Friday favorites

1. Kenra Blow Dry Mist

I bought this because 1) it was on sale, and 2) I needed a new thermal protectant.  I do blow dry and curl my hair often, so I like to make sure it's protected.  This smells great, is easy to use, and really does  make blow-drying faster.  Ulta sells this brand, but Mitchell's at University Mall is closing and all products are 50% off!  I'm still trying out the other products I got, so I'll comment after I've used them for a longer period of time.

2. Plum Pretty Sugar Skirt and Blouse

I really have no idea how I stumbled upon this brand...but I immediately fell in love with the skirt and top combo.  I pinned it to my Wish List board a year or more ago, and came across it the other day.  I am going to a baby shower at The Carolina Inn in April, and knew this would be perfect to wear!  To my surprise, the already LOW price was further discounted!  I bought this entire set for under $50 (including shipping!)  It's my Easter present:)

3. Vans Asher sneaker in Bronze

I've pretty much worn these non-stop since buying them a few weeks ago.  They go with everything and are so comfortable.  I've worn them with jersey dresses, skinny jeans, and leggings.  I cannot rave enough about these shoes - they are a must! 

(And did I mention that I feel super hip and cool when I wear them...like "hello, I'm over 30 and a mom but wayyyy cooler.")

4. Rosemary and Honey Carrots

A friend served these for dinner while we were visiting and they were delicious...even Emma ate them.  I made them the other night and I have to admit, I really felt BETTER buying real, whole carrots, rather than frozen ones.  I peeled whole carrots, and sliced them into longer more manageable pieces for my pan.  Then sauteed them in 1/3 cup water, 1-2 tablespoons honey, 2 tablespoons butter, and 1-2 teaspoons chopped rosemary. 

5.  Picture Day at School

I love everything about this....her bow, her hot pink tassel necklace, the printed shift dress....that smile:)  I miss her like crazy when I'm not with her...and she presses my buttons A LOT.  But she's mine...and I get to love her and care for her.  I'm super excited about watching her hunt for eggs this weekend too!

I hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed Easter weekend!!!

Weekend update

We were fortunate enough to have a 3 day weekend with Brent this weekend.  He managed to get off work Friday, so we were really glad:)

We kicked off the weekend early on Thursday night at Hope Valley Brewing Company (they opened that day in the former City Beverage location).  I was never a huge fan of City Beverage, so I was excited to see this place open up.  The Winslows came with us, and the girls had a great time.

The staff may have wanted us to leave after we spilled an ENTIRE beer on our table and floor.  Or it may have been the below scene....not sure.

Friday, Brent washed the cars and Emma and I did some indoor cleaning.  I tried to organize all my beading supplies, and also got Emma's summer clothes out.  She can fit in some of her dresses, although most are too short now.  I believe the shorts will still fit (my girl has no booty), and her shoes are all way too small.  We also went for a run because it was so nice outside.  I am no runner...it was more like a survivalist jog/power walk.  

Friday night, we headed to Chapel Hill to eat dinner with some friends from church and we had the best time.  I took no pictures, but that's ok.  Our friends have 4 children, and the 2 oldest are girls, age 10 and 7...so Emma loved being with them.  The youngest was about 2 months old - and Emma was obsessed!!  Baby William hung out in his bouncy chair thing and Emma didn't want to leave his side for the beginning of the evening.  

Saturday, I had to work an Open House at work, so I was gone for some of the morning.  Then, we had a wedding that afternoon.  

Natalie and David go to our church, but I've known Natalie since was born from our previous church.  It was good to see a lot of familiar faces from our old church - it has been over 6 years since we left.  I was nervous about it - "breaking up" with churches can be tricky sometimes.  But it was nice catching up and I didn't feel the awkwardness I had feared.

Paul and Lindsey are getting married in May!  I remember all these girls when they were in middle and high school!!

Sunday, I had church nursery, and since it was gross out we had already planned on going to see Zootopia with Emma at Silverspot.  It is definitely the way to go for movies - bigger seats, nice food and DRINKS.  I had popcorn and Prosecco:) 

On a side note - the Mitchell's in University Mall is closing and all their hair products are 50% off.  I stocked up on Kenra, Moroccan Oil, and Pureology.  This stuff NEVER goes on sale (unless it's about to be expired), so I would recommend going if you use any of those.  They also sell other salon brands as well. 

