The Ballard Outlet

I apologize for my absence. I was unaware our hotel in Atlanta would not have Internet!! Boo!!

Anywho, after attending the American girl store lil bit and I hopped over to the Ballard Outlet.






Look at all the wonderful treasures inside!



Copper fountain



Beautiful bench!



And the lighting was all 60% off!!



I bought this $400.00 Chandy for $25.99!!!

And yes you did read that correctly!



I was drooling over these Atoll mirrors!

Unfortunately, my car is already full of goodies we have found for the nursery!!
(more on that coming soon!!)



And I just adore everything in this picture!! If only I had a trailer!!!

(I think I need one if these dog beds!)

Be home very late tonight and can't wait to share about our trip!

Our 4th of July Beach Trip

I spent way too much time enjoying myself while we were away so subsequently I didn't take many pictures.

But... my mother in law did! Here are a few of the pictures she captured of our weekend at the beach.

from left to right David, Mallory, me, Casey, Jackson, Lil bit, Mimi, and Papa Billy.

We had just finished our yummy meal at The Ocean Club!

and here is the baby bump! It is here to stay for the next few months. haha

Uncle Jackson loves spending time with his little niece!

lil bit and mimi

It was such a wonderful get away!

Travel Thursdays - the trip so far

Disney has been wonderful so far. 

Lil bit has warmed up to the characters wonderfully and we are so glad she has done so. 

here are a few pics. 

We have been to Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood, and Sea World. 

Today we are headed back to Magic Kingdom

Off to where dreams come true!!!

Hey there, on the road and to pass the time I thought I would share some of my favorite things in the magazines I have been perusing.



Like for 1. An adorable chevron towel! And for $30 bucks!!



And then there is one of my most favoritest things!!

Do y'all know about Lush beauty products?

Well we have a local shop in my hometown and I love to swing by from time to time and splurge on a bath bomb. They are Made out of all natural ingredients, and soo yummy!



This reminds me I need to start using my exercise ball.



I am really trying to find a sunless tanner I love. I have tried Loreal sublime, air bronze from sally's beauty supply, another cheap one I can't recall the name and Lancome soleil. In 3 magazines they mentioned the St. Tropez products.

Any thoughts?



I found these earrings in the back of a people mag. Pretty sure I will find the pieces to make me a pair!

Have a wonderful Sunday!! We are on the last leg of our 16 hr drive!!

Can I get a hallelujah??

It's about time!

It has only taken me since Christmas to find the exact bamboo shades to match our bedroom colors!! But finally I found them!!


Slowly but surely each room is receiving the final touches!!

Happy Saturday! What are each of you up to?

travel thursday disney fashion files.

We all know by now I LOVE pinterest. 

So when I saw there is a disneybound fashion file on tumblr...

well I had to share...

Enjoy... I am busy making sure our activity bag is complete, snacks are packed and the dvd player is hooked up... here is to one heck of a 15 hr. drive with a 2.5 yr old. 

{pray for me..}

so for those of you wanting to look like a chic'er version of your favorite disney character... look no further than tumblr's disneybound. 

and in all honesty... this whole post is dedicated to the only person who I know could do this and pull the look off with true disney pizazz. {and still look cute while doing so..} Auntie Header, aka Wora, as lil' bit calls her. Or one of my dearest friends in the whole world. Heather. 

{thanks for sharing in our overwhelming excitement and helping introduce my sweet little girl to princessdom. we will thank you later when she has a complex. haha}

too busy tuesday

Right now I am busy...

Doing lots of this

And deciding which shoes will go with the most outfits....
comfortable stylish... does it exist?

and hoping we aren't this packed down when we leave the driveway...

so, through lots and lots of list making, and marking things off.... I will accomplish!!!

I think.

as you can see this post didn't "post" this am... oh well.. got everyone packed, met with housesitter, had car detailed... bought new dvd player... and did tons of other things I am sure you don't care about.

Hope you all are marking as many things off your lists as I am.

