Weekend Recap

I can't believe the weekend is over already and another week is about to begin. Thankfully, it was a great couple of days and I really enjoyed it!

Friday night was spent on a date night, with pizza, the new Harry Potter movie, and milkshakes on the way home. A perfect evening! The movie was great, although a little scary and dark at times. It really leaves you hanging for the final installments - I just don't know if I can wait to find out what happens!

We took Jax to the dog park yesterday morning and let her swim for a bit before getting a bath and heading home. Then we met some friends for dinner to celebrate our good friend, Lindsay's, birthday. After dinner, we headed to a fun club in nearby Winter Park called Circa. We ended up splurging and splitting a bottle so we could gain access to a "VIP" table for the group. It worked out well and I had a great time catching up with friends, people watching (a guilty pleasure) and even getting Ryan to dance a bit. Sadly, I didn't take many pictures but here are a couple of the lovely ladies I got to hang out with.

While I am now paying for the late night and numerous drinks, it was a fun evening and I am so glad we had a chance to go out (even if the little 20-year olds made us all feel ancient by the end of the night).

Girls just want to have fun!

I spent the weekend (and a couple days before) enjoying the company of old friends, good laughs, some "adult" beverages, lots of sun (maybe a little too much) and quality girl-talk. Five other ladies, my sorority sisters and lifelong friends, joined me in WaterColor for a beach weekend along Florida's Gulf Coast.

We've made a point to get together every year for the past 4 and I couldn't be more thankful to have such a wonderful group of women in my life that can leave home for a few days of quality catching up. I missed last year, but this year made up for it with an amazing trip. We rented a condo through VRBO.com, which I highly recommend, and it was adorable! I definitely got my mother's gene of finding awesome vacation rentals.

We cooked in two nights and went out for a night on the town (not really - just for crab legs) for the third night. The days were spent at the beach - talking, relaxing, and getting some much needed sun. I already miss them all and wish I was back on vacation, but at least we have some great memories until the next one!

Love you all and can't wait to see you again soon! xoxo

Onesie Weekend

I am happy to report that I received my first official sale on my Etsy site not too long ago (hooray!). Since then, I have received an order for two other onesies plus my contest winner selected the designs she wanted painted. Needless to say, I had some painting to do this weekend.

Here are the finished products...

A princess poodle, my first official sale!

A cutie pie for my contest winner.

Two little birdies, also for my contest winner.

A little Florida gator for my second official sale (woohoo!)

And a Vera Bradley-inspired pink and green mongram. This might be my favorite so far!

Smart design

I was skimming the latest Crate and Barrel catalog (in the age of online shopping, I still love my catalogs) and came across this...

How smart is that? One giant mixing bowl that fits a colander, strainer, second mixing bowl and measuring cups. For small kitchens, or college kids, I think this would be a great must-have piece! My kitchen is pretty complete from the wedding, but it still makes me ooh and ahh over the smart design.

The Urge to Nest

Since I know we won't be able to move (which I am dying to do) until this crazy market turns around, I have turned my focus to redecorating the house. Or, at least, thinking about redecorating.
I want to repaint, I want to buy furniture, I want to change the art we have on the walls...etc, etc, etc. A little over ambitious, sure, but a girl can dream.
While I look for furniture for the first phase of this project, our awkward, empty foyer , I have been scouring the Internet for design inspiration. Stay posted for my great finds.

Fourth Festivities

Shame on me...for being the self-proclaimed photographer that I am, I have very few photos to share from the holiday weekend. I need to be much better at that!

I do have a few that document what we did, however. On Friday, we enjoyed the extra day off work and brought the pup over to Ryan's mom's pool for a swim. While she still didn't seem to enjoy the water as much as she does when she can actually touch the bottom, she was much more adventurous than last time and even floated with her dad on a raft for a bit.

On the 4th, which also happens to be my hubby's birthday, we were puppy-sitting for friends so it was a quiet morning tending to the pups and opening presents. Then, we hosted a laid back BBQ at our house later that evening. I made a huge spread of food (we still have leftovers!) and played games all night. We didn't even need to leave to watch a brilliant fireworks display right from the backyard.

Sunday was spent at the outlets, using the gift cards Ryan got for his birthday to buy some essentials he definitely appreciates. It was a lazy day and nice to relax before heading back to work.

While I really love all holidays and struggle to pick a favorite, I definitely rank the 4th as one of the tops and this year did not disappoint!

Restless Pup

Perhaps it's because it's been too rainy to play really hard outside... Or perhaps it's because we've started to leave her alone during the day so she's been cooped up in her "bed"....

Whatever the reason, we have a restless pup on our hands. She has been pacing, and taking every single toy out of its basket, and endlessly playing catch. If only she were this tired again...

Looks like it's time for another trip to the dog park! (I promise, she's okay in this photo. She was just exhausted and fell asleep in a very peculiar position.)