down the street for a neighborhood Super Bowl party. I made mini chicken and waffles and they were a hit! It was so easy too----mini eggos and popcorn chicken. Such a cute idea right? I'd love to say I thought of it all on my own but I totally didn't.

I'd love to comment on the game but I didn't watch it at all. I was busy chatting. I did catch Beyoncé and everyone made fun of me because apparently I was dancing to her show. I think I may have turned red when I was called out on it in front of everyone. Oh well! I didn't even realize I was doing it but I'm not even surprised. I know the Single Ladies dance and always feel the need to join in.

Friday, February 1, 2013

From My Kitchen With Love

Every week I have a new house decorating project and this week I picked my kitchen.
I really love my kitchen. When Scott and I were house hunting one of the musts on our list was a white kitchen. We quickly learned they are very hard to come by. Thankfully we were able to find a house that had (almost) everything we wanted, including this white kitchen!
Anyone who ever comes to our house always comments on how much they love our plantation sink. I love it too!! It's nice to be able to wash dishes and not have water splash all over you, plus I think they just look really cool.
Now, for the decorating.
I feel like decorating kitchen countertops is quite daunting. Trying to look through Pinterest and magazines for inspiration is no help. The kitchens always look beautiful but every single photo shows fresh flowers, a pitcher of lemonade and a chopping board with asparagus laying on it as the countertop decor. It looks great but that's not real life. I'm not 100% done with my decorating yet but so far, this is what I've come up with.
I always think trays in kitchens look cool. Something else needs to go on it but I don't know what yet. And I'm not set on the limes but they'll do for now.
I've had that white artichoke for a while now but never had anything good to put with it. I decided I wanted a little color in my kitchen and thought a painting would look cool. Searching for art for my house is really challenging because I like pale colors and silver frames only. After looking everywhere and coming up empty handed, I decided to just buy a frame from Target and print off a picture I liked online on regular printing paper. If I hadn't just announced to the world that my pretty piece of art cost like, half a cent I'm fairly positive nobody would ever know.
So there's my kitchen! It's coming together and nothing makes me happier than one step closer to house decorating completion. Enjoy your weekend!!