Friday Loves

It's FRIDAY - who is ready for a weekend?  My weekend is full of socializing, volunteering, relaxing and breaking out the Christmas decor. Go ahead and judge away, but since we always head to Mississippi for a good long trip during the second half of December, I pull our stuff out early - my decorations have to be up 4-5 weeks for me to believe its worth the time of pulling them out!! Plus, not to be all scroogy- but I think I may pack up Christmas decor before we leave for the south so I do not have to worry about it when I get back.


Here are some things I am loving on Friday.....

1. Santa's Bag App

One of these years, I plan on being responsible and starting a holiday fund in January, but unfortunately, that was not this year.  However, I am trying to stay on budget or near budget with Christmas (I love buying others gifts and I tend to justify overspending on nephews and nieces and parents etc....) So, this year I downloaded the "Santa's Bag" app for my iphone - and it has changed how I Christmas shop. I set an overall budget and then individual budgets for my recipients.  Under each person, I can mark what I buy, what I am thinking of buying, how much it cost, and then check each person off as complete when done.  I am able to see how much I have spent in my total budget and how much I spend on each individual person - including if I was under or over their individual budget. This helps me plan accordingly and encourages me to take the time to look for good sales.  For example, I recently watched the toy sales and found the exact gift I was planning on buying one of my nieces for $15 off - so that's $15 in "extra money" I have in case I go over on someone else (which I will inevitably do...)  Jury is still out on whether this keeps me entirely on budget - but so far, so good.

2. Williams Sonoma Quinoa with toasted pecans and dried cranberries

You can find the recipe here.  I LOVE this dish and have made it several times. Basically, anything with nuts and berries makes me happy (I must have been a small forest animal in a different life....)  I made a huge batch for our small group supper club last night and we had a low  turnout due to work, travel and sickness - so lots of leftovers.  But honestly, I am kindof happy because I can eat this all weekend long. (side note: this preggo adds a few more pecans than suggested....)

3. Non Maternity clothing

The other day, while returning a maternity sweater to Old Navy, I picked up a cute vest (one size up instead of maternity sized because some days I just want something NON-maternityish you know? I have a maternity vest which is cute but a bit long and bulky) And today, since it's Friday and a bit more casual, I wore my new vest to work with skinny tan maternity pants, boots, a maternity chambray top and a tortoise shell necklace. And dare I say, I almost felt cute?  Besides the stretchy band at the top of my pants and the fact that the shirt was loose with you know, a baby underneath....it was a normal outfit. So here is my "make me happy" outfit...forgive me if you see some version of this often this fall/winter.

(sidenote: maternity clothes are not so bad in 2015.  I definitely have some of the drawstring loose  tops, but a lot of the items are quite cute - just a bit more limited in selection, so I really can't complain - BUT still, this $17 dollar green vest has made my week...)

4. Blanket Scarves

I also picked up this cute blanket scarf. It's adorable and warm and makes me happy. Only problem is that I now need someone to come to my house and show me how to wear it.....

5. REIGN

Dave and I love finding a good show to binge watch together - and our newest pick is Reign about Mary, Queen of Scots.  It's got history, action, mystery, romance - and of course, lovely costumes.  Something for both of us!

6. Encouraging articles

I love words - and I love words that encourage and uplift and relate.  So I had to share these meaningful words I found in an article titled Singleness, Suffering and Christian Hope. It's so true - I could have written this article (although not nearly as eloquently!)  In fact, I wrote something similar a couple years ago. The pain of waiting for a spouse can be incredibly hard and often undermined by married friends, family and church leaders. (Thankfully, if you are like me, you had excellent company!) The bittersweet reality is that you excitedly celebrate every wedding, every baby, every special moment for friends and family while you wait for your own milestones to celebrate.  You rock babies and silently pray that one day you will have your own.  You spend holidays without a spouse, wondering if you will always be the single adult child that goes home. Even now, happily married, I remember that the waiting wasn't always easy. So, I was so touched by the tender way in which this man writes about his wife's and his years of waiting and suffering.

