Five on Friday

I'm linking up with my favs April at A. Liz Adventures and Christina at Carolina Charm for.....

 

 

ONE

I met up with a good friend this week at one of my favorite Columbia restaurants Cantina 76. We got the trio, which is salsa, queso, and guacamole, and a round of the Honeysuckle Margaritas. Have you tried these things yet? They are amazing! They are made with Cathead Honeysuckle Vodka and were a perfect addition to our catch-up session.

TWO
We had a snow day Tuesday and Wednesday so we caught up on some great movies. We watched The Wolf of Wall Street and American Hustle. They both were full of huge name actors and were all about opulence and making easy money. I liked both but it was a sensory overload watching them back to back.



THREE
If you are looking for a mindless, easy read, chick lit book I have a great one for you. It's call The Finishing Touches by Hester Browne. A woman takes charge of an old fashion finishing school in England and tries to bring it into the modern day.

FOUR
The Super Bowl! Whether you love sports or hate them I think everyone can enjoy the Super Bowl. It's a great reason to get friends together, have good junk food, and the commercials are sometimes way more entertaining than the game. Speaking of commercials, have you voted for the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl commercial yet? If not click here and watch all the entries. They are hysterical.

FIVE

I am going to a baby shower tomorrow and I found the sweetest saying on Pinterest. I printed it out and framed it as part of my gift to the soon-to-be-mom.

Have a great weekend!!!!

Snow Day 2014

It snowed in Columbia, SC!!!!!

 

We had a full day off on Tuesday and Wednesday, even though it didn't start snowing until 9:00pm Tuesday night. We got the good kind of snow, pretty and fluffy and fun to play in. Our dog Camden is a Bernese Mountain Dog, which originated in Switzerland, and you could tell that he was made for snow. He loved it instantly! It was hard to get back to the regular work day after a couple mornings of sausage balls for breakfast, yes they are tailgating food but I needed to use up the sausage, and cuddling on the couch with The Price is Right.

10 Random Things About Me

I love when people post random things about themselves. It makes me feel a little better to hear that other people have odd quirks, not just me.

1) I blow my nose a lot. My husband says it's definitely more than anyone else he knows. Great.......

2) Growing up we only had three choices in the house to drink: milk, orange juice, or water. It still feels like a treat when we have tea or soda in the house now.

3) Both my parents were librarians, but I love book stores. It drives my mom crazy.

4) I make the bed every morning. I'm not talking hotel grade or anything, but the sheets and covers are straightened and all the pillows are arranged. When I was little I had a bad tendency of slipping back into bed after my parents woke me up in the morning. To stop me from doing that my parents would have me make my bed first thing so I wouldn't get back in. It just stuck and now I feel like the bedroom looks super messy if the bed is not made. (PS my husband does not share this philosophy and never makes the bed.)

5) I hate to clean the house, but get huge satisfaction out of doing laundry and ironing.

6) My hair is naturally super straight and baby fine. It does absolutely nothing other than lay flat. I can curl it, blow dry it upside down, you name it I've try it to add volume, but it falls by noon every time. My favorite posts to read are when people with similar hair post about what products they use.

7) I love wearing jeans; they can be casual, they can be dressy, they are super universal. But I hate shopping and buying them. Maybe everyone feels like this but it's torture to find jeans that fit perfectly.

8) I have super high arches on my feet so flats are usually uncomfortable for me. This is not a problem being 5 foot even, I can use all the height I can get.

9) I've only broken one bone in my whole life, the very tip of my left index finger. How pitiful is that? (Of course I was a huge baby about it, did I mention I was 26 years old when it happened?)

10) I have no idea what is more important to spend money on: filling the house, fixing the house, or travel.

What are some things that we wouldn't know about you from reading your blog?

Weekend in Review

Happy Monday Everyone!

Hope you had a great weekend. I finished up a couple DIY projects for the office that I'll share with you later and did stuff around the house. But what I really was looking forward to was the big Bachelor Wedding on Sunday night!

 

Did you watch it? The Bachelor/Bachelorette has been a guilt pleasure of mine for a couple years and I loved watching the wedding. Everyone was so happy and I feel like it's the real thing. I might be a sucker, but I have my fingers crossed for them.

