kentucky derby party planning

As you probably know, the husband is a Kentucky boy. And crazy about his horse races! I had a thing or two to learn when we started dating as my experience was pretty limited. It's certainly a fun past time and I now look forward to attending various horse races  each spring and fall. Last year we happened had our engagement pictures taken on the same day as the Derby (Not by choice of CSB, mind you), complete with mint juleps! 

We hoped to get Derby tickets this year but they ended up being substantially more than we cared to pay for them. So, what's second best to attending? Throwing a derby party! {Confession: It's only been 6 months since the wedding and I am already itching to plan something.}

Here's a look at my initial plans:

1. Party supplies for the event; I love the 2012 print on the cups. 

{via: The Kentucky Derby Official Store}

2. Mint juleps, of course. {Image via}

3. Lots of red roses for decoration and as centerpieces {Image via}

4. Derby Pie {via: Southern Living}

Since this is our first derby party, I would love to hear any suggestions, especially form any of you Kentucky gals out there.
And, to any Nashville gals- if you ever need fresh flowers in bulk (for reasonable prices) check out Import Flowers. I shopped for most of our wedding flowers here and they have a great selection! I will certainly be making a run before the derby party.

Happy Friday! Hope everyone's weekend is amazing. 

t-minus (less than) 24 hours...

Until the J.Crew outlet reopens in Nashville! Yep. I'm dedicating an entire post to the J.Crew outlet. 

I. am. so. excited. Probably a little more excited that is acceptable. In googling an image for this post I stumbled across a local blog that said the store would be opening in April. For a few moments I was not a happy girl! Seriously. This date has been on my calendar for a while now. So, I decided to call the store and investigate...

Tomorrow at 10 a.m. it is! False blog alarm, thankfully. 

Friday at 4:30 on the dot a few of my coworkers and I will be making the trek to Opry Mills to check it out. Sorry, CSB! 

obsessed.

In no particular order, here a few of my current obsessions. 

Fingernail polish. And changing it 1-2 times per week. This seems to be a habit that comes and goes for me. I will be really obsessed for a few weeks and then cut all of my fingernails off and keep them natural for a few weeks. I cannot stand my fingernails long and polish-less. It gives me the heebie-jeebies for whatever reason and I can't stand how my nails feel when I touch things... Weird, I know. 

My favorite colors at the moment are Sand Tropaz (1.), Cute as a Button (2.), and Glamour Purse (3.), all by Essie.

Kickboxing. I'm obsessed. I'm gradually feeling less out of shape, even. But my poor knuckles... They are finally adjusting and no longer bruised/busted.  Kickboxing is also part of the reason I feel the need to change my fingernail polish. I cannot stand chipped fingernails... And needless to say kickboxing is not to kind to manicured nails. Wow, I am sounding pretty high maintenance. 

All things navy blue. This is actually not a new obsession. But I am excited it's such a popular color this season! Here are a few of my favorites.

1. Navy wedges {via BR}  2. Tunic {via H&M}  2. Bangle {via Kate Spade}  4. Flats {via Tory Burch}

I am also obsessed with coral and pink accessories.

1. Necklace {via Kate Spade}  2. Heels {via Steve Madden}

And stripes. Though I have already purchased two striped dresses in the last two months, I can't help but drool over all things striped. Especially dresses! 

The Nutrition Diva. My good friend L introduced her podcasts to me this week and I have already listened to almost 20! They make morning walks more enjoyable (music makes me feel bored) and are really interesting. 

{via}

Anybody share any of the my obsessions??

weekend finds

It was a pretty low key weekend, for which I was thankful! I enjoyed an extra day of relaxation to it's fullest. On Saturday CSB played golf and then I met up with the boys and one of my friends for lunch and drinks at Edley's on the patio.

I also found a shirt I have been coveting on major sale this weekend (but for which I refused to pay full price!) for almost 75% off! I actually spotted it in the store on Friday but the price was still a little higher than I wanted to pay. I happened to look online on Saturday and found it for even cheaper than the store's price! Lesson learned- always check the website at Anthropologie!

I also made a Target run this weekend. Target runs are usually dangerous for me... I only left with one item that was not on my list: 

How cute are these? And only $7.99! The remind me of a pair J.Crew made awhile back. 

Oh, and here's a picture of the pups from the weekend, they didn't want to be left out! We are dog sitting for our friends' sweet puppy. The dogs are going to miss each other when S leaves tomorrow, that's for sure! 

 I also completed my first spring gardening project. A few months ago I decided I wanted to plant a few herbs on our back patio, as I have been finding myself using them so often for recipes lately. So far I have planted mint, cilantro, and basil. I plan to plat a few more if I can keep the first batch alive! 

Happy Monday! 

baby-making hilarity

No, no. Not real babies, just virtual ones. 

