Baby Boy

Sometimes it's as simple as this to make me smile.


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Couldn't Have Put it Better Myself

(Borrowed from Blue-Eyed Bride)

15 Ways to Charm Her

Southern Living, July 2009

By Amy Bickers

“Want to impress a Southern girl? Just think “What would my grandfather have done?”

Number one: We still expect you to give up your seat for a lady. On a bus, at a bar, on a train. . . we don’t care where you are. Unless you are at a restaurant and the only lady in sight is the one taking your order, stand up. Now.

On a recent Friday night at a bustling restaurant bar, two friends and I waited for our table to be called. The barstools were occupied so we stood patiently, sipping wine and chatting about the workweek. When a couple nearby stood up, another woman – who had been there less time than we had – swooped in, reaching across us to put her purse on the stool. This isn’t the worst part. It’s what happened next: Her male companion then slid onto the other barstool.

Hang on while I do a geography check. Are we not in the South? If ladies are waiting for a seat and you have a Y chromosome, do you sit down? No, sir. No, you do not.

We know modern life is confusing. The roles of men and women have evolved over the years. As Pink once sang, “Shorty got a job, Shorty got a car, Shorty can pay her own rent.”

But come on, let’s keep some things old-school. My late grandfather- he of the East Texas upbringing, U.S. Navy captain status, and Cary Grant good looks – would never have allowed a woman to stand while he sat. And if you want a Southern woman to love you, neither will you. So, men, here’s a short list of things Southern girls still expect from you.

We still expect you to…

1. Stand up for a lady. Actually, this doesn’t just involve chairs.
2. Know that the SEC has the best football TEAMS IN THE NATION. Big 12 fan? Hmm, perhaps you should keep walking.
3. Kill bugs. Delta Burke as Southern belle Suzanne Sugarbaker on Designing Women said, “. . .Ya know, when men use Women’s Liberation as an excuse not to kill bugs for you. Oh, I just hate that! I don’t care what anybody says, I think the man should have to kill the bug!”
4. Hold doors open. This goes for elevator doors too.
5. Fix things or build stuff. I once watched in awe as my stepfather built a front porch on the house he shares with my mother. He knew just what to do, cutting every notch, hammering every nail. The project was complete by sunset.
6. Wear boots occaisionally. Not the fancy, l-paid-$l,000-for-these kind. We’re talking about slightly mud-crusted, I-could-have-just-come-in-from-the-field boots.
7. Take off your hat inside.
8. Grill stuff.
9. Call us. If you want to ask us out, don’t text and don’t e-mail. Pick up the phone and use your voice.
10. Stand when we come back to the dinner table. ”Just a little half-stand is enough to make me melt,” my friend Stephanie says.
11. Pull out chairs. Wait, that’s not all. Scoot them back in before we hit the floor.
12. Pay the tab on the first few dates. ”If you ask me out, you pay,” Stephanie says. “If I ask you out, you should still pay.” Listen, guys, it’s just simpler this way.
13. Don’t show up in a wrinkled, untucked shirt. Care about your appearance but not too much. Don’t smell better than we do. Don’t use mousse or gel. You shouldn’t look like you spend more time in front of the mirror than we do.
14. Never get in bar fights. Patrick Swayze might look cool in Road House, but in reality, bar fights are stupid and embarrassing. You don’t look tough. You look like an idiot.
15. Know how to mix our favorite cocktail JUST THE WAY WE LIKE IT. Fix your favorite too. Sit down on the porch (it’s okay if you didn’t build it), tell us how your day went, and we’ll tell you about ours.

We’ll leave the long list to the girl who falls in love with you.

Custom Water Bottles

Ian and I are really working hard at saving money. It's not easy but I really like knowing that the more I save the more freedom we can get by worrying less and less about savings, etc.

I LOVE to play hostess. It's easily one of my favorite things to do and it can get expensive throwing a party. We are hosting a revolving dinner party for several candidates running in the primary election in August. It's very simple and casual but I wanted to do something cute to add along with the decor. We have 'dessert' so I used some old scrapbook paper to cut out circles to line the plates for cookies and two-bite cakes and decided to use the rest of the color matches to create custom water bottles! It's very inexpensive and can really add a great pop of color to any table.

