O.T.W.-- Another Wedding and A Hike!

This "Over The Weekend" post will be mostly pictures.

Deidra and I hit up a wedding, which was just beautiful on Saturday. The receiption was held at The Stables at Russell Crossroads.

On Sunday I tagged along with Lacey and John as we hiked up to the recenlty restored Smith Moutain Fire Tower on the Lake Martin.

 

If you live in our area you should hike up the Fire Tower one weekend. The hike is relatively easy and definetly worth it.

Awesome weekend.

O.T.W. Justin's Birthday Party

This past weekend was the big birthday party that my parents and I put together to celebrate my brother's 30th Birthday!!

We hosted the party at our family farm so we went with a rustic/country theme. I know boys this time of year will miss a party/wedding/shower all together if it interferes with football so I made sure we had football on the big screen.

We also had live music to set the tone for a fun night.

I think everyone had an awesome time! Especially my brother, Justin (which is what it was all about).

The weather was perfect Saturday for our outdoor soiree-- Sunny, high the 80's, low that evening in the 50's. Not too hot, not too cold.

I was inspired by pinterest if you can believe that. We wrapped hay bales for extra seating, I handmade/crafted the 'Happy Birthday' Banner, we made burlap tablecloths, created the rustic corn center piece for the food table and used turkey feather place mats and mason jars on the smaller tables.

My parents and I worked hard to turn a blank canvas (with no lighting) into a perfect place to celebrate my bro! To kick the party off I made a short speech and that's when things got going.

We served Bar-B-Que sandwiches, Rotel Cheese dip, Buffalo dip, baked beans, potato salad and cole slaw. The food was delicious and kept with the manly "football and fun on the farm" theme.

Any reason to party with friends is a win in my book. We had a portion of the invitation Katie Beth designed used on the cake. It turned out so cute!

Dad work hard getting all the lights hung so that we would actually have light for the party since it is pitch black on that side of the barn. The party lights absolutely help set the tone.

Daniel Jackson (DJ), pictured below on the right, saved the day by figuring out how to get the projector, sound system and satellite working. We were in over our heads with that and I had decided to just cut the football all together. DJ showed up and worked it out. I'm going to have to buy him lunch. Thanks DJ!

Everyone sipped the signature cocktail, Georgia Tea (provided by Deidra) and began to loosen up.  That's when the dance floor began heating up.

Overall the party was a huge success in my book! Everyone had a great time celebrating the Big THREE OH with my brother.

O.T.W.-- Farm Day & A Wedding

This weekend I spent a good portion of my time gearing up for the 30th Birthday Party we are having for my brother.

But before I got to work on that... Friday night I enjoyed a few glasses of wine before going to see the movie TAKEN 2.

Friday was a long day and those two glasses of wine were much needed!!

My bro's party is going to be at our family farm. Mom, Dad and I went up on Saturday and worked, worked, worked.

We purchased the "Decoration Special" which got us 5 bales of hay for only $20.00. Worked out perfectly since we are using the hay for decoration. 

It was such a nice day at the farm and we got lots accomplished!

Saturday afternoon we hurried back to town so that I could get Ryan and myself ready for our friends Anna and Kevin's (we call him yogi) wedding.

(borrowed this pic from facebook)

Deidra scooped us up and we enjoyed an evening of fun celebrating the newly married couple!

Whitney, Deidra and I had the most fun chatting and laughing.



Long lost pal Ryan Sanders was in town for the wedding. It was great to see him!

Just as a side note: Isn't my Ryan the most handsome? I tend to think so.

Good weekend. Good fun. Today is hump day-- half way point, man! Hang in there.

Detox Water

I've been detoxing this week, although I have no idea exactly what that means in terms of this water.

I recently came across an Apple Cinnamon Detox Water on Pinterest. After reading the correlating blog post about it, I thought I would give it a try.

 

I sliced up my apple into thin slices, topped with a cinnamon stick and added ice and water.

The blog post says that it needs to sit at least ten minutes, but I have found that if I make it at night it's more flavorful the next morning. (after only ten minutes it still tastes like regular water)

I've done some research regarding Apple Cinnamon Water (read: googled it) and it appears that cinnamon has some healthy benefits and obviously apples are good for you.

Who knows if it's detoxifying me or not, but it's pretty tasty. It's also a more healthy alternative to the flavors add-ins like Mio or Krystal Light.

It taste like Fall!

O.T.W. Damn Smokey

Friday night Ryan and I took it easy and were actually in the bed watching the movie, Friday, by 10:00 p.m.

