i love when friends come to visit!

This weekend we had our friends Carrie and Andrew come to stay with us for a night! They were only here for 24 hours, but it was so wonderful. They got here Friday night and we headed down the street for appetizers and wine with Joy Lynne and Chris. So fun. This morning I made Smitten Kitchen's baked french toast for breakfast! We took our time drinking coffee and slowly woke up.. Then we headed down to the Westside area for lunch at Taquera del Sol! We have heard such wonderful things about this place and have been wanting to give it a try. We met up with Julie (p.s. I really really love that we see each other so often now!) who stood in the extremely long line outside the restaurant to get us a table. Thanks Julie! We chatted over fish tacos and margaritas, walked around some super cute but quite expensive shops, and then headed back home! Carrie and I decided that since we didn't buy anything from Anthropologie, we'd get manicures. So the boys watched a kung fu movie and Carrie and I found a new nail salon really close that is wonderful and surprisingly cheap! We ended the evening with greek burgers and veggies.. Then with very full tummies, Carrie and Andrew headed home... back to Charlotte. Can't wait to see you guys again in 3 weeks!

recently...

The most exciting thing happened! Our friends Julie and Josiah moved to Atlanta!!!! HOORAY! They LIVE here! It's only been a few weeks and we've already seen them a few times. This is probably the happiest thing that has happened in a while.. Today we met up at the Highland Bakery for brunch! I should have taken pictures of the food. It was fabulous. It always is!

I am SO happy Julie is here. We have big plans of crafting, cooking, and exploring the city together. The greatest thing is that we don't have to cram it all into a weekend visit! She LIVES here! :)

August has been a good month so far... I started back to work full time at school, and Brian got a promotion! He is very excited about his new position at work! We've been spending our evenings doing a lot of this...

...and hanging out with this little guy!

We are ready for fall! When Ginna mentioned pumpkin spice creamer last night, my heart skipped a beat.

the past few days

So for the past 5 days, my lovely sister Natalie has been visiting! She came through town with some friends on Tuesday and was dropped off at our house. She went to work with me and got to see what it's like to be an SLP in a private practice... When we weren't working, we were doing yoga, crafting, shopping, cooking, and eating! It was so much fun. And it got even better when my mom joined us Thursday night! Friday was a big day of antiquing and thrifting. We found lots of treasures! Our first stop was to one of my favorite places, One of a Kind Shoppe. Natalie got an awesome old birdcage, and I got an amazing GIANT oil painting! It was so huge that it took up the entire trunk, and the seats in my mom's civic had to be folded down. So for the rest of the day, this is how we rode around... So dangerous, I know... but we didn't want to go back home..

Toby was extra sweet with Natalie and Mom... He loved having them here and got lots of extra attention and love!

This one cracks me up. Toby's arm on my mom's leg.. Too funny.

On Saturday, we explored an area I had never been to... We headed to Westside/Home Park and ate lunch at Star Provisions. I highly recommend it. This whole area was full of charming boutiques, home furnishing stores, and fun restaurants. Definitely a fun area to visit!

And then today, we slept in, took our time waking up, drank our coffee, ate these muffins, and sewed placemats out of fabric Natalie and I found for her new house she's moving into this fall. It was definitely a full few days, but so much fun! Brian, Toby and I were sad to see them leave!

happy anniversary to us!

An anniversary isn't complete without flowers! :)

We celebrated tonight at a new restaurant downtown- Two Urban Licks. It was a pretty cool place-they renovated an old warehouse and turned it into a modern chic restaurant with a view of a the city skyline.

I got the bronzed scallops and Brian ordered the "big ass burger," but my favorite part of the meal was the amazing salmon chips! Homemade chips topped with smoked salmon, chipolte cream cheese, capers, and red onions. Mmm.. I would be content to just have this appetizer. YUM!!

Lollipops came with the check.

And here is dessert! I made a cake similar to our wedding cake white cake with strawberry filling and butter cream icing, although I think it is way too sweet and most of it will be tossed! It was fun to reminisce on the last two years and enjoy time just the two of us.

And then we came home to our sweet little pup!

two

Ten years ago I stepped off a plane in Jamaica and shook hands with a guy who would become my husband eight years later. I'm thankful for all the years of friendship and especially for the past two years of marriage. Time has gone by so quickly.

more house pics

I am proud to say that I successfully sewed curtains for the first time! Here they are hanging in my bedroom. Carrie and I went to Mary Jo's Fabric in Gastonia.. It is an overwhelming place, but has a wonderful selection of fabric! So this is our room!

And this is our guest room- We got the screen behind the bed in Asheville at some shop downtown. It works perfectly as a headboard.

And the living room! I love the wall color.. "glass slipper" by Benjamin Moore. It's a blue-ish gray, but has a very neutral feel. I think I like it better in person though. The tiles on the wall are from the Eastern Market in DC.

And just because he's so handsome.... had to include this one as well. :)

the kitchen

The kitchen is mostly put together.. I would still love to find two amazing upholstered chairs for the head of the table, but for now, this bench works just fine. I grew up with an old farm table, and I love the look and casual feel. I found this one on craigslist, and I love it! It's very narrow, but it works great in our space. The green bench is from an antique shop in Marietta. It was originally too tall for the table, but my handy father-in-law cut the legs down to the right size.

For Christmas last year, I got a Kitchen Aid mixer in pistachio green! It was the inspiration for the kitchen decor. You can barely see it in the corner on the counter. I use it all the time! I am really loving minty green right now.. I would love to redo the guest room in a mint/coral combo. I mentioned that to my sister, and she told me that she's decorating her bedroom in those colors at her new house! I guess it's "in" right now. :) So I found the rug at Urban Outfitters- it was a great price and the perfect color. You can see there's a lot of color going on in here.. I guess I'm making up for the lack of wall color!

Here's the hutch again. I love all of the natural light that comes through the glass doors. I found the curtains with my sister-in-law on super clearance at Restoration Hardware.. I love the gray color. The prints hanging on the wall are from Alicia Bock's shop on etsy. I love all of her shots.

I love the story of the mirror hanging on the wall... My mom has one identical to it that was given to her by her mom before she got married 29 years ago.. Fast forward 27 years- My mom was driving around and saw this mirror frame on the side of the road, picked it up, and gave it to me before I got married! Mine wasn't in as good of shape as hers.. It was completely black and looked like it had been in a fire. I spray painted it and had the mirror put in for $40. I love it!

So I mentioned we don't have a pantry or many cabinets.. This pot rack from Crate & Barrel has been a life saver. We thought we could live without a microwave, but we were wrong. This table (from the same antique shop that I got the bench) works perfectly for our space and gives the microwave a home!

I don't ever feel like a room is ever finished.. Maybe I inherited this from my mom who is always rearranging furniture and adding new items to rooms. After looking at these pictures, I am currently heading into the kitchen to change something around.. But this gives you a good idea of what it looks like for now! Come and visit! I'll make you something tasty!!