Finds...

I wore this for datenight with Mr. C.

I found this Cynthia Rowley top at TJ Maxx for $16.  I'd seen the one below on ShopBop for $188.  I love me a bargain!

I've also been loving the Urban Decay Naked Palette 1.

I have a feeling I'm late to the party on this one because I've seen a LOT of reviews.  I am pretty loyal to MAC and wasn't going to try this but a waitress we recently had had the prettiest eyeshadow on and when I asked her about it she said "Naked Palette!"  It was shimmery but still subtle.  I'm really enjoying it and it's kind of nice to have all the colors in one container instead of scattered across my counter.

That is all--have a good day!

Weekend Recap: Birthday edition

Boy did we  have a fun weekend!  Before I get started, I'm guest posting for the first time ever over at Andrea's blog, The Blonde Ambitions.  Super exciting for me!  I love Andrea's blog--she's a sweetheart and I don't go a day without checking her blog.  Lots of fashion, delicious recipes, and all around fun inspiration--go check it out!

Now for the weekend recap.  Please tell me you watch American Pickers on the History Channel?

Saturday evening I took Mr. C to Red Pony for his birthday dinner and while waiting for our table, Mike Wolfe from American Pickers walked in with his girlfriend and another friend (who google tells me is a local musician and is filming something with Mike).  Cue my husband and I giggling like teenagers and telling each other to be cool.  We composed ourselves and did not approach him (although I reeeeaaaallly wanted to!).  Oh well!  I'm such a fan of the show.

Our dinner (shrimp and grits for me of course and an amazing special for Mr. C) was wonderful as always.  I wish I could share a picture but I could not get my nerve up to snap one.  I'm such a chicken!

There was also a bluegrass festival going on in downtown Franklin and we caught a little of it.  Old cars, pickin', cotton candy, snow cones, blow up monkeys (??), all the good fair stuff.  Here's a look:

*We couldn't resist bringing home some blow up monkeys.  The boys LOVED them.

*Totally unrelated but the picture of the boys is from our Sunday bike ride, my rascals are getting SO big.

And finally, our sweet nieces and nephews sent Mr. C a special message:

Cutest.thing.ever.

Sorry to be a little all over the place today. We really had a fun weekend and don't have too much planned this week thankfully.  Happy Monday!

Hooray for Friday!

I'm so glad Friday is here! We've got big plans...it's Mr. C's birthday weekend! We're going to celebrate at our fave restaurant...

I was going to try something new but this morning had a change of heart.  RPR is our fave and that's where we should be! Happy Birthday Mr. C-- and I'm not letting you off that easy, I will embarrass you with favorite old pictures on Monday!

Other things that made me happy this week....

My big boy loving his bubble blower...

Little C's amazing eyelashes...

Ran into this little message while jogging and I just love when things like that happen...

Late night coffee, corn pops, and remotes...
And...

My Swatch watch circa 1991 is once again in working order. I can't believe I kept up with something for 20 years!  

Friends, have a great weekend!

A book review, a recipe, and a birthday

I finished reading The Hypnotist's Love Story.  In the words of Randy Jackson, it was just okay for me dawg.  I feel like I should have liked it more because the reviews were very good.  And it was good, just maybe not exciting enough for me.  It didn't have enough "thrill" factor.  It was well written and interesting but I was ready for it to end so that I could move on.  

  

I'm super excited to read this now--it just came out Tuesday.

I've mentioned this before, but I love Emily Giffin's books.  They are long enough to make me feel smart, short enough to keep me interested, and I really like her stories and writing style.  

On another note, I cooked this chicken last night.  Saw it here.

Sweet and spicy bacon chicken via Pinterest

It was unbelievably easy and delicious.  You just cut each chicken breast into 3 pieces, season with garlic, salt, pepper, and chili powder, wrap in bacon, then roll in brown sugar.  We grilled ours and they were SO good!  And kid approved, woohoo!

And last, but certainly not least, my best friend is a year older today:)

I've posted this picture before but I could not resist yet again.  My mom and Julia's mom were roommates in college, so we've literally known each other since we entered this world.  Playing dress up wasn't her thing (though it was mine:) and I forced her to get gussied up in my mom's 60's garb so many times it is pitiful.  We've been through heck and back together and she has always been there for me.  Sadly, she's younger than me.  She will be thrilled and appreciate that I shared that with the world.  I love you Jules!  Happy Birthday!

Clothes & a datenight recap

Mr. C and I had a datenight out with friends last week.  We went to Urban Grub and I wore this.  {I don't actually use that exercise ball but somehow it ended up in my picture!} Maybe it's a sign.

Old Navy dress, ebay necklace, Cole Haan wedges

More importantly, we ate this.

It is banana pudding pie with a shortbread crust, roasted banana cream vanilla wafer crumble, sliced bananas and toasted, toasted vanilla meringue.  I don't even like bananas and this was divine. Mr. C and I agree that all desserts should contain chocolate but our waitress talked us into this and it was delish!!!!  I dream about it at night.

Urban Grub was a pretty trendy place and I had great fun checking out what everyone was wearing.  It made me feel super boring and I decided I need more edge.  One particular outfit caught my eye.  It was short black shorts with a white tee, neon cardi, and a peter pan bib necklace.  Looked adorbs.  I want it for fall.  This gal looked so darn cute!

peter pan by courtco featuring black shorts

I'm into hot pink and black right now.

Old Navy skinnies, Charming Charlie top

Lastly, this was my precious boy yesterday morning when I asked him to help empty the dishwasher.  

That's kind of how I feel too! 

Weekend Update

Happy Monday friends! We had a very laid back weekend.  I like those.  Here it is Insta-style.

