Easter

Happy Easter everyone!!

 

We usually celebrate Easter with an egg hunt and a family brunch at my parents'! I love the egg hunt!! The eggs contain cash and gift cards... Things that we can all really use!! This year I managed to get $22 cash, two gift cards to H&M, a visa gift card, and a subway gift card!! Libba started to get a little violent/aggressive towards the end but overall it was a great hunt!!

 

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Spring Project - Our Deck

It is now officially spring and it has got me thinking about the outside of our house! There are a lot of things that need to be done to get ready for the season. One, we need to do something about our yard!! I'm not just talking about plants and flowers... We need grass! Second, it wouldn't hurt to put a second coat of paint on our door and a new coat on rest of the house. However, my main focus right now is our screened in porch and deck... Our big barn red deck.

I would love to do something about the color of the deck. I'm not a huge fan of the color but more importantly it doesn't look right with pink!!! It is a wonderful deck for entertaining so I really hope to have it fixed up for the warm weather!

There are two levels so we were thinking we could make one level a more intimate dining area and the other level could be more of a fun sitting area. There are currently no lights outside but I have found the cutest string lights to hang up and I'm hoping to get a few lanterns!!

Our little screened in porch is a mess! It needs a lot of cleaning, painting, a new fan (the one up right now is really old and I'm really worried someone will get hurt if we turn it on), and really cute furniture!! I am torn between painting the ceiling a fun color and doing something fun with the floor! We want to turn it into a cute sunroom/breakfast area!!

Thanks to Pinterest I have really high expectations of how things should look!!

 

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Happy Monday

Happy Monday everybody! They showed us this video during one of the meetings in Richmond and I thought it was very sweet and inspiring. I thought it would be a good way to start the week!! I hope you enjoy!!!

Click here for more Kid President

 

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Stowe's Birthday

What a week it has been. I left for Richmond early Wednesday morning for two days of meetings. I must admit I was pretty nervous about going but it turned out to be ok! They put us up in the Berkeley Hotel for the night and I was able to spend some time with my sister!!

Friday night we had a birthday party for my nephew Stowe at my parents' house... He is 1!! It is hard to believe it has already been a year since he was born!

He absolutely loved the cake!! Why is it so adorable when kids eat cake by going in face first?!?

Lawson was being such a good brother helping Stowe open his presents!! The giant frog was from Ben and me!! They had such a good time trying out all the new toys. I absolutely love my nephews but I also love that at the end of the night I get to give them back!!

 

 

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Richmond Visit

I was so excited about my new iPad that I forgot to mention the wonderful weekend I had! On Saturday, my mom and I drove to Richmond to visit my sister and do a little shopping. It was a great trip! It was wonderful getting to see my sister and catch up with her but it also reminded me of how truly wonderful it is to shop in actual stores!!

My town never had very many stores and after my mom closed her shop, I no longer had an extra large closet at my disposal!! I soon realized that the only access to the brands I loved (Rebecca Taylor, Alice & Olivia, Elizabeth and James, Calypso) was by the click of the mouse. I have grown very fond of online shopping. I love getting to see hundreds of new pieces almost everyday from hundreds of different brands!!

However, nothing can beat the excitement of shopping in a store... The feel of the clothes, the smell of leather bags, walking out with your new purchase in a cute store bag! It truly is a wonderful thing!!

 

Sometimes I worry that if I allowed myself to have credit cards I would be more like Rebecca Bloomwood!!! I don't think Ben would be too happy if he came home to find me sitting on the kitchen floor with a high heal in my hand trying to break apart a huge chunk of ice that was housing my emergency credit card! I feel like using a debit card puts a realistic cap on the amount I can spend. I know how much is in my account and I know how much I can spend! Credit cards offer a buy now, pay latter deal that can lead to trouble especially since I find that when shopping, the more you spend the easier it gets to keep spending!! So keep those credit cards away from me... I will continue to stick to my trusty debit card and cash!!

 

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Not Spring Yet

I know spring is just a few days away, but the weather today is not like spring at all... chances of wintry mix during the night and a high of 42 during the day. The days of skirts and sundresses are fast approaching but I would like to share some of my favorite cozy, winter outfits before it is too late!!

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New iPad

I have finally done it... I have joined the rest of the world and purchased an iPad! This is my first post using it and I must admit it will take some getting used to! The Internet and apps are nothing new since I have been using the iPhone for years... It is the autocorrect and not having an actually keyboard that are the difficult part. Hopefully I will get the hang of this thing soon!

 

 

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Laundry

Earlier I shared some pictures of my new house and some of the upgrades we have made. I love my little house but there is one room missing that I would love to have… a laundry room!! Currently the washer and dryer are in the unfinished basement. I’m not ashamed to admit that I am not a huge fan of unfinished basements… they are dark, dirty, and there are lots of places for creepy little critters to hide! Hopefully one day soon we can add a laundry room.

Oh, I forgot to mention that we also don't have a working dryer! Every weekend we load up our laundry and go use my parents dryer... we look like kids coming home from college.

Below are some of my favorite laundry rooms I have found on Pinterest lately!

 

 

 

 

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Where I work, the assistants are in charge of bringing in a special treat for their brokers’ birthdays. I typically enjoy this because it gives me the chance to try out recipes!

One of my brokers, who happens to be my dad, is very picky but there is one thing I know he loves… ice cream! So for his birthday we do an ice cream bar with different toppings and brownies. Last year I decided to mix things up a little and instead of making plain, boring brownies I made a chocolate sheet cake. It was a huge hit!

I got the recipe from NancyCreative and I highly recommend that you try it at least once!!

