it's finally friday! i wasn't so sure that this week was ever going to end! i just finished with the pay check sheets for the truck drivers and now i'm taking a personal moment so i don't lose my sanity!
in the midst of it being pay day and wheat harvesting, my FIL sold 40,000 bushels of corn to be delivered by today; so it's chaos! there are trucks everywhere and everyone's hair is on fire! i just updated the grain contract so yes, i am taking some time for ME!
i am getting back in the swing of cooking again and getting excited about recipes. i made brownies yesterday and today it's tuna salad day! i included the recipe for tuna salad on the recipe page. two summers ago i had the pleasure of eating some tuna salad at the beach that my friend mimi made. i'm usually not a big tuna salad fan but it was delicious! i have been making it ever since. i've also been craving a big bowl of pasta. my favorite when the weather is hot is to cook up some fettucine and toss it with asparagus or peas and a light cream sauce. i have a good recipe for this as well that i will also include on the recipe page.
i haven't quite figured out how to use this blogger thing with the pages but apparently i can't put posts on a page. i started another blog for recipes and still i can't figure out how to link them so stay tuned! eventually i'll get this all figured out!
it just started raining here. and i mean downpour. big raindrops mean it probably won't last long. i can't remember who told me that, i think it was my friend Weldon. i faintly remember her learning that at camp thunderbird and passing along the info to me during college. OH! and speaking of Weldon! i think she will be adopting miss Louise! [crossing fingers] Brent and I can't possibly keep 4 puppies and it stinks to have to leave them in the pen all the time. Louise is very sweet and mild mannered. she doesn't seem to be as crazy as hank and birdie but she has her moments. yesterday she made an escape from the pen and found the leftover lunch from people who were working on the house... styrofoam was everywhere! and i found her passed out underneath the fan at the dog pens. sweet weeza!
happy friday y'all! i hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
and another..
it's funny how your tastes change over the years. i can remember when i first saw anthro i thought it was some weirdo hippie store and now i buy tons of stuff there. my mom was saying the other day that she doesn't know what i like anymore or really anything about me in my mid-20's. so maybe i should tell a few things about myself (just for you mama!) that people may not know....
this is one that my mom gave me for my birthday. the picture doesn't quite do it justice, the blue/green color is much more vivid in person.
2. i'm obsessed with black leggings and black Nike workout pants. i wear them with almost everything.
if i do shop for something other than gym clothes i normally go to Anne Taylor LOFT, Anthro, and JCrew.
3. my favorite place to shop lately is Lowes Home Improvement. i go there multiple times during the week and yesterday i found an entire new section with organizing stuff that i had never seen before so needless to say, i'll be back there very soon!
4. i follow the pioneer woman religiously. and the new tasty kitchen is awesome! (thank you thank you thank you to my friend nikki reese for turning me on to her. it has been the inspiration for this blog, my avid photo taking, and my desire to write a cookbook.)
5. oh yeah, i'm in the process of writing a cookbook. i can't plow ahead as i would like until the house and my kitchen are finished but i am in the process of collecting recipes right now. any good recipes y'all have, please send them my way! i will soon start cooking all of them and adjusting measurements and such. i am SUPER excited about this.
6. i have a collection of nail polish. whenever i get some extra cash i splurge on essie and opi nail polish and i think i have every shade of pink and brown known to man. this is my newest favorite, it's called "sand tropez" ...7. i LOVE gushers. particularly the watermelon ones. for christmas last year all i asked for was a giant bag of them. so naturally, brent bought boxes of gushers, opened each pack and filled a ziploc bag with them. i was in heaven! it's still my night time guilty snack.
8. i use anti aging products because i am scared to death of wrinkles. if i didn't look so terrible when i'm pale i would stay out of the sun completely to avoid them. i have a deep dark fear of having lines around my eyes and mouth and having a turkey neck.
