pass the pineapple

dating my house

2012-01-27T07:55:00.000-08:00

I have a confession to make...some of you already know...I think I've talked about it before even, but I need to be honest. For the past 8 months I've been going on blind dates. I've been on more than 60 during this time. That averages out to more than 1 a week. Some have been promising. I've even been on second dates with about 15 or so of them...one guy we had 4 dates!!!! but it just never works out. It's a little frustrating you know...wondering if I'm ever going to find "the one."

I'm so clever, right? Our house has been on the market for 8 months now. It is funny to me how personally I take it when someone doesn't like my house. It really is like dating...except I never meet these people. We've had more than 60 showings. It's kind of creepy to think about all those people going through our house. The probability alone of that many showings would lead you to think we'd at least have had an offer on the house let alone someone to buy it...but no, we haven't. Poor little house, just keeps getting rejected over and over again. Do you want to buy it?!?!

We are going to take it off the market for a bit....just for our sanity. While having your house on the market the first year you are married teaches you wonderful habits like always cleaning up after dinner and doing the dishes, hanging up all your clothes after you fold them, making your bed everyday, etc. It also takes it's toll. I haven't really decorated or added personal touches to the house since May. No wedding pictures are hung, no moving the furniture around or adding fun nick nacks to the mantle. Most my craft stuff was moved out of the house to clear out some clutter so I'm not doing as many fun projects.

We just kind of need a break. So that's what we are doing...UNLESS you want to buy our house! We'll list it just for you :) I'm looking forward to February (which is crazy that next week is february of 2012) and freshening up my house and actually living in our home. Hopefully new fun projects will be coming soon! Stay tuned.

new year's rockin' eve

2012-01-09T06:55:00.000-08:00

does anyone know what I was doing last new years eve? I couldn't tell you. I looked back at facebook and the blog...no help. this is why i need to be a better journal-er. I take pride is remembering details and knowing what i was doing a year ago. well...I have no idea on this one. BUT here's what I was up to this new year's eve...

we had a low key night...lots of fun...but nice and low key. New Year's Eve is hard. Do you have people over? does that mean they have to stay for 10 hours? do you have it early? do you have a late party? Well...we opted to just eat dinner with friends and come back and eat treats, get in to a few shenanigans, and then count down to the new year! Josh was fired up...literally...with some left over wedding sparklers!

I had my cookies and fudge that I made earlier that day and we celebrated the new year with dear friends!

good times had by all! happy new year!

new kitchen toys

2012-01-04T08:05:00.000-08:00

well hello 2012! I have a feeling it's going to be a great year (fingers crossed someone will buy out house!!!).

I had some Christmas money and used it to buy 2 new toys for my kitchen! First up...Candy Thermometer...

of course it's martha. and it's great! It has clip on the back that you can adjust for the height of your pan! wonderful. naturally, I had to use it...so I just HAD to attempt my first try at some homemade fudge!

Next...cookie scoop. Can you believe I didn't have one?! me either.

but now I do. thanks again to martha! I used to it to make some chewy lemon cookies! AND thanks to my dear friend Molly, I can now use my new silpat baking mat to bake on! it was a great christmas for me and my kitchen.

What were your favorite christmas gifts? I'll be back later in the week with some more highlights from the holidays!

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T11:13:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year's Eve everyone! has your December been wonderfully full of family, friends, and fun?! I can't believe tomorrow is January...and the beginning of 2012...the year I turn 30. It's a big one folks. Here's to goals, resolutions, change, and a new beginning to a great year!

and God bless you and send you a

Happy New Year!!!

house visit: christmas decorations!

2011-12-14T06:42:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, my friend Ryan I hosted a sweet Baby Girl shower our friend Morgan! Yes, SHE'S HAVING A GIRL!!!! I happen to know A LOT of pregnant people these days and she is the ONLY one I know having a girl! so of course we busted out some pink!!!

Ryan hosted it at her lovely home...especially lovely this time of year because it's decorated for Christmas! Ryan and her husband are both super talented and creative people and they never disappoint with home decor ideas! I LOVED what she had done in their living room that I just had to share!

she spray painted 3 pieces of wood and placed them on the mantle ...in front of the TV no less! the real tree sits next to the lovely mantle that is draped with yarn and ornaments. It makes for such a cozy atmosphere!

also in their living is a lovely vintage piano. it is beautiful by itself...but at Christmas...well...

ryan used and tube of outside lights to form the word "peace" above the the piano. It's clipped on to the same clips you would use when attaching them outdoors! so fun!

the piano also serves as their advent calendar. Each day has a different name for God as well as an ornament to put on the tree. It's all just precious Ryan! So creative and inspiring!

11 days until Christmas folks!

Hope your decorating, cooking, buying, and wrapping is all going well!

what's going on: instagram style

2011-12-09T08:11:00.000-08:00

whew! Helllloooo December! what is up?! Did November fly by or what? Pretty sure I just had the busiest fall to date, but I loved every minute of it. You can stay up to date on my goings over on photo blog to see what I'm doing every weekend...and I am LOVING every minute of it. I've met so many wonderful people, families, and sweet children! I couldn't ask for a better adventure!

Now that December is here, I'm not sure life will slow down much with all the Christmas festivities. One of my favorite blogs to read is by Lindsey over at The Pleated Poppy (I am in LOVE with my tiny pouch!) and she always links up for insta-friday. so, as a fun way to show yall what I've been up to, here are the past few days...instagram style! (Instagram is one of my favorite iphone apps...gotta love fun photo apps!)

Josh tried to be all Mr. Grinch on me and not let me set up for Christmas because the house is on the market. bah-humbug I'd said. I'm pretty sure my feistaware holiday plates will be what sells the house!

we added this super cute wool penguin to our ornament collection as well! Isn't he cute?!

and...we officially have presents under the tree. sticky notes are perfectly acceptable gift tags, right?! just kidding...fun tags to come!

since the house still is on the market (do you want to buy it?!?!) we still have showings almost every week, so Dylan gets to tag along for car rides...

we got a fancy iMac. we now can talk to the rest of our generation...kind of...at least talk about having Mac, not necessarily know how to use it! but...it is handy when I'm working on pictures AND want to watch TV with my husband...just set up shop on the coffee table!

Dylan and I took a field trip to the park during a showing last week! It was such a pretty afternoon!

he LOVED our little photo session :)

Last Saturday myself, Josh, and my friend Molly ran the Jingle Bell 5K! It was so fun...

Molls and I had awesome coordinating socks

(this or may not be the first time we have matched outfits...on purpose...who can know!)

I ran a personal best time of 31 minutes! who knew awesome socks had magical running powers?!

so we had to have a celebration brunch with our sweet friends who came to cheer us on!

We got Josh a Christmas bow tie!!! Jealous?!

those things can be tricky to tie...thanks youtube!

I got dressed up myself and we had a snazzy christmas date!

We had the pleasure of attending Christmas at Belmont. 7 years after I graduate I finally get to go!!! It was beautiful and all the students did such a wonderful job! Great way to kick off the month of Christmas!

and....deep breath! it's the weekend!!! holler!

goodbye fall...

2011-11-29T14:27:00.000-08:00

as if I wasn't begging josh and the weather man enough... some yard "friends" of ours gave us the "go ahead" to get rid of fall decor this weekend...

yeah, we have some very full squirrels at this point. josh would come home from work and they would just be sitting on our porch chowing down on some pumpkin. they wouldn't move or scurry...just keep on eating. When we went to discard the half eaten pumpkin I realized they may have been living in it for all I know...

JEEPERS! they ate the entire inside of the pumpkin! DANG! needless to say, we pitched the pumpkin and made room for this...

josh was kind enough to show off his manly muscles ...

while Dylan supervised from the porch...

we put the tree up ...lights, garland, and all...and were excited to add a few new ornaments to our collection this year...

josh is a big Griswold fan so I surprised with this hallmark ornament that plays the theme song to the movie!

this was our "obligatory ornament from vacation spot" ornament. cute little light house

duh! of course I'm going to have a pineapple ornament :)

and last but not least...our first Christmas together ornament. our names our on the back. I love it!

helllloooo winter!

boutique recap

2011-11-21T09:09:00.000-08:00

Whew...now that the boutique business is over I can reveal all and and tell all and thank all of you who came out and spent part of your weekend with us! We had such a fun time!!! You may remember when I extended this invitation to come to my house and shop and spend time with friends and cross gifts off your Christmas list and eat yummy treats, etc. Well, it turned out to be just be that!

For those of you that couldn't make it I wanted to make sure you got a chance to see all the lovely merchandise and if you needed something had the information you needed to get your hands on some of these quality items.

Ryan is such a talented artist! She had a few options when it came to her original artwork: the collage artwork inspired by bright colors, fabrics, and her sweet grandmother. and her original stamp art collection. Ryan hand carved the stamps herself and then created the art on canvas.

Ryan also offers personalized collage art that you can have done for you, your family, or friends. It seriously is too cute! So fun!

We tried to group everything else by "like" items together. So we had quite the adorable "kid's corner" in my living room:

Caitlin made the cutest onsies with little animals and ruffles. I love me a baby in ruffles! They were all so well done...kind of made me want a kid...(not really though mom, calm down!). She also made some baby blankets that matched some of the onsies with the little animals. too cute. seriously.