We bought 28 waters at Costco for $3.49...oh how I love Costco. It doesn't really matter what the bottles say but the Kirkland Signature theme didn't really go with my look I was trying to achieve.

See? Very average looking.

First I gathered my supplies...water bottles, scissors, glue stick, scrapbook paper, and scrapbook paper cutter.

Next I removed all the labels from the bottles and measured the space that the original label took. I cut my paper into strips that width.

From there, I put glue on the edges and wrapped it around the bottles.

Finally, all that was left was arranging them on the tray that I put on our dining room table!

It was a super easy and quick option to match the theme and since I already had the paper, the only money spent was purchasing the water bottles!

I'll post more pictures after the event is set up tomorrow!

OOTD- Friday!!

I really do love casual Friday's at work but it's been so hot lately that I really have no desire to put on denim. I got this dress with a Friends & Family shopping coupon from a Columbia dress and I love it! I wish that I had thought to get multiples. because it fits so well, it's incredibly comfortable and has pockets!

Dress: Columbia

Watch: Swatch (last seen here)

Necklace: Made by a friend of mine. This girl has amazing talent. If you're interest in one leave me a comment and I'll get your email to her.

OOTD- Happy Hump Day!

Hump Day is always made a little easier in a cute outfit! I love wearing Lilly and this one was a step out of my comfort zone since it was GREEN and not the usual pink. Luckily, I have the best shoes to go with it...my blue suede Tod's! I bought these in NYC at the Tod's store on Madison Ave as a total impulse buy but I'm so glad I did because they are incredibly comfortable and they really jazz up any outfit!

Dress: Lilly Pulitzer

Shoes: Tod's

Watch: Michele (I changed it to the white patent strap...swoon!)

Ring: David Yurman

OOTD- Friday!!

Ian and I went shopping on Thursday night and I picked out this darling ruffle tank top and navy blue top thing that looked very blah on the hanger. Sorry for the weird smile, I was trying to get a better picture of my necklace which I LOVE. It's a vintage piece that I got in Florence on the Ponte Vecchio with my family. The center has the goddess of justice which is quite fitting since I'm a libra!

Cream Top: J.Crew

Navy Cardigan: J.Crew

Bracelet: David Yurman

Watch: Swatch ( I get more compliments on this watch than any other watch I own and everyone is amazed it's a swatch.

Wordless Wednesday

Grati-Tuesday

What are you thankful for this week?

I'm thankful for my JOB!

This time last year I was just starting to look for jobs after getting laid off. I was VERY fortunate to get a job in retail right away and that allowed me to be slightly picky about what other jobs I was interviewing for. I interviewed and was hired as a part time receptionist at my current company. I knew with my retail background a corporate retail company was where I was meant to be and I set my sights on becoming an assistant buyer. Almost 9 months to the day of starting with my company I received my offer letter the job as an assistant buyer. I am so fortunate and lucky to have gotten to where I am but it is absolutely proof that if you work hard and make yourself known you can move up quickly to a spot where your talents will be showcased!

Yummy Monday!

Yummy Monday posts are hard because Ian has class so it's usually just me unless I have a Junior League function so my versions of "Yummy Monday" will be simply posting what I made on Sunday!

By the time Sunday rolls around we are usually tired from the weekend and dragging our feet on starting the week ahead.

Saturday we decided to check out the new Whole Foods in the remodeled Southglenn area. My goodness that place is amazing!! I really hope that the center does well because it's a great concept. The Whole Foods down there was amazing! We do all our grocery shopping at WF because the company itself has a great mission and we want to support what the CEO/Founder believes in. Not to mention they are HUGE on supporting local farmers (watch Food, Inc and you'll understand why that is important). But I just WAY digressed!

At this jazzy new WF we found a multi grain pizza dough. We usually use their pizza dough when we want pizza because it's delicious and cooks so well but this was the first time that we had found whole grain so we decided to try it out.

It's WAY healthier if it's from WF. Totally.

The dough all spread out, read to be baked before putting toppings on.

All topped and ready to finish baking!

Ready to eat!

I really truly love pizza and think it's one of the best foods ever but it's not at all healthy. I don't like using the pre baked crusts or frozen pizza because if it has an ingredient that I can't pronounce it's probably not coming home with me. The method that we use allows us to control what is put into the pizza and as a result, what is put into our bodies.

