An End-Of-Summer Cookout... :)

This past Saturday, we invited a few friends over for a little evening cookout. It was such a fun way to spend time together sitting on the deck enjoying this beautiful end-of-summer weather. We always love to entertain and this was especially fun because it was a small group which made it very easy and low key! :)

Our little table!

We received the bamboo chargers as a wedding gift
and we absolutely LOVE them!!

Our napkins!
They are all from one of my favorite stores in Nashville, COLOR! :)

Sweet Whit surprised me with these beautiful flowers the night
before our cookout and they ended up being the perfect centerpiece! :)

Food buffet!!

We decided to make sliders instead of regular sized hamburgers.
They ended up being the perfect portion for everyone
and kind of a cute touch!

Yummy! :)

Our salad!
Got to get our greens in! :)



For dessert, Kaneil made the most delicious
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars!!
They were amazing!!!

We also had a yummy Buffalo Chicken Dip that Anna made, but it was enjoyed so quickly we didn't get to take a picture! :)

This cookout was such a wonderful night with great friends, great food and the beginning of a great Titans football season! :)

Lake Video 2011! :)

As it has almost been a month since our Lake Week, Whit and I were beyond excited last night when my sister's boyfriend, Keith, posted a video capturing some enjoyable footage from our wonderful family vacation!

You have to see this for yourself: Our Lake Video
(Starring in the video: Will (My Brother), Whitney (My Sister), Drew (My Cousin), Timothy (My Cousin), Hannah (Will's Girlfriend), Whit and myself.
As my brother Will said, "It is like a home video on steroids!"
We have all laughed hysterically since we saw it last night.

We are so lucky to be able to have the opportunity each summer to enjoy this wonderful place we call the Lakehouse! And we are very blessed to have Keith in our lives, for so many reasons, one of them being he is able to capture all of these unforgettable moments in such a beautiful way. He is extremely talented and a rising star: http://www.khvisuals.com/ (Yes, I am now and always will totally promote, Keith and his great work) :)

Hope you enjoy the video! :)
Happy Wednesday!

*Side Note: In the end part where we are all laughing at Will, it is because all week he had been saying "Brown LeCruse" instead of "Brown Recluse" when talking about the spiders. :) Just in case you can't understand what we are saying...

Our New Linen Cabinet :)

Yesterday, we added a new piece to our bedroom - our restored pie safe, which we will use as a linen cabinet. :)
We bought this pie safe at a garage sale a few weeks ago, thanks to a tip from our good friends, Betsy and Dan. It definitely needed a lot of work (considering it wouldn't stand on it's own when we brought it home) but this weekend, after lots of hard work, we were finally able to finish our pie safe project! :)

Before Pictures:



And After:



Since the wood was very worn, we decided to do a true shabby chic look to embrace the character flaws of the cabinet :)

I bought some crystal glass hardware to add knobs to the doors

As a little surprise, we painted the inside a light blue :)
Just something fun when you open the doors.

Side View :)

Whit and I had so much fun working on this together in our garage on Sunday afternoon - we listened to some music, picked up a paintbrush and in the midst of all the fun, were able to finish another project! :)

Happy Birthday to... :)

Michael Jackson!
Everyone that knows me, knows how much I loved Michael Jackson. My sister, brother and I grew up listening and dancing to him, so his music really holds a special place in my heart. :)
He would be 53 today.

To Market To Market... :)

This Saturday morning, Whit and I have a plan. We are going to get up early and head to the Tennessee State Fairgrounds to scout out the Nashville Flea Market! It is held the fourth weekend of every month (except December) and we have been trying to find time to go all summer - so we are very excited about tomorrow! There are hundreds of vendors there all weekend, so hopefully we will come home with some bargains and fun treasures!

What we are really on the lookout for are new dining room chairs. We just purchased a new dining room table that we are going to refinish, so now we are looking for the perfect set of chairs to go with it.

Can't wait for the adventure at the Flea Market tomorrow!!
If we are feeling really adventurous in the morning, we might bring Lollie with us, but we'll see. She will be 8 months old tomorrow, so maybe a trip to the Flea Market will be her present.
I'll be sure to post our Flea Market Finds!
Hope everyone had a wonderful week!
Happy Friday! :)

A Blessed Baby and a Beautiful Bride... :)

This past Saturday was packed full of wonderful celebrations! First, we were invited to share in the beautiful baptism of Brayden Parker Dunn, my cousin, Melissa's, baby. It was a truly beautiful and touching ceremony...followed by a fun celebration!

The cute invitation to Brayden's Baptism!
And all of the decorations at his party matched this invitation - very cute!!

David, Melissa, and Sweet Brayden :)

Brayden being baptized by Father Breen...
Brayden was so good throughout the entire ceremony!

The Donnelly Family - part of us anyway :)

Our picture with the newly baptized baby :)

Brayden with his Godparents, Drew and Genie :)

Brayden's beautiful and yummy cake!