"Although our suffering (related to singleness, anyway) officially ended that night, every minute of heartache now served to make our present joy greater and fuller than if we had never suffered. Our suffering wasn’t merely being erased or compensated for. Instead, God was somehow using our suffering to enlarge and perfect our joy.

To us, that moment was a picture of our ultimate Christian hope: Ours is the only faith that would dare use a barbaric device like the cross as a symbol of triumph. God is not only with us in our suffering, as He proved at the cross, but He will transform our suffering, as He proved at the resurrection.

Lisa and I have never been happier than we were on our wedding day. But even the very best day of life on earth is only a foretaste — a dim hint — of what it will feel like when we finally meet the Lord.

If you are a Christian who is struggling with singleness, I am praying for your suffering to end. I don’t know how and when it will end, but I can absolutely guarantee that God will one day end it with a resurrection. I love the way Teresa of Avila put it: “The first moment in our Savior’s arms will make the most miserable earthly life seem like a single night in a bad hotel.”

As I finished this article at 1:30 in the morning, I looked over at my sleeping wife. I thought about all the nights she went to bed lonely. The scars are still there. But like the scars that remained on Jesus’ resurrection body, their meaning has been converted from shame to glory.

Tears filled my eyes as I leaned over and kissed Lisa on the cheek and remembered, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 21:4, ESV). Thank God we didn’t meet when we were 21. Thank God He didn’t “spare” us from suffering. My tears of joy were only possible because, in our suffering, we had shed so many tears of sadness."

 I have friends that are still waiting- for husbands, for babies, for healing in their families, etc- and I am still waiting with them, praying for those future happy endings and milestones - and I can't wait to rejoice with them the way they have kindly rejoiced with me.  But, even when those answered prayers come, I will also be grateful for a God that uses years of brokenness to make the answered prayers all the more beautiful.

7. "Just Because" Flowers

I have felt particularly pregnant and big and sore this week (um, and whiney....) - and my sweet DH sent me the sweetest card and flowers. telling me how thankful he was for me.  We aren't usually random gifts and flowers type of people (except for birthdays and holidays, etc) which made the gesture all the more sweet.  Goodness, I am a lucky gal.

Happy Friday all! Just 2 weeks (less actually) until Thanksgiving!  November really is a wonderful month, right? The weather is not too bad yet but the holiday spirit is in the air! I hope you spend all weekend doing things you love with people you love! Or doing nothing, just because you can!

Friday's Five: What I am Loving TODAY

Here are Five Random Thoughts for your Friday!  Happy Weekend Y'all!!!

(1) Auburn landed the #1 recruit in the country.

Y'all know I love me some SEC football.  And it all starts with signing day.  Sure, not all of the players pan out. Sometimes guys who are not ranked as 4 or 5 stars end up being the play makers. Sometimes the top ranked players do nothing. But, on a whole, a good recruitment does lend hope for good seasons in years to come.

Auburn had a rough season this year.  Not awful, just mediocre and full of regression.  But, with the recent hire of Will Muschamp as Defensive Coordinator AND a strong class (including #1 recruit Byron Cowart), Auburn fans have a reason to be hopeful that good seasons are in our future.

This is also a big deal because Auburn, although winning SEC championships, a National Championship and having a few recent undefeated seasons, has never (in recent memory) landed the #1 recruit.

(2) Happy Birthday Pres. Reagan

The former President would have been 104 today. 

(3) Homemade King Cake

As you can imagine, King Cake is a rarity here in our nation's capitol.  You can buy authentic King Cake from Bayou Bakery (owned by a Louisiana man) but it is expensive and large, so you are committing to a lot of King Cake. I bought one last year for a party, but D and I can't eat the whole thing! (correction, we shouldn't eat the whole thing....we probably could eat it) So, instead, I tried my hand at my own King Cake. Overall, I think that it was a success. It's not as good as a NOLA bakery's filled treat, but so much better than the cheap ones you can buy at the grocery store - and certainly better than nothing!  I used this recipe and will probably try it again, maybe making my own dough or trying a different filling.  I definitely think it's worth trying! Especially if, like me, you live miles and miles away from the South, but you still want some Mardi Gras goodness!

