beach bound... in 12 days!

Yep, in 12 short days the hubs and I are headed to the beach with our good friends L and T. I am very ready. So ready that I've already started mentally packing for the trip. And even in real life pile-making in preparation. I'm currently debating (and since our trip is quickly approaching, I need to make a decision quickly!) buying a new bathing suit... Here are a few I've been scoping out:

{J.Crew}

{J.Crew}

{V.S}

{anthropologie}

Prepare yourselves for more beach-themed posts to come! Happy Memorial Day. 

i heart...

snail mail!

First of all, two of my best friends are absolutely wonderful at sending me sweet snail mail. Their notes always seem to arrive at just the right time and I always love hearing from them. I, on the other hand, am terrible at actually sending notes and mail. I always have good intentions and often start notes and never finish them... Or write notes and never actually send them! We also got our first issue of Garden and Gun in the mail. I definitely enjoyed the content and CSB gave it two thumbs up. Here's to a magazine we both can enjoy and one that the husband will let me leave on the coffee table. 

Happy Monday! 

weekend iPhone dump

I spent the weekend at my mom's house, the home I lived in for most of my childhood, cleaning out closets and the attic. My mom is preparing to sell her house and has been in clean-out mode for the last few weeks. It was quite bittersweet, sorting through pictures, yearbooks, and various other memorabilia. My mom also packed up boxes of baby clothes to send home with me (no, the answer to your question is no!). I taunted shared with the husband throughout the evening through text message (he stayed home for a friend's golf tournament). 

How sweet is this precious sweater?? My gaga made it and I wore it as a baby. 

And this?? 

(I'm quite over the poor quality of my iPhone pictures... BUT I took my life-proof case off today and realized part of the problem was that the case/phone needed to be cleaned. Clearer pictures to come!)

As I mentioned, I also attended a wedding on Saturday night. It was such a sweet and beautiful wedding and everything was beautiful! The wedding ceremony and reception took place on the land where the bride and groom currently have a started home and plan to build another home in a few years. So neat! 

The brother and I. 

Have I mentioned that Paisley got a new haircut?? She was quite a bit matted and we decided to get her cut short for the summer. It was a little short at first but is slowly starting to look less drowned-rat and more goldendoodle. 

The last picture I will leave you with... Before the wedding I quickly put Lancome flash bronzer on my legs. Sometime during the ceremony I was bitten by something and didn't think twice about scratching it. I woke up this morning and laughed when I saw the lines in the midst of my somewhat tan legs. I have no idea what my legs looked like last night but am hoping my streaks weren't too noticeable! 

i need this

{Image via}

How stinking cute is this little guy?? Who doesn't need a custom painted KitchenAid mixer? The Pioneer Woman is currently hosting a giveaway on her blog. When I entered there were already over 40,000 entries... I'm obviously not holding my breath to win, but how fun it is! I actually don't think I will ever part with my red mixer that my grandmother gifted me for my 25th birthday, so if I did win I would need to come up with a lot of reasons to bake in order to put two mixers to use. 

Happy Monday! 

derby party!

Last weekend a crew of friends gathered for our first annual Derby party. It was definitely fun! CSB got up early and started the smoker in the rain... It rained for a few hours in the morning but luckily cleared up by noon and the weather was beautiful (but hot). Unfortunately my camera refused to focus and I have only iPhone pictures from the day (despite just getting my camera "fixed" a few weeks ago!). I snagged the hubs' iPhone 4 (with a much better camera) a few times but most of the pictures are from my 3G. I also was so frustrated with my camera that I forgot to take pictures of most things until the end of the evening.

The horse cookies! Made with the sugar cookie and icing recipe my mom used when I brother and I were little. 

We hosted a contest for best dressed and everyone also got to draw a horse before the race began. The gift baskets included wine, bourbon, cookies, and bourbon pecans. 

One of our guests took, "draw a horse" in a little different direction. Too funny!

 

Kitchen set-up... I was able to reuse lots of decorations from our wedding! Some of our sweet friends also gifted CSB and I with a bottle of Woodford's Derby bourbon. I can't bring myself to opening it quite yet because it's so pretty. 

The bourbon punch was a hit... I think a total of 4 pitchers were consumed over the course of the afternoon. 

Paisley and I on Sunday morning... She was wiped from all of the excitement! 

projects on the list

Last Saturday my friend L and I embarked on a fabric store adventure. We went with Pinterest projects in hand and in hopes to get our hand on some good free patterns at the sale! We are headed to the beach in June and have several projects we want to complete before our trip.

Fabric clutch

High waisted sash skirt

Annnnnnd, a tunic cover-up! Perhaps the project about which I am most excited. 

Tunic

Here are the fabrics I plan to use! The lobster is for a small zippered bag to keep in my big beach bag. the green patterned fabric is for a fun summer clutch, the anchor fabric is for the skirt, and the pink (it looks red in the picture) is for my tunic, with the navy for edging! I'm so excited. And after the amount of money I spent on fabric, very committed to my projects. :)