Lele made adorable dresses for little girls...all different sizes. The one pictured above with the navy and white polka dot was my absolute favorite! She does such a great job on the dresses. She also made coordinating burp cloth and paci-clip sets which completely sold out! These make great little baby gifts! as well as some pillows and baby blankets.

I painted a few canvases that I thought would be sweet to have in a nursery and made a wall full of hair bows! The bow ranged in sizes in prices and were a huge hit! every girl loves a hair bow!

CHRISTMAS!

we busted out the Christmas tree just for the boutique! I loved our little Christmas section.

I made ball ornaments to help celebrate the season, baby's first Christmas (boy and girl), and first Christmas together. growing up my mom's tree was always filled with so many special ornaments that represented wonderful memories. I was happy to help put memories on other people's trees this year! I also painted a Christmas canvas!

Lele made the cute little owl ornaments...aren't they precious?!

Caitlin made the beautiful paper Christmas wreaths. I LOVED them! she also made a coordinating garland that matches the wreaths. AND a snowflake garland as well as red and green crepe paper garland (sorry these aren't pictured).

The rest of the dining room were more of the "home goods" type items:

Caitlin made pillows of all sorts...aren't the birds cute?! It's a grey pillow with yellow and cream birds. so fun! Lele also made a few pillows and the handbags. I painted the canvases and made the wood picture frames. I sold out of my wood frames, so if you have a custom order, let me know!

Caitlin made the pennant dish towels. It's a flour sack towel with stitched on pennants of such fun fabric. She gave me one for Christmas last year and I get so many compliments on it in my kitchen! She also made the dish mats! LOVE THESE! (the red, pink and blue on the right is my FAVORITE! it makes me want to paint my kitchen blue and keep that towel out). The mats are great...terry cloth on one side and cute fabric on the other. They are great for helping clean up big meals and dry dishes...oh wait, I think big meals are in everyone's future...contact Caitlin to get one today!

I hand stitched some dish towels. I had a few Christmas ones as well some that said "faith hope love" all of them sold out so let me know if you need more. and I hand stamped some stationary.

lele made these super cute zipper pouches and towel aprons. I gave the towel aprons as some hostess gifts back in March for my wedding and they were such a HUGE hit. These are practical and cute...perfect for all your baking around the holidays while company is in town!

To those of you who came, thank you so so so very much! We had such a great weekend and are looking forward to the 2nd home boutique (stay tuned!)

To contact Lele about any orders for her items:

visit her etsy shop

or email justshowedupblog(at)gmail(dot)com

To contact Caitlin about any orders for her items:

visit her "coming soon" esty shop

or email gotogatashop(at)gmail(dot)com

To contact Ryan about any oders for her items:

email ryanhester(at)gmail(dot)com

To contact me, Emily about any oders:

emily edrakephoto(at)gmail(dot)com

Sundae Shower

2011-11-15T14:18:00.000-08:00

My brother-in-law is getting married in almost 2 weeks to sweet Lorie! Lorie has been a great friend to have ever since I started dating Josh...she, like me, was not a Drake and was an outsider dating an insider. It's been great getting to know her and in a few short weeks we'll officially be family!
Josh's sister knew how much Lorie loved Sweet Cece's (can you blame her? seriously...what's not to love about froyo?!) so she thought a cute little ice cream shower would be fun and fitting. I came up with a cute little invite and we were on way with shower plans.

Josh's mom and sister did a FABULOUS job getting things together...they made the cutest cupcake pops I have ever seen. (there are cupcakes in the ice cream cone and then covered with icing/candy coating) adorable.

they served the ice cream out of the cutest mini mason jars I have ever seen...

and then had toppings galore for everyone to choose from...

everything was super cute. I was happy to help out with my talents of banner making and petitfours...

I think Lorie had a great time and I loved being to a part of this fun day and help celebrate Lorie and Jordan!

THIS WEEKEND...starting TONIGHT!!!!

2011-11-11T06:38:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's actually happening tonight...and tomorrow....

are you coming?!?! it's going to be so fun. we've got drinks and treats for you while you shop and socialize with friends! and gifts GALORE for you, your home, your kids, your family....I could keep going...

here's a brief rundown of some of the items we will have for sale:
hair bows
onesies
little girl dresses
burp cloths and paci clips
baby plankets
pillows
dish mats
the cutest dish towels ever
artwork
handbags
more pillows
stationary
aprons
christmas ornaments
christmas wreaths

and probably everything else awesome :) Please remember it's CASH OR CHECK ONLY! we would LOVE to see you and your friends tonight or tomorrow!!!

pink pumpkin party

2011-11-09T12:16:00.000-08:00

my friend had asked me to help her out with her daughter's 7th birthday party recently. being so close to Halloween, she wanted to have a fun fall party with pumpkins...but not scary and decked out Halloween. So...we settled with a pink pumpkin party theme. Thanks to pinterest we gathered some great ideas and put together this shindig.

I started with first designing the perfect invitation for a pink pumpkin party:

Heidi did such a great job setting up everything for the party!

I helped make the cookies on a stick...(using my royal icing technique from this previous post)

and then Heidi set up so many fun stations (or "centers" for all you teacher folk) for the girls to rotate through...

they decorated leaf cookies

painted pumpkins and played pin the nose on the jack-o-lantern

and we found this cute idea on pinterest to make bracelets out of the the candy pumpkins! adorable!

I think all the sweet girls had a great time celebrating Ruby's birthday!

Cape Cod: Day 4 - last day!

2011-11-07T07:41:00.000-08:00

Our flight didn't leave until 6:30 that evening so we still wanted to make sure we made the most of our last day out on the Cape and in Boston. We started off spending some time in Yarmouth which was the town our bread and breakfast was in. Here is a picture of our lovely B&B (and yes...every time I say "B&B" I think of the potters...)

Yarmouth has a lovely 800 foot boardwalk that we wanted to make sure we saw before we left. It was a tad windy, but we powered through and really enjoyed starting the morning off there...

Next we headed back up the Cape to check out another beach and lighthouse...maybe this was in Eastham? I really can't remember...but it was beautiful!

we finally said goodbye to the Cape and the pretty beaches and headed back to make 2 more stops in Boston before our flight. First up...Bunker hill...

there was sign that said you could climb to the top of the tower, and the friendly lady inside made it seem fun, "You can climb if you want to." she said with a big smile on her face. and it seemed like everyone else was doing it. So I'm sure me, who ran a 1/2 marathon a few weeks before would be able to handle whatever it took to climb to the top

....WOAH! climbing 294 stairs is way different then pacing yourself for 13.1 miles. climbing 294 stairs in 2 year old target flats that is the equivalent to walking on paper essentially when people are lined up behind you wondering why you are walking so slow...people who have on hiking boots and backpack on their backs and are from Europe and make you feel like a fat American...it wasn't the "most fun part of the trip" to say the least...but we did it!

Our last stop of the trip was to see the USS Constitution. I think we regretting saving this for the last day and the very last minutes of our trip b/c we would have loved to spend more time in the museum and on the boat. but, we loved getting to see what we did and it was a great end to our trip!

thanks for putting up with all my trip posts and all my pictures! It was a great trip!

Cape Cod: Day 3 - BOSTON!

2011-11-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

The 3rd day of our trip we headed in to Boston (it was just about an hour and half drive) for the day! We started it off with a tour of Fenway! Go Red Sox!

the first stop was to the press box...it had a great view... AND josh tells me he can mow our yard like that :)

next we headed over to the GREEN MONSTER! You can only win lottery tickets to these seats...interesting fact.

and we sat right on the infamous foul line...

after fenway we headed over to eat lunch at the oldest restaurant in america...dang! It was good and yummy AND a stop on the fredom trail so we were able to check it off the list...

for desert, we headed in to little Italy (via the freedom trail) and grabbed a yummy canoli from Mike's pastry...

continuing on the freedom trail was Paul Revere...and his house...

this next picture is my most favorite of us from the trip...I know it's blury and not the best, but it was the perfect fall day walking around boston and I loved it!

before dinner we made our way out to Cambridge and walked around Harvard...I instantly felt really smart!

by the evening we had walked all over the city and were worn out. We finally just sat on a bench in Quincy Market and enjoyed the people and sights. It was such a great day in Boston!

Check back next week for highlight from our last day on the Cape!

Cape Cod: Day 2

2011-11-03T07:09:00.000-07:00

Our 2nd day in Cape Cod was a VERY full day! We drove all up and down the Cape and stopped in some wonderful small towns. We also took a Cranberry Bog tour (which was the most amazing school field trips ever!!!) but it will get it's own blog post in a few days ... I know...you can hardly wait...

We started the morning off at the very top hook of the Cape in Provincetown...it was lovely and cute and full of great shops.

on the other side of the coast of Provincetown were some really lovely beaches. There are these huge hills of sand dunes for miles so you almost feel like you are in the desert and not the beach. It was really cool.

after Provincetown we headed back down the Cape to Harwich for our Cranberry Bog tour...it was fabulous!!! (more to come) After the tour we headed back to Chatham...josh just couldn't stay away from these guys...

it was late in the afternoon and just in time for the ships to come in so of course we headed over to see the seals and what the fresh catch was. Today...LOBSTER!