OOTD- Casual Monday

I love that I can wear jeans on Monday and Friday! Our office is pretty laid back and even on Tuesday-Thursday it's still quite casual.

Top- H&M

Jeans- 7 For All Mankind Dojo in PETITE!

Blue Ring- David Yurman

Watch- Michele

Earrings- Tiffany & Co

These shoes are probably some of my favorites! They are custom made monogrammed Stephen Bonnano (the original Jack Rogers) and I love them. Unfortunately one of the last times I got a pedicure they dripped some stuff on the left shoe and totally discolored it. But I still will wear them and love them!

Honeymoon Part III- Rome

Our final stop on the trip was the eternal city of Rome. So beautiful and fascinating! Did you know that everywhere you go in Rome you are walking on ruins? The ancient city is buried roughly three feet below the current street. We had an amazing time walking around and we stopped everywhere... Coliseum, Pantheon, the Forum...we even arranged a trip to the Vatican (side note- if you are planning on visiting the Vatican it is absolutely worth it to get a guide. You skip the lines which are day in day out over a MILE long. If it's the only guided tour you ever do in your life, you'll be glad.) We stayed at the Internazionale Domus hotel which was really more of a concierge apartment. Our room was literally on the Spanish Steps and was the BEST location we could have asked for. There is not 24/7 hotel staff but they are there roughly 14 hours out of the day and that was plenty.

The above photo is the view that was outside our window. AWESOME location!

The trip was hands down one of the best trips I've ever been on. We took the opportunity to spoil ourselves and do whatever we wanted whenever we wanted. And we walked EVERYWHERE. I can count on one hand the number of times we were in cabs (not including to/from airport) and we averaged about 5 miles a day. At 14 days that is a large amount of walking! I know that we may not travel like this for a while again but it was a wonderful trip and I have such lovely memories of my honeymoon.

Honeymoon Part II- Florence

After a few days in Paris it was off to Florence! We opted to take the train so that we could see more and it was absolutely beautiful! A bit long but a great experience. We arrived in Florence and checked into our hotel, Orto de' Medici which was AMAZING. We had phenomenal views, great service and a delicious HUGE breakfast every morning. We didn't stay as many days in Florence since it is a smaller city than Paris or Rome (final stop) but we still managed to fit in the Academia, Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio, and entire days walking around the city and visiting all the churches we could find.

Honeymoon Part I- Paris

It's hard to believe but we've almost been married a year! It's crazy how quickly time can fly by! Several months after the wedding, we took our honeymoon. We flew out of Denver on Thanksgiving Day and landed in Paris on Friday morning for the first stop on our trip! While the weather that time of year isn't ideal we found it very comfortable and we spent the entire time there walking around outside. I absolutely love Paris and had no change in sentiment for my second visit. We purchased the Paris Museum Pass for 32 Euro each and it was a great deal! The pass gets you into over 132 attractions including the Musee D'Orsay, Rodin Museum, Versailles, Louvre and many many more. The best part is once you buy the pass you don't have to wait in line to get into the next museum. Our hotel the Best Western Rue St Honore and was on Rue St Honore (obvi) which is the street next to the Louvre and was in the 1e Arrondissement which is easily the best. The hotel itself was small but it was very nice and the location is really what took us there.

New Name, New Look!

I've left this blog alone for several months now and I realized it was because it didn't really seem like it really was mine. After fiddling around with different websites all day today I've settled on a new address and new look for my blog so hopefully you'll "follow" me and I can grow my online family!

Hello Dolly Bars!

It’s really no secret that I love sweets. The more sugary and ooey gooey the better! I came across a recipe on Monograms and Manicures that I had to try and I think they turned out quite delicious!

Here’s the cast of characters needed…1 stick butter, 1 1/2 cups graham crackers, butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, nut topping, and sweetened condensed milk.

First you make the graham cracker crust which is melted butter mixed with crushed graham crackers. While most people melt butter in the microwave, since we don’t have one I simply put the butter in an oven safe bowl and placed it into the oven while preheating. But I digress… put the graham crackers into a plastic bag and make sure it’s closed tightly. I used about 8 crackers and crushed them down to 1 1/2 cups. This is the fun part! You whack the crackers with a rolling pin until they’re as crumbled as you like! Be careful when crushing the crackers though because you CAN bust the bag and end up with little crumbs all over the kitchen counter!

