Daffodil's Photography

Hi everyone! I just wanted to pass along a fabulous new online photography shop from one of my favorite bloggers, Daffodil's. She is a talented photographer (and blogger!), and has some gorgeous beachy photos from the California coast. You can enter her giveaway while you check out the site too!

Enjoy xoxo

Spring!

Today officially felt like spring in Atlanta and it was fantastic. I feel so lucky to have so many wonderful things going on in my life. Today I sat outside and had lunch from the food trucks (one of my favorite things to do) and it's my Friday! What a fantastic end to a short week. This afternoon I even--brace yourselves--went for a run.those words have never been uttered by me before. I am starting from scratch so I can't run for very long distances, but I did the best I could and I'm really proud of myself! I can't wait to keep up the habit as the weather gets nicer. John and I are attempting to train for the Peachtree Road Race (10k) in July. I'll be happy if I can run half of it!

I hope you all had as wonderful of a day as I did. It capped off a really inspiring week for me (more on my week later). I can't wait to do some relaxing this weekend and to go to the Georgia Tech vs Wake Forest basketball game this weekend! nothing feels more like March to this North Carolinian than going to an ACC basketball game. Happy weekend friends!

Oscar Fashion

Last night was the first time in years that I actually watched the Oscars, almost in its entireity. The show wasn't too long and boring, in my opinion. I thought they did a great job of moving the awards along, and I really enjoyed the Cirque du Soleil performance. But, as usual, the fashion ws the most important part of the night. Here are some of my absolute favorites, and a few misses thrown in for good measure too!

Gorgeous and age appropriate. And she looks like an Oscar!

Another amazing gold dress. Dating George Clooney has many perks, I'm sure, and this dress is definitely one of them.

I think this cape is so chic, and the dress was gorgeous on its own during the show!

I love this on Cameron. The color and the subtle sparkles are fabulous. And her body looks flawless!

Emma Stone can do no wrong for me. Even though this looked a lot like something Nicole Kidman wore a few years back, this red is stunning and so flattering on her.

This dress screams JLo. I love the cut and the sparkle, and only wish (just like everyone else), that I had the body to pull it off!

I thought this dress was perfect for Octavia Spencer. Flattering and sparkly without being too over the top. Love it!

I couldn't decide for a while if I loved or hated this one. I think its still a maybe for me. Its a beautiful dress, but maybe just doesn't show up very well on camera?

Adore this! Michelle Williams is stunning in this coral dress. I love everything about it. And I love how she reminds me so much of my bff Kristin. Similar hair and skin and features and soft voice :)

The Misses: I really didn't think anyone looked terrible last night, some were just better than others.

I think white is great on her fair skin and the overall shape is good, but I'm not a huge fan of the overly architectural dresses like this one.

Fantastic color, but I don't like the ruffled bottom, and I think the neckline could be much more flattering.

I really want to like this, but it just feels blah. It seems too loose on top, and the waistline is awkward. I want to go back to the stunning gold Oscar dress of years gone by!

Did y'all watch the Oscars? What did you think of the fashion?

Good things (and bad spending habits)

Hi Friends! I hope y'all are having a great week so far and looking forward to the weekend as much as I am. I enjoyed myself (probably a little too much) last weekend...why can't every weekend be four days long? Sigh. In my four days off, I went to a 4 year old Fairy Tale Glam birthday party, shopped (a lot), did my taxes and enjoyed some laziness around the house.

My co-worker Kelly and I took up trip up to our favorite outlets in Dawsonville, GA on Monday, and the sales were incredible. I spent too much, but I got so much for what I did spend. Including but not limited to a new black leather bag from Kate Spade--how is it possible that I have never owned a black purse before?--and some KS jewelry, a few tops from Banana and a skirt from Loft, and bascially an entire new spring wardrobe in bright, gorgeous colors from J. Crew. No one does spring clothes like J. Crew! I'm going to have fun styling some of my new pieces and incorporating them with things I already owned. Also got a very cute hot pink dress that might be perfect for Julie's rehearsal dinner!

So, for the rest of February, and probably March too, I'm back on the no shopping kick. It should be pretty easy to stick to after getting all those new items last week. I'm really looking forward to doing some traveling for work again (yay!) in the next few weeks, and saving some money while I travel. I'm also excited about booking a few vacations, too. I just can't make it through the weeks quite as well without a great trip to look forward to. So far, I've got a mountain weekend in March, a wedding week (eek!) in March, and a trip to Canada with my parents in the summer. I really want to add a beach trip with John, a trip to Disney and maybe a trip up to CT/NYC to visit Kristin as well. So much fun to look forward to :)

Mini frame wall

I made a mini-gallery wall in my bedroom last week, and I really like the way it turned out! I used Command picture hanging strips so that I didn't have to put 12 holes in my wall, and they worked our really well. I would definitely recommend them for any picture hanging projects around the house.

I hope you all have a great weekend! I'm doing some errand running today,including returning that impulse buy Kate Spade bag and getting new passport pictures taken (yay for potential international trips!). Tomorrow I've got a very glamorous 4 year old birthday party to attend, and a potential outlet mall trip on Monday. Have I mentioned that I love banking holidays that happen on Mondays? Hope you all enjoy yourselves!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope everyone is having a great Valentine's Day! I don't particularly like this holiday (maybe a hold-over from all the years I was a singleton?), but I do still like to celebrate in small ways, like wearing pink (which I forgot to do) and eating chocolates (which I definitely will do tonight!). I think I'm going to try my hand at making some chocolate dipped strawberries and oranges--hopefully they turn out well!


What are y'all up to for Valentine's Day? Do you celebrate at all?

A few things

1. My apologies for abandoning the blog for the past week or two. I haven't been feeling all that inspired to write, so I figured silence was better than writing a bunch of mindless nothing. But now I'm feeling motivated again, so you can expect regular updates again!

2. Thank goodness, the shopping hiatus of January is over! I celebrated by going to the mall last weekend. I 've been good at keeping myself to my new shopping rules (Do I love it? Is it unlike anything else I have? Etc.), and I am even going to return a Kate Spade bag that was an impulse buy at Nordstrom Rack (on a super-sale, I assure you). I'm still in the market for a fabulous new bag, but now I can put that money toward something spectacular. Saving up for a big ticket item that I will love and use long term is a lot better than buying things I'm only half-way excited about on sale. I've also started keeping a list at all times of things I'd like to have. That way I can think about them on paper for a while before making a purchase. I think a lot of impulse purchases have already been avoided thanks to this tactic. My current list includes:

-Colorful pencil skirt (thinking J. Crew)
-New workout shoes (New Balance Buckhead Groupon purchased)
-Big sparkly necklace and/or bracelet (also thinking J. Crew x2)
-New bright pillows for my bed
-Large bright painting for over my bed

So far, I've bought the following from the list:

-Kate Middleton blue dress (Nordstrom Rack, on sale)
-Black leggings (Target)
-Nude shoes for Julie's wedding (DSW)

3. Adele. Oh how I love that girl. She was absolutely fantastic last night at the Grammy's. I have loved her since her first album, 19, and am so glad she's getting the recognition she deserves. And that hair! I swear deep down inside of her is a Southern girl trying to come out. She is officially my new inspiration for big, beautiful pageant queen hair.

4. I'm over the cold already. I know January was in the 60s most days, and I am spoiled, but lows in the teens this weekend was not okay. I was barely able to get out of bed this morning.

5. I'm in the mood to try a new recipe this week. Any reccommendations?