(4) Outer Banks Get-Away

Currently, the wind chill is in the teens -- so I may be torturing myself by thinking about summer and summer vacations......but I can't help it!  And, I would argue that for every moment that it makes me feel sad about the cold weather, it makes me equally as happy to daydream about the future!

D and I are flying home for a good friend's wedding and since the whole family will be there, we will be making a trip down to Rosemary Beach or one of the other 30A beaches in Florida for a family vacation after the wedding festivities!  But, as I have mentioned before, D and I have made a commitment to take at least one small vacay each year just us (or one day, just us and kids)  Our only requirements for this year's get away was that it had to be:

1.  nearby (just a short drive, no flights since we are flying to Atlanta in April and Mississippi in June)
2. a place that we could enjoy in just 3-4 days (since we will be reserving 6 vacation days for the wedding/family trip, we only wanted to make this a long weekend)
3. fairly inexpensive (I don't want to drop a lot of money on a short trip)

We decided to schedule our yearly trip over Memorial Day weekend since we already have Monday off, so all we have to do is take Friday off to make this a little 4 day trip. Although I was pushing for Charleston or Ashville, both were a pretty hefty drive for such a short time frame - especially on a holiday weekend when the drive will take even longer due to the traffic. So, we decided on the Outer Banks, a beach I have always wanted to visit -- with good restaurants, cute little towns and an Alligator wildlife reserve (guess who's excited about that? I'll give you a clue. His name doesn't start with a K) 

Our hotel is booked. It is official. So I am beach dreaming -- and excited for 3.5 beach days with D plus a whole week in Florida with my family.  The past two years, D and I have taken our trips to cities, so it will be nice to have some down time - a vacation with no obligations or sights to see unless we want to leave the beach.  Tonight, as I walk to the metro in my puffer coat and wool hat, I will be thinking of sunshine, beach reads, drinks with umbrellas, lots of yummy seafood - and of course the cutest travel companion.  Summer 2015 -- hurry up!

(5) Valentines Day with my favorite little boys

We are spending Valentines weekend with my sister and her family.  I bought fun pancake mixes (red velvet and pink with chocolate chips) so we can make heart shaped pancakes -- and I am picking up little happies** for the boys (and some to send to my sweet nieces in Mississippi). Holidays are more fun with kids!  Can't wait to love on those boys in just 7 days!

**for non southerners, a "HAPPY" is a small treat or gift for no real reason, "just because".  If your aunt comes to visit and brings you a new book and some candy, that's a happy. If you parents go on a trip to Napa and bring you back a bottle of wine, that's a HAPPY. 

Little Updates

Just a few updates on this COLD boring Tuesday.... some little nuggets I have not shared on this blog!

ONE

 Check out my blog post on Joy at my friend Emily's blog, The Orange Slate. She's doing a great little series on Joy where she asks others about their views on Joy, so check out all the posts. It's been interesting for me to see what other people have to say on the topic and read their tips on being joyful! I think you will be encouraged by their words! I am hoping she wraps it up by answering the questions herself (Emily, hint, hint...)

TWO

 I never introduced you to my new nephew.  Meet Baby Gil. He's two months old now and tall, dark and handsome -- okay, maybe not tall yet. but definitely dark and handsome.  His hobbies include making serious faces, gifting us with the occasional smile, pacifiers, eating and staring at random objects and pictures on the wall (is he an art lover? maybe!).  

I put off posting about him until my sister posted, but then I forgot! I've gotten to hang out with him 3 weekends and its safe to say that I am already in love.  I am counting down til Christmas vacation where I will have two full weeks of time with family, most importantly time with my nieces and nephews! D and I seriously have the cutest nieces and nephews ever, on both sides of the family -- it'll be a pretty high standard for our "one day" kids to live up to!

The day Gilly bean was born...

Sleeping Beauty

He is kindof a serious little dude, but his smiles are pretty great too!

