Friday, November 25, 2016

Thanksgiving Sales!

Nordstrom's sale selection is not disappointing, and the prices are crazy good! I don't remember them offering these prices ever before so it's a little exciting! I could browse and browse for hours but I rounded up a few items that caught my eye between yesterday and this morning:

nordstrom
live in legging- ordering these // ugg slipper - a Christmas must!! // crop skinny jean - one of my favorite brands of jeans // petty chelsea boot - perfect booties //
  slim signature shirt -I would love an equipment shirt // britten convertible clutch - crazy good price!

J.Crew is offering 40% off everything...what?! I could totally go overboard as they are easily my favorite store but I'm trying not to. I did purchase this sweater below...I think it is perfect for the holidays and since we are NC State fans, it will be great next fall too!


How cute are these socks?

This top is adorable for holiday parties:


I wore this skirt for family pictures last week, it's also available in black and 
emerald which are so pretty! 


Other great deals going on today:

Gap is offering 50% off
Banana Republic is offering 50% off 5 items
Anthropologie has everything 30% off!! 
Serena and Lily has 20% off everything
Loft has 50% off  as well 

Crazy good deals! Don't forget to check your local shops for great deals as well {some of my faves!}

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving...we had the best day! So much fun with these 2 sweet kiddos!! 

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Shopping Small Favorites

Every year I make it a point to buy locally sourced gifts, which always end up being some of my favorites. My family owns a gift shop that has been open over 80 years, which I work at...so obviously shopping small is important to us! We just have a tiny sampling of what we sell online, so it's hard for me to point you in our direction if it isn't available for purchase at your fingertips. You can follow along on our instagram as well, where we frequently post new arrivals, special sales and so on. I think it is important in the midst of gift guides and all that to reach out to your local stores and support them. After all, if we all just shop on Amazon, those little stores will not exist one day- and that truly makes me sad! So take my ideas and run with them, buy them from your local stores and keep that economy going! 

These are a few items found from small companies that I love. I mentioned this on instagram yesterday, but my sister has started a printing business with the cutest little gift tags you've ever seen. I'm mentioning the gift tags especially since we are in that season, but she does much more than that too. She has been trained in calligraphy, doing wedding invitation addressing, menus, table cards etc. I remember when we planned my wedding it was hard to find someone that did it well, on time and was reliable. So boom, there ya go ladies! If you are interested in purchasing these printed tags, simply email me or leave a message below with your color choice. We are doing paypal for these to keep things simple while she gets her etsy shop going. $12 for a pack of ten, they come as seen so you can decide how you want to attach them to your gifts. Bonus- they are not all strictly for Christmas, but can go that way for sure!

Golden Script Designs


If you are looking for a gift for someone with a new house or someone that doesn't own an address stamp...how cute are these? I'm ordering one this week so it will be here for my Christmas cards going out.



When I was in Charleston at the end of the summer, a really sweet local introduced herself in the Lilly store and recognized me from my blog {how fun is that?!}, and I later found out she had this adorable shop. These are gifts that are not only beautiful, but personalized. I would love a set of dinner napkins for special occasions, or to just have set out looking nice and pretty. 




Another linen company I have had my eye on...I can't get enough of these towels with the applique monogram! They make shams that have a similar monogram that I would love, love, love for our bed! How gorgeous!




What are some of your favorite small shops? Please don't forget to shop small not only this coming Saturday, but all weekend. I've found most shops run specials just like others do all weekend long! Happy Shopping! 

Monday, November 21, 2016

Christmas Inspiration - Colonial Style

I know, we are celebrating Thanksgiving this week and I will celebrate rightfully so. But, you can't deny that we are headed full throttle for Christmas. I want everyone to take a deep breath because no matter what, y'all are way ahead of the game than me. I have a kitchen and living room to unpack first, THEN I can unpack some Christmas decor. No, it's not that I have done everything else and those are the last two rooms. I just decided thats all we need {minus bedroom setups} in order to be set for Christmas. It is my very realistic approach to the holidays this year :)

So, to catch you up to speed...our new house is a white colonial with black shutters {actually they are a hint of that Williamsburg green but read black} with traditional landscaping. The inside has gorgeous pine floors throughout most of the house. We are fixing up the kitchen to a modernized white, clean kitchen with traditional elements like a brick floor, soft brass accents. The living room is right off the kitchen, along with a little dinette. Not sure if it is my mother wearing off on me but I swear I am leaning so far towards the traditional spectrum about 80% of the time, but then I add my touch to keep it perfectly modern. Everything that is old is new again, that is the saying right? Anyway, my house may not be decorated for Christmas until late December...so maybe I will just post on here the inspiration I come across!









