Happy 90th Birthday Grandmama!

On Saturday, Cameron and I headed up to Goshen, AL, a tiny town outside of Troy (not exactly a booming metropolis itself, but most people from Alabama at least know where it is!) to celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday.  She still lives by herself on the farmland where my mother and her siblings grew up.  My mother and her sisters put together and wonderful party at the local church, and we had quite a turn-out.  I think it's safe to say my grandmother enjoyed every minute!

I love this old photo of my grandmother and late grandfather

you can tell my mom has been playing on Pinterest :)

I realized that I don't have any pictures of just me and my grandmother since I was a child.  Seemed like the perfect occasion to fix that!

Unfortunately, my brother and his family couldn't make it from Austin.

Such an incredible milestone in a person's life and I'm so happy we were able to be a part of it.  Here's to many more years, Grandmama!

5 on Friday

1. I walked out my front door one morning this week to find the first of my daffodils opening.  Between that and the beautiful days we've been having, I have been dreaming of spring!

2.  I've been wanting to jump on board with the whole chalkboard trend for a while now. Originally, I'd planned to make my own but if you're like me, it just doesn't always happen. So when I saw this at World Market, on sale, AND I had a coupon, I knew it was meant to be! 

here

3. I think I might need this shirt...

4. Cameron and I got Apple TV for Christmas this year and we have been loving it!  We also have Amazon prime so we have been watching tons of tv shows on it. Cameron has been catching up with Justified while I've been catching up with my Downton Abbey.

5. Mardi Gras is in full swing.  We are actually headed to our first parade of the season tonight.  I've got our front door decorated to get us in the spirit. Laissez les bons temps rouler!! 

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!  We will be celebrating my grandmother's 90th birthday!! 

Forever 21 vs. J.Crew Factory

It's funny that just the other week I mentioned that I love shopping at Forever 21 because they can make some pretty good knockoffs.  Then, I'm browsing the new arrivals online at J.Crew Factory and spot 3 shirts that are very similar to tops I bought at Forever 21 LAST summer.  It seems this time, XXI beat them to the punch!

J. Crew Factory

VS.

 

 

Forever 21

J.Crew Factory

VS.

Forever 21

J.Crew Factory

VS.

Forever 21

Pretty similar, huh?  No, J.Crew Factory prices really aren't too bad, but Forever 21 prices are better! :) 

Tomato Parmesan Soup

Just after Christmas, I made this Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup that I got from my mom's Pinterest page.  Let me tell you, it's amazing!  I actually cheated and used frozen already diced vegetables and I decided I wanted a creamier soup so I ran my immersion blender through it.  Cameron isn't a huge soup eater, but he loved it.  I froze the rest for later and during the ice storm I figured it was a perfect time to pull it out.  Just as delicious the second time around.  I had to share it!

picture from here

Since we had been cooped up and I was antsy, I decided to try my hand at making bread for the first time ever.  Seemed like a perfectly logical thing to do to me.  I followed this recipe.  It was pretty easy and turned out really well.  I would have preferred it to be a little airier, but Cameron liked it dense.  We took out a whole loaf in one night.

 Apparently, Lulu the cat liked it, too, because when I came home from work the next day she had demolished it through the ziploc bag!  Maybe she was trying to tell us we didn't need to eat the second loaf anyways.  I'm already planning what bread to make next!

Hunting Season 2013-2014

It's finally over!  No more lonely weekends!  Cameron and his brother had a packed trailer this weekend with all of the nephews at the camp.  Since Chris can't take all his sons out, Cameron was a good uncle and took William & John with him.

I only made it up one weekend this year.  It was a typical relaxing weekend with my magazines & wine.  It's always fun to catch up with all the men up there.  Most of them were my late father-in-law's friends and can be quite hilarious, especially after a few drinks.  Even 50+ year old men still have drama!

Cameron only shot one doe this year, but that is plenty to fill up our freezer for the two of us.  He saw several bucks, but let them go since they weren't as big as the one he got last year.  He just enjoys the hunt and doesn't actually have to kill the deer to have a good time.  Nonetheless, I'm glad he enjoyed the season but I'm also glad it's over and I can have my husband back!

weekend shopping

Cameron was gone again this weekend - this time to the hunting camp.  Only one weekend left in deer season so you know he has to be there every minute possible!  I've gotten used to the "hunting camp widow" thing and sometimes it's nice to have some free time to yourself.  Usually I either hole up in the house and try to check a few things off the to-do list OR I spend way to much time out shopping.  This past weekend was the latter.  But I did go out armed with some coupons and gift cards so I really didn't spend much, but I came home with some cute stuff!

I started off with a little online shopping from the couch and ordered these new running shoes from Amazon for work.  I'm very picky when it comes to athletic shoes and have a very difficult time picking out a new pair.  Cameron absolutely hates it when I announce I need new ones.  So when I saw these on Amazon for a good price, I jumped.  Now let's just hope they're comfortable!

I decided to check out Forever 21 since I haven't been in quite a while.  I happen to love this store and even at 30 do not think I'm too old to shop there.  BUT you do have to be very picky.  I have girlfriends who will turn up their nose about shopping there, then look shocked when I tell them the cute top/skirt/etc I have on is from the teeny bopper store.  It's certainly a hunt but you can find some great stuff to mix with more expensive pieces and even some pretty good knockoffs too.  This visit I found this cute shift dress that will have to stay in my closet for a couple more months.

sorry I couldn't find it online

And if you are in the market for a statement necklace on the cheap, Forever 21 is your place right now.  I got the coral version of this one, but saw plenty that I could have brought home.

I also picked up 2 new pairs of earrings:

here

here

Since I had a merchandise credit leftover from an online return several months ago, I hardly paid anything!

Next, I decided to wander around Ulta since I had a 20% off coupon.  Surprisingly, all I came home with was the Rimmel Scandaleyes Kohl Eyeliner.  I'm always on the search for eyeliner and mascara that won't smudge on my oily skin and I've heard this is a good one and cheap!  It's worth a try.

Since Old Navy is in the same shopping center as Ulta, I figured I would see what they had new coming in for Spring.  None of the clothes were too exciting, but on my way out I found these two bracelets on the clearance table for $3 each.  Can't beat that!

LOFT was having one of their 40% off the entire store sales and again I had a gift card so I went to see what I could find new for Spring.  I wanted desperately to love these dotted shorts, but the fit was just off. :(

here

But I did find these 2 sweaters on the clearance rack for $15 each!!  They look way cuter in person than they do online.  I wouldn't have given them a second look online.  The first one is so incredibly soft and comfy, has a cool honeycomb weave, AND has pockets.  The beading & rhinestones on the 2nd one is beautiful and makes it the perfect sweater to throw over a dress for a nice event.  Love when I find a good deal!

here

here

Apricot Lane is a chain boutique just a few doors down from the LOFT and I also had a gift card there that I won in a Facebook promotion back when they opened.  To be honest, I've struggled to find something that fit me well and was long enough.  Saturday I was successful and came home with this dress.  And it was even 20% off. :)

As for the rest of my weekend...
 Saturday night, my friend Darla came over for dinner, wine, and chit-chat.  I made this salad since I don't often get to make "chick food" when Cameron is home.  We both cleaned our plates so I'd say it was pretty good!  And of course Sunday was the Super Bowl so we went over to our friend Elliott's to watch the game.  What a blow-out!  And the commercials weren't even that great.  But I did love seeing the GoldieBlox commercial.  I talked about the company here when they were competing to win a Super Bowl commercial and it was fun to see that they actually won!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  Did you do any shopping this weekend?