Birthday Weekend

Saturday I turned 26! This is me showing you how excited I am to be on the down slide to 30.....

Saturday morning I woke up, came into the living room and saw this banner greeting me.

 It was the most amazing banner I have ever seen! In case you think I am crazy because this is NOT the most amazing banner then I am prepared to diagnose you as a non-Office watcher. And more specifically, not a Dwight fan.

To help you better understand where this came from watch the video below. It will explain everything.

After I saw the awesome banner George made me he brought me breakfast that he picked up from Panera and my gifts.

Let me start by saying that George rarely gets good gifts for me. Over the years for various holidays and birthdays he has gifted me the following: an hair hockey table, a 3 ft tall Nut Cracker, and a scooby doo trashcan for my car. See, the gifts just don't make sense.

But this year, he finally got it! All he did was walk  into Anthropologie after work one day and he did amazing. That's they key. He went to Anthro, you can't go wrong there. 

Here is what he picked out:

Branch & Twig Colored Pencils

He kept saying he thought they would be good for decoration. Whatevs, I am using these! 

Jewel-Sparked Bobby Pins

I seriously love these. The yellow one is really more of a chartreuse, and it is so pretty. I am wearing it this very second. 

Volcano Jar Candle.

Mine doesn't look exactly like this one, but it is the same scent. Volcano. It smells pretty amazing, and not at all like a volcano....or at least not what I think it would smell like!

George did so great, he is the best!

I had such a good birthday with lots of other gifts & dinner dates from friends and family.

Tomorrow George and I are going on a mini road trip to Atlanta. We are headed to Ikea to get new furniture for our house. I have waited for this day for a long time. We have beige suede couches. Please, imagine in your mind how terrible it is to have SUEDE light colored furniture with a toddler and preschooler. Are you imagining grape juice and peanut butter smeared everywhere??? Yes. Everywhere. And in case you didn't know, suede is so annoying to clean. So we will be purchasing dark gray furniture that has removable, WASHABLE slipcovers. Get ready. Our house (or just the furniture) is about to look like it did before we had kids. It brings a tear to my eye.

I love games

I am pretty sure I am one of very few girls who still loves a good shower game. 

And by shower game I do not mean a game you play while taking a shower....

I'm talking baby showers people.

And, while some of you might disagree, Baby Shower Bingo is one of my all-time favs.

My little cousin is having her first baby due April 1st so her sister and I are busy busy getting ready to throw her shower this Sunday.

I designed this little BINGO card for her shower and wanted to share it with you.

It is a small card, only 20 squares, so it will work perfectly for a small shower.

I'm excited to play this Sunday. I know I can't be the only weirdo who loves shower games! Back me up fellow game lovers!!

Go here to download

*pic from here

Here is what is swilring around in my life lately.

• I can't wait for summer to get here. Occasionally in the summer I would go sit in my backyard and read a book and let the sun dry my hair while Lucy was napping. Of course I can't do this everyday, but on the days I did I was so relaxed.
• Our washing machine broke last week. Well, it would go through all the cycles perfectly but it wouldn't agitate. Thank goodness my dad had a super old one from the 80's in storage that works. If it works that is all I care about. Plus, it washes our clothes in half the time the other washer did. Win.
•  We haven't been going to bed until almost midnight lately. I don't know how George and I got on this path, but it is not a good one to be on. Tonight we are going to bed at 10:30, if not sooner!
• Ryder has been having some sleep issues as well. About 6 months ago we let him sleep in our room because Lucy would just scream and scream when it was time to go to sleep. So we thought it was pretty cruel to make Roe stay in the room and listen to her scream. We let him stay in our room until she stopped that nonsense. Well, Lucy is now a champion sleeper.........and Ryder is still in our room. If we even mention that he is going to sleep in his room he breaks down into a panic. What have we done! He used to be so fine with sleeping in his own room. In the dark, alone, with the door closed. Now he is "scared of the dark". I am going to start preparing him today that he and Lucy are both going to sleep in their beds tonight. It will be a rough week, but I have to get my room back! I just wish I could sit in my room and read a book before bed, but I can't when a 4 year old needs to sleep. Im thinking a sleep machine will be a great help in this. I get it, silence & darkness are creepy sometimes. 
• I have recently discovered dry shampoo. IT IS AMAZING. My hair is super oily. I can shower at 10 pm, go to bed, wake up at 7:30 and it looks like I haven't washed my hair in 5 days. It would be so much easier to take shower at night and then all I have to do in the a.m. is get dressed, straighten my hair, wash my face, brush my teeth and put make up on. Dove makes some that is about $5 a can. It has only been 2 weeks and I have already went through 3 cans though. It doesnt last very long thats for sure. Bumble and Bumble makes some that I am sure is way better and lasts longer, but I haven't convinced George that it's worth it to drop $35 on dry shampoo. 
• Grocery shopping is on my list of ToDo's today.....which is always a fun chore with two kids in tow. Saracasm. 

What do you have going on in your life?

 

Scallop Love

I just love this pattern so much. It's fun and cute and makes me want to scallop everything!

I would love to own a house this beautiful one day! So charming!

*photo via

This little notebook is super cute. $5. It's from Etsy shop Mint Afternoon. I can never have too many little notebooks to jot lists or ideas in. Go check out her shop, she also has colorful circle paper garlands, and really cool map envelopes.

 

This has to be the prettiest little girls room I have ever seen. From this awesome blog! I think I have pinned this image more than once or twice. When we move into a bigger house and the kids have their own rooms you can bet your life Lucy will have scallops!

These shelves are fancy! This would be such an easy DIY to dress up your kitchen. From Better Homes & Gardens.

