Got Things Done Kind Of Weekend

For some reason Blogger won't let me upload pictures from a file.  So I had to put them on Picassa to do this post.  I thought it would have been working by now but evidently not, hence not posting the last couple of mornings. 

 

Last Friday night Kevin and I had chinese take out.  After a crazy day, Kevin being sick and a vet appointment, it was highly necessary.

 

Saturday I did some early morning errands (my fav!) then Mills and I went to meet my friend Kim and her son Jack at Freedom Park.  Love them!!!  We had the best time catching up, playing and walking!

 

 

 

 

 

Seriously is Jack not the cutest lil boy ever?!

 

 

Then we stopped by my friends Fran and Matt's house to let Mills play with their pooch Doo Jr.  Mills is on the right in the picture below.  He thinks he can hang with the big dogs haha!  They ran and played until their lil hearts were content and their paws were MUDDY!

 

Mills and I zipped home to check on sicky Kevin.  I got ready to go out with our old Avenue neighbors.  We went to Hickory Tavern.  Kevin totally took and picked me up.  We had a drink at the wine bar next door after dinner.  I love these friends of ours.  They are oldies and goodies!  And we miss seeing them every day, immensely.

 

Sunday I got a zillion things done around the house.  I wanted to do some printables for Valentines Day so one of my Twitter friends told me about Pinterest printables.  Ladies I've lead a sheltered life.  I present to you, my first printables EVER:

 

That evening, Kevin asked if I wanted to go to the best place on earth for French Onion soup - Rippingtons!  I said of course!  We each had that and a salad.  SO good! 

 

I prepared a little more for a dinner party we are having this Saturday night.  I put together some fun favors and cleaned a bit.  And ordered two tablecloths because I don't have any (yet!) and 12 placemats (I have plenty of these but they aren't appropriate for the theme I am going for).  Lordy b, I need to get with the program...these were just things I did not have room to store in my condo!  Mom is sending me one of her grandmother's tablecloths so I'm excited to use that too! 

 

I'm out of town most of this week, living in the Charlotte airport going back and forth and romping around numerous states.  I miss Mills (and Kevin of course!) SO much!

 

Lilly Sale

Did any of you find any really great deals on the Lilly sale yesterday?

 

I think my best one was this Jonah dress.  Originally $168 and I got it for $19!!!  Then I think Lilly realized they made a pricing mistake and changed it to $69.  I hope to wear this to one of our wedding showers!

 

The Somerset dress for $39.  Even if this ends up being too short on me or something, I will use it as a cover up in Maui!

 

I've wanted these shoes for a LONG time and they were finally reasonable.  I just think they go with everything.

 

What did you all get?!

On being a perfectionist

My friend Lindsey in Dallas got engaged a couple of weeks ago!  I'm so excited for she and Chris.

 

We have been exchanging some emails talking about wedding planning and all that surrounds it.  I told her my best advice was that it was difficult and crazy at first but then calms down.  Her response was that she is glad because she is such a perfectionist and she doesn't want to get overwhelmed. 

 

It really got me thinking when she wrote that. 

 

Truth be told, I've struggled a lot the past 3-4 months because of perfectionism (is that a word?).

 

 

First with Kevin - don't you all want to be perfect to your significant other?  I do.  But I can't.  And he can't be with me.  We can try, try, try but the reality is, we aren't perfect people.  Can we work hard at our relationship?  Yes.  Can we be perfect?  No.  And that's a hard concept for me to grasp.  I'll still keep trying! 

 

 

Second the wedding - well I've had almost two years to plan it so I'm okay with things on that.  And actually I'm more low key about things than I thought I would be.  Let's talk again on March 15th about that haha!

 

Third the house - oh my gosh. I had no idea what a huge stress it would be.  Especially at first.  The first month was CRAZY.  It was Fall, we had a gazillion leaves in our yard.  We didn't have carbon monoxide detectors (with lots of gas appliances), we didn't have working lights, the house was DIRTY when we bought it, our garage door openers didn't work, the heat wasn't working right so we had to get new thermostats, one of the burners on the stove wouldn't work, we couldn't get our cable to work, we had to buy a new TV, washer and dryer, fridge, dishwasher. 

 

I could go on and on.  It was overwhelming.  And it still is.  I feel like it needs to be perfect.  NOW. 

 

But the reality is, it won't be.  We'll have to deal with a muddy back yard because we have two many trees to grow grass.  We'll have to deal with the ugliest master bath in America.  We'll have to deal with a nasty floor in our laundry room that has a burn on it from a bad appliance the woman before us had.  We'll have to deal with an ugly kitchen light and backsplash.  We'll have to deal with literally no furniture in most rooms or sunroom.  We'll have to deal with no grill. We'll have to deal with no pictures on the wall until all the painting is completed.

