A Few Things I'm Digging

Happy Wednesday and cheers to the fact that we are halfway to the weekend!

Here's a small assortment of some things I'm digging recently.

Exhibit A:
A newly framed 11x14 pic from our wedding day.  The amazing Ashley Brokop never ceases to amaze me with the moments she can capture.  This is from the first look that Ian and I had before our wedding ceremony.

It's the perfect addition to our bedroom.

Exhibit B:

A casual work environment.

Anytime that a client won't be here at our office or that I won't be at theirs, bring on the jeans.

Exhibit C:

Cutesy thank you cards from the dollar bin at Target.  They even come with coral envelopes!

Exhibit D:

I love being a necklace hoarder, and I love keeping them all in sight.  But who am I kidding, that's definitely not all of them.

Exhibit E:

Remember the other day when I mentioned in this post how other blogs are so influential to the purchases we make?  Enter Bio-Oil, who most recently got a shout-out from Beantown Prepster (happy birthday, MVB!).  Um, I bought it that day.  After using it for about a week and a half, I really love it.  I have decided it's best for me to only use it once a day (at night) and then just stick to moisturizer for the day.  It feels so good going on my face.  I still have my, ahem, "smile lines" -- and while I don't expect them to disappear overnight, I could definitely see this being a benefit by either plumping them up or maybe staving off new ones.



Happy Hump Day, ya'll!

My New Baby

After a bit of price negotiation and an, ahem, interesting time trying to realize if we could fit her in my husband's car, she's mine.

Please meet our new dining room addition.

She'll be showcasing all of our pretties -- our crystal, our vintage plate wedding cake stands, and a few others.

Only issue now is that I think my rectangular dining room table is too large.  Maybe time to sell it and look for a round table?

Gotta love the home purchase domino effect.

Has this phenomenon happened to you -- you buy something new and then realize an old item will simply no longer work?

Boats & Tequila

I have this Friday post-work tradition that I've never shared on my blog.  Ian knows about it, but other than that, only some strangers in Charlotte know.

Every Friday on the way home from work, I have a dance party in my car.  Windows rolled down, sunroof back, shades on, and Pandora blasting Pitbull Radio.

This past Friday wasn't an exception.  I dance-partied it all of the way home, and then Ian and I hit the road for my family's lakehouse for the night.

After a long workday and an hour on the road, it felt wonderful to sit on the back patio with a glass of cabernet.

We took my parents' new boat to dinner as the sun set behind us.

It felt great to unplug for an evening and hang out with mis padres.

Saturday was Cinco de Mayo, and Ian and I celebrated low-key style back in Charlotte.  Rather than elbowing past people to get our Combination #3, we feasted at home!

Margaritas were certainly in order, and after seeing the price and calorie count of the pre-made mix at the store, I did a quick search on my phone for a low-cal version.

This particular version was so tasty, and it contained sugar-free lemonade (like Crystal Light), lots of fresh lime juice, tequila, and triple sec.

We broke into the good tequila that I brought back for Ian from Mexico. 

Someone mayyyy have added a glug of grapefruit vodka to the mix too. 

We had nachos with jalapenos, hot sauce, and cheese right out of the oven, YUM.

And dinner consisted of blackened tuna tacos with homemade pico de gallo, black olives, sour cream, and shredded lettuce.  We also love the refried black beans.



I don't think we'll ever fight the Cinco de Mayo crowds out again after having such a great dinner at home!

Exciting Things This Friday!

First of all ... my blog has undergone an extreme makeover!  After more than a year and a half of the same look, I'd been feeling lately like it was time for a may-jahhh change up.  I just got nervous about pulling the plug on it.  :)

And then a sweet email came through last night from Amanda alerting me that she was getting a warning splashpage when visiting my blog -- apparently my previous template hosting site was potentially distributing malware ... no bueno!  That was the exact catalyst for change that I needed.

(If you're reading in Google Reader, click over to the actual blog to see the difference.)

And in other exciting news, I mentioned recently a big purchase that I'd made....

She's a beaut!  I'm in love.

Here's the story - my grandparents and great-grandparents gifted me savings bonds when I was born.  This particular type of savings bond continues to gain interest as it matures, and then, after 30 years, it maxes out.  Well, since I turned 30 this year, two of the bonds stopped earning interest.  After a trip to my bank (and a few tears shed over such a sentimental and meaningful gift), I cashed them out.

The savings bonds, given to me by very special folks that are sadly no longer with us, covered a little more than half of this purchase.  Although it was bittersweet letting go of documents that I'd had for 30 years and that were addressed to me at the house I first lived in, the small home that my parents brought me to all swaddled up and fresh from the hospital  -- I truly can't think of a better way of turning that financial gift into a classic, timeless, tangible reminder of their love.

(As a funny sidenote, I had a faux LV Speedy that I carried from approximately 2004-2006 ... and I loved it.  Now, I feel so proud that I have the authentic version of that very same bag!)

Cheers to a fantastic weekend, ya'll!

Edit: So many sweet compliments and questions about my new design!  I selected a pre-made template from Designer Blogs and installed it myself last night.  I'm no HTML whiz, but their instructions, videos, and picture tutorials made it simple.  It only took about 45 minutes and two glasses of sauvignon blanc to get it perfect!

"Bouquet-ish"

It's almost the weekend -- wanna ring it in with my favorite cocktail?

