Friday Finds: Weekend Ideas

 A few things on my radar for the weekend....

1. I absolutely have to bake something for fall. I think this might be the winning ticket on my sweet tooth menu this weekend, pumpkin cream cheese muffins!

2. I guess I ran out of steam/time because my fall decorations still aren't done. And I keep thinking it will be time for Halloween in just a few weeks so I feel like I am lacking motivation. However, I may just skip over big time Halloween decorations and keep my fall out for a while. I painted these pumpkins the other night {inspired by Country Living} I have some finishing touches to do.

3. One thing that I am loving is that I have been reading each night before bed. I just finished up two of Emily Giffin's books that I had failed to read yet. I have heard good things about Gone Girl so I'm contemplating that for my next read. Who has read it? I don't like really creepy books so maybe it's not a good idea...

4. That beautiful bead board I told you about yesterday? The husband texted me at work and said he just read my blog post: the bead board doesn't get installed until next Friday. Bummer. Oh well, that just gives me more time to look for all the beautiful ways beadboard can work in our home. Our budget won't allow us to go overboard, but it's fun to dream right?

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5. Something for everyone to remember. This speaks to me now more than ever.

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Enjoy your weekend!! xoxo.

Beadboard Inspiration

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One of my favorite architectural touches to a home is the use of beadboard throughout. I am thrilled that tomorrow we are having some of our own beadboard installed down a busy hallway. Now is the perfect time to cross some major things off our list, which I will share soon! After searching for some inspiration, I was in awe of all of the smart uses beadboard can have. I had not heard of beadboard as a back splash in a kitchen before, but how pretty is that! And quite possibly my favorite is that adorable coral nursery with just a touch of beadboard along the bottom half of the room. If it were up to me our entire home would be covered in beadboard so it's probably a good thing I don't have that option! 

I've also heard of beadboard wallpaper which seems like a really affordable option for an area that would be used less in your home. Does anyone have a good source for this?

Are you a beadboard lover? I will instagram some pictures tomorrow if you want to see the results!

{find me at missdixie30} 

xoxo.

Who Said I Wasn't Prepared For This?

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Ok, so I know my readers are all not in the same life stage as me, so I promise this blog will continue to talk about more than babies. But, since it is going to be a major part of my life it will definitely be playing a role here. Even if you aren't there right now, is this not hilarious? It was definitely a huge laugh when I had a bad day sometime in those first 12 weeks.

And for the record, no peeing of the pants yet! Ha!

xo.

Bump Update: 14 Weeks

How far along? 14 weeks!

Total weight gain/loss: About 2 pounds

Maternity clothes? Still wearing everything I usually do. I'm having fun getting dressed and feeling good lately!

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep: Sleeping great most nights. I was busy this week so that made me extra tired at night.

Best moment this week: Decorating for Fall, totally makes me happy everytime I pull in the driveway to a pretty front porch.

Have you told family and friends: Yep!

Miss Anything? I miss a glass of wine of on the weekends, it's become a habit now. I blame football season.

Movement: No, but I am hoping for that soon!

Food cravings: I thoroughly enjoyed a soft pretzel at the football game Saturday. It was on point! I also treated myself to a Decaf Salted Caramel Frappuchino. So good, but a little too sweet for me to have again soon.

Anything making you queasy or sick: I am really keen on smells and the kitchen has to be cleaned up to the max after dinner. Leftover food smells are a no-go. Surprisingly, one food I always love has not been consumed in months: avocados. Something about the texture has turned me off. 

Have you started to show yet: I can definitely see a little bump making its way. Stephen can tell the subtle changes as well!

Gender prediction: Guessing baby boy :)

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and tired

Looking forward to: Is it the weekend yet? Some things never change!

We find out the gender of the baby at 19 weeks. The wheels in my head are constantly turning about this little babe, I cannot wait to see what it is!! We also have found a crib and dresser that we love, it will work for a boy or girl so we will probably go ahead and order that soon.

Instagram related pics in case you missed: {missdixie30}

{The beginnings of a lil' bump!}

{Insanely good afternoon treat for a road trip}

xoxo.

Weekend Frugal Find

How was everyone's weekend? We spent our Saturday in Raleigh tailgating, and came to the realization it's still very much summer like weather here most days. I couldn't bear the thought of wearing jeans, sitting outside in the sun for hours {with no fun libations to be had} so I had the hubby run me by Old Navy on our way into town. I've seen a few bloggers talk about this dress, and for around $20 you cannot beat it. I tried buying it online earlier in the week but some of the smaller sizes were sold out. Find it here.

