Raleigh Farmers Market

My Mom and I paid a visit to the Farmers Market this past week. Last year, we did the same thing and I found the best mum I have ever had. That alone made a trip this year in order! I absolutely love the Farmers Market. If I still lived in Raleigh and was close enough, I would go at least once every week. The variety of fresh vegetables and fruits is so amazing. I want to try everything. And the vast array of plants is just way to tempting for me. It would actually be really dangerous for me to visit the market very often. Lowes x 100 for me there. I found some awesome plants and I will share later this week! 

Here are a few snapshots of our morning!

Apples that my Mom made into an an amazing Apple Cake...

Gorgeous flowers. Bouquets for $10 or $20. Unheard of! 

Mums for days....

My favorite shade of pumpkin in the cutest size!

SO big and fun!

My Mom got a gorgeous arrangement of flowers for the kitchen that was so pretty to look at all weekend long. I was amazed that they had such a large arrangement for only $20. We saw one stem we thought was looking rather weak and the worker traded it out for a larger, prettier stem that we asked for. We also grabbed some salsa and fresh tortilla chips (with no salt! bonus!) which were so amazing. Now you all now I love some Mexican food- the salsa by Yah's Best was so good. We tried the sweet heat salsa and I highly recommend!

What are your favorite Farmers Market Finds?

Friday Finds: 9.27.13

Fall Jeans.

It's a whole new world for me in the jean department since I was pregnant last year. I am all about investing in some new denim that I could not enjoy in 2012! I've heard enough people brag about these jeans and have decided they will be my next pair. Which pair do you like better- the legging or the skinny? I am also looking for a great pair of slightly ripped jeans. Any tips on your favorites there?

Legging Jeans

Skinny Jeans

Homemade Pizza
My parents make some killer homemade pizzas, usually on the grill and always with fun variations. It has sort of become a fun weekend treat and everyone knows I love pizza. They visited my sister a few weeks ago in Charlotte and tried out True Pizza and came back with new favorites.
They recreated the pizzas and according to the menu...

Prosciutto de Parma: Arugula, Fig Preserve, Balsamic Glaze and Shaved Parmesan Cheese
(seen on the left)
BLT: bacon, grilled romaine lettuce, tomato with creamy bleu cheese or ranch dressing
(seen on the right)
Seriously. So amazing. You won't want cheese pizza ever again.

The Black Pump
Remember my post on black pumps? Still undecided over here, but still lusting. I am about 90% sure this is the pair. What do you think? They are pretty and don't break the bank too bad.

Baby Food.
Weeks has actually been eating foods twice a day since he was about 5 months old, so he isn't a rookie anymore. But it's hilarious to feed a little man some food sometimes! I am interested to hear what foods and how often other babies are eating. So far his favorites are apples, pears, and sweet potatoes. He doesn't mind sweet peas either (seen below!) Last night he had a pouch of oatmeal with apples and cinnamon and loved those (stage 2). He did really well with the stage 2, the food stayed in his mouth really well! I pretty much can't stand to give him peaches anymore because they are so runny and he starts drooling and they go everywhere.

And lastly, 

via

And linking up with my favorite ladies of Friday! If you aren't then you should :)

Wishing you a wonderful fall weekend.

Tailgate Menu Number Three + Weekend

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Our football game last week fell on Thursday night- which means dinner tailgate!

I made probably the biggest hit I have ever made for the tailgate and it was by far the most simple thing- ever! 

Enter Crescent Sausage Bites!

I ended up dividing these up and saving a handful to keep at home. All of the bites at the tailgate were eaten, and we heated them up for breakfast the next morning. I think they were even better the second day! I am not a big sausage person, but these are simply amazing with the cream cheese. And what's better than crescent rolls?!

CRESCENT SAUSAGE BITES

1 lb. hot sausage (pork or turkey)

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese

2 packages crescent rolls

Dash salt & ground black pepper

Directions:

-Brown sausage; drain. Add a dash of salt and pepper. Blend in cream cheese until the cream cheese is melted.

-Unroll one package of crescent rolls and place on a baking sheet- {I covered mine with foil to make it easy to wrap up later}. Press the seams together to seal them. Spread the sausage mixture evenly over the crescent roll dough, and leave about a 1/2-inch border along each edge.

-Unroll the second package of crescent rolls and place on top of the sausage mixture. Press seams together again and the edges together to seal. 

-Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until crescent roll dough is golden brown.

-Use a pizza cutter to slice into small squares.

Other things we had at our tailgate-

-Buffalo Chicken Wings

-Freshly popped popcorn in personal bags {found at Hobby Lobby}

-Veggies

We were so excited that Weeks got to meet Mr. Wolf! He was so cute looking at him. To be honest, I think he was a little scared! Please check out his football Babylegs socks- they got a lot of attention. So cute.

Since a weeknight game left us with the whole rest of the weekend, we were able to attend a wedding at home. Nothing beats this view!

This poor guy had his 6 month checkup last week and was left with a high fever from his shots. He has always done fine so I'm thinking it was the flu shot this time. It was pitiful and I was terrified. He's always such a trooper, even when he doesn't feel well. 

Sunday morning breakfast at home...

And our little guy was feeling much better and let us know splashing around in his bath tub!

