Friday, April 29, 2011

Friday's Foot Fetish: April Showers

These are some of the cutest rain boots I have seen- love them!
Available at Ruche for $52.99

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Oh that Lisa Leonard


Tell me you know about the fabulous Lisa Leonard? I just adore her stuff- such cute jewelry! Now, she has come out with some decor items also in silver and I fell in love all over again!

Look at these cake forks... I happened to buy 2 forks for a wedding gift recently. The wedding isn't for months and the bride is likely reading this now, but I can't contain my joy! We'll keep it a secret what special notes I put on their new forks.
My other favorites- the wand, baby spoon, and button bracelet.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Pop Garden Love

Oh how I adore the Heather Bailey Pop Garden collection of fabrics and all the beautiful things the talented women of Etsy have created with them!

Here are 8 of my favorites!



Put a little Pop into your Spring!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

How Great Thou Art

This weekend is about so much more than chocolate, plastic eggs and bunnies. I hope it is for you, too. This is the time we celebrate the risen King!
Carrie Underwood and Vince Gill (two of my favorites!) sang an old hymn this weekend. You can view it online here- it is beautiful and so wonderful to see someone in a public role open up the world to their faith. Thank you, Carrie!

My very favorite old hymn sang on TV- Faith Hill singing I Surrender All on Oprah. Amazing!

Happy Easter!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Soul Blossom

A few months back my Mom mentioned having a few yards of Amy Butler's new design line, Soul Blossom. We picked out a few prints that I liked and matched them up to an inexpensive Old Navy tank top. While I was in Savannah, the tank and fabrics came together under my Mom's eye and this precious dress for Abby was created.
It looked pretty simple to make. Cut tank. Sew on main fabric. Add a little ruffle. Make posey pin and pin it on.
I love dressing Abby in little tank dresses for summer and with potty training under our belts, it makes potty breaks all the easier!

Thank you Mom for such a sweet homemade dress for Abby and thank you Amy Butler for such wonderful fabric options!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Did I Pack Elastic Pants?

The food! Oh, the food of Savannah was amazing!

Marcus and I had our first meal and realized how much we have adjusted our eating to our 2 year old! We ate that first meal so quickly and with little conversation! The remainder of our trip we slowed down, enjoyed dinner, and talked about real life adult things. It made the meals all the better! I had done research and made us a daily agenda that included our meal functions. We made a few on-site adjustments, but for the most part, we followed our plan and were so impressed!

Our dinner at Broughton and Bull was divine! The bread and oil before dinner was so tasty! We had this meal just after our private carriage ride. The location is wonderful for entertainment all around and is clean and modern. I'd highly recommend the lasagna, best I've ever had!
I love bar-b-que, so I had to have Georgia BBQ and see how it compares to Texas. I went with pulled pork and was impressed. The sauce was sweet and a nice compliment to the pork. I loved that they offered fried pickles as a side item. So much better than cole slaw ;)

I also tried an olive and cream cheese sandwich as part of our foody tour. It was salty and a unique experience. I don't think I would order it in the future.
Our lunch on Monday was comprised of 2 hours and 6 locations! The foody tour was a highlight of our trip. It was just us and a tour guide walking around sampling the best of the little known places inside the historic district. She knew everyone everywhere and they had a table waiting for us. We had chocolates, cupcake, shrimp and grits, collard greens, cornbread casserole, olive and cream cheese sandwiches, ice cream samples, and bread pudding.

Of course we had to visit Paula Deen's place! Monday through Saturday, you have to make a reservation, but on Sunday it is first come and first serve on the buffet. After visiting a historic church in the area for service, we had the buffet lunch. We had roast beef, fried chicken, creamed corn, lima beans, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and more! Every person at the table gets a garlic cheese biscuit and a hoecake. A hoecake is like a cornbread pancake and is best warm with syrup. It was so good! Crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. For dessert, we tried the walnut butter gooey cake and the banana pudding.
She also has a great store attached to the restaurant with merchandise. I bought a few spices and souveniers. She had baby shirts that said, "got butter?" instead of "got milk?". So stinkin cute!

Our first night in Savannah we had dinner at Uncle Bubba's Oyster House. Uncle Bubba is Paula's brother and his seafood restaurant is just a little outside of town on the marshlands. It is rustic, casual and wonderful! We shared chargrilled oysters (his specialty), a crab and shrimp cheesy dip, and fried pickles. That left us just enough room for these divine desserts. My shortcake was sweet and tart! Oh, and the sweet tea at Uncle Bubba's was the absolute best and I tried it all over town. The fresh mint and lemon wedge sold me and I'll be planting mint at home soon.