And, just for fun, here is a picture of Gil's big brother, Jack, in his Halloween outfit because who wouldn't want to see a picture of this cute monster????

Stay tuned because in February I will have another little niece to introduce!

THREE

As I said, we are taking a break from apartment decorating to enjoy the Holidays.  The apartment is at least presentable enough now, but I still have lots of fun things I want to try -- and as always, our bedroom will be the last to be decorated, but I am determined to actually decorate it this time as opposed to slapping a couple pictures above our bed and calling it "done" in our last place.  As we continue in January with the slow process of decorating, I promise to do a home tour or something similar, but until then, let me show you my favorite wall in my favorite room in the house. 

I LOVE our Gallery wall....and I must admit, I am quite proud of how it turned out.  Our wall is fun and a huge focal point -- plus. it has bits of D and me mixed in.  (I'll let you guess who supplied the deer head.....)  It also has some prints and pictures we acquired together...representing this first year of marriage.  The wall keeps growing and I know it will probably change a lot over the years.  Sure, gallery walls are really in style at the moment, but they feel so homey, especially when you mix in personal pictures and sentimental pieces, so I hope that even when it's not as trendy, our home always has some type of gallery wall full of family photos, kid's artwork and pictures that remind us of places we love!

I am even thinking of fun ways to add to the wall at various holidays.  For Christmas, I think I may place a Santa Hat on the reindeer and add a tinsel garland, just a fun way to make our home's focal point more festive! Anyone have any fun ideas?

FOUR

Exactly one month ago, my sweet D turned 30 and we celebrated all day long with breakfast at Ted's Bulletin (our favorite), presents, shopping, time with his parents, dinner and drinks at Copperwood Tavern (another favorite) and his annual "Better than Sex" cake (which is basically a chocolate cake made even more fattening with whip cream, condensed milk, caramel and candy topping)  It's been his birthday cake of choice since long before I met him - and since we rarely make big desserts like cakes (usually just cookies, brownies or other individual items), he usually only gets to enjoy the cake once or twice a year!

Since October was such a busy month of guests and settling in to our new place, I blogged only 3 times and never posted on D, his birthday and how much I adore him.  So, in short tribute, let me say that I am very blessed to get to do life with such an amazing guy.  I will never quit being happy that he was born 30 years (and 1 month) ago and even more so, I will always be grateful he chose me. He's such a godly, loving, funny, hard working, sometimes goofy guy and I loved being able to celebrate him last month and will work harder to make sure he knows he's appreciated each and every day of the year. Here's to the next 30 years -- hopefully full of more happy moments than tears, lots of growth, designing several cool buildings, many travels and adventures, tiny children running around a cozy home - and maybe a few gray hairs :) I am excited to do the next 30 years with him!

FIVE

It was 20 degrees when I woke up today - in November, pre-Thanksgiving and a month before Winter "officially" arrives.  I think it's safe to say that we are in for a cold winter....and as much as I don't love winter, I am hoping for lots of snow. If it is going to be cold, then it might as well include some days off from work. I am currently crossing my fingers and sending up prayers for a snow day in December.  Last year, we had our first snow in December and enjoyed a day in sipping hot chocolate while watching holiday movies with the Christmas tree lit.  It was the closest to a WHITE CHRISTMAS that I will ever see! November will end a busy couple months of guests and travels, and after all that busyness and fun, I could use a lazy snuggly Christmas-y snow day, preferably on a Friday or Monday....who wants to join me in my noble snow day prayers??

Lots of Changes: Settling In and Recovering

Settling into Work

A fellow blogger recently asked me if I ever found a new job -- and I realized that after sharing some about my job search journey over the past year, I never shared the good news (so sorry!)  This summer, I got a promotion at the Government Affairs/Public Relations firm where I worked last fall and spring...moving from a temporary position to a permanent one! Thanks for all the good concern and prayers as I looked last spring!

