30th Birthday Plans

My 30th Birthday is tomorrow {still can't believe it} and to celebrate we are taking a mini-vacay to Hilton Head for one night and then three days in Charleston. I will have lots to recap once I return!  I am off to finish working and then packing {since the stomach bug has not allowed me to pack this weekend}!  Let's hope I can eat normal food by tomorrow! Fingers crossed!

 

 

In the meantime, below are two of the early birthday presents that I received from a very thoughtful co-worker {the 30 sucks one} and my mother-in-law and her soon to be husband {the beautiful flowers}!

 

 

 

 

 

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Homeade Pumpkin Spice Creamer

Sorry I have been MIA (again) recently. Now that I am finally over my cold, it appears that I have some sort of stomach bug that I have been dealing with for the past several days (ugh). I think now that I just had my first "normal" meal a few minutes ago, that I may be turning the corner on this stomach bug...I sure hope so at least! I am hoping for no more illnesses for awhile.

 

On another note, lately, I have been trying to find products with more natural/less processed ingredients and that includes my coffee creamer. With it being fall now and Pumpkin being one of my most favorite flavors, I decided to put my own variation on a Pumpkin Spice Creamer. This is what I came up with:

 

 

Ingredients:

14 ounces of sweetened condensed milk

14 ounces of almond milk

3 tablespoons pumpkin

2 tablespoons maple syrup (mine's from Trader Joe's)

 1 tablespoon vanilla (I used vanilla paste, found here)

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

 

Directions: 

Although I have two small mason jars pictured here, to mix all of the ingredients, you will need one large mason jar. Start by putting a can of sweetened condensed milk and almond milk (or any kind of milk that is your preference) into the mason jar.  Add in pumpkin, vanilla, maple syrup and pumpkin pie spice. Put the top on the jar and shake for a good thirty seconds. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Found these plastic lids for Mason jars at target. I love them and make for easy opening of my creamer in the mornings!

 Enjoy!

What I Wore: Gingham

Alright, y'all probably know by now, that I have some favorite patterns and I like to break them out A LOT {especially tortoise shell anything, polka dots, and gingham}. This post is all about purple gingham. Believe it or not, Evan and I did not plan on wearing matching shirts, however, we somehow ended up doing so...so I made him pose with me and he despised every minute of it! I blame Evan as the reason why we are matchy matchy, as I had set my outfit out the night before and he did not! Thank you sweetie for being such a good sport!

 

I highly recommend the black Jcrew skirt in this ensemble {see below for the link}. It is actually part of a black suit I have, however, obviously you can wear the pieces separately as well. It is a great material that doesn't stretch throughout the day and looks great with basically everything.

 

Pumps: Jcrew Factory {sold out; similar style here} // Skirt: Jcrew Pencil Skirt // Shirt: Factory Classic Button-Down Shirt in Gingham // Necklace: Factory Multistrand Pearl Necklace // Watch: Michael Kors Chronograph Runway Gold-Tone Stainless Steel.

Do you have classic go-to prints that you can never get enough of!?

 

Linking up with:

The Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesdays AND
Because Shana Says So for Random Wednesdays.
 

Fall Decor

I may have mentioned it before, however in case it isn't obvious, fall is my favorite season. Accordingly, I always go a bit crazy with fall decor. This year, I used a lot of what I have used in the past, but also found some new decorative items that I wanted to share with everyone.

Malta Lantern {Pottery Barn} // Potpourri {Pottery Barn} // Pumpkins {Lowe's} // Faux Leaves {Home South}.

This is by our fireplace and the concept is always the same: I just mix-up what I put in the lanterns/vases so that I do not get bored with it from year to year. There is actually a battery powered light that is on timer in the lantern with the pumpkins, so it has this great romantic glow in the evening.

Pumpkin decals {Etsy} // Wreath: {old} Sturbridge Yankee Company// Fall Flag {Lowe's}

The white monogram turned out fairly well; however assembling it to the pumpkin was extremely difficult since the pumpkin is circular.

Letter D {Hobby Lobby} // Fall Garland: {Home South} // Votive candles{Pottery Barn}{old}

I simply painted the letter D with some leftover chalk paint that I already had.

Pottery Barn Urn // Faux Dahlia Stems

I am obsessed with this vase and flowers that I recently purchased from Pottery Barn. I think they are great for fall.

I love the woven pumpkins that they have at Pottery Barn; however, I was not a huge fan of the price. I found this pumpkin for $6 at an antique store in Cornelius.

 

Found these adorable mini faux pumpkins at a cute little store in Cornelius.

Just a little potpourri for our kitchen island. 

That about does it on Fall decor for us except I will add a few more things once we get to October for Halloween. 

What are your ideas for Fall decor?
 

Weekend Recap

Hope everyone had a great weekend, we did {other than me losing my voice with my cold that is just dragging on forever}!  Due to my feeling a bit under the weather, this weekend was very low key. 

 

I spent the majority of the weekend putting the finishing touches on our fall decor and running various erands while Evan brewed a batch of pumpkin beer.

 

 

Evan was so sweet to surprise me with flowers "just cause" on Friday after work.

 

 

Friday night we had burgers with pretzel buns, corn on the cob and squash.

 

 

 

 

Bella {as always} followed me around and tried to assist with the assembling the fall decor {more to come this week on fall decor}!

 

 

On Saturday morning, Bella's trainer, dubbed "Auntie Ruth,"  asked that Bella assist in a television advertisement that she is doing for her dog training business. It looks like Bella is going to be on TV! More to come on Bella's small television debut. She did really well and Evan I were so proud of her!

 Saturday night we made this Chicken Parmesan Casserole recipe that I found courtesy of Pinterest. It was delicious and super easy.

