Farewell Summer

Where did the time go?  In the blink of an eye, I went from wishing for warm, sticky summer days to ready for the football season's best!  We dodged the rain showers this weekend and celebrate the final summer time weekend with a fish fry with friends, a super fun brunch at Horseradish Grill, jazz music on the patio at our fave local pizza spot and good times with friends and fam.  This summer was a wonderful blur full of fun to say the least!  While I have a few more weeks before it's time to start pulling out long sleeves and boots, the fall like weather this morning certainly had me in the mood!  And so, to celebrate the last few warm days of summer ... the perfect slice of strawberry pie!   

While You Were Sleeping

In hindsight, perhaps it was a bit irrational, perhaps a bit spontaneous ... but during Baby B's napping, Dear Hubs and I decided to do a little domestic project and overhaul our closet flooring.  Ok, saying it now; I'd tend to agree this seems overzealous and ridiculous - but hey ... we are new parents so a bit of slack is in order. 

When we built our current home, one of my primary requirements was a closet spacious enough to house all of my clothes without seasonal rotation and ample space for my somewhat extensive shoe collection.  The master bedroom closet is positioned conveniently over the garage and has similar dimensions, so my wish was granted!  The closet has been sporting beige carpet for 5 years now and with time, dust bunnies and two dogs who love to sniff around it has just gotten dingy.  So, when a great deal on hardwood presented itself as a "special" at our big orange favorite Home Depot; we new it was time to channel our inner do-it-yourselfer mentality and replace the flooring. 

Since Baby B is only a few weeks old, our naive assumption was that he would take a long nap and we could saw, hammer and complete the project while he slept.  Well, that was only somewhat accurate and my attention bounced between project and the babe most of the morning. 

Before: Overcrowded, Disorganized and just plain BLAH!

In Progress ... Carpet be Gone and Hardwood on the Way!

Once complete, the floors made such a difference that we just had to take it a step further and make a few other minor mods to finish the job.  A large initial plaque (from Hobby Lobby) and some stencil decals (from JoAnne's) provide a few decorative touches and coordinate with black and white damask storage boxes (also from Hobby Lobby).  Dear Hubs assisted by (finally) hanging two racks of hooks for my scarves to neatly hang.  Before, they were banished to a crowded drawer where only two or three faves ever saw daylight.  My jewelry boards were rehung by the window and now thanks to some re-organization can easily be reached.  Oversized purses and totes were organized on the back of the closet door while the remaining clutches, bags and other accessories were also organized to keep them in plain sight.  Lastly, a little folding, shoe organizing and a little tidying up of the area completed the job.  I did my best sales pitch for a series of chandeliers to round out the space, but given Dear Hubs' extensive height ... I didn't push too hard when vetoed.  Voila ... now that it's complete, I love how orderly and organized everything is and just hope it stays that way!


Voila!  Clean and Neat Finished Product



Necklaces and Scarves are Neatly Organized and Ready to Grab

Oversized Totes are Visible but Out of the Way!

Zsa Zsa's Birthday

One thing is for certain, every year at the end of August, our family gathers together to celebrate Zsa Zsa's birthday.  You could set your watch by it.  Zsa Zsa just loves the fact that we all get together and have a family party in her honor.  And, the day wouldn't be complete without at least one proclaimation of "Happy Birthday to Me!".  It's actually very cute how much she just loves this day and I think her love for parties, celebrations, gift giving and time with family is what has instilled that same love in me and LaLa. 

This year, the weather complied and our celebration consisted of a lazy afternoon together capped off by a BIG low country boil.  A fam favorite ... the low country boil consisted of plenty of crab legs, shrimp, sausage, corn and potatoes.  Just when we thought we didn't have any more room after the delish meal, we indulged in a homemade almond cake compliments of moi and ice cream. 

The delish crab legs are a fam fave - fresh from the boil!

Pasta salad in individual jars - tied up with a coordinating bow

Nana is ready to dig in!

The Birthday Cake - almond cake with buttercream frosting

Happy Birthday Zsa Zsa!

A wonderful meal and wonderful time with family ... this is what makes great memories!  Happy Birthday Zsa Zsa!

PLAY

Things have been a bit busy around these parts this summer.  New baby, new business, home projects ... you name it - when our family decides to get busy, we can certainly pile it on.  One of my latest projects has been to prep a playroom for Baby B.  I know, I know ... what in the world does a 6 week old need a playroom for???  I'd agree, but when all of the toys started piling up even before his arrival; it was decided that a playroom was in order to keep everything orderly and ready for fun.  Sure, Baby B won't use it for a while, but for not it makes a great place for fun when our friends come to visit!

Since the usefulness of this room could be debated by some (especially Dear Hubs), I wanted to be sure to do this on the cheap.  I'm not talking Pottery Barn outlet "cheap" ... I'm talking like give new life to what you have and make it cute cheap!  Outside of a few $1 finds at Target, a few pieces of art that couldn't be passed up and some inexpensive throw pillows ... we conquered the challenge!  Here's a few sneak peak pics of the funnest room in the house (if you are Baby B)!

An old armoire given new life with a little chalkboard paint!  I painted the inserts with the left over  paint from this project.  The owl painting was done by moi and the Playroom sign is compliments of GoJumpInTheLake on etsy!

A chalkboard eisel makes the perfect place for friends to leave Baby B a sweet note.  The marionette was a gift from Bestie C from an adorable toy store in NYC!

More sweet art from GoJumpInTheLake.  Fabric from Forsyth Fabrics and pillows from Target.

Window treatments featuring so cute dogs in multicolor sweaters and coordinating dot valences.  