This June, I was in the process of interviewing other places when the head of PR approached me about working in his department.  An associate was leaving later in the summer and he wanted me to interview for the position.  I was able to start working in PR at the end of June, but it took a couple months to get all the details worked out and make me official.  (August Recess where most of DC shuts down slowed down the process tremendously!)  I did not share this wonderful news earlier out of superstition and fear that things would not work out. I had many set backs over 9 months of job searching-- government shutdowns, job opportunities falling apart last minute, etc. so as silly as it sounds, I did not want to jinx things by announcing it to the world.

Then, when things became official, I forgot to share with y'all because I had been in the position for a couple months so it wasn't really "NEW" news for me!

I am having to learn a new field and how to use my skill set in the PR world. There was definitely a learning curve at first. I tend to like the policy/government affairs side of things better BUT working at this particular firm was always a goal of mine (since law school) and it's exciting to be here full time, even if it meant switching departments.  It's also nice to have an office with a door I can close again -- and have a little corner of the work world that is completely mine! Once we finish settling into the new apartment, I plan to decorate --- aka, add some pictures and artwork to my office! I have the perfect set of Jackson, MS prints by Thimblepress that I want to hang to remind me of my Mississippi home while here in DC!

**Note: Although my job search was difficult, I was so blessed to have a temporary (although it turned out to be not so temporary) entry level position.  I know so many people are not even that fortunate and I never want to portray that my short bout of semi-employment is nearly as difficult.  I had never spent much time thinking about how unemployment can affect you not only financially, but emotionally and physically as well (Seriously, I had so many headaches and knots in my back -- I think Dave is relieved that I am fully employed because I don't ask for backrubs as much!) We often don't think of others' battles until we have a short glimpse of that trial ourselves, but now, I feel my heart, prayers and hopefully my actions will reflect more concern for those that are out of work.



Settling into our Apartment

I loved our location last year, so it's no secret that I moved to the new more spacious but more suburban apartment kicking and screaming. Honestly, had I been single still, I would have chosen location over space, but I know that what is best for us and our family is having more space and more storage -- so that we can have a guestroom/study, maybe one day a nursery-- plus we can actually have all of our clothes fit in closets AND more comfortably host guests, etc.

My two criteria for moving was (1)the apartment must have a patio or balcony and (2) we must decorate the new place  and make it our own. Our last place was never fully decorated -- partly because of lack of money and partly because of lack of space to do projects (Seriously, where in a 625 square feet and no outdoor space do you paint a piece of furniture??) Now we have more of both money and space and are tackling projects and decorating our space a little each weekend. Dave does not always love this "project mentality" but he mostly humors me since it was our agreement.....and since we will likely live in this apartment until we can afford to buy a place, I think we both really want to feel like this place is our home -- even if we put it together piece by piece!

We already had a couple friends in the neighborhood and have made a few more, so slowly but surely, we are settling into suburban living. I promise to show more pictures when we finish, but until then, here are a few snapshots of the projects we have been busy with around the house!

We've added a little fall decor to the apartment, particularly at the dining table.....

I've painted several pieces of furniture including this bookcase for our bedroom...

We started putting together a gallery wall because I am currently obsessed with gallery walls... BUT the wall already looks different as we have added piece and sadly we had a frame break when it fell!

Our guest room was probably the simplest room to decorate and is therefore, the most complete! I still have a couple small projects for the room, but it's the most presentable room we have -- which is good because we have TONS of fall guests, yay!

A little living room decor with a fall theme.....

Recovering

Now that life has some normalcy (but is it ever really normal?), I have felt an extreme need to just recover. Recover from job searching and rejections and leads that did not follow through. Recover from a first year in DC that did not exactly go as hoped or planned. Recovering from things that can't be helped like shutdowns and bad economies and hiring freezes.  Recovering from hurt feelings and disappointments. In the process of job searching, you receive help from many people (including some that you don't even know well) but you also have some people who you thought would be more willing to help but don't volunteer to help you out. You have a lot of dashed hopes when jobs seem that they will work out but then fall apart! Also, when moving to a new city, you have some groups of people that include you immediately and some that don't. My only tip to these situations is to focus on the many many kind people, show a little grace to others and to remember how this stage felt so that you will be a good friend to others facing similar circumstances!! (Seriously, I want to be that annoying person who sends out other people's resumes to everyone in my email list, ha!)