Here's to another week - hopefully it warms up soon!!

Friday favorites...iphone photo edition

My fave photos from this week....in no particular order...

1. Emma being sweet in the car.....I love picking her up from school and hearing all about her day.

2. Emma dancing in the car....to Sam Hunt...her fave:)  Can't wait til she's old enough to go to concerts with me (well, maybe I can wait...stay little as long as you can, Emmie)

3. these bracelets....

4. Sweet Emma calls Brooklyn her "sister"  ALL. THE. TIME.

5. I'm SOO over traffic.  My morning commute is unbearable these days.

6. I ordered these johnnies this week (eek!)  Am I really diving into this?????

7. This artist's piece is amazing.  I saved it as a future wallpaper design for my phone or ipad.

8. I've accepted the fact that winter is over and warm weather is here.....there will be a lot of water trips this year.

9. I wish I had this girl's courage...that water was pretty chilly.  She didn't mind at all.

10.  It may be spring, but this black stack is my new fave...

11. But just in case, I have some spring color too...

12. She dressed herself....and she's an amazing mommy to her baby.  Always hugging her, saying "mommy's here, it's ok baby"  I can only hope she learned that from me:)

Happy Friday!!!!!!

A really fun weekend!

We had a really fun weekend, and although the time change totally kicked our butts, we are grateful for all the time we had together as a family, and with friends.

I will say life has been more exhausting lately.  I think because we are more active and spending more time outside.  And also...life is just busy right now!

Friday, I took Emma to work with me and she helped me clean out a storage closet.  We also had lunch with dad at NoFo.  She did really well, and I only busted out the DVD player twice:)

Meanwhile, our beloved truck hit a huge milestone.......Brent snapped this picture Friday morning...on I-40, which was very fitting!  I am grateful for the many places this truck has taken us to, and the many memories:)  Here's to 100K more!

Emma has some "Vans" from Old Navy and I decided to be cool and get some to match:)  DSW has Vans, so I decided to try them out. I snapped this photo and sent it to my super cool friend who lives in Wrightsville, asking her whether I was being cool or stupid if I wore them.  She responded back letting me know how proud she was of my inner surf girl coming out:)  I did wear them all weekend long, and they were super comfy and stylish (right?!?!)

Saturday morning, Brent did "The Bull" workout with his F3 buddies, and I am so proud of him.  All I know it I don't do anything for 4 hours (except sleep), and that sure doesn't span 10 miles either:)  Some of the wives met at Monuts for breakfast, then we headed to watch the guys come in.

Sweet Dana and Charles, and their family...I have really enjoyed spending time with these women and their children.  And I am grateful for the friendships the men have as well.

Brent snapped this during the prayer time - and if you know Brent, he's not a photo taker - so this meant a lot to him.  How encouraging that these guys get to workout, and encourage and humor one another. 

A family photo with our guy!

I'm pretty sure I would pass out if I had burned this many calories!

After the workout, we went home and packed up to head to Bath to see Brent's family.  But I did spot this sign by my house....what? what!??  They had me at kid's area and full bar....

Brent's sweet Grandma was turning 99 Saturday, so we all got together to celebrate!  The weather was gorgeous down there on the river, so spent most of the time outside.

All the cousins, minus Walker who had basketball All Stars.

Sunday, we left early because we had a lot to do to prepare for the week and we lost an hour:(

We stopped at the Fairgrounds because there was a bead show, and I needed to stock up for my etsy shop.  Brent took Emma to the flea market, and she was super excited to get her first umbrella.

I was completely and utterly overwhelmed at the bead show, but managed to get a few things.  I am (hopefully) going to devote a lot more effort and time into my jewelry because I really love doing it.  I have no hopes of becoming famous or ever making any real money off of it, but I do want to look into it more in depth.

We hit the ground running Sunday night trying to get ready for the week.  My house is dirty, cluttered, and I have beads all over the place waiting to be made into something beautiful...but for now, my real job and Emma take precedence.  Our day off this week looks to be close to 80 degrees, so I think we will head to the lake!

Mid-week randomness

It's been a strange few weeks - between Emma being sick, being out of town, and now Spring Break at work...routine has been thrown out the window!  But, that's ok! 

This is life for us lately.....

