JCrew Sale!

Good morning and happy Friday! So excited for a little reprieve from the working world this weekend to spend some time with friends (keeping my fingers crossed that the 20% chance of rain forecast is true so we can bask in the sunlight tomorrow) and to work on plans for a shower I'm throwing for a friend! Just in case you weren't aware and were itching to do some shopping this weekend, JCrew is having 40% off already marked down sale items! There are a TON of cute things at unbelievable prices so I plan on scheduling in some time to narrow down my faves, which I've gathered a few pictures of! 

Happy last weekend of July (where has the summer gone...it's almost football season!)

Christmas in July

It's Christmas in July y'all! If you're in the Tallahassee (or Tampa) area, our Coton Colors Flagship stores are having a pre-holiday savings event through Saturday! The deals are as follows: all holiday pottery (including the new 2013 collection) 20% off, if you buy 3 ornaments you get the above pictured Believe ornament free, spend $75 and get the below pictured ornament storage box for free; there are also multiple other deals on stationary, bags, and baby items! Basically, you don't want to miss this opportunity to either get yourself or someone else stocked up on holiday entertaining decor! At least stop in to get a treat we're whipping up from our Coton Colors cookbook and to see some new items that we just got in! Happy shopping and happy Thursday!

~Our brand new state ornaments!~

~Sprinkled Placemats~

~Fun new selection of Christmas ornaments~

Bookworm Wednesday

I finally was able to crack this book open and though I'm only halfway through, I'm already entranced by the spunky main character Starla. She's a 9 year old red head with an adventurous personality and a heart made of pure gold. Her storytelling techniques and bold spirit make for quite the entertaining novel, pulling you deep into the depths of its charm. Tough situations pertaining to racial issues in southern Mississippi arise, but Starla's innocent outlook on life and her ability to see past color makes for a heart warming story of friendship and love. Highly recommend!

In regards to yesterday's post, I have another blog that I've been reading a lot lately that a sweet friend recommended to me called Little Green Notebook. It contains a variety of budget friendly DIY projects and useful tips for when performing said projects! Happy reading!

Blogs I Love

So here's a confession. I sort of have a slight addiction to reading blogs. My morning routine involves fixing my husband breakfast, eating my breakfast while reading a devotion, making my coffee, and scurrying as fast as possible back to bed with my iPad in tow to catch up on all the new blog posts. I just find so much inspiration from the photography and content showcased at different sites, which in turn assists me in the creative department. Here's a list of my top must read blogs and do share if you have some of your own!

1. Cupcakes and Cashmere

2. Gal Meets Glam

3. Young House Love

4. Penny Pincher Fashion

5. Design Darling

6. Sequins and Things

7. Ashley Brooke Designs

8. Heavens To Betsy

9. A Piece of Toast

Challenged

Good morning friends! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend! Mine was spent partially with friends (one night involved a friendly match of Pictionary that was not lacking in the laughter department), partially at work and mostly indoors due to the ever present rain we've experienced, oh you know, for well over a month now! Normally on Mondays I portray a glimpse into my weekend with a few pictures, but today shall be slightly un-ordinary with a glimpse into my thoughts due to a very encouraging and challenging church service yesterday.

For those of you that don't know, I attend City Church, which is located at the Tallahassee Mall and is led by Pastor Dean Inserra and a slew of other awesome guys and gals. Dean always has a way of portraying Gods word in a relevant, motivating, and encouraging way, but yesterday's message really spoke to and challenged me. We are currently going through a series called "Walk the Line" that involves digging deep into the scriptures of Proverbs and trying to grasp all the wisdom it offers. 