For me, recovering has also meant working to let go of frustration that DC did not immediately turn out how I thought it would  -- or how it had been in the past. Remember, I spent 3 summers living and working here and had previous experiences in this city in which to compare our life.  Where we live, where we go to church, friendships, neighborhoods may look different than I originally wanted or imagined it would, but different does not mean bad. Ups and Downs, we are making our own little life here.

When things finally worked out with my job, I took a sigh of relief and realized just how stressed and worried I had been for several months. It has almost been a comfort that we have lots of little projects around the house right now. It has been nice to throw myself into something and spend more time around the apartment and spend a lot of time with Dave, rather than busying myself away from home.  Also, it was also very fitting that as the job situation worked itself out and we moved to the new apartment, we were able to go on vacation to Toronto and enjoy time together, celebrating this happy (yet challenging) first year of marriage and DC!


I love living in DC and am glad to fill a bit more settled here... until the next challenge right? I feel God doesn't ever let us get too settled, because change, frustration and waiting must grow and improve us in ways that can't be achieved without their presence in our lives. But, for now, I take a deep breath and thank God for the breathing period - to settle, recover and enjoy my many blessings....and to pray for those that still feel unsettled in areas of life - career, relationships, family, location.  Hopefully, as this time of moving, settling in and recovering comes to an end, I will be a bit more frequent poster on this blog!

News!

Well we have some big news….

No, we aren’t having a baby.

We are moving the middle of next month –and no worries folks, just to a different DC suburb, not moving away. It’s a few more metro stops out – in a nice little safe suburban area, but definitely not full of nightlife, restaurants and shopping like we are used to. (Although in less than 5 minutes, we can walk to a Trader Joes, Whole Foods, a few casual restaurants and 2 coffee places so I assume I will survive suburbia). Most days,  I’m a bit torn on how I feel about the move. Many days  I am not thrilled about it – because I love our little area of the metro DC area which is technically a suburb, but just as urban as DC.  We can get to many places in DC quicker than some people in DC can get there. I love urban living – walking to the Georgetown waterfront for Saturday morning coffee, evening strolls by monuments, being close to the movie theater, restaurants, bars and shops. Our first apartment seemed the perfect compromise for our first year of marriage – splitting our commute (Dave works in suburbs) and living in a safe yet urban area. Plus it was our first married home – full of happy memories, laughter, a few fights, maybe a few burned dinners, celebrations with friends, but mostly just the ordinary blessings of finally living together, day in and day out.  I love(d) our first little corner of the Capitol and it will indeed be sad to leave.

But, what we don’t like about our first place: less than 650 square feet – which might be doable except we have no closet space in our older building. Dave and I really like each other but living somewhere where you both can’t fit comfortably into the kitchen at the same time and you don’t have any private space is difficult. It’s made even more difficult when guests come and we fit 4-5 people into a 1br >650 sq. ft. apt. We basically wake our guests up (who had to sleep on the couch) when we get ready for work in the morning . Also, we lack some basic amenities like a dishwasher and central heat and air (I have learned that many in DC do not consider these basic amenities. Growing up in Mississippi, I would not have survived with the tiny little wall AC unit we have currently!!)

So although I tear up about leaving our neighborhood pretty much 2-3 times a week, we are eager to gain amenities like central heat and air, a dishwasher, 2 bedrooms, almost 250 extra sq. ft, a patio, a pool, CLOSETS! It will be nice to have our families visit this fall and have a proper room to place them in! And like most urban people, we discovered that the only way to get more space for a price we could afford is to move further out. I’ve gotten a few snobby comments about moving further away from DC, but we have to do what is best for us. In all honesty, it’s not that far, just a short metro ride away. I love to host gatherings so I hope we can still do that on the weekends – cookout on our new patio anyone? Not to mention we have a couple friends in our new area....

