Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day!!
Thank you to those who have and are currently serving for our Country.

image via HarryNorman.com

Memorial Day Sale!!

Oh, boy, am I looking forward to this long weekend!!  To celebrate the holiday, I'm having a sale in my Etsy shop Friday through Monday.  Use coupon code MEM15 during checkout to receive 15% off your purchase.

These pictures all make me want to sit on a porch with a cocktail, which I'm hoping to do this weekend! What are your plans?

via House Beautiful

via House Beautiful

via Country Living

via Martha Stewart

via Walpole Woodworkers

via House Beautiful

Let's Take This Outside

A few summery things I'm loving right now.

tray: Simrin

organic Turkish beach towel: Beauty and Spa

straw crusher hat: JCrew

hobnail pitcher: Anthropologie

t-shirt: sealmaiden

I'm a Winner!!

I just love the blog Two Ellie written by Paula in Birmingham.  It's the perfect mix of beautiful pictures and personal experiences.  It's really no surprise that Birmingham Magazine chose to feature her and her gorgeous home in their May issue.  You really must go check out her blog.

It's all because of Paula that I get to go on a little shopping spree!!  I entered a give away on her blog for a gift card to Joss & Main.

Joss & Main is one of those super fun home decor sites that offer limited time name-brand discount sales.    I can't wait to pick something out - my house could use some freshening up!!  Once I do I'll share pictures.  I've already been checking out their upcoming sales.


I hope you all had a great weekend.  We started off our summer right with a little trip to Disney.  I'm sure it sounds a bit crazy to a lot of parents, but it has really become one of our favorite places to go!


Before I go, here are a few pictures of Paula's house as seen in Birmingham Magazine.

Gorgeous, right?

School's out for Summer!!

Today is the last day of school for my little one in Pre-K.  Now starts the summer fun!  I hope my kids remember summer vacation as fondly as I do.

image by raceytay

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Outdoor Living

My husband has decided it's time to spruce up the back yard.  He's been grilling out a lot lately, and has his heart set on an outdoor kitchen.  To me that's just ANOTHER kitchen to clean.  I decided to look around for some inspiration pictures, and try to figure out what direction we're going in.  So, none of these have outdoor kitchens in them, but I'm loving the look of these spaces.

via House and Home

via House and Home

via Southern Living

via Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles

via Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles

via Country Living

via Better Homes & Gardens

via Martha Stewart

via House Beautiful

They are kind of all over the place style-wise, but I find them all beautiful!!  How do you like to live outdoors?

Why Did I Wait So Long?

Saturday was my first trip to Scott Antique Market.  I have lived in Atlanta for 14 years and this is the first time I've been.  You're probably wondering why I waited so long.  I really don't know!  We've even had family stay with us from out of town so they could go, and I didn't join them.  To be honest, I haven't thought of myself as being an antique lover until recently.  I always thought of super fancy, elaborate pieces that just didn't fit into our lifestyle.  I do, however, love the rustic farmhouse style and industrial pieces.

We only made it to one of the buildings, but I think that was enough for our first time.  Here are a few pictures of what I found.

Love these cushions!

These would make cool coffee tables.  They were both sold by the time I left.

I almost made it home with a pair of these for my guest room.

Super fun burlap lined lights.

I really wish I had a good place to put something like this.

Another industrial style piece.

What I did make it home with was this rack of pegs that I'm going to hang in my mud room/entryway.  I'll take more pictures when I get it up on the wall.

I can't wait to go back!  Next time I'll be more prepared to look for specific items we need.  Otherwise it's a bit overwhelming.

7 years ago

This Sunday will be my 7th wedding anniversary.  Tomorrow we actually get to go out on the town to celebrate.  I. Can't. Wait!!

I love this picture because it is a glimpse of just how much stinking fun we had.

Happy Anniversary, Hun.  I love you even more than I did that night.

Thank those Teachers!!

I realized earlier this week that I had not thought about teacher gifts yet!!  I quickly went to Etsy and bought these sachets from Gardenmis.  The owner of this shop is an Etsy friend of mine, so it was easy for me to go straight to her shop and cross this 'to-do' off of my list.  It made me think that there are probably lots of folks who need some teacher gift ideas.  I posted a few last fall, but here are a few more.

I bought these tea towels from sweetharvey for my daughter's teachers around the holidays. sweetharvey has all kinds of great gifts in her shop: aprons, tea towels, note cards, cotton tote bags, just to name a few.  All of them are super reasonably priced.

How cute are these cup cozies by CageFreeFibers?

Wild flower and honey soap in the prettiest paper from sweetpetula.

These are just a few ideas.  There are, of course, thousands of options on Etsy.  So many ways to thank our teachers!!

Recipe Time!!

