Spring Is In The Air

I have been loving the weather that we've been having! It has felt like spring and actually a lot of times like summer for several weeks now! Our winter was actually very mild compared to last year and nothing to complain about, but I am loving all of the blooms and flowers and green grass sprouting up all over. Easter is a little more than a week away and I've had our decorations up for a little while now, so I thought I would share a few pictures from around our house...

Happy Easter and Happy Spring! :)

oxox,

lauren

Gift Ideas 2011

It's that time of the year, the time to put up decorations, spend time with family, and shop for everyone on your list. Yesterday when I woke up to snow flurries falling outside, it felt official to me, it's beginning to feel and look a lot like Christmas! Our house has been decorated for a couple of weeks now and all of my shopping is near complete, but I have a lot of wrapping to do and not much time to do it! Even though this time of the year is so so busy and hectic at times, I adore Christmas and this year happens to be really special to me. If you still have a shopping list so long it makes your eyes cross, maybe I can help you out with some gift ideas (hopefully there's at least one to suit someone on your list)!...

For Her...

 Either one of these stunning necklaces is sure to make any girl on your list one happy lady!

Hello super cute tote bag :)

Such a lovely notepad for any list-making girl you have to shop for

Personalized gifts are extra thoughtful, such as one of these fun iPhone cases

 Cute gift idea for any bakers on your list

A really cute hat so she can stay warm

Or some fun slippers, I mean what girl does not like to be comfortable?!

Another notepad that will surely make her smile

Pretty wrist candy

For Him...

Last year I gave my husband a really nice bottle of whiskey along with these Whiskey Rocks and he really enjoys them because they don't dilute his drink.

Great for the iPad lover

Perfect for the golfer, he can bring it to his office or have it to practice at home.

For Them or The Hostess...

Gorgeous gold triangles glasses

A great set of cheese knives

A pretty picture frame is always a good option

Happy Holiday shopping!

oxox,

lauren

*Pretty gold necklace, gorgeous turquoise necklace, chevron striped tote bag, floral notepad, personalized phone cases, wood handled whisk, Small Sweet Treats cookbook, polka-dot hat, moccasin slippers, cute whale notepad, sparkly bracelet, Whiskey Rocks, iPad DODOcase, automatic-return portable putting cup, sparkling gold glasses, set of cheese knives, round picture frame

xoxo

I hope everyone had a Happy Valentine's Day! Matt and I had a nice romantic dinner at home; we don't really get too into the whole Valentine's Day thing.

Even though valentine's day was yesterday, I thought I would post some pictures of the fun little heart garland I made for our dining room last week! Soon there will be a mirror, etc. hanging in it's place, but we have still not gotten around to hanging everything up yet...our house is a work in progress since we recently moved in!

Oh, and I'm so loving the warmer temperatures we're having...sooo ready for spring time!

oxox,
lauren

Getting settled

Well, we're now residents of Nashville, TN! We moved in a little over a week ago and we are getting acclimated with Nashville and our new home. I have been busy unpacking boxes and trying to get re-organized! It's a lot of work! I so wish there was an easier way to unpack everything and put it in it's proper place!

Matt won two tickets to a Nashville Predators ice hockey game in a drawing at work, so we went to the game last night had a good time. It was a welcomed break from unpacking!

With all that has been going on in our lives, I have not had any time to get to any new posts, so I am going to post some overdue pictures from over the holidays when we were in Florida...

Me and Matt at McGuire's

Katie, Meghan, Me & Matt having lunch at McGuire's

Out shopping

Cool light fixture

Distressed from all the amazing furniture...I wanted all of it!

Love when we're all together!

I guess I better get back to the boxes and the organizing!

oxox,
lauren

New Year, New State

Hello! I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays!

We went down to Florida to spend Christmas with my mom and two sisters and we had a great time! We all had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you did too! We came back to Atlanta to celebrate the New Year and Matt and I had a wonderful dinner out at Pricci (one of our favorite restaurants in Atlanta) to celebrate and it was delicious.