I'm all about boots with dresses. Do you sport that look? Riding boots, cowboy boots, they all work for me. Cowboy boots are always appropriate at our games, they are an old staple at this point. Mine are Durango and I've had them for years.

 I thought the dress was red and black {our team colors} but this one is actually navy with a deep pink. I can now pull the pregnancy card for outfit woes so I was willing to wear pink instead of red, a first! It was military appreciation day so it ended up being perfectly patriotic.

PS I also got my hair done Saturday morning which totally made me feel good. These days I am doing more low lights than high lights and it is so much easier to keep up with than being really blonde. And not having to do my hair Saturday = a good Saturday. 

I'm thinking about buying another color but will go a size up in the next dress. I won't be able to squeeze into this XS for long! 

Any new frugal finds you have found lately? 

Hope your Monday is a fabulous start to the week! xo.

Happy Fall Y'all

Happy Fall friends! I have to admit, fall has never been my favorite season but this year I am loving everything that I have to look forward to. The comforts of the season, the coolness of the air in the mornings and nights and a slower change of pace has me really happy these days. 

I was browsing through my photos and had to share one of my favorite weekends from last year {yes, that is me drinking wine last year}. Stephen, my parents and I drove out on the beach to catch a breathtaking October sunset. While I can't indulge in the wine this year, you can! So take your happy hour outside and enjoy some fall sunsets. It really is one of the prettiest times of the year at the beach and I am very much looking forward to it.

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The good stuff: Biltmore Reserve wine {try it if you haven't} and snacks! 

Have a wonderful fall weekend!! xoxo.

Outdoor Fall Decor + A New Treat

Welcome to Fall at our home! The fall planters are in and it feels so good to have the outside of the house spruced up a bit. Here is what would welcome you at our front door...

This is the wreath I showed you yesterday, for the tutorial see here.

And this little girl would be sure to welcome you too, as she was carefully watching me yesterday afternoon. Isn't she the cutest? Good, I thought so :)

My mum from the Farmers Market is looking good so far.

 I'm hoping to see it fully bloomed out and beautiful.

I enjoyed using a mix of planters that I had on hand for the fall look. I also snagged a new doormat at Wal-Mart for just about $6. Not bad.

On the back screened in porch we have our semi-new potting bench! I haven't had the time to share this recent addition, but I spotted it sitting outside a thrift shop on our way home from our first doctors appointment. Momma got a treat!

I planted some Dusty Miller in a weathered pot and added some mini pumpkins and gourds.

It reminds me of a little pumpkin patch!

The yellow clippings are just stray weeds from our hedge line along the woods. The bumblebees were all over it! More gourds and my favorite color pumpkin added life to our potting bench. Those gardening gloves get a lot of use and I'm happy to have a spot for them now.

Hope you enjoyed our outdoor decor. Now that the outdoors are tackled, I'm heading inside to finish up my fall decorating!

Happy Thursday Friends! Hope it's a beautiful day for y'all.

xoxo.

PS- Linking up to Southern Hospitality for great fall inspiration for the outdoors! 

Our Fall Wreath

This year I finally got ahead of the game and made my fall wreath on time to actually enjoy it! I knew I wanted something fairly simple, which in my mind included green moss and fall colored berry sprigs, with a pretty satin ribbon. 

I got everything I needed from Michaels:

-Grapevine Wreath Form

-Large Bag of Green Moss

-Five Stems of Berry Sprigs

-Green Satin Ribbon

{pay no mind to the wooden C seen below, you will not need it for this wreath!}

Things I already had on hand:

-Scissors

-Wire cutters

-Glue gun

I started off by using the wire cutters to cut off each individual "branch" from the stem. So what started out as five stems turned into about 25 separate pieces that could be arranged. I tucked them in the grapevine wreath as evenly as possible. At this point I was planning to attach the wooden letter because  I really wanted a monogram wreath of sorts. If you want to go this route, I had the moss underneath it to adhere better to the wreath. I also tucked just a few pieces of moss around here and there, but it still wasn't what I wanted.

Off came the letter and I went ahead and hung the wreath on our door. I started gluing away with more pieces of moss, just torn off of the large piece that came in the bag. This helped to cover up any remaining grapevine showing and also glue down the stems so they were hidden. Here is a tip: the moss is really messy, so doing this outdoors was really helpful for cleanup. 

