Fun find alerts!!

Happy Saturday! I wasn't planning to post today, but found two really good deals that I didn't want to not share!

The first item is a pair of earrings that are currently on my Christmas wish list. How perfect would these Kate Spade studs be for the holidays? They also come in gold sequins and silver sequins! And they have been marked down from $38 to $28.50!! Who doesn't love a little sparkle in their life?? And if they aren't your style, they'd make a perfect gift for a bestie or family member!

Click image to see deets!

The other item I wanted to share is a necklace I found from my favorite shop, Hazel and Olive. 

It's available in ivory, black, mustard, and red, and is only $19!!!

Both shops offer free shipping so you can't beat these great deals! Happy shopping!!

It's Friday, Y'all!

Today I'm linking up with Leslie, from A Blonde Ambition Blog, and sharing some confessions!

~ I confess that I'm having a really hard time believing that my first born, baby girl, turns 7 years old today! Why does the time have to fly so fast when you have kids???

 ~ I confess that I'm still unsure about my dark hair. I recently had it darkened (very close to my natural color) b/c I'd been talking about "going darker" for almost 2 years (as my hubs likes to remind me). I finally decided to take the plunge last week and I'm still undecided about whether or not I am satisfied. I do think it's a great color for the Fall/Winter but I'm not promising to keep it once the Spring rolls around. Have I mentioned that my hubs is a "blonde" guy. lol

~ I confess that I am suffering from baby fever! And while I don't think it will happen, I would love to have another one. In fact, I've always wanted four children, but sometimes life doesn't always work out the way we'd like it to. That doesn't mean I still don't browse the Pottery Barn Kids nursery section every time a new catalog appears in my mailbox.

~ I confess that I would love to have a new desk. We currently have a desk in our playroom/office but it always seems to get taken over by the kids' things. It's constantly cluttered and it has our computer on it (so it's always playing music for the kids). I'd love to have a small little desk area in a different part of the house for JUST ME. Nothing fancy, just a desk that I can use for my laptop, planner, lists,  meal charts, blogging, etc. I love this desk area below (not sure of it's source so feel free to share if you know) and am using it for some inspiration.

I'm envisioning a clean white surface, Kate spade office accessories, and fresh flowers. Oh and of course PINK/GOLD accents.

~ I confess that I have a huge secret to share with my hubs in 2 weeks but I just hope I can make it that long. It involves something I bought for him for his anniversary/Christmas gift. I LOVE giving people presents and this one should make him REALLY happy! :)

~ I confess that our Christmas cards have already been printed and shipped to me!! I decided after having our family pics taken in Oct that I should go ahead and order, why wait?? So I did and I have never been this ahead of the game!

That's all for now! Be sure to visit Leslie's page for her confessions today! Have a great weekend!

Mustard Madness

Mustard is hands down my favorite color this Fall. I purchased a fun mustard colored scarf about a month ago that I love wearing, but really wanted a mustard cardigan. I recently purchased one from Anthropologie, but ended up returning it b/c it just didn't seem to fit right. Thankfully I ended up finding one through Instagram from Jane Divine Boutique. (**not sure why it won't link but it's http://janedivine.com/)  I was beyond excited to find it but even happier to discover the price. It was super affordable with free shipping! And believe it or not, I love it even more in person! I'm wishing we hadn't already taken our family photos this Fall b/c I would love to have worn this sweater!

I paired it with jeans and my favorite Tom's Booties. 

I also wore the new Kate Spade Earrings that I received for my wedding anniversary. 

I own a lot of clothes but rarely feel 100% comfortable in them. I am more of a "t-shirt/yoga pant" wearing girl. So the fact that this sweater was not only my favorite Fall color but also super comfortable was too good not to share with y'all!

And one more quick pic of my family before church last week. I can promise you this sweater will be on repeat for me this Fall.

Delicious Cocktail

I wasn't planning to post today but after last night's cocktail, I felt the need to share the details with you!!!

I bought a bottle of St. Germaine awhile back and had been mixing it with various things for my sporadic nightcap. But I was never 100% happy with what I created. Recently my friends Lindee and Carissa introduced to me one of their favorites and I finally bought the remaining ingredients for the drink today. And while we don't know the technical name for the drink, it does remind me of Jungle Juice from college. So you've been warned! ;)

Delicious Cocktail

1 cup cranberry juice (I used Diet Cran)

1 shot Pear Vodka

1 shot St. Germaine

Fill shaker with ice, add ingredients, shake and serve!

*Adjust ingredients to your liking!

There are so many yummy cocktails you can make with St. Germaine. Another one I'm going to try in the near future will be to substitute champagne for the cranberry juice! YUM! Here are some other recipes with my beloved St. Germaine.

