Halloween's Here!

It's Halloween, y'all!

Halloween has always been a lot of fun around our house, and how having two little girls to share in the delight is even better. We are carving a pumpkin later today (probably will just go with the classic pumpkin face ... I'm a bit of a traditionalist). And of course, trick or treating this evening!

Last Friday we had Trunk or Treat at Camille's preschool.

I hope to get more photos of her mermaid costume tonight. I made it using felt! And of course lots of grosgrain ribbon because you know I have a little bit of that lying around. 

And later that morning we had a few friends over for a little Halloween playdate! Charrie is wearing the same unicorn costume Camille wore two years ago. 

As someone who loooooves October 31st (and all 30 days leading up to it), I am giddy today! Later I'll be making some popcorn balls using THIS recipe and of course playing some spooky tunes on our favorite speaker!

Cozy Corner

I've blogged before about Cozy Corner but it deserves a reshare! It's FREE and wonderful and something that you can enjoy with your kiddos ... but it's also a nice thing for them to enjoy solo. 

When Camille was in daycare and I was working, her sweet daycare teacher had a Cozy Corner in the room where kids could relax with books. I implemented this in Camille's room in our old house, and now I have one in the playroom!

It's as easy as sticking a few pillows on the floor and topping it all with a soft blanket. Add a basket of books and you're done!

Reading is so important in our family and I love for the girls to have their own little area where they can cozy up and enjoy the wonderment of books!

If you make a little Cozy Corner for your child, please email me a photo! I'd love to share a few on Friday. :) 

Five On Friiiiiii-day Y'all!

It's time for another edition of Five on Friday and I do hope you'll join along!

Remember, all you have to do is post about five things on your mind, add our logo (found at the bottom of this post), and join the party using the linky tools below. Easy, and a great way to find new blogs and be found. :)

O N E
These little pumpkins are MINE ALL MINE and I could eat them with a spoon! I'm a sucker for matching clothes, and these are a pass-down from a girlfriend (more on this wonderful girlfriend down below). Camille wasn't nearly as excited to wear the shirt as she was when I told her that it said "Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet." All of the sudden the enthusiasm level went from about a lukewarm 3 to an on-fire 10! Haha!

Both girls are wearing shoes that I got them recently from Walmart and they are SO. CUTE. (of course priced great too -- right around $10/each pair!).

T W O
Speaking of shoes...

When I was in Greenville last weekend, I noticed that so many of the stylish ladies there had the cutest and sassiest pointy-toed mules on. Of course I now need a pair. With ankle-length jeans, how cute! These Rebecca Minkoff Mules are the perfect combo of stylish and edgy and are officially on my wishlist.

 

Oh, and HI PARTY SHOES!
These black beauties are $79.99 but now with an
additional 60% off with code FLASH. Today only.

T H R E E

A local moms Facebook group I'm in had us post "before toddler" vs. "after toddler" photos this past week. I mean... the photos speak for themselves. I got a giggle out of it and had to share!

F O U R
The weather is getting chillier and I am all about cozying up and looking cute (but feeling uber-comfy). Capes and ruanas, here I come. I love that you can pair these with form-fitting tops and skinny jeans or leggings and still have the billowy parts of the cape that you can conveniently use in photographs to take attention away from ... you know, where you don't want it. Can you tell I'm thinking already about family holiday photos? Ha!

BP Plaid Cape $39       ///       Buffalo Check Ruana $49

F I V E

So I am just soooo excited because my friend Justine and her family are coming to town this weekend to visit us! I can't wait to have them here and watch the kids play together. Justine and I just gab nonstop which is so much fun considering it will only be our second time of actually being together in person. Our husbands now work together and I am just so thrilled to show them our little neck of the woods here in Charlotte and have their sweet hearts under our roof. 

Photos to follow! XO!

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That's it for today! Hope you have a lovely weekend -- thanks for linking up with us below!

A Weekend Baby Shower

This past Sunday my girlfriends and I gathered to shower our friend Lauren with love, support, and pink frilly ruffled GIFTS as we all prepare for her daughter's arrival in December!

The mama-to-be is in the back row under the corner of the painting. She is so excited to become a mommy, and her family is so thrilled as well! 

For the meal, we had the most delicious bowl of she-crab soup followed by a salad with grilled chicken and figs. I absolutely love figs on a salad. 

As a special surprise for dessert, they had a handmade donut bar with four different types of donuts! The chef was making the donuts right then and there for us. Paired with hot coffee, it was the cutest little shower idea. Genius, right?

I wore an Alice + Trixie dress that's a favorite along with earrings made by my sister, Laura Cox Designs. She's down to one pair left in her Etsy shop HERE. 

And ever the LipSense fan, I broke out my very fun tube of Purple Reign for a nice bold pop of color! Bright colors for a beautiful, girly day! Please click HERE if you want to see more colors I've been wearing recently. 

