Owning It

Today I'm linking up with Christina for her new "Owning It" series. 

I am obsessed with list making. My roomies in college used to laugh b/c I'd write "shower" at the top of my list. It was just one more thing I could mark off and feel a sense of accomplishment. And my lists MUST be hand written.

I also love whiteout tape. And I will often use it during my list making if I've made a mistake that needs to be fixed. Or I'll use it in my planner. I hate to see things marked out unnecessarily. So you'll typically see me with the following items: planner, loose paper (for lists), pen, highlighter, and whiteout tape.

I have a minor hand washing obsession. As soon as I get home from being away from the house, I must wash my hands. My kids know it's a rule, as soon as they enter the house, they must wash their hands too.

I'm a strict rule follower, my husband lives to follow his own rules. I guess it's true "opposites attract".  So far my daughter follows after me. Not sure where that leaves my son! Ha!

I hate having cold feet and when I'm home I'm always wearing socks and slippers. If I don't have slippers on, my feet will be cold, and I won't be happy.

Speaking of unhappy, I am not a morning person. In fact, it's in everyone's best interest in the morning to let me drink one cup of coffee before interacting with me. Sometimes in the morning (when I know my kids are already awake), I'll sneak downstairs to get my coffee and sit in the dark to drink it. However, once I have my coffee, I'm good to go and actually quite productive (and most productive) in the morning.

I typically leave cabinet doors or drawers open. I've even hit my head on an open door before. And I hate walking into the kitchen and seeing them open, so I'll typically shut them. But I hardly ever shut them the first time.

I always lay my clothes out the night before. And now I lay my daughter's clothes out for the entire week on Sunday night.

I don't mind folding laundry but I hate putting it away.

I have an obsessive personality and once I find a new obsession or once something bothers me, it's hard for me to move on.

And speaking of obsessions, I have an obsession with the Royal Family. I had a book growing up from the Royal Wedding b/c Princess Diana and Prince Charles were married the day I was born. I loved looking at it when I was little. I always loved Prince William. I would love to go to London someday. And random - I love the show "Royals".

I hate pumping gas. Sometimes I'll drive my car until it's almost empty if I know my husband will be driving us somewhere the next day (in my car) so HE can pump the gas.

I have a lot of little quirks about me, and a lot of things that probably drive people crazy. But it's who I am and what makes me, ME.  :)

Thanks for hosting such a fun link up, Christina! I think she'll be hosting it on the last Thursday of every month. You should join in sometime too!

I think I've spilled enough about me!

Mother's Day Gift Guide

Mother's Day is just around the corner! I always love Mother's Day and celebrating with my sweet little babes who give me the reason to celebrate. I also love celebrating with my momma and MIL. This year I'm planning to host a light brunch at my house on Saturday with our moms, then save Sunday just for my little family. So while I was working on my brunch menu, I started thinking of some fun ideas for gifts.

Candle / Stud Earrings on sale for $26!! (Cheaper alternative $8) / Drop Earrings / Gold Bar Necklace (personalized with names on it - mine came from etsy) / Copper Mug / Coffee Mug / Longchamp Tote (available in 12 colors) / Fresh Flowers / Spa Day

What are some of the best gifts you've received and/or given?
 
My mom's birthday is always VERY close to Mother's Day, so I typically combine her gifts. She's always preferred hanging plants and/or mani/pedi gift cards. (Or the gift of TIME.)

My favorite gift to receive is anything handmade. And I especially love when my kids use their hand/foot prints to make something (not a shock, I know). Every year I ask my hubs to take the kids to the local pottery shop and have them paint me something. I haven't been so lucky yet (although my son is still pretty young), but maybe this will be the year! Ha! And maybe it's b/c my kids are still young, but for most of my past "Mother's Day's", my hubs has just given me a gift from himself (jewelry, flowers, etc) and the kids have made me cards. I also LOVE fresh flowers (but that's not a shock either). My favorite gift so far would probably have to be my skinny gold bar necklace with my kids' names stamped on it. I love it so much and wear it almost every day! 

But all gifts aside, I truly just love spending time with my kiddos for Mother's Day. They are the greatest gift of all!

Weekending

Happy Monday!! I hope you had a great weekend. We had the best weekend (despite the cold temps)!

