Favorite Things

Here are some of my FAVORITE THINGS from April.

1.  Revenge

Oh, hello newest guilty pleasure show.  I was in need of a new show.  The other night, I almost clicked on Princess Protection Program with Demi Lovato.  Intervention, please!!

The acting is absolutely terrible in Revenge, and I don't quite understand how the character Victoria can afford a $200,000 car, but not moisturizer for her crazy, crackle lips or product for her frizzy hair....but somehow I'm sucked in.  I just want to find out what's going to happen!

2.  Day of Dance

Me back in the day (like 4 years ago)

Bridget Daily Photography

I didn't take any pictures that day, but just imagine a sweatier, less fierce version of the girl in the picture.

One of my great friends, Sabrina, had me come back to the high school to teach a few master classes for Day of Dance.  Apart from the fact that I almost had to call in a rescue team to my living room while choreographing the dances ahead of time, it was a fantastic day. 

3.  My Maxi Skirt 

Find it here

One of my fabulous finds of the season.  It's cute and comfortable which are top requirements for my spring and summer wear.  I have this in grey as well and wear both of them all the time.

4.  These Earrings

My eye in an almost twitch from sitting in stand still traffic for almost an hour.

My sister always has the best jewelry.  She bought a pair of earrings from Bevello and I was constantly asking her to borrow them and later plotting to steal them.  One day, after asking her to wear them, she handed me my very own pair!!  Great sister!  

Find them here in orange.  

5.  Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner

Find it here

I've always been a pencil eyeliner kinda girl.  The gel liner has always been way too intimidating or something.  I needed a change, so I started trying this.  SO easy...SO much better!

I hope you had a wonderful April!!

March Favorite Things

February Favorite Things

January Favorite Things

 

Full Potential

I was browsing through one of my favorite books, The Creative Habit, yesterday, and re read something I find to be so incredible.

"Mike Nichols tells a story about getting the musical Annie ready for Broadway.  A scene that was supposed to be funny was failing to get laughs, no matter what Nichols tried.  He asked Jerome Robbins to watch the scene with his practiced eye.  Afterwards, Nichols asked him how to fix the scene.  Robbins surveyed the stage and pointed to a white towel hanging at the back of the set.  "That towel should be yellow," he said.  "That's it?" thought Nichols.  "That makes the scene work?"  But he made the change and the scene got a laugh every night thereafter."

Two thoughts came to mind after reading this:

1.  Jerome Robbins is a genius.  West Side Story, anyone?

2.  What is ONE thing that is keeping me from reaching my full potential?  (There are without any doubt  a lot of things, but baby steps)  Something I need to change, something I need to stop, or something I need to start.  I need to brainstorm over this question this weekend.  If only I had that quiet room!  

And here's some cuteness to kick off the weekend.

Enjoy your weekend!

 

Dream Home

I decided it was necessary to go ahead and plan my dream home.

And with the help of my friend, Pinterest, this became a reality.  (The planning, that is)

Here are a few things that are a MUST in this fantasy home of mine.

1.  A Gigantic Kitchen Island:

Source

This is, oddly enough, probably my biggest priority.  I have found that you can have the biggest house in the world, full of playrooms, tv rooms, living rooms, but everyone always seems to gather in the kitchen.  For this reason, I want a huge space to sit babies on and for everyone else to gather around.

3.  Color and Style:

Top/Bottom

Noel and I used to love driving through neighborhoods and pointing out our favorite houses.  My eyes are always drawn to white houses with black shutters.  I have to have this one day!!!!  Also, I love a ranch style home.  One story homes are super hard to come by, but I love the idea of not having to worry about anyone falling down the stairs.  (Or having to cart laundry up and down stairs...maybe I should have added "laundry chute" to this list.)

3.  A Wrap Around Porch:

Source

Is it even possible to have a wrap around porch on a ranch style house??  In my mind, yes!  

4.  A Sun Porch:

Left/Right

I do love a porch.  I want this desperately, especially on rainy, summer days.  Perfect spot to let the  little misters roam around to get fresh air but out of the rain.

5.  A Back Yard Sitting Area:

Left/Right

I have in my mind that my boys will want to live in a "I can see them out my kitchen window" distance from me.  Taking this into consideration, I want a really nice place to hang out outside.  The picture on the left can even double as a sun porch.  I'll take it!

6.  An Awesome Playroom

Source

A place to keep toys, books, and crafts for now, and a place where "I can workout in" later.  And then a toy place after that.