9. i could spend my life savings at kate spade. i have multiple pairs of shoes, dresses, purses, jewelry, stationary, perfume.... you name it, i probably have it if it's kate spade. that started when they opened the kate spade store at southpark. i went there all the time and loved all the colorful stuff and now i buy everything. i literally collect the purses. my favorite so far is an all gold one that i use most of the time. and then of course my black "baby bag" ... i have shoes that i bought that just sit in the box, never worn, just waiting on the appropriate time and i wear them around the house every now and then for fun.
10. and lastly, since some people don't know this because i complain a lot, i do love where i am. not many people love their job, that's natural, but i do love where i am and where we live. i love the farm. i love summerton. i truly and honestly like the people here and the small town feel. i like that when i walk in the diner everyone knows who i am, sure they probably know all of my business too, but that stuff doesn't matter to me. no, brent and i don't have an exciting social calendar and we don't go out to bars, but that's not what is important to me in life. i wrote a quote the other day that everyone lives their lives differently and that's true. i don't feel like i'm missing out on anything in life by not getting drunk or going out, even when everyone pressures you to do so. i enjoy spending time with brent and doing things together like working in the garden or going for a boat ride or kayaking. everyone grows up at different times and i think my time for that is now. they say that you discover yourself in college but i'm not so sure that is true. i feel like i am discovering myself now and setting the guidelines for the rest of my life. i still love my friends and i crave more time with them, but we all live in different areas and it's harder to get together. i just hope that even though we are miles apart that we will all stay close and know what's going on in each other's lives. that's another reason for this blog. even if it is only a glimpse into my life down here.
cute cute cute
I had to post this really quick. I'm searching Etsy for neat finds and I absolutely LOVED these cute things!
I thought that this was SO adorable. My best friend Laura is pregnant and I immediately thought of her nursery and how cute this would be....
I was looking for different unique things for the house, not sure if either of these would work with the cabin/hunting theme we have going, but maybe upstairs in the loft I can have cutesy stuff like this! :)
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| hand painted ABC's by TheArtWagon in Charleston |
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| chicken doorstop |
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| and a piggy doorstop by PaintedPheasant |
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
hello darling
summer is here in south carolina. i had hoped that the heat would hold off, but per usual, it's back in full force. we're in the midst of the 90 degree days that come with early summer. it's not yet the 100+ range with full force humidity, but that won't be long... the dogs go out for a short play time and then are fervently searching for an air conditioning vent to lay on or a bowl of water they can attempt to climb in. i think they will really like the frigid wet cold winters down here.
i worked in the garden yesterday and picked some giant squash and ate our first cucumber! i think i let the cucumber get a tad too big but it was delicious anyway. i washed it off under the faucet by the shop and we cut it open with brent's pocket knife! nothing like fresh veggies from the garden. i have tons of tomatoes as well. a bush full of roma's and some big talladega's. i'm not sure what in the world i am going to do with all of this produce but it's abundant! i might try to work on a late summer garden this weekend.
yesterday was a big day. we went to columbia and picked out the granite for our countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms. i am most excited about the guest bathroom granite. it was fun to pick out stuff and we got lucky with some really nice remnant pieces for vanities. after that we hit sumter to pick up our dog pens and chik fil a. we started putting the pens together and realized they didn't give us all of the hardware we need so i have to run back up there today for that. and we also started cutting wheat last night! i think that this is my favorite of all the harvest. it's usually super hot when we're cutting corn and extra dry and dusty and cutting beans is during the fall which is my favorite time of year so i'd rather be camping or kayaking. i think brent favors cutting beans and it is really cool to watch the combine roll through and turn the vines of beans into short stubble. but wheat is so beautiful and really neat to watch when it's cut with the stripper header.
the dogs are asleep at my feet. i think my 1/2 day is up so i'm going to head back to sumter to pick up the stuff for the dog pens, take some fixtures back to lowes, and then come back to clean up the house. hope everyone is having a fabulous week so far! :)
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| baby cucumber :) |
i worked in the garden yesterday and picked some giant squash and ate our first cucumber! i think i let the cucumber get a tad too big but it was delicious anyway. i washed it off under the faucet by the shop and we cut it open with brent's pocket knife! nothing like fresh veggies from the garden. i have tons of tomatoes as well. a bush full of roma's and some big talladega's. i'm not sure what in the world i am going to do with all of this produce but it's abundant! i might try to work on a late summer garden this weekend.
