Creative Candles Summer Collection

Dress || Earrings || Glasses 

I am so very excited to announce a super fun collaboration I have been working on for a few months. As you know I absolutely love Creative Candles.  I love their tapers and absolutely love using them on tables, on our porch, and in every single candle holder in my home.  Their color selections are fabulous and you can choose everything from a 9 inch taper to a 24 inch taper, votives, pillars and every single thing in between.  Their selection is crazy good!!  I was asked by Creative Candles to be the ambassador of their Summer Collection and I have the curated collection to share with you today.  All of the candle in the colors that feel like summer to me and a variety of sizes for you to use all summer long. The Summer Collection includes candles in a showcase of cool blues, vibrant oranges and neutral pinks to match perfectly with all your summer entertaining needs. 

Have I mentioned I work at my dream job lately? 

Prepping For Sunny Days

The sun is out and summer is on and I could not love it more.  With the return of summer comes the responsibility of sun protection for all those days of summer adventures.  I love the sun just as much as I always have, but I take the damage the sun can do seriously, honestly more seriously than ever before.  When my husband was diagnosed with cancer last April we had to make our rounds for all the checks for his whole body and one of those appointments was to a dermatologist to check out some spots on his chest.  According to the American Cancer Society more people are diagnosed with skin cancer than all other cancers combined. One in five people will be diagnosed with some sort of skin cancer by the age of 70 which makes all of us vulnerable and all of us responsible for safe skin care.  Having spent so much time in an oncologists office I am passionate about helping you in any way I can.  The word cancer in any form is frightening and any tips + tricks I can share to help you never hear that word for you or anyone you love.

The Perfect Summer Dress

I have told you before and I am happy to share again and again, Walmart Fashion is one of my go tos when I need something fabulous.  Our recent eighth grade graduate needed a white dress for her ceremony and we ordered two of them, this one and another one.  Although I loved both of them, she decided the other one was more her style.  This one, however, was way more me and most definitely my assistant's style.  Isn't it so cute?

12 Happies du Jour

our dress

Happy Tuesday!  I hope your long weekend was incredible and you are really excited about the short week ahead.  I love a short week, but this one is going to be so full so I am thinking it may feel a little long.  That's alright ... lots of coffee, lots of good stuff and lots of happies to share with you today.

We had the best weekend.  Just the perfect mix of planned things and nothing at all.  Friday night we did nothing at all (my current favorite Friday evening plans) and then Saturday started the day with a trip to the Farmer's Market.  It was hot and we got their late, but it was still the best.  Millie was exhausted when we got home after her marathon smelling excursionThe kids spent most of Saturday at the pool with all of their friends and we just kept running snacks and drinks up like waiters.  It was so fun to see them having a blast.  Sunday was a mix of relaxing and some house chores including some pot gardening, which I am super excited about.  I love growing herbs and all the mint I can get my hands on.  Yesterday we had friends over for lunch and they stayed until late in the afternoon. We sat around chatting on the porch forever and it was ... the best.  We all gathered for movies last night and just some down time to end the perfect long weekend.  I crossed every single thing off my list this weekend ... read a book, hit the pool, farmers market, after dinner ice cream trip, house chores, have friends over, eat BBQ, sleep in and sneak in a nap (or two).  I call this weekend a huge success!  🙌

Happy Memorial Day 2019!

image

Today is the unofficial first day of summer and I think I am officially ready.  It always takes me a few days to adjust to the new schedule and, most importantly, the kids being done with another year of school.  I am always super excited for them to be home, just not so happy about them being another year older.  #sniff.

Memorial Day Sales

I hope your long weekend is off to an amazing start!  We are spending it with a mix of planned events mixed in with some relaxation and spur of the moment ideas which I think will be so much fun! 🎆 There are so many amazing sales happening this weekend and I had to share them all with you.  I hope you find some fabulous items among all the goodness, I know I did!

Cheers With A Charleston Cocktail

As you well know I love to create a crafted cocktail.  The moment I invite people over or am asked to put something together I begin researching and thinking of the drink I would like to make.  I think it is just stays on the to do list along with hostess gift, grab flowers, and run to market. My go to for a while is to make a punch of some sort and then set it beside a selection of spirits to let the guests choose whether they would like something in their beverage or to keep it as is.  For the trip to Charleston I was inspired by both our darling pink + orange table and learning that Ocean Spray had created a pink cranberry juice.  I spotted it while shopping at the market and instantly knew it would be perfect for the drink I was asked to create. 