Hope your week is off to a great start ;)

tortoise + pink

For some reason I am really into tortoise this fall. It all started with wanting a long tortoise necklace and sort of stemmed from there. Paired with my favorite color and it is a fresh look for fall! I'm loving, LOVING that pink leather shoulder bag. I could see myself using it on road trips when my bag needs to be a little bigger. I'm pretty sure I will be upgrading to the new iphone 5s and would love to pair it with a new tortoise case. These Ava Tortie Shades are very similar to the $5 H&M pair I have been sporting all summer. They might be my favorite glasses ever and they are by far the cheapest. Having a drink in these lowball glasses would be fun, right? And lastly, I am loving this cardigan,  wallet and these hoops.  

Happy Monday. Wishing you all a great week!

Chalk Paint Hutch Details

Thank you all so much for your sweet comments on our hutch! It really makes such an impact in our living room and I couldn't be more pleased.

BEFORE

Looking way rustic here...

(sweetness was supervised, no worries) 

AFTER

What I used...

Annie Sloan French Linen

Annie Sloan Soft Clear Wax

What I did...

I was immediately drawn to chalk paint for the ease of the process- no sanding and no priming! Win-win. The dealer I bought my paint from gave me a few tips for chalk paint, being a first timer. The first coat, I brushed on normal. The second coat I added about a tablespoon of water to a small plastic bowl that I used to put my paint in. It really helped for the second coat to go quicker and smoother.

I tried brushing the wax on and that was a pain. It took forever and the bristles from my brush kept falling out (it was cheap). So I quickly converted to an old kitchen towel to rub the wax on. It worked fine for me!

Overall, I loved the chalk paint technique. Since there it literally NO smell, I didn't even feel like I had a painting project going on.

Styling...

This had become an eyesore/catchall for the random things I didn't have place for in the kitchen. Does that happen to anyone else besides me? I always have nooks that end up catching all my clutter. I am so happy to see it look like a real part of the room, not just a random assortment. The only things I purchased recently were the blue and white pieces- off of ebay and a local antique shop. Everything else was shopped from my own home.

A few of my favorite cookbooks will stay on display here. The bookend I found at Homegoods last fall.

The new hardware was super cheap. Found at Hobby Lobby for around $5 and purchased at their 50% off rate. I spraypainted them gold (they were originally a distressed off white).

I also framed the cover of my Lulie Wallace Calendar for 2014. I'm restraining myself not to frame every single picture from each month! This was a plain white frame from Michael's and I used a paint brush to add the gold trim strip in a groove.

Hope y'all enjoyed this new favorite corner of my home!

Chalk Paint Hutch

A little furniture project I've been working on....

This hutch is in our living room and it finally feels like it belongs there. I bought it several years ago  before I had moved in our house and didn't have any idea what direction I wanted to go in decorating.

Styled with my blue and white finds I've been piecing together...

We have a very open floor plan. Not my favorite- I would so much rather have a traditional floor plan with the rooms broken apart. That is so much easier! So our kitchen flows into the living room, making this update alllll part of our kitchen makeover.

I couldn't be happier. I first saw this paint used by my friend Pam at Simple Details on her beautiful piece here. I knew right away that was the look I wanted for my hutch. Thanks for the inspiration Pam!

I'll share the details tomorrow!

Photo Light Box

One thing I really enjoy is photography. Truth be told, I am not the best person to read up on my manual and learn things. I am more of a trial and error shooter. I would love to take a class sometime in the future to further my knowledge on my Christmas present last year - my Canon Rebel. 

I was thrilled when The LA Shop sent me a photo box light kit to review a while ago. I had the best time with it taking photos- with out a glare! I played around photographing a few small objects, like this sweet pair of madras shoes. Aren't they precious? Too bad sweet boy only got to wear them once before he grew out of them!

I have also made a few watercolor prints that I enjoyed photographing in the light box. A favorite quote of mine....

Glare free on the glass!

This is similar to the print I made for Weeks' nursery. I had several contacts about my print from the nursery post so I played around and made a few more! 

If anyone is interested in purchasing it framed, it is $36 plus $5 shipping. Please email me.

The LA Shop has a ton of merchandise I don't even know where to start. Gadgets galore, I could get lost looking at those types of things for hours. And bonus, you can use code BLOGGERS for a 10% discount! PS-if you are an etsy shop owner, I think this type of thing would be so useful for accurate color of your items.

Thanks again to the LA Shop for sending me such a fun item!

Friday Finds: 9.13.13

My Little Punkin Baby!

I've waited 6 months to be able to dress my baby up seasonally. I'm so glad we are cooling off so he can start wearing little hats again. Tell me the punkin head isn't the cutest thing you've ever seen. Find his outfit here. I'm also wondering why baby smiles haven't brought about world peace. That is a legit question y'all. He melts me.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies

For your sweet tooth craving. Caramels and chocolate go together fabulously, and put them
 in a cookie = perfection.

Fall Container Gardening

I am feeling bright gold for my fall plants this year. I've been scouting the nurseries and Lowe's but I guess it is just a tad early because they don't have much to offer at this point. I've grabbed a few things here and there but I don't have any planters to show just yet. Now if only I can keep my pansies looking this healthy!

Fall Sangria

This sounds so yummy to change up my normal glass of wine. Have you had a fall sangria before?

Fall Fashion

I love the mix of the chunky sweater, animal print and tights. I want to wear more skirts this year, now if I can find some! Seriously, skirts are sort of hard to find aren't they?

I haven't linked up with these lovely ladies in long time and am so happy to be back today. Head on over to link up yourself!