Monday Lovelies: The Week Ahead.

Thinking about the week ahead, I'm both excited and nervous. I'll be leaving on Thursday to go to Franklin, TN and train for my new job. I'm thinking about not only all the knowledge that I'm going to gain while being there, but also about my little family who will be without me for two nights. I don't mean to worry, but Daniel has never been with John for that long by himself. I know they'll be fine, but for the next couple of days before I leave I'm making sure that life will be easy for them while I'm away. The fridge will be stocked, laundry sorted and the day to day stuff will all be taken care of so Daniel and John can just focus on being together. I hope they have a great weekend!

Here are some lovely things that I'm thinking about and that make me happy----I hope you enjoy them too! I'll try to post a few pictures on my Facebook Page of what I'll be packing for the trip :) I'm kind of a geek in that I love packing!



This is the view from our back porch. I love that all the trees are filling in :)



My little pot of Lantana's and Marigolds. Lantana's have been my favorite flower for awhile now, and I learned that Marigolds deter mosquito's so I planted them both in a pot next to our front door.



Two amazing things in one picture! Farm fresh milk from Jones Heritage Farm and Market, and a John F. Kennedy collectible plate, which was a gift from a new friend.



I think I have created a monster. This new cupcake recipe is called "Dreamsicle." Oh. My. Goodness. It's delicious! This orange/vanilla cupcake is topped with decadent butter cream icing. Is your mouth watering yet?



This tank from Philanthropy is coming home with me this weekend. Hopefully they still have my size in stock :)

 And here are more links to more lovely things :)

Here is what we are buying my Nana for her birthday this year! I saw her eyeing this patio set in Target the other day--and now it's on sale!

I'm always on the hunt for the perfect tee--and this one from Gap comes pretty close to being my favorite ever. TIP: Size up if you have a long torso, it fits a bit short. Also, P.S.....this one might be my next favorite.

Every Spring I go on the hunt for the perfect new pair of white jeans--this pair from JCP is affordable and fits well.

Happy Monday everyone!

Monday Lovelies: Breaktime.

Happy Monday! This post is brought to you by my personal laptop, in the middle of the day, while my son is napping in his own bed. I'm officially finished working at Major Brands and I'm at home right this very second! I will begin my new adventure in April, so right now I'm just enjoying extra time with John and working on some projects at home. Here are some fun things that we've been up to :)



We spend a lot of time outside in front of the house. We like to sit in these comfy adirondack chairs and have our afternoon snack.



I am in love with this new candle from Bath and Body Works, "Spring." I like to light it in the morning when I'm having my coffee. It makes the entire house smell like a flower shop! I'm also ready for the Easter Bunny with my glass egg candy dish filled with my favorite treat, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Eggs :)



One of the perks of having a little time off means I can keep my home perfectly clean (well, for a little while anyway!). In case you didn't know, our family of 3 currently resides inside a 3 car garage/house that we built on four acres in Cape Girardeau County. So we're all basically in one room, together all the time! We have a small bathroom and bedroom in the back there (middle of photo) where John sleeps, but as you can see our bed, couch, kitchen and dining room are all in one big space! We are in the process of building our dream house right next to this garage that we currently live in. We hope to be in our new house by Christmas!



Speaking of our dream house, here's what we have built so far--the basement! This big slab of concrete sits to the left of our garage-house. It's nice to live right on the construction site so we can monitor the progress! 

 

We spent a lot of time at the park over the weekend--and these are my "shoe of choice" for chasing around little man.



I think someone might be waking up---talk to you all later!!



Monday Lovelies: Spring is Here!

Hello all! I hope you had a great weekend. Here's a little peak into what we've been doing since Spring has officially hit Southeast Missouri!

We've been doing lots of bike riding and exercising. I could barely walk on Friday after running almost every day last week. John busted out his trike and started learning different street signs at Safety City.

My morning coffee perks me up even more with this adorable "cream cow." Moooo!






Hat: Kohls. T-Shirt: ?? Belt: Thrifted, TC Thrift Store. Skirt: JCPenney. Flats: Macy's.

My first official Spring outfit! I wore this last week to work and then again yesterday to church. The t-shirt makes the skirt a bit more casual, and I love this hat! Such a fun addition! This "mullet hemmed" skirt was fun when the breeze picked up, I felt like Marilyn Monroe!

