Piping Hot!

The hubs was out of town so Brennan and I enjoyed a nice girls weekend! We went to the neighborhood spring social on Saturday and spent some time at the park this afternoon to stroll, swing and see the ducks...three of our favorite activities! One thing was for sure, though, it was piping hot!! It's a good thing there were some shade trees we could escape beneath.  I posted a couple of pics from our outing at the bottom of the post :)

Speaking of piping hot...I am totally digging the HOT PINK accents that the Hotel Gansevoort on Park Avenue NYC has used to create a total wow factor in the guest rooms! I think I could handle spending some time in that room after a long day of NYC shopping. Hmmm...let me go check my calendar - ha!

Above images via here.

Love her!!

Blast in Baton Rouge

I just returned from a fabulous trip in Baton Rouge! It was nice to get away for a couple of nights and see the sites of somewhere I had really never been. Well, I had traveled through Baton Rouge on my way to other places but never actually stayed and seen the city. My great-aunt (Joe Joe) and I love to travel so we decided to take a spur of the moment trip to this cajun city to do a little relaxing, shopping and, of course, eating!! With that being said, I'm going to dedicate this post to all of the delicious bites we tasted while away on our mini vacay. And let me just go ahead and preface...these pictures don't do any of it a bit of justice! It was all fantastic!

Lunch @ Zea Rotisserie Grill

Dinner @ Fleming's Steakhouse

Breakfast @ La Madeleine

Strawberries Romanoff,

Lemon Madeleines,

....and tomato basil soup to bring home!

Lunch @ Las Palmas Mexican

Dinner @ Gino's Italian Restaurant (a local favorite recommended to us!)

Oh, and the best part of the trip was finding The Ambrosia Bakery!! I can't even begin to explain to you how amazing this place is...pastries, desserts, cakes, donuts, truffles, cookies, trifles, pies, fresh breads...you name it. They even serve breakfast and lunch! Of course , their specialty this time of year is the King Cake so we brought home a few - yes, a few! Collin loves a good king cake, and I join him in that liking :) 

We brought home the cream cheese, cream cheese & strawberry, praline and pecan/cream cheese and bavarian cream! YUM!

Look at the cases of goodies!

Oh, and to finish this Monday morning post, I'm going to brag on my wonderful husband. He cooked an amazing meal for us last night...grilled filet with corn, asparagus, fresh bread and onion. He is one good griller, and it was the perfect way to end our busy weekend.

Is your mouth watering yet?! Happy Monday!

Tupelo Travelin'

I'm a little belated on this post, but it's better late than never, right? Collin and I had the best time visiting great friends in Tupelo a few weekends ago! We had been meaning to make the trip for a while and finally did it! Here is a group picture of the girls - well, one of two photos I took the whole weekend. Sad, I know!

Thanks Kelly and Harrison for letting us stay. Your home is gorgeous! Jessie and Jeff - Morgan is a doll! As always, we loved catching up! We are so blessed to have such great friends...We love you!

Jessie, Me, Morgan (Jessie's little girl) and Kelly

METROCON 2010 and Dallas!

Well, as it turns out, I will not be posting about the playroom project today as I planned. Why? For 2 reasons: 1) I just slap ran out of time last night to pull all the photos together - playing tennis until 9:15 did not leave me much time to get rest and give the post enough attention; 2) I'm headed to the METROCON Expo and Conference in Dallas today with 2 of my best designer friends!! I figured this deserved it's own post of sorts :)

METROCON is a large tradeshow featuring hundreds of exhibitors in the contract furnishings industry. The event also offers a number of CEU classes, and let's not forget the fabulous party on Thursday night for everyone attending. Jackson, MS hosts a similar event in October called DELTACON (which was modeled after METROCON), and being on the committee for it, we wanted to go see METROCON for ourselves! It's always a huge success, and we are looking forward to a great time in Dallas. Not to mention, it's nice being out of the office for a few days :)

I hope you all have a great rest of the week, and I will be back this weekend. Cheers! Oh, and thanks a million for the anniversary wishes. I appreciate them all!

Mountain Weekend!

I had a fabulous weekend and hated to see it come to an end. It started on Thursday evening when my mom, Joe Joe (my great aunt whom I'll talk about often) and me headed to Birmingham for what would be a weekend of a little shopping (well, let's say lots of shopping!), quality time with family and special time with some of my very best friends!

Friday, my mom, Joe Joe and I started the day off at Whole Foods - and man, do I love that place! I picked up a few snacks to take on my "Girls Trip" to Mentone that evening and then we headed to do some shopping. We started off at The Summit and ended the day at the sidewalk sales at Mountain Brook Village. There were some great deals to be had. I found some fabulous things for my Office Renovation project (check it out here and here) and picked up some clothes and accessories along the way too :)

And making the day even better was getting to enjoy lunch with a dear friend of mine, Leighton, at O'Carrs. She introduced me to their chicken salad, and it was wonderful. I wish I had been able to bring some home...yum! Leighton and I are always able to catch up where we left off, and that is what makes a friendship so special!

Friday evening, I headed off to Mentone, AL to stay at a mountain lodge with my best friends from college. We spent the weekend relaxing, snacking on yummy food and catching up for hours on end...just like old times! Saturday morning we indulged in a wonderful breakfast buffet at The Mountain Inn Restaurant at DeSoto State Park and ended the day with dinner at a local spot, Wildflower Cafe. The atmosphere was so quaint, and the food was delicious!

Jessie's adorable little girl, Morgan

This morning, I met my mom and Joe Joe back in Birmingham, did a little more shopping and headed back to Jackson to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday. The  weekend was just perfect! Oh, and Collin went to the Mize, MS Watermelon Festival while I was away with his family and took this fabulous photo! Oh how I love watermelon - it's my favorite!!

How was your weekend?!? Happy Monday!

Pictures from Paradise: Summer Vacation

Finally...the vacation pictures that I promised are here. We visited Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, and Nassau and had an absolute blast! The turquoise waters had me "goo-goo-eyed," but I did manage to get some photos of the beautiful architecture and unique elements that make these places so special. It was a wonderful trip, and I will cherish the memories forever.

me and the hubby :)

And in case you are wondering...yes, the water was that blue and the sky that beautiful. All photos above are mine - no photoshop needed. Can you believe places this beautiful exist?!? It is simply amazing!

Bahamian Brilliance

Now that it's summertime I often find myself daydreaming of white sandy beaches, crystal clear water and a slight breeze blowing in the air. I can just feel my toes in the sand now!

The good news for me...it won't be too long before mine really will be! I am headed on a vacation to the Bahamas soon, and while researching design in this part of the world I came across a few gorgeous island homes and started drooling! No, not really, but I think I lost my breath for a moment or two! The spaces are truly stunning.

I hope these pictures offer some relaxation to the end of your weekend and the beginning of your week. Just take a deep breath and daydream for a few moments...you deserve it!

Have a great week, and I'll be back soon...

First 3 photos: Bahamas home designed by Robert Kime

Images from Architectural Digest

Joe Tilson artwork above a butcher table - fabulous!

Footed tub=my favorite!

Next 3 Photos: Bahamas dome designed by Lubrano Ciavarra Design

Images from Architectural Digest

  

These shutter doors give a sleek and modern

feel in an otherwise traditional setting.

Last 5 photos: Caribbean home of designer Piet Boon 

Images from The Style Files

A punch of color :)

Look at those views!