I loved every bite of Savannah and am glad I packed elastic pants! We ate all around town!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Friday's Foot Fetish: Nike Free

While on vacation, I got to wear my new Nike Free Mary Janes! My girlfriend Johnna has a silver paid and after loving them on her, I had to get my own pair!
They are cute, comfortable, and they looked great with capris and skirts while on vacation! I'd highly recommend them as an alternative to sandals.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Stole my Heart

My husband and I spent time this past week in Savannah. I'll share more with you next week about my love of the South, which I have learned is a culture, not a location. While there, we visited an empty development near our hotel on Hutchinson Island. And, this house stole my heart. We visited it each day and although the door was unlocked, we were frightened to go inside.
There are 5 porches on this custom built house. The fifth (not pictured) is on the back side and is screened in with a fireplace. Six ceiling fans and a fireplace, just on the porches. We went back to the hotel room and started researching- and found this listing for my dream home.
Here is the problem- it is one of a handful of homes built in this master planned community before the developer went bankrupt. It breaks my heart. The house has been on the market for more than a year- unoccupied and unloved. The landscaping just stopped- it looks like someone stole some of the flowers. The concrete is stained, the brick walkway and garage have weeds coming up through the cracks.
The entire neighborhood is on an island, with a golf course, and huge views of the Talmadge Bridge that connects the island to Savannah. The whole neighborhood is ready for plumbing and electricity- it has white pipes sticking up all around. There are beautiful light posts without lights. There are brick sidewalks that just end. There are streets without names. There is a gated entrance with landscaping growing around the open gate.

The custom home was first listed for $2.5 million. It went down to $2.1 million and just last week the project and homes were auctioned off collectively. In our online research, the house was approximated at $750K. I will have to follow this little blue house and see if it gets the love it deserves in the coming months. I just adore it.

More about Savannah to come!

Monday, April 11, 2011

He Is Risen Easter Banner

I love to decorate for the holidays. I work hard not to get caught up in the commercial aspects of Christmas and Easter. It is difficult- there just isn't much religious Easter items that are cute. I know there are girls out there that love trendy things and the Lord!

So, my church friends and I got together and made a He Is Risen banner for our homes. It is the perfect reminder of Easter and it looks good!
I pre-cut some of the paper and laid out all the supplies we would need. Crafting in bulk saves so much money- it was just $5 per person for a full banner!

The back cardboard colored sheets are 6" x 6". The printed paper is cut to be 5.5" square and the letters are on 4.25" square paper. We aged the edges with brown ink and used my handy Crop A Dile tool to attach eyelets in the holes where the ribbon is strung.

Along with crafting, we had dessert! I love entertaining just girls as it allows me to put out my pretty floral and girly decor! These cute napkins are at Target right now.
That cake may not look pretty, but it tastes good! It is the Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Pound Cake for the cover of last month's Southern Living magazine.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Friday's Foot Fetish: Rhinestones!

I heard somewhere that T-strap sandals were big this year. Thank goodness because I own them in every color! I love this style sandal- it goes well with pants, capris and dresses!
These would be great to get you started with t-strap sandals- it appear like they would go with everything! I love the neutral metallic and all the colored rhinestones!

Nice job Steve Madden!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Pie, Potties and Other Round Top Finds

I had the most fun with my friends Alison, Andrea, and Chandra (not pictured) in Round Top this past weekend. The twice a year antique show is a big treasure hunt spread out for miles along a two lane road. You never know what you'll find in the form of purchases, the people watching can be great fun, and it counts as a workout in my book! Just ask me about my sore calves after 7 hours of walking in flip flops!
Three of us shared a homemade buttermilk pie to fuel all that walking. It was amazing!

Andrea and Alison found formals for next year ;)
New this year, Royal Restrooms built in Wells Cargo trailers. They were clean, lit, air conditioned, and had running water. It was worth the $1 we paid to potty!
Here are my purchases- the silver baby cups will come in handy for hosting baby showers, the linen with a floral stiching pattern will likely by cut to make a pillow sham in Abby's room, the grey ticking stripe is a table cloth for my kitchen, and the 76 (year I was born) necklace is all mine!
I also picked up some metal Easter decorations for my entry table.
All in all, I had a wonderful day and love my new finds!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Yo Gabba Gabba Flashcards

It is all Yo Gabba Gabba all the time in our household. We watch the show, have a Plex shirt, Toodee shoes, finger puppets, bath toys, etc. Gabba madness!
My husband and I were curious if our child is old enough to start playing memory games, so I whipped up some YGG flashcards to use for a homemade memory game.

There are 7 total cards to be flipped down when playing, they can be found here and here. The back side of those cards is the group photo which can be found here. Just print the individual sheets twice and the group photo sheet 4 times and glue a group photo to the back of each individual photo. They will print on standard 8.5x11 paper and are sized 3" x 4" each. You can also laminate them if you'd like!

Enjoy!

Friday, April 1, 2011

Friday's Foot Fetish: Crocs for Girls

One year ago today, my daughter took her first steps at 15 months. I thought she would never walk- I stressed about it like crazy. And then she walked while at school when I was in Round Top antique shopping. A year later, she runs, marches, jumps, and hops everywhere. She still doesn't walk! ;)

My favorite shoe for her is Crocs! I love that she can get them wet and dirty and they still look brand new. I also think the sizing and build makes them last longer than most shoes as her little foot grows. Crocs has come out with some cute new girly styles- they are less bulky than the typical Croc and the colors are super fun!
Abby has the turquoise pair on the top left- I love turquoise for her! It seems to go with most everything! Get your Crocs at Zappos.