Easter 2016

Easter was soaking wet but we had fun nonetheless. Y'all it rained just about all day long but we made the most of our time together as a family. My dad has a shed, so we still managed to cook some burgers on the grill and reminisce. We always play a lot of games, dodgeball, whiffle ball, egg toss, etc...so those are postponed until we can all get together again. Tarl and I are the egg toss champs from last year, so we get to hold onto the trophy a few more weeks, unless we win again :)

We all got some goodies, but of course, Cadence scored the most. She loved everything that EB brought for her, including her new bike!

That smile!

I do want to say a quick little something about her getting a bike as I saw a lot of haters on FB yesterday. Not necessarily towards us but just people posting in general about how Easter isn't a 2nd Christmas and how their children only get a few dollar store toys because Easter is way more than just baskets and toys. Well duh! As a Christian and God fearing woman, Easter is about the Lords Resurrection. He died so that I could live an eternal life in Heaven with him. He died so that I could ask forgiveness of my sins and be truly forgiven. I know this. My husband knows this. My daughter knows this! She knows why we celebrate Easter for HE has risen! Sure, everything else is just fluff. The chocolate bunnies and marshmallow peeps and bubbles and toys, but for children, it is still a part of Easter and if my husband and I want to splurge on a new bike because she has far outgrown her other one, then that's just what we'll do. No one pays our bills for us. No one purchases things for us so what does it matter what we choose to spend on our child? She has had her old bike for 2 years. Each time she peddles her knees almost hit her shoulders, it was far past time for her to get a new bike and rather than just buy one for her to have, why not kill 2 birds with one stone and make it special on Easter morning?! Peoples thoughts and opinions do not bother me. I could care less what someone who I rarely talk with thinks about me or the decisions I make, but I just had to get this off my chest because some of the posts I saw yesterday rubbed me the wrong way. 

We had fun dyeing Easter eggs and we also planted a jelly bean garden which grew into lollipops on Easter morning!

We always take family pictures on Easter before the festivities begin but it just wasn't happening with the weather the way it was, so we did a family selfie. Not everyone was smiling, not everyone's head made it into the picture, but it was great!

Summerville

Tarl had an out of town work function on Friday night that lead us to the beautiful little town of Summerville, but first, lunch!

I'm still dreaming of those grits and that fried chicken. You just can't beat southern food!

Tarl and I both agree'd that if we ever end up living in Summerville, SC, that will be alright with us. Y'all, it's like Mayberry. In my opinion they need to re-name it Azalea, SC, because the azaleas were in full bloom and every single yard, park, side of the road, had an azalea growing. There were beautiful cottage style homes, duck crossings, gorgeous parks to be walked, stunning is the only word that comes to mind!

We had a couple hours to spend before we met everyone for dinner that evening so we decided to walk the park and then drive around and look at homes afterwards. Architecture is something I can completely delve myself into for hours, Tarl too. A majority of my NYC trips were spent looking up at all of the skyscrapers and the way they were built. Whenever I'm in book stores I'll always find myself in the travel section, looking at pictures of far-a-way places and the famous buildings that grace them.

Duck crossing!

A snack before dinner!

After looking around we met everyone for dinner at a local seafood joint. I opted for crab legs, duh!

Crab legs, oysters, and boiled shrimp. Every bit as good as it looks!

Saturday morning we were up bright and early to head to the work function and then made the drive back home. It should go without saying, but I'm going to say it, if you ever find yourself in Summerville, take the time to truly look around!

Cadence spent the weekend with Tarls parents so we took full advantage of a Saturday night out. We spent it laughing over faceswap, dinner and I found myself in the Lilly section of my local Belk. 

Now I'm not one to buy two items in the same print but Flamenco is my all time favorite print and although I have the wristlet and crop top parfait set, I couldn't resist the Loren Boatneck Dress! I didn't take pictures of it on myself, yet, but I plan to wear it sometime this week and I'll be sure too, if the weather warms up! We're back in the 60s...#ahh #whereisspring

After date night, Tarl let me sleep in on Sunday (thanks babe!) and went and picked Cadence up. That afternoon we played around with some more faceswap and funny filters!

Here's hoping this week is a blessed one and that the work week flies by. I'm ready to have Good Friday off and spend it with my family decorating Easter Eggs and making crescent tombs!

