Monday, May 14, 2012

it was a fun filled weekend!

I made sure to take lots of pictures last weekend.  I'm a photographer, but I don't typically have my camera on hand for events and everyday things.  Silly I know!  It's a goal of mine to start documenting Mr. H and I and our family better.  I want to be able to look back and remember these special times with our family and friends.

Side note...As I mentioned I'm a photographer, but I usually only have my little point and shoot so please don't judge my pictures.  Ha.  


The weekend started off with a birthday celebration for my mother in law, LK.  It was her birthday last Wednesday and this was the first time in several years her husband and three kids were with her.  German chocolate cake is her favorite so of course that's what we had.  And it was delish!!    




On our way to the house, Mr. H stopped by a fish and bait store (is that' what their called) and picked up some minnows and worms.  Yucky!  He apparently wanted to do a little fishing for fun.  



He caught one!  Look at that catfish.  I could barely stand close enough to take these pics.  Ha.  Silly Mr. H trying to kiss him.  He probably would have kept it, but I encouraged him to toss it back.  He had his fun.


Saturday we headed to Mr. H's cousin's house who lives close to the lake house.  He has this wonderful garden and had us over to pick some yummy vegetables.  I was pretty impressed with the size and the variety of veggies he had.  


We had to look hard for some of these veggies.  Especially to find the ones that were ripe enough to pick.  And look how cute the little lady bugs are.  


Look at all the yummy veggies we gathered.  Ok, I must confess that some were already picked for us and LK was doing most of the work.  Fresh veggies are the best.  I'd love to have a garden someday, but I don't have a green thumb and I don't like to get dirty.  Maybe not the right hobby for me.  I'll stick to eating other people's labor. 





Ok, this is one of the best meals ever!  Fresh picked lettuce and tomatoes for our salad with homemade ranch dressing, then zucchini and squash, fresh backed bread with butter and honey (there's totally nothing better) and then of course steak.  I like mine well done so it's pretty much burned. Ha.  LK likes her steak the same way and we get made fun of every time we grill out.  And then I soak it in Hines 57 or A1 sauce.  I'm a sauce girl all the way.  


After dinner, the boys hung out by the fire pit and talked about boy things.  It's usually business related and very boring.


The girls stayed inside to play a game of Mexican train.  It was a really close game, but LK ended up winning by two points.  I love this game and it so fun to play with a big group!



This is kind of the coolest thing ever!  When I first saw it I thought it was a joke.  I mean how is it possible to walk/stand on the water.  I watched everyone try it and accomplish it quit successfully.  I was so nervous the entire time because I knew eventually my turn would come and I honestly didn't think I could do it!  I do NOT like lake water at all so if I fell...well it wouldn't go over very well.  



Mr. H encouraged me to give it a try and at first I was just going to do it to get a quick picture, but then I thought I'd go out a little further.  I was pretty darn proud of myself.  



I got out a little ways and then my knees shook and everyone on the dock started making noises like omg she's going to fall.  Ha.  I didn't though.  I used my core and pulled it together.  :)  I actually enjoyed it so much I tried it again on Sunday before we left.  I just needed to try it once to get over my fear.  Thanks Mr. H for your encouragement and guidance in how to use the paddle to turn.  



SB led the girls and talked both LK and I into trying it out too.  We all did it successfully and the'll be plenty more paddle boating this summer.  

Here's my father in law.  He's pulling a Leo.  

Sunday morning we took a family boat ride around the lake.  It was surprisingly chilly in the wind.  Our first boat ride of the summer was fun and successful!. 




Here's our view from the back porch.  Now you know why I love going to the lake so much.  Mr. H and I had a wonderful weekend filled with family time and celebration.  


The first episode of the Bachelor or Bachelorette is always a very interesting one.  I feel like this first episode had some rather interesting introductions.  I mean Mr. prince charming guy...really.  And Mr. MC guy...who owns a boom box.  Texas is representing though!  It's too early to tell who my favorites are, but there are already some that NEED to go!  Here's to a good season Emily.  Hopefully you'll find true love, but in the meantime I hope to be highly entertained with loads of great drama.  :)















The names charming, prince charming.  


it was a lake weekend

Happy Monday FRIENDS!  It's time to start the week.  I hope you had a super fun weekend...I sure did.