She received so many great gifts including toys, books, sweet little outfits, some nursery decor, a handmade blanket and handmade quilt, and some much-needed baby gear. I gave her a muslin swaddling blanket, a soft little lovey, a monogrammed ruffled bib, and a bow holder I made with a set of four monogrammed hairbows.

It was a great day with girlfriends, and I can't wait to meet our littlest new girlfriend in a matter of weeks!

The SC State Fair

Last Tuesday, Charlotte and I picked Camille up from preschool and headed 90 minutes down to Columbia, SC (scooping up my parents on the way -- we had a full car!) and made our way to the bright lights and fried food at the state fair.

As a kid, we ALWAYS went to the fair together every single fall. It was a nice family time and we graduated from riding the merry-go-round to riding the "cool" rides that blasted C&C Music Factory and En Vogue. 

This trip was so fulfilling for me to see my own girls on the rides but even more heartwarming for my parents to sort of do it all over again. Even on the way home, when we went person by person to hear their highlight reel, my manly, non-emotional dad said his number one highlight was "seeing the girls have fun." //heart melted.//

If you haven't had a cup of Fiske fries covered in vinegar, you're not living. 

Mom always enters her creations into the fair and this year she entered six items, winning a blue ribbon for ALL six entries! The "crazy quilt" velvet stocking in this photo is one of the entries. 

Camille was fearless on the rides and even chose the BIG ferris wheel (with me!) as her last ride of the evening. 

The girls earned their special late bedtime and we crashed shortly thereafter. It was an awesome trip and we can't wait to return next year!

The Great Freezer Swap (Ladies Night With A Twist)

Last night some girlfriends and I did something really fun and different. I mean we still made a dinner of Spanish cheese and salami and popped bubbly, BUT we combined all of that goodness with a freezer swap!

The night started out with us looking into doing one of those spice-company parties where you come with prepped ingredients, gather around a kitchen, and put together your meals together. We all liked this idea, but it was starting to seem a little expensive and complicated, and we didn't want to spend the entire evening more concerned about measuring out ingredients than chatting. 

So we simplified it to the Nth degree and decided that each of us would prepare a meal of our choosing at home, multiply it by five (there were 6 of us there last night), and bring it to Margot's house. We all chatted and had great girl time, then at the end of the night we talked about how to prepare what we brought and took one of each of the dishes. So we all left with 5 different freezer meals!

I know you've been dying for a photo of me holding raw chicken thighs, so here you go.

I did a sheet pan dinner in the picture above. Chicken thighs, carrots, brussel sprouts, onion, green beans, sweet potatoes. All marinated in a garlic/herb/citrus marinade (to be honest -- the kind from the packet where you just add the citrus juice) to which I added olive oil and stone ground mustard. 

I froze it before the evening, and to prepare, my friends just have to thaw the bag in the fridge, dump it out on a sheet pan, and cook at 400 degrees flipping halfway through!

And in my freezer now I have chicken enchiladas, a crockpot chicken stew, BBQ chicken chili and cornbread, meatballs and pasta, and shrimp creole with rice. 

Now THAT is a productive girls night ... am I right?!

Five On Friday!

It's time for another edition of Five on Friday and I do hope you'll join along!

Remember, all you have to do is post about five things on your mind, add our logo (found at the bottom of this post), and join the party using the linky tools below. Easy, and a great way to find new blogs and be found. :)

O N E
Just wanted to start off with a big virtual hug to my amazing mama. The girls and I spent Tuesday evening through Wednesday lunch down at my folks' lakehouse -- a quick trip but a good one. We were originally planning to go to the SC State Fair but the threat of rain in the forecast sort of skewed everything. But we rolled with the punches and had a great visit anyway, lots of good chats ... and I always like seeing Camille and Charlotte play with the same toys that my sisters and I played with as kids! I loved that she saved some of our most important toys, dolls, and books.

T W O
I'm not much of a salad eater for lunches (give me ALL the sandwiches), but my mom is, and she's a good influence on me. Plus, she had cool salad ingredients and mine are always lame. Look at these spiralized BEETS!

So this salad was spring greens, spiralized beets, red apples, celery, swiss cheese chunks, capers, and balsamic dressing. So incredibly tasty and she's inspired me to incorporate salads more often.

T H R E E

Went for my every-other-weekend gel mani on Saturday and went with the amazing color Apartment For Two by OPI. Of course I didn't snap a photo and by now it's almost a week grown out so you'll have to excuse. But it's the BEST color and so pretty for fall!

F O U R
Fellow Lilly fans, did you score anything from the sale on Rue La La? There's only a little time left! My very favorite grocery list pads (I seriously use these EVERY week) are majorly marked down -- you can get two stacks for $14.99. One for you, one for a stocking stuffer! There are 60 sheets per pad so a pad will easily last you through a year of weekly grocery lists. I love this thing and it looks cute in our countertop organizer where we keep stationery, stamps, and notepads. And Barbie shoes.

