Happy Birthday CRS!

Chris celebrated his 29th birthday last week. Its hard to believe this is the last year of his twenties and even harder to believe that I met him when he was just 15! Time sure does fly!

Friday night we went out to our favorite sushi restaurant, and then capped off the evening with cupcakes from our favorite bakery Cake & All Things Yummy. 

We got our wedding cake from this bakery and we have yet to be disappointed. Our wedding cake was fantastic and these cupcakes taste even better than they look!

Saturday morning I made Chris one of our favorite breakfast recipes Jamie Deen's Breakfast Casserole. It takes a little prep work but its oh so worth it! I recommend giving this recipe a try!

(and then... we ate another cupcake.)

The day was so beautiful, and after all our food consumption we took the dog and headed to the park for a morning run. We then spent the rest of the afternoon celebrating in a different way, our friends Jared and Megan's wedding!

The wedding and the bride were beautiful and we are so happy we could share in their special day. Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Hardison!

Sunday was spent planting flowers and playing with the pups.

They are best friends already, all that was missing was Tucker and Boags!

It was such a nice and relaxing weekend. Birthday celebrations have definitely changed over the past decade, but we had a great time celebrating!

Photo a day April: Day 16, 17 and 18

Day 16: Flower

Scratching off PART of one of the items on my to do list, these are the flowers I planted this weekend to spruce up our back patio. Its not complete but every bit helps!

Day 17: Something you don't like

The Boston Marathon Bombings - Something I definitely DON'T like. I don't like the hate that is behind these tragedies, and I don't like the assumptions and accusations that people immediately jump to following these tragedies. My heart and prayers are with everyone involved. Just remember there IS good in this world and it outweighs the bad.

Day 18: Hair

I love the look of this casual up-do. It would be a perfect way to glam up a lazy hair day. Now if only I could figure out how to braid my own hair.

Photo a day April: Day 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Okay so clearly I'm behind seeing as I am now posting 5 at a time. At least I'm sticking with it just maybe not in a timely fashion

Day 11: Where you ate breakfast

 No surprise here, running late as usual and ate my breakfast on the way to work

Day 12: Stairs

 How gorgeous are these stairs in Greece. I have the itch to travel right now and Chris would love to go to Europe, Greece just might need to be one of our stops.

Day 13: Something you found

Found these at Target and bought them, does that count as something found? Either way they are much cuter in person and a perfect addition to my summer wardrobe.

Day 14: How you feel today

If you cant tell the feeling is happy! how could I not be happy on such a beautiful weekend!

Day 15: Sunset

Gorgeous sunset on our run the other night at Bur-Mil Park

Photo a Day April: Day 10

Day 10: Cold

I love that I can show frozen yogurt as my "cold" instead of the weather. It has finally warmed up and I couldn't be more thankful! I love the warmer temps, they are perfect for porch sitting, ice cold cocktails and of course a frozen yogurt masterpiece.

Photo a day April: Day 9

Day 9: Younger You

Photo a day April: Day 6, 7 and 8

Day 6: Lunch

 If you're in Greensboro you should give The Sub Spot a try! The sandwiches were DELISH! They had tons of options but Chris decided on buffalo steak & cheese and I had Italian. Both were SO good. It was our first time and we will definitely be returning!

Day 7: Shadow

 This is probably not the right kind of shadow, but I like this kind better. This NYX eye SHADOW is one of my favs. The color shown is "Silk" and its the perfect neutral color for an every day look.For under $5 these shadows are hard to beat!

Inside your wallet

I wish I had more cash and gift cards and less Harris Teeter rainchecks.

Photo a day April: Day 5

Day 5: Tiny

Last night Chris and I went to the Carolina Hurricanes game in Raleigh. It was a great way to spend a Thursday night, and if we lived closer we would definitely attend more. Neither of us are avid hockey fans so we had a hard time justifying buying expensive seats, we were definitely in what you would call the "nosebleeds", the players looked TINY (and I think I got altitude sickness).

Photo a day April: Day 4

Day 4: Someone who makes you happy

These girls sure do make me happy. They are some of my favorite people in the world, and although I don't get to see some of them as much as I'd like, they are always close in my heart.