 

But the good thing - the shell of an amazing house is there.  It is going to be gorgeous when it is all completed.  You know, in like 10 years.  We have a list of what we want to do for each room.  And we'll keep knocking stuff off the list when we can. 

clearly i didn't know Kevin was taking a picture but isn't this so cute of Mills sleeping?  his face gets so wrinkly!

Fourth the pooch - Mills was a surprise to me.  And I'm SO glad that Kevin gave him to me.  But I'll be the first to say - it has been a difficult adjustment having a puppy to house train.  I have been so frustrated by him not "getting it" and then he has been sick so he's been high maintenance. 

 

I was so glad to go to Maryland for the simple reason of getting Mills healthy (which he is now) and house trained!  Nannie and Poppa put him through an intense training course which he graduated from.  He has relearned what to do in Charlotte and is well on his way to being perfectly house trained.  THANK GOODNESS.  I thought I was going to go crazy there for awhile!  He's good as gold now!  He was laying across my lap last night watching TV and Kevin and I were talking about how cute he is and I just told Kevin, "I'm so glad you got us Mills."  He agreed.

 

So there you have it.  I want to be perfect at everything.  I must realize that isn't reality.  Easier said than done.  Any of you all feel the same? 

Back to Reality - Wedding Wednesday

Well ladies, back to reality, right?!  Hope you all had a wonderful New Years Eve!

 

Did you all have a nice break from work and regular life? 

 

I certainly did.  And I am ready to roll for 2013!  It's going to be a big year for us and we can't wait. 

 

We spent yesterday doing a few wedding things - final guest list, booked another hotel in Hawaii for one night, looked at puddle jumper flights and just discussed what the next 96 days look like for us.  It was actually really good and we are even more excited now. 

 

I had taken so long off of wedding planning that I'm glad to get back in the swing of things.  I'm ready for it to be here!  We have to get our invitations calligraphered in the next couple of weeks.  That is the main thing right now.  I'm working on ordering tissue for the hotel bags and getting the tags made for those.  And just other little things.  Fun!

 

Otherwise, I'm carefully planning our January and being sure to not overbook.  I cannot deal with having too much going on between now and April.  It's important to both Kevin and I to focus on us and enjoy this time.  I'm going to do my very best to make this priority number one!

 

 

NYE!

 

What are you all doing for New Years Eve? 

 

We are staying home and I cannot wait!  Kevin's niece is coming over at 4pm to hang out with us for a few hours while Kevin's parents go to dinner.  Her parents are at the beach for the night with their friends.  We are excited to spend time with her!  Then I plan to lay on the couch and watch the ball drop....if I make it to midnight haha! 

 

CHEERS!

Best of 2012

I always love looking back at my year and what happened.  So here are some highlights!

 

January

 - We went to New Orleans for the BCS National Championship.  An unreal experience.

 - Mom came to Charlotte and we did lots of wedding planning.

February

 - Celebrated Kevin's birthday with a special night out.

 - Back to New Orleans for another free trip.  This time Mardi Gras.  Got to meet Trishy!

 

March

 - Blogger get together in Charlotte!

 - Finalized vendors for wedding things.

 

April

 - Ran the half marathon in Nashville.

 - Went to Maryland for Easter.

 - Stayed at the St. Regis in Atlanta and went to a gala.

 

May

 - Mom came back to Charlotte for more wedding planning and we had a triple date with two friends and their moms..

 - Atlanta for my cousins's doctorate graduation from Emory.

 - My friend Suz had her babies!

 

June

 - Miami for a ridiculous trip and surprise Lionel Richie private concert.

 - Kenny and Tim concert with Kelly and Brett.

 - I cruised to Maryland and surprised my Dad to watch him become his chapter's Rotary president.

 

July

 - Booked our honeymoon to Maui.

 - Coldplay concert with Jenn and David.

 - Raleigh for my friend Cheryl's Airport baby shower.

 

August

 - Fran and Matt's wedding.

 - Celebrated Tara's birthday in Charleston.

 

September

 - The DNC was in Charlotte so we escaped to Maryland.  Kevin's parents came with us!

 - Went to a Panthers game

 - Had a fun date night.

 - My college girls threw a couples shower for us!

 

October

 - Anna Kate (my niece) came to visit me in Charlotte for a whole weekend!

 - Closed on our new home!!!

 

November

 - We went to Nashville for the CMA awards.  Crazy!

 - I turned 30 and Kevin surprised me with Mills!