"Never walk away from wisdom-she guards your life-she keeps her eye on you. Above all and before all, do this; get wisdom! Write this at the top of your list: Get understanding! Believe me, you won't regret it; never let her go-she'll make your life glorious." Proverbs 4:6-8

"One day I walked by the field of an old lazybones, and then passed the vineyard of a lout. They were overgrown with weeds, thick with thistles, all the fences broken down. I took a long look and pondered what I saw; the fields preached me a sermon and I listened: A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy- do you know what comes next? Just this: You can look forward to a dirt poor life, with poverty as your permanent houseguest." Proverbs 24:30-34

The theme of yesterday was laziness and though I didn't consider myself a lazy person, by the end of the service, I realized I unfortunately do exemplify this type of behavior more often than I should. Dean described laziness as a moral/character issue, not a "tired" issue. We're all tired and we're all "so busy", but in reality, were not finding rest in the only true place it can be found, which is in Christ. The world we live in is constantly telling us that we need rest and relaxation, and items to incessantly be entertaining us (hello social media overload), which inevitably causes us to be distracted from work. Work was portrayed to me as not just your vocation, but also your relationships with family and friends; they aren't grown by doing nothing, but by careful attention and much effort.

Dean challenged us yesterday, that we as Christians should be viewed as the absolute hardest (not most talented) workers our employers have ever seen. If that isn't our attitude and approach to our jobs, then we've completely missed the opportunity to display the image of God. God has strategically placed us where we are, whether that's at a hospital, a store, a restaurant, a law firm, or just simply at home, for a reason, and that reason is to bring him glory and give others a glimpse of His love and character. Though you may not be in your exact dream job, if you work with enthusiasm and effort not "required" or asked of you, you portray a positive picture of Christ simply by your character. In a world where people try to make the most money by doing the least amount of work, you will stand out and be a beacon of light to fellow co-workers.

Here are a few more pointers I took away from yesterday's teaching:

*Do what you do really well; you're not working for a paycheck, you're working for Christ

*You are above all else, called NOT employed

*Eliminate things that distract you (ie-your phone)

*The kingdom of Christ isn't a retreat, it's an adventure

*Laziness is an enemy to all of us

*We're called to be good stewards of the time and talents God has given us, so be faithful where He has placed you

After feeling quite moved yesterday, I was compelled to share this with y'all and to challenge you to go about your relationships and time at work with a renewed drive, energy, and thought process on how just by simply displaying character and a hard work ethic could show others the love of Christ. Rid yourself of laziness and grab what God has given you by the horns and go after it with fierceness and tenacity. And anytime discouragement is trying to pry its way into your mind or you feel a bout of laziness coming on, watch this video about Richie Parker and I promise you will feel motivated and able to accomplish whatever you set your sights on. It's amazing how just yesterday I was challenged and spoken to, and then this morning after having my coffee on the porch, I walk into the living room to a story on ESPN (which the Mr had turned on before work) about Richie that completely blew my mind and relates exactly to the eye opening lesson I received yesterday. God works in mysterious ways! 

Thanks for reading this extremely long winded post today with a lack of pictures to be visually stimulating, but rather with words that I hope will bring encouragement and light a fire within your heart.

Strikin' My Fancy

~This furry fella came to visit me at work yesterday; after being away from him for a week, I was so excited to see his precious lil face!

This week completely zoomed on by due to having the first part of it off and also because of quite a busy few days at the store. I'm hoping to relax tonight by cooking in and diving into my new book, that is, unless a tempting offer to do otherwise comes in ;)

Happy weekend, hopefully the sun continues to shine, and here are a few random pictures that are making me happy!

~Along with a visit from Bear, my Mom dropped off this doughnut she got at a local bakery in Atlanta and it made my morning. Sweets topped with colorful sprinkles equals my kind of dessert!

~I finally got myself a library card and it made me feel like a kid all over again. Did you know they have a section where you can buy used (mostly current) magazines and books?? I bought 3 interesting novels for a buck fifty, which delighted my heart to no end; it's the little, simple things.

Knick Knacks

~Mugs from Anthropologie~

Inevitably, I picked up a few items here and there while at Lenox for 5 hours, so here's a few photos of what I snagged! No surprise here, my favorite item is the Q &A journal shown below. The concept behind this little gem is that there's one question for every day of the year with 5 separate spaces below the question where you have a few lines to write your response and a spot to write in the year. My inner nerd loves the fact that you can look back and see how your answers evolve over the years; it makes for a very unique and fun memory holder! 

Happy Thursday Y'all! 

P.S. Madewell is having an additional 40% off sale items!