Day 2 was a great fun filled day...we loved seeing so much of the Cape. Next stop...Fenway, that will be tomorrow so get excited. Last picture of the day from Chatham...

Cape Cod: Day 1

2011-11-01T06:29:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Josh and I went to Cape Cod to visit for just a little fall getaway. It was WONDERFUL! I'd never been that far north and neither had Josh so we were excited. We stayed in a bed and breakfast on the cape and then took a day trip in to Boston one day. Here are some highlights from day 1...i'll try not to have too many pictures and post but it was just so pretty that I can't not share them all!

our first stop was in the town of Sandwich for lunch at The Dunbar Tea Shop. It was quite dainty, but had delicious honey mustard! The shop was right across from an old mill with a gorgeous backdrop!

the evening was spent in the small town of Chatham. It was our favorite place we visited. In the afternoons the fishing boats come in to unload the fish and there are usually seals right behind the boat hanging out to catch some scraps.

The seals were josh's favorite part by far! The looked just like little dogs sticking their heads up out of the water. There were 2 seals both time we went. So fun!

The town of Chatham reminded me of Stars Hollow. The night were there they were having a Fall Festival and everyone in the town had decorated pumpkins with some sort of theme. It was cute.

check back later in the week for more highlights from other spots on the cape, fenway, and the freedom trail in boston!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T12:35:00.000-07:00

I LOVE dressing up in costume...sadly, I don't have a good reason to do so this year, that means poor Dylan gets to enjoy being the cutest little shark. clearly he loves it!

Hope you all have a great night full of candy, tricks, and treats!

these days...

2011-10-27T07:12:00.000-07:00

There have been tons of new updates over at e.drake photography. Check out the latest on my photography blog!

ALSO, if you haven't booked your Christmas Card photo session contact me ASAP! November is filling up quickly AND...it's less than 2 months to Christmas WOAH! contact me at edrakephoto(at)gmail(dot)com!

HOME BOUTIQUE...you're invited!!!

2011-10-21T08:39:00.000-07:00

the lovely and talented Caitlin Van Dusen, Lele Griesheimer, Ryan Hester, and myself will be putting all our efforts together to bring you lovely, creative, one-of-a-kind, handmade boutique gifts for you, your home, children, and loved ones! You don't want to miss this event!

half marathon...check!

2011-10-17T08:52:00.000-07:00

I proud to say that I can cross another thing off my Before 30 list! I ran another half marathon this weekend!

This is my 3rd half marathon to run. The first time I ran one I LOVED it and wanted to do it every year.

The next year I did it, I cried the entire way and ended up with a massive nose bleed at the end.

This time I was bound to land closer to the first than the 2nd. I ran The Middle Half in Murfreesboro. I felt ok about my amount of training (still not as great as the first year i trained...but good enough). With my supportive husband along to cheer, I was ready to get the party started...

anyone else think Josh looks like Moes from The Office?

it was a chilly morning, but I warmed up enough by the time the race started so josh was kind enough to "carry" my shirt for me...

I liked The Middle Half because the course is awesomely flat...unlike the Country Music one...but there aren't near as many people cheering along the course, so by the end I was really ready for it to be over. AND the police officers marking the turns along the course made a mistake at one turn so I actually ran about 13.6 miles, instead of 13.1. booyah!

They did call out everyone's names as you cross the finish line which I think is really fun and makes your feel special. overall, it was a good morning. One of my favorite things about running is the celebrating after!

josh and I celebrated at Whiskey Kitchen....yummm, hot skillet chicken is awesome!

I wonder which item I'll cross off for next month?!

cheekwood family fun!

2011-10-13T06:23:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my sister-in-law brought my nephews up for a visit. They are both pretty awesome so Uncle Josh and I were excited to participate in some family fun with them. The big outing of the weekend was to Cheekwood to see their Train Exhibit (duh...Sean is 4...and LOVES Thomas, so trains were a must!) AND in October they have the Scarecrows all over the garden. Here are some highlights from the day...

all the fun scarecrows...

head on over to my photography blog to see more pictures of my nephews!

fall fun

2011-10-10T06:43:00.000-07:00

Lat Saturday was October 1st! Josh and I were eagerly waiting official start of October...he had been begging to get some pumpkins for the porch but I told him we had to wait until October. We started the day off in Franklin where we had a photo shoot (here's a quick sneak peek) and then enjoyed some breakfast!

after breakfast it was off to the farmer's market. you all know I love me some farmer's market fun.

browsed all the MANY types of pumpkins ...

left with 2 mums and 2 pumpkins...successful trip! spent the afternoon at the park hearing my amazingly talented friend Ryan Greenawalt sing!

and finished out the weekend with a birthday party that lead us up the natchez parkway!

hope yall are embracing the fun fall! what's on your fall "to do" list?!

all american army party

2011-10-05T09:14:00.000-07:00

last week I showed yall the cookies I made for Noah's going away party. Here are some highlights from the rest of the night! You know I love me a good theme party so I was beyond willing to help Anna decorate and make the night just right for Noah, his family, and friends!

It was a great night and hopefully Noah feels very loved and prayed for as he makes his journey!

book your christmas sessions now!

2011-10-04T07:55:00.000-07:00

need cute pictures for this year's Christmas card? OR just an updated family photo?

check out what's going on at my photgraphy site and give me a call!

Royal Icing...check!

2011-09-30T09:01:00.000-07:00

You may remember earlier this month I created a list of 12 things I wanted to do before I turned I 30. I would cross one thing off a month. Well, this month folks, we tackled Royal Icing.

I don't know what my deal was. I had tried and tried in the passed but apparently was just not patient enough. It was always way too runny and would run off the cookie or soak the cookie in icing and then it would fall apart. blah. So now, I dare say I have "mastered" it but I'm certainly not scared of it in the least now for future cookie projects. The mission...star cookies. This was my inspiration...

and here is what I came up with...

here's how I did it...

certainly got me in the Christmas spirit to be making and icing sugar cookies! I did refrain from playing music...but it was hard :)

I'm not sure I could ever be a great food photographer because I do so much cooking and baking at night...and so the light hates me...but the cookies were delicious! I made them at night so I could focus on only icing them the next day.

I set out all the cookies and counted out exactly how many I would need for each color and each section...

then it was time work on the icing. AH! I was a bit nervous...I had done my research and decided to go with the powdered sugar and milk combo...plus some vanilla exact for flavoring.

The base:

3 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

I used my kitchen aid standing mixer. I'm not sure I'd been using a mixer in the past...which may have been leading to my previous downfalls as well. To be honest, I can't remember if it came out too thick or too runny...but in either case, I know every time I had to tweak it. **Please note, when tweaking, a lot goes a long way.** so I'd add more sugar to make my border or add just a touch of milk to make my "filling."

First up...the blue stars!

I did make the mistake of mixing in the food coloring INTO the mixing bowl. Which meant I had to completely wash out the bowl when I was ready to move on to the other colors. So, next time, I will always transfer the icing to a smaller bowl to mix the colors.

I first went and made the border for all the blue stars (a the few white ones w/ the blue border). The border icing is the thicker consistency. A few times it was still too runny, but for the most part, it did it's job and stood in place! Once the border lost it's shiny lustre I could then fill it in...

(again...I in no way mastered it...but I was pleased with my improvement)

I repeated the same border and fill process for the plain white icing...

and for the red...

A lot of people use squeeze bottles (like the restaurant style ketchup and mustard bottles but clear) for the icing. I think this would have been great and helpful...however I didn't really look for them, so I didn't really find them :) They would just give you more control of the flow of the icing then my rockin' awesome Ziploc bag method ...don't be jealous!

after letting all the cookies dry I could finally arrange them in the flag format...

Besides being an easy shape and design to start with, I actually had a reason for making an American flag cookie spread!

my friend Noah leaves this weekend to head to boot camp. He will be joining the army to be a trombone player in the army band! It's such an exciting opportunity for Noah and Anna. Naturally, we had to have an all American send off party...Thus the star cookies...AND pico's fashion choice!

stay tuned for more highlights from Noah's party next week...

AND see what list item I cross off for October coming soon!

DIY fall wreath tutorial

2011-09-28T09:33:00.000-07:00

Happy Fall Y'all!!!

last friday was the first official day of fall...so naturally...it was "put up a new wreath" day in my house! Thanks to Pinterest we all now have access to every holiday craft/project ever imaginable. I looked there for inspiration and here is what I came up with...

a fun fall burlap wreath!

this wreath, which was super easy will also be easy to just switch out bows and ribbon and keep it going all year long - that's my kind of wreath :) here's how I did it:

I got a straw wreath (I kept it with the plastic wrap on it b/c I didn't have time to clean up a huge mess AND i was going to be covering it up anyway), burlap garland, and floral pins (left over from the wedding!):

I started pinning the burlap on the wreath with no real structure or plan. I just made loops and pinned on one side...then the other side...

then the middle... and slowly but surely...

however, after multiple attempts to make it stretch all the way around I finally gave up and embraced that I would have one section without burlap. It ended up working out perfectly and made a great spot for the bow!

