A Lovely Life

I'm working on a review of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (READ IT!) and I'm not finished, so I thought I'd post one of my favorite quotes from the book: 'Do you know,' he asked in a delicious accent, 'what Dom Perignon said after inventing champagne?'  'No?' I said.    'He called out to his fellow monks, 'Come quickly: I am tasting the stars.'  .... 'We have bottled all the stars this evening.' I am a bubbly drink kinda girl and this just made me smile when I read it.

J, Frank & I got away for the weekend for a trip up to the Lake House in North Carolina.  The weather was gorgeous, y'all!  Just cool enough to need a warm blanket and fire at night and warm enough in the day to make me smile with anticipation for the Spring!   We were really excited/nervous to see how Frank was going to do in another new environment and he did GREAT!  He had the best time.  We went hiking with him, took him up to a HUGE meadow and threw the ball, made sure he could swim (by nudging him in the water ;-) and allowed him off the leash around the house.  He even came to us when we called him!  It was awesome and he was the happiest we've seen him.   Lake Bound! He's a hiker... This is as close as we got to "going swimming" This place is awesome! <3 Typical ;-) I feel refreshed and so happy that we were able to relax and enjoy ourselves.  We needed a little R&R after a couple of crazy wee

Sorry for the blogging delay lately...it's been a busy couple of weeks.  All is back on track, though, so the blogging continues! I recently read Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio after deciding to jump on Peanut Butter Fingers monthly book club.  They read this in February and discussed it a couple of weeks ago.  This wasn't a quick read for me so needless to say, I'm a tad behind on this review. I haven't read any of Jio's other novels, so I had no basis of what to expect although the reviews I read for Blackberry Winter were stellar and the book club picked it, so why not?!  Summary The book follows two female characters at very different times in history.  Vera Ray is a single mother in 1933 who we find struggling to make ends meet in order to care for her young son, Daniel.  Claire Aldridge is a wife and journalist in a marital struggle in 2010.  Claire is assigned to a story after an unusual snow storm occurs that parallels one in 1933 and, in the midst

"Think of all the beauty still around you and be happy." - Anne Frank I met a girlfriend last night for a rare treat to get pedicures.  Gosh, I just love them!  It's like a mini pampering session where I don't have to do any of the work!   :-)   You can feel Spring around the corner here in Georgia and I was ready to take a risk and celebrate Spring, so I went with the Mint trend on my toes!  I have to say, they are super cute and very Spring-like and I can't wait to show them off with some flip-flops (my favorite footwear when it's warm) in the next few days....we're scheduled to have weather in the 70's this weekend!!!! I love taking the time to appreciate the little things and, in this case, little pops of color to bring some happy to my day.  Don't you???

"Pamper yourself,  spoil yourself  a little, and enjoy life to the fullest. It is said that keep a clean home, nourish your body, pamper yourself and you will feel blessed !"  -  Chandresh Bhardwaj I had a rare weekday off yesterday and decided to go shopping.  Anyone who knows me knows that I hate crowds and I'm not a fan of malls.  However, I had some gift cards to use and knew it wouldn't be crazy at 10 AM on a Wednesday morning, so off to the mall I went.  I went into a couple of stores and picked up a bunch of things before inevitably putting them down.  Stores like Forever 21 really make me feel a. old and b. overwhelmed, but I know some gals who have gotten some awesomely cute outfits from there!  I still couldn't do it, though and left there empty handed. After walking around and deciding I couldn't spend any money, my phone dinged with a $20 off coupon from White House Black Market.  I turned on my heels and went in.  The guy there was super

"Omit and substitute! That's how recipes should be written. Please don't ever get so hung up on published recipes that you forget that you can omit and substitute." - Jeff Smith I have an affinity for Pesto Chicken.  I'm sure I saw the idea somewhere long ago and have stored said idea in my mind for days when I just don't know what we're going to have for dinner.  So, when I was planning our overwhelmingly long (& first) clean eating/Paleo menu, I knew I wanted to have something that I could throw together quickly after work one night.  "Pesto Chicken!", I thought...until I realized that the jar stuff from the grocery wasn't going to cut it.  And, so, the Google search began: "pesto with basil and walnuts" nope "paleo pesto" a bit too involved "pesto no dairy" BINGO! I found this recipe at Go Dairy Free  and ran with it! 1 cup of fresh basil leaves 1/4 cup of olive oil Salt to taste (we try

My heart is happy today....not that it isn't other days, but I've been compiling photos for scrap booking projects (FINALLY!) and I can't help but reminisce.  I got a good deal from an online photo source and ordered 100+ pictures of J and I's first year together.  Just going through the photos of those first few months as a new couple made me smile and Oh SO Joyful of our lives together!  I look back on those photos and think of where we are now and my heart just bursts with happiness.  We are so blessed and in a place that I only dreamed of.   Our life together just makes my heart happy, y'all.  And how fun is it to just go back and look through pictures from a few years ago and laugh with remembrance of the fun times we had?!  Take a gander through some of my favorite pictures from just a couple years ago....I hope they bring a smile to your face as they have mine.  :-) (and wish me luck on the undertaking that is just now starting a scrap book of our life to

I have been having some weird dreams lately...Many of them have been those mundane, totally-could-happen kind of dreams that, when I wake up, I wonder if they actually happened.  Ever get those?? Then there are those where a friend or relative from long ago just appears and even though they aren't in my life anymore, it's so nice to be reminded of them in my life. No matter what my dreams are, it's so nice to sometimes wake up with a little remembrance of something or someone from long ago, don't you think? "Dreams are illustrations... from the book your soul is writing about you."   - Marsha Norman

While I won't post every single one of our wedding pictures on this blog, I will post a few of my favs and give a little plug to my friend and photographer extraordinaire  Janelle!  I was lucky to meet her through some mutual friends and when J and I sat down to try to figure out what the heck we were going to do when it came to photography for our big day, Janelle came to mind.   We had a tight budget for our wedding and for awhile, we weren't sure if we even had a photography budget at all.  Such is life when you pay for your own wedding!  :-)  Luckily, Janelle worked with our budget and was able to capture our big day beautifully.   That last one always gets me.... :-)  If you happen to be in the Atlanta area and need a photographer who can pretty much do everything: babies, kids, pups (she captured our Frank!), weddings, engagement pictures....the list goes on, visit Janelle's website at www.jnelly.com !  

Well, I can almost safely say that we made it through our little experiment of clean eating.  Tonight ends day 10!  We made it!  I didn't kill anyone.  I stayed away from the beer, chips, bagels and other goodies that are a constant in my bike shop.  I learned some new recipes.  And I feel pretty awesome I have to say!! I know that lots of people commit to 30, 60 and even 100 day clean eating and paleo "challenges", but I can tell a difference after our little 10 day stint.  First of all, I'm pretty proud of J and I for sticking to it.  We love LOVE LOVE food in this house and bad food at that.  Secondly, I've noticed that I'm in a better mood overall and have way more energy throughout the day.  I have to say that's the biggest improvement of all!  Lastly, when I say that I just feel better, I mean it.  I can't really describe it, but I just FEEL better.   J and I have decided that this is the way to go.  Not necessarily labeling it as a diet, bu