GOODBYE 2017

HAPPY 2018!! 🎊

2017 is officially over! 

The last week of 2017 was nice because the hubs and I got to meet up with family in Greenville, SC!

On Thursday, Nathan and I drove to Greenville, SC, to meet up with my Mom, Sister in law, niece and nephew. Our visit was a short but sweet get together. Greenville is such a cute little city, and it makes the perfect halfway point to meet up with family!

By the time we all got into town, it was lunch time. We ate at Tupelo Honey Cafe. The restaurant was packed and we did have a long wait, but it would have been just as long anywhere else. Let me just tell you, it was worth the wait! Our waitress was really sweet, and did a great job! I had the sweet potato pancakes. Holy Moly were they delicious!! YES, that IS fried chicken on my pancakes...

After lunch, we walked to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Express. We hung out for a bit, played some Uno and Clue. Eventually, we were hungry again and walked down the street to Trio for dinner. The service and food was excellent at Trio! They hands down, have the best garlic bread I have ever had in my life! I had the eggplant parmigiana - SO GOOD!!!!

Unfortunately, it was FREEZING outside, so we just couldn't walk around. We went straight back to the hotel and hung out there for a while. One of the many things I adore about Greenville is their Mice on Main scavenger hunt! Throughout the city, there are 9 bronze mice statues! This scavenger hunt is great for kids (and adults like me), which really makes walking around town more exciting!

Lulu found a mouse!

The Holiday Inn Express had a great free breakfast with tons of food options! Our hotel was within walking distance to all of downtown - except it was just too cold for us to do so. Overall, the hotel was perfect for our short visit!

Sisters!

AJ and me!

Family ❤️

Next time, we'll all meet when it is warmer weather so we can truly enjoy all of downtown Greenville! After breakfast and some more hanging out, it was time to head back home.


Sunday, Nathan and I had a fantastic brunch at Holly's Gourmet's Market & Cafe!

Frog in a Ditch with a side of grits!

We had fun looking around McKay's Used Books, and ran some other errands before eventually returning home. It's been too cold with zero snow! 😠

Our neighbors had some really beautiful fireworks going on all night. It was nice to watch them in the comfort (and warmth) of our own home!

I hope you all had a wonderful New Years celebration! Here's to 2018!!

QUESTIONS:

* What was your favorite part of 2017?

* What are your New Years resolutions (if any)?

* What are you looking forward to most in 2018?

Birthday = "ME" Day

Happy DECEMBER lovelies!

As soon as December arrives, my Birthday comes along with it! 👑

I had been looking forward to having a relaxing "ME" day, and my Birthday was the perfect excuse! 

A large cup of coffee with cream from Dunkin' Donuts helped me wake up, as I headed over to the hair salon!

My first Birthday gift to myself was getting my hair colored. Every time I get my hair done, I go to Natural Alternatives Salon & Spa to see Sunshine. Everyone at the salon is genuinely friendly; they make you feel welcome. Christmas decorations were hung up beautifully, and I enjoyed looking at the cute Aveda Christmas gift packages they have available for purchase!

Getting my hair done was the best way to start the day; it was relaxing, yet fun (as always)!

Sunshine surprised me with the sweetest and cutest Birthday gift!

Now, you can SEE why getting my hair done by Sunshine was EXACTLY what I needed to begin my Birthday!

Photo Credits by Sunshine Carter

Sunshine is incredibly talented! She did the most stunning transformation with my hair with her painting skills. The chestnut tones flow through my hair and are bright, yet natural!

After getting my hair done, I drove over to The Southern Market.

The Southern Market is a great place to check out when you want a large variety of items to choose from! Many of the little shops inside are local artists; which I love looking at handmade, local items!

Most of the time, I could take a long while, looking around at everything, but with their open house it was very busy! Feeling a little too cramped, I decided to head out without any items in hand (this time). However, I'll be back on a less busy day! 😊

Next, I decided to check out Knoxville Soap Candle & Gifts

This was my first time checking out this little shop in Bearden, and it looked gorgeous and smelled wonderful! Knoxville Soap Candle & Gifts has been around for TWELVE YEARS! I couldn't believe I hadn't been there yet!

 Gregory's Greenhouse Productions was stationed in front of the store. His displays of greenery was beautiful! 

How cute are these Christmas trucks?!

Inside the cute and fragrant shop, I met Debra van der Hoeven, the founder of Tiny Treasure Jewelry. 

Her earrings were so unusual, and it's because she uses Kombucha SCOBY! Kombucha is brewed and when it ferments it creates SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) on top. Debra re-uses the SCOBY to make these earrings! The earrings are colored with different things types of paint (from food coloring to water colors) and then dried out!