So I added a big fun ribbon bow.

it looked a little "all the same color" even though I felt like it was perfect for fall...so I found some oragne ribbon and just wrapped it around in between the burlap for some POP! ...and to make josh love it even more (GO VOLS!)

and here you have it...an easy fall burlap wreath!

happy fall yall! isn't it the best?!

wrap it up!

2011-09-19T09:48:00.000-07:00

tis the season for gift giving. ahhh...there is just something fun about getting someone a little something..."just a little happy" as my friend Ryan says. whether it's a surprise little treat, for their birthday, or now as we move on to Christmas...it's just nice to give fun gifts.

a lot of the fun for me comes with wrapping the gift. my love for wrapping paper runs deep. it just makes it special. I recently found a tutorial for how to tie a bow on a package that just takes one pull and it unravels. no scissors, no stretching it around the edges...just pull the end and you are ready to tear it open!

Eddie Ross, used to work for Martha Stewart and was on the Bravo designer reality contest show a few years ago. I've tried to keep up with his blog because he does some fun stuff...especially for the holidays! It was his ornament wreath that lead me to make this wreath 2 years ago! Thanks Eddie!

back to gift wrapping...I recently found this tutorial on wrapping a gift package bow... and here is my work of art :)

paper and ribbon are from The Paper Source

I think maybe a thicker ribbon looks prettier, but I liked my navy! The back is so smooth! (pardon the rolled under tape...look away, look away)

I added a little lip gloss to the package and i think it makes a fun final touch!

do you like wrapping gifts? do you have a favorite kind of bow you like to use? please share!

birthday...final recap

2011-09-14T11:53:00.000-07:00

I shared a few of the recipes I used for my dessert party here and here with you. I wanted to go ahead and post the rest. They were all fabulous and big hits! I've since made the chocolate cake again and it's still the winner hands down! so good!

Strawberry Lemonade Bars

This recipe was fun! I love me some good old fashioned lemon bars (dontcha know) and so this pink lemonade addition was a fun idea to me. It would super cute for baby girl showers or pink parties!

Chocolate Chip Layer Cookie Cake

cookies and icing...what's not to love! I made a layer cookie cake a few years ago for a friend and loved the cookie layers...but the icing was not my favorite. This year...I think I reversed it. I think the cookie layers were too think, but the icing was great. The original recipe calls for ice cream between the cookie layers which I think would help soften the layers up a bit...but this was a come and go kind of party and I didn't want ice cream everywhere...

Creamsicle Trifle

mmmm...orange sherbet is one of my most favorite things in life. It used to always be my ice cream flavor of choice. It's so refreshing and cool and light and wonderful...and I could go on. When I saw this recipe...I knew I needed to try it. I don't think I realized at first that it used a liqueur...but I went with it...and I did NOT like it. maybe I should have used less...but I think angel food cake would have been just as yummy as the soaked lady fingers.

Brownie Pops

pops...they are all the rage. turns out, i'm horrible at them. I think I need to stick to just making a normal cake...or normal brownies. I'm just not great at the "pop" making. Needless to say, the recipe looked simple and fun and way to change up your typical brownie.

all these recipes I found on Pinterest. Do you pin?! I love it...it's kind of like my google reader addiction on steroids. but I love it! just because i'm in the recipe sharing mood....I made THIS for my sunday school class a few weeks ago! I kind of want to make it every weekend!

(source)

it was delicious.

oh...and I doubled the recipe!

bark park

2011-09-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

the weather is slowly getting milder and milder. winter is still months away but there's less humidity and recently there's been a nice crispness to the air...all things pointing towards fall being close around the corner. One morning it was just too nice to not be outside...including Dylan! so we thought about taking him to the dog park (such a great invention, by the way!). Now, let's just say Dylan doesn't always "behave" himself at the dog park and gets a little "too friendly" with some of the dogs...if you know what I mean. So we have to keep a close eye on him. but he was excited nonetheless...

it didn't take him too long to find a friend...

and then quickly find himself in timeout...

he played a bit more with some more new friends and worked up a sweat...

and found himself in time out again...

good thing he got out just in time for bauer, his "brother" to come along...

soon after, Dylan found himself amongst the big dogs and ended up limping on two legs and having a bloody mouth...I went in to "mom mode" and sadly did not take any pictures of that. All in all, a good day at the dog park!

in a year from now...

2011-09-01T06:53:00.000-07:00

well...a year from now I will be 30. I'm not a huge "oh my gosh my world is ending at 30" kind of person. I do think it's a big deal...but not one I am freaking out about it. However, I do want to take this time to make goals for myself and cross some things off my list before I am 30.

At first I was going to make a list of 30 things to do before I'm 30...that seemed a bit long and I couldn't really think enough of stuff...so I liked my friend's molly plan...do 12 things (1 a month) before I turn 30. If I start with September I think I can get everything done.

so here we go...in random order...

1. Sale our House! wait...that is in order, we would LOVE for this to happen TODAY if possible :)
2. Loose some weight (I know, I know, that's not creative, but it's true.)
3. make a painting for our home
4. learn to sew something
5. get better at making royal icing...oh you are the thorn in my side! I will concur you!
6. photograph a wedding
7. see a new broadway musical
8. take a vacation (preferablly disney world! but I'd go wherever)
9. run another 1/2 marathon
10. make a pound cake
11. host a dinner a party
12. print and frame our wedding pictures

back to school birthday present

2011-08-31T08:02:00.000-07:00

I recently wrote about my love of all things paper related and school supplies. You people may think I'm kidding...I'm not. as a kid my dad and brother would always want to go in book stores. I hated it. I'm still not fan of book stores...or books for that matter...harry potter series aside (and that I started "reading" when I found out I could get the books on tape for it...so scholastic this one!). Me? I would long to just go browse in Office Max. cool huh? What? you already have 3 calendars on your desk right now and you "need" another? yes, always. I also have a sharpie pen cup and a normal pen cup. because I'm cool like that.

My mom, she knows this about me. She was awesome and got me a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils for my birthday...helloooo awesome. Duh, we all love that Meg Ryan put our own desires in to words and have longed for the day for someone to do that just for us. It finally happened and it was awesome. Thanks Mom!

Also, my friend Caitlin...she is equally as awesome as my mom (granted, she didn't birth me...but still...) And she got me this for my birthday...

WHAT?! are you freaking serious?! A school supply "cake" (like a diaper "cake" ...it's not really an edible cake...but school supplies shaped like a tiered cake). what in the world! I LURVED it to say the least. And love that my friends know me so well. Are you jealous? What? you don't LOVE highlighters and paper clips? Who are you? you should love them.

Here's the breakdown...

sharpie highlighters, sharpie pens, crayon packs, post it notes, file folders, paper clips,

and a cute polka dot casserole dish!!!

Thanks so much caitlin for being awesome, creative, and knowing things that I love!

cherry vanilla cupcakes

2011-08-29T07:57:00.000-07:00

I saw the recipe for a cherry vanilla cake...it was for valentine's day and was in a heart shaped pan. well...I know August is far from February, but I do love me some cherry and vanilla goodness. what's not to love? So I thought it would balance out the chocolate-ness of the cake and brownie pops.

naturally...cherry vanilla cupcakes start with ...CHERRIES! you guessed it!

you can get whole maraschino cherries and cut them in halves, but I lucked out and just happened to buy the "halves" jar. So all I had to do was separate the cherries and juice...and do my best to not make a good old fashioned cherry coke. no worries, I refrained.

next up, for cherry vanilla cupcakes, you need VANILLA! and we aren't talking about a 1teaspoon of vanilla extract either folks. we are talking pure vanilla seeds from a vanilla bean...that you get yourself, with your own hands. this was a big deal for me. I'd never worked with vanilla beans. (quite expensive little boogers, and only 2 come in a jar, so they are very valuable!)

you end up mixing the cherries, vanilla seeds, white cake mix and all the goodness it calls for all together. And I do think this would make a very good cake. If you do make cupcakes like I did with the recipe, I would cut up your cherry halves into fourths, just to make it a bit smaller for the cupcake. Regardless, I used my trusty martha cupcake pans (I love them...and her, can't go wrong).

I use an ice cream scoop to scoop cupcakes. and they are never perfect...I feel like they are made with more love that way :)

next up, use your trusty kitchen timer...naturally, I trust martha's the most :) and I think it's pretty...

and before you now it, you've got yummy cherry vanilla cupcakes that look amazing b/c you see the vanilla bean seeds among the pinkness and it that makes it seem special.

add your favorite frosting (I used cream cheese) and your done!

the longest post about the best chocolate cake!

2011-08-26T08:11:00.000-07:00

I made my first ever bundt cake for my birthday party and I think it turned out to be a success. It was certainly a labor or love, but well worth the effort. I tried to hone in on my inner p-dub food photog skills while baking this cake...let's see how I did...

first up, finely chopped semisweet chocolate

sift some cocoa and enjoy all the many forms of chocolate in your kitchen!

grease the bundt pan (this recipe was the for the anniversary bundt cake pan from Willimas-Sonoma...I did not have that...AND i think the one I had was a bit shallow-er...which caused some overflow in the oven, but all is well) and dust with cocoa powder.

combine cocoa powder, chocolate in bowl and add boiling water. whisk until the chocolate melts and mixture is smooth and blended.

over a sheet of parchment, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.

we interrupt this regularly scheduled blog post to show you 2 of my favorite kitchen tools..

the sifter...awesome and fun...

and my Handy martha stewart measuring spoon (all in 1)

With an electric mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy. add the brown sugar and beat until blended. add the eggs a little at a time...beat in the vanilla. GOD BLESS MY KITCHENAID!

when the rest of my kitchen looks like this, I know she is still holding strong and working!

reduce the speed and add the flour mixture in three addition, alternating with the sour cream and ending with the flour. slowly pour in the chocolate-cocoa mixture. gently fold in the chocolate chips.