The Charleston Collection

I am so excited about this post today ... this is something that I have been working on for almost a month so I am thrilled to be able to share it with you today.  The moment Mary Huddleston and I finished working together on our Easter collaboration we immediately started talking about what we wanted to do next.  It was a conversation over coffee before I left town and the last thing we said was ... so what are we doing next?  The moment the trip to Charleston came together the first thing on the list was a second tablescape. I knew we wanted to pull together a stunning table, but we wanted to do something more than set an incredible table to inspire others and show off amazing brands, we wanted to create something.

Breakfast On The Balcony

As I type this for you now I find myself craving an amazing breakfast just like the one we had while in Charleston.  Isn't is always that way when you have something so good, you crave it again and again?  Wednesday morning of our trip we were up early and ready for the day and most definitely the doorbell when our breakfast arrived.  Coffee in hand + cute pajamas on we were hungry and more than dying for some Callie's biscuits and grits. 

Girls Trip To Charleston

I know I have talked about my few days in Charleston last month a number of times and the biggest reason for that is how fabulous it was.  I have been to Charleston many times but never as a girls trip and I think this may have been one of my favorite trips to the fabulous city.  It happened with rather short notice to come together for three of us (Sweet Caroline Designs + Mrs. Southern Social) to meet up with two Charleston girls (Krystine Edwards + Andrea Kinnear) to work together on a fabulous collaboration which I will share with you over the next few days.  All five of us are Southern C alums and the talk had been buzzing for a while to work together so when the perfect opportunity presented itself we moved calendars and heaven (well, not really) to make it happen. It was the best few days I have had in the longest time with such inspiration, creativity, teamwork, and fun all rolled into one.  I honestly am counting down the days for our next meet up as we have many more ideas floating around in our heads.

12 Happies du Jour

image by Angie Webb Creative

We are officially walking into the last week of school for our younger two kids and I have some serious mixed feelings.  I always struggle with the end of school because that means they are one year closer to being adults which is hard.  You raise them to be independent and leave home and yet you never really want them to grow up and go.  It's tough, but I honestly have never been more proud of our kids.  They killed this year and they are all ready for a good summer.  Our girl could not be happier to be done with middle school and I seriously don't blame her one bit, the middle school years are so hard! And the middle child killed it this year which is such a blessing for him and us since just 18 months ago it was such a dark and deep struggle.  He is so excited to officially be done with his junior year!  How can they be this old?

Memorial Day Shopping

For me Memorial Day is always the beginning of summer.  Even though the kids get out of school the week before it isn't until Memorial Day weekend that I feel that summer has begun.  With the plethora of hygrangeas and all the red, white and blue it feels like summer should officially begin.  I get excited for the thoughts of lazy summer evenings, ice cream runs, swim days, trips and all the new summer memories.  I never love the idea of another school year ending because it means they are another year older and another year closer to leaving the nest.  The week between school ending and Memorial Day weekend gives me the time I need to emotionally move on. 🎆

Ladies Who Lunch ... & Collaborate

As you all well know I am a huge fan of all things created by my darling friend Taylor Miller Turner.  Taylor kills it as a business owner and honestly in all areas of her life as she is so intentional in her work and creativity. Honestly I think that is the best word to describe my friend.  She is intentional as a child of God, intentional as a wife (she is a newlywed!), intentional as a creative and business owner and definitely intentional as a friend and colleague.  Recently to celebrate her collaboration with Dixie Design Collective she hosted a darling Mother's Day Brunch at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas.

Blue + White In Roswell

I absolutely love the darling little towns in the surrounding areas of Atlanta.  There are so many neighborhood towns and each of them are charming in their own way.  We spend a lot of time eating and shopping in Roswell which is just 15 or so minutes from our house.  The brick streets, darling sidewalks, amazing restaurants and antiquing is so worth popping over.  Roswell is also the home of one of my favorite coffee houses (Crazy Love), Mexican restaurants (Ceviche) and the cutest little French bakery (Douceur de France).  It also has an amazing Thai restaurant (Rice), a great steak house (Little Alley) and a number of incredible antique shops.

Can you tell I spend a lot of time there?

12 Happies du Jour

I think one of the main reasons I love these Tuesday posts is that I kind of love to shop.  I mean, I am a woman and shopping is kind of fun for all women but I do think it is extra fun.  I also love suggesting gift ideas for others when they ask. So this post fills all those fun things ... virtual shopping + suggestion requests all in one.  Such fun ... 