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| little baby squash! |
yesterday was a big day. we went to columbia and picked out the granite for our countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms. i am most excited about the guest bathroom granite. it was fun to pick out stuff and we got lucky with some really nice remnant pieces for vanities. after that we hit sumter to pick up our dog pens and chik fil a. we started putting the pens together and realized they didn't give us all of the hardware we need so i have to run back up there today for that. and we also started cutting wheat last night! i think that this is my favorite of all the harvest. it's usually super hot when we're cutting corn and extra dry and dusty and cutting beans is during the fall which is my favorite time of year so i'd rather be camping or kayaking. i think brent favors cutting beans and it is really cool to watch the combine roll through and turn the vines of beans into short stubble. but wheat is so beautiful and really neat to watch when it's cut with the stripper header.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
tomorrow tomorrow .. it's only a day away!
love how i said i would update ASAP on the cake tasting etc and now it's thursday. ((sorry)) it's been one of those weeks. no surprise down here!
wendy and i set off to charlotte around eight in the morning on monday and got there fairly early before our appointment so we decided to stop in and see my grandmother. this is my mother's mother and she has been battling cancer so i really wanted to go see her and introduce her to brent's mom. we visited for a while and updated her on what we were doing and got to hear how she had been. it was good to be there, even for only a short time.
we pulled up at 'the wow factor cakes' and amy had a bunch of beautiful white on white and ivory cakes in the window with different textures, etc. so i knew it was the place! i gave her pictures of cakes that i loved and elements on my dresses and we came up with an amazing cake! i won't give details, you'll have to wait until the wedding! after that we headed over to j majors where i got to try on my reception dress again and get it ordered. luckily it will be here before my ceremony dress so there won't be any hassle with doing fittings and alterations with two dresses at two different stores! i am SO excited about both dresses. they are both very different from one another and i absolutely adore them. only a few more months!
exciting news for today, my best friend and matron of honor, laura, found out that she and her husband ben will be having a baby boy!! i've predicted three babies so far and i've been right on all of them! maybe i should go into business. she will be due a few weeks after the wedding and we are all SO excited for them!
tomorrow after payroll is finished and i get my check in the bank, i am heading down to ocean isle for a much needed girls weekend! it will be the first time everyone has gotten together in a while, plus some new friends that haven't been down there before so i am very much looking forward to it!
as for the house; the electricians have almost all of the light fixtures up. i have to make a decision about one more in the loft. the ceilings are too low for the fan that we bought so i have to go back to lowe's tomorrow and get something called a "bumper fan" which flush mounts to the ceiling. brent's friend alex has an uncle that does masonry work, so he put in our stone hearth and it looks fantastic. now we just have to get the floor stained, get some cabinets, vanities, and finish the hood extension. oh and have the toilets and faucets and stuff done. the tile guy came today also and he should start on monday laying the tile in the master shower and around the tub. i picked out some beautiful stone tile at the tile center in columbia that should look awesome with the floor and pecky cypress walls in the bathroom. hopefully not too much longer and we will be in there!
dad gave me an old light fixture that used to be in the library at christ school, where he went to prep school. Lord only knows how old the thing is but i am putting it in my loft/office. the electricians had to rewire the entire thing so hopefully it will work!! :)
everything is looking up! get to see everyone tomorrow and have a little time off from the farm. i can't wait!
wendy and i set off to charlotte around eight in the morning on monday and got there fairly early before our appointment so we decided to stop in and see my grandmother. this is my mother's mother and she has been battling cancer so i really wanted to go see her and introduce her to brent's mom. we visited for a while and updated her on what we were doing and got to hear how she had been. it was good to be there, even for only a short time.