I've never done a bundt cake or pound cake before because they take so freaking long. this worked to my advantage this time b/c I had other recipes to whip together while it baked. It takes about 60-65 minutes. The recipe said to let it cool upright in the pan for about 15 minutes. I didn't do this...and just inverted in on the wire rack immediately. that may be why I had a little damaged spot...

but I didn't mind. from this angle...all was well :)

the ganache included more chocolate, butter, boiling cream, whisking...and unfortunately no pictures! however, in the end, she was pretty and yummy and moist and delightful!

Here is the recipe for you to try! I promise it won't disappoint...oh, and feel free to invite me over if you make it :)

happy birthday liz!

2011-08-25T06:42:00.000-07:00

happy birthday to blue!

happy birthday dear Elizabeth,

happy birthday to blue!

get it? ah...hilarious.

Elizabeth...dear friend...HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! It's been a whole year since her last birthday post...and she continues to take life by the reigns and make it the best darn life ever.

elizabeth always brings a smile to my face. It was so great having her back in town for my wedding. she played double-duty as bridesmaid AND cupcake chef for some rehearsal dinner "thank you" treats we gave to friends and family. of course they were awesome...just like Liz.

Elizabeth, on your birthday today, I hope you don't feel old. I hope you feel accomplish, young, proud, and excited about this next new year. You manage to make each year full of surprises and goals you set for yourself and you end up accomplishing wonderful tasks. I LOVED that I got to see your commercial last night, right before your big day. I think it means this year is a big year :) You are such a treasure to so many. I love seeing where life takes you...and where you take your life. Know that you are so very loved, prayed for, and celebrated on this 29th birthday!!!!

we have both clearly, always been awesome!

birthday party sneak peek!

2011-08-23T09:31:00.000-07:00

woah. I've been 29 for almost a week. 29 is tricky...not as big of a deal as 30 by any means (oh, 30...you seem like such a close friend these days) but still...last year in your twenties, that's kind of landmark kind of year. A lot happened in my 20s...big, HUGE, massive things that have completely shaped the person I am today. Not that I'm totally different than when I was 21 but umm...let's just say a VERY GOOD kind of different. I've learned lots about life, people, my self, my own dreams, my heart, my emotions, my outlook, learning about roommates, cowokers, owning cars, paying off debt, etc. it's a big decade your 20s.

(birthday flowers from Josh and mom!)

anyway...for my party this year, I had a hard time figuring out what I wanted to do. Everything I came up with seemed like a fun idea for next year...the big one, 3-0...not just same ol' same ol' 29. So, finally I came up with just doing drinks and desserts. With our house on the market, I knew I couldn't do anything too early in the evening in case someone wanted to look at the hosue, so I opeted for a later party with just desserts. It worked out great. I chose a few fun colors to decorate...

and then baked up a storm in the kitchen!!!

check back later this week for the fun recipes and treats!

the wilson co. fair: folks and fun

2011-08-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

well...I suppose I'll wrap up my fair experience with this last post. I don't want you to get burnt out on fair awesomeness...but I needed to give you enough to get you through until next year :) enjoy these last little tidbits of all the fair fun and folks! I promise to not talk about a fair for a while...

the wilson co. fair: amusement

2011-08-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

ah...the rides. I love amusement rides and roller coasters. In fact, the last 2 years I've gone to amusement parks for my birthday...so it's only fitting I highlight some of the rides at the fair on my birthday!

nothing says, "FAIR!" like a good old fashion Ferris wheel:

personally...when it comes to spending money at the fair...I'd rather spend it on the food, but all the classic rides are tempting as well...

all in all...in was a great day of amusement at the fair...and yes...there will be more pictures tomorrow :)

the wilson co. fair: fair food

2011-08-16T05:41:00.000-07:00

This past weekend josh and I joined a few friends and headed out to the Wilson County Fair. The Wilson Co. Fair is the largest in the state...I had never been (which was a shame) but boy am I glad I went this year! I love me a good fair...the food, the people, the "culture", the rides, the food...I really like fair food! What's not to love about ANYTHING fried?! seriously...anything!

i took loads of pictures...so I'll be breaking it down into daily posts ...obviously, we are starting with the most important...the food!

food seen in order of apperance:

fried pickles, corn dog, taco in a bag/walkin' taco, snow cone, cheesecake on a stick, fried cookie dough, swirly fries, funnel cake, funnel cake flavors, pizza, bacon cheddar fries, fried oreos.

sittin' on the dock of the bay...

2011-08-12T12:53:00.000-07:00

or the lake. but still fun...ps. did you know nashville had fun lakes? I mean, I knew that they did and people with boats and such always talking about "going out on the lake" but we don't own a boat and I've never really experienced nashville's lakes...BUT my friend Molly (who is fabulous and beautiful)...

has joined Nashville's rowing club. Is that what it's called? the Crew Team? anyway...she's really good and famous because of her rowing and she's got the guns to prove it. SO, Molly spends a lot of time on these said "nashville lakes" so she took us out there one night. Hello, gorgeous!

What a way to watch the sunset!

and spend a good night with friends!

dip baby, dip

2011-08-10T09:31:00.000-07:00

ah...caitlin's birthday party! it was a fun night. We started off with some Dairy Dip action

...it never disappoints!

then we headed back to my house for some Just Dance 2 action...are you ready for this?

I'm not sure you are. Have you played Just Dance?! at first you think, "Oh, this is fun. This will be silly and we'll have a good time." and then you're dancing, and you are trying to keep up, and it starts getting a little hard, and then you start breathing heavy and realizing how much you are starting to sweat and wondering how in the world this song is THAT long and hoping it will end soon...

and then you take a break and want to do it all over again!

forget Wii Fit...this is the workout we should all be doing everyday!

hope you had a great birthday caitlin!

weekend snapshots

2011-08-08T09:31:00.000-07:00

whew. what a weekend! we had a great one...great weekends are treasures, and make mondays even harder. I could not have asked for a better start to my weekend! I blogged last week about the awesomeness of Paper Source AND how it was opening in Nashville soon. turns out...it opened last friday...so, naturally, I was there!

here are some fun pictures I took with my phone to show you all the awesomeness in person!!!

Friday night I hung out with the birthday girl. we had a little dance off and scott joined in when he got home!

saturday morning we really wanted to be lazy...dylan really wanted to be lazy...

saturday evening was caitlin's birthday party...that gets it's own post. let's just say more dancing was involved! sunday was a great day to just relax by the pool and spend time with good friends.

hope yall had a great weekend. do monday's make you sad? I get sad and then I just start planning the fun for the next weekend!!!

it's caitlin's birthday...the big 3-0!

2011-08-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

today is caitlin's birthday! naturally, I think she's awesome because her birthday is in August...and that just makes people awesome. BUT it turns out that even if Caitlin were born in some lame month she would still be just as awesome.

Have you met her? you should. she would be really nice to you. she would talk to you and ask you interesting questions about yourself and life and before you know it you would be really good friends with her and making target runs together, eating chips and salsa whenever possible, planning parties, dressing up, laughing a lot, going on trips, riding roller coasters, talking about boys, going to the farmer's market, etc. AND before you know it you would realize your life is better because Caitlin is your friend. All along she has been encouraging you, praying for you, challenging you, and bettering (is that a word?) you.

then one day you may find yourself living with her and both planning weddings together and going through big life changes together and sharing tears and smiles and these big big moments and all the while grateful to have someone who knows what you are going through every step of the way.

she's a treasure that caitlin. i'm glad she's been around for 30 years making everyone's life a little bit more awesome. cait, I hope you have the happiest of birthdays on this very big day. let me know what 30's like :)

The Paper Source

2011-08-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

a have a few favorite things in life. Jesus. Honey Mustard. Polka Dots. Disney World. and while I could break things down in to their own categories (such as calenders, sharpies, post its, spiral notebooks, etc) we'll just settle for: All things paper related.

I know I'm not alone in this. many of my friends feel similarly. we share the love of stationery, hand written notes, we love fall because it means school supplies and that makes us think of You've Got Mail and Meg Ryan and we instantly want to be in NYC and fall in love and own a book store. "Don't you think daises are the friendliest flower?" anyway...

a few years ago I discovered The Paper Source. great company...great store...great products. "Do something creative everyday." If that's not a great slogan and charge. AND THEY ARE COMING TO NASHVILLE!!! supposed to open this month..in the Hill Center. God Bless them! Just in time for my birthday and all :) I feel it is my duty just to make you all aware...in case you weren't before now, to spread the joy that is The Paper Source!

all images are products available through The Paper Source

a horse is a horse...

