here lately

I caught the stomach bug.  It was pretty miserable, but I have fully recovered.

sick day

One day last week, sometime between Sloane fully recovering and me fully deteriorating, we went out for a picnic. This was a first for us and I was excited as I packed a blanket and a picnic basket of goodies.  However, when we pulled up to the park Sloane (remember she’s two years old) had a meltdown and told me she wanted to go home.  I told her I had packed lunch and by golly we were going to stay and enjoy it.  She finally came around and decided that she did love the idea of a picnic at the park.  This specific park is close to our house, the whole place is canopied with huge oak trees and right smack in the middle of it all is a historic antebellum home.  I let Sloane pick the picnic spot and she selected the front porch of the house.  That’s my girl, I feel certain I would have picked the same spot if someone had given me the choice.

eden

eden 2

back to house bw

baby bear

If you vacation in my neck of the woodsEden Gardens State Park is just north of Seagrove Beach in Pt. Washington and is well worth the $4 it costs to get in.

In other news, one day pre-stomach bug we ventured out and snapped some pictures of the newest addition at Urban Grace Interiors, Leigh Ann.  Isn’t she pretty!?  She’s now on the website.  And I know someone will ask… her bracelets, they are her own creations (plus a few vintage gold bangles she found on ebay).  If you’ve had the pleasure of meeting Leigh Ann or working with her you know that she is talented, hard-working, and is such a pleasure to be around.  She, like the rest of Team Urban Grace, cracks me up which makes being at work fun.  We’re really glad you came along Leigh Ann!

 

LAHWhile I’m on the subject of Leigh Ann I’ll throw in some photos of our adventures yesterday.  I’ve had friends and clients tell me that they think this business must be fun and glamorous, which always causes me to choke a little.  You see, if you had spent the day with Leigh Ann and I yesterday it would be clear that behind every finished project is a lot of work, and I don’t mean computer work and playing with fabric samples.  Yesterday we went to a storage unit where we loaded up three massive light fixtures, hauled them to a construction site, only to find the stairwell between the second and third levels of the house impassable (scaffolding in the way), so we called in for back up.  When we finally got to the third floor with the massive lights we discovered that the scaffolding we needed to get the lights into position was that which we had just climbed over in the stairwell.  Good thing we have that proper-lifting technique poster at the office.

The storage unit where we picked up the 800 pounds of lights has a pink rolling cart that delights me.  I don’t know if I was delirious or what, but I started to think that I need to order those lanterns (in a smaller size) for my kitchen and paint them pink.  Hmm.  (Someone asked about my sunglasses, there they are on that cardboard box.  Banana Republic, “Deborah“, mine are tortoise.)
pink cart copy
in kitchen

After the lighting was safe and sound back in the storage unit we popped a few muscle relaxers and went out to do some rug shopping.  I love rug shopping.

rugs

Then this morning some of our favorite art for little people arrived along with a hand-full of teeny tiny buttons that make you want to squeeze a fox or kiss a bear…

berkley buttons

berkley stamp copy

My girl is stirring from a nap… so I better hurry and throw some photos in here and call it a post.

peek a boo sofa

 

hats

She was waving at a baby.  She loves babies. At the very last minute she decided on the moose hat.

flower picker

bridgewindow boxes

cheeto girl

spunky

This weekend we are headed to Chance’s twenty year high school reunion.  They do it up big in his hometown of Geneva, AL and I’m looking forward to a fun weekend!

may I bore you with more garden pictures (and a recipe)?

sloaney in garden

I am sorry, but my Mexican Sage is not around for long… a few weeks at the  most, so I must savor it.  It is delightful.  I buy 90% of my plants on the clearance racks at Lowes.  Do you know about these?  When the plants start to droop they mark them 50% off and stick them on rolling racks at the back of the garden center.  I love a challenge.   This Mexican Sage and Lantana came off those clearance racks.  I bet I didn’t pay more than $10 for all these flowers in bloom.  They took quite a bit of nursing to get them back to good health (not really, just water and the occasional fertilizer).  I think the reward is far greater when you have to resuscitate from near death.
butterfly

butterfly in flight

butterfly 2

hummingbird perched

salvia and hummingbird

sloaney picking flowers

penelope

Penelope is on point, protecting our family from tiny green lizards.  The blanket drying in the sun (in background) was a victim of Sloaney’s stomach bug.  That blanket deserves a post of its own … it’s a beautiful blanket, I’ll tell you about it when we get around to a post on Sloane’s big girl bed.

I love ornamental Sweet Potato Vine.  And somehow at the end of the season after the bugs have had their way with it, it’s even more beautiful.

sweet potato vine

sweet potato vine lacelike

Last week Leigh Ann said she made pumpkin bread.  I asked, “that simple kind on pinterest!?”

“Yes!”

She said it was delicious.  I like simple recipes and I love Pumpkin Bread, however, I was a little skeptical of how few ingredients, but gave it a whirl.

 pumpkin cake

PUMPKIN BREAD :: TWO & A HALF INGREDIENTS

(On the pinterest version the blogger used yellow cake mix, but I went for Spice Cake.)

- One Duncan Hines Spice Cake Mix.

- One small (16oz) jar of canned pumpkin.  (read: not to be confused with canned pumpkin pie filling)

- 1/2 teaspoon of Pumpkin Pie Spice

Mix them up.  Grease & flour your pan of choice.  Bake at 350 degrees for…. well… until you get a clean toothpick.  It took longer to bake than I anticipated (a little over 30 mins), but I used one of those silicone loaf pans, which might have been the culprit.  I’m trying it again in a multi mini loaf pan and I think they will bake faster.

The blogger glazed hers with an Apple Cider Glaze, but I didn’t have any Apple Cider and thought it was so darn tasty it didn’t need it.

Try it, you won’t be disappointed!

a big weekend

seaside 4

This Saturday Sloane decided to part with her pacifiers.  We have been talking about the tiny baby moo cows of Papa’s that don’t have pacis and Sloane agreed it would be a good idea to give her pacifiers to his cows.  Papa stopped by on Saturday and that was all it took, she was ready and handed them over.  We went out for ice cream to celebrate then onto Seaside where we let her pick out a toy at the toy store.  Then we laid on her favorite “cozy blanket” on the green and enjoyed a quiet afternoon.   I honestly think I needed that quiet afternoon on a blanket more than she did.  I put in a few long hours on Saturday and my brain was close to fried.

big girl

seaside

sunset on cozy blanket

After being so brave my poor girl came down with a stomach bug on Saturday night and we woke up to a big mess Sunday morning.  I thought I was tough momma, but cleaning up vomit is not my strong suit.  Even though she felt puny on Sunday morning she was so excited to see the photos of Papa’s cows with her pacis.  ;)

moo cows

moo

After a lazy day inside we went out for a little boat ride.  The dragonflies are thick here in September and October and one happened to fly into my photograph.

boat ride

Yesterday afternoon I went solo to my niece’s 1st birthday party.  Poor Sloaney wasn’t well enough to go, which was such a shame because she would have loved it!

flowers and hats
happy reese
favors and hats
cake table 2
bandw vintage reese

Sweet little Reese got spooked when we all broke into the birthday song…

birthday song tears

If you’re wondering who my sweet niece looks like… she looks like her daddy, who looks like his momma (my mother-in-law)…
beba and reese

 

hat and cake

Happy 1st Birthday, Reese!!!