It started on Friday with some extra snuggles from my favorite little guy. Between working extra, traveling for my reunion, and then our overnight getaway with my hubs, I've been gone a lot. It was very clear that someone had missed his momma. So I certainly didn't mind spending some extra QT on the couch.

Later that morning, we ran to my mom's house to see her new tricycle. William LOVED riding bikes with Mimi.

Friday night we went out to dinner and then stopped by DQ on the way home for ice cream.

And y'all!! There have some new desserts; something "a la mode". Anyway, it was a warm chocolate chip cookie filled with fudge. Then it was drizzled with fudge and the ice cream beside it had fudge on it. OH MY WORD! It was so good! The picture doesn't do it justice, but hopefully my description did! ;)

Saturday I spent the morning on a "mommy/daughter" date.

She had a list made of the things she wanted to do. (Like mother, like daughter)

I absolutely LOVED spending one on one time with her. We don't do it nearly enough as we should, but we hope to change that soon. We talked about having a date once a month! Sounds perfect to me!

Later that afternoon, we fixed cookies for my stepdad's birthday. Cate iced them and William added the sprinkles.

Then my parents came over to celebrate. I love having them close by. The kids had a ball singing to "P" and helping him blow out his candles/open presents.

Sunday was another cold (in the 40's!!!) and rainy day (where the heck did Spring go??).

So after church we came home and spent the rest of the day being lazy.

I hope you have a great day!

And don't forget my link ups with Biana and Meghan.

It's Friday, Y'all!

Happy Friday, ladies! It's been a great week for me and I have a feeling the weekend will be great as well!! 

~ONE~

I think I need this pink and green tassel scarf. It will be a great addition to the things I'm packing to head home for an upcoming festival next weekend. (The Apple Blossom Festival in my hometown is such a fun event and the colors are PINK AND GREEN!! I love any excuse to wear that color combo!) Although I do wish I could have snagged this Lilly scarf.

 
 Nonetheless, I have plenty of pink and green in my wardrobe!

And can I just say how excited I am about the Grand Marshall this year?? They've selected Kevin Jonas! I sure hope he'll be bringing Dani and baby Alena!

~TWO~

The hubs and I slipped away early in the week for a quick overnight trip. He had to work on his bday and days before/after so we never really got to celebrate. We were excited to head to one of my our favorite cities and enjoy some alone time!

Whenever we go away we tend to shop, eat, and sleep (all in excess! ha!). Oh, and we also take silly selfies to send to the kiddos to show them we're thinking of them.
We both love trying on different sunglasses and in this particular store, it was all him! He found a pair of green aviators and thought they were a great compliment to my pink ones. More pink and green to take home for The Bloom!

And no matter where we eat dinner, we always grab some cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory to go. We love ending the night eating it in our hotel room bed.

It was such a short trip but also just long enough. We were able to enjoy some alone time and indulge in eating in peace as well as sleeping in way past our normal 6am wake up call! But we were also ready to see our kiddos when we returned home. 

~THREE~

During our mini getaway, we traveled down to a set of nearby outlets. It's always so much more relaxing to shop the outlets without the kids. Not to mention, I am able to JUST shop for myself and not hit up the tons of kids stores. I only picked up a few things during this trip, but one of my favorite pieces was this tassel top.

It's on sale for $38.15 with code ADDITUP.

~FOUR~

Also during our trip, my mom (who was keeping the kids) sent me pics periodically. She sent one the first morning we were gone and it couldn't have come at a better time. I had just blogged on Tuesday about how we named our kids. And my son was named after his great-grandfather.  I love that they were able to spend the morning together (even if it was at a doctor's appt).

William and William

~FIVE~
My hubs is currently on a three week staycation. He had to use up some time before the end of April or he'd lose it. And we didn't want to pull our daughter out of school this close to the end of the year to travel anywhere. We decided it would be the perfect time to catch up on some things around the house. I hope to plant a few trees, bushes, etc. I also have a HUGE "honey do" list for him! ha! And the most exciting part is that he will be off to join us next weekend for the festival. We haven't been able to attend in almost 7 years b/c he's usually working. He's never taken a staycation before, but we sure will enjoy having him home for so long!