With the New Year brings some big changes for us. First of all, we're moving to Nashville, TN! My hubby got a great job opportunity there and now we're relocating. Matt and I have been a whole three times in our entire lives, two of which were for his interviews and one to house hunt last weekend. It's been a whirlwind. The whole process began back in the beginning of October! They brought us over twice for him to interview, and then made him an offer right before Christmas and he accepted a few days later! Whew! So far I know where the two best malls are (sounds a bit lame, but one of the days he interviewed for nine and a half hours and I was by myself all day wandering around Nashville, so, yes that is how I spent my time alone!), some great restaurants, cute shops, Vanderbilt and that is about it. Last weekend we had a tour of downtown Nashville and the surrounding areas so we learned some more about the city. It is going to take a little while. We are very excited for this change in our lives! It is always a bit intimidating to move to an unfamiliar city and also in our case, an unfamiliar state, but 99% of the people we have spoken to about Nashville really love it and we think we will too!

So, back to December when this became official, I surprised Matt with a very nice dinner. I cooked him a porterhouse steak, and that was the first time I have ever cooked steak in my life! I went to a butcher in Buckhead and bought a 1 1/2" thick porterhouse and used an epicurious recipe that you can find here, if you would like. I cooked these mashed potatoes as a side dish along with asparagus. I bought some rolls that he did not even touch because the steak was the size of a basketball and he had two side dishes to go along with that...it was a lot of food, but I had planned out the whole menu and bought the ingredients before I got to the butcher and saw how enormous the steak was! I was so nervous about messing up the steak, but Matt promises it was the best steak he ever had! I feel like I set the bar a bit high though, I mean let's be honest, I am not going to be cooking him porterhouses on a regular basis here! My husband is definitely a meat and potatoes kind of guy and he had a permanent smile on his face that whole meal. It was so fun to see how excited he was...I mean, he was giddy...I am not kidding!

I told you it was a lot of food! The steak was huge! He ate the entire thing though, just not all of the mashed potatoes and he could not eat any of the bread (understandably)!

Mixed cherry tomatoes are not really in season, so I just used all red, but I don't think Matt had a problem with that!

This is now my husband's favorite meal and he talks about this darn steak a lot!

I don't eat steak, so I had chicken instead. I have to say that the mashed potatoes were really good, if you're looking for a new recipe you should try these.

Well, we have a lot going on! It looks like we are headed back up to Nashville tomorrow to continue our house hunt (we did not find a place last weekend) and we're keeping our fingers crossed that we find a place because Matt starts his new job in the middle of next week!

oxox,
lauren

Fa la la la la....!

Well, as I've already confessed...i love Christmas and I apologize in advance if this post bores the heck out of you! My friend Catie suggested that I share some pictures of the Christmas decor i put up around our home and I decided to take her up on that suggestion! ;) Oh, and nine days to go, can you believe it?!

So, here are a few pictures of some of the Christmas decorations I have put up in our home (I hope you enjoy, even if it's just a little!)...

Here is one of our trees, yes, that's right, i said one. We have three total (well if you count the little 3' one in our guest bedroom in that total), but I'll just include the one that is in our living room.

Please ignore the the random bright spots...it's a reflection from the camera or something...i promise the lights don't look splotchy in person.

The console table in our living room with our pathetic little stockings! They are just for the fun of it...we'll be in Florida for Christmas :)

Our living room window

A door decoration

One of our end tables

Now, I have to go make a caprese salad for dinner before I have to leave to go pick up my sister, Katie, from the airport! Yes!!! So excited she is coming to visit! Have a fantastic weekend!

oxox,
lauren

It's Crunch Time

There are fifteen days until Christmas!!! Oh my goodness! Can you believe it?! I can't! I was talking to my sister, Katie, yesterday about how we are both so happy and frankly relieved to be finished with our shopping because we were both out running a bunch of errands yesterday in the madness of people trying to Christmas shop. Let's just say that there is definite panic in the air. I mean I saw several people yesterday who were on serious missions and I was not about to get in their way...they are intensely focused on finding that gift they're searching for! And finding a place to park anywhere...eeek!

I really do love looking at all the pretty decorations that are out though!

oxox,
lauren

*images courtesy of Country Living, House Beautiful and Southern Living