St. Patrick's Day | Mom Pooch

Well hey there and happy Friday y'all! I'm pretty excited because today is only a half day of work and then we're off for a quick little getaway (details on Monday). I'm excited to get out the house for the weekend, even if the weather looks crummy. This sunshine and gorgeous weather has been wonderful and I'm not quite ready to see it go, but I guess we have no say in that matter do we?

So St. Patrick's Day was yesterday. It's probably the only day of the year that I wouldn't want to be strolling the sidewalks of downtown Savannah. Huge crowds and lots of people who drank a little too much, no thanks! It is, however, a day to wear green, so that's what we did! My FB memories from that day broke my heart. Just look at this sweet girl and how quickly the time has passed and how much she has grown through the years!

Her 1st St. Patrick's Day - 2009

St. Patrick's Day 2012

Yesterday...I love how she tries her very best to poke out her little belly! Bless it!

Where has the time gone?! #myhearthurts

My sister-in-law and I were looking through a clothing magazine that she gets monthly in the mail and everything in that book screams "buy me for the cruise!". We are all ready to get on that boat, relax and have great times with family! We were also looking through bathing suits and cover ups, which leads me to tell y'all about my fitness journey. I am by no means large. I was blessed with two pretty thin parents who have high metabolism (if you don't include dads beer belly...hah!), which in turn, I received through genetics. I've always been able to eat whatever and not gain a pound from it. I've always had a thin stomach and then I got pregnant. Thankfully, I lost most of my weight after birth, but I still have always had that "mom pooch" and with Disney in less than a month and our cruise not long after I want to look great in a bikini again. I knew I didn't need to lose any weight, but I wanted to focus on toning up my stomach and trying like to hell to get rid of my mom pooch. I'm happy to say I have stuck with it and am now on week 2. I'm limiting myself to 1200 calories a day, drinking more water, eating more healthier snacks (a handful of pecans instead of a can of pringles), portion controlling my meals better, and most importantly, working out. I work out at least 4 out of the 7 day week and the 3 days I don't work out I walk at least one mile, just something to get my heart rate up and going. I do workout intervals with yoga, an ab workout, and then a general workout that works most of your body, including arms and legs. I'm exhausted when it's all said and done but I know it's working. As crazy as it sounds I love waking up with sore legs, tummy and arms because I know those muscles are getting worked like they should. I took before pictures and if the results are what I hope them to be, I'll be sure and share them here, along with my specific regiment with what I ate, etc. I'm not a fitness guru by any means of the word but y'all this flabby stomach of mine has to go!

I cannot believe that Easter is already next weekend! The older I get, the quicker the years go by. I'm ready for Easter. It's one of my most favorite holidays. I always relay back to Pinterest with ideas, don't we all? With that being said, I have tons and tons of great Easter goodies pinned to my Easter board, go check it out!

Well I'm off to get some work finished before we head out this afternoon. I hope that each of you has a blessed weekend! xo

Weekend Recap

Friday was a very good mail day. Our magic bands and luggage tags arrived and our Disney excitement went into overdrive. We are in vacation mode and cannot wait to be in sunny Florida!

Speaking of sunshine, Saturday was absolutely gorgeous, in fact, most of this weekend was beautiful in the lowcountry. On Saturday morning we made our way to Hilton Head. I wanted to visit their local Lilly Pulitzer store for lunch at Lilly and I came out with this two piece Flamenco set and the matching wristlet. Although this set is two pieces, it's a high skirt, and as you can tell, very little skin shows. I'm a mom, and almost in my 30s and I'm not about to show off all of my stomach for the world to see unless I'm in a bathing suit near a pool or the beach...but the way this is made is just perfect for summer days, date nights, or even the upcoming cruise :)

 crop top & skirt here / wristlet here

Cadence's best friend stayed the night with us on Saturday, so after we let them play and get some energy out we took them for pizza and ice cream. Such little sweeties! Tarl was as equally excited about the ice cream, but then again, so was I!

Having lived in Savannah's backyard our entire lives we have never seen the fountain in Forsyth park gushing with green water, as it does, during the week of St. Patrick's Day, so on Sunday we made it a point to see it.

All three of us adore walking the Savannah squares and it was a perfect day to do just that! 

These two! #love

Forsyth Park is always pretty, but with all of the spring blooms it was stunning!

We found the fountain!