~Q & A Journal-got mine at Anthropologie, but it isn't on their website so here's a link to Amazon~

~Dish Towels from Anthropologie~

~Madewell Top~

~Madewell Peplum Blouse~

Bookworm Wednesday + ATL Recap

~Just received this book and can't wait to start it (supposedly similar to The Help, which I loved)~

After what feels like forever, I've made it back to the sunshine! We had an awesome trip to market (if you're in the Tallahassee area, you're definitely going to want to take a look at the new products we're carrying) that was very fast paced and go, go, go, but great fun none the less. Once the "working" (having a job where working entails shopping is just the best) part of the trip was through, the Mr swooped me up and after over an hour of traffic to go 2 exits (which almost lead to me having a panic attack) we made it to the Braves game and enjoyed sitting at the ballpark with a good friend! While in hotlanta, we feasted on a variety of delicious local food, shopped at Lenox for over 5 hours (MAC you're a saint for that), and just simply relaxed. I capped it off yesterday by reading on the porch for a few hours, sitting at the pool for longer than 20 minutes (thank you sun for gracing us with your presence), and getting a library card. The trip was glorious, yesterday was glorious, and now I'm ready to kick off a busy next few weeks at work!

Have a delightful Wednesday!

P.S. The book I wrote about last week ended up quite good; the last quarter of the book is the best part!

~Fell in love with these paintings at Market~

~Savon Soaps-New product we'll be carrying at the store that I'm super excited about~

~Coton Colors display in the showroom~

~Finally made it to a Braves game!~

~Stadium~

~Go Braves~

~The rain held off and we were able to watch a great game with a good friend~

~Loved the colorful flowers we walked by on our morning stroll to get breakfast~

~Spent my last day off on the porch reading for a few hours and it was glorious~

Bookworm Wednesday

If y'all remember back to a few weeks ago, I posted about a book called "Saving CeeCee Honeycutt" that I absolutely adored for it's charming writing style and feel good story. Assuming another book by the same author, this one based in Charleston, would be just as good, if not better, I ordered "Looking for Me" on Amazon without putting much research into it; big mistake! I'm probably about 3/4 of the way into it and it is a major disappointment coupled with a drastic difference from the first book I read by Beth Hoffman; the story line is extremely slow, with nothing to really pull you in to it's tale. The strangest thing for me is the main character's brother, who is constantly depicted as having this "other worldly" connection to nature; it's just so odd and not something I personally feel a connection to, nor do I find enjoyment in reading about such nonsense! Because of my slightly OCD habit of having to read the entirety of a book whether I like it or not, I'm really hoping that the end of this book proves me wrong and is just phenomenal; I have high hopes due to an almost 5 star rating on Amazon from about 100 people (not quite sure how we're reading the same book).

Any how, that was my rant on books today! I'm actually taking a slight hiatus from the blog, until next Tuesday to be exact, because I'm leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow for a work trip to market in Atlanta; market is one of my favorite things about working retail so I'm super excited! The Mr and I decided to make a mini vacay out of the trip since I'll be done working Saturday, so he's coming to meet me in Hotlanta! We already have tickets to a Braves game and are looking forward to eating yummy food, shopping and exploring the city! Happy Wednesday y'all and I'll have a re-cap of our trip up next week!

Stuffed Peppers

A few weeks back, the Mr and I tried something new and had stuffed banana peppers as an appetizer at one of our favorite local restaurants; it was so scrumptious I completely cleaned the plate. This sparked an idea in MAC's head to find a similar recipe that we could cook to spice things up a bit for our palette and to help us get out of the same old, same old dinner recipe rut (aka-chicken and vegetables). The recipe he stumbled upon is actually a Paleo one and it was awesome in all the right areas; super easy to make, didn't take long to cook, and it's very healthy! Though the recipe calls for a crock pot (which would be great for some of you to start as you head off to work), we followed the advice of a person in the comment section and just baked ours in the oven for 30 minutes!

You should definitely try this Stuffed Bell Pepper recipe if you're looking to change your cooking routine up a bit! Bon Appetit!