These are the most precious printable Baby shower invites I have ever seen. I stumbled upon this Etsy shop and instantly fell in love. See the sweet scalloped card? Oh, it makes my heart skip a beat! Go here to drool over Kelli's artwork.

In more personal news I am BEYOND PUMPED because I won this giveaway at this stellar blog! Say Hello and Smile is such a cute blog, please go check it out! I know you will want to follow!!!

George will be gone this evening playing drums, so the kids and I need to find something to do.......I am thinking a trip to CHOM is in order, and maybe some Moe's ;) 

Hope everyone has a restful weekend! 

Heart Day Breakfast

Our Valentines Day was simple and sweet. Heart shaped breakfast, beautiful flowers, and little treats from mommy and daddy. Then Nannie(my mom) stopped by and gave us all some valentine love. Gift cards for me and George, and a gift for both kids. I love that my mom still thinks George and I are kids and gives us gifts ;) I will be doing the same for my kids, gift giving is so much fun!

  

Here are pics from our Love Day breakfast. My littlest Valentine doesn't believe in brushing her hair before coming to breakfast...

 

  

After Breakfast Ryder went off to school with his Valentines for his friends. I was up past 11 the night before packaging them up. I went to Old Navy to get the balls out of the big gumball machine. I stood there and put 14 quarters in, one by one. I'm sad Picnik is closing in April, I just got the hang of using it :/

For V-day dinner we went out as a family to Taziki's. We love that place. Then of course we went to Target. I swear we go there every single time we get in the car. Somehow I always find myself driving into their parking lot. 

The night ended with George & I sitting on the couch watching New Girl on the DVR. Then George went to bed and I watched Glee :)

It was a wonderful day spent with my favorite peeps!

What did you do for Valentines Day? 

Color Crush

 I seriously love pink and gold together. It's one of the best color combos on the planet, I think. 

It's so warm and feminine. 

Here are three quick favorites. Enjoy :)

Pink & Gold wedding invitations from Oh So Beautiful Paper. Oh! Aside from the beautiful color pallet can we please talk about that calligraphy?! Gorgeous!!! This site has such beautiful invitations, it REALLY makes me want to get married again. How many times have I said that......oh about 1,000.

Pink and gold balloons with amazing streamers. Seriously, go here for more gorgeous pics. My Birthday is coming up, can I just throw myself this party?

These rings are calling my name. From Etsy shop Mary John. I feel like I have blogged about these before, and I will probably do it again. My gosh, they are just so beautiful!

 

That's it friends! Have a pretty weekend! 

Do you love gold and pink together? What's your favorite color combo? Please share! 

My Answers

Let's continue with the fun from yesterday shall we?

Brittany asked me 11 questions on her blog, Life of a Bama Girl. 

Now I get to answer them! Whoop!

1.Do you prefer Summer or Winter clothes?

SUMMER! I love wearing skirts and dresses all summer long. It's so easy to get dressed in the mornings. 

2. What are your top 3 favorite books?

Hmm, I would love to say any of the Harry Potter books for one of them, but since I am the only person on earth that has never actually read them I can't :( But I can say these three: any of the Twilight books. I know, lame. The Secret Life of Bees, and hmm, my Miette cookbook. Does that count? Wow, I really need to read some better books. Im planning on jumping on the Hunger Games bandwagon soon though!

3.What is the last movie you saw?

That would be Tower Heist with Ben Stiller. I went with a couple friends to see it at the dollar theater in Hoover.

4. If your house caught on fire what are the 3 things you would grab first?(besides pets and people)

Our iMac since it has all of our family pictures on it. Our filing box, since it has folders for everything relating to our kids and our marriage. Like pictures they have drawn, hospital bracelets, and a marriage certificate. I really should make some sort of baby book for them. Ryder's bear and Lucy's lamb(stuffed, not real) and probably some of their infant clothes. I would cry a river if those burned up. Ok, that's more than three. Oh well!

5. What is your all time favorite thing to cook?

Chili with cornbread. We eat cornbread with everything around here.

6.If you could travel to anywhere in the world where would you go?

Santorini. My grandparents have been to practically every country and I have this awesome necklace they bought in Greece. It's made from polished rocks from the volcano that erupted a long time ago. Its pretty awesome.

7. What do you like to watch on T.V.?

The office, Up All Night, 30 Rock, Parks and Rec( I know, I did a post just last week about how I don't like the show anymore.....Im sure I will come around once Knope 2012 is over) The Middle, Modern Family, New Girl. Notice a comedy trend? I told you, I only watch comedies. And, since all we have is the family package(which means all kids channels. apparently, when you are a family even the parents want to watch Mickey Mouse clubhouse and Dora) we don't get a million awesome channels. Netflix and Hulu are our friends!

8. What is your favorite holiday and why?

Valentines Day. I know it's not an actual holiday, but it's still my fav. I love the colors, hearts, and doing sweet, fun things with my family. Plus its super close to my birthday ;)

9. What type of food(Greek, Mexican, Japanese etc.) is your favorite?

Italian hands down. My absolute favorite restaurant is Cafe Lazio. Cheap, baked ziti is where it's at people! On a side note, I absolutely HATE Asian food. Chinese, Japanese, it doesn't matter. The flavors just dont do it for me.

10. If you could go back to high school and/or college and do it all over again would you?

No. But I might want to go back and whisper some sage advice in my 16 year old ear :) 

11. What is something you have learned after graduating high school and/or college that you wish you knew while you were in school?

That it's seriously ok if you don't spend every free moment with George. You will marry him and you will spend every free moment with him later. We have been together since we were 15 years old. Please imagine a dramatic teen girl with a boyfriend. Did I just pop into your head? Because that was me!

Thanks so much Brittany for these questions! It was fun!