Weekend Snippets.

Just a few snippets of the past weekend...

We had a great one filled with lots of creativity (more on that later), yard sales, pool time, breakfast, dinner, brunch & gelato! 

I hope you had a great weekend too! 

xoxo

You Are My Fave.

Oh hey you! I'm guest posting over on You Are My Fave today. 

You should come on over & check it out. It has to do with cookies... Mmmmm. Cookies.

xoxo

Nane Handmade.

These fun, fresh keychains from Nane Handmade make me happy. 

(and of course it doesn't hurt that an "a" shown as the monogram keychain example)

Oh, I just love it when I randomly stumble upon awesomeness & get to share it immediately!

Get yours here.

xoxo

Gracelyn Turns One.

Our girl turned one just a few short weeks ago! Gah. I still can't believe how fast she is growing...

Anyway, before I get all wordy & choked up thinking about how fast my girl is growing, here is a peak into the little shin-dig we had at my parent's house to celebrate Gracie turning the big ONE!

As you can see, I made the theme of the party pretty simple- Gracelyn. I mean it was her day, right?

So I went with little Gracie heads with party hats as the main decor (inspiration for those found here) & a cake for the girl of honor with a giant "G" for Gracelyn of course...

I also had a strawberry flavored cake made since strawberries are her fave. 

Trust me, this girl could & would eat a whole pint of strawberries in one sitting if I'd let her... 

All in all it was a great day & even though she was teething & without a nap our little babe partied like a pro & even posed for some photographs which made me one happy Mama.

Happy Birthday Gracelyn! I can't wait to throw you more parties in the years to come!

xoxo

Yesterday Was A Beautiful Day.

Just a few photographs I took yesterday while Gracie & I were on our walk to the park of the trees that are starting to bloom. Oh so pretty. Blue skies & blooms. What is not to love?

xoxo

{All photos taken with my iPhone & edited with Instagram}

Beautiful Scarf.

When I logged into Pinterest this morning & spotted this image pinned by Victoria I was just like, "Ooooo so pretty!"...

Then I realized it was actually a scarf & not just a painting & I got very excited! In case you don't know I'm a scarf fiend, I have lots & lots. I wear one almost every day. (I'm wearing one now!) So naturally I clicked right over to the original source, Ship & Shape, to see if I could get my hands on this lovely piece.  But alas, she is sold out...

But that got me thinking, can I make this myself? I mean, I've dyed things before & my in-laws have a ton of 5 gallon buckets my sister-in-law & I have used before to tie dye. So perhaps when the weather is a bit warmer it is time to give this a whirl? 

(Arielle, I'm looking at you!)

It certainly won't be as luxe & probably no where near as pretty as the original but for the price of dye & fabric why not give it a shot, right? 

Have you ever dyed anything like this before? (Tips & tricks are very much appreciated!)

xoxo

Happy.

There is little more in this world that makes me happier than when this girl of ours smiles & giggles. Gosh I just LOVE her! Did I mention she turned ONE this past Tuesday?! I can hardly believe it. 

Time truly does fly... I really have to start writing more down. 

Don't get me wrong, I've documented things well with photographs but I think they probably need sort some musings to go with them. 

xoxo

{ photo taken with my iphone }

Smoothie-ooothie-oothie.

Now that we have a blender, I've been experimenting with green smoothies with LOTS of spinach in them... So far, so yummy! 

In fact, I like them so much that I've decided to do a cleanse of sorts starting Monday, for the next two weeks. I'm thinking of doing only veggies & fruits for the first week. So NO dairy, NO meat, NO refined sugars, NO alcohol & possibly NO refined carbs. (I'm thinking I'll keep carbs in there because I do love me some whole wheat pasta.) And I'll probably add back in meats like chicken & or fish the second week. I'm just really feeling the need to clean things up from the gluttony of the holidays!

I'm also toying with the idea of giving up coffee for those two weeks as well. I'd probably replace it with tea... dare I say, possible decaf tea! But I don't know. The Husband says I'm a "coffee addict". I don't actually argue this fact, I do LOVE coffee. Everything about it makes me happy. The way it smells, the way it tastes, the way it is warming when you want it to be or even refreshing cold. The way the cup feels in my hands... need I go on? So we shall see about that. 

How about you? Would you like to join me on my mini health vacation?It is definitely easier with a good support system & some friends to hold you accountable! (You can tweet me all you'd like for moral support!)

In case you'd like to join me here is the smoothie recipe I've found is the best smoothie base. I say "base" because it is a good starting point if you'd like to add other types of fruit & or veggies to change it up. Go get out a pen & paper now because it is complicated (just kidding!)...

Ready? Go!

2-3 handfulls of spinach

1 stick of celery (chop that sucker up first)

1-2 frozen bananas (cut into chunks prior to freezing)

1-2 cups of water (depending on how thick or thin you'd like it)

I've added frozen mango, strawberries, blueberries etc to this too. It really just depends on your taste & what you are in the mood for.

Well I am off to clean out the cupboards of any remaining junk foods left over from the holidays & prep some more bananas for freezing. 

xoxo

{ Photos taken with my iphone.}

Workshop-in' it.

Earlier this week I had the privilege to partake in some awesomeness.

Not only was I offered the opportunity to style a tablescape, dessert bar & flowers for the photo shoot session of a photography workshop run by our wedding photographer turned friend, Isabel. (more on all that later) But I also got to partake in the workshop as well which was just downright awesome! 

It definitely helped that we had such an adorable couple to shoot... M&J - oh what troopers you are! Thanks so much for not only enduring the cold but also enduring multiple photographers snap, snap, snapping away at your pretty faces...

Yay! What a fab day, for reals! Even better was the very next day I was also able to learn all about Lightroom... 
E-gads! Where has that software been all my life?! Love, love, love it! 

xoxo

Achieving Dreams.

If you've been hanging around this blog for a while you know how much I love my blog buddy, Ez over on Creature Comforts. Well, she has done it again with her printable action plan sheets...


I don't know about you, but I struggle often with the same sentiments as, Ez. Feeling like I have many, many ideas but often looking back over my day at the end of it & feeling as though I've achieved nothing. That is why I am LOVING these little motivational pieces Ez dreamed up. (there is even a wallet size!) So go ahead, go check out Creature Comforts & print your own action plan sheet. 


Lets get even closer to achieving our dreams together!

xoxo

BTW - I am so thoroughly enjoying Ez's daily photos she's been taking for Souvenir Foto School. Head on over here to check out the loveliness. Trust me you won't be disappointed! 


{ Image Via : Creature Comforts }