A New Look

I thought with all this lovely weather coming our way I would add a whole new look to my blog. A little more cheery to match the gardens outside. I got my email button from the very talented lady over at oh, hello friend and I then used it and another to make my header. She completely rocks!

Happy Spring!

*The e-mail button is now working, yeah! Thank you.

Shopping Hiatus + Vacation

I really can not believe I am at the 10 week mark of the shopping hiatus. This past week I really thought I would have faltered and shopped since I was close to an amazing outlet mall while on vacation to Rosemary Beach, but I did not. Well, I did buy one pair of shorts and a light weight cardigan, but that's all. Hubby even gave me permission to shop like mad, but I really did not want to. Amazing, right? We did buy a few things for the kiddos at Crewcuts, but at 40% off already reduced prices put all the pieces under 10 bucks. Who really could pass that up?

Okay on to the family vacation...












Way too long I know, but my fav list is way too long also. If you want to see more go to my hubby's site, Kellenjacob.com.

One last tidbit of information... If your son happens to throw your phone into a pot of water then dry it off quickly and then stick it in the fridge for a day or so and it may work like new. I mean only if something like that would ever happen.

Update: Just realized its been 11 weeks not 10, woo-hoo!

Hello

We got back from the beach late last night so today is all about getting food in the fridge and unpacking. I had the best time even though it stormed the majority of the time. Some highlights from the trip you may want to know: My Ellie loves to swim with arm floats. She used to have a huge fear of the water. My KJ on the other hand developed a fear of water and would grip me so tight that I could spend hours in the water just so he would let me hold him like that. We ate tons of seafood and ate way too much at The Sugar Shak. My favorite part though would have to be having my husband around so much. The kiddos and I can not get enough of him.

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who still visited the At The Beach series even though I was away. I missed you all and can't wait to catch up. I will share more of our trip over the course of the week. Hope you all have a great day!

At the Beach: Outfit to Room...

So I have an addiction, it's called J.Crew. I love their spring line. So while I am away at the beach I thought it would only be fitting to use one of their fabulous creations for my series. A simple cover up...


Her outfit as an outdoor lounge area...

{Pottery Barn}

a few of these...

{Sprout Home}

filled with this...

{image via here}

of course you will need these, it's hot outside...

{via here}

basking in the glow of a fire would be nice as the evening unfolds...

{DWR}

Oh, and yes I would love to have this set up when I arrive home. Also a pool would not be too bad either. I will be returning home soon, so sad. This also marks the end of my at the beach series. Hope you all leave with a safe tan too.

At the Beach: A Home

I would love to live at the beach. A dream that I will not let go of even if it really is quite impossible. Since I am dreaming I thought it to be only fitting to share where I would live, ha! Close to where we stay is Aly's Beach. It is a Mediterranean neighborhood that is Eco friendly all the way down to the building process. It reuses or recycles up to 75% of construction waste. It is beautiful and green, yeah! This could be my home... (well, if we had millions)











I know this post is incredibly long, but I could not choose which photos to show from this home. They are all so beautiful to me.

Where would your dream place to live be?

Update from the beach: My little man thought it would be fun to throw my blackberry into a pot of water. Needless to say my phone fizzled. I also found out my phone replied to many of your post comments. So sorry for any random e-mails you have recieved. I can't wait to visit you all when I get back next week!

At the Beach: A Date Night

We are lucky enough to have good friends vacationing at the same time as we are in another close by beach town. They have a baby boy, so we thought it would be fun to exchange a night of babysitting so we could each have a date night. We haven't had a date at the beach in years. I am so excited about the prospect of going out to eat without little hands wanting to eat what I have on my plate. This is the outfit I would have wanted to buy if I were shopping. Comfy yet pretty I think. I added a watch, because on this trip I would love to not bring the blackberries, but I still would need to know the time, right? Of course that would never happen, oh well.

{top two pieces from J.Crew, sunglasses from Banana Republic, watch by Skagen, purse and shoes from Anthropologie}

At the Beach: Shopping Hiatus

This marks the 10 week mark of the shopping hiatus. Since this, at the beach, series is pre-posted I can only tell you how well I did through Friday. Well, I did great. No real buys, just necessities for the beach like sunscreen. I must admit it will be very hard not to shop while on vacation. We are close to a Crewcuts and a J. Crew outlet so I can't see it going very well. The good news is that a very close friend gave me a visa gift card as a gift for my helping with the re.do of their home. It's almost done and I will be posting it soon. Anyway, what I did while not shopping was learn how to roast a chicken. I love the idea of being a brilliant cook, but that does not seem to be the case with me. My husband does the great majority of the cooking because I am really that bad.

This is my friend, who gave me the gift card, and I preparing our chickens. Easier than I thought it would be too. We actually were roomies in college way back when. I love that we remained friends.

This is that same friend stuffing her chicken with lemons.

These are the hands of our lovely instructor/friend chopping up the bread to make home made croutons. This was harder than I thought. I burned a few.

This is the three of us. I love having such amazing friends. The one in the middle finds out what her second child will be today! She married one of my good friends in college and she and I have become the best of friends over the years. Oh, and she is also an amazing cook and she is teaching us the wonders of her ways.