Now that my little man is mobile, I find that I don't have as much time to cook.  I would love to leisurely make some elaborate meal while having a glass of wine, but he's not having it.  So, I'm always looking for something easy to feed the fam.  One blog that I read pretty regularly is One Hungry Mama.  Stacie creates really great recipes and even includes adjustments that can be made to feed a baby.  I've made a number of her recipes, but really love this one.  It even helps when I'm trying to do meatless nights.  This is, of course, Stacie's recipe, and also her pictures.

Pizza with Egg

Seems kind of crazy, right?  But it is soooo good!  It's also really easy to make.  I try to make my own pizza dough, but I sometimes buy it from the bakery at Publix.  When I do make it I use this recipe from Cooking Light, although I sometimes reverse the amounts of whole-wheat flour and all-purpose flour.

Then I make Stacie's sauce.  Lately I've been using Pomi tomatoes since they are BPA free.

Rustic Pizza Sauce
makes enough for 1 1/2-2 pies, depending on how saucy you like your pie
(can be fed to kids 10+ mos)

1 28-oz can whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes
1/4 c olive oil
1/2 tsp salt

1. Place ingredients in a pot over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Turn heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally to break down pieces of tomato, for 45 minutes.

Then all you have to do is assemble your pizza using both shredded mozzarella and a few slices of fresh mozzarella.  Bake it until it's 10 minutes from being done, then take it out and crack an egg or two on the top.  Put it back in the oven and cook until the eggs are done, but make sure to not cook the yolk too much!!  You want to break the yolk and spread it over the pizza.  YUM!!

Here is the whole recipe from One Hungry Mama:

Pizza with Egg
makes 1 12″ pie
(can be served to kids 10+ mos)

olive oil
flour, for working pizza dough
1 round pizza dough
pizza sauce (see above)
shredded mozzarella (I use about 3 oz)
fresh mozzarella, about 3 or 4 slices
2 eggs
salt & pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the meantime, work your pizza dough into a 12″ round on a lightly floured surface. Place it on a lightly oiled baking sheet (or on a pizza stone).

2. Spread sauce over dough, leaving a 1/2″ rim. Then spread cheese evenly over the sauce. Bake for 15 minutes.

3. Take the almost-done pizza out of the oven and crack two eggs directly on the pie. Carefully place back in the oven and cook for another 10-13 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle the egg with a little salt and pepper and allow to rest for a couple of minutes. Just before serving, break the yolk and spread as evenly as possible over the whole pie. Cut and serve!

Definitely go check out the One Hungry Mama blog.  Two of my other favorites are the broccoli and cheddar soup and kale risotto.

Happy Mama's Day!!

Well, this is a little late today, but I wanted to say Happy Mother's Day to all you Mama's!!  I hope your day has been filled with pampering and love!!  I know mine has.

Here is a picture of my own Mama looking gorgeous...with a fish.  Always the perfect accessory!! :)

Small Town Living?

I know I shared with you all the huge stack of magazines I was going to take on my trip West.  Those plane rides can be brutal, so one must have good reading material!  There were so many beautiful interiors in those magazines and I wanted to share some of my favorites.  My choice out of all of them was the Madison, Georgia home of designer Jimmy Stanton that was featured in Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles.  His Westside Provisions condo in Atlanta was also featured, but it was his country home that drew me in.

Notice how the mantel, trim, and door are painted the same color as the walls.

Check out that ceiling!

I'm loving all the nail head stools!

Seriously gorgeous - every last bit of it!  Since I'm probably not moving to the country anytime soon, I need to figure out some ways to get this feel in my own home.  I love it!!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  If you are in Atlanta, don't forget to join us at the Ray of Life Race at Piedmont Park and fundraising party at 5 Seasons Brewery at the Prado.  For details go to rayofliferace.com

Desert Inspiration

If someone ever asks me where I want to go on vacation, I typically pick somewhere lush and green. So, I'm always surprised at how much I love the desert when I'm there. Sedona was no exception - it was simply beautiful.  Here's a picture of our view from the rental home.

Gorgeous, right?  You couldn't look in any direction without seeing a view just like that. Everywhere we went was a picture perfect moment.  It's too bad I'm not a photographer!  The trip was really fun, too.  There was lots of eating, drinking, and catching up, which always makes these girls trips so much fun.  Most of us even had our star charts done, which was an advernture all by itself. :)

One of the things in Sedona we were all surprised about was how green it was there.  I'm typically drawn to neutrals, but the gorgeous terra cottas, sands, and greens were beautiful against the bright blue sky.  I was so inspired I went out and looked for some things that reminded me of our trip.

1. Lotus Dinnerware from Anthropologie 2. Tales of Marakesh Earrings from Lunarbelle 3. Beaded Capri Sandles from JCrew 4. Circles in Circles Art Block from Red Tile Studio 5. Succulent photograph from ORPhotography

We're already planning for next year, which will hopefully involve a beach.  I already can't wait. Here is the one group shot I have of us all.  We are waiting to be seated for the best meal we had there, Elote Cafe.  The food there was amazing!!

I hope you all are having a wonderful week!!