It's Friday...

Five things on Friday.

.... aaaaaaand GO!

One.     Prayers and support for Anna and Nella.

If you guys don't know Anna from The Carolina Country Girl, you should.  She's an incredibly sweet, incredibly funny, and dare I say slightly sassy southern girl, and she's been a wonderful blog friend of mine for a couple of years now.  Anna found out a couple of weeks ago that she has Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  

She is currently undergoing testing to try and pinpoint what stage it is and what course of treatment she will undergo, and I just wanted to show her some love here because I can't imagine how difficult the last few weeks have been for her.  But if you know Anna, you know that she is a fighter, and I have no doubt that she is going to KICK CANCER TO THE CURB.  Get it girl!

You can show Anna love by heading over to her blog or linking up here or by using the hashtag #TeamTCCG on social media.

I have also had another sweet girl on my mind lately.  Her name is Nella.  Nella is a little over seven months old, and she has Spinal Muscular Atrophy, which is the #1 killer of young children.  You can read her story here.  Another incredible blog friend, Kristin, has organized an Instagram auction to raise money for Nella's family (medical bills for a baby with with a disease like SMA can be crippling... on top of all of the emotional turmoil Nella is going through).

The auction ends tomorrow morning, but there is still PLENTY of time to participate!  Follow @wonderfullymadeauction on Instagram to see all the adorable things up for auction.  I've been bidding and REALLY hope I can score some of these goodies!

Two.     Old-new clothes.
I'm still losing weight, friends.  I promise a real weight-loss update is coming soon, but until then, can I tell you guys how exciting it is to have worn several of my old shirts/dresses this week that are NOT plus-sized?!  Hallelujah!  And I have officially grown out of every pair of "fat" jeans that I own.  Which is awesome and not awesome.  I hate buying clothes to wear right now because I know I'm still losing, but a girl's gotta have a pair of jeans.  So I ordered what I thought was the right size skinny jean last week, and they came in last night.  Apparently I was a wee bit ambitious.  #muffintop

Three. 

I adore these three.  They make my world go 'round.

Four.     Long lost friends.
Micah and I are having dinner tomorrow with an old friend from middle/high school and his wife.  I literally haven't seen David in probably 8 years or so, and I'm excited to catch up.  It's so strange that we're, like, all adults now.  How did this happen?

Five.     The Fault in Our Stars.
Go read it.  Grab some Kleenex first, but then get busy reading.  It's one of the best books I've read in a long while.

That's all I've got.

Linking up with Joy and Darci!

Gracie's cake smash photo session...

Many months ago, I got it in my head that I wanted to do a cake smash photo for Gracie's birthday party invitation.  I kept trying to get over it, but I just couldn't.  So I didn't. 

We did the cake smash mini session in February with a local-ish photographer who has a studio (it was too cold to do it outside, and I sure as heck didn't want buttercream frosting smashed into my wood floors... yet).  We were only there about 25 minutes, and Grace was really serious and curious most of the time, but we still ended up with some adorable shots.

Scroll down to the end to see the one we picked for the invites.  I die.

fabric tutu from here

bloomers and necklace from here

invite from here

This was a moment of pure, frosting-induced joy, and that little snaggle tooth just kills me.

I still can't believe this happy girl is almost ONE!  Best. year. ever.

We have a toddler...

Is the normal reaction to seeing your kid take their first very steps to bawl uncontrollably?

... crickets...

... so... I guess it's just me, then?

I can't explain what came over me, you guys, but as I watched her wobble there, without support, for a few seconds, and then move her chubby little feet in my mom's direction, one step at a time, I just could not handle how big she looked.  It's so fun watching her discover what she's capable of, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how the heck I'm going to handle college graduation.  (Although, let's be real, I'll probably be a basket case at kindergarten graduation.)

And of course I didn't get pictures or video, but she did do it several more times this weekend, so I'm convinced it wasn't a fluke. 

We met some friends for Greek food on Saturday, and Gracie and I both inhaled a stupid amount of pita bread.  (And hummus.  And olives.  I could live on Greek food.)

I'm so thankful Miss Priss is finally getting on board with table food.  She still hates avocado, bananas, and mashed potatoes (how are we related?), but she loves oranges, tomatoes, bread, pancakes (ha!), sloppy joes, green beans, peas, and pretty much anything else she can get her little hands on.  We're down to three bottles a day, and she's loving her sippy cup, so I'm hopeful we'll be able to transition off the bottle close to the time she turns one next month.  (Although if any of you have good suggestions on weaning from the bottle/formula, I'm all ears!)

We also spent a good chunk of our weekend playing with the blocks I finally got down for her.  She and Micah have a fundamental disagreement about what a person is supposed to do with blocks.

The engineer does this:

... and the toddler does this:



She's a little destroyer, so Micah had to wait until she went to sleep to build his castle.

I didn't quite get my to-do list done. But I am making headway, so that's something.  And I call the weekend a success because we made time to go and see DIVERGENT!  I freaking loved it, but I know it's not getting great reviews from the critics.  Maybe I just have no taste, but I thought the Tris/Four chemistry was sizzling, and Shailene Woodley (who plays Tris) was excellent.