All images via Midwest Living

Monday, November 14, 2016

My Beauty Buys

Hey y'all! I know, it's been a while since I've checked in on here but life continues to be super busy and the blog is always the first to give way. We got our furniture delivered last week and are working on getting set up and all that good stuff. Seems like a snails pace! I haven't shown many other pictures because the house has just been empty and I know that makes for pretty boring photos. We are hoping for some headway this week!

One thing I will definitely do this season is gift guides. I love me some gift guides! Some of my favorite gift ideas for my loved ones come from other bloggers and it really simplifies online shopping for me. I haven't figured out what guides I will do, but if you have any requests please let me know! 

This isn't specifically a gift guide but could definitely double as one for fun stocking stuffers for the ladies. Most of the below are tried and true by me, with the exception of the T3 wand that is on my birthday list. I have heard such good things about it and I cannot wait to see an improvement in my post baby hair.
beauty buys


I just picked up this CC cream last week at Ulta and so far I love it. I had been using complexion rescue with no complaints but I just like to try new things from time to time. I would say the it cosmetics is slightly thicker, maybe more of a matte finish. I'm thinking that is a better alternative for winter. I've raved about this blush bronzer duo before, and if you haven't tried this dry shampoo, try it now! The scent is amazing. I love my naked2 palette for when I want to add any hints of color to my eyelids {most days I go totally neutral}. This is a fun lip color for fall and winter {in slay} that I have enjoyed. I'm always switching back and forth between drug store and department store mascara. Lancome makes some of the best mascara, in my opinion and this is my favorite I'm using now.

These are all 20% off today if you are VIB at Sephora too! It's the last day but I am picking up a few things since beauty products are never on sale!

The baby was up at 5:50 this morning, Weeks was up at 6, and I am unpacking and cleaning at the new house this morning. Sounds like a Monday! Hope yours is great :)

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Kitchen + House Update

Hey y'all! I wanted to check in and give you a quick update on the status of the house and where we are as far as moving in. Here is the updated kitchen to do list:

-Paint
-Remove header above bar
-Remove chandelier and fluorescent lighting
-Add pendants and recessed lighting
-Tile Backsplash
-Replace tile floor with brick floor (!!)
-Repaint kitchen cabinets/new hardware

So, everything is going pretty smoothly as far as the kitchen is concerned. You might have seen on insta my kitchen floor update. Spoiler alert- I am obsessed with the new brick floor!! We do want to put a coat of polyurethane down on it to make it a bit smoother under foot. We also did a basketweave pattern in the mudroom which is around the corner. I am really pleased with our decision to go ahead and tackle this before we move in.




Painting, sheetrock work and electrical have all been handled. We are waiting for the ceiling to be touched up on painting from the sheetrock work before the new lighting gets installed. I know once my pendants get hung it will all come together and I cant wait!


So that leaves two projects to complete the kitchen: tiling backsplash and getting a fresh coat of paint on the kitchen cabinets. We are not in a hurry for the tile, it might be a winter project and I'm fine with that. I am trying to get the cabinets painted before we start unpacking boxes...we will need somewhere for all those dishes to go!

So, where are we as far as a timeline? Well, it changes day by day but we are looking at getting the furniture delivered this weekend. Sidenote: we packed a majority of our boxes in a POD and then the furniture got packed in a moving truck that has been sitting since it got packed. Apparently, that is no big deal because some moving trucks are packed for weeks at a time with cross country moves, so this was no different.  We have a busy November coming up and the harsh reality is that we will be unpacking in between weekend trips, work, preschool, a baby, and the upcoming holidays. I'm not over stressed about it, but ask me again once I see boxes piled high to the ceiling:)

The other work done upstairs I haven't mentioned much about {because it's a little boring} is just the painting of the bedrooms, new wood floor in our bedroom and hall, and new carpet in the other rooms. I can't decide if I want to share our experience with painting our upstairs. It has been nothing short of a disaster and I hate to mention a name with such a frustrating experience. I would love to save someone some of the headache we experienced that was definitely unnecessary! We aren't professionals but good gracious we have done our share of painting and this was a new experience for us!! 

Most of all, I'm really happy that we have had time to get things done in order and done right. We ended up being really rushed with our last house because our house sold and closed so quickly, leaving us no time for work to be done before move in. This time around we have been graciously hosted by my in-laws who have let us take over their upstairs "wing" as we refer to it, which has conveniently happened as their new downstairs addition was completed. Their hospitality {and help with kids!} has been so nice as we get the kinks worked out at the new abode! Thanks for tuning in, I know posting is so sporadic these days but appreciate y'all coming back to read and catch up :)