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day at home watching movies and eating one of my favorite meals, Corned Beef and Cabbage. I dyed the cabbage, scalloped potatoes and my Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat Beer green! I think I'll keep this tradition going year after year. John loved eating the green potatoes, he kept putting them on his spoon and laughing.

Finally, my sweet Aunt Nancy shared this photo of my Mamaw Shain with me last week and I made it my facebook cover photo. That's my mom in the upper right hand corner, my silly cousin Andrew making raccoon eyes in the back, half of my sister Lauren's face on the left, and my Mamaw Shain and me sitting up front. I miss my Mamaw all the time. She was a beautiful, amazing woman and a total style icon. Seeing this picture has made me think about her a lot this week. Love you Mamaw!


Hope your Monday is lovely, friends! xoxo

Monday Lovelies!

Good morning! I had a great weekend of crafting and hanging around the house with my little man. Unfortunately I left my camera at work (typical!) so I'll have to get some pictures tonight of my DIY's. Meanwhile, allow me to distract you with some lovely things from around the web.

I am loving the printed jean trend. I can't decide which pair I like better!



This lovely pair from River Island

 Or this pair with the black backdrop......



From ASOS.

I am also really loving Sculpey right now. Basically it's just clay that you form into any kind of shape or figure you want (I've been making tons of beads for necklaces) then you bake the clay in the oven so it stays in that form permanently.

It comes in about a gazillion colors, and you can always mix colors together to get the perfect shade. I mixed a grass green with white to get a minty green color!





I'm officially ready to get back into reading. I used to read all the time and the past few years I've just been reading strictly for school and not for pleasure. Here's my newest book that I scanned a few years back, but now I'm reading it cover to cover and it's phenomenal:

I wish my husband would read it with me but he's more of a movie guy. If they made this book into a movie I bet he'd be all over it though.




Love coffee? Behold, my new favorite morning (and afternoon!) obsession: The Blonde Roast.

It's just the perfect blend. Seriously. I drink my coffee with milk or half and half only. No sugar. But the Blonde is smooth enough that I can drink it straight black. Awesome!



Lastly, I'm very excited and ready for my new adventure to begin! I am still currently at Major Brands, I gave them much more than the standard two week notice so I could properly train my replacement. Meanwhile I've been planning the store's Grand Opening Celebration through Pinterest and other blogs. Check out my Grand Opening Board to see everything that's running through my head.

Hope your Monday is Lovely, xoxo.

Potty Training Fairy, Family Celebrations and More!

Hello friends! Hope everyone had a great weekend. Here's what we've been up to the past week:

We're having some potty training issues. John turned 3 last month and I'm really feeling the pressure to get him out of diapers for good. He has good days and bad, and almost always goes pee pee on the potty, but he definitely is not willing to go number two anywhere except in a pull up. I set a timer and pretty much force him to go into the bathroom every 20 minutes and at least try to go.....but it's getting exhausting for both of us! We also can't go out in public in underwear because he seems to always have an accident no matter how many times we go to the restroom. If there's a potty training fairy out there for hire, please send her my way!



Here's John wearing some "plastic panties" as I like to call them. These did NOT work at all for him! John thought they were too much like a diaper. I'll spare you the gory details but let's just say we had a mess.....everywhere.



But he sure looks cute wearing them huh? :)

I have really been trying to limit John's exposure to television. We only have basic cable, so that limits his viewing to only PBS and TCT which helps, but he loves DVD's and would watch one constantly if I'd let him. John's current favorite is Lady and the Tramp (it's probably my favorite too!) I'm only letting him watch TV while I'm cooking dinner, and as soon as it's time to eat no more TV. After dinner I want to focus more on reading or working on our word pronunciation. Please pray that I can be consistent with this, because it's far too easy to just turn on a movie and be done with it.

We have a new baby in the family! Daniel's brother Perry and wife Lauren welcomed Perry Clifford Hazelwood V into the world on Sunday, February 19. We waited for that little stinker for about 9 hours!



They had a big open playroom next to the hospital waiting room and John spent the entire afternoon goofing off with his Uncle Mitch who was home from West Point to see the new baby.



Nap time with Grandpa in the hospital waiting room.