2011-07-28T07:25:00.000-07:00

of course of course!

meet eddison and skip...these are the horses at my mom's school (well what was my mom's school I suppose, but whatever). They are great horses and the kids LOVE them! turns out...so does my mom!

I've never been around horses for extended periods of time. My grandparents had one growing up but I wasn't old enough to really get to know her. So it was funny to me the first time I met the horses to watch them actually come to you when you call their name...like a dog...I suppose having treats and food for them helped get their attention as well.

the farm...the horses...the land...the flowers...makes for some great photo opportunities...

some were more excited than others about these opportunities...

gotta love gatti's!

2011-07-26T08:20:00.000-07:00

gotta also love my boy from dickson! turns out, the Mr. Gatti's in dickson is about the closest Mr. Gatti's still around town (there is also one in Gallatin). Long live the days of the infamous GattiLand at Harding Mall (I suppose "long live harding mall" should be added to that statement too). If only I lived where I do now about 10 years ago I could have stilled enjoyed the one on West End more often as well...oh wells.

so Josh convinces our friends we should all take a trip out to the Mr. Gatti's in Dickson (awesome date night, no?). It should be noted here that Josh refers to it as Mr. Gehtti's...not Mr. GAtti's. Regardless of the quality of food - which I think it could be safe to say that Gatti's would be a step up from CiCi's but a step below Snappy Tomato - we had a great time!

we are grateful to have friends that think crazy ideas and driving to dickson for mediocre pizza is as much fun as we think it is!

meet baby silas!

2011-07-22T06:43:00.000-07:00

on our way back from Savannah we stopped in Macon to meet this little guy!

Silas is my new nephew and he's just the cutest. His shirt says, "My Aunt Digs Me." I can't imagine who would get him such a shirt : ) but it's true. I do like him.

such a sweet little face and so laid back. I wanted to hold him and hug him and love him...but he wanted to just chill in his chair. So I just sat there and starred at him. cute as button that kid.

and of course I can't leave out all this awesomeness from Silas' big brother!

and one more of sweet silas and uncle josh!

we went to savannah

2011-07-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

so....we went to savannah last weekend. it was lovely to say the least. After 54 straight days of upper 90s in Savannah it didn't even touch 90 degrees while we there. That was a huge plus...we did get some rain everyday, but I didn't mind it. Every night we would walk down to the river it would rain. I'm sure it was just like Paris in the rain (have you seen Midnight in Paris? it's a cute little film). Anyway, I went with these folks...the inlawses...

I've got about 1000 pictures to sort though. that's a ridiculous amount of pictures. but for now...since he hasn't gotten too much blog time lately...I'll leave you with the many faces of Josh in Savannah.

summer lovin'

2011-07-13T11:51:00.000-07:00

It is certainly summer in these parts. If you don't love summer and sun and being so hot you can't breathe and sweaty the minute you walk out the door...then you probably haven't loved this week in Nashville. Unless you've spent every day at the pool, then its ok. I have a low tolerance for heat. You'd think I have a high one. The only places I've lived are central Louisiana, Nashville, and Birmingham. Hello humidity and horrible summers in all of these places. But no. My toelrance is low. HOWEVER...this weekend we are headed to Savannah, GA with Josh's family. It's going to be hot. But I refuse to let it get me down. I've always wanted to go visit Savannah so I think it will be a great weekend.

In efforts to get me excited about the summer heat I thought I'd pick out my perfect summer getaway outfits.

oh just pal-in' around during the day:

from beach to lunch spots:

a fun night out:

in other random news, I got to hang out with this cutie last night...

hello gerber baby doll face! She's almost 8 weeks old and is precious! you can check out her new born pictures here! So excited for Rachel and her sweet summer baby!

harry potter birthday party!

2011-07-12T09:36:00.000-07:00

as you know, Saturday was Josh's birthday! with The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 coming out THIS WEEK we thought it would be fun to have a Harry Potter party. Now, we aren't the worlds biggest HP fans, but we really enjoy the movies and I've read the last half of the books. Plus, we all know how much I love a good theme party. So we thought it would be fun.

I decorated the outside with Three Broomsticks and a Platform 9 3/4 sign.

and decorated the inside with the a birthday banner and Hogwarts House Flags.

I also had badges for everyone so they can choose their own house.

We wanted to have just a fun summer cookout so I renamed all the foods to relate to the HP theme.

Of course we had to have ButterBeer. It turned out to be a huge hit!

and you can't leave out Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans...and we did in fact have all the "fun" flavors.

It was a fun night for Josh and friends and we were glad everyone came!

(Harry, Ron, and Neville...I'll let them fight over who is Harry and who is Neville)

Molly made this awesome shirt...way to show your HP spirit.

Bauer got in on the fun too...

and we even had a visit from the littlest wizard...

It was such a fun night! Thank you to ABC Family for having the movies playing during the party and to everyone who came to celebrate Josh!

happy birthday husband!

2011-07-09T07:01:00.000-07:00

let's give it up for Josh!!! Its his birthday!!! woop woop!

this....is my first husband's birthday...wait...this is my husband's first birthday...wait...I've never had a husband have a birthday? no? not quite? anyway...its josh's birthday, and he is my husband and since i've never had a husband before its my first time to celebrate my husband's birthday. why is that so hard to say?!

Josh is great. What's not to like? even love for that matter?!
a. He loves me...that's hard to do on a daily basis. but he does and is great at it.

b. you'd think he has taught me more about country music than anyone needs to know...not true. I actually was a big fan before I met him. what he has taught me...rap. go figure, eh? boy loves him some pop and r&b. who knew? so now I actually know more trendy and urban music than I ever thought I needed to know. weird how that works when you marry a boy from dickson.

for those reasons alone...I'd be hooked...however, he means more to me than just pop culture knowledge. He comforts, guides, encourages, and motivates me to be the best person I can be. and the thing is, he does that to all his friends. His quiet since of confidence in who he is and where he came from allows him to fully focus on others and meeting their needs instead of worrying about himself.

he can do more things with a spreadsheet than a cowboy can with a lasso (maybe?). it can be tough out there in the tax world...it's scary business...takes a brave soul who is fast as lightening on a 10 key (that's a calculator). in all seriousness, he does work hard at a job not many can do or would do or know how to do and does it with a smile.

so today...on your 28th birthday...live.it.up. enjoy the attention, love, and presents you so very much deserve. listen to kenny chesney, drink in some sunshine, don't think about the house on the market, play some angry birds, get excited about Savannah, listen to UT sports radio and have such a fun day!!! happy birthday husband!

rachel's birthday!

2011-07-07T06:48:00.000-07:00

today is my sweet friend and new mom Rachel's birthday!!!

she got a birthday blog last year and as it turns out...did not stop being a great friend over last year...it's all still true! BUT NOW...she's a mom! sweet Virginia was born back in may and it's so fun seeing Rachel be a mom!

all the things that are great about having Rachel as friend I'm sure will be echoed 100x to Virginia by having her as mom. Rachel is quick to encourage and motivate and make you feel like you are the most talented person ever! She's so hard-working and dedicated in her own life that I know she will make herself so very present for her sweet daughter's as well!

Rachel, I hope you know you are loved and celebrated on your birthday today!!! You deserve it!

fotos of the fourth

2011-07-06T09:23:00.000-07:00

we had such a fun 4th of July weekend!!!

Friday night we celebrated Molly's birthday at the hottest Mexican place in donelson (literally...whenever jalapenos are on fire, you know it's hot).

It was a great weekend. Eric and Lele came back in town and it was just like they never left! (maybe this will actually end up being a fake out move again...here's hoping!)

Monday was wonderful. Any day off work is going to be a wonderful one. We did yard work, took the dog for a jog, and ate at the Dairy Dip.

Our plan was to head to Downtown Franklin for some good times and fireworks. After enjoying the festival and good eats at Mellow Mushroom we decided to head home and watch the fireworks from the couch. We did watch a few neighborhood ones from the deck.

hope you all had a great 4th of July!

what a week!

2011-07-01T07:30:00.000-07:00

it's been quite the week for us. this has for real been happening for a week now...

crazy. I know. we've accepted the fact that we are crazy for putting the house on the market after 3 months of marriage. making my bed everyday and having all my clothes hung up nicely every morning was certainly not part of the vows...but we're making it work. Tomorrow we will have our 8th showing in a week, so that seems hopeful. we'll see how it all works out.

in other news, I got one of these:

I now feel hip, cool, completely conforming to everything my age demographic says about me ;) AND loving it! all the pictures on this blog post are taken with it.

AND these came in the mail this week!!!

they are so cute and pretty and shiny...I kind of want to cuddle with them. again, crazy. but I do love how they turned out. If you haven't clicked over to my flickr site from the left side bar, I'd love for you to... and check out my photography site. I'm excited to see what the future holds. If you need some pictures taken just holler!!!

and now I leave with you a few pictures of those I love...

molls's birthsday!

2011-06-29T06:40:00.000-07:00

woop woop! let's hear it for molly...it's her birthday!!!

last year molly got a special blog on her big day...its all still true. she is still awesome, loyal, hilarious, uber creative, and really pretty.