This should be a fun weekend. My daughter and I have a "mommy/daughter" day planned on Saturday, then we will be celebrating my stepdad's birthday that evening. I hope y'all have a great weekend as well!

As always, my fun link ups:

 Darci, Liz, Natasha, and Christina.

Erika, Narci, and Andrea

 Hill Collection.

Liebster Award + New Blogs!

I received an email last week from Chelsea nominating me for the Liebster Award. I was so excited and almost giddy!

1. For 2015, what is your biggest goal?
I'd have to say my biggest goal is to enjoy more of the "moments" with my family. I'm typically too busy shooting candid pics or making them pose for pictures. I've found on the few occasions where I don't have any electronics, I have more fun. I love documenting life's moments through pics, but it does somewhat take away from the moment.

2. Who is the one person that you wish you could meet?
  Probably Carrie Underwood or Reese Witherspoon :)

3. What is your biggest fear?

 Suffocation (of any kind - drowning, fire, etc)

4. If you could go back in time, what year would you travel to?
I'd probably travel back to the summer of 2002 when I met my husband on a blind date. We fell hard and quick and it was a whirlwind romance that summer. So.much.fun!

5. Do you prefer sweet or salty snacks?

 Both - eating one tends to make me crave the other. I guess I typically start with sweet so that's probably what I prefer.

6. What has been the most rewarding moment in blogging?

I haven't been blogging publicly for very long, but I think just reaching and meeting new people.

7. Would you prefer to swim in the pool or the ocean?

 100% Pool - b/c the beaches we typically visit are dark and murky. It freaks me out to not be able to see what's floating around.

8. What is the one item that you can't live without?

 I'd say my pillow. I grew up seeing my mom travel with hers so (as kids) we always took ours with us. Now I take it with me on every road trip/overnight stay (and so do my kids).

9. What would your perfect day look like? 

 Sleeping in
Going for a run
Eating a picnic lunch with the family
Taking a nap

Playing outside
Eating dinner (not cooked by me! ha!) on the deck
Having icecream for dessert
Tucking the kids in and spending the evening with my hubs
**Now granted I would rather spend the "perfect" day at the beach, but I was just keeping it simple and more "real life" for where I am right now.

10. Where do you most want to travel, but have never been?

This is a hard one b/c I LOVE to travel and would honestly go anywhere as long as my hubs was with me. If we are talking about the US - I'd probably pick Nashville.


 If we are talking out of the country - I'd pick Ireland or London.

I've nominated these fabulous gals:

Carrie Beth and Jen from The Magnolia Mamas

Kimm from Kimm's Korner
Biana from B Loved Boston 
Astleigh from Hill Collection
Elaine from Honey Pie Accessories 
 Jo from Never Slack Tide

Your questions:

1. What is your favorite hobby?
2. Do you have a favorite scripture verse? If so, which one?
3. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
4.  If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
5. If you were stranded on a deserted island, what 3 items would you hope to have with you?
6. What's your idea of a perfect date night?

7. What's your favorite vacation destination?
8.  Do you prefer summer or winter?
9. What is/was your dream job?
 10. What's your favorite accessory?

 I can't wait to read your answers and learn a little bit more about y'all too!!

Maxi Dresses

Today I thought I'd post a few maxis that I'm loving.

One  (comes in 3 other colors!) / Two/ Three
Four (6 other colors!)/ Five / Six
Seven / Eight

Show and Tell Tuesday - Kids' Names

Today I'm linking up with Andrea for her "Show and Tell Tuesday" series. Today's topic is all about kids' names and how they came about. 

When we became pregnant with my daughter, we both knew we wanted a traditional name. I also hoped to use a family name b/c I have a family name. We went back and forth a few times on her middle name and I think I ended up changing it in the delivery room. I guess we were cursed b/c we chose to keep the name a secret until the birth. Therefore we seemed to take awhile before fully deciding on the name.

 But back to her first name. We originally chose the name "Cate".  We wanted a "C" name b/c we are both "C's". And I loved the way it looked with a C. But then I started thinking more traditionally and decided on Catherine. I wanted her to have "options" for her name/nickname later in life. My husband would have been content to just name her Cate. I always swore I wouldn't use a nickname, oops! I think she'll thank me later. In fact, she's already gone through a phase asking to be called "Catherine". I'll also note that my husband's grandmother's name is the same only she spells it with a K. 