He's here! Perry Clifford Hazelwood V, 9 1/2 pounds, 21 inches long! Great job Mama Lauren!



I am a proud Aunt!!



Daniel and I also celebrated our 3rd Anniversary on February 21st! We celebrated with a Fat Tuesday inspired dinner of raw oysters, homemade jambalaya, crab cakes and fancy bloody mary's!

Dinner was sooo good! Those are our Anniversary cards behind the food there :)

Our fancy bloody mary's :)

John had a special drink too! Non-alcoholic of course!

I hope you had a fun week too!

This week's lovelies.

Here are a few things to look forward to on this somewhat drab Monday.

1. WE HAVE A BASEMENT, PEOPLE!
That's right, the excavator man dug the basement for our future dream home. It may just look like an giant hole in the ground to you, but to me it's progress on our house and that is SO exciting!!

2. All things Christmas, including these cupcakes I made with little green sprinkles--yum! Bonus: There's fudge in the middle. Yessssss.

3. These loafers. Swoon.

4. Children's movies that Daniel and I actually want to watch with John. Like the Fantastic Mr. Fox, our new favorite.

5. Tomorrow is the 4th Annual Schnucks and MB Holiday Fine Wine Tasting. Phew, that was a lot of capitalization....ANYWAY! The reason why this event is so great this year is because this is the first year my company (MB) is opening the tasting TO THE PUBLIC, FOR FREE! That's right! You can all come and taste some super fancy wines and eat bacon wrapped scallops. Did I mention that this is all free? The event will be tomorrow, 12/6 at The Venue in Cape. Starts at 6:30 and ends at 8:30. I'll be at Table Two, so come say hi!!

6. Pomegranates = Delicious. Can't get enough of them.

7. Waxing Poetic Charms. My lovely friend Emily introduced me to these--LOVE THEM. I'm not always a necklace person, but these charms are adorable. Check out this little "J" and the cute Fox! The J is for John (of course!) and the little fox reminds me of our land. When we first moved out there I would see this little fox peeking out from behind the trees almost every day.

8. Army Men do float in the tub, just in case you were wondering.

9. I'm following a new blog, My Edit. She's a landscaper by day, and a fashionista by night. LOVE her guide on Thrifting Tips.

10. This week, I'm going to be filling my thoughts and prayers with lovingkindness. Don't you love how the Bible has created this perfect word?

" I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness." Jeremiah 31:3

Have a great Monday everyone!

Monday Top 10 Lovely Things.

Hey ya'll! Hope everyone had a lazy and relaxing Thanksgiving weekend. Taking a break from the Internet and spending time with my family was just what the doctor ordered, aka my hubs :)

I'm at a place in life where I'm running low on advice to give--so I fee the Sanity Saving Monday Tips needs to be suspended for awhile. We're going to try something new, called Monday Top 10. These will be 10 things that I'm loving in life right now, or that I'm thankful for! What do you think? Sound good to you?!

Monday Top 10: Lovely Things.

10. Christmas Decorating----even in the garage house!


And the stockings were hung, on the garage door with care.




Add a little Christmas Cheer to the bedroom with classic white lights on the bed frame.



9. Discovering a new, (and wildly affordable!) universally loved wine; Venta Morales Tempranillo. This Spanish red table wine is fruity and bold, perfect for Holiday guests! My favorite wine shop Primo Vino sells this wine by the case, and bottle price is only $6.99!! Wowza!!

8. Minnetonka moccasins are back in style! I've had my pair of "house slippers" for about five years, but now I'm busting them out in public. What do you think of the moccasin style?

Moccasins in the office....yes please!

7/6. Saving money on manicures by painting my nails myself, and my sparkly "coffee coozie" to make my spirits bright.




Nails in Essie's "Lady Like" and coffee coozie from Starbucks, $3.99.


5. My new bangs! Pics to come!

4. Cyber Monday deals: Gap/Banana are offering 30% off today, and J.Crew is offering 25% off! Know of any other great deals out there?

3. Our wood burning stove = eco-friendly heat and super cozy!

2. This song by Mumford and Sons.

1. Being reminded to "consider it joy whenever you face trials and tribulations, because the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4

This week, if you're going through a rough time, know that God uses all things for His good--no matter what the outcome. xoxo