A Fresh Take: Made with Love

I was recently asked to re-cover the cushions of an old family heirloom for my dear friends who are having their first baby in a week. They really wanted to use her grandmothers rocking chair in the baby nursery. However the cushions were a navy blue color that didn't match their decor (which is like the throw pillow in the picture). So that is where I come in. It was my first time re-covering anything, but I was fairly certain that I could do the task at hand so I gave it a go. I found a great tutorial online with step-by-step instructions that were very helpful. I hand made all the buttons and the patterns one night and we did all the sewing the next night. Mom was a big help with the sewing machine and advising me while assembling the rest of the cushions. While I was busy sewing away, they stained the actual chair with antique stain to give it a modern feel. I think It turned out perfect for little Brayden's room! I know she shared many memories with her grandmother in that chair and now she gets to make more special memories with her own son now.

Now, On to bigger things next. Re-covering a headboard in the near future.

Happy Feet

Pppsssstttttt.....Have you heard about Sanuks?

Oh Dear, Let me tell you what you have been missing out on then if you haven't.

One word: HEAVENLY

Seriously, they feel like you are walking on clouds. Actually they are made from yoga mats. Cool, Huh? One day my mom stumbled upon them while shopping at the sock outlet down in Griffin and got the two pairs. At first I was not into them cause they looked like every other pair of flip flops, but once I tried them I didn't want to take them off. If only I wore more black on a daily basis. (*Note to self get more black in wardrobe). You see I am an avid Rainbow wearer but my favorite flops are tan leather and about to literally fall apart so I was open to other ideas for comfortable flip flops. I can't stop telling people I know about these shoes. My mom is constantly asking me for her shoes back cause if wear some not so supportive shoes to work I come home and throw a pair of these shoes on and in 20 mins my feet feel brand new.
So a few weeks ago while visiting some good friends down in Douglas, Ga we did a little shopping in their downtown area and i stumbled across Sanuks. I HAD to have a pair for myself. They had at least 5 other styles to choose from in many different colors too. I actually got these:


Cool tid-bit straight from their website: “Sanük” is the Thai word for FUN".

Cute right? Nothin' like shoe Lovin'....You know that they say that "Shoe Love is True Love"......well hopefully not for long:)

Guess what else, they come in Men's and Kid's.....AND they are affordable!!! Like $30.....they aren't dollar flops from Old Navy, that's for sure but if you are on your feet a lot and are looking for a fashionable pair of flops check these out. Plus, they have closed toe shoes:/ So check these suckers out!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful Daddy! So sad that I can't be there to celebrate with you! I just wanted you to know how much I love you and how much you mean to me! I HONOR you today! Looking forward to spending the week with you at the beach! Thanks you for always be such a faithful reader and sometimes the only one who comments! Our father/daughter dinners are cherished more than words. Beach trips where you and Marcy spoil us rotten. Countless memories that I hold dear to my heart and many more to come.

Here are some fun pics from back in the day of my Dad with his "girls"

My First Christmas

A day at the Beach on Sea Island

After dinner at the Ritz last summer


I LOVE YOU DEARLY!!!

Obsession has set in.....

...With my NEW MacBook!!!

Pause for reaction.....................

After must deliberation, I went with the BEST choice for me! I am now all 'Appled' out. It was really hard picking the right laptop seeing as there are a million out there. I just wanted it to be the best bang for my buck. I have been saving for a few months and I got money for my birthday to put towards one from my parents, so it had to be worthwhile. In college I had laptop to get my through school, but once I was finished I wanted to switch to a desk top. Well that was 5 years ago, DANG, and seeing as our world is now wireless I thought I would jump in the pool and be cool too;) The coolest part is that I'm sitting in bed blogging right now!!! Just one of the perks. iChat is pretty cool too. We got to try it out sunday night with Team Lyon so that they could see Anna Kate who has been visiting for the past week. Let me know if you have video chat and lets cyber chat! Oh the possibilities....I can just imagine needing help with an outfit and iChatting whoever to pick the perfect outfit. So nifty... or getting to chat with friends/family out of state.

It really has been so different for me to get use to the Mac from a PC, but really cool. I think the first computer I ever used was back in elementary school on a Mac so I kinda remember some things, but that was back when the screen was green and black only and we would play Oregon Trail from a floppy disk.....taking it back to the old school. Man have we come a long way from then. I think one of my favorite gadgets is the sticky notes that you can leave on the desktop and I really like how the Dock at the bottom is very accessible letting me do more than one thing at a time. I am so jazzed to that my iPhone, iPod and computer now all match and that if I have a problem with my iPhone like I have in the past I can take all the necessary measures without freaking out. That was a nightmare. Still leaning new stuff everyday when I get a chance to play on it. I'm still going to take the beginner class that apple offers just to know it's full capability.

Just when I think I couldn't get any cooler (sarcasm), they come out with the new iPhone 4th generation.....in two weeks no less. UGH! Now I want that too.....In due time. I think I'm up for upgrade soon though. I passed on the iPad seeing as it's the same thing I have but bigger and I'm not that impressed. I just couldn't imagine typing a whole blog on one of those.

May Moments

It MAY!!!

My Birthday is next week!

EEEEKKK!

Summer has arrived!! I get to stating wearing all my summer dresses!!! IF only I had a tan already then I would be set! Don't worry, it hasn't stopped me yet! I got sunless tanner that I have used when I knew I needed to wear a dress. Temporary fix till I can get to the beach. I feel like I have so much coming up! Let me share a few things on the agenda:

*On my actual Birthday, Mom and I are going to the FOX to see Mary Poppins! I have loved that movie since I was a kid so I can't wait to see it live and sing along to a few favorite songs from childhood

*Saturday the 15, my girlfriends and I are going to see Lady Antebellum and Tim McGraw!! SO EXCITING!!!! I got a super cute dress to wear. Now my dilemma is do I wear cowboy boot or flops??

