Hello! I have some product recommendations for you today! Here are a few new-to-me items I'm currently loving for bath, body, and beauty. Eucalyptus and Spearmint Bath Soak My wonderful husband surprised me the week of my daughter's wedding with a "wedding week survival basket"! I know, he's the best! One of the items in the basket was this bottle of essential oil-scented Epsom salt from Bath and Body Works. A soak in the tub with a few capfuls of this stuff really soothes my aching back and neck. After using the first bottle and raving about it so much, my husband went back during Bath and Body Works's summer sale and got me 2 more bottles! Flamingo Razor The ... Read more
The Simple Pleasures of Tea and Coffee
A month or so ago, a friend asked me how I was doing with the busyness and stress that comes along with this season of life. I told her that while it's been exhausting, God has been so kind to bless me with little pockets of rest and refreshment here and there. Nothing extravagant, but just a few minutes to sit in the van and return texts while waiting on a child at soccer, reading a few pages of a good book before bed, or listening to an inspiring podcast during my morning walk. Those brief moments of calm do me a world of good! One of my favorite simple pleasures is the opportunity to sit down with a cup of hot tea or coffee for a few minutes. Ahhh, the calm it brings to my day! Such ... Read more
Ten Reasons to Love Fall!
HAPPY FIRST DAY OF FALL! I could not be any more excited about autumn's arrival! When I started jotting down my favorite things about fall, I quickly came up with 20 things on my list, and I wasn't even finished! There's just so much to love about this glorious season! For this post, I'm going to cut my list short and stop with 10 favorite things which means I'm still leaving out some fun ones like football and travel, but I have to stop somewhere. So, here goes! 1- Fall Flowers 2- Warm Drinks 3-Baking! 4-Soups 5- Scenic Routes 6- Fall Scents 7-Fall Decor 8- The Great Outdoors 9-Chilly Evenings 10- ... Read more
Happy Almost Fall!
Lately we have caught the fever--the fall fever! We are still more than a month away from the first day of fall and even then, here in the deep south, it'll be a while before those crisp, cool days make their appearance. So yesterday we had a "Let's-Pretend-It's-Fall" day! Nothing extravagant, just a few autumnal pleasures to tide us over for the rest of summer. We lit a deliciously-scented apple candle and whipped up some pumpkin muffins with butterscotch chips. I found some fall cupcake liners left from last year. I've been on a detox diet this summer so, sadly, no muffins for this mama. BUT, I did stir some pureed pumpkin and maple syrup into my steel cut oats and it was ... Read more
Italian Cream Cake
One evening last week, the mothers and daughters from our small group got together to celebrate the upcoming arrival of the baby of our friend Rivers. This family has been such a blessing to our group so we ladies wanted to celebrate with Rivers and her two sweet girls. We planned a meal of salads, followed by a few desserts: Italian cream cake, raspberry white chocolate almond bars, brownies, and coffee. This Italian cream cake is my most requested cake by my family or when I'm asked to bring a dessert to a special occasion. It suits any holiday or celebration any time of the year! It's unique from most other Italian cream cakes in that it doesn't call for pecans or coconut, so ... Read more
Ten Reasons to Love Summer
(***At the end of this post is an update on my dad.***) Although the calendar says we have another couple of weeks until the official start to summer, in my neck of the woods, we are already on summer break with temperatures hitting 90, so it's summer here! It's always fun to enter a new season and gear up for a change in weather, schedules, and activities. Summer passes so quickly each year, I always try to soak it up and enjoy all the special things that are unique to this season. So, in no particular order, here are my ten favorite things about summer! 1- The Great Outdoors Taking walks, being at the barn, swimming with friends, and hosting water days with the cousins ... Read more
Christmas at Biltmore
The first week in December, my girls and I had the pleasure of taking a trip with friends (Missy and her daughter) to The Biltmore Estate--a getaway originally planned for last spring which got postponed due to the pandemic. My sister-in-law and niece were planning to join us as well, but, sadly, had to back out at the last minute due to illness. We missed them greatly! I'd like to share some images from our trip, starting today with photos of the house, and following up with two more posts on the gardens and the dining (yes, food is always a big part of the travel experience!). When I've blogged about Biltmore in the past (on my old blog), I always included some history on the rooms and ... Read more
Happy Thanksgiving!
This fall, the kids and I have enjoyed lunch on the patio most days which almost always leads to shenanigans with the pets! One particular day, a couple of weeks ago, turned into a silly fall photo shoot with our fur babies, and we thought these photos would be a fun way to say "Happy Thanksgiving" today! Barney, our most exuberant pet, didn’t stick around too long. We were pleased to get him in at least one good photo. To our surprise, the cat and the bunny are pretty comfortable with each other, but, we’ve realized that the cat thinks the bunny is another cat, and the bunny thinks the cat is another bunny. And so now we call them "the sisters"! Happy Thanksgiving from our ... Read more