Before we started packing, I took a few photos…basically I wanted to document and remember our first happy little home…..and to show you readers our first little love nest. I kept putting a "where we live" post until our place was perfect, but now I have no choice! We never finished framing and hanging all our pictures, buying new pillows, etc, painting furniture, but we did at least set up a home – imperfect and tight, but a home.  One of the promises Dave made is that if I moved, we would tackle a few projects a month until our apt is fully put together. Home improvement cost money (and time) so we have to spread our projects out, but I hope Dave is excited for a few months of furniture painting, frame shopping, Ikea hacks, etc.

So, here folks, is where life happened for us this first year….

You walk in our apartment and their is immediately a small hallway/entrance area that houses a little art, a bookcase, a coat closet and tiny linen closet and leads to the bathroom on the right, the bedroom straight ahead the living/dining/kitchen on the left.

the hallway...

The cross picture was a gift from my friend Kristen at Thimblepress (If 

you have read my blog long enough, you know I am huge Thimblepress 

fan - and a huge Kristen fan) I have several prints, scarfs and 

even my wedding invitations/programs/etc) 

cheap bookcase decorated with some MS and DC art!

the bathroom on the right...

Blues and Grays - tried to work with the colors!

the bedroom straight ahead....

We had "His and Her" dressers - mine used to be white "pre-move" as 

opposed to white with scratches all over it! I intend on painting it 

gray once we move to the new place...one of my many projects!

 I love our bedding but as far as night stands, we kind of just used what we had. 

The table on the right is really an end table for our living room but I 

didn't have room and the small dresser on the left will likely be painted to go in 

our new guestroom. I'll be bargain shopping for some new "his and her" nightstands-
and a lamp for my side so I can keep reading when Dave wants to go to bed!

basically the only wedding pics we've hung!

the living room/dining room/kitchen to the left....

**The Living room was my favorite room. First off, it had multiple authentic mid century pieces which I love! It also had blues and greens and geometric patterns.  It reflects us better than our any other room in our tiny apartment.  Finally, this room was the closest to being completely decorated - it had some art, the most color, the largest number of photos - and it's obviously where we spent most of our waking hours. We still have a a few pictures  to frame for the next apartment (and maybe a few pillows to buy) but I am glad we have most of the furniture/decor for this room so that at least one room in our new place can go ahead and start feeling like home! (My mom, lifetime mover, taught me that trick -  get one room unpacked and mostly set up first, so that when the rest of your house seems chaotic with picture frames lying against the walls and boxes unpacked and packing peanuts everywhere, you can walk into the unpacked tidy decorated room and calm down!

Don't you just love that rug?

The green ottomans in the corner serve as extra seating for 

parties - and one houses my nephew's toy box! (notice how our closet on the left 

doesn't even go all the way the ceiling-- as I said, crammed for storage!)

I call this wall our "Mississippi" wall -- all Mississippi prints and 

3 Mississippi artists (including my brother in law)

Our little "bar" -- I thought we had a better picture than this. Sadly you can't see 

the "I love you more than biscuits and gravy" sign on the left wall---it's a special 

sign because it was the breakfast bar at our wedding!

Our wedding invitation - notice the crack in the glass -- yep, put that

 on my project list for the next place!

and the dining room/kitchen...

So, I never took pictures of this room before I began taking pictures down and packing up (oops). Currently, the dining room serves as packing station as you can see in the picture below.  So, to give you a small idea, I am including pictures from thanksgiving -- we had a packed house and a fold out table, but you will get the idea...we also used this room as a workspace (you can see our desk and bulletin board in the left corner!)  I did not get any pictures of the kitchen, but no worries, the kitchen is just a kitchen. I never decorated it - because how do you really decorate an apartment kitchen without changing fixtures, etc. Our kitchen was separated from the dining room and living area by a partial wall (which as you can see, we stacked appliances on...hey, what did I say? NO STORAGE SPACE)

Packing Central

Living Room, Dining Room and a the kitchen entrance... (The metal tub 

on the floor was just temporarily there, it held cokes and beers)

Two tables set up for Thanksgiving - plus a desk that served as a buffet, ha!