 - My parents came to Charlotte for Thanksgiving and helped us with the house A LOT!

 

December

 - Girls nights - Charlotte girls and Blogger ornament exchange!

 - My brother, SIL and nieces came to visit!

 - Went to Maryland for Christmas.

 

Wow, what an incredible year it was.  Here's to 2013!!!!

 

Christmas 2012

I'm going to try to summarize the past week in one blog post.  There is an important reason. 

 

One of the gifts from my parents was my Dad used blog2print.com and printed my entire blog by year to PDF and put them on a CD for me.  I plan to print it in color by year and bind them.  I'm excited!  Therefore I need to get all of the 2012 posts in this year.

 

I got home on Saturday to Maryland.  Crab cakes were for dinner of course!

 

Let's start on Sunday the 23rd:  Family Dinner at my cousins on the Wicomico River...

 

 

 

 

 

The 2012 picture of my parents and I.  We have many of these as I showed you in an outfit post a few weeks ago. 

 

Mills didn't get any attention from his grandparents...at all.

 

Merry Christmas blog friends!  I urf you!  Love, Mills.

 

My buddy and I.

 

My parents front door.  I want ours to look like this one day.  I think it looks so classy.

 

Christmas Eve Dad and I did our usual stocking stuffer shopping for Mom.  That evening we popped open a bottle of wine that Kevin's and my friends (Brad and Shauna) gave me for my 30th birthday - Christmas at Biltmore.

 

It was lovely!

 

Christmas morning we opened everything that Santa had brought.  He and my parents ALWAYS go overboard!  J. Crew, a neat box my Dad made for Mills' goodies, sheets, towels, iTunes cards, nail polish, a set of our flatware, a pretty scarf, VV clutch, trimmers for the yard and plenty of other goodies.

 

Mills loved his toys that Santa brought!

 

Christmas evening we went to our family friends home.  My parents are the two boys godparents.  Joe on the left and Trey on the right. 

 

Mrs. V and I.  Her home is gorgeous.  Again it's on the river and is absolutely stunning.

 

Her table was perfectly set with the 12 days of Christmas tablecloth from Williams Sonoma.  She served beef wellington, green beans, twice baked potatoes, a fancy applesauce and other goodies.  Finished it off with sweet potato pie and most importantly Bourbon Slushes.  I am going to ask for the recipe.  They were awesome!

 

My parents and I.

 

Poor Mills was a tired puppy!  He got so much attention the whole time I was in Maryland.  He loved Mama's comfy robe!

 

Racked out on Nannie's couch.  Oops...

 

I didn't get out of my pajamas on the 26th.  The 27th (Thursday) Mom and I did some shopping and returning.  That's when we scored those cheap fleeces at Old Navy.  By the way, I love yall's idea to monogram them!

 

Then it was time to leave Nannie and Poppas and head back to Charlotte on Friday.  Mills was sad and so was I.  But glad to get back to reality.  And Kevin of course. 

 

I pulled in and found the below in the garage.  Kevin had found his dream jeep and bought it.  Without telling me.  That was his last large purchase without consulting me I hope!  Only a few months left ha!  His Dad told him he should have asked me.  I agree but don't really care THAT much....yet. Haha!

 

Oh but it's a 1986, CJ-7 and it has this killer soundsystem and it has these awesome mufflers and the upgraded lights and it's been completely rebuilt and it's in mint condition and it has the original this and that.............................yeah okay.  Thankfully he kept his regular car.

 

Last night (Friday) he and I did our Christmas.  He opened lots of gifts from my parents...my Dad made him a business card holder for his desk.  In it were a couple insurance business cards of my parents good friends in Maryland (that Kevin knows).  He thought that was hilarious and Dad got a kick out of doing it. 

 

His favorite gift was hidden in my backseat.  A weed wacker!  He was so excited! 

 

Uhh and the two boxes that I had seen wrapped for a week before I left (which was a record)?  One was a pair of 3X pink panties that you see beside me.  The other was a 3X nightgown.  Ahhh....he is something else ladies!

 

But then he brought out a box with this in it and redeemed himself haha! 

 

 The oversized Bombe clutch.  It's actually more tan than this picture shows.  I've been looking for something like this for forever.  He had thought he ordered a different one but I actually like this one better than the one I originally told him I wanted.  I'm excited!  And when I just looked up the link I noticed it's now on sale so he's going rebuy it and return the first one.  Well he doesn't know that yet but...  I mean it's all the same pot of mulah at this point right?!  

 

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!  I've de-Christmas'd the house today, learned how to drive that stick shift jeep (which was a site I'm sure) and done lots of errands.  We plan to hang out this weekend and chill out!