Linking up with:

Biana and Meghan for Weekending

Still Being Molly for Funday Monday.

 

Weekend Recap: Northern Virginia

I apologize that I have been MIA this week; I have had a cold that appears to be getting worse and accordingly have just not really felt like blogging or doing anything really {other than dragging myself to work!}.  Anyway...I am back and am a little VERY late, but here is a condensed recap of this past weekend that I finally managed to put together this morning.

 

On Friday, I took a half day at work and Bella, Evan and I drove up to Warrenton, Virginia, where my parents live. We haven't been up there since Christmas and thought it would be a good time to celebrate {belatedly} my mom's birthday.

 

On Saturday, before my dad went to pick up Grandma {who lives in Alexandria, Virginia}, Evan, Timothy {my brother} and I made several stops with the sole mission to find all pumpkin beer that North Carolina does not carry. We were not disappointed! 

 

Our first stop was Dogfish Head Alehouse. They had their Punkin Ale on tap and as always it was wonderful. It is, hands down, one of my favorite pumpkin beers ever!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had lunch while we were there and I really thought the food would be sub par {given that the primary focus here is the beer} however, it was a noteworthy meal.

 

Evan had the burger {typical for him}.

 

I had the Crab Cake Grilled Cheese. I originally ordered the crab cake sandwich; however our server said that this was a much better choice, so I went with it. The server was not kidding...it may sound like a weird combo, but it was amazing! Ask for this if you make a trip to one of their locations.

Evan and I at Dogfish Alehouse.

 

After lunch at Dogfish Alehouse, we stopped at the largest Total Wine that I have ever been to. I was so overwhelmed by their selection of pumpkin beers; it is the largest selection I have ever seen. Unfortunately, because I was SO excited; I did not get any pictures of the beer, but we are talking about an entire aisle of pumpkin beer...I was in heaven. One of the beers that several friends, including my brother, have been raving about is Schlafly's Pumpkin Ale. Unfortunately, I discovered that the brewery does not distribute to North Carolina at all for some reason. Thus, I was on a mission while in Virginia to find some of this supposedly amazing beer. Thankfully, they had a huge display of it at Total Wine and I grabbed a six pack. When I tried it that evening for the first time, I hate to admit that in my opinion, it is not as good as I thought it would be.  I like it; however, based on what others had said, I thought it would be one of the best beers I have ever tasted.

Has anyone else tried this one? Thoughts?

 

 

The rest of the weekend was more low key:  visiting with my parents, grandma, brother and his wife and meeting my new neice, Eliza. It was short trip for us, but as always, we had a great time.

 

 

Linking up with:

Lauren Elizabeth for High Five Friday and
Lauren for Fab Friday.

 Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

 

Apple iPhone 6 Announcement today!?

Hope everyone had a great weekend!! I am a bit delayed given that it is Tuesday and it is my first post of the week; however, I developed a cold on Sunday and basically have been out of commission for the past 48 hours. I will have lots of pictures to post from the weekend tomorrow!

 

In the meantime, I am super excited about the likely iPhone 6 announement today at 1 pm! Apple has a countdown for the event on their website. I have been planning to get the new iphone for the past several months as my iPhone (the 4S) has seen better days. I will be getting this baby as soon as it is available!

 

 

Per Forbes Magazine, the iPhone 6 should be available in stores on Friday, September 19.  Eeek...that is just around the corner! According to rumors, the phone is supposed to have a larger screen and a much better camera; among other things.

 

Anyone else as excited to upgrade to the iPhone as I am!?

Thoughts on Thursday: Fall 2014 TV Lineup

I am not sure if this is a good or bad thing, however, I have finally {almost} finished all of last season's shows that I DVR'd.  I dont know what got in to me this past year; but I just didn't seem to have as much time or feel the need to watch as much TV as I have previously. I guess the good news is my DVR has room to record this season's shows!

Here are a few of my favorite shows that I watch fairly regularly {when I have time} and several new ones {* denotes new this season} that I am looking forward to checking out:

 

Have to love Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory.

 

September 2014:

September 21st- The Good Wife

September 23^rd- Person of Interest; The Big Bang Theory

September 24^th- Nashville

September 25^th- Grey’s Anatomy; Scandal; Parenthood; How to get Away with Murder**

September 28^th- Revenge

 

 

October 2014:

 October 14th - Marry Me **

 

 

January 2014:

January 4^th - Downton Abbey

 

 

Linking up with Annie from Home of the Malones and Natalie from East Coast Chic again for Thoughts on Thursday.

 

What shows are you looking forward to this Fall?
 

What I Wore: Summer Work Wardrobe

The dress requirement at my office falls somewhere between business and business casual. It depends on the day which side I teeter on, however, here is an example of my typical summer work attire. Year-round, my go-to's are dresses and skirts, primarily because they are more comfortable in my opinion than pants and I think they flatter my petite figure more than pants {I am only 5'2.''}. I love to pair staples such as a black or navy dress with something bright {i.e.: a statement necklace, scarf, or print cardigan} and then color cordinate other pieces {i.e. jewely} to coordinate with the statement piece. I am a huge fan of cardigan sweater as I am cold natured, so I essentially have one in every color that exists {I am not kidding}!

Dress: Forever 21 {old}// Shoes: Jessica Simpson Noah Wedge in Black// Scarf: {sold out, other options here} //Jcrew Clare Cardigan // Bracelets: Jcrew {sold out, similar}; Kate Spade Good as Gold Idiom Bangle; Kate Spade Ribbon Bangle {sold out, can find on Amazon.com}.

I love these shoes from Jessica Simpson. They are super comfortable and I have them in the nude color as well!

 

 

Linking up with: The Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesdays 

and

Because Shana Says So for Random Wednesdays.

What are your go-to pieces for work?