So in summary:  Grace walked, I ate Greek food, Micah built a castle, and I loved Divergent.  Fabulous weekend, I say.

Getting it together...

I'm on a mission, you guys.

I am on a MISSION to get my ishhh together.  

Because I'm coming to realize that the first six months at work after coming back from maternity leave were probably not representative of what life's going to be like as a working mom.  Maybe people were giving me a free pass and taking it easy because of the no-sleep thing?  Maybe things were just slower for a bit?  Either way, it's game on now.  

And I am totally losing.

I do actually feel like I'm keeping things afloat at work, at least to a decent degree.  It's in the everyday life stuff that I am sucking.  Laundry, organization, commitments... PLANNING MY ONLY CHILD'S FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY (that's in less than a month)!  Heck, I still have tissue paper poms hanging from my curtain rods in my dining room from my sister-in-law's baby shower nearly three weeks ago.  I'm a hot mess, y'all.

So I'm working hard to organize my life.  I'm using the Wunderlist app, which is magical. It allows you to keep multiple lists going, share your lists with others (Micah and I share a grocery list), and set reminders. And I'm going back to my trusty white board at work.

I'm actually going to bore you today with my random to-do list.  Because (1) I love lists (clearly) and (2) I need some accountability.  These things WILL get done by the end of the weekend.  I declare it to be so.

• Order battery for my car key. (I'm currently having to manually unlock my doors.  How 1990 am I?)
• Mail Gracie's birthday party invitations.
• Make eye doctor appointment.
• Make dentist appointment.
• Order cakes for Grace's party.
• Order Grace's birthday present. 
• Print pictures. (All of the pictures in my office are from months ago...)
• Schedule one-year session with Lauren and order outfits.
• Order decorations/favors for Grace's party.
• Organize Grace's closet.
• Find a blog consultant. (I'm having SEO issues.  Apparently my blog's not showing up in internet searches for some strange reason?)
• Take a nap.

Who'll put $20 on me not even getting through half this list? ;)

Who am I?

I'm wearing booties today, y'all.

Specifically these booties (in black).

via

I feel so hip.  But since I just said "hip," I realize that I am not, in fact, hip.

I also ordered these (in cognac), and they are SO freaking cute, plus they're on SALE...

via

... but I have to exchange them for a bigger size.  Whomp, whomp.

I swore I'd never wear a bootie, so I'm not even sure who I am anymore.  But, at the very least, I'm someone who is wearing adorable shoes today.

Also... I don't share a whole lot about work here, mostly for confidentiality reasons and out of respect for my firm and our clients.  Plus, let's be real... patent litigation isn't the most riveting topic for anyone who doesn't do it for a living.

But you guys.

I'm pretty sure I've never felt more like a lawyer than I did yesterday.  I argued in court for the first time, and I think it went really well.  I want to do that every day forever.  It was a good reminder, in the midst of a really hectic time in my career, that I am exactly where I belong.

Hope you guys enjoy your weekend.  We're planning on lots of family time and sunshine.  Texas, be kind! :)

I heart...

It has been awhile since I shared the things I've been lovin' on lately.  Today it's going to be a mish-mash of random stuff, but I feel like it might be useful for me to categorize these posts at some point.  I feel like that's what a real blogger would do.  

{skinny vanilla macchiato}

via

Although the caramel macchiato was my first exposure to the land of coffee as dessert, I quickly passed it over for the white chocolate mocha.  Then Starbucks came out with the cinnamon dolce latte, and that was my signature drink for a couple of years.  But they introduced the skinny peppermint mocha a few years ago, and I've been unyielding in my loyalty from the first sip.  Until now.

I'm cheating on you, skinny peppermint mocha.  And I'm not even a tiny bit sorry.

{gold office decor}

I've been really wanting to get my office at work looking spiffier.  It's currently very uninspired and generic-looking, and given that it's the place I spend most of my time, I want it to feel like me.  I've decided to shy away from my typical palette of neutrals/greens/aquas and go for something a little... sassier.  I think I'm aiming for golds and corals (and some black, as I've already got quite a bit of lack in here already).

For starters, I'm definitely ordering this print:

via

And, in case you want to take a peek, I'm compiling some inspiration on my "workspaces" Pinterest board.

{crockpot cooking}

On busy weeknights, the best thing ever is to be able to come home from work and have dinner already (or at least mostly) done.  What I did this week was throw three frozen chicken breasts in the crockpot on Monday morning, cover with an entire bottle of BBQ sauce, pour a cup of water on top, and let it cook on low the entire day.

Micah shredded the chicken when he got home, and then we sandwiched the chicken between two tortillas with shredded cheddar and pineapple (from a can... we're fancy like that) to make some hawaiian chicken quesadillas.  It wasn't the healthiest thing, but holy cow... they were delicious.  And now we have plenty of leftover chicken to make tacos/nachos or to throw on top of a salad.  Win.

{gracie's thoughts regarding lemons}



I don't blame you, kid.

What are you guys loving this week?

A bedtime disaster...

