kentucky love

a few weeks ago, A and I headed to my sweet state of kentucky to celebrate my little holly. she is getting married in a few weeks and we celebrated her and showered her before her big day. we squeezed a lot into a weekend and saw so many of our loved ones. i got to meet little babies, see my bestie with a bump (who has since had her little babe) and hang out with all of my favorite people. 

sweet sweet little evie. oh how i loved meeting her and seeing her sweet mama

 my sees. oh how i love her...

 the bride-to-be with all of her gifts

 friends at dinner. SUCH a wonderful time and good food.

yummy breakfast with friends. look at those mini beyonces up on the roof.

such a wonderful time in lexington. i am blessed beyond belief and thankfully, get get to go back soon for that little bride-to-be to get married. round two is coming soon....

march madness

a few things i love that help cheer on our CATS.

{espn}

{pin}

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{jcrew}

{essie}

all while wearing one of these pretty little outfits...

{pin}

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{pin}

GO CATS!

girl christmas

we counted. this is girl christmas #10. i can't believe we have held this tradition for 10 years. it is truly one of my most favorite traditions that comes with this season and i love that we just keep going. we will be 80 year old ladies one day and will all be at girl christmas. i just know it. we all cherish it way too much to stop the tradition anytime soon.

this year was one for the books. perhaps one of my favorites yet? it was so special to spend time with these girls and see what everyone crafted. we chatted it up, opened gifts, squealed, ate gouda bites and sweet treats and hung out all day long. it couldn't be any more perfect.

this year (as we have done the past 3 years), the rule was that everyone would make a little something for each girl. and those little somethings have to be crafted (which make them extra special).

my craft this year was little picture magnets made to look like polaroids.

each girl got 6 magnets. some had jenna's gorgeous pictures (like those above), some had pictures of weddings, babies and families. they turned out wonderfully and i was so happy that each girl felt the same.

i originally got the idea from {here} which links up to {this tutorial}. i followed that tutorial completely. she even has a template to use in photoshop (which was the most helpful thing ever). I had some trouble finding the perfect backing for the pictures. i tried foam board (don't even think about it) and also tried artist drawing board. neither worked well and were super hard to cut. i ended up using the back of 2 notebooks. they were thicker cardboard but not too thick where i had a lot of difficulty cutting them out.

that is all i will say about that. i will let you follow her tutorial if you ever give this craft a whirl but feel free to ask any questions. it was a lot of trial and error for this girl.

the rest of the weekend was spent eating yummy food, shopping, staying up way too late, watching a christmas movie and squeezing baby parker.

it was such a great weekend. went by so so fast but A and I had such a great time. my goodness we are so blessed with such awesome friends in lexington.

until next year...

parties in kentucky {part two}

the day after the bachelorette party, my MOH hosted a shower at her lovely abode. i know a lot of girlies chipped in to help and it made the day feel super personal and special. i know they worked hard (and the MOH was sick and still made a wonderful hostess).

one of the games the girls planned was to dress friends in bridal gowns using toilet paper. it was hilarious to watch and fun to judge. mandy and katie won since their dress looked like something that you could literally buy.

a fun little treat (mishap?) happened right when everyone was being decorated with tp. our sweet innocent gilfedder may have caught herself on fire from a candle that jen jen had burning on the coffee table. jenna was fearful. i may have cried from laughing. (gil was not hurt and the flames were little. i promise it was funny. see? even gil was laughing after just a few minutes)

the next "game" was not really a game but something that made me super excited. the girls got together and decorated 2 serving dishes for A and i to have in our house someday. the girls were super creative and the end results were adorable. i can't wait to get my hands on them soon!

we may or may not love to take "fake" laughing pictures that always result in real laughter.

together since high school freshman year...

sister and mama bear.

A even snuck in at the end to take a quick picture with his bride. (sidenote: when going through all the sweet gifts we received, he picked up the glass tupperware and exclaimed "this is my favorite gift". who knew he was so easily pleased?)

parties in kentucky {part one}

so i am a little behind on posting this. the past few weeks have been busy with wedding stuff. less than 2 months to go and we have kicked into overdrive.

a few weeks ago we drove up to lexington for a few days to celebrate the wedding. my sweet bridesmaids put together a super sweet bachelorette party and a lovely bridal shower. it was a jam packed weekend but it was wonderful to celebrate and spend time with friends that i love with my whole heart. and being back in lexington for a few days was definitely time well spent.

for an all day bachelorette party on saturday, we laid by the pool and went out to dinner (at a fantastic restaurant downtown that was delish). after that we were off to a little party back at our friends townhouse where hilarity ensued.

it was a fabulous day of being a bachelorette and hanging out with people i love dearly.

i'll be back soon with {part 2} all about our fun bridal shower (where fire may have been involved). until then...

where the heart is

our weekend in kentucky was absolutely perfect. i felt like we were running around all weekend long. from my parents house, down to lexington, visiting friends all over and squeezing in as much hangout time with my loved ones as possible.

let's go over my little list of things i wanted to do while there, shall we?

*spend some time with my family. it was wonderful. i love them so much.

*see my kitty, milo.

*meet baby james and spend time with cory.

look at that little belly. he is so tiny.

*visit with my besties. and visit i did. a lot. and it makes me miss them that much. absolutely blessed i tell ya.

*hold baby silas and hug angie.

angie...i adore this picture with all my heart. and i love his little plaid shorts.

*eat pazzos. (delicious pizza place. be jealous.) i even ate it with some besties. doesn't get better than that.

*a little trip to forever 21. forever 21? check. my first trip ever to H&M? check. both very successful.

and thank you for all the comments about my job. i am very excited and can't wait to share more with y'all.