For her middle name, we were originally going to use Grace. My husband's other grandmother's name is Grace. It flowed well and was a beautiful name. However, I changed my mind and wanted to use a family name from my side. My middle name is Adair and I was named after my Great-Grandmother. I love that I was able to pass the name to my daughter since I sort of "lost" the name when I got married. (I use my maiden name as my middle name.)

Catherine "Cate" Adair was born on November 14, 2007. 

My son's name was a LOT trickier. Well, sort of. I always knew (even when I was pregnant with Cate) that if we had a boy I wanted to name him William after my grandfather. We have a ton of Bill's/Billy's in my family but no one goes by William. So when we found out we were having a boy, i figured it was a no brainier. However, my husband was a bit conflicted b/c he felt that we should stick with the "C" name. I completely understood b/c I would never want my child to feel "left out" or what not. But honestly neither one of us could decide on a "C" name that we liked for a boy. Once we decided NOT to use a "C" name, he made me promise that we could never go back to the "C" for any future children. Of course I was crying inside b/c of all of the adorable monogrammed "C" items I had for Cate. But I agreed. We were back to William, only I wanted to call him Will. I figured Cate and Will sounded cute. He was not on board with Will, and I was fine with William. And now I absolutely love William. It fits him.

His middle name was a challenge for us. We liked quite a few different names, but in the end, we chose another family name. And while I was 100% open to giving him "Curtis" (my husband's name) for his middle name, he did not want to use it. So we went with John, which is my dad's first name. 

William John was born on February 15, 2012.

So that's the (long) story behind my children's names. I'm sure that's way more description than anyone wanted! Ha! And while I do have a major minor obsession with the Royal Family (Princess Diana and Prince Charles were married the day I was born), their names did NOT influence my choices. I had both first names picked out in 2007 and had nothing to do with the Royals. I do think it's funny to see people's faces when they realize I "have a Cate and Will or Catherine and William".

I will also say that I had NO idea how much pressure goes into naming a child!

Weekending

Happy Monday!! I hope you all had a wonderful wknd!! I know I certainly did.

The weather was gorgeous and I was able to enjoy a (very short) solo road trip for my class reunion. But not before painting my nails on Thursday night. I was inspired (by Kimm) to add sparkles to one nail. I had tried it once before and loved it. So I thought I'd try it again!

Friday morning I took my son to the in-laws and hit the road. I arrived at my bestie's house and we quickly got ready, snapped a pic, and headed out the door.

Since I was limited on time away from the kiddos, etc, I chose to only attend my class dinner on Friday night. It was held at a small cafe in downtown Richmond, VA.  The really cool thing was that it used to be a drug store. We ate a delicious meal and spent hours eating/drinking/catching up with everyone.

As we were leaving, we had to snap some pics by the sign on the window.

I had such a fun night catching up with old friends, friends who I hadn't seen in a decade. That's just so crazy to me!

I would have loved to have spent the entire weekend in Richmond, but with the hubs working and the kiddos with the in-laws, I just felt that I should get back.

Saturday was spent being pretty lazy as we were all tired from the night before. (Grandma always wears the kids out. ha!)

I also prepared my order for what I had hoped to buy from Target.

Unfortunately after multiple attempts (even waking up in the middle of the night to try online AND going to our local store), I wasn't able to snag anything. I had heard the time of launch was between 1-3am so I woke up at 1 and stayed until 2. At that point I just gave up. I was disappointed, but also somewhat mentally prepared for that. Ha! Were any of you able to grab anything good?

Oh, but in case you hadn't heard, Lilly is offering a FREE mystery gift with ANY purchase today. I'm swooning over the new arrivals!

Sunday was calling for really heavy rains, so I decided to skip church (bad, I know!) and get my grocery shopping completed. I normally go on Mondays but I am working today and we have a busy week ahead. I wanted to get it taken care of (and preferred to not get SOAKED with the kids and bags in my cart) early.

The rest of Sunday was pretty lazy. We all seemed to still be dragging and the weather certainly didn't help.

I ended the night watching some of the ACM's. I recorded it, though, b/c I was just too tired to make it all the way.  I just can't get enough of Eric and Jessie! Such a cute couple and family!