Mr. H and I travled to his family's lake house a few hours away to spend time with his parents and siblings.  We celebrated my mother in law's birthday and Mother's Day.


Mr. H and I on our 4 hour drive to the lake.  We had to stop for a quick picture!! :)

We did everything from picking vegetables, overcoming a fear, playing dominos and lots more.  I'm preparing a post for later in the week filled with lots of pics.  Get excited!


The time has finally come for another season of The Bachelorette!  I loved Emily so I'm pretty pumped for her to be the bachelorette this time.  Get ready for over the top drama while we watch 25 men TRY to seal Emily's heart.  You can bet Mr. H and I will be in front of the TV tonight watching and commenting.  I can't WAIT!!!



Have a lovely Monday!


Sunday, May 13, 2012

happy mother's day!

I'm so lucky!  I not only have one amazing mom, but I've got three amazing moms in my life!

This was taken last September at my bridal tea luncheon.
Here I am with my step-mom, my mom and my mother-in-law.  I'm so blessed to have each of these moms in my life.  They are each very special to me!

Happy Mother's Day to these very special Mom's in my life!  Love y'all!!

I also want to give a shout out to my sista who's the best momma to my little nephew.  I hope to be a wonderful mom like you someday sista!

Little B is hard to capture with a smile, but I promise he smiles a lot!  He's bigger now and smiles all the time.  Love this little guy!!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there.  Have a HAPPY day!

Friday, May 11, 2012

fashion friday...color crush

It's Friday, Friday!  And that means I'm linking up with the lovely {av} over at long distance loving for my Friday's Fancies.

Today's Friday's Fancies is "color crush." It was so hard to pick my favorite color so I chose orange and aqua.  Those are two pretty hot colors right now and perfect for the summer!




I've got summer on the brain so I went with a fun beach/pool/lake outfit.  Accessories are so much fun  and I'm pairing these orange accessories with this lovely white bathing suit.  I have a similar white bathing suit and now I need to find some awesome orange accessories.  I love how they pop against the white!

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My other color crush recently is aqua.  I actually just picked up a cute tunic at H&M last weekend with the same pattern as this top.  I love it and it was so cheap!  I also got that bold necklace.  Won't it be such a cute outfit with my new top necklace and skinny white jeans...I think so!

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I'm also linking up with Tara and Vicki for The Nail Files.  Last week I posted another NYC color called Times Square and Alyssa over at Never a Dull Moment told me she picked up NYC Greenwich Village.  I asked her what color and it was and she said its a bright pink.  I'm a sucker for bright pink nail polish so the other day I went to pick it up.  And I'm obsessed!  NYC is the best and it's so cheap.  I love it!! 

The Nail Files

I gave myself a pedi and mani both in NYC Greenwich Village.  It's for sure my summer go-to color this year!  




This weekend Mr. H and I are going to spend the weekend at his parent's lake house.  His brother and sister will be there too so it will be a good time.  We'll be celebrating my mother-in-law's birthday and Mother's Day!  I'm looking forward to lounging and eating yummy food.  

I hope all you lovely ladies have a relaxing and fun weekend!  Don't forget to tell your mom you love her Sunday!  :)


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

it's time to get real

Okay.  I feel like we know each other pretty well by now, right?  I'm going to share something with you that you don't know about me.  As you've seen by my pictures I have fabulous hair.  Haha.  Well I wish I could say I wake up and it looks like that, BUT it takes lots of work to get it to look that awesome.  You know why???  Because I have naturally curly hair.  That's right, I straighten my hair EVERY DAY!!!!!  Here's a little background on my hair.  :)

I had curly hair from really early on.  And I'm not going to lie, I think I was a pretty cute little girl.



Then when I got a little older, I didn't like it so much so I slicked it back into a curly/frizzy pony tail.  This was not a good look for me.  Ha.  