I started playing around with the bow here as well.

Here is an up close shot of how it looks with moss and tucked in branches:

And finally after a bag of moss and several glue sticks, we have our wreath! I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. The satin bow is the perfect touch!

Have you made a wreath for fall yet? This was such a fun, easy project I definitely plan on making more for the next seasons to come. 

XOXO.

Bump Update: 13 Weeks

13 Week Update 
How far along? 13 weeks!

Total weight gain/loss: About 1.5 pounds

Maternity clothes? Mostly all my normal clothes still. However, loving the maternity tops that I got from Gap. Incredibly comfortable and really flattering at this point. I would probably wear even if I wasn't preggo!

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: Still getting up multiple times a night. Other than that I am usually so tired that I sleep great.

Best moment this week: I had a blast at my sisters shower this past weekend. Now the wheels are really turning on getting things going and thinking ahead about what we will register for the baby! On Sunday afternoon we planted some new fall flowers and started prepping for fall, it felt so good! It's the little things these days that can make me so happy.

Have you told family and friends: Yep! So great the cats out of the bag!

Miss Anything? At the first home football game last weekend I sure did miss having some wine! 

Movement: Nope

Food cravings: The appetite is back people! No specific cravings but I still love some fruit. Coming up with dinner ideas is so much easier having an appetite- it was really hard there for a while! 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Have you started to show yet: By the end of the day the tummy seems huge! 

Gender prediction: Guessing baby boy :)

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy

Looking forward to: This past weekend the husband had a bachelor party deep sea fishing so we spent the weekend apart. Weekends apart are few and far between for us- call me a total sap but I'm excited to have him back this week!!


Other exciting things from the week: while at home over the weekend Mom and I made a trip to the Lilly Pulitzer store and had a ball. New skirt pictured above! It is stretchy and so comfortable, I highly recommend for any ladies that are preggo or not. Looking at the tiny little Lilly clothes was so much fun as well. If we have a girl I know our wallet will be in major trouble!

OK, so lets be honest here, I am still lagging behind with these posts and I am even confusing myself, I just took this picture this morning and I will be 14 weeks on Thursday, all other writing here was relevant to me at 13 weeks. Don't be surprised if I try to catch myself up and post a 14 week update later this week!

Thanks for reading y'all! xoxo.

My Sister's Baby Shower

Happy Monday everyone! How was your weekend?

On Saturday, my Mom, sister Stephanie and I hosted a baby shower for my older sister Sara who is due  December 6th with a sweet baby girl. That's right, there will be two new additions to our family in the next six months, which we are beyond excited for. Sara had kept the gender of the baby a secret to everyone except close family, so we based the shower around a Gender Reveal Theme. We couldn't give anything away! 

The drinks set up for punch: small mason jars with pink, green and blue striped straws.

If you follow me on instagram, you already saw the diaper cake that my Mom and I made. It started out a little iffy {How do you exactly roll a diaper??} but we loved how it turned out! This was the centerpiece for the food table. I've had a few requests for info on the diaper cake, so you might be seeing more of this :)

 

We planned for the gifts to be opened outside on my parents' porch so the majority of our decorations were there. We used a soft cotton rope to hang over the fireplace as a clothesline for the sweet little onesies to be hung on. Mom and I made a quick trip to the farmers market for some pretty mums on Friday, one was tucked in the fireplace.

One of the newborn onesies off of her registry...

Seating with some pretty fall blooms...

We made the pom poms of varying size, and my Dad hung them with a thumbtack throughout the porch. It really made for a fun atmosphere! Sara also brought them home so she can choose some to use in the nursery.

Inside at the front door we had favors {chocolate candies} and a book set out for the shower guests to sign. Have you heard of the book, On the Night You Were Born? It is the sweetest book in the world! 

A peek inside the book. You might tear up like I did the first time I read it! 

It makes for the perfect baby gift.

Stephanie made this adorable cake with a filling inside to reveal the gender of the baby. She is the baker of the family and spent all day Friday rolling out the fondant and decorating this delicious thing! 

Surprise, it's a baby girl! 

We had a great time and Sara got some of the cutest little baby gifts! Sadly, it was one of those affairs where we didn't take people pictures once guests arrived and things got busy. This time we are going with good memories of a fun day! 

xoxo.