The Best View In The City

In my completely biased opinion I think the best view in the city to watch the sunset is the high rise apartment of my dear friends Jill & Steve McKenzie.  I have had the opportunity to see it set more than once and I can tell you it may be better than any beach sunset, it is only missing the crashing waves and white sand.  There is something about the view from the McKenzie home that just makes me happy.  Maybe it is because I am with kind friends or maybe it is due to the stunning home itself.  I can tell you it is nothing short of spectacular!

Graduation Gifts For All

Wow ... it is graduation season once again and I can't even believe that its been four years since our oldest graduated from college.  He would be graduating this year ... but he has a double major and is two credits short so he has taken an internship position with an engineering firm and will graduate in December.  I am thrilled ... an internship is the best for getting your foot in the door and it keeps the graduation feelings at bay for six months.  I don't know if I could have managed the end of 8th grade and the end of college at the exact same time.

#sniff ...

Honey + Almond Latte

Do you have a favorite drink from a shop that you dream about while you are at home? For me it is the Honey Almond Latte from Nordstrom.  I don't get it often, but when I need a pick me up and I am at the mall it is the drink I order every single time.  When I order a latte anywhere else I normally either order it plain with nonfat milk or rarely I will order a lavender latte if I see it as an option.  There is just something about that Honey Almond Latte that makes me so very happy and it is truly such a little treat.  I have paired it with one of their cookies or the infamous Nordy bar before and this takes it right to the next level for me.

Last Minute Mother's Day Gifts

Did Mother's Day sneak up on anyone else this year?  I swear it was just February and wasn't Easter like two weeks ago?  I don't know what is making time rush so quickly, but if it could slow down just a tiny bit that would be ideal.  Every single year I forget that May is so busy and then it arrives and I am shocked once again.  I know it is just few days until Mother's Day but I did find some cute things you could order rather last minute and with a little extra shipping for a few it will still arrive. It may come in super hot ... and you may be tying the bow the day before ... but the thought is the most important part!

12 Happies du Jour

Happy Tuesday ... I hope your week is going well.  I was feeling so on top of my week yesterday and then last night sort of hit a wall.  I headed to bed early and drank some tea and I am hoping that feeling is now gone and I am back to my A game.  These sunnies have been so fun to wear recently ... aren't they just so cute? They would be so fun to give to your mom for Mother's Day!  🕶

Introducing Jane Allen Designs

The hunt for timeless jewelry is always a tough one, I think finding pieces you can gift to others that will stand the test of time can be quite the hunt. I love anything with pearls, anything navy, clasp bangles, all my bracelets and most definitely anything gold.  I have owned the same pair of over sized pearls for a number of years and if I don't have them on once a day its a rarity. I have noticed that my gold and pearl pieces are things I gravitate to the most for more special occasions. As my daughter gets older it won't be long before I am hunting special pieces for graduation, college and even more.  Since she loves special pieces as much as I do I know she will love so I am always gathering information.  I have a few places I go to for timeless jewelry and I am thrilled to share that Jane Allen Designs was recently added to the list.

Pink + Green For Derby

Pink and green for the Kentucky Derby? But of course, why not? Honestly I can think of one single time pink and green wouldn't work ... even for Halloween (just needs some orange) and even Patriotic times (how about some navy gingham?).  It is just the most beautiful combination and most definitely makes every single time its used bright and happy! 

Sephora Sale Time!

Sephora is a great source for beauty products and with anything I need that I can't order from Beautycounter I head straight to Sephora.  Today is the first day of an amazing sale and I plan on stocking up on my basics along with all the travel sizes I use.  I have listed every single thing I purchase from the site along with products I hear so many amazing things about and would love to try.  The sale runs 5/2 to 5/6 and the discount is tiered depending on your shopping status.  The site is 10% off for insiders with code HEYINSIDER and 15% off for VIB members with code HEYVIB.  I highly recommend shopping from Sephora ... the selection is so fantastic and you can set your products for reorder when you think they may be getting low.  It is like having a beauty assistant, which I think we all need.

Making Biscuits

I was really excited Easter morning making breakfast as I knew I would be making biscuits for my family.  I had planned the menu right after leaving the biscuit making class at Callie's Hot Little Biscuit.  As I said in this post, I have always wanted to master making biscuits for our family. Since I am not the best cook this seemed so hard and yet after spending time with Carrie Morey in her shop I now understand it is not only easy but so rewarding.  Pulling these hot hand made biscuits from the oven on Easter morning made me oh so proud.