After lunch and spending time in the park it was still pretty early so we made our way to Tybee. It was so nice and warm and gorgeous in downtown, but once we got on the beach it was so chilly. Needless to say we didn't stay long. Enough time for Cadence to dip her toes in the water and call it a day. Second best, more ice cream!

All in all, a great weekend! Now that the time has changed my butt is dragging this morning. Off to sip on lots of coffee! 

Tuesday Talk

I have always wanted a farm style table. They're earthy, southern and simply chic, however, brand new they are incredibly expensive. I've even found some resale sites that have wanted an arm and a leg for them and I'd still have to sand them down and re-paint them because used, they have your normal chips and daily wear and tear. Well my sweet husband said he could build me one, and wouldn't you know it turned out stunning. I couldn't' have asked for it to be any prettier. Well yesterday came time to stain it and I knew I wanted the top really dark so we purchased ebony stain. Y'all, dark wasn't the word, it was straight up black paint, not stain! It didn't even seep into the wood to show the knots or wood grain like stain is supposed to, it looked like we had purchased and painted our table with regular black paint. I was in tears! Tarl had worked so hard on this table and within seconds the top of the table was destroyed (well the part I had painted before I realized that it wasn't seeping into the wood like it should've been). Well sweet boy finished painting the table top for me, then took a sander and sanded the entire top down. So now we're back to an unfinished table top with little highlights of darkness around certain areas of the wood grain. Thankfully, this will do nothing but add character and give it more dimension and an authentic gorgeous farm style look, but for that hour yesterday, it was awful. Thank goodness Tarl is more patient than me when it comes to that stuff because I thought he was going to have to re-build the entire top part of the table! *crisis averted*


This week the lowcountry is finally supposed to have temps in the 80s. I will gladly welcome that weather with open arms, or should I say shorts! Over the winter I stocked up on all kinds of shorts and now I can't wait to wear them. Shorts and dresses and sandals and flip flops and tank tops...come on spring! During my lunch break today I walked into Target and they had the cutest colored shorts in kids sizes; bright corals and minty blues. Target also has some great Easter items out. I got tons of stuff in the $1 spot and y'all know how much I love that dollar spot! I also went ahead and got Cadence the pink Peeps pillow to put in her basket. Not gonna lie, I kinda wanted one for myself, they are that cute!


Disney is right around the corner. It's so close now we can taste it and all three of us are ready to hit the road for a vacation. It's about time to start packing and I've found the easiest way to pack for long trips are to plan out what you're wearing each day, writing the date on a large ziploc bag, storing the clothes in the bag and voila...all your packing is done and you don't have to waste time each morning thinking about what you're going to wear for the day. Plus you know, I got some wardrobe plans for me and C. #DisneyTwinsies


So the other day there was a news articles posted by a white news anchor. It was a picture of a few people in a memorial fountain where it stated "no wading in the fountain". Mind you, the people who were wading in the fountain were white people as well. The news anchor posted about how they showed no sign of respect, as it was a memorial fountain in honor of soldiers and military personnel. I agree whole heartedly...do we not care anymore about respect and honor in lieu of a photo op? Ridiculous, but I digress...as I clicked on the image there were thousands of comments but one stood out from the rest as it had drawn several replies. It was a black woman who had stated (and I'm going off of how she worded it) "watch all these white people going to get mad because he's posting a picture of white people in the fountain when they shouldn't be". Well, I'm not sure if she didn't take the time to look, but the man that posted it was in fact, white. He was disgracing other white people for their ignorance. I am so sick and tired of every little thing turning into a race issue, and I mean every little thing. Race issues can come in any color, hispanic, black, white, doesn't matter. We have enough issues in our country and race shouldn't be one of them. I'm so sick of hearing that black lives matter, blue lives matter, white lives matter...ugh...you know what my friends, ALL LIVES MATTER! God loves each and every single one of us regardless of our skin color!


Why do shows have to kill off characters you love?! Why? Spoiler alert if you haven't seen Season 2 of The 100...you've been warned. So last night I watched the episode where Finn was killed off. Finn y'all! As tears were streaming my face and Tarl laughing at me crying over a show my heart broke into 1000 pieces...well, I guess I should say 100 seeing as how that's more fitting with the show title and all. Seriously though, I was pissed. I told Tarl I was over the show and that they could've killed off anyone else but him, but nope, they chose him. The main freaking guy of the show. Why do they do this to us? Rant over (for now).