It sure is tiny, but it's been a happy home. And, after several apartments falling through, we were so blessed to have this place work out.  Lots of wonderful memories here!

May 9th: Five on Friday!

Joining in again this week for FIVE ON FRIDAY. You should join in on the fun too!!

{1}

Baby Boys and Preppy themes!

Last Sunday, we celebrated My friend's sweet baby boy who is arriving in June. He is a June baby and his mamma loves the beach, preppy clothes and all things summer so we decided on a nautical themed baby shower: AHOY ITS A BOY!!!

The party had red white and blue, nautical touches, declicious brunch food and a mimosa bar.

It was fun to celebrate this precious boy and shower him with lots of good gifts. A couple of us southern gals made sure he received some smocked clothes so he will look proper for special occasions.  Living in DC is no excuse for poor baby fashion :)

{2}

NO MORE PART TIME JOB.

This was my first week not working at night, and y'all, it was glorious.  I went to Happy Hour. I cooked shrimp, tacos (Cinco de Mayo), chicken, etc. I was able to research and apply for open jobs. I curled up on the couch next to my adorable hubby for TV and time together. We went to the gym and started our plan to get back in shape (which, for the record, we started back in January, but after a good month of workouts, our healthy living plan kind of came to a hault because I was gone most nights)

With no more work (and springtime), I have a renewed sense of love for the city I live in. I want to drink coffee or cocktails on restaurant patios and watch other Washingtonians walk past. I want saturday bike rides by monuments and still have a sense of awe when I walk into the capitol. I want girls brunches, after work happy hours, date nights to local joints, sundays spent exploring museums and walks through DC's neighborhoods and markets. (I know I have discussed this before, sorry, but spring makes me love DC life even more!)

We also want to explore Virginia (and Maryland)  One of the great things about DC is that the metro area includes a couple states as well!!! There are so many great suburbs with restaurants, sights and weekend festivals. Tonight, we plan on making our first trip to the Mosaic District in Vienna for dinner and walking around. It's a little shopping center with restaurants and outdoor seating and friday night outdoor movies (which it's supposed to shower tonight so we will likely skip the outdoor movie)

{3}

THE OTHER WOMAN -- go see it. I thought it was quite cute.  A few friends and I saw it last Friday. True, its just a chick flick, not an instant classic or an award winning film, but fun to see for a girls night.

Basic plotline: This scumbag of a guy is having multiple affairs, but the women he is dating do not know he is married, and abviously, his wife doesn't know either.  The wife and two of the women find out and become friends, mourn the situation and plot to ruin his life.

Why I like it (besides the fact that its funny): The women hated the man, not the other women.  So many times, the wife or girlfriend hates the other woman, but doesn't hate the man who cheated. I am not giving a pass to women who sleep with other people's husbands, but I do think that the person who is most wrong in that situation is the husband who cheats. He made the vow, he broke it. He should get a fair share of the anger and hurt.  This movie, in its own humorous way, made the point that the man was wrong too.

(PS, I know women cheat too, but this example is just about husbands because the movie was about husbands)

{4}

CILANTRO LIME SHRIMP

Last night, we cooked a delicious shrimp recipe.  Healthy, easy and delicious -- the perfect trifecta for a meal!

We don't cook shrimp often because up north, shrimp costs a lot, 15-20 dollars a pound. But, this is probably one of my favorite meals I have made recently, so when shrimp is a decent price OR I'm willing to splurge, I will definitely make this again!

You can get the recipe HERE.

{5}

***Skinny Girl Sparklers***

I love skinny girl margaritas. The company also makes skinny girl sangria, skinny girl wine, skinny girl cosmos, etc.

.....and now there are skinny girl sparklers (fruity bubbly water) I only discovered the drinks this week, but I have splurged 3 times to buy myself one at CVS in the morning. This habbit has to stop, but for an occasional summer drink, its delicious and refreshing!

Next time you have a pool day or want to read on your porch, grab one!

EVERYONE, ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND!!!