Out of boredom this morning, I clicked on an email from the nest (married version of the knot) with a link to the "baby morpher". The application supposedly shows what your future baby looks like. Usually things of this nature do not intrigue me, but like I said, I was bored. 

Here are the two pictures I put in: 

Here's our first kid, according to the website: 

Hahaha! I hope you laughed as hard as I did when I saw this! Can someone please explain where this child's skin tone and hair came from??

I tried it one more time (Why? I have no idea...) and here's what we got: 

At least this one (minus the headphones... What about CSB and I's pictures makes the website think we are rappers?) has the same eye, hair, and skin color as at least one of us! 

So... If you're bored on this Saturday morning and in need of a laugh head over and check out the Baby Morpher.

Dear husband... If you see this post, please don't kill me. I was bored. 

wedding season 2012

Our refrigerator is quickly filling with wedding invitations and save the dates. Don't believe me? 

Our wedding count for 2012 is up to 10 thus far. We've got all months of the year covered from March until September. We impressively have two weddings to attend in the same week in September! 

Last weekend we took a little road trip to Atlanta to celebrate the marriage of a friend from college. It was such a sweet ceremony, a beautiful setting, and fun reception! We got to catch up with another friend from college and her husband and got to meet their newest addition, too. I snuggled baby J for the first oh, hour, of the reception. When the beautiful bride made her way around to our table this happened: 

It's a little blurry, but precious nonetheless, yes? He tried to compensate for his baby-holding with a beer in the other hand. But it didn't quite cancel out the fact he was still holding the baby.

The wedding, like I said, was absolutely beautiful! And the weather could not have been more perfect. I forgot my camera (classic, now that it is finally again in working order, of course I forgot it) and only snapped a few pictures with the hubs iPhone. 

{Finally a picture of the new haircut!}

 S & D, I promise this was BEFORE the actual ceremony started. But ridiculous nonetheless. CSB stayed updated on March Madness throughout the evening... 

While in Atlanta we visited one my all time favorite non-healthy food establishments: Taco Mac! I could eat their queso for every meal. Seriously. It might be good for my health that one is not located in Nashville! 

We also made a run to Trader Joe's while we were there. I love that we finally have our own in Nashville, but don't love the fact they don't sell wine. You can't beat two buck chuck! 

{Note: Only one of the cases was for us! We also purchased for my mom and our neighbors.}

happy spring break!

This week has been our clinic's spring break, meaning no kiddos and time for spring cleaning, organization, professional development, and a paid Friday off! It's been an incredibly relaxing week. I've woken up at the normal time but enjoyed coffee, taken Paisley for long walks, and gone into work a little later. I've also eaten lunch out every single day, which I am normally against. But it's spring break. And I was determined to enjoy it to it's fullest. 

Paisley has also thoroughly enjoyed my spring break. On Monday she got to join us for lunch in the park. 

On Wednesday she got to come to work with me. She was so well-behaved! And definitely enjoyed all of the attention. She was exhausted at the end of the day!

I'm looking forward to having tomorrow off. So far, my only plans are to workout and take the pups (we are dog sitting my friend's sweet dog Savannah this weekend) for a walk and clean the house. Exciting Friday, I know! I'm hoping for nice weather so the hubs and I can enjoy dinner somewhere on the patio tomorrow night. 

back in the swing of things

Quite literally.

I joined a kickboxing gym this week (HOTBOX fitness). And, after only 2 it is kicking my booty. I went for the first time on Saturday morning bright and early and could barely sit up in bed the next morning, much less walk. I literally asked Sean to roll or push me out of bed it hurt so bad to move (he refused). I went for a second time tonight and signed up for a membership. I even read every word of the contract (husband, pat me on the back!) and can get out of it for A) moving 25 miles away B) getting preggers C) injuring myself seriously. For the record, I am definitely not planning for a, b, or c in the next 9 months. But I am excited about getting in shape again over the next few months.

My health and fitness status has gone to the birds since getting married, though it honestly wasn't great prior. I was not in the best shape of my life on my wedding day. I lost a little weight leading up to it but mostly due to stress and eating healthier with the occasional walk/run. I was not tone. At all.

And I digress. Essentially, I am tired of being out of shape. I was in the best shape of my life during college, when I kickboxed. It's the only workout that doesn't bore me. I am simply not a daily hot yoga girl (I tried), I bore of the treadmill or running everyday, and I can only cycle so many days in a week. I am beyond excited to have found an amazing gym in Nashville. It's an amazing full body workout and and hour of cardio all at once. Incredible.

In other news... I chopped the 'ol ponytail off, finally! I eluded to a haircut in my long ago last post. Pictures to come! I love it and have only slightly regretted it since starting to workout again. It's a slight bit more work than when it was long and I could just walk out the door with a wet head. However, I think it's worth it. My hair looks so much thicker and is so much healthier than it was. And it will grow back fast.

Happy Monday!