There are so many great items $20 and less so check RLL out before the Lilly sale is over. A few items only have a few hours left before they go away!

F I V E

Boone-bound and so excited! Happy weekending, everyone!

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That's it for today! Hope you have a lovely weekend -- thanks for linking up with us below!

Camille's Fall Fashion

Remember when we '80s babies were growing up, and the coolest concept in the world was a SHOPPING SPREE?

I remember talking to girls in elementary or middle school and being like "So what did you get for your birthday?" and they would say, "Ohhh, my grandma took me on a shopping spree" and I was jealousssss like crazy. Just thinking about a crimped-hair girl popping into every single store in the fluorescent-lit mall with shopping bags all up and down her arms. 

Well, I went on a bit of a shopping spree for Camille the other day while she was at preschool and I picked up the CUTEST things! Everything is from Kid to Kid and I paid between $1-5 for most every single item. Consignment shopping is my favorite!

So, I know you're dying to see this fall fashion. Here we go!

First things first, girlfriend got a chambray shirt. AND Under Armour yoga pants. AND the cutest little tulle skirt (it was a dollar and I figure it will be adorable over leggings). 

We are big big big into the twirly skirt phase, so when I saw this little ivory holiday dress with the quilted top (I just can't) and tulle twirly skirt (she just can't), I knew she would go BA-NANAS. And the lavender dress on the right with the castle and unicorns playing in snow was a dollar. I think it's cute, but good thing I didn't overpay ... I don't think she'll wear it because the skirt doesn't have spin. 

But is that laughing pose a style blogger pose, or what. I think I had to make a toot sound to get that. 

Cinderella shirt because she is all-princess-all-the-time. 

Skinny jeans. Necessary.

This little royal blue swing top with pockets is an Old Navy score -- we have it in a smaller size in a yellow color and she wore it a lot last year. 

I cuffed the skinny jeans and topped it with this black and white tunic dress from Carters. 

And that little navy shirt and pleated-side kilt! The tartan is almost an exact match for Ian's family tartan! He loves that I found this for her!

Lastly, this adorable aqua corduroy skirt with dogs on it is probably too snug, but it was like $2.50 so I will just keep it for Charlotte. 

And this little matching outfit with cats on it, matching leggings and that sassy coral bow at the neckline! Adorbs!

So, FALL COLLEZIONE 2017 a la Camille. She is my #stylegoals 

Fall Festival Planning!

I am so excited to share with you the goodies that I received from Oriental Trading Company! I partnered with them to collaborate on our upcoming neighborhood fall festival. They provided us with this awesome assortment of items that will make our annual festival a hit. 

I have used them for various events and birthday parties in the past. Looking through their website, you can truly find just about anything you are searching for! For this event, I was able to stock up on everything from disposables to photo booth props, all in one fell swoop. In addition to a kids craft table, we are also having a bounce house, a face painter, lots of cheesy pizza, and an ice cream truck. I can already tell you that Camille will be most excited about these temporary tattoos more than anything! 

Thanks to Oriental Trading Company for ensuring that our neighborhood gathering is a great one! I appreciate you all so much!

Toddler Rave

Walking into Frozen On Ice this past Sunday, my neighbor Rachel said, "You know these things are like toddler raves."

YES.

THAT.

Three, four, five year olds losing their ever-loving minds, glow sticks everywhere, loud pumping music, dancing in the aisles and stairways, pauses for rehydration, light-up wands and fairy tiaras, and just overindulgence. 

Overindulgence of Elsa and Anna and Hans and Kristoff and Olaf, this time around. 

And we loved every. single. second.

I took just my big girl for a special afternoon date. 

This sweet Anna costume was a pass-down from a sweet friend. Well, I traded her a hairbow for it. :) My favorite way to "shop"! The old school barter system!

We scanned in our tickets, my keychain mace was confiscated (WHOOPS), and in we went! Our amazing neighbors were there -- we all purchased seats near each other. 

The smartest thing my friend Rachel did was buy THIS WAND from Amazon for all of our girls. They are $9 which is more than a THIRD of the wands selling there! YES, thirty stinking dollars for a cheap plastic wand that will inevitably end up at the bottom of one of our multiple toy bins. 

The quality of the Amazon wand is pretty much what you'd expect, but Camille thought it was the most magical thing ever. EVER! Hellooooo, stocking stuffer idea for you mamas out there!

I do have to admit that I teared up at several parts of the show. The cast was great and just seeing the magical snowy scenes through Camille's eyes was totally worth the $21.00 I paid shortly thereafter for event parking. Ha. 

If you can get to one of these shows, DO. It's magical. Just get the wand beforehand. ;) Oh, and leave that keychain mace at home.