Lilly Pulitzer has killed her new spring collection. I am loving these new prints but Flamenco is by far my most favorite. I'm not one to get more than one item in the same print but Flamenco might just break the rule for me. Pink and green and pineapples, need I say more?

My LP shorts collection game is strong so I wasn't wanting to add anymore at the moment but seeing these Callahan's is too tempting!

Flamenco Callahans

As a mom and a woman in her late 20s, I'll be the first one to tell you that crop tops probably aren't a good idea but I am absolutely smitten with this set! I obviously wouldn't wear this to trot around town in but how great would this be for summer vacations and date nights? Not something you'd wear on the regular, but for those special nights when you want to be a little daring. Thoughts?

Flamenco Parfait Crop Top & Skirt

Flamenco Tootsie Double Pouch Wristlet

Like I said, I do not need anymore shorts, at least that's what I try and tell myself, but how gorgeous is this Ooh La La Print? It screams spring with it's pink and mango hues!

Ooh La La Callahans

This Enna top is stunning! The fact that it shows your shoulders is what draws me in but the little poms on the bottom make it perfect! It looks so light weight to wear in the spring or summer, but you could just as easily wear it with jeans and stilletos come fall.

Enna Off Shoulder Top

Easter Decisions and I met Junie B. Jones!

Friday, Friday, Friday. I have absolutely no words about how excited I am for this wonderful day of the week. This week has kicked my tail. Not in the sense that something bad has happened, just the simple fact that it's been a slow week! It seemed that Monday felt like Tuesday and when I realized it was only Monday that made it worse. Looking at the clock and it says 1:30 then I look at the clock 30 minutes later and it's only 1:34...so maybe I'm exaggerating but you get my drift.

Slow weeks are the worst, especially when you're looking forward to the weekend. My baby niece is coming into town. Although she's not actually my niece, she's close enough and she's absolutely precious...she's a little over 6 months old and y'all, my baby fever goes through the roof when I'm around her, which Tarl loves. That man has been wanting a baby for over a year now...I'm not quite on board yet, but who knows. Like I tell Tarl, it's all in the Lords hands!

It's also supposed to be an absolutely gorgeous weekend with lots of sunshine and temps in the low 70s. I'll take it! Last night we went to Lowes and Tarl bought me two gorgeous tulip plants. A dark coral color and yellow, because yellow screams spring! I was going to plant them in my terracotta pots, but I think I might actually plant them in the ground. Either way, tulips are on the agenda for this weekend! He also bought Cadence a yard flamingo...she gets it from her mama! #weloveflamingos

This week at school was Read Across America. Each day the school had a different theme and one of the themes were dress as your favorite book character day. I think Cadence nailed it!

I am so excited that Easter is quickly approaching. It's easily my 2nd favorite holiday to Christmas. I love all the colors of Easter, the games and time spent with family we have on Easter. Celebrating Jesus!!! I just love it! 

I also love putting together Cadence's Easter basket and I started with the small items yesterday. I actually get most of her items from the dollar store. I mean everything is $1...what's not to love? She gets a lot of the same items each year. They'll last her throughout the year, and then come Easter, she gets re-stocked; bubbles, sidewalk chalk, coloring books, crayons, markers, inexpensive makeup like hot pink lipsticks and blush, play slime, playdough...things like that.

The Easter bunny also brings her a semi-big gift. Something like a princess dress, a bike, a new DS game, things like that. I'm not sure this year if I want to get her a traditional Easter basket, or do an umbrella basket like I showed y'all last week. I love the umbrella idea, but the thought of ditching a basket pulls at my heartstrings...#decisions

Tarl and I just recently celebrated eight years together. I never thought that the cute boy I met in the summer of 2002 would have turned into my husband, but I am so blessed that he did! He got me a card with a $1 bill in it. He knows that my morning coffee's cost $1 and wanted to pay for my coffee the morning of our anniversary. He also had a red bull waiting in the fridge for me, because he knows that around 2 each day I want a red bull. He also took Cadence and I out to dinner that night at Japanese, because ever since the beginning we've had a mutual love for hibachi!

The gifts sound simple, and you know what, they were and they were perfect!

Love the family we've made together!

Happy Friday