Travel Thursday on Friday the rest of the trip

Okay sooo super slacker here. 

I forgot last week and am a little late this week..

In the words of my two year old... oopies..

Okay so where we left off on the Disney trip.

friday, saturday, and sunday we will visit family and enjoy our time travelling the 16 hr. drive.

1. Monday-Magic Kingdom

2. Tuesday-Typhoon Lagoon

3.Wednesday-park hop whatever we missed

4. Thursday- Sea World

Now on to the rest of the trip...

5. Friday- SHOPPING!!!!

This is my planned day to go to the Orlando Ikea!!

We have quite a list started between things I would like and things friends are wanting me to pick up for them.

There are also some great outlets and malls around Orlando and we are going to try to hit up some of those.

6. Saturday- the day we leave

It will be sad to leave but we will take our time getting out of town, and no... we aren't headed home. we are headed to... Atlanta!!!

7. Sunday- FAMILY PICTURES!!!

okay, okay, I am REALLY excited about this day. I have NEVER had lil bit's 2 yr. portrait done and the city I live in well... there is slim pickin's when it comes to a really talented photographer. 

Sure, there are some here but they charge way more than I would care to spend and they don't offer the package I am looking for. 

Well by fate I was playing on facebook and stumbled upon a friend of Casey's from college. She lives in the Atlanta area and is EXACTLY what I am wanting. 

Did I mention her talent is more than that of the $1000 photographer??

Meet Taryn

 she began experimenting with her camera when her sweet baby girl was born and I cannot wait to see her beautiful work!!

I mean... are you kidding?/ this is adoreable!

Super pumped!!

8. Monday- play day!!

On this day I plan on taking lil bit to Buckhead for shopping and running in stores I NEVER get to go to!! i.e. Neimans, Nordstrom.. ahhh REAL shopping!!

9. Tuesday- American Girl Store (north point mall)

well in case you didn't know... Atl has American Girl now!!! eeekkkkk!!!

My inner child is over the moon.

We will take Bitty, Addy, and Samantha with us and the two "older" dolls will get a fresh do at the "hair salon" while bitty, myself, and lil bit eat at the bistro!

10. Wednesday- free day!!

This will be the last day of the trip so we may swim and pack, go visit a friend for lunch, basically unwind before the long drive home. 

how to recreate a painting

I am working on finishing up the art for the screened in porch. 

This whole extreme nausea thing really threw me for a loop while finishing up this room. 

(better late than never huh?)

Well here is a step by step of re-creating a painting you love and have NO IDEA where to  get it. 

first. find the painting, probably online. i found this in google images and took me to a spammer source, wasn't on etsy.. nothing but I LOVED it.

step 1. draw your version of the image then paint the solid background

2. go ahead and lay out the paint colors you will be needing while you paint.

have a glass of water laid out, some paper towels, and all your brushes.

For the blobs of green I actually just used my fourth finger to rub in the paint in certain areas. 

** i see  you asking.. why the fourth, your pointer has too much power/pressure, the middle still a little much, but the fourth is soft pressure, you can add water and move the paint around to create the blurred effect.

Instagram shots.

3. start to fill in your main color with a brush.

I used a brown/black mixture to fill in the outer lining of the crab and again blurred with the finger technique.

4. here is where you begin adding the depth to the main image, always go lighter and a little darker than you think, white is a great blender once its applied.

5. next, I used my Prismacolor, black marker to outline the image after the colors dried.

(you can buy this type of premier art marker at hobby lobby or michaels)

6. continue to add depth to the image, it is crucial at this point if you are still working on the painting to walk away at least for a few minutes and come back to the painting with a fresh perspective; also send pics to other artsy friends and ask for their "critique" for what you should add next. (I called my friend Candace)

with Candace's advice I plowed on with more white to the crab.

7.finally I added some highlighting points with my prismacolor marker.

Here is the original:

Here is my final product:

I am linking up over at Beth's for tips and tricks.