Enjoy!

Cate's 7th Mermaid Bash

We celebrated my daughter's 7th birthday over the weekend. It was her first party not held at our house. She decided she wanted to have a mermaid party which obviously meant we had to celebrate at a local indoor pool.

The major downside to not having a party at your house is having to pack up everything and transport it to the location. Also this facility limited us to 15 minutes for set up before the party started. Needless to say, it stressed me out!! However, due to my organized nature, I was overly prepared. About a week ago, I staged our dining room table for how I wanted it to look at the party. I took pictures, printed them, and passed them out to my "workers" (awesome family members). That way they were able to grab their assigned bag (bags specific for which area they were setting up) and see the diagram for how to set everything up. I know this sounds insanely ridiculous, but it seemed to work out really well! We were actually finished setting up with time to spare! After the initial stress, the party seemed to go by rather effortlessly.  

*Just realizing the banner could have been straightened out a bit..lol. It looked about frazzled! ;)

One other downfall to having it at this location (and only being allowed 15 minutes for set up) was having to majorly cut back on the amount of decor/food I brought. But considering the circumstances, I thought I managed to do a fairly good job.  We served pizza as the main dish and then had a few snacks as well; Pirate's booty, Seaweed skewers, and fish n chips.

 I had a lot of fun making the desserts this year. I researched and discovered you could bake and freeze the cupcakes which was a major time saver. I also made and froze the cupcake toppers too. I was super relieved yesterday to only have to ice and top the 40 cupcakes (vs starting from scratch and baking them).  So i fixed the majority of the cupcakes with aqua icing and white starfish on top, but fixed one special one for the birthday girl (PINK icing with a mermaid tail on top).

And of course some Mermaid Punch to drink!  I was surprised at how good it tasted (as I'm not big on sugary drinks). And it was such a pretty aqua color.

 I gave bubble bath and candy away as the party favors.

We plated the food for the kids ahead of time to help with time.

I thought the little umbrellas and paper straws were a special touch.

 

The birthday girl ready to get the party started!

After an hour in the party room, the kids had an hour at the pool. They all had an absolute blast!

 

It was such a fun party and I'm so thankful for all of our friends and some family members for showing their love for Cate.

Matching Fur Vests and Red Plaid

As promised, here are some pics of me and my mini-me in our matching fur vests. I bought hers for Christmas, but couldn't wait to give it to her. I knew she'd just love matching me!

I also wanted to show off one of my favorite new fall pieces. It's from Hazel and Olive and it's the perfect fall dress. It came with the belt and I accessorized with the riding boots.

I loved the look with and without the vest. Which do you prefer?

If you haven't guessed by now, Hazel and Olive is my favorite online boutique. I just wish the actual store was in Roanoke so I could shop there!! I love the clothes, the prices, and you can't be free shipping!

Have a great day!

Random Recap + Recipe

Happy Monday!! I have a few things I wanted to mention that I hadn't posted about yet.

First off, last week Cate was asked to be on TV. Our good friend Lindee, of The Lindee Tree, hosts a segment on Daytime Blue Ridge. Her recent segment was demonstrating how to create a non-sew Halloween dress and a pumpkin bun. She included her daughter and Cate to be her models.

You can check out the clip here or the article on the show here.

As I commented on earlier, our anniversary was Wed. My hubs surprised me with the most gorgeous flowers he's ever given me. I absolutely LOVE pink and green and I loved that the bow coordinated!

He also picked up the Kate Spade studs I'd been wanting since last year!

And finally we had a great Halloween. I set our table with a few goodies for the kids to wake up to the next morning. They were really excited to walk downstairs on Halloween morning.

Then when it was finally time to get ready for the night, I had to plan my outfit based on the cold! I bundled up with my cargo jacket, plaid scarf, and boots!

It turned cold toward the end of the week and there was a potential for rain! Yuck!

I got the kids dressed and we were ready to head out for the night.

We were invited to a neighborhood party which was a great distraction for the kids. It's always so hard for them to sit and wait to start trick or treating. The party was an excellent way to have fun and kill time!

There were 10 kids in our group!

And while we originally planned to ride around in the back of a truck, it started to pour the rain as soon as we walked outside. Plan B was our friends van. It actually worked out great b/c both sliding doors and the back automatically opening, made for easy in and out. I was fortunate enough to be in the back with all of the kids! ha!

And lastly I'll leave you with a recipe I fixed yesterday, Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup. With my little man feeling under the weather and it turning cold outside, the crock pot soup seemed like the best choice! I'll also mention that I have two pretty picky kids, and they both really like it!

**I typically fix this on the stove and then transfer it to the crock pot.

Have a great day!