Molly is the perfect "go to" friend. If you need fashion advice, decorating tips, want to go to the flea market, need the latest pop culture scoop, want to know what TV shows to watch (and not watch...but I promise Big Bang Theory is funny), take a road trip, learn a music video dance...for all these things...go to molly.

but also...if you are having a bad day, need someone to just listen to you, make you laugh...make you smile, support you in decisions, encourage you through all of life's woes...go to molly. Even though we can become your modern day Daria and Jane, we manage to have fun and keep smiling through all stages of life together.

can't say enough about such a dear friend.

constant. compassionate (to all...mammals and sea life included).

a bestest friend you can have.

happy birthday molly!

here's to London in 2012...not turning 30...just London :)

party pasta!

2011-06-28T06:22:00.000-07:00

oh...writing that title makes me think of how fun it would be to have a pasta party...like an Italian theme. mmmm. that sounds delicious. maybe we change josh's party theme to that...or there is always next year!!!

anyway...I'm trying to do my part to be a cost-conscience wife and watch for deals at the grocery store and find coupons, etc. Part of that is also using what we have on hand and trying to not have to by every ingredient for every meal each week. This week, we had Chicken Parmesan on the menu. (if you've ever eaten anywhere with the Drakes, you know they love them some Chicken Parm.) Typically I serve it with pasta.

PASTA! The past couple of times we've made recipes with pasta we have some pasta left over...usually about a 1/4 of a box. Trying to save space in my kitchen I just pile all the pasta in one bin. Like this...

ah ha! party pasta! I love pasta and think this looks so fun. SO, for dinner the other night, we just had different kinds of pasta, using what we had instead of buying something new. Its not brain surgery but it seemed clever to us. The Chicken Parmesan was really easy. We used the Chicken cutlets (tenders) b/c they were on sale and ended up liking the smaller portions better - and they cook faster!

dip tender into egg, then into bread crumbs. Cook in oil to brown on both sides. Cook in the oven for 20ish minutes at 350. After 10ish minutes add marinara sauce to the top of the chicken plus some grated Parmesan. Allow to cook another 10ish minutes until chicken is done and cheese is melted! Yum-o!

wednesday's sunset

2011-06-24T07:44:00.000-07:00

the rain lately has made for some beautiful sunsets with the cloud patterns. Last night (Thursday) in Nashville, the clouds looked exactly like how I picture them when Jesus comes back. SO bright, fluffy, majestic...and the sun setting with perfect rays. These are pictures from Wednesday's sunset. The pretty colors were just amazing.

The beauty of God is certianly not something we have to spend too much time looking for. He places it all around us each and every day. The sunsets have been such a great reminder of His power and provision.

doe, a deer...

2011-06-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

the other day I looked out my office window and saw this pretty creature!

she was just prancing around and chillin'

I went outside to try and get more pictures...it saw me and decided to cross the parking lot...

still watching me it went down the hill...

it came back up the hill with this little guy!!!

and off they went...

just another day on the farm...I mean office :)

oh boy!

2011-06-20T11:02:00.000-07:00

"We buy so many diapers and we don't even have kids!" was Josh's response as we picked up another package of diapers at target the other day. It's true...I've bought a lot of diapers in my day and we have no children. but...I do love to make cakes! Diaper cakes that is!

we have some friend who are getting ready to have their 3rd child...but first boy in about a month!!! can't wait to meet the little fella! so when we brought them dinner the other night, we also brought a diaper cake!

boy cakes...always a little tricky. Bow? No bow? are bows too girlie? The boy will actually never even see the bow so does it matter? These are the big life questions I ask myself every time I make a diaper cake. At first I thought...no bows, just knots (in my mind, knots mean boy). So I just did two tiers with knots...

but it seemed lacking. so I made a bow...

now where to add it? top?

middle?

I went with the top.

I also made cute little canvas to hang in the soon-to-be boy nursery. I LOVED the colors they picked out so I made the cake and canvas to coordinate. I never took a "finished product" picture of the canvas...here you can see the first stage, pre-straightening of the lines...

and then I added a ribbon border, to make it look cute (and cover up the sloppy line drips over the edge!)

happy monday!

peach cobbler

2011-06-16T09:48:00.000-07:00

millions of peaches...peaches for me...millions of peaches...anyone?!

Peaches are in season here in Nashville! last weekend we got some at the farmer's market with the intention to make a fun dessert. peach cobbler it was. I'd never made a cobbler before (I'm not really a fan of cooked fruits, but the crust alone is good enough to pick around the fruit most of the time!) so I was excited about this adventure.

I used a really simple Betty Crocker Peach Cobbler recipe...and with the help of a great husband...wah-lah...

peach cobber

the recipe called for whip cream...but we figured this was better

it was actually pretty good...I may have actually eaten some of the fruit part too :)

a pineapple party

2011-06-14T08:16:00.000-07:00

woah! looks like this blog needs to have a party!

The Finer Things is one of my favorite paper and stationery blogs to read. Yesterday they had a post including inspriration for a pineapple party!

check it out!

the dairy dip

2011-06-13T13:30:00.000-07:00

Mondays seem a little better if I can continue to think about a fun weekend I just had!

and any weekend that includes the dairy dip...is going to be a fun one.

If you live in the Nashville area and have not been to Bobbie's Dairy Dip, you need to go...tonight! It's a classic summer spot on my list. Old Fashioned dipped cones and every possible Milkshake flavor possible. Molly had not experienced the dip yet...so we all went for her first time...

survey says:

delicious...duh!

they have great "real food" (as I like to call it) as well. Josh and I got cheeseburgers and sweet potato fries...mmmmm

these cats came along and loved their delicious desserts as well!

good times at the dairy dip...as always.

I'm a happy girl!

2011-06-10T08:33:00.000-07:00

it's friday!!! it's the weekend!!! I'm a happy girl!!! so I thought I'd share my "HAPPY" banner with you all.

ugh...I LOVE this banner! everything lisa leonard designs is adorable and all her stuff makes great gifts for any occasion.

earlier this year she came out with the customizable banner. I felt like a "happy" banner could go with most every occasion ...though I'll probably need a "merry" one for Christmas (hint hint!) ...or "hope" or "peace" or "joy" OOO! or "noel" ugh...obviously I would love anything and everything.

hope you all have a very happy weekend!

be sure to check out all the fun new things lisa's got in her shop for the summer!

glimpses from gilling out!

2011-06-08T09:41:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday it rained and made things just a bit cooler...meaning bearable...as in able to enjoy being outside and not instantly sweating. AND these guys are finally starting to die off...

(those are cicadas for any non-middle tennessee folk)

So...we decided to grill...

its June, its hot, and its officially summer!

ps. the bottom left picture...that's the Mango Salsa from Costo. Its worth the membership fee.

Have you grilled out yet? Any fun recipes you want to share?!

sean-asaurus!

2011-06-07T08:17:00.000-07:00

birthdays seem to be the theme on the blog here lately (and we all know I'm ok with that!!!). 2 weeks ago we went to down to Atlanta. Josh's wedding present was a Kenny Chesney concert. That same weekend was my nephew's 4th birthday party so we were excited it worked out for us to be there.

it was a great afternoon at the park...filled with presents, pinatas, games, and cake...of course!

The dinasaur pinanta seemed like the size of an actual dinasaur. It was HUGE! we started off with a bat...

but we all know you need a sword to slay a dinosaur...

PRESENTS!

I had my friend Caitlin make Sean a dinosaur tail...it's just a little velcro belt that he can attach. Everyone loved it! so fun!

If you ever need an awesome dinosaur cake...publix is the place to go. The top part had a motion sensored dinosaur that would pop out and roar when you got close it.

also while we were in atlanta .... sweet baby virginia was born!!! check out my photography site for more sweet pictures of this "little" week old baby.

anna banana's big day!

2011-06-05T11:32:00.000-07:00

it's a big week folks. today...June 5th is my friend Anna's birthday!!!

Anna...whew, what to say about someone so awesome?! Anna was my matron of honor so it's no surprise that I love her dearly and think she is just the greatest. Though she currently lives in Kansas City all the emails and mid-afternoon phone calls make her never seem that far away- and help keep me awake when I'd rather take a nap. Over the years we have seen each other through it all. In high school we would skip a class just to go drive around looking at pretty houses and talking about our boyfriends. Now we call each other with weekly stories about our husbands from Dickson or advice on life's drama and dilemmas.

As one of the funniest people I know, she can make me laugh regardless of the situation. She sees life as a completely open book ready for her name to be written it! She is passionate about her job, deeply loves her husband and is 100% supportive of his career (hello?! she moved to Kansas City). She LOVES her family...her loyalty to them continues to encourage me to love my own so well. and she lives her life all for the glory of her Savior, Jesus Christ.

Since the time we sat on the bus making up stories of Princesses on a school field trip until now, Anna remains a close friends who always encourages me to be my best self...to seek after the Lord and claim His promises...to embrace life and live it to the fullest...to love others...learn more rap music... you get the idea.

So today...Anna, on your birthday, may you hear and know all the things that you are to SOOO many people. May YOU be encouraged to be your best self, seek after the Lord and trust His plans for your life, embrace life TODAY!, continue to love others and always...listen to some rap music today - and then fill me in on what you hear so I can know pop culture as well as you. Go eat something with delicious honey mustard at a restaurant where you can sit down and have a waiter, then go back home and curl up on the couch with a down comforter and some treats and watch a fun movie.

happy birthday Ryan!!!