Now saying that, I have to question some parts of the wedding marathon last night.

First

What was up with the Honeymoon Suite Cam?!?!?! I realize they made a big deal about abstaining before marriage, but is a camera in the bedroom really necessary? Does America really need to see housekeeping changing the sheets before the big night? I think not.

 

Second

Is "grown sexy" really a wedding theme? Everything looked pretty and romantic, soft and sweet, but grown sexy? Do you really want to use Robin Thicke as inspiration for your wedding? (No offense to Mr. Thicke.) Either way the ceremony was lovely, props to the wedding planner.

Third

I love tradition and cherished when Andy and I said the traditional vows that so many couples have recited before us. However I totally get when people write their own vows and usually they are sweet, personal, and heart felt. However something about Catherine saying "she'll love Sean until her heart bursts" felt a little unseemly. Whatever, to each their own.

Last

Did anyone else think it was weird that Lesley, who made it into the top five during Sean's season as the Bachelor, was a bridesmaid? I understand that she has found a new guy and the girls become very close during the filming. But Lesley and Sean broke the record for longest on screen kiss.

Five on Friday - Birthday Edition

I'm linking up with my favs April at A. Liz Adventures and Christina at Carolina Charm for.....

ONE
Last Friday Andy and I had one of the best meals ever! He had never been to the Columbia hotspot Mr. Friendly's. If you have never been either it's the perfect example of classy, southern cuisine and a favorite of pretty much everyone. We went with the Restaurant Week menu and could not have been happier. I had a pork belly appetizer, cornmeal crusted catfish, and peanut butter cheesecake. The food was amazing, the atmosphere was warm and the services was hands down the best, from the hostesses to the waiters. I've been talking about this meal all week and it was a great way to celebrate my birthday a little early.

TWO
Have you read Five Love Languages? I have and my love language is Acts of Service. I love to do things for someone so they don't have to and I adore when something is done for me. My husband has been home this week and each day I've come home to so many projects being accomplished. Pictures are hung, curtains have been installed, every corner has been vacuumed, yard work done, lots of my lost items have been found, the list goes on and on. I love that Andy is so productive and it was such a great gift.

THREE
On Tuesday my very dear friend Danielle brought me an office plant for my birthday. How funny is that since I just wrote a post about plants? Its a Bromeliads and has the most beautiful purplely-red flower. I just love it and I was so surprised!

FOUR
I like practical birthday presents. Since Christmas was less than a month ago it's hard to come up with gifts so close together. I have really been wanting a white down comforter for our bed and that's just what I got. Andy also picked out a duvet cover in case I get bored with just white. Do you have a comforter, and if so do you leave it plain white or put a duvet cover over it?

FIVE
Because it was my birthday week I had full reign over our TV watching. I started watching Gossip Girl on Netflix and I pretty much watched the entire series in a week. We always seem to watch TV series a couple years after they go off the air. Anyway, I never once saw Gossip Girl in it's heyday, but I loved my marathon. The clothes, the relationships, the drama was all so entertaining!

 

Have a great weekend!

Happy 28th Birthday to Me!!!!!

It's my birthday! I had a nice relaxing long weekend and a fabulous Restaurant Week dinner on Friday so I'm a happy camper. Everyone keeps asking what my big plans are, but honestly I don't really have any. I've always been pretty laid back about birthdays.

Do you go all out for birthday?

 

P.S. Google's image today is of birthday cakes. How fitting!

Five on Friday

Time to link up with these lovely ladies for....

 

 

 

ONE

It's restaurant week in Columbia, SC! This week has been so busy and I haven't made it out until last night. A friend and I went to Rosso and I had Fried Artichokes, Duck Confit Carbonara, and Dark Chocolate Budino. Everything was amazing! Although I think every city should follow Restaurant Week with Gym/ Work Out week, try a new gym or workout place, since you ate your weight in rich food the week before.

 

TWO

I'm a bridesmaid in my very good girlfriend's wedding in May. She is letting us pick whatever dress we want from J. Crew in the color Bright Guava. Since all the bridesmaids live in different cities ordering off their website has made this a simple process. I was super indecisive so I purchased three different styles to try. I ended up sending all of them back and requesting one of the styles in a different size. It was so easy! They had the return label already printed for me, all I had to do was drop it off at the post office. Then I had the new dress within 3-4 days. Now that is service! (If only I could order toned arms and abs from J. Crew I'd be all set for the wedding.)

