for the love of new shoes

friday was a big day for me.

i got a new pair of shoes.

& not just any shoes my friends.

gold wedges.

now, this may not be any big deal for most of ya'll,

& remember , i already told you things might not be riveting around here,

but the shoes are awesome.

this of course coming from someone who lives in either

flipflops

ballet flats

running shoes

or cowboy boots.

but truly, they are awesome!

it will come equally as disappointing 

for you to find out that i own only one pair of heels,

one.

black patent leather.

that incidentally i think are classic and stylish.

my girls think not.

well back to my gold shoes.

they rock

they match my fave gold gap bag which is really more frostyish gold that 80's gold.

i know you understand me. completely.

and while they might only be considered to be a mini-wedges, 

( per my highschoolers)

they are wedges nonetheless.

the clencher=

all teenagers that live under the same roof as i

love them.

& let me really seal the deal

& maybe show my age.

they are comfy.

last year, i picked out this awesome high heeled wedges.

girls, they were awesome.

pink & gold

sorta lilly pulitzer meets kate spade.

i felt confident i could be graceful in them.

the girls laughed.

they were quick to put me in my place & inform me these pink&gold beauties

were

not

me.

i don't recall asking their opinion

yet i'm sure i did.

because of course,

when it comes to my personal fashion statements,

affirmation from someone born in the current century is a must.

so

all that to say

you may happen to see me in my gold comfy mini-wedges

at every fun event

between now & labor day.

ps. because i'm a weirdo

i actually ran to two different rooms to shoot them.

mean while, neither shot looks like the correct color.

oh well.

born brand, on sale at tjmaxx.

announcement & an attempt to be all there

 i always love a blog title that allows me a good alliteration!

first of all, i want to apologize in advance

for what i'm certain is going to be several weeks of less than riveting blog posts

& maybe even less visiting out in blogland.

& probably a few too many sappy posts!

furthermore, with one preparing to leave the country

& one preparing to leave the nest

i feel the need to be on my spiritual a-game.

(whatever that means)

i feel the need to really focus on some things here at home...

focus on encouraging my girls

& focus on my prayer life.

we had a meeting last night at church regarding emi's 3 week mission trip to peru.

besides the obvious physical preparations for her to function well 16,000 feet above sea level,

comes the mental & spiritual preparations for the trip.

i am certain the Lord is going to do awesome

life changing

things 

both in & through her.

i'm one of those people that can skim across the surface of many events and commitments

but i really want to be "all there" 

& engaged

for these preparations.

we are in the final month of meetings, dinners,

awards banquets, honors celebrations,

and all the fun exciting events for savannah's graduation.

throw in prom

& emi's 8th grade celebrations

and life....

well, you get the picture.

so,

not that anyone really cares

but i just want to apologize if it takes me a while to respond to emails

or if i'm a loser at leaving comments.

i love this supportive community here in blogland

& hate to disconnected or negligent.

&

i'm tickled to announce the winner of the paperlife journal class...

christina!!

please contact amy & she'll get you all set up!

an impromtu photoshoot of her.....

 this is bailey~

ya'll have heard me talk about smk's bestie many times.

i love this child.

i have watched her grow into an absolutely stunning young lady,

full of grace and charm

and dreams for her future.

( she's gonna kill me for this post...)

she'll head off to Ole Miss later this summer

but i'm praying our home will be one of her destinations when she returns to atlanta.

when they first started their friendship

bailey did not like her picture taken.

after several years, homecomings, proms, cheerleading events, etc

she now is comfortable with me

& allows me to shoot until my heart is content.

isn't she gorgeous!?

the other night she was headed over to crown the winner of an event at the girl's school

& stopped by on her way.

while this is not the gown she wore when she won her crown

our yard around dinner time has the perfect lighting

(& ya'll know how much i love back lighting)

so being the good sport

she allowed me to snap a few.

savannah quickly flowed into the unfortunate stepsister character....

many of these images were post processed with the new LUXE 2 actions from florabella.

i love them!

&  i may not sleep this weekend because i'll be playing on photoshop!

graduation party planning, 1st edition

i am so not an event planner

& i feel just a tad overwhelmed when it comes to entertaining a large number of folks.

well, planning a graduation party for these two cuties
for a large number of folks

is exactly what i'm knee deep into for the next 5 weeks.

or is it 4?

oh my...

& yes, we are already praying for a sunny, dare i mention breezy, day

because these two have big plans

for a few hundred of their closest friends.

oh my....

on this particular day

day 1 of planning

possibly a few weeks behind

they clearly were not stressed.

neither am i

i promised i'd be a.o.k.

& not stress.

so i'm not stressed.

i am not stressed over the 5,694 things that need to happen 

between now & when she puts that cap and gown on.

not one bit.

& i'm not crying. 

not i.

well, as of today we are moving in the right direction

&  have a list of ideas. a growing list.

i have myself a little grad party folder rolling over on pintrest.

surely that's a big step. right?

so if you have any tips or advice

or even fun images,

bring it!

i'm all ears!!

& lastly i want to share a fabulous & simple recipe with ya'll.

i made this last night for all my girlies

(my meat and potatoes lovin' big guy was gone)

& it was a smashing success!

Spaghetti with asparagus, smoked mozzarella and prosciutto

Giada De Laurentiis

* 2 pounds asparagus, trimmed

* 3/4 pound spaghetti

* 4 tablespoons olive oil

* 4 garlic cloves, minced

* Salt and freshly ground black pepper

* 6 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, cut crosswise into strips

* 6 ounces smoked mozzarella cheese, diced (about 1 cup)

* 6 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

Cook the asparagus in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 2 to 3 minutes. With a spider or slotted spoon, remove asparagus from boiling water to a bowl of ice water to cool and stop the cooking. When cool, cut asparagus into 1-inch pieces, and set aside.

Return the water in the pot to a boil, adding additional water if necessary. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add asparagus to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the pasta, and if needed, some of the reserved cooking liquid. Toss to coat. Add the prosciutto, mozzarella and basil, and toss to combine. Turn off the heat. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and serve.

The Paris Market

 i actually had a couple of you ask if i ever left Back in the Day Bakery!

ya'll are too funny.

well, i also barely left this next destination.

& to be honest, we just so happened to stumble upon this shop a second time. 

serendipity, of course.

my favorite shop destination in savannah is The Paris Market.

& let me interject right here...thank goodness for a man

who always entertains himself and never taps my shoulder saying "is it time to go yet babe?".

truth be told, i always ask the girls, "where's dad? i'm ready to go".

i could have spent hours in here.  come to think of it, i might have!

 (told ya...park him by the books & i have endless opportunity to shop!)

if you go, make sure you order a strawberry mint water.

hello.

 

The Paris Market is now offcially my favorite store.

seriously.

even beats out my long time fave that starts with an A and rhymes with ecology.

gasp!