To Do List: Home Edition

We bought our home as a foreclosure, and while we were lucky in some aspects; great location, stainless steel appliances, lots of room. there were some other aspects that definitely needed to be changed. For starters, the previous owners allowed their cats to use the entire house as a litter box. The carpets were destroyed, even some of the baseboards, the smell was horrific. Also, the colors of the walls were an eyesore, think blood red sponge paint, neon orange, and pee (fitting with the smell) yellow. While we have come a very long way from those days (I promise I'll post before/after pictures eventually), there are still quite a few things on our "home to-do list." 

• Replace floors

 When we closed on the house we tore out the carpeting right away, but left the hardwood. So now we'd like to look into replacing it. Im thinking something like this

• spruce up patio with plants

• Curtains for living room

Top and bottom are 2 of my options for curtain fabric - whats your favorite?

Top: Braemore Gazebo Cloud

Bottom: Khanjali Glacier

• Replace sleeper sofa with daybed for loft

• Finish decorating guest bath

www.westelm.com

love this idea of setting out toiletries for guests

• Replace brass light fixtures
• Replace brass door knobs/hinges
• accessorize living room 

• wreath for front door

I love the look of this

 But think I might be able to DIY a version using this tutorial: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Burlap-Wreath

•  Have area rug professionally cleaned

anyone know where I can have it done for less than $200

Our rug USED to be this beautiful Ivory, now... not so much

These are just a few items on the top of my "to-do" list, but I'm sure as I scour my Pottery Barn and West Elm catalogs every month I'll come up with a million more. What are some of your favorite home decor trends right now?

Photo a day April: Day 3

Day 3: Mail

I love the addressing of these envelopes. I addressed all of my wedding invitations and let me tell you they did NOT look this good, but I sure wish they had! How fun would it be to receive an envelope with your name written this beautifully. It would even be cute to throw in a frame on a collage wall after opening.

(Photo reblogged from Katie Price Hill)

Photo a day April: Day 2

Day 2: Colour

Gorgeous colored flowers at Trader Joes! They seriously have the best floral section, cheap too!

Photo a day April

So I'm going to ATTEMPT to complete "Photo a day April" - Lets see how this goes!

Day 1: My Reflection

Okay so Day 1's photo is not exactly MY reflection, but it was the reflection of the road behind us as we drove 9.5 hours home yesterday. Until next time Florida!

Easter Weekend

My parents live out of town, so it has become the new normal for me to go months without seeing them, I HATE it. So often times (although my mom would probably say not often enough) I'll call my mom on my 45 minute commute home just to catch up. This past Wednesday was no different. During our conversation I mentioned that both Chris and I had 4 days off of work for Easter weekend, she immediately invited us down to FL to stay with them. As soon as I got home I checked the weather report for the weekend and saw sunny and 80+ degrees, how could I turn that down? Chris and I then decided around Wednesday at 8pm that we would hit the road Thursday after work. 

I was so excited for our spontaneous road trip!

We packed up the doodle and began our 9.5 hour journey

Sidenote: One of my favorite things about a road trip is my excuse to eat fast food. I really wanted Sheetz for dinner (dont judge until you've tried it - although I AM weary about the 3 for $1 hotdogs), but my coworkers harrassed me about it, so I decided against it. What a disappoinment Arby's was in comparison. I should have followed my heart.

Our first day there the weather was BEAUTIFUL, especially coming from the cold weather NC has been having. We had lunch outside and then went to the polo field. We drove our golf cart, setup our seats and enjoyed cheese, crackers, a nice adult beverage, and of course the polo match. Chris and I both got a little sunburned, our poor translucent winter skin!

Our second day was just as gorgeous. We hit some golf balls (in my case, ATTEMPTED to hit some golf balls) at the driving range. We then spent the rest of the afternoon soaking up the sun and some trashy gossip magazines in my parents resort-like back yard. 

Easter Sunday we visited the craft fair at one of the town squares, hit the pool, and of COURSE we had to attend happy hour (live music and 2 for 1 drinks 365 days a year, yes please!) I'm so glad I have SOME photo documentation of the dancing that took place here. From little kids breaking it down, to senior-citizens bumping and grinding the whole evening was pure entertainment!

ma'am you're too old for this. 5 minutes later her slip fell down

 The weekend definitely went by too fast. It was such a nice getaway and I loved seeing my parents. But we are lucky that we don't have to say goodbye to FL for too long, we'll be back in May to visit Disney World! (You're never too old for Mickey, oh and "drinking around the world" in EPCOT)

Can't Wait!