Ingredients:

CAKE:

§  2 cups all-purpose flour

§  2 cups sugar

§  ¼ teaspoon salt

§  4 heaping Tablespoons unsweetened baking cocoa

§  2 sticks butter

§  1 cup boiling water

§  ½ cup buttermilk

§  2 large eggs, beaten

§  1 teaspoon baking soda

§  1 teaspoon vanilla

FROSTING:

§  1 3/4 sticks butter

§  4 heaping Tablespoons unsweetened baking cocoa

§  6 Tablespoons milk

§  1 teaspoon vanilla

§  1 pound (minus 1/2 cup) powdered sugar (about 3 to 3 1/4 cups)

§  1/2 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts, optional (I did not use)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.

Melt butter in a saucepan and add cocoa. Stir together. Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into 13 x 18″ sheet cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (if using a 10 x 15″ jelly roll pan, you may need to bake 22 to 23 minutes).

While cake is baking, make the icing. If using nuts, chop them finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the nuts, stir together, and pour over warm cake. If you made your cake in a 13 x 18″ pan, pour on the frosting.

You can let the frosting cool and set before cutting into squares if you want, or cut into squares while it’s still warm and dig in! The frosting will start setting in about a half hour, but it needs between 1 and 2 hours to set more firmly; at 2 hours, it should be nice and firm.

Shelby is Engaged!!

Over the weekend I got some absolutely wonderful news… my best friend Shelby is engaged!! I am so incredibly happy for her!

Shelby and I have been friends since freshman year at the university of Alabama. I was a long way from my home in Virginia and her family immediately took me in. Shelby and I have had a lot of adventures together… some good and some I would like to forget. Even though we didn’t always see eye to eye on certain situations (or certain people) she was always there for me. She sees the best in people and is willing to look past people's mistakes (no matter how many times they make them.) That is why she deserves a wonderful guy and a lifetime of happiness!

I know Shelby is going to make a beautiful bride and Jake is a very lucky man! I couldn't be happier for her! Love you Shelbs!

Spicy Thai Noodles

I spend a lot of time on Pinterest and have found hundreds of delicious sounding recipes but sadly I have not attempted to make very many of them. Yesterday I decided to change that.

A few days ago I repinned a recipe from my sister Hollis for spicy Thai noodles and they looked so good I just had to try it! This recipe is amazing! It comes from a cute blog, A Small Snippet. I don’t think I used enough red pepper though… I only used 1 tbsp so next time I will try using more and I might use a little less oil.

Ingredients:

            1 box linguine or angel hair pasta

            1-2 tbsp crushed red pepper

            ½ cup sesame oil

            6 tbsp honey

            6 tbsp soy sauce

            Green onions, cilantro, and peanuts


Directions:

Combine 1-2 tbsp crushed red pepper and ½ cup sesame oil in pan. Cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Strain out pepper, reserving oil.

Whisk honey and soy sauce with reserved oil.

Boil package of pasta, drain, and put in large bowl.

Pour mixture on top of noodles and toss until noodles are well coated.

Top with chopped green onion, cilantro, and peanuts.

Serve cold.

I added shredded chicken for protein.

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you are as excited as I am about the weekend! It has been a long week of no water at work and a huge letdown from the snow that didn't come... but Friday is finally here! Here are some words of wisdom to get you through the day. Hope you enjoy!

Our Home ~ With the Pink Door

As I mentioned in my last post, we recently bought our first house! It is awonderful little house in a fabulous neighborhood, a delightful change from ourneighbors at our old townhouse. We still have some work to do but I thought I wouldgo ahead and share the progress we have made so far!

My favorite thing about our home has to be the pink door! I always wanted a pink door and now I finally have one... it was one of the first things we did when we moved in. I must add that I am a very lucky girl to have a husband who was ok with having a pink door!

I love our cozy little den! Since taking this picture I have added a small sisal rug under the coffee table!

For the hallway we took out the sliding doors and added franch doors with mirrors!

The kitchen took the most work. We rebuilt the cabinets, got all newappliances, and put in new backsplash. The backsplash is hard to see but it iswhite subway tile! Unfortunately during the process we found a poor family ofmice that had been living under the cabinets... they didn't make it. We stillhave a few things to hang up and we are going to paint the floors white!

The dining room has not been painted yet... clearly! We did get the furniture in and the new chandelier in though!

This is one of my favorite rooms! It is the first room you walk into and I think it looks amazing. There is nothing better than walking into a beautiful room.

I'm not sure what to say about the bathroom when we bought the house... the lovely color, the animal stickers, the dirty floors.... it was frightening. It look a razor and some sand paper to get the stickers off but eventually they did. We used the pink paint from the bedroom for the stripes and I couldn't be happier with how they turned out!



I have to say a huge thanks to my mom for all her help with the painting! She did a wonderful job and I wouldn't have been able to do it without her!

Welcome

Like many other girls, I grew up dreaming of moving to New York and working in the fashion world. I studied fashion in school and was lucky enough to study in Paris for a summer. I couldn't wait to get out of my small town and take my chances in the big city. However, fate had a completely different plan for me. I met a wonderful man, fell in love, and got married! Needless to say, I did not end up moving. We have been married for about a year and a half and just bought our first house!

Sadly, fashion is somewhat overlooked in my line of work and especially at my office so I have decided to start this blog to share my love of fashion, decorating, and food with anyone out there who might appreciate it.

A little about me:

I love all things pink! It is the most wonderful color and can brighten up any space, outfit, or spirit!

My favorite sports team is Alabama!

I have a wonderful little maltipoo named Millie who will be 4 in June!

 

I actually met my husband in 2002. He had just graduated college and got a job as an intern at my high school. In 2010, we ran into each other while we were out one night and really hit it off. We started dating a few months later and I couldn't imagine my life without him!

 

I love my family very much! I am the middle of 3 girls... my poor dad has always been out numbered! I have wonder parents, great sisters, and adorable nephews!!