7.  A Quiet Room

Source

I want a light colored room that forbids all forms of technology.  A room where you can read, study, or snooze.  It really is amazing how you can receive so much inspiration from just being quiet and having no distractions around.

8.  The Ultimate Closet:

Source

I actually really like my closet in our current home, but I'm talking about A CLOSET.  One that you can browse in, take a field trip to, be featured on MTV cribs for.  (Does that even still exist?)

One can dream, right??!  If I had to pick only 2 things from my list, I would choose the island and the quiet room.

What's on your "Dream Home" requirement list?

6 Months of Sweetness

Photos by Amber Adamson

He goes by the names Walker boy, Squish, His Squishiness, Boo Boo, but mainly Mr. Adorable.

Walker turned 6 months today and weighed in at 20 pounds 4 ounces.  I'm loving how he sits up so well by himself and rolls from his stomach to his back.  (Found him like that after his nap on his Auntie Jessie's bed...woops...they grow too fast!)  He sleeps like a champ, has the most contagious laugh, and is a joy in our lives.   We love you, Walker!

 

Let's Go to the Movies

Noel and I went to see The Lucky One this past weekend.

I'm a huge Zac Efron Nicholas Sparks fan and loved the book.

The popcorn and the hopes of guilt tripping me into watching the Bob Marley documentary got Noel there with me.

While standing in the popcorn/Coke line, a young 20's couple stood in front of me.  The guy spilled some of his drink.  They laughed for a few seconds, and then instead of wiping it up he kind of brushed it around with his foot.  I felt like taking him by the ear while yelling/asking him if he had any home training.  What is going on with people today? 

Anyway....

I love Nicholas Sparks' books.  The unlikely romances and the setting (hello North Carolina) get me every time.

This movie was no exception for Sparks' fans.  Someone died, there was a romance that probably should never have happened, and the leads were beautiful.

A few things I didn't care for:

*Why?!? do these movies never take place in North Carolina?  The Lucky One was set in Wilmington in the book, and Louisiana in the movie.  

*I thought Taylor Schilling was absolutely stunning.  Her wardrobe was simply beautiful in the movie.  She is a gorgeous actress and did a fantastic job. (Noel disagrees with both of those)  Buttttt, I thought she was way too old for Zac Efron.  She's supposed to be around 27 in the book/movie and I would have bet anything that she was in her late 30's.

What is your age guess?  I looked it up.  Home girl is 27.  What???!  She's my age.  Maybe I still think I look like I'm 18.

*If you've read the book the ex husband is a NIGHTMARE.  He's a beast in the movie as well, but I feel like they played his character to be somewhat likable towards the end.  Not ok with me.

All in all, it was exactly what I expected.  Lots of eye rolls and laughs (during non funny parts) from Noel, and sweet love story for me. 

You are welcome for this picture.

Life Lately

The boys enjoying the sunshine at the park.

Mimi (my mom) playing with the boys.  Charlie worships the ground she walks on. /  Pops (Noel's dad) took Charlie and cousin Ande to the NCState football game.  I think a lot of ice cream was consumed.

Walker's 1st time riding in the front part of the shopping cart.  / Charlie watching turtles and geese swim.

Getting ready to leave for church.  Charlie looks super excited.  He actually really loves it and is usually well behaved even though yesterday he sang Twinkle Twinkle very loudly during very quiet moments.

This was the first weekend we've spent together as a family in almost a month.  It was pretty fantastic.  Hope yours was equally as fabulous.      

 

Kid's Gym

I've been taking Charlie to a Kid's Gym class. He loves kicking and rolling on balls, jumping through hula hoops, leaping over cones, and watching his teacher dance around Ms. Lippy style. I love watching this little guy grow.

Beauty

The other week, I was searching for a really beautiful picture. I was looking for beautiful flowers or a stunning photograph. When I googled "beauty", this is what came up.

Screen shot

Okkk?

I should have pulled from my own photo collection from the past few weeks.

*My handsome brother holding Walker.

*My insanely gorgeous sisters with the boys on Easter.

*Charlie with his cupcake at his school Easter party.

*When I got home from teaching dance last week, I saw the most beautiful star-filled sky before going inside. Breathtaking.

*Our neighbors have these incredible flowers in their yard. Every time we take a walk, we stop to point and look at them.

"It is not sufficient to see and to know beauty. We must feel and be affected by it."

~Voltaire

His Pick/Her Pick

Noel and I are polar opposites when it comes to our movie preferences.

West Side Story beside a Michael Jordan documentary. Enchanted beside Batman Begins.

