Andrew's 30th Birthday!!

Ok, let's just say that I had a lot of time to get ready for this party. :)

Favors for party guests. I found this little thing on Amazon but thought the price was ridiculous. I later regretted the decision as the cookies would've been so adorable. Oh well.

Lucy (and LA!) helped me with the idea to put party hats on all the pictures of Andrew. It was so funny!

The BIRTHDAY BOY!

We got some pretty interesting responses to what A should do in the next 30 years.

Thanks to Oh Happy Day for this idea.

Made a Gamecock table runner that 'bout made me lose my mind! I need to take a sewing class.

Ready! 

I have to say this was one of the easiest parties we've had. I did a ton of prep work the week of and it was so, so nice to get a pedi the afternoon of the party and then sit and hang out with my family an hour before it started. Usually I'm running all over like a crazy person getting ready. But this time I felt very refreshed. 

My wonderful family came for the celebration!! Thank you!

 Andrew's actual birthday with a waffle "cake".

I mailed 30 postcards to family and friends so they could send Andrew a wish or share a funny memory. Thanks to those who mailed them back! 

p.s. exactly 30 people came to Andrew's 30th party. Isn't that cool?!

This & That

I tell ya what... if this big pile 'o beans at the Farmer's Market doesn't scream summer, I don't know what does.

Andrew and I did a 5k a couple weeks ago at 7pm in 97 degree weather. I tried to do my best, but it was so hot.

On the 4th of July we had breakfast at Toast in Dilworth. It's one of our go-to brunch spots.

I was lucky enough to join a friend at the pool on the 4th. 

Then we went to a friend's for a cookout.

I love this picture of Andrew. It reminds me of pictures when he was a kid.

It was such a fun & relaxing day.

We're back!

Oh my. I'm so far behind in blogging. We woke up this morning at 4am in Boston. We were on the road at 4:20am. Just got home a lil bit ago and it's glorious!! Poor Andrew drove 15+ hours and he was a trooper. It's so wonderful to vacation, but it's also so wonderful to come HOME!  Here's to homemade meals, getting the mail (which included bills... and that will help you make the switch into "I can't vacation forever because I'm an adult" happen real fast), and resuming normal, every day life (which is our favorite anyway).

Can't wait to share our pictures. Until then, I'll give you this one:

30!

Andrew is 30! We had a great time celebrating last night. So sad the party's over, though! More pictures to come.

Baby Reagan

Oh my goodness, just look at this sweet girl! We got to meet Michelle's little one a few weeks ago!


I love this pose of hers:

She had the cutest expressions.

Look at that proud mama!

Going for a walk.

Fruit pizza and an "R" for Reagan, of course.

This is what we did all afternoon and it was wonderful!

Resolutions & a summer goal

It's almost July. You know what's on my mind? New Year's Resolutions. Yep. You read that right. But who thinks about resolutions in June? Me. I want to make sure that those goals I set back when the year was new and promising are still going strong. I absolutely love new, fresh starts. Even Sunday (sometimes Monday) mornings are exciting because it's a brand new week.

Aside from the yearly "I want to work out more & eat healthier" goal, which was probably on everyone's list, including mine, I actually only set one goal I really wanted to accomplish this year:

Try a new restaurant in Charlotte each month.

Here's where we've been:

January: BT's Burger Joint 

February: Dish, Toast of Dilworth

March: Poppy's Bagels, Musashi Japanese Restaurant

April: Sir Edmond Halley's

May: Al's Pizza, The Lodge

June: Meskeren (Ethiopian food), Good Food on Montford

I have also set a summer goal which is to only make fruit desserts* and started the summer with one bag of sugar that has to last me til the end of August. 

My favorite dessert so far has been this fruit pizza I made for Michelle & the girls when we went to meet Reagan for the first time! I've also enjoyed making this and this... although don't forget to peel the pears!

Here's to summer fruit, and good eats in the Queen City!

*Exception: Andrew's 30th birthday extravaganza.

Before & After

 The great thing about summer is that I have TIME! I was going through things to drop off at Goodwill when I realized that Andrew's old seersucker suit was in the pile. Hello! That's fabric I wouldn't have to go buy. 

So I took some scissors to it... 

And, voila! A seersucker wreath. It was so easy to make and didn't take too long to put together. I'm getting super excited about his birthday. I might put a bowtie on it for the party.