Brayden's baptism was such a wonderful celebration and we were all so happy to be there for
Melissa, David, and sweet Brayden! :)

From there, Whit and I joined our good friends, Anna and Santi, at their home for an engagment party in honor of Mary Elizabeth and Evan. I went to high school with Mary Elizabeth and she met her fiance, Evan, in college at Spring Hill. They are getting married next April and we are so excited for them!!

The beautiful bride! :)

The delicious dessert stand!
Anna did such a great job displaying her
homemade fudge tarts, lemon squares,
brownie bites and many more amazing desserts that
her guests thoroughly enjoyed!

The tables were pretty in pink!

The gorgeous sunflowers that Anna chose for her centerpiece!

The beautiful Hance sisters - Anna and Elizabeth! :)

Anna and Santi did a great job hosting this beautiful party on Saturday!! It was such a fun way to kick off the celebration of Mary Elizabeth and Evan's upcoming wedding!
We can't wait for April 2012!

Babies and brides...my idea of a wonderful Saturday! :)

SUNny-DAY at the Pool! :)

Today, Whit and I spent some much needed time in the sun! This has been such a wonderfully busy summer that we have not had any time to enjoy the warm, sunny weather. We were lucky that Martin, Charlie, Marty and Beth all joined us for some quality time poolside. :)

Cute Martin before pool-time :)

Martin sporting his new shades :)

Charlie was also enjoying sitting in the shade by the pool

Sweet Charlie :)

Like father like son...



Starting to smile :)

"Oh Boy! This is exciting!"

Sweet Martin and his cute hat :)

Uncle Whit and Martin playing in the pool

:)

Noodle Time! :)

It was a great ending to a wonderful weekend filled with family, friends, and fun! :)
More pictures of our fun-filled weekend to come!
Happy Sunday!!

Delightful :)

You have become quite necessary to my delight. :)

I heard this quote a few weeks ago and I wanted to share it because I thought it was so sweet and an interesting thought to consider.
What is truly essential for your happiness, when you get down to it, what truly matters... :)
Hope everyone is having a Delightful Friday!! :)

One of My Favorite Things :)

So, before I say what I am about to say, I just want you to know that yes, I realize how "house-wifey" this sounds...BUT...one of my very favorite things in my house, is my KitchenAid Mixer. :) As a wedding gift, a group of my girlfriends went in together and gave me this mixer - and only Whit can explain to you how excited I was when I got home one day and saw the KitchenAid box sitting on our front porch!! I have always wanted a green KitchenAid mixer and could not wait to unpack it and find the perfect spot for it. It felt like once I had my mixer on the counter, our kitchen was complete! :) Strangely I admit, I now pick recipes that include a lot of "mixing" steps just so I have an excuse to use my mixer. Eventually, I hope to start collecting the cool attachments that KitchenAid has created so I can use my mixer for all sorts of creations.

Random topic today - but I was just home for lunch, hanging out with Lollie and caught a glimpse of my mixer and thought to myself - I just love my bright green mixer! Sometimes it is the simple things in life... :) Happy Mixing!!

Sunday Morning Stroll Down Belmont Boulevard :)

On Sunday morning, Whit and I woke up to a beautiful August day! I put on a pot of coffee for Whit, we enjoyed a little breakfast and decided to take Lollie on a walk down one of our favorite streets in Nashville - Belmont Boulevard. It has always been a dream of ours to someday live in the Belmont Neighborhood so every once and a while, we love to walk down the sidewalks of Belmont Boulevard and admire each of the beautiful, historic homes. :)

We just love this cute cottage!



Behind this iron gate is a beautiful stone fountain :)
Lollie wanted to go swimming in it!



Beautiful gardening - inspired me to work on our yard!

Same yard - it was gorgeous!

She also had a wonderful display of
hydrangeas in the front yard.

This house reminds me of downtown Charleston -
I love the dark red brick and iron fence.

This was Lollie mid-walk,
she found a shady spot under a tree and
enjoyed some cold water. :)

Wonderful trees along the sidewalks :)

Sweetbriar is one of Whit's "favorite streets in Nashville" -
partly because two of his brothers, Marty and Brendan, have lived on Sweetbriar, also, he just likes the name! :)

This house is under renovation and we are excited
to see what they decide to do to it!

I loved this charcoal grey house with the
surprise bright red front door!
I think it's a great and bold touch!

We loved this house, especially because of the two huge Magnolia Trees in the front yard!
Our favorite! :)

I loved these lattice windows -
they are painted a soft blue color, which of course, I love!

These porches are wonderful! :)

This was Lollie towards the end of our morning walk -
laying in the cool grass, enjoying her bowl of water!

Our little spontaneous Sunday morning family stroll ended up being a wonderful way to wind down after a busy and fun-filled weekend! The unexpected beautiful, crisp, breezy day got me excited about my favorite season that is not too far away...the FALL!! :)