To describe our growing up in the lowcountry of South Carolina, I would have to take you to the marsh on a spring day, flush the great blue heron from its silent occupation, scatter marsh hens as we sink to our knees in mud, open an oyster with a pocketknife and feed it to you from the shell and say, 'There. That taste. That's the taste of my childhood.' - Pat Conroy
Happy Thursday sunshine! Can you believe we have almost made it to yet another weekend, praise the good Lord! I'm pretty pumped about tomorrow. Tarl and I have a date night planned and there is nothing like a little one on one time with my main squeeze. Saturday morning we're doing a little grocery shopping, running some errands, and then attending a birthday party that afternoon. After the party our towns local museum is unveiling their newest pieces and a picture of my dad is going to be on display, which is pretty amazing! #lovesmalltownliving
// One of my most favorite things to shop for is Cadence's summer clothes. Both Cadence and I have a mutual love of flamingos. What's not to love!? Well it just so happens that Gymboree has caught onto this because their recent collection is filled with those leggy pink birds! Also, something important to note, is that the entire store is 40% off right now, so now is the time to shop if y'all are anything like us and need new summer clothes for the kiddos!
...and because every outfit needs a coordinating purse - Flamingo Plus Purse
// Yesterday was administrative professionals day. I had fresh flowers and a balloon greeting me when I arrived at work, but if you know me, you know I'm a foodie, so when he treated me to a delicious southern meal for lunch, that was all I needed. There's a local place near our office and it serves up the most incredible southern staples, grits, fried chicken, shrimp, meatloaf, collard greens, butterbeans, mac-n-cheese, the list goes on and on. I snapped a pic for Tarl, it totally made him jealous as it's one of his favorite places to go :)
// The school that Cadence attends is involved in a fairy garden project. Each class is participating to make it a school wide project. Every student in the lower and middle schools were asked to draw a fairy garden and a drawing by one student from each class was going to get chosen to be turned into a postcard, well Cadence's drawing was chosen for her class, so now she's really excited about this! The next part is to make your own fairy house for the big fairy garden at school. It's a family project and everything has to be made out of natural materials (stones, bark, etc.). The entire family has gotten into this. I even have my parents looking for stuff that they think would work. Sometimes school projects can be fun, sometimes :)
Today I'm linking up with the ladies listed below for What's Up Wednesday, and this Wednesday is a Mother's Day Edition with the additional question: What's your favorite mother's day gift to give or receive? Let's get started...
This week we've been eating lots of chicken! Tarl and I have both been trying to get more fit. I will say I am very blessed with a high metabolism. My mom comes from a small framed family and I get it naturally, but that doesn't mean that I eat healthy. I snack and snack and eat potato chips and pizza is my very best friend, get my drift? Tarl had started working out a couple months back to get more tone and I though to myself that although I don't want to lose weight, I sure would like to be more tone myself, so we have both been trying to eat healthier and working out more, with Disney as an exception. Other than the constant walking, we didn't work out a bit and we ate terribly. We regret nothing! It was vacation after all and never say never, but I doubt we'll ever be ones to work out or eat healthy on vacation! IT'S VACATION! With all that being said, we've been trying to get back into the swing of things and chicken has been on the menu. Chicken is much healthier than red meats, so lots of baked chicken, grilled chicken salads, shredded chicken with rice, you name it, don't fry it, we've ate it. (okay I may or may not have fried some chicken on Tuesday #ImSouthernAfterAll)
Lately I've been reminiscing about our honeymoon cruise. With another cruise in July I've been dreaming of clear water and towel animals.
I am loving that the warmer weather is finally here. I'm sure it won't be long I'll be dreaming of cool nights, jeans, and boots, but for now, the warmth has been amazing. I've managed to start somewhat of a summer tan and wearing shorts has been great. I'll especially love when swimming weather gets here. I'm sure you'll be able to find us poolside each weekend!
We've been up to local fun as of recent. This past weekend Cadence had a sleepover and we took the girls to see The Jungle Book (which was great by the way!). Afterwards we went to a pizza joint in downtown Savannah and then we had a water balloon fight on Sunday with my sister and her family because why not?! Three hundred water balloons, adults who act like kids, and a competitive streak make it lots of fun!
This is the only picture I have, but my hair was board straight prior to the all the water balloons, in this pic you can see how kinky curly it is at the ends. Y'all, we all got soaked! What a blast!