2011-06-02T07:18:00.000-07:00

today....my sweet friend Ryan turns the big 3-0!!! Woah!!! seems to be the thing to do these days. (not for me...I have another year!)

I met Ryan in 7th grade at church camp. We were both really awesome at basketball....hahaha, just kidding, RYAN was really awesome at basketball and I never minded "playing." As we got older our friendship grew. High School was full of sleep overs and dance parties. We both went to Samford to start college...and both ended up at Belmont! So many of my fun memories from those years are with Ryan (things like NSync, Atlanta, tp-ing a house, beach trips, snow days, etc.)

Ryan has been a constant friend and encourager throughout the years. I can truly say she has seen me at my worst and loves me just the same. She's been honest with me and challenges me and yet does it with grace and love as she helps me become a better woman! She is a big dreamer and supports everyone else in doing the same. SO CREATIVE and can paint the most amazing piece of art at midnight the night before she needs to have it done! Wonderful mom of two sweet children and such a strong supporter of her husband and his #1 fan!

Whether she's writing songs about cookies and chocolate cake, dominating you on the basketball court, loving and nurturing her children, or simply just talking to you for hours at her house...she does it all with humility and love. Ryan, I hope you have such a wonderful birthday. You certainly deserve to be celebrated, honored, taken out to dinner, showered with gifts, and phone calls of happy wishes today! You are a dear friend to so many and I'm unbelievably thankful to have had you as such a close one for so long.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

live a life of love

2011-06-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

¹ Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children ² and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Ephesians 5:1 & 2

I wanted to make something for my bridesmaids...something I made, just for them. I felt like it meant more than just buying them earrings I thought were pretty for my wedding. I also felt like it was weird for me to make something and think it was so awesome they should put in their home. I didn't want to make something just to make something to display. I wanted it to mean something because each of these girls meant the world to me - how did I show that?

I had seen this verse on a painting and really liked it. Each of my friends had played such a role in encouraging, mentoring, and growing me in my faith walk. Having each of these girls walk along side me (some for 23 years!) has allowed me to better walk in the way of love. They have continued to show me the love of Christ throughout heartache, death, joy, big life changing events, and the simple matters of every day. This was the verse I wanted to share with each of them.

A year ago this weekend I was in a car accident with 3 of my bridesmaids. It was certainly a crazy day. I'd never been in a wreck like that before, I'd never ridden in the back of an ambulance, with a neck brace, on one of those hard boards, I'd never been in the ER for myself in the trauma unit, or had to stay overnight in the hospital. I was far from home, separated from the others, and alone in a hospital room...but I never doubted I wasn't surrounded by love. My friends continued to come check on me, take care of me, and get us all back home safely. Part of the trauma unit procedure is that they have to cut off all your clothes...even if it's a brand new banana republic dress. I'd kept the rags of the dress wanting to find a way to remember that day and the love and gratitude I felt for my life, God's provision, and the love of friends who walked with me through it.

I felt like my wedding, surrounded by my friends who have allowed me to live a life full of love, would be a great occasion to give them this verse and gift. I love each of you dearly and I am thankful for the life of love we have shared together.

Amaryllis

2011-05-31T08:35:00.000-07:00

(anyone else think of the Music Man instead of a flower?!)

we have a new friend in the garden!!!

two weeks after we got married we went the Bloom and Garden Show in Franklin (its where we got our beloved hanging basket plants...that tragically got stolen...sad day). There we also got 4 bulbs. 2 Amaryllis bulbs and 2 Crinum bulbs (very similar to an amaryllis). So we planted them back in April...

And now...as of Friday...one of the Amaryllis bulbs is starting to bloom these pretty hot pink flowers!

the rest will soon follow I'm sure!

and the great things about these...they are perennials...so they come back each year. every year. and we don't have to do a darn thing!

have you planted any perennials this year? any new ones popping up yet?

2 months of marriage

2011-05-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

today I have been married for 2 months. 8 weeks. ...however many days that is. whew! In the past 2 months we got married...

went to mexico...

planted some flowers...

got the world's most beautiful hanging baskets (only later to have them stollen)...

cut my finger and realized my husband didn't keep any bandaids in the house...

started cooking dinner at home!

got rid of the world's oldest dishwasher...

hosted a baby shower

surprised Lele for her birthday

took our first family road trip...

to see this guy preform...

and to celebrate this guy turning 4...

and finally, had to say goodbye to dear friends...I may have some tears still in my eyes...goodbyes are so sad...

it's been a full 2 months. We are excited for the next 2 and the next 2...and so on :)

everything etsy: bow ties

2011-05-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

i'm back with some etsy goodness from the wedding!

from the beginning I new exactly what I wanted the little fellas to wear! it included a bow tie and chuck taylors...and I think they rocked the look!

shirt and pants: old navy
shoes: converse
bow tie: etsy

they looked adorable.

I love me some polka dots...and the grey and white with the navy pants just looked perfect with the wedding party and other wedding colors.

and just because they were the cutest ring bears and flower girl ever...

all photos: http://www.maryrosenbaum.com/

monday, monday

2011-05-23T14:31:00.000-07:00

Mondays always seem to go by quickly...its like it knows that it is a crappy day so I appreciate it getting over with so fast! we had such a fun weekend in atlanta...I will have another post coming soon...in the meantime, a few favorite pictures from the weekend...

a very excited brand new 4 year old!

mmm, birthday cake icing!

the cake topper that roared

the most super fly guy there

who's excited to open presents?!

adorable

and he can slay dinosaurs...

alice in wonderland plant

2011-05-19T07:13:00.000-07:00

I mentioned early we got 2 of our hanging baskets stollen. Super sad. We had a third one that they didn't take. and this is her. She is really cool and like no other plant I've ever seen. Josh's mom gave it to us for Easter.

it starts off having these little pink buds...they look almost like baby tomatoes...but then they start to bloom...

someone asked me, "What are these alice in wonderland flowers you have on your porch?" I felt that was a really good description. They are so colorful and so unique...clearly from Wonderland.

when they first pop open, they look like a little bloom skirt puffed out...

and then...what do you know? there's some yellow flowers mixed in...who knew?!

I'm still upset about our other baskets being stolen, but I'm thankful we still have our cool Alice in Wonderland plant. In case you are curious...here is the actual plant name...

everything etsy: my wedding jewlery

2011-05-17T07:26:00.000-07:00

I wanted to wait until I got all my wedding pictures back (from the wonderful Mary Rosenbaum) to continue with my "Everything Etsy" blogs about stuff I got for the wedding.

http://www.maryrosenbaum.com/

so...my necklace. I LLLOOOVVVEEDDD my necklace. I kind of want to wear it everyday...but it's kind of fancy, so I don't. But I do love it!

My dress was lace that had a few hints of some bling on it. I felt like pearls were classic...like the lace, but I also wanted just a hint of bling in the necklace...like the dress...

http://www.maryrosenbaum.com/

I love how it all looked together and was super pleased with the necklace!

http://www.maryrosenbaum.com/

The necklace I bought also came earrings that I really liked! Here is the picture from the Etsy seller:

I just have weird issues about dangle earrings with my hair up. I know...it's weird. So I went with the lovely Premier Jewelry diamond studs that my Matron of Honor gave us to wear in her wedding.

http://www.maryrosenbaum.com/

The only other jewelry I wore was my wedding gift from Josh.

A pearl bracelet with my new monogram on it.

http://www.maryrosenbaum.com/

surprise birthday party!

2011-05-16T13:26:00.000-07:00

2 weeks ago I posted a blog wishing my dear friend Lele, a very Happy Birthday!!!

I can't believe we were able to surprise her (for the most part!!!)!

I was super afraid it was going to rain...but it didn't! a little on the cold side, but we still managed to have a great cookout!

I loved putting together all the fun pictures of Lele with friends during her time in Nashville!

we certainly are going to miss her!

AND I tried my hand at a little photobooth action...it was certainly my first time, but I think it was fun nonetheless...

and just because he is awesome...

we love you Lele...and eric and laney! it was a great night to celebrate YOU!!!

(and not think about the fact that you are moving next week and that it totally stinks and makes me sad and my days just won't be as awesome as they are now...but I am excited for you and your family and I know this will be a great move for yall but we here in nashville will miss you terribly and probably cry once or twice...or every morning when I get to work...and on my friday afternoons...and when I go to target...

you get the point!)

farmer's market fun!

2011-05-15T11:44:00.000-07:00

well, before the fun can begin, I have some sad news. Our beautiful hanging baskets...the ones I posted about here...they got stollen. right off our porch. so sad. If you would like to take a moment of silence to remember this pretty porch plants, that would be appreciated.

moving on...

this past weekend josh and I headed to the farmer's market to get some fresh fruits and veggies...as well as maybe some new plants for the porch (sigh.). I love the farmer's market. So many fun foods, colors, all things you never knew you needed. We browsed the food selction...

naturally I couldn't pass up a photo op of these guys...

then moved on to the pretty flowers! such.pretty.flowers.

let's take a closer look at this spread, shall we?

beautiful!

here is my ode to the hanging baskets (we actually ended up getting a potted plant, more on that later).