A Very Special Weekend

So...I'm never sure if people read my blog post which is why I don't typically write that many.  I do, however, think that some things are worth documenting for yourself to go back and read at a later time even if no one reads it but you.
This is one of "those" post.
In August, my dad and I went to St. Simons.  Just the 2 of us.  We don't usually do things just the two of us, and when we do I don't really look at it as particularly special.  I guess I have, in the past, taken those times for granted. This weekend was defiantly special.
Four days before we left for our trip, my dad told my brother and I that he has prostate cancer. We were both very shocked and upset. It was the worst news I have ever had to accept.
 He is to have 3 months of chemo followed by surgery at Emory to remove his prostate and bladder.  This was particularly hard because I don't want to see my daddy sick. He is never sick and I know that he will have a year full of sickness from chemo and then will have to adjust to these parts being taken from his body.  He will be in the hospital for 10 days, out of work for 2 months, and it will be around 6 months before he feels like himself again.   
My dad loves St. Simons. It is a place that means a lot to our family and we have built many memories there. He loves to go fishing and wanted to make one more trip before he begins chemo and doesn't feel well.
We left around lunch time on Friday. We arrived at Sea Gate Inn late in the afternoon.  The condo was so beautiful!  It was right on the water so daddy wouldn't have far to go to fish.  Later that evening, we went to our favorite restaurant on the island, The Crab Trap.  We both had fried shrimp and crab stew. Very delicious! We then went over to Brunswick to visit with my older half brother and his family. 
Saturday morning daddy went fishing while I slept late. :)  We walked around the village and ate at The Sandcastle for lunch.  It is a favorite for the locals (I'm ready to be a "local").  I took daddy back to the condo so he could get his usual nap and I went back to the village to finish up my shopping.  I took a nap once I got back.  It rained later in the day so no pool for us! :(  We ate dinner at Catch 228 for the first time and it was great.  One thing we do when we go to the beach is eat well (if you couldn't tell)! :)  We then went to the village to have ice cream for dessert at St. Simons Sweets.
Sunday morning we had to check out bright and early at 10am (yes, this is early for me on the weekends). We had brunch The 4th of May (another favorite of ours). 
Basically on this trip we ate and ate.  We did have a lot of visiting time which was great. I kept telling myself all weekend to remember every second of it.  This trip with my "diddy" was so special to me and I will treasure it always.
I didn't take many pictures this particular weekend but here are the few I did take...

Going to the Crab Trap.

The beautiful sunset on our way to Brunswick.

Wonderful dinner at Catch 228.

Us at Catch 228.



Our BEAUTIFUL condo.  I loved the colors, furniture, layout, everything!

My Best Friend's Wedding

Wow...I haven't written a blog in quite some time.  I just haven't found a second here lately to write.  But I felt this experience in my life was worth making time for.

My childhood friend, Sarah Lamar (who I nicknamed "Sarah G" when I was young), got married!  I was a bridesmaid and was really excited not only to stand beside my friend on the most important day of her life but because this was my first time being a bridesmaid.  I am a little obsessed with weddings so of course this was a day I had been waiting on for a while.  I felt so honored that Sarah would choose me to be apart of her day. Another thing that made the weekend even more special was that Sarah asked my mom to direct and help decorate the reception area.  It meant a lot to us both for her to include my mom in such a big way.  She did an awesome job with the decorating, just wait and see!
The wedding was held at the beautiful Brasstown Valley Resort in Young Harris, Ga.
Here is how Sarah's wedding weekend went...

Thursday- July 28, 2011
Mama and I arrived in Young Harris pretty late (around 11).  Mom had to work until 4:00, it took forever to get all the things loaded in the car, and the drive was 4 hours. Wheww!  The mountain roads almost made me carsick.  I was dreading having to go back down them on the way home.  Once we got to the hotel, we unloaded the car, stuffed a few gift bags (Sarah wanted these for the guest who were staying at the hotel for the weekend), showed Sarah her flowers mama brought for some arrangements and off to bed we went!

Friday- July 29, 2011
Mama and I slept as late as possible.  We were so tired from going and going the day before.  Sarah's bridesmaid's luncheon was at the Tack Room on the resort grounds.  It was a stable-like building that was just beautiful.  We had a soup, sandwich, and salad lunch and it was great! I loved meeting all the other bridesmaids that I had only communicated with previously via facebook.  Sarah gave us all white button down L.L. Bean shirts with our initials monogrammed in baby blue to wear while we were getting ready for the wedding. I loved them!  She also gave us very pretty scarves! After the luncheon, some of us went back to our room to stuff gift bags and fold programs.  Mama and I ended up taking a much needed nap and then got ready for the rehearsal dinner.  The rehearsal dinner was across the street from the resort at a restaurant called, Brothers.  The food was amazing! We had steak, chicken alfredo, green beans, mac and cheese, roast with gravy, mashed potatoes, and a dessert bar. The rehearsal dinner was very sweet.  Sarah's dad, brother, and step-brother, maid of honor, and Trent's dad all gave speeches.  It was very touching and many tears were shed!