As much as I love the warm weather being here, I'm dreading late July and mid-August heat. Hot is an understatement and by that time even the pool water is so hot it's no longer refreshing as it once was. So I'm ready for summer, but come late July I'll be dreaming of Fall...speaking of, I saw decorative pumpkins in the store the other day. They were obviously on sale, but I thought to myself, why in the hell are these still on the shelves? Are we that impatient that we're putting out fall items in April? #didntminditthough #loverofallthingsfall
I'm currently working on my grocery list. Seems redundant, but it's necessary and I hate making a grocery list the day I have to go shopping. I like to start my grocery list a week in advance that way I can add to is as I need and I don't have to make two or three shopping trips, I can just make one because I can add to the list throughout the week as I need to. It also gives me the time to search the sale papers and clip coupons!
I am so excited about our upcoming cruise. As much as I love the three of us vacationing together, let's be honest, it's great to have an adults only getaway every now and again, so that's just what we're doing. I also love the fact that a group of our family is going and we've already booked our excursions, one that includes a water park might I add. I see tall water slides and lots of laughs in our future. My sisters and I even got matching tanks to wear for when we board the ship, cause, I mean...it's precious :) #boathairdontcare I will say, I spotted the shirts on sale the day after we booked so it was meant to be.
I am not currently reading anything but I definitely have a summer reading list. I read so much more in the summer time than I do any other season. I guess that's what summer is for, lazy beach days and pool days with a good book in your hand. Here is what is on my summer reading list, and by all means, if any of you have read these please let me know if it's worth putting back on the shelf: The Andy Cohen Diaries, Most Talkative by Andy Cohen, Turning the Tables by Teresa Guidice. What can I say, I love me some reality TV books! As far as TV goes, Cadence and I love Food Network. That child can watch just about anyone cook or bake on TV #shegetsitfromhermama. We've been watching Kids Baking Championship and we're hooked! I've also contemplated watching the newest Netflix series, Unbreakfable Kimmy Schmidt.
I have been hooked on two songs and have been playing them back to back just like I used to do with my N-Sync songs when I was 15 #donthate
With spring here and summer just around the corner you bet your butt I've been wearing lots of Lilly, and of course, my Jacks. Jacks and Lilly just pair so well together in my opinion.
Sundresses! I love wearing dresses during spring and summer. It's so easy to just throw on a dress, a pair of sandals and call it a day! I'll have a post coming up on my current favorite spring and summer dresses so stay tuned!
This weekend we have a birthday party to attend. I've heard there will be water balloons, and we're totally up for that again so it should be fun. I'm also hoping to squeeze in a date night with the sweetest boy I know.
If no sitter is found, this little cutie is always welcome to tag along :)
I am so excited for Cadence to be out for summer break next month! Obviously I don't get off work for summer #Iwish, but it's so much easier to not have to worry about getting up, getting her ready for school, making her breakfast and all within a certain time frame to ensure she gets there on time. Summer is more laid back and it's easier on all of us. I love slower mornings, especially on Mondays! It's so hard to believe that another school year has almost come and gone.
The only new thing happening around these parts is talks of our spare bedroom. If you're new to the blog then basically it serves as a storage room for us and I hate it. There are tons of boxes with sentimental things, all of Tarls hunting equipment, basically it's junked up and horrible. Tarl and I both agree'd that within three months we want the room to be done and be turned into a spare bedroom, but there is lots to be done. I want the walls to have a light grey hue and I want white blinds with white drapes on both sides of the windows. We have re-done all of the floors in our home with the exception of this room, but the carpet is actually in really great condition so the white carpet can stay. I've been swooning over white, cream and grey headboards and here are some of my faves, I just don't know which color we'll end up going with.
Either way, we know we want a headboard in the back bedroom along with a luscious white comforter and lots of fluffy decorative pillows. I also envision a garage sale side table that I plan on re-painting and giving it that distressed look, along with lots of pretties placed on top. Coffee table books, pretty little flowers, etc. I also want Tarl to turn the closet door into a barn style door. I've been tagging him in "how tos" for this for quite some time. I feel he will give in eventually :)
These images are my inspiration for our guest bedroom.
I'll be sure to share our progress on this project when we begin.
With Mother's Day quickly approaching I thought I would share a list of items I've been dreaming about as well as great Mother's Day items to give to that special woman in your life, just in case you need some ideas.
Those Georgica Sandals have been on my radar for quite some time. As far as Kate Spade goes, her handbags have hit it out the park this season and I'm smitten with that crossbody, plus it comes in several other colors. Speaking of Kate Spade, her flamingo kitchen set would be lovely in any of your momma's kitchens, mine included! I've been on the search for a great weekender for quite some time. I want one for quick weekend getaways but I also want one that fits with the carry on guidelines by most airlines and the one above is perfect, monogrammed of course!
As lovely as all of the above are, there are tons of gifts that are priceless that all moms love like homemade items from our little ones or breakfast in bed provided by our husbands, or of course, beach days spent with one another. Happy Mother's Day to you all!