I wore my hair in a side braid on Sunday.

Micah called me "Katnip."  And then I swooned and kissed him like I meant it.  #hellotheregale

This weekend was also noteworthy because I did something I never do.

I went to Walmart.

I gagged a little just typing that, but we needed some oversized plastic bins to store all of Gracie's STUFF, and they're just significantly cheaper at Walmart.  Thankfully, we had this little cutie to keep us entertained.

The cuteness.  I almost can't take it.

She wasn't quite as cute on Sunday night when, for the first time ever, she refused to go to bed.  Like, just flat-out screamed her head off for the better part of an hour because she refused to sleep without being held.

We were blessed with a decent sleeper, y'all, so I know I can't really complain.  But we rocked and laid her down three separate times, and each time, she woke up as soon as we attempted to put her in her crib and screamed until we came to pick her up.  (And, for the record, we did let her cry it out for awhile, but after nearly 20 minutes, this momma couldn't take it anymore.)

I'm thinking now it was a combination of daylight savings, teething, and the fact that we've dropped a bottle feeding.  Whatever it was, she eventually passed out in her crib, and I nearly collapsed on the couch with a face full of tears.

This parenting thing isn't for the faint of heart, friends.

Thankfully, the tough moments are usually bookended by moments like these:



We've been unusually boring lately.  Mostly because I've been working like a crazy lady.  I promise to bring my A-game again soon, you guys.  Pinkie promise.

#30: create something beautiful

Maybe it's just because she's mine...

... but in my very humble opinion...

... this sweet, little girl...

... just might be...

... the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

I am officially crossing #30 off my list.

Peach and gold: a glittery sip-and-see for Blakely

I am a terrible party planner.  I've said it before, and I really mean it.  Without my two co-hosts, the sip-and-see we threw for my sister-in-law this past weekend would have been a colossal flop.  Thankfully, it was a team effort, and everything turned out really sweet.

So... a few pictures. 

Pardon the insane glare from my windows. 

We went for a super girly dessert buffet because who doesn't love French macaroons?  And mini bundt cakes.  And coated marshmallow pops.  And iced shortbreat cookies.

I actually made the cake stands out of Dollar Tree candle holders and $2 plates from Target.  I attached them with some epoxy and then primed and spray-painted them.  Hence the gold doilies... apparently you're not supposed to serve food on spray-painted surfaces?  :)

My stupid chandelier made it ridiculously hard to get a picture of the cake and punch table.  It really was adorable.  (Also, apparently it's still Christmas... I forgot to switch out my "Peace" letters.  Ha!)

We served pink lemonade mimosas with fresh fruit.  They were really pretty and so delicious.  And these plastic flutes made them really festive.

I found these peach and gold paper straws on Etsy.  And then I dipped a mason jar in some gold glitter at the last minute to make a festive container.  My table runner is still covered in gold glitter. :)

Aren't these letters so adorable?  My friend Lauren made them.  We had originally planned on making them into a banner, but they were too cute standing up like this.

It's not a baby shower without tissue paper poms and paper lanterns.

I dropped the ball and totally forgot to get pictures of the precious favors Faith's sister, Rachel, brought - E.L.F. nail polishes!  We put them in a fun peach polka-dot bucket and reminded guests to grab a couple on the way out.

I also forgot to get pictures of the food, but it was really yummy.  We did chicken salad on Hawaiian rolls, potato salad, broccoli pasta salad, deviled eggs, cornbread, and sweet peach tea.  Lots of southern food for our "Georgia" peach.  (Georgia is Blakely's middle name.)

Anyway, it was a blast, even though the crazy weather kept a lot of people snuggled up at home (Blakely, what is it with you and the weather, girl?).  Thanks again to everyone who braved the ice to stop by!

And now that this party is in the books, I've got to get my kid's first birthday bash planned.  Too bad I won't have my wing-girls to help with that one... :)

A week later...

Seven briefs and one baby shower later, I feel like a new woman.

After staying up until midnight or later nearly every night last week trying to stay caught up with work and finish planning Faith's sip and see,* I was basically a zombie.  But I got my briefs filed on Friday, and the baby shower went off without a hitch yesterday afternoon, so here I am again.  

I'll be back later this week to share more about the shower, but today I just wanted to share a couple of things.

First, I mentioned that I was getting a new sign for my mantel, and it arrived last week.

It's a constant reminder to praise Him in whatever season He's leading me through, which I love.  I also just love how beautiful it is.  I got it here, and I would highly recommend Tiffini (although there's quite a long turnaround usually for her products - just know that before you order).

Also... this.

Ha!  Her dress says "Don't get your tutu in a tangle." :)  She wore it to a little get together for my Mamaw's 75th birthday on Saturday.  It was a great chance to get together with my sweet family.

It was also the perfect time to steal some snuggles from my newest niece, since I knew I'd be too busy at the sip and see to slow down.

We're all mostly feeling much better around here.  Still a little sniffly, but recovering.

Anyway, just wanted to let you guys know I was still alive.  Barely. :)

* For those of you who asked, a sip and see is just a baby shower held after the baby is born.