The wonderful bridesmaid's luncheon!

Friends since before kindergarden.

All the bridesmaids and Sarah

Us girls with our moms.

Rehearsal dinner. I LOVED Sarah's dress!

The happy couple!

Sarah with her good looking step bothers and sisters!

Saturday-July 30, 2011
Today is THE day! Mama got up really early and headed down to the pavilion to start decorating for the wedding. She was literally out there until about an hour before the wedding started a 6. She worked so hard and her hard work defiantly paid off.  I got to sleep a little late and then headed down stairs to meet the girls for breakfast at the restaurant.  We all then went to the bridesmaid's suite to get ready.  We all look so cute in our shirts and curlers! :)  It was fun to help each other get ready.  Sweet Tiffany rolled my hair and Laney did an amazing job fixing it for me!  After we all got ready, we helped sarah get ready and she looked so beautiful.  Ben (the photographer who is also Sarah's step brother) snapped a few pictures of us and then took pictures of Sarah and Trent seeing each other for the first time.  I wanted to watch so bad! Lol.  We then all took pictures together on the golf course.  I can't wait to see them! I know they are so beautiful! After pictures, we rode golf carts down to the Sunset Pavilion for the wedding!  It was so exciting for the moment to finally arrive! The ceremony was very sweet and very spiritual.  The senery was so beautiful!  Mountains and a golf course...can't get much prettier!  The reception was so fun! We danced the night away.  The band was wonderful and even did a special number for us bridesmaids and Sarah.  It was such a great night!

Laney and Ms. Peggy putting the finishing touches on the bride.

So beautiful!

Sarah and Trent right after they were married.

Mama did a great job on the flower arrangments that hung from the aisle chairs.

The pavilion where the reception was held.  I loved the paper lanterns!

The most delicious cake I have ever had!

Sarah getting love from her sweet step brothers.

Sweet couple enjoying their first meal together as husband and wife.

This is perhaps my favorite picture of the night.  Check me out trying to push Becca out of the way (Remember
a scene similar to this in the movie, Bride Wars?). Haha! I determined to catch the bouquet.  I wasn't sucessful. :(

This says it all.

Best friends forever.

Leaving on their cute golf cart. Decorated by my talented mother of course! :)

Sunday-July 31, 2011
Mama and I slept in as late as we could.  The beds there were SO comfy and I hated to leave them! Lol.  We had tons of stuff to pack up and finally rolled out of the resort around 2.  We ended up eating lunch at Brothers to enjoy their delicious food one more time.  We stopped a few times at different shops, the outlet mall, and a family friends house in Cummings to visit.  We finally got home around 10:30 and boy were we pooped! Getting up for work the next morning was not easy!

This weekend was amazing.  It will be one I never forget. I was so honored to be apart of it! I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Happy Thursday!

I came across this picture while on Pinterest....which I am still trying to figure out what it's all about.  This made me laugh and I thought I would pass the laugh along. Happy Thrusday!

The caption on the original sight said, "They see me rollin. They hatin." HAHA!

Same Thing, Much Different Price!

This post goes along with the blog I wrote about a few weeks ago called, "Score!".  In that post I included finds from TJ Maxx but in this blog, I am including finds from different stores...

I have been in the market for some black wedges to wear to work this summer.  Wedges are so much easier for me to walk in than heels and still keeping me looking professional. On my recent trip to Tanger, I surprisingly found a pair at Old Navy that fit great and most importantly, I was able to walk in.  :) These were a steal compared to the other prices I came across in this same shoe.

Old Navy...$29.99!

DSW (Steve Madden)...$49.99.

I loved these! Banana Republic....$79.99

I also found these amazingly awesome summer dinner plates by Lenox at Home Goods.  If I had my own house, I would have bought these! I can't wait to set my future dining room table with seasonal dinnerware.  These would be perfect for summer/4th of July party!

So festive!

Check out those prices!



These dinner plates are from Williams Sonoma and will set you back $56 for a set of 4.



These are the WS salad plates and are $48 for a set of 4. 



Girls Weekend!