~charmed, b

Get excited ... this post is partying over at TCB, I Heart Naptime, Thirty Handmade Days and Sun Scholars

Colorful Creative

I'm a magazine junky.  Well, that's putting it mildly ... every month volume upon volume of my fave periodicals roll into my mailbox.  I save these little gems away for the afternoon that happens every once and a while when Baby B sleeps long enough for me to drool over all of the pics, ideas and get some creative inspiration. 

If you are like me and treasure your time enthrawled in print, you have probably come across those darling Sherwin Williams advertisements.  They can't be missed in Better Homes and Gardens, Southern Living and the likes.  You know the ones ... where the creative minds at SW have taken paint swatches and craft something adorable like a cake or a house out of the fabulous colors.  These ad geniuses inspired my gift wrapping for Dear Ole' Dad's birthday gift back in June.  So, imagine my surprise when I opened the pages of Southern Living this month to find that Sherwin Williams had an ad that was very similar to my crafty goodness!  Maybe I should get a job working in advertising, great minds must think alike! :)

DOD is the toughest person on Earth to shop for ... he never desires any gift in particular and when asked "WHAT can we possibly get you for your birthday?" His reply is always the same, "I don't need anything".  Well ... in a family where everyone else always has a little heart's desire that could make the perfect gift ... DOD is the one hold out that never, ever wants a thing.  And for southerners who love giving gifts ... that's a tough pill to swallow.

This time, when asked the million dollar question "WHAT would you like for your birthday?" he finally offered up that he wouldn't mind some supplies for his current basement renovation.  Zsa Zsa and DOD were hard at work painting, recarpeting, tiling and such their basement rooms and these projects were certainly consuming everything at the moment.  While it wasn't the most exciting request, hey ... we will take it!  And so with that, I set out to come up with a creative way to give him the requested Home Depot gift card or cash he wanted for the project. 

Long story aside ... that is what led me to my little colorful creative.  I marched myself (so preggo I could bust I must add) to Home Depot to secure supplies for my gift wrapping and whipped up a real life version of the Sherwin Williams whimsy and some project cash especially for DOD.  This way he could select his own paint suplies just as his heart desires (well, and Zsa Zsa too).   

To craft your very own ... it's so simple! 

The Dish (what you need):

• Paint swatches (free at home supply store)
• Paint stir sticks (free at home supply store)
• Scissors
• A paint bucket / can (available at home supply store)
• Tissue Paper
• Craft foam
• Hole punch

  Craft in a Flash (what you do):
1. Create a template for your petals. Each flower will need 5-6 petals, cut out the petals on the paint color swatches.

 2.  Attach the petals to the paint stir stick with hot glue.

3.  Cover the center point with a few oversized hold punches from your scraps.

4.  Put the floral foam in the paint bucket and insert the flowers.  Cover foam with tissue paper.

For my gift, I added dollar bill "grass" around the base of the flowers. 

Needless to say, DOD thought the gift was very creative, appreciated and perhaps a little more colorful than the "Bleaker Beige" they selected for the walls :).

~charmed, b

  

June Cleaver Would Be Proud

It's been a nice change of pace being home on maternity leave for the past few weeks and in taking a page from June Cleaver's domestic diva manual ... having hot dinner on the table at 6pm is something I set out to accomplish this week. 

This meal has all of the wow of a meal that took hours to prepare; but with the help of your trusty slow cooker, it can be ready with minimal fuss!

Chicken Scallopini with Slow Cooker Veggies
Ingredients

•  2 1/2 cups frozen seasoned diced potatoes
• 2 cups frozen sliced carrots
• 2 cups frozen early harvest peas
• 2 cups frozen haricots verts
• 2 pounds thin-sliced chicken breast fillets
• 1 packet Knorr veggie soup dry mix 
• 1 can condensed cream of asparagus soup
•  1/2 cup white wine 
• Vegetable oil
• Flour, for dredging
• Seasoning - Mrs. Dash and garlic powder

 Directions

1.  In a slow cooker, combine all veggies.
2.  Whisk togetherr 2/3 of the dry soup mix, condensed soup and wine.  Add to the slow cooker and mix with veggies.  Set slow cooker on low for approx. 4 hours.
3.  Heat oil in a large skillet.
4.  Combine flour, remaining dry soup mix, seasoning and a dash of salt in a shallow plate or dish.  Dredge chicken in mixture. 
5.  Cook chicken in skillet for approx. 2-3 min per side.
6.  Serve chicken over the veggies.


Voila!  Domestic diva meal in a flash!

Are You Ready for Some Football?

Football season is about to kick it up into high gear and fans everywhere rejoice!  I just love this time of year for so many reasons; and football is one of the top 5.  Dear Hubs played football in college and I've been a fan since the early cheerleading days of my youth.  To start the season off right, here's a sneak peak at the too cute wreathes that will be gracing my front doors come this football season. 

Sure, Mack Brown at the great University of Texas (go Longhorns!) may get the first phone call from this crazed mama offering first recruiting dibs on all 2 feet (yes ... at 6 weeks he's already 24 inches) of Baby B for the class of 2029, but my heart belongs to my alma mater, Georgia Tech.


After making these wreathes for myself, I've made them for countless others and last year caved and crafted a UGA one for the Quiet Heroes benefit. For a good cause, I can put my pride aside and make one in red!

So get excited, football season is about to kick into high gear and this fan couldn't be more ready!

Oh.... and To Hell With Georgia!  Go Jackets!


~charmed, b

This post is partying over at TCP and Thirty Handmade Days, CSI