we pulled up at 'the wow factor cakes' and amy had a bunch of beautiful white on white and ivory cakes in the window with different textures, etc. so i knew it was the place! i gave her pictures of cakes that i loved and elements on my dresses and we came up with an amazing cake! i won't give details, you'll have to wait until the wedding! after that we headed over to j majors where i got to try on my reception dress again and get it ordered. luckily it will be here before my ceremony dress so there won't be any hassle with doing fittings and alterations with two dresses at two different stores! i am SO excited about both dresses. they are both very different from one another and i absolutely adore them. only a few more months!
exciting news for today, my best friend and matron of honor, laura, found out that she and her husband ben will be having a baby boy!! i've predicted three babies so far and i've been right on all of them! maybe i should go into business. she will be due a few weeks after the wedding and we are all SO excited for them!
tomorrow after payroll is finished and i get my check in the bank, i am heading down to ocean isle for a much needed girls weekend! it will be the first time everyone has gotten together in a while, plus some new friends that haven't been down there before so i am very much looking forward to it!
as for the house; the electricians have almost all of the light fixtures up. i have to make a decision about one more in the loft. the ceilings are too low for the fan that we bought so i have to go back to lowe's tomorrow and get something called a "bumper fan" which flush mounts to the ceiling. brent's friend alex has an uncle that does masonry work, so he put in our stone hearth and it looks fantastic. now we just have to get the floor stained, get some cabinets, vanities, and finish the hood extension. oh and have the toilets and faucets and stuff done. the tile guy came today also and he should start on monday laying the tile in the master shower and around the tub. i picked out some beautiful stone tile at the tile center in columbia that should look awesome with the floor and pecky cypress walls in the bathroom. hopefully not too much longer and we will be in there!
dad gave me an old light fixture that used to be in the library at christ school, where he went to prep school. Lord only knows how old the thing is but i am putting it in my loft/office. the electricians had to rewire the entire thing so hopefully it will work!! :)
everything is looking up! get to see everyone tomorrow and have a little time off from the farm. i can't wait!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
another wedding post?
yes it is, another wedding post. what else do i have to write about? this weekend my cousin Elizabeth got married in Myrtle Beach and i was sure to pay attention to every detail now that we are getting down to the wire. i don't know how they did it, but her wedding went perfectly (i can only hope mine will be the same). the food was fantastic, the music was great, the photographer was there when needed for different photos, and the wedding cake... oh the wedding cake. brent said this morning "maybe i was just drunk, but that cake was delicious!" and i had to agree. Brent's mom and i are going to Charlotte in the morning for my first cake tasting and i am crossing my fingers that i will be equally amazed as i was this weekend.
i got thinking today as we were riding back from the beach about weddings in general and registering for gifts and the reception and such and an interesting thought popped into my mind. my mother leans on the side of registering for economical gifts that are affordable, but affordable meaning in the $20 range. I've heard many times that no one wants to spend much more than that on a wedding gift. maybe it's just me but i started to calculate and realized how stingy some people are. think about how much it costs the bride and her family for just one person at a reception.... there's the cost of the invitation, the ceremony program, the rental fee for the table, the chair, the plate, glass, silverware and then the food and drink. all for one person. that cost is way more than a measly twenty dollars. BUT weddings aren't just about gifts. there are many people i've invited to our wedding that are suffering during this crappy time in the economy and i just want them to be there to see me get married and i don't want a gift from them. i'm just rambling my thoughts.
it's been such a long weekend and a crazy day. my best friend laura leigh mckenzie everhart turned 25 this weekend, Elizabeth got married, i've had strep throat, we're getting in the short rows on the house, we had a bad storm and my squash plants got trashed.... and it doesn't slow up. it actually gets more busy!
