moments from a snow day

Monday, the girls were out of school due to the gorgeous snowfall we had on Sunday.

My sweet Emi has for some time not enjoyed being in front of the camera.

It was so gorgeous outside, the sun shining on the perfect white snow,

I begged her for a quick photo shoot.

I told her over & over again just how beautiful she was...

it was truly magical to watch how she glowed that day

....her sweet little 12 year old spirit just soared with confidence

( those middle school years are so hard )

....& mamma captured 250 shots!

atta girl!

My usual muse was not quite in the mood however,

especially when i requested she throw on her new cute dress found here.

she loves her funky red dress but it was a little chilly

a jacket would have killed the look i was going for

duh

....so a starbucks white mocha bribe was involved & she was back in her warm jammies in less than 5 min-thanks anyway little bit

even mr cardinal look regal in his red

the little nest outside my kitchen window sitting in the bradford pear that had already begun to blossom...hang in there little robins, its almost time.

please leave me some remnents from your blue eggs

i so love to collect those

i'm certain she's thinking....

"yes i love the snow

but i'm even more excited that this weekend

it'll be up in the 70's

and soon i'll be sportin' my lilly dress that my mamma loves so dearly"

little bird

Little bird

that's been my nickname for her since she was born.

my smallest daughter at birth, weighing 6 lbs,

with petite delicate features & the brightest blue eyes.

she was an easy pregnancy, delivery, baby & basically is still an easy child.

are all middle ones so?

This is a big week for her

this coming weekend will be her final performance

having come to dan & i weeks ago, sharing that she wanted to stop dancing

for 11 years this has been her world

the last two years , it has completely consumed her

dancing 5 days a week and during production- 7 days a week.

while i want my girls to find a passion, i want them to be balanced and feel that they can enjoy many facets of their life. ballet has been an all consuming , year round love of hers. i have thoroughly enjoyed watching her in her element up on the stage

but she feels its time to spread her wings

so little bird

i am so proud of you

i stand behind you completely supporting your decision

(which ever way you went sweet girl, we were going to be right here for you)

i pray these years in dance have engraved self confidence & joy in your soul

i pray the future years will do just the same

no matter where the path may lead

may you spread your wings

sweet child

& fly

Happy 14th Birthday my Madison Grace

You are loved more than you'll ever know

You will always be my tiny dancer

I know we're still weeks away....but its close...I can feel it.

Spring in Atlanta is always spectacular.

But more exciting than that...is unpacking all our Lilly!

One of my girlfriends called the other day from Costco telling me they had Lilly for $25

--shut up & bring me home a few.

(gonna need a membership there for sure)

& I must tell you, I found these ridiculously cute sandals~

I sound like a snob, but lets face it~ we all love Target

but you'll need to head on into walmart to get these little numbers.

So Caroline is set!

Lilly shift $25

great sandals $7.50

dressing like a palm beach cutie for less than 40 bucks

priceless

For Valentines, my sweet guy bought me several charms for my silver james avery bracelet. Kristin actually gave this to me the night before dan & i married , with a dogwood blossom ( we married on easter weekend).

10 years have passed

& now my bracelet is completely full & doubling up on some of the links

--i love that jingle.

So to get my charms added, I needed to trek over to the mall

Our newest mall in Georgia is ginormous

I really don't like the mall

but this one has front row special 1 hour parking--i can whip in one "corner" of the mall

cruise through Nordstroms & pick up some of this

they were having a special

so i snagged this yummy bath gel for free

& splurged on the most wonderful candle ever.

Nordstroms customer service is above & beyond fabulous

I love going there

on that same "corner" i also have JCrew

speaking of stellar customer service

I love those people there

they make me happy

tried on some of these

they make me happy too

but truth be told...i totally scored a pair of jcrew white boyfriend chinos flare leg for

THREE DOLLARS

at good will!!

don't hate me

it was a total fluke

i have gone maybe twice in the last year to buy some jeans

(& yes, i've scored on some great Gap ones there)

but low & behold

these were on the front rack beside the jeans.

i never look through the other things because it takes entirely too much time

So after a surgical strike through my favorite corner of the mall ,

that i don't enjoy going to ,

I left a happy customer after being treated so wonderful by the folks at

Nordstrom, J Crew, James Avery, & Pottery Barn.

Is there really any other necessary stores there anyway?

( fyi--this mall sadly doesn't have anthro )

So back to thoughts of spring

I picked up this , what was once a tiny, hydrangea

from Kroger just after Christmas

I have kept in on my kitchen table & have thoroughly enjoyed its company

& yes, my shells all returned within moments of packing up Christmas

.....shhh....

they help all the Lilly clothes feel welcome

how to enlarge your blogger photos

oh happy day.....

i finally found how to enlarge pictures on blogger!

you can too, just head on over here

and ps, for all you fellow Lilly lovers

check this out!!!!

the good , the bad, & the ugly

The good first

So Savannah's 16th birthday weekend was nothing short of 48 hours of fun & celebrations. Her bff, pictured below, planned the most wonderful party for her. No detail was overlooked. I told her many times how fortunate she is to have Bailey as her bestie.

What a precious precious girl.

Bailey had reserved her neighborhood clubhouse & about 2 dozen girls came, no boys--really, no boys, all glammed up for a fun night together. Decadent deserts were served on silver platters. Many things in shades of blush & bashful--oh Shelby would have been so proud.

One of the things I brought was these too cute party rings; of course, SMK first rolled her eyes at me but they ended up being quite the hit, especially when "all the single ladies" came on. & yes, i have spared you those pictures of the dance because....well, lets just leave it at that.





I made pina colada pink punch ( of course without the rum, what are you thinking).


I'm here to tell ya, back in my day, no 16 year old girls looked like this!

Came home later that day to find a precious gift wrapped all lovely & perfect from my dear friend.

Scrumptious lavender rose goodies inside-you can check out here

thank you sweetie, you are loved!

xo

now the bad
so , am i the last to know?
ShabbyChic filed chapter 11
go see for yourself

I'm telling you
that news, combined with my MOST favorite four mags, all ceased in publication
cottage living
country home
mary engelbreit's home companion
& domino
life for me will never be the same
& I say that with all seriousness my friends




& now the ugly
drum roll please
remember when i told you the overwhelming drama with my computer?
yeah, well turns out the virus thingy really was from the Russian Mafia
i am telling you the gosh honest truth

guess that explains why ,
when my "CSI-esque forensic guys"
(as i so affectionately refer to them)
didn't even crack a smile when i said
"so get back to me if you find out its linked with the mob"
while sportin my perfect barbie flip ponytail, thinking i was being all cute & funny.




I'm still waiting to hear back for the final word on exactly how & when this came in to my little ole' computer. My hubby was a missionary over in Russia about 15 years ago. I told him he shouldn't have smuggled so many matryoshka dolls back in to the USA~wink

On a positive note, I can provide you with quite the inservice on computer virus, malware & other misc malicious crud that can wreak havoc on your life.