THREE

I have big decorating plans for this weekend. Andy's friends are coming into town and I'm going to have them move around some furniture for me so I can get some of our guest rooms finalized. They have been junk rooms for too long. Also I have the frames for a photo gallery in my hallway but I haven't started it yet. Do you figure out the placement and then what pictures go in the frames or the other way around? Also, hopefully, I can figure out a paint color for our bathroom. I want a light blue/green/grey spa-ish color. Any suggestions?

 

Valspar Crystal Aqua

 

Valspar Sparkling Lake

 

FOUR

I got to wear my two new sets of earrings from Kate Spade this week and I love them! Plus they were both $19 each. Can you believe it!

 

FIVE

I'm obsessed with the Target candle Sugar Blossom. It's really sweet and feminine, just perfect for a bubble bath or wine night with the girls.

 



The Coolest Cake You Have Ever Seen

My baby brother turned 21 this past weekend. We got together as a family to celebrate and my gift was the cake. My brother said he wanted an ice cream cake but I wanted to do something different than white icing with Happy Birthday on it. After talking with my local Baskin Robbins we were able to come up with the beauty below. I highly recommend them if you want to make a statement with a cake. They were so easy to work with and my brother loved the cake. He sent pictures to all his friends and all our pictures have been very popular on social media.

The Best 21st Birthday Cake

 

 

 

Office Plants

Do you have a plant in your office? With my new job I got my very own office with my very own window. It's glorious! I'm still in the progress of making the space mine and I'm debating a plant of some kind. I'm not much of a green thumb so I want something easy, but pretty. My only thought at the moment is absolutely no bamboo, I'm still trying to get rid of that stuff in my back yard. I'm thinking something small so it can go on my desk or on the window sill. Thoughts?

Azalea Bonsai

 

Gardenia

 

Lemon Balm or Mint

 

Dracaena Plant

Movies I Want To See

Andy and I only rarely go to see movies in the theater, but we used to go all the time. Here are some on my "must see list" at the moment.

 

 

 

 

 

Any other recommendations that I should add to my list?

Five on Friday

Linking up with A. Liz Adventures and Carolina Charm for...
 

Five on Friday
Is it weird that I wanted to get back to blogging just so I could participate in Five on Friday? They are easily my favorite post to read for other people and I'm excited to finally join the group.

ONE
Cheesy Smoked Sausage Skillet by: Plain Chicken
This was dinner on Wednesday night. My husband and I have made this before and it was just as amazing as we remembered. It's super quick to throw together and we always have the ingredients either in the pantry or freezer. Make this ASAP!

TWO
Bath and Body Works Foaming Soap
I go through Bath and Body Works kicks. I didn't buy anything for a long time and then had a friend rave about the foaming hand soap. They were having a buy 6 for some crazy low cost so I went wild and have so much fun going through all the different scents. The Farm Picked line is amazing.

THREE
Conquest Brewery in Columbia, SC
On Saturday we went to Conquest Brewery, which is right next to Williams Brice Stadium in Columbia, SC. They have an awesome little tap room where you can try all of their beers. Andy and I split a flight to start and then I got my own after I figured out what my favorite was. If you are in the area I totally recommend it.

FOUR
Camden the Bernese Mountain Dog
So he isn't new but I haven't introduced the newest member of our family on the blog yet. Back in May we brought home our precious puppy Camden. He is a pure bred Bernese Mountain Dog that we got from Aiken, SC. He is now almost 10 months old and is pushing 75lbs, but the sweetest thing you have ever seen.

Camden at 8 weeks old

Camden at 9.5 months

FIVE
New Job!!!!
Santa brought me a new job, a bright and shine and perfect for me job, for Christmas. My first day was last Friday and it's been great so far. The people are wonderful, I have an office that I need to figure out how to decorate, and my sweet husband brought me flowers on the first day. It's always scary starting a new job because you don't really know the drill so I'm just ready to be settled and productive.

Have a great weekend!!!!!!