i've got a ton to catch up on at work since i was gone last week with the strep. we're going to charlotte tomorrow. Brent's friend Alex has an uncle that does masonry so he is coming to lay our hearth tomorrow. the electricians are coming to put up all of our light fixtures (that we just bought tonight at Lowe's), they are delivering our appliances this week, hopefully staining our floor and then putting up molding, i'm going to a reunion of sorts this weekend at the beach, then they start cutting wheat so that will carry us into the summer when there are showers and more weddings! busy busy year. hopefully i'll be able to take a breath in october....
i'll update about the cake tasting tomorrow, it's time to hit the hay. OH! and laura finds out the sex of her baby this week! (that's the most exciting of them all!) goodnight loves
i got thinking today as we were riding back from the beach about weddings in general and registering for gifts and the reception and such and an interesting thought popped into my mind. my mother leans on the side of registering for economical gifts that are affordable, but affordable meaning in the $20 range. I've heard many times that no one wants to spend much more than that on a wedding gift. maybe it's just me but i started to calculate and realized how stingy some people are. think about how much it costs the bride and her family for just one person at a reception.... there's the cost of the invitation, the ceremony program, the rental fee for the table, the chair, the plate, glass, silverware and then the food and drink. all for one person. that cost is way more than a measly twenty dollars. BUT weddings aren't just about gifts. there are many people i've invited to our wedding that are suffering during this crappy time in the economy and i just want them to be there to see me get married and i don't want a gift from them. i'm just rambling my thoughts.
it's been such a long weekend and a crazy day. my best friend laura leigh mckenzie everhart turned 25 this weekend, Elizabeth got married, i've had strep throat, we're getting in the short rows on the house, we had a bad storm and my squash plants got trashed.... and it doesn't slow up. it actually gets more busy!
i've got a ton to catch up on at work since i was gone last week with the strep. we're going to charlotte tomorrow. Brent's friend Alex has an uncle that does masonry so he is coming to lay our hearth tomorrow. the electricians are coming to put up all of our light fixtures (that we just bought tonight at Lowe's), they are delivering our appliances this week, hopefully staining our floor and then putting up molding, i'm going to a reunion of sorts this weekend at the beach, then they start cutting wheat so that will carry us into the summer when there are showers and more weddings! busy busy year. hopefully i'll be able to take a breath in october....
i'll update about the cake tasting tomorrow, it's time to hit the hay. OH! and laura finds out the sex of her baby this week! (that's the most exciting of them all!) goodnight loves
Monday, May 9, 2011
ideas ideas
so I'm taking a little break from billing and the copy machine and I'm thinking "wedding accessories," so naturally I look to Etsy for some unique ideas...
first I need a garter... my Mother and Grandmother told me on Sunday that their "something blue" was their garter so I found this:
but then I wonder, am I supposed to wear this thing the whole time? don't y'all know that my thighs rub together? how comfortable can that be?? I LOVE this garter so could someone PLEASE tell me, do I put this on before the ceremony or at some point after?
second; I want a fun headband to wear at the reception. if I'm going to get a second dress that's supposed to be less formal and fun, then I want some cool headwear...
first I need a garter... my Mother and Grandmother told me on Sunday that their "something blue" was their garter so I found this:
second; I want a fun headband to wear at the reception. if I'm going to get a second dress that's supposed to be less formal and fun, then I want some cool headwear...
ta da! now this is fun! if I could somehow get the other dress that I want, I think this would look really awesome! (knowing me I won't wear it the whole time, but it would be fun for a few pics!)
I have my first cake tasting on Monday at 11:00 with Amy from Wow Factor Cakes in Charlotte. I'm working up some ideas for her so she can get a feel of the kind of cake that I want. I won't share what I'm thinking because I do want it to be a surprise!
{pause: there are two flies that keep buzzing around my head and my computer screen, i've been trying to take their picture to prove it, but they are just too fast... how annoying!}
I also need to get wedding programs... ay ay ay. it would be easy to get the same girl that's doing my invitations but I think she has enough work on her hands making 175 of my crazy invitations and sending them out herself! any ideas?
happy monday (ps, one fly down, one to go!)
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