I know it is one of the most cliche things to say but it takes months if not years to plan out a vacation and within an instant they go by. Tarl and I both thought for sure that eight nights away from home would have had us anticipating being back in South Carolina but it wasn't like that at all! None of us wanted to leave. If we would have had the extra money I believe we all would have stayed another day but we all know that when the real world comes knocking you have to answer so we did our last day in Disney the only way we know how, by opening and closing the parks in Magic Kingdom!
That morning we had reservations for breakfast at Ohana's again. Their breakfast is obviously different from their dinner and it's also a character breakfast with Lilo and Stitch. Lots of waffles, eggs, breakfast potatoes, sausage and bacon...Tarl was in hog heaven, literally!
The Polynesian had this mom and baby ducks in their lagoon - so sweet!
After breakfast we headed to Magic Kingdom and met some people we had really been wanting to meet.
Peter Pan asked Cadence if she wanted to go to Neverland with him...she wasn't having that. She said she would miss school and Peter Pan couldn't fathom what she was even saying. I love how they stay in character the entire time. So magical!
If you mail something in Magic Kingdom then it gets stamped Main Street, USA so we purchased two postcards and two stamps and Cadence mailed them to her grandparents.
The Festival of Fantasy parade is our families most favorite parade and we wanted to watch it once more. After the parade we rode some more rides and completed everything in Magic Kingdom before dinner.
We all changed into some dry clothes and got prepared for our last dinner on this Disney trip at Be Our Guest. We have ate breakfast here, lunch here and so we had to try dinner, plus dinner is the only time you can meet the Beast and since Belle is Cadence's favorite princess she really wanted to meet him, but first Enchanted Tales with Belle!
Both Tarl and Cadence were chosen for parts in the play. The brave knight and Phillipe, Belle's horse. We always love doing Enchanted Tales with Belle and luckily Cadence has gotten chosen each time to participate...sweet girl loves her some Belle!
Being a horse and knight would make anyone hungry so we started making our way to Beast's castle.
After being seated we were greeted with a napkin rose.
The Grey Stuff, it's delicious!
I will say this about Be Our Guest. It's true french food so it's not something we're used to eating. Breakfast, although good, was incredibly sweet and lunch, again good, but not something that is a must do. Dinner, however, was incredible. Tarl said that it was one of the best steaks he had ever eaten and my shrimp and scallops were so tender and juicy and flavored perfectly. After dinner they bring out trays and trays of dessert and you get to choose just one per person. This may have been the most difficult decision of our trip. I chose the lemon meringue cupcake, Tarl got the strawberry cream cheese cupcake and Cadence got the grey stuff, and yes, it was delicious.
After dinner the most magical thing happened and this is a memory I will hold in my heart for the rest of my life. While meeting Beast, Cadence walked up to him, the music in the room got louder and started playing "Tale as Old as Time". Then the Beast bowed, Cadence curtsied and they started dancing together. People were watching and everyone was taking pictures. I had tears stinging my eyes. Thank goodness I got the entire thing on video that way we can relive that moment as often as we please.
Cadence was beaming from ear to ear, but then again, we all were! What a magical day it was. After dinner we rode a few more rides than took the riverboat back to the parking lot and watched the fireworks on the boat. What a special ending to a wonderful vacation!
After a good nights rest we got up and packed everything back into the car, then had another round of beignets for the road! With our sad faces on we said goodbye to Disney and we hope to see it again real soon!
It doesn't matter if I go to Florida for a weekend trip, a day trip or in this case a week trip but I always love to take a drive down A1A. It's a two lane highway right up against the Atlantic so the entire drive you see beautiful million dollar homes and the beach. So we left Orlando and drove straight to Daytona, got on A1A and stopped at one of our most favorite Florida cities, St. Augustine.
We love St. Augustine. Tarl and I both agree'd that when we retire we could easily move there. My aunt lived there for years so we are very familiar with this little city. Our most favorite restaurant is Harry's. The seafood there is nothing short of amazing! After lunch we walked St. George street, ducking in and out of all the cute shops. We even stopped for some milkshakes and then went across the street and saw the fort overlooking the water.
After a 3 hour detour in St. Augustine we found ourselves back home, unpacked and settled back in to the real world. Disney was everything we had wanted it to be and more. On our drive home we were already talking about our next visit to Disney. Things that were a must do for each of us, rides we couldn't wait to ride again, dinner's we couldn't wait to eat again, characters we wanted to meet that we didn't get the chance to this time. The wonderful thing about Disney is the fact that they are always adding more and more things, so on our next trip there will be tons more to do, it's never the same! Disney is magical! I hope you've enjoyed my recap of our trip! xo