Emma has been watching these (awful) shows lately, like Little Charmers (gag), and requested a side pony tail.  It's been her hair style of choice these days, and I can't say I hate it...it's kinda cute.

I watched the UNC vs. UVA game at Carolina Ale House on Franklin Street a few weekends ago, and celebrated a friend turning 50.  Angie does not look anywhere 50.  She is taking this picture behind the bar...because when it's your birthday, you get to do that:)

It was a fun night out with friends:)

We watched my niece play volleyball in Cary one Saturday, and Emma really enjoyed playing with this ball.  She has never shown much interest in sports, so I was glad to see her make an effort to not play tea set or baby or princesses...

I tried taking Emma to Bible Study with me (like normal) last Wednesday, but she was really clingy.  We finally left and went home after she started balling and saying she felt bad.  She did have a high temp that wasn't going down with meds, so we went to the doctor.  Emma ended up napping on the floor, she felt so bad.  I was super bummed I missed Bible Study (I'm selfish sometimes).

Emma was terrified of the doctor, after her ear flushing experience 2 weeks prior.  Luckily, the doctor took one look at her throat, grabbed a quick swab and did a strep test.  It came back positive, and Emma's fever was reading 103 there:(

She certainly deserved a treat after the doctor, and I wanted to do anything to cheer her up...so we got smoothies!

Amazingly enough, she was fine after Wednesday - no fever and no bad reactions to the antibiotics!

Friday night, we went to Town Hall Burger with the Winslows - Emma and Brooklyn had a really good time together and played well.  Emma isn't always the nicest to sweet Brooklyn, and I know their age difference plays into that....but I was glad this night went well.  And the food there was delicious!

Confession: life as a family of three has been challenging.  When it is Emma and I, things are great.  When Brent is around, Emma wants nothing to do with me.  After a rough Saturday of feeling like I had leprosy, Brent went out to watch the UNC vs. Duke game, and Emma snuggled with me on the couch.

Brent snapped this photo in Lowe's while I went to the grocery store ALONE.  I can't get over how big and grown Emma looks here.

Other random things on my mind:

Are we skipping spring altogether and going straight into summer?  High 70's??  I'm way too pale for short sleeves, let alone tanks and shorts (gasp!)  But, warmer weather means trips to the lake are not far off...and I'm super pumped to get in the water again.

Brent and I have some big decisions to make in the next few months regarding our future, so these are weighing heavily on us.  Work, living, school for Emma.......

I constantly feel like I'm having a hard time belonging - working part time in another city, trying to make lasting connections with friends in different places...it's really been a struggle.  I'm trying to trust that God's plan is the BEST plan.  I just don't know what that is:(  My heart laments not being with Emma while I'm at work.  And I also wish I had the connections I know other stay at home moms have - and the playdates with preschool friends, etc...  It's a sense of guilt wondering whether I am making the right choices for Emma and myself (because I know that me being happy is just as important as Emma's happiness).  Sometimes it just feels like I am trying to fit a square shape into a circle...sometimes the corners make it in, but I can't ever quite get it to fully fit...anyone else ever feel like that????

My dear friend Bill is home from the hospital, but still not well, and still no diagnosis.  His family is lobbying hard to have him checked into a better hospital..

I have a wedding to attend in 2 weeks....what does one wear to a March wedding? It's not warm enough yet, but winter style won't work either....suggestions?

I have a few friends getting ready to have their second child...and I want to do something nice for them.  Any ideas besides meals?  Was there anything you wished someone would have done, brought you, did for you, etc...  for your second child????

Brent is doing "the bull" with his F3 gang this Saturday.  I don't know exactly what it entails - a lot of running and working out (so naturally, I'm not doing it).  I'm really proud of him for getting up 2-3 mornings a week to hang out with some great guys and fellowship...oh and they work out.  I've grown accustomed to waking up early too, which gives me a chance to eat breakfast, read, and have some coffee before the day truly begins.  

Brent's Grandma is turning 99 this Saturday...so we are going to celebrate with her this weekend:)  Unfortunately, we were also offered 6th row Garth Brooks tickets for Saturday night too....haven't yet figured out how to be 2 places at once.

While I am still lamenting the winter we didn't have...I do love the warm air and sunshine this week.  Emma and I have a date to look at some belties after Bible Study tomorrow at Fearrington.  Happy first week of March, y'all!