I hope you all have a great start to the week! I'm working 10 hours today, then coming home to pack for a fun overnighter with the hubs tomorrow for his (late) birthday gift!

And don't forget my link ups with Biana and Meghan.

Lilly is LIVE!

Happy Shopping!!!

Click the pic to shop or this link!

Also, Saks is having a 30% off sale right now with code FRNFAM. Plus, free shipping! Check out some of their Lilly pieces!!

It's Friday, Y'all!

Happy Friday!! I hope you've had a good week. It took me awhile to adjust back to early mornings with school, but we survived. And I couldn't be more excited that the weekend is finally here!!! I'm heading to Richmond today for my TEN YEAR Pharmacy School Reunion. I honestly can't believe it's been that long or that I could possibly be that old! Ha! Nonetheless, I'm super excited to see some old friends and have lots of fun! Before I go, here is my five on Friday.

~ONE~

I had a hair appt on Tuesday and got the roots fixed as well as an overall lighter look for Spring. I love it! I'm always conflicted about whether to go lighter or darker. My natural is darker, the hubs likes lighter, lighter hides the grays (yikes!) better... decisions, decisions, decisions!

~TWO~

I bought the prettiest tulips this week. They looked white when I bought them, but I could see a hint of pink in one of them. Now that they have bloomed they are the prettiest ballet slipper pink. I love them! I feel like pictures never do them justice.

~THREE~

As I included in an earlier post from this week, I just received this one piece (in MINT) and absolutely love it. And you can't beat the price at $32.79

~FOUR~

I need some advice on plants. I do not have a green thumb whatsoever but I love love love live plants/flowers. I've had my eye on some ferns for awhile now and really want to purchase two for my front steps. But here is my question - do they tolerate full sun? I've heard mixed reviews and have also seen two different kinds (smaller/larger). I can only purchase them if they can handle full sun. Any advice is greatly appreciated! :)

~FIVE~

And lastly, my reunion! I'm driving up to meet my bestie this afternoon and then we're driving the rest of the way together. There is a dinner planned downtown tonite. I hope to see lots of classmates that I haven't seen in a decade! Wow! That just sounds crazy!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!! And more importantly - HAPPY LILLY SHOPPING!!!
(See my post yesterday expressing my excitement!)

As always, my fun link ups:

 Darci, Liz, Natasha, and Christina.

Erika, Narci, and Andrea

 Hill Collection.

Sheer Excitement!

April 19, 2015

Get Ready!

I can't even handle my excitement! 

I just hope the online department is prepared for all of this! :)

EEK!!! 3 MORE DAYS!!

Four

I saw this on Natalie's blog awhile back and figured I should write a similar post. Even though I've technically been blogging (private family blog) for quite some time, I just recently started this one. And I figured this might help get to know me a little bit better!

Four Jobs I've Had
Pharmacy Clerk, Cashier At A Fruit Market, Babysitter, Pharmacist

Four Movies I've Watched More Than Once
Father of the Brice, Dumb and Dumber, Family Stone, The Notebook

Four Things In My Purse
Hand sanitizer, Lip gloss, Wallet, Snacks

Four Cars I've Driven
Neon (first car), Sunbird (second car after totaling the neon), Jeep Cherokee, Ford Explorer
 *nothing glamorous! ha!

Four Places I've Visited
France, Italy, Aruba, Dominican Republic

*While looking for pics I realized that my trips to France and Italy were during high school and college (pre-digital camera).. and now i need to attempt to locate all of those albums!

Four Places On My Bucket List
Bora Bora*, Ireland, Nashville, Gulf Coast of Florida
*I want to stay in one of those huts!!

Four Of My Favorite Foods
Reese Eggs, Chocolate Chip Cookies (my momma's homemade), Guacamole, Caprese Salad,

Four TV Shows

Southern Charm, Nashville, Real Housewives of Anywhere, Bachelor/Bachelorette

Four Things I'm looking Forward To in 2015
Summer Break - having both kiddos home, Pool Days, My Husband's 3 Week Staycation, Celebrating 10 Years of Marriage



I hope you've enjoyed getting to know me a little better! ;) I will say that this post was harder to write than I thought b/c for many of the categories I had more than 4 choices!