P.S. We added a sprinkling of cheese to the top of ours because we had leftovers from dinner the night before and, let's be real, cheese makes everything better!

Weekend Goings On: New Headboard!

Is it Monday already? If you're anything like me, it was really hard to wake up and get motivated to be back at work today after a long holiday weekend. And if you live anywhere in North Florida, or really any part of Florida for that matter, I hope you escaped the perpetual rain storm and went somewhere nice and sunny for the 4th! We unfortunately haven't seen the sun for a straight 3 hours in over a week and I'm becoming slightly weary of the dark and dreary skyline. To make the best of our holiday off together, MAC and I decided to try our hands at a DIY rainy day project of building a headboard and it turned out to be quite fun, simple, and rewarding to create something ourselves. It only took us about 3 hours (thanks to a sharp and handy husband) and we were both quite pleased with the outcome! (Here is the plan we used and rather than cutting the wood ourselves, MAC had all the measurements with him and was able to have an employee at Home Depot cut it for us, making the process that much easier!)

Hope you had a wonderful 4th of July and good luck starting back the work week today!

~Before-sans headboard~

~New Headboard!~

~Here is a side by side with slightly better lighting (sorry I'm a crummy picture taker)~

~I love that our headboard looks so similar to this $900 Pottery Barn headboard-exact layout, with a slightly lighter wood stain than we chose~

~Though the floodgates had opened (and been open for a week), I still got festive and ate some watermelon on the porch~

~Happy 4th~

Happy 4th of July

 

Though the weather is far from perfect here in the so called sunshine state, I'm thankful to be a citizen of the good ol US of A and for a leisurely day at home with MAC. Words can't describe the gratitude I feel towards those who have served this country from the day of it's inception and I hope you take a moment to reflect on the history of today and why we are able to spend it with loved ones, enjoying fun activities. Many have freely given and sacrificed their lives and time so that we could live in peace and freedom and I will forever be thankful for that. We truly are the land of the free and the home of the brave. I'm proud to be an American and God bless the USA!

Hope y'all have the best day making memories with loved ones and enjoying some festive treats, outfits, and fireworks!

Bookworm Wednesday: America Edition

~I Love You, Ronnie is a compilation of love letters between Ronald Reagan (I'd love to experience a presidency with a man with the integrity, character and faith that this mand had) and his wife Nancy; so sweet, touching and inspiring~ 

Keeping with my theme this week, today's book post features 3 of my favorite reads that revolve around American figures. They are all absolutely incredible novels and if you have the opportunity to read only one, you MUST read Unbroken!

I sure hope this rain lets up (feel like it's been ages since I've seen the sun), but if not, my 4th just may be spent curled up with a book, which I'm completely ok with! Have a great Wednesday y'all!

~Killing Kennedy is the only book in this group that I haven't read, but my Mom absolutely loved it and MAC can't put it down, so I look forward to having a go at it once he's finished~

~Lone Survivor is a tale of absolutely courageous soldiers and true American heroes that gives you the most minute glimpse into what these men go through to serve, protect, and defend our country. This book isn't just for men; though many parts were hard to read and some made me extremely emotional, it made me all the more proud of our military and thankful for the life I'm able to lead because of their sacrifices~

~Unbroken is truly one of the most remarkable, incredible stories I have ever read. I highly insist that you read this amazing tale of Louis Zamperini that is filled with unbelievable (you literally won't believe or imagine the trials he encounters) human resilience, strength, and courage that is put to the absolute extreme test. This may be my favorite book I've ever read.~

4th of July Treats

Ice Cream Sandwich Cookie

Continuing on with the 4th of July theme this week, today involves a few recipes that caught my sweet lovin' eye! One of the main reasons why I anticipate this particular holiday (or really any holiday for that matter) is due to the variety of scrumptious food that is prepared and I just find a get together with friends and family that much more enjoyable when festive, home cooked goodies are part of the equation. I personally think you would be the hit of the cookout if you brought along any one of these mouth watering treats or drinks!

Happy Baking!

All American Cheesecake Bites

Boston Tea Party

Freedom Cupcakes

Lava Flow Slushy