I can't see this movie on TV without thinking of my friend and college roomate, Kaci. When we were in middle school (around age 12/13), we would stay up late, until our parent went to sleep, and bust our our VHS of this movie. We watched it just about every weekend. We had the movie practically memorized. 

Saturday Ryan and I didn't have any plans other than knocking a few things off the ole To-Do List.

Ryan's dad came over they worked on few things around the house while I busied myself with a couple of projects.

One of which was painting my porch swing a high gloss black. Inspired by the black swing on the porch of the Southern Living Idea House. I sanded it,  primed it and got most of it painted before the rain set in. I just need to paint the back of it before I show you how it turned out.



Applying the tinted primer to the white swing.

I had a little accident while painting the swing though. I was sitting cross-legged on the ground painting away when I knocked over the entire can of black oil paint which went all over my right leg and right butt check.... it was a mess. We have black foot prints around the house from me running to the back yard. Let's just say I ended up in panties on the back porch.  Big Mess. Huge.

Saturday night Ryan and I had a date night, but I must be honest here (and if you follow my instagram you know this) it's really hard to vie for any attention from my main man when it's football season.

Can you tell where the TV is located?

So I just mind my business across the table and enjoy a few cocktails.

He didn't watch football the entire time... We really had a nice dinner together.

Overall, it was good weekend to get caught up on chores, rest, and projects.

Random Happenings

It's been a rather fast paced week. I was slow to bounce back from last weekend. It was tough to get caught back up, but once I did I hit the ground running.

I hit up the salon this week.

I went a little darker for the fall. And let's be honest... it's hard to maintain a false identity. I'm no natural blond, (shocker) so I felt like it was time to tone it down at least for a bit.



gratuitous self portraits

It's growing on me for sure. I did have one lady at the salon tell me it really made my sparkly blue eyes really POP. I'll take it!

This week I also mailed out invitations for my brother's 30th Birthday Bash!



Don't mail any letters to my cousin, Celinda since I just posted their address on the INTERNET. However, she would gladly accept cash probably.

 

Katie Beth hooked me up with some killer invites that are sure to encourage people not to miss out on the good time. Katie is super creative... you should probably use her for your next event.

And in between all of this nonsense Lacey and I have been burning the calories.

She's currently training for the Susan G. Koman 5K-- She wants to be super fast because she's #inittowinit or something.

Feel free to donate to the cause at her Susan G. Koeman page by clicking here. Just do it!

Happy Weekend Crazies!!

Nail Trends: Metallics

A few weeks ago, while on Alana's Bach Party in Nashville my friend, Brittany, showed up with the best nail polish.

She had hurriedly painted her toes with Essie's Good as Gold before heading to Nashville.

Here's Brittany:

Now, pretend this is a diagram of feet instead of hands:

Her toes (on both feet) were painted similar to the hand on the right.

We had a good laugh and I was sold on the color.

I have, since, purchased the Good as Gold as well as the No Place Like Chrome. Both are from Essies' Summer Metallic Collection but of the collection of colors I feel like the gold and silver can transition in to Fall.

Thanks for the heads up Britt!

O.T.W. AU vs. LSU

Good Monday to you.

Let's talk about what an awesome weekend Ryan and I had.

Friday night we stayed in, caught up on our DVR and had a pizza party. Perfection.

We turned in early because we had a big day ahead of us on Saturday.

Ryan and I were in Auburn by 10:00 a.m. Saturday ready for a day of tailgating nonsense. It was such a fun day.

Ready to take on the day; Blair, moi, Brittany, Kristen;  Katie Beth and me. 

I was so excited to get to see my BF, Katie Beth. This is crazy but I haven't seen her in real life since last football season. So I was super stoked to get to hug her neck.

Ali and I went to to the game while Ryan stayed behind at the tailgate spot to watch the game on TV.  Ali and I cheered our hearts out in an attempt to pull us through. It was a stressful game, but I had packed medicine in the form of bourbon minis so we were able to take a little bit of the stress off.

It was close. So close, but LSU came out on top with a score of 12-10. I was proud of our Tigers for holding their own. (although Ryan says there is no such thing as a moral victory--just wins and losses)

Ali and I cheering on Auburn.

After the game Ali and I headed to SkyBar for a couple of drinks, but it was so crowded that we finally decided it would be more fun to ease next door for a little healthy late night snack of McDonald's. #quarterpounderlatenight

Sunday was definitely a day of rest for this gal. It took it out of me but was oh so worth it.

It was a great weekend. I love football season!!