*Hopefully the weekend after that I am going up to spend it with my sister and her faimly. I would love to hit the beach then, but I haven't seen them since February, which is to long in my book and I can't wait till July 4 for our family beach trip to Ameila Island.

*Two weeks later, we have planned a girls trip to south GA to see our good friends Katie and Paige. Very exciting since I have never been south of Macon, other than Savannah. We plan to visit the Okefenokee Swamp and see some alligators. Good times are on the horizon because we are always in stiches when we get together.

* My Dad turns 60 on June 3!!!!! What a blessing he is to my life! We had dinner this week at one of our favorite restaurants in Atlanta, The Colonnade. Let me tell you, I was the youngest in there by at least 20 yrs. but their food is to DIE for! I had BBQ Salmon on top of southern grits and surrounded with cream corn. UNBELIEVEABLE!!! Hitting the gym to work off all those calories is going to be the Devil, but it's so worth it because I cherish those time when it is just Dad and I.

*Dude, so many great movies are coming out in the next few months I can hardly wait! Sex and the City 2 cannot get here fast enough. Neither can Eclipse. An old favorite Toy Story 3, is making it's last debute. So looking forward to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but they pushed it back till November:( I don't mid waiting seeing as it's the first part of the Last movies until the Series is over! So weird. I'm okay with the franchise ending cause then we have one more Twilight movie to hit theaters. Plus it will most likly be two movies as well. That's when I will be sad!

Lots going on in the next few months, but I am so looking forward to all of it! I love being busy! Hopefully more things will come up too!

Shabby Chic'

This year for Easter I wanted to give Anna Kate and Abby a Shabby Chic' look to compliment their classic dresses. I am a major fan of a bow in the hair at all time (pool,beach, around the house etc.). I knew that AK was really into wearing headbands as an alternative to bows, so I thought I would try my hand at making some. I have seen tons of fabric flowers on different children's websites and my friend Hilary has been making these really cute ones for clothes. So likely I was inspired. You see I can't make one for just AK, so I made one for the Abbster too. I used the same technique as I did for the rosettes on her birthday outfit, but I used a fabric that I knew would fray. As I have said in a previous post, I love pearls. It just seemed to polish off the look and adds the Chic' to the shabby. This year the girls are wearing matching pink smocked dresses so the cappuccino and pale pink will accent the pastel outfits. Hopefully, I'll have some pictures of them in all their Chicness to share with you all after Easter.

I have this picture in my head of them wearing the headbands with their new shirts I got them that have ruffles all across the front with either a white skirt or shorts playing around up on the seminaries campus. I feel a photo op. in the near future ;)

These headbands are the perfect way to make a Little or Big girl feel frilly even in just a jeans and T-shirt combo. Just throw one on with a ponytail or with your hair down to complete any look. Happy Easter to all!

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Let me start my saying that I rarely cook in our kitchen at home. So after practically learning how to cook everything for the past three years at RR's I thought for sure everything would run smoothly. Needless to say I was mistaken.

Monday night as I was preparing for my small group meeting that was Tuesday night, I got ambitious and tried to go all out. On the Menu was Fresh homemade Guacamole, Chicken/Spinach Lasagna, Arugula salad, Sweet Tea, and Peanut Butter S'mores cookies. All was going well, so I thought. I had already successfully made dinner at work and was 10 min away from being done with my second dinner of the night when I checked the Lasagna and the whole top layer of cheese was burnt to a crisp. I quickly pulled it out, removed the cheese and replaced it with a new layer (which was to be used on the salad). I was totally bummed out, but it ended up working just fine. The Guac was underway while the lasagna was cooking and I was also preparing to start the cookies. My steady plan of action was going well with a minor bump.

So, while the p-nut butter cookies were baking, I was making homemade chocolate cream cheese frosting. Amidst the mixing the confectioner sugar with the cream cheese and butter, some how my left ring finger gets caught in between the blades of the hand mixer . Talk about OUCH!!! I was FLIPPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My mind went into panic. My finger was wrapped backwards and wouldn't come out, the mixer was still on and I was about to be sick. When I got it loose, my cell was upstairs charging and the house phone was across the kitchen. I was in a full body sweat and the sink was full of dishes. Can't you just picture it? I was a sad case. I finally got myself composed and called my mom and sister. Once I got them, my mom thought that I had cut my finger off and wanted me to call 911. It barely even broke the skins surface. You see, I hate going to the doctor and I have a really HIGH pain tolerance so if I can handle it then I'm not getting a second opinion. Plus if I can bend it than I'm OK, which I could.

Anyways, so the cookies were cooling while I was hand whisking the remainder of the frosting that was still in the bowl or that I could salvage. When I went to pour the cocoa in the mixture it went everywhere. So now I have cream cheese frosting all over the counters and floor as well as cocoa. Not my night. The next step was to put marshmallows on top and broil them for a quick sec. That went up in flames too! UGGhHH. I couldn't catch a break.

I ended up just calling it a night with cooking and cleaned up the colossal mess I had created. All with a princess ice-pack rubber banded to my finger. I didn't get to bed till really really late. I am so glad that day ended. My finger is on the mend now, but I still have lots of bruises and swelling. But I have been wearing a compression brace on my finger that had helped A LOT and I can get full range of motion now. PTL that it wasn't worse. The evening went well, the girls liked all the food and I was pleased. Next time I going with simple and chic'.

So, what are some crazy cooking stories yall have? Or am I the only doofus out there?