I promise it's easy, and it's also incredibly unique.  The perfect combo.

Your cast of characters:

• St. Germain (elderflower liqueur)
• Champagne or prosecco
• A cute glass from a girlfriend, hi Kate!

St. Germain has easily become a favorite of mine.  I first had it a few years ago at Mr. Friendly's in Columbia, SC. 

The elderflower gives it a floral taste and scent.  It's not sweet per se, but just ... bouquet-ish.

I had this fun mini St. Germain that Laura gifted me in my Christmas stocking.  The small split of Lunetta prosecco was the perfect pairing for it.

I used half of each bottle to make my cocktail, so I'd say there was about a 4:1 ratio of prosecco to St. Germain.  Add a little ice, and give it a good stir.

I thought my cocktail needed a dash of color.

Three yellow sweet-faced pansies topped mine off.  Pansies are edible, and they make fun adornments to cocktails or cupcakes.

Pretty cocktail, right?  I kicked off my shoes and enjoyed it on the patio.  Now that's good stuff.

I think this would be the perfect cocktail to whip up for a girls' weekend, a baby shower, or a bridal luncheon. 

Have you ever tried St. Germain?

Salad Dressing "DIY"

Do you know any babies?
I know a few.
They totally have the hook-up for salad dressing jars.

Okay okay, so maybe the jars used to house pureed pears or mushy green beans, but after a good run through the dishwasher and some Goo Gone on the label, you're set!

I'm being serious -- the small baby food jars make the perfect vessel for you to create salad dressing that rivals anything you'll find on the shelf.  And who needs all of the bottled dressings' extra sugar and additives, anyway?

Yummy homemade salad dressing to top fresh greens with goat cheese, pine nuts, pear slices, and apple chips.

Making your own dressing is simple and healthy. 

Your basic formula is this: something acidic plus an oil.

You don't need organic chem under your belt to master this, ladies!

My dressing of choice: lemon juice, pomegranate vinegar, orange olive oil, dijon mustard, herbes de provence, flower pepper

Below are some of my favorite components.  You can pick one, two, heck - even all! from each category to add into your baby food jar.  Just mix to taste, and find your own favorite combination.  I use a 1:1 ratio of the acidic component(s) and the oil.

Acidic

Lemon juice (I use a cube or two of frozen lemon juice, thawed)

Balsamic vinegar

Apple cider vinegar

White vinegar

Pomegranate vinegar

Champagne vinegar

Orange juice

Oil

Extra virgin olive oil

Canola oil

Add-Ins

Fresh herbs

Dried herbs

Dijon mustard

Salt, pepper

Honey

See, it's so easy!  Now, you don't even have to worry about mixing it all together until you're ready to eat.  Just make sure the baby food jar lid is on tightly, and then shake it and swirl it around. 

I love popping one of these jars in my lunch bag to take to work.  I can literally just eyeball the ingredients and pour them in while I'm making my breakfast, and then let the flavors infuse together until it's lunchtime.

Do you make your own salad dressing?  What's your favorite combination?

Ladies, We Have A Winner.

I'm ready to make someone a very, very happy girl!


Without further ado, the winner of the Katie Fobes Design pom-pom infinity scarf giveaway.

Heartfelt congratulations go to
Whitney from The Observant Turtle,
you lucky gal, you!

Winner chosen using www.random.org

Please contact me within 48 hours and I'll hook you up with Katie.  I can't wait to find out what color you'll go with. 

If you'd like a scarf of your own, you're in luck.  Katie is offering 20% off of the scarves in her Etsy shop with the coupon code KFDLove.  Don't wait around too long; the coupon code expires in 3 months!

Remember, it's easy to follow along with Katie -- blog / facebook / etsy -- I think you'll love her. :)  Thanks, Katie, for hosting this fantastic giveaway!

"Greenifying" Our Life

As the main person that selects household supplies for our home, I try to make educated purchases.

Recently I've been made more aware of reducing the amount of chemicals that are put on our skin.  A common culprit here?  Dryer sheets.  My old motto: the stronger the scent, the better!  Give me something with "Vanilla Lavender" written on the package, charge me $4 for that small box, and send me on my way!

It wasn't long ago that I read about a product called Nellie's Dryerballs on a blog.  I immediately jotted down the name on a yellow sticky and kept it on my work desk.

{Tangent ... can we talk about how influential blogs are for purchases, by the way?  Anyone else feel like a good 30% of items they decide are a "must-have" were spotted on blogs?  Mint jeans, anyone?!}

I'd hoped to order them online at some point soon, so you can imagine how excited I was to find them last week here in Charlotte.

And moreso, at Marshalls!

For $6.99, they immediately came home with me.

The benefit of these dryer balls:

• Reduce the amount of drying time
• Reduce the chemicals that end up on your clothes & body
• Help to prevent static cling
• Non-toxic, environmentally friendly
• Hypoallergenic -- great for sensitive skin

Not to mention, they are quite cost-efficient.  These puppies will apparently last me 3-5 years.  For $7, that is much less than I was spending on dryer sheets every few months.

You can find Nellie's All-Natural Products on the web for more info on their products.

Also, I've spotted similar products at other places, most recently on Amazon and at Old Time Pottery and Bed, Bath & Beyond.

So tell me, have you made a switch-out for a more natural household product?