This past weekend, I had a much needed girls weekend in Atlanta with my friends Nicole, Lindsey, and Kiley. Nicole and Lindsey live together in Brookhaven (just down the street from Buckhead) and Kiley is a pharmacy student in TN.  They are all from Eastman and I know them through my cousins who also live there.
Friday, I took off of work at 3 and headed out.  We had tickets to see Chelsea Handler at Chastain Park that night and I was so excited to do something different.  I had never seen a comedian live before and I knew we were going to have a night full of laughing.  Once I finally got to Nicole's apartment, I changed clothes really quickly and headed over to the park.  On our way there our friend, Brooke, called to ask us if we had heard the show was cancelled.  We wanted to see for ourselfs since we were almost there.  We pulled up and everyone was leaving.  She had cancelled! I was SO mad! I took off work early, drove 2 hours, got stuck in 2 traffic jams, got lost 3 times, and had to get ready in 10 mins just to get there and the show be cancelled.  She supposedly had the flu....but who gets the flu in June?! We decided not to let her ruin our plans so we went to Wet Willies to meet some of Nicole's friends for drinks.  We also had dinner there.  Later, we went to Hole in the Wall and stayed pretty late having a few drinks and dancing. 

I wasn't sure which frozen concoction to try so the bartender graciously let me try several!

Saturday, we were going to spend the day at the pool but it was very overcast and looked like it was going to rain at any second (another plan ruined).  So instead, we slept late and went to lunch at this really neat resturant called the Tree House.  We sat outside on the deck and enjoyed mimosas and brunch. I didn't really enjoy my meal but the atmosphere and fellowship made up for it. :) After lunch we went to Perimeter mall and shopped around.  We were all still tired from the night before so we went home and napped.  That night we went to The Ivy in Buckhead. It's an old mansion that has been converted into a resturant.  It was really fun and a lot of people were there. I actually ended up running into a friend from Hawkinsville that I had not seen in years. Small world!

Brunch at The Treehouse.

About to leave for The Ivy.

At the Ivy! So much fun!

This is "The Ivy" where we had dinner and drinks Saturday night.

Sunday, I left early to do a little shopping and have enough time to stop by Tanger outlet on my way home.  Before leaving Atlanta, I went by Home Goods for the first time. I have always wanted to go and was really excited.  I bought a few frames for my wall collage I am doing over the mantel in my bedroom.  I also bought a pretty framed print of pink and green flowers for my room at my mama's.  I ended up getting stuck in a really bad traffic jam on my way to Tanger so I didn't have as much time to shop as I had hoped for (they close early on Sundays).  I think that may have ended up being a good thing though. I spent wayyy too much money in the short time I was there!

I hope your weekend was as wonderful as mine! :)

Score!!

I think I should just have a seperate blog for all of my TJ Maxx finds.  I am literally obsessed with that store.  Not for their clothes (b/c I hate digging through them), but for their home goods and handbags. They have the best prices I have ever found anywhere.  Yesterday, I went with my friends Ashlee Culverhouse and Ashley Williams.  We have started eating dinner together once a week and then we visit TJ Maxx for "dessert"! :) 
During my trip last night, I couldn't help but notice a few things there that I had seen in magazines for a lot more.  Let's compare prices...(hold on to your chair)!

These are from Pottery Barn ($99.99-$29.99). They are too cute but the
TJ Maxx price makes them even cuter....

Large-$24.99 (cheaper than the smallest one at PB).  Small-$14.99!

Michael Kors sunglasses range from $295-$85.

I snagged these MK shades for a cool $19.99! My favorite find on this trip! :)

This purse made of ostrich skin is from Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen's clothing line "Row".
 It's set at a ridiculous price of over $5,000!

I found this faux ostrich skin purse for $24.99!! And it's a lot roomier than the above bag.

Close up....so exciting! :)

You can wear it cross body or as a tote.  I love it!

Us girls, having fun in the hat section! Ashlee C (in the middle) is a photographer too
and does a photo a day on FB. This was her photo of the day for Wednesday! Too cute!

Portraits in Paris

Last summer was the best summer of my LIFE!  I studied photography in Paris for 5 weeks through VSU.  I learned so much about my favorite hobby while in a city I have always wanted to visit (talk about killing 2 birds with 1 stone).  We took awesome field trips, photo excursions, and I even liked our assignments! :) 
During one of our first class meetings, our professor informed us we were going to the park across the street to take portraits of one of our classmates.  This was the first day I didn't wear make-up to class....just my luck.  I was paired up with a girl named, Jordyn.  She was really nice and we got to know each other pretty well.  I was really shy at first...having this girl I just met zoom in on my un-made up face.  We had to pose and this was just really weird for me.  I never saw the pictures she took but I was hoping they didn't look too bad.
Today, I was going through my old emails, deleting them, and saw a link to Jordyn's blog where she had posted the pictures of me for the assingment.  They weren't half bad and I thought I would share them with you. She did a really good job editing! The colors are so vibrant! I miss my days in Paris sooo much! These were taken the first week we were there.  I wish so bad I could experience it all over again!