Once the butter has melted you mix it into the graham cracker crust and flatten it into the dish, spreading it out so it’s nice and even throughout.

Add the bag of chocolate chips and butterscotch chips before drizzling on the sweetened condensed milk. Pour it on evenly and then top with the nuts if you’d like. Bake it in the oven for about 25 min at 350F. Once the toppings look melted it is finished…or when it starts to bubble- whichever happens first. Once it gets out of the oven let it cool before cutting. Slice them up and enjoy!!

Home Decor- Part 2

The other painting project that I started has been ongoing for a little over 2 months now.  I bought an adorable little nightstand type piece at Goodwill for $10.

I really liked the height and the fact that it had a small drawer on it.  It was an odd off-white dirty color so I repainted it a pale pink.  It looked terrible, so I then repainted it a royal blue.  TERRIBLE.

At that point I'd given up until I read that the Ralph Lauren paint collection at Home Depot was going to be discontinued to make way for the Martha Stewart collection (have you seen her colors at Lowe's??  AMAZING!)  Ian and I went to Home Depot on Saturday and I found that my local store had already cleared out the RL colors and MS was in.  I had seen a color that I really wanted called Golden Candlesticks and I kind of panicked that it wouldn't be there anymore.  Luckily, the metallic series will still be stocked so you can get those forever.  The rest of the colors will have the formulas but not the actual paint anymore so you'll have to use a Glidden or Behr's or another brand that Home Depot carries.  But I digress.

 I painted this little beauty and  I LOVE the gold color!  I didn't use any techniques on it so it's just the standard paint job but I think that this piece will find a lovely new home in our basement living room!

Here it is in our garage but once I have it in it's new location I'll post a picture of what it looks like!

Home Decor- Part 1

Shortly before our wedding in September I went to TJ Maxx Home Goods and decided I needed some new stuff.  I bought a ton of stuff and spent well under $100 but that's an entirely different story.  If you've never been to a Home Goods you are SO missing out!

One of the things that I scored on was an adorable little black iron stool/table thing for $15.  It sat in our entryway and held a vase of flowers until my lovely new coatrack took its place.  When that happened I decided I wanted to paint it and put it somewhere else where it would get more use.  I first picked an orange color that Ian HATED.  He thought it looked like a road sign (in all seriousness, the paint I bought WAS fluorescent orange.  Think HUNTING).  I went to Home Depot with Ian on Saturday and I spent some time perusing the paint section where I found the perfect sagey green color that Ian had wanted for the table.  A couple coats and this bad boy is transformed!

Here it is drying outside but I'll post another picture soon with it's permanent location!  The best part about that paint color is since I bought the large size I can use it on another small project!

DIY Home Decor

One of the wonderful things about buying a home is you can decorate it however you want.  It doesn't matter what you nail into the walls or paint because it's all yours.  The weekend that we closed, Ian and I painted every room in our house except one.  We were so tired and sore after that it was insane!  We had spent the majority of our furniture budget on our house (because if you are familiar with our area it is not exactly budget friendly!) with the intention of filling it later.  Well it's been almost a year since we moved in and we are still exactly where we started!  We really like a unique furniture look, not the same mass produced Crate & Barrel pieces that you see in every home (even though our dining room is C&B).

Last weekend I went to Goodwill and scored on an amazing coat rack, candleholders, small dresser, table, and lamp for around $40.  I managed to sand down and paint the rack and the candleholders and I think that they turned out pretty well!

The candle on the left is titled, which I of course, fixed after I took the picture.  But these two $6 candleholders frame an amazing and expensive Kate Spade vase!  How's that for shabby chic!

The Rocketman

Well it's been quite some time since I've posted and oh so much has happened since!  We got married, I have a new job, and we have an adorable little puppy named Rocky.  He's a mini Aussie, which means he'll only get to be about 30-35 lbs and he is so adorable!  My mom and I drove up to South Dakota to get him only to get stuck and stranded in Wyoming!  I had no idea that there is so little up there and it's just vast openness!  So without further ado...  Rocky!