There were other types of earrings as well, not just the Kombucha SCOBY; but I found them fascinating!

Make sure to check out the website for more earrings!

Kombucha SCOBY earrings by Tiny Treasure Jewelry

Knoxville Soap Candle & Gifts

The decor all around the store was beautiful! I just adore Christmas time!

I was too distracted to take more pictures. There were handmade candles, soaps, jewelry, and more! I really enjoyed this shop! I'll definitely take more pictures the next time I go back!

I had an incredible day of pampering and shopping! My Birthday was a perfect "ME" day!

When Nathan got home, I was FINALLY able to open up my Birthday present! 

An electric fireplace to put in the master bedroom! It's the perfect piece to make our room a little Utopia!

Riley loves it too!

Hygge on point!

We didn't have the energy to mount the fireplace on the wall, but that will be on our to-do list for today! 😃 I can't wait!

QUESTIONS FOR YOU:

* What do you do for your "ME" days?

* Are your Christmas decorations up yet?

* What is your favorite part of December?

Gobble Till You Wobble!

I hope everyone had a terrific and filling Thanksgiving!!

I had such an incredible Thanksgiving week with the hubby and his rents! The only problem was that time went by way too fast.

Saturday, before Thanksgiving, I spent the day prepping the house for Nathan's rents! Riley certainly was keeping himself entertained.

Nathan's parents came into town late Sunday evening!
Monday, I had to work for a little bit, but for dinner, we tried a place we haven't been to yet, a German restaurant - Restaurant Linderhof! It was beautiful inside! Our waiter was extremely knowledgable about the German food, and helped us make our delicious meal choices!

Restaurant Linderhof

I went with something I normally wouldn't try! I had the eggplant ratatouille with spatzle on the side. Spatzle is a type of egg noodle, and it sure is yummy!

I really look forward to going back and trying their other dishes!

Eggplant Ratatouille

Tuesday morning, we went to Nick & J's cafe for breakfast! Nick & J's was an adorable diner, just like the diners' you see in the movies. The atmosphere was relaxing, yet fun. The service and food was even better!

Nick & J's Cafe

Western Omelette

After a delicious breakfast, we all headed home. Kay and I worked on projects with the Silhouette Cameo 3 machine. The boys worked on their projects and began smoking the meats to have for Thanksgiving.

Silhouette Cameo 3 cutting machine!

Resting Grinch Face

Ta Da!

Figuring out how to work the Silhouette Cameo machine was awesome! The possibilities are endless when it comes to crafting! I look forward to making some new projects! 😄

Thanksgiving Eve, we all went to Painting with a Twist!

It's always such a fun time going to Painting with a Twist. It never gets old!

Ready to start painting!

Our finished paintings!

THANKSGIVING DAY:

We all knew we would be eating a plethora of food later that day, which made us decide to head over to Lilly Bluff first and get some fresh air and "hiking" in. We all wore our new shirts! Nathan and I wore shirts with a turkey that said "Pour Some Gravy on Me," and Kay & Steve wore shirts with cooked turkeys that said "Let's Get Basted." 😂

Pour Some Gravy On Me T-shirt

Lilly Bluff 

The Lilly Bluff overlook is a beautiful spot! 

Obed River

Showing off our t-shirts

Holly

For our Thanksgiving feast we had our traditional Raclette dinner! We brought out the raclette Swiss grill that cooks the meat on the top, and melts the cheese on the bottom. Gruyere cheese is our preferred choice, over the raclette cheese. The turkey had already been smoked, but the grill heated up the turkey on top.

For our side dishes, we had green bean casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and baby red potatoes.

Nathan made an excellent pumpkin pie cheesecake for dessert. Talk about being stuffed! 

SO. MUCH. FOOD.

Thanksgiving Feast

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

BLACK FRIDAY:

Nathan and I both had to work on Black Friday. Kay and Steve volunteered to come to work with me! Thank goodness they were there to help at the store, because we were BUSY! 

Kay and I made snowflake earrings with the Silhouette Cameo 3 machine and faux leather material to wear on Black Friday - along with the Christmas t-shirts we made!

Snowflake Earrings

Cookies!!!!

Meet Molly - Santa's little helper!

Selfies with Santa

After work, we had a chill afternoon relaxing back at the house. 

Nathan's parents had to head back home on Saturday. 😞
It was a pretty chill day, I began putting up Christmas decorations! I can't wait to have them all up!

Beginning to put up Christmas decorations!

'Tis the season for Peppermint Mocha creamer!!

After such an exciting week, it's officially back to reality. It is time to finish putting up the Christmas decorations and clean/organize the house!

🎄

QUESTIONS FOR YOU:

* How was your Thanksgiving?

* What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

* Have you started putting up Christmas decorations?