1.  The boys had a birthday party Saturday and the favor was a blow up guitar -- only in Nashville! They loved it and so did I.  The mama let her 5 year old select the menu and it was mint chocolate chip klondike bars, a giant cookie with rainbow icing, and cotton candy.  What a cool mom!  I thought it was precious and little B was so proud of her menu.  We are still trying to recover from all that sugar!
2.  Pretty church steeple
3.  Fine dining
4.  Publix had sugar corn Pops on sale buy one get one.  I loved these as a kid and I could not resist. More sugar, why not!
5.  Ice cream!  We are out of control...
6.  I've been laying on train tracks again... We pass these tracks on our bike rides and I'm a little obsessed with getting a good track picture but it's still not quite right. I keep getting nervous and my hand shakes.
7 & 8.  We were bored Saturday night so we threw the boys in the truck, rolled the windows down, picked up ice cream and drove through the country listening to music too loud, hair blowing in the wind.  It was pretty great.
9.  My Target sporty spice watch.  A friend had a mint green one that I thought was Anthro and she laughed and said "No ma'am! Go to Tarjay and get yourself one!" So I did ($12).  It's huge but I love it for the pool and running.  They have lots of cute colors, I may need an extra:)

And that is all!  This was not our healthiest weekend food wise and I'll need to jog to California and back to get on track again.  We will be eating our veggies this week!  Sorry for overusing exclamation points and side smiles, must be all that sugar.  ;)  Happy Monday:)

Join in the fun on the Weekend Update and Life on Leroy!

Advice for Friday

A.  Don't take yourself too seriously today.

B.  Be sure to wear your superhero cape.

C.  Treat yourself to something delicious!

Have a great weekend!

DIY and finds

I saw this initial door thingie here and I thought it was cute.

Then I was wandering through Hobby Lobby and I saw some large letters for $8.99.  I decided to buy one and try making my own.  Here's how it turned out.

The letter was originally black.  I just painted it with Annie Sloan chalk paint in Old Ochre (already had it) and used some strips of a drop cloth that I had on hand.  It was super inexpensive! I may need to rework the top part (Mr. C says it looks sloppy). Gee thanks!

Also at Hobby Lobby--adorable drawer pulls on sale for $1.50 each.

Very reminiscent of Anthropologie.....

except Anthro's are $8 each (not the end of the world, but it's hard to beat $1.50).

  

Saw this mirror originally here.

Then the other day in Kirkland's, while looking for a lamp, I spotted this.

Admittedly not the best picture and it does look a bit smaller but it's a pretty sassy mirror for $49. Please excuse my 3 year old showing off his belly.  Oops!

I'm definitely getting the bug to start house projects again.  It's a never ending thing here!

Silly random banter

Yes, why yes my friends I must confess, the movie I mentioned Monday was indeed Magic Mike.  Big surprise!  Don't know why I got all shy about it after I told the world I wanted to see it.  Um, wow, um, yes, what can I say? I'm kind of speechless! It was a fun movie to see with my gal pal and laugh until I nearly fell out of the chair. My face is still red!

Okay, moving on.  Here are 2 outfits from last week. In the second picture you'll see I finally got a full length mirror.  It is indeed helpful to see one's feet when getting dressed.  Thank you blog friends who told me I must get one at once:)

I practically sleep in this necklace and I kiss it in the morning when I wake up.  I love it!

 Quite a bit more tame I know, but I love my ON polka dot shorts! 

Mr. C made California BLT's the other night that made me drool.  Bacon, avocado, fresh tomato, spinach (we were out of iceberg), and some low fat mayo on toasted white bread.  It.was.delicious.  He puts Peter Luger sauce on his and swears it is wonderful.  Have y'all had it?  We get it at Fresh Market.  PL is a steak house in New York that Mr. C used to like (he's from NY).  It's kind of sweet with a little punch of heat.  He also met me at the door with a cold margharita.  Big points for Mr. C on Monday.

If you have a Trader Joe's close by and you like hummus, then run don't walk to buy some of this.  It's chipotle pepper hummus and it is so creamy and delicious with a hint of heat that I nearly ate an entire container in one sitting.  

And finally to wrap up random Wednesday, I got Blue-ming Color Club nail polish in my Birchbox and I like it!  I think of the Caribbean whenever I look at my toes now. 

Happy Hump Day friends!

InstaWeekend

Hi friends! Hope your weekend was great.  Here are some scenes from ours.

1. Hope you don't get tired of horse pictures. I always stop during our family bike rides and photograph this farm.  I'm sure the horses are sick of me.  They probably roll their eyes when they see me coming. Next week I should take some apples!
2. Fried pickles at a new local restaurant--these were SO yummy.  They weren't the usual dill; instead they were homemade and had a spicy bread and butter vibe.  I loved them.  Mr. C did not love me taking pictures of them.
3.  Flowers
4.  Tasty wine
5.  Saturday movie night--I slept through "Man On a Ledge" but Mr. C said it was pretty good.
6.  Little C playing with Mama
7.  Mr. C made waffles
8.  More horses!
9.  Little C driving one of those fun video games I used to love (well, I actually still love them)

And that's it for us.  My friend and I did sneak away Sunday afternoon to see a movie (and what a movie it was!). Holy moly, my poor eyes are still burning!  Happy Monday:)

Stop in here to see what everyone's been up to!

Simple things Sunday

This week's simple thing:
One morning when Mr. C was working from home, little C went over and climbed into his chair with him.  I grabbed my camera.  It's a sweet little moment that I'm so glad I captured; morning hair, coffee, pj's, and hug from Daddy.  I love my boys.