This is my completed project. Looks good, right? My family loved it all except the asparagus. I thought it was good, but I guess we will go back to broccoli for next time. Oh, and this was all served with brown rice, so over all this meal was very healthy.

Okay, so this really doesn't have to do with the beach, but it does have to do with the person who has given me money to shop while at the beach. Close enough. Besides I couldn't wait to share my new cooking adventure with all of you.

At the Beach: My Beach Bag

It all starts with a good bag. My favorite is the Maggie b weekender. It folds up tiny when not in use and expands to a size that easily accommodates my, my husbands, and my two kiddos stuff that I inevitability will be carrying. Having a skin cancer scare has made me become so much more careful of the sun's rays. So now you will always find me with a lip balm with SPF, strong sunscreen, big sunglasses, and a hat. All must have's for extra protection. I also love a sunscreen as a spray, so much easier with two kiddos that are ready to play. Of course a swimsuit that makes me feel good is a must. Believe it or not, but my favorite suit comes from Old Navy. Finally, getting to read a good book while lounging around while hubby and kiddos make sand castles could not make me any happier.


{Maggieb weekender fold up bag}
{Burt's Bee's Lip Balm}
{Swimsuit}
{Sunblock}
{Hat}
{book via here via fiddlesticks and funny girls}
{sunglasses}

At the Beach...

Well, almost at the beach. We head down to Rosemary Beach this weekend and will be staying a whole week! I am so excited I can hardly stand it. My hubby has been insanely busy at work so some quality time with me and the kiddos is in much need. We are blessed enough to have some friends that own a fabulous house there and they are kind enough to let us use it. Next week I have a line up of my favorite beach everything. I hope to visit you all too, but my computer is table top so I may be scarce. I will have hubby's laptop, but as I said we need the quality time so I will just have to see how it goes.



This is from our vacation there last year. Those are my little man's feet basking in the sun. Hubby winning 1st runner up in the Coastal Living amateur photo contest sealed the deal of us starting the photography way of life. Oh, and did I happen to mention that I am so meant to live at the beach. Now that would be the life!

*Outfit to Room will be back next week, I've been much too busy getting ready for the beach and next week's line up!

Reminds Me of Spring

I first came across this home on Blair's wonderful blog Delight by Design. She came across it on Design Sponge. I am ready for spring and our beach trip next week and this home reminds me of those things.






The splashes of green, blue, and orange are just delightful. The fresh flowers should really be a staple all year round, but it makes it all the better if they come from your own spring garden. The color on the kitchen cabinets makes me melt. They remind me of driftwood. I would love to do that to my own cabinets. I wonder if hubby would notice?

Simple Song

I recently purchased some new stationary for my husbands photography business. We wanted something simple and clean, just like his work. I decided to go with the work of Suann from Simple Song Designs. We could not be more pleased with the outcome.

Thank You Suann!

*If you haven't visited her blog yet then you must. It's full of wonderful inspiration and beauty.

P.S. The lovely Rachel from Design Lovely did a fabulous post of photographers and my hubby got a mention. So fun!

Shopping Hiatus: 9 weeks down

Yeah! I actually have a good report for this week, I did not shop! It feels good, although we completely busted the food budget for the month. My hubby had a slight health scare so we as a family are eating much better. All fish, chicken, and fresh fruit and vegetables adds up much faster than the boxed tacos we were accustomed to eating at least a few days a week. Oh well, that is now a necessity. If I were shopping though I would invest in some more clothes for the gym. I have been working out 4 to 6 days a week for the last 6 weeks and I love it. No, I am not doing it to lose weight, but instead to tone and have overall better health. Now having hubby in the gym with me the last couple of weeks makes it even better. I also feel my kiddos like me a lot more when they have a little break from me. I never thought I would love working out as much as I do. Honestly when I began I wasn't sure if it would last so I've kept to my few gym items and now that I am addicted to going it is time to expand my wardrobe. These are a few items I would like to have...




How is the hiatus going for you? I can't believe we are almost there. I really do believe I will make smarter purchases from here on out. I also now realize it's not so hard to go a few months without shopping in order to save for something fabulous. This hiatus I have been scrounging the pennies in order to buy my hubby's camera so he can buy a new camera for the photography business. We are almost there, yeah!

{all clothing from Luluemon Athletica, tote from L.L. Bean}


*Update: So embarrassing, but I bought a dress for $20. It is long and gray made with the softest t-shirt material I have ever felt. Plus I think hubby will think I will look hot in it when we go to the beach next week. So it's more for him than me, right?

Children's Bedding

I just received my new Serena & Lily catalog and completely adored it all. I imagined what I would buy if I were shopping and if my kiddos really needed new bedding that cost more than my own. I thought I would share all that made me drool with you. These are some of my favs for boys...



These are my girl favs...



I then got to thinking what would be good for a shared room with a boy and a girl. This is what I found from Dwell Studio...


This has nothing to do with bedding, but I am a huge sling fan and these from Serena & Lily made me consider having another baby. Okay, maybe not, but they are still fabulous.