This is basically what I looked like from middle school through collage.  That's right college.  Uggg.  I had long, curly hair.  Don't get me wrong, I don't hate my curly hair...it's just now that I have crossed over and straighten it now, I much prefer it straight.  



I straightened my hair for the first time after college and I've been straightening it ever since!  I got it cut too and now I'm trying to grow it back out.  Look how pretty it is straight!!  This is the ME that I like to look at in the mirror.



It's about to get real!  Here's the process to get my hair from wet and curly to dry and straight.  Picture 1 is me right out of the shower with wet hair.  Picture 2 is after I blow dry.  I brushed it down so it would be more tame.  Picture 3 is me after 30 minutes of flat ironing.  As you can see the left side is already flipped out a bit-story of my life!!!



Here are some of my hair products.  Now I always us the Frizz Ease for heat protection and the other two are used every now and then.  Clearly I have a frizz problem as seen in picture 2 above so I'm always on the hunt for a good product to tame the beast.



With all that being said, I am so tired of flat ironing my hair.  I can't even tell you how much I hate it!!!!  I've been really considering getting a Brazilian blow out.  I mean to not have to straighten my hair every morning for 2-3 months sounds A-MAZING!  

I'd love to get it done soon so that I won't have to mess with my hair this summer.  We'll be traveling to my in-law's lake house and I always end up wearing it curly there because there's no point to straighten it since it will just get wet.  

SO... I need some advice friends...have you ever had a Brazillian blow out, did you like it, did it last as long as they said it would, would you do it again, what do I need to know before I do it??? Any suggestions would be awesome.  


Wishing my super sweet mother-in-law, Laurie, a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  Looking forward to celebrating your birthday and Mother's day this weekend!  Have a wonderful birthday!!



Have a wonderful Wednesday FRIENDS!

  




Monday, May 7, 2012

i love me some bethenny!

Hello lovely FRIENDS!  I hope you had a super great weekend.  Mine was wonderful filled with a little lounge time with Mr. H, brunch with my mom, shopping with my sister and nephew little B, dinner and slumber party with my sister-in-law SB, then more lounge time with Mr. H.  It was a fun, filled weekend with some of my favorite people.

SB and I planned our girl's night around Mexican food for Cinco de Mayo and Bethenny Frankel.  We are both huge fans of Bethenny Ever After.  Neither of us have ever tried her Skinny Girl so we thought girl's night was the perfect time.  We picked up her Skinny Girl Margarita and Sangria.  We also had the latest episode of Bethenny Ever After to watch, which was hard to wait until the weekend to watch it.  It was well worth it though.  It was fun to watch it together and discuss our thoughts.


Thanks Lauryn for suggesting a slice of lime....it was delis!!  We had a glass of each and I loved both equally.  It's awesome to have a mixed drink without actually making a mess to create it.  I love that part! 


Cheers to a super fun girl's night and to the new bride to be!!  Girl's nights are always so fun because we get to watch our girl shows, talk about girl things, eat whatever we want, talk wedding stuff...you know what I mean. 


Another week is beginning and I'm actually already wishing it was the weekend.  Mr. H has to travel out of town for work Tuesday morning to Thursday night and I'm pretty sad about that.  I need lots of Mr. H time so needless to say,  I'm not thrilled at all.  I'll put on my big girl pants and get through it.  Thank goodness for facetime :)  

Happy Monday!

Friday, May 4, 2012

pretty nails

I know what you're thinking...two posts in one day!  That's right friends.  I got wild and crazy today and you get a second post.

First I must tell you that I finally made a blog button!!  I'm so excited to join all the cool kids.  Feel free to grab it on the side.  I'm pretty proud of it.  It's my favorite picture of Mr. H and I from our engagement pictures done by my fabulous boss, Catherine Clay.

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I'm linking up with Tara and Vicki for The Nail Files.  I have been loving this red/orang color from NYC called Times Square.  It goes on smooth and dries in about a minute.  AND it's only $1.72 at Target...score!

The Nail Files



 Mr. H should be home shortly with a pizza and we plan to catch up on our favorite show, Missing.  Can't get any better that that tonight!  Have a lovely weekend friends!