He refused to see The Help with me. I absolutely refuse to see the Bob Marley documentary with him.

We each got a movie pick this past weekend. One that neither of us had seen before. And the other couldn't veto the decision. Here are 3 likes and dislikes from each movie. Mine are in pink, his are in blue.

MY PICK

When I tell you this movie is horrible, please, PLEASE trust me. I rolled my eyes 400 times and was looking around for the nearest ice pick.

LIKES

1. Jennifer Lawrence was in it. (What's up Katniss!!!) She was adorable and the only likable character in the entire movie.

2. Background music seemed to be beautiful. (I was in desperate need of a "like" and heard a few pretty notes.)

3. It was properly demonstrated that when you make poor decision after poor decision you. will. be. sad.

1. I really liked how every significant part of this movie was shown in the trailer. I could turn my brain completely off for 90 minutes while watching it. I was basically sleeping with my eyes open.

2. Still trying to think of anything that I even remotely enjoyed about this movie. I liked that it was so predictable that I could call every event ten minutes before it happened. I like doing this during really bad movies that Ashley wants to like. It makes her really mad that I can predict what is going to happen.

3. I loved that this movie turned out to be so bad. Ashley did her pick first. It made it so easy on me. I could pick virtually any movie for my pick and it would have been the better of the two, well unless I had picked Real Steel.

DISLIKES

1. So boring. What happened? Nothing. Everyone was staring at each other the entire time.

2. I didn't root for the main characters. I hate that type of movie. ANNNDDD they weren't attractive. Why did I want to see this???? The main guy was a furniture designer and kept designing the most uncomfortable office chairs. Stop! I hate your character.

3. I'm trying to think of something specific instead of "I hated everything." The movie gave no closure. I deserve closure for sitting through that mess.

1. Where do I begin? This movie was awful. The number one reason it was awful was the fact that it's a love story and the girl is not even hot. Like really how could this guy be so torn up over a girl that's not even a 5/10. I know that sounds really shallow (guess what, it is), but hey, Ashley wanted a guy's perspective right?

2. There were too many random shots of people's feet in this movie. I'm not Rex Ryan (if you don't get it, don't worry, it's a sports joke). I do not want to see people's feet all day long. They specifically showed the main girl's feet like at least 8-9 times in this film and her feet weren't even nice. She had a weird red blister just below her ankle. That's gross.

3. The plot, the actors, the directing, the music, the pace, the everything. I hated this movie more than any other movie I can remember seeing. Again, I haven't seen Real Steel yet so this could possibly change.

NOEL'S PICK

I seriously asked Noel what the name of this movie was 8 times while we were watching it. I also ask a million questions during movies like this, which makes me a very annoying movie companion.

LIKES

1. Lots of twists. Always makes for a good film.

2. They revealed the bad guy in the beginning. Somehow made it more intense.

3. There was a baby Walker's age in it. Made me want to get some baby sugar!

1. This movie had plenty of action and suspense and paced appropriately that it kept you engaged throughout the entire 96 minutes.

2. Really good plot twist at the end that I didn't expect coming.

3. It's always nice to see someone from "That 70's Show" other than Ashton Kutcher getting some shine. Way to go Topher.

DISLIKES

1. The ending left me hanging just like the 1st movie. (Not quite as bad, though). Didn't they get my memo that all movies are supposed to end happily with a wedding?

2. I had to keep turning the volume up and down because of sleeping babies upstairs.

3. It made me nervous. I only want to get nervous over whether the leading lady is going to pick guy A or guy B in a movie. People sneaking up behind each other scares the mess out of me.

1. The acting is pretty terrible. There are multiple scenes where they say super cliche spy-movie-type lines and it's emphasized by the music and everything. It's almost like they were joking on themselves.

2. The opening scene is super dramatic and intense but only loosely ties into the rest of the plot. That frustrated me a little bit because I was too focused on that for the rest of the movie.

3. Richard Gere beating up anyone is hilarious and I could not take him seriously at all.

The Winner?? His Pick. (As much as I hate to admit that)

Have you seen either of these movies?

Family Pictures

The child will not let anyone cut his hair. He acts likes someone is going to cut out his eyeballs instead of his hair when he gets in the chair and then bolts for the door. That's why I was forced to pin him down and chop the front. Unfortunately, this was the result. I should have left him with the whole hippie look. Good thing he's so cute.

My friend, Amber Adamson, took our family pictures this weekend. (She'll be getting a website soon!) She did a great job and I am loving these pictures of my adorable boys and their baby blues!

Hope you all had a great weekend!