All things VINTAGE!!

I have recently become obsessed with ALL things vintage! Very late, I know. I've always been interested in "older" things, but now I'm CONSTANTLY on the lookout for the next piece to add to my collection. I LOVE vintage handbags, jewelry, and kitchen wares like Pyrex and cotton tablecloths.



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As a mentioned in my last post, my mom and I had a recent girls day out with Little Miss. After a fabulous lunch, I introduced Mom to one of my favorite antique stores, Feather Your Nest, located on Leestown Rd in Lexington. It has TONS of cute things, including many booths with vintage wares.

*If you look closely, you can see Ava passed out on Mom's shoulder at this point! <3! *

Loved this adorable table...if I remember correctly it was only priced at $75.00!

I fell in LOVE w/ this light pink wrought iron patio set...It was gorgeous!

This little beauty would be great for showcasing your favorite baubles and charms...alas, it was marked NFS. (Not for sale! :( )

They yellow frame really makes this vintage painting POP! I think this would look adorable in a little girls room!

This booth had tons of great vintage jewelery and odds & ends. I love these kinds of booths!

I saved the best for last! This is my all-time favorite BOOTH! It's Miss Molly Vintage, and she always has the best vintage fashion and accessories! :) I really almost came home with that yellow dress! I could seriously spend HOURS in the two Miss Molly Vintage booths. AH-MAZING!

Miss Molly Vintage is stocked by this lovely gal. She hasn't posted recently, but if you love anything vintage, you will fall in love with her home renovation! Wow! Check it out! Also find Miss Molly Vintage on Facebook!

Well, that's all for now! :) Where are some of your favorite vintage/flea market sources? :) I love making new discoveries!

So by now, through Facebook/Twitter/etc and word of mouth, I'm sure everyone has seen the verdict heard 'round the world: Casey Anthony was found "not guilty" of killing her two year old daughter Caylee. I was SO upset when watching Headline News live. I just couldn't understand. The only thing that brings me comfort is knowing little Caylee is in a much better place now, and WHOEVER did kill her will one day face the ultimate Judgement, as I and every other person on Earth will. (This is my blog, my faith. If you take offense, maybe you should read elsewhere.) Anyway, just had to get that off my chest.

On a much lighter note, I've been meaning to post about our recent adventures but have been busy and distracted. However, here it is! My mother and I recently went to Lexington for a little girl's day out. We started the day with a fantastic lunch at this place: Flag Fork Herb Farm & Garden. For those of you familiar with, I'm sure you will agree that this place is de-freakin-licious and absolultely adorable at the same time. It's one of my favorite places to eat. They offer farm fresh high quality food, including quiche, chicken salad, sandwhiches, soup, and more.

Here are some highlights:

(I apologize for iPhone quality pics! LOL I really need a point-n-shoot camera!)

Flag Fork is located at 900 N. Broadway. Reservations are recommended (for a good reason!) and they can be made by calling 859-252-6837.

This is the front entrance:

They have gifts scattered through out this 1790's house, including the upstairs rooms. Here are a few things that caught my eye:

Vintage handbags, seen in the upstairs gallery-

Original artwork:

Adorable little girl accessories!

Teasets, stationary, and much more!

Mom & Little Miss exploring the gardens located in the back of the restaurant and gift shop-

She's got her shades on and ready to go to the next stop!

We had a great day...I have an adorable necklace to show for it too...I'll have to remember to get a pic of it to show you lovelies!

Our next stops included two awesome shops...Feather Your Nest and Street Scene. Post and pics from those to come soon! :)

Chi's and Coupons

So girls, this past weekend I experienced a life-changing moment. Now, I'm not pregnant (although I was recently asked, ugh), we're not moving, and I'm still jobless. Ha. In all of my 26 years here on this wide green Earth, I have never been the proud owner of a Chi flat iron. Until now!


Whoo-hoo! I purchased this beauty on sale at JCPenney, and can't believe I'm just now entering the Chi world. Wow!Their sale flyer even had a coupon, so I got it for way less than the original retail price. I was pumped to say the least. I have the thickest hair known to man, and it used to seriously take me over an hour to straighten my hair to get it looking even halfway decent. This baby slashes the time at least in half! I couldn't be more happy with my latest beauty purchase! :)

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On another note, I recently attended my first COUPONING CLASS! (It was a weekend of firsts for me, ok?) I know surely you have heard of this little show:

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I've been trying to dabble in couponing for a while now, and I guess with this little show it's caught my attention just like the rest of America. Major box stores such as a Kroger and Wal-Mart have even changed their store coupon policies as a result of this show. Anywho, this class was hosted by my cousin's sister in law, and they went over the basics and showed some of the deals they had recently gotten and how much they paid vs how much they saved. Who doesn't want to save some money in this day and age!? Huh? Hello, is anyone there? Now, I love a good deal and clipping coupons, but you will NEVER see me clear a store's shelf just because something is cheap or *free.* I can't tell you how many times I've checked a favorite coupon website to see a good deal, gone to said store, and the product mentioned be COMPLETELY OUT OF STOCK. It's so aggravating! This was a Christian-based couponing class, and they stressed thinking "of your neighbor"and only taking what you NEED. If you've ever seen the TLC show you see the stockpiles that some of these crazy people have. Who honestly needs 500 rolls of toilet paper, or 30 bottles of mustard? Let's get real here people! I thought I'd list a few of my favorite couponing websites for those of you who are interested in saving some money and finding the deals! :) (You'll thank me later!)

Trust me, after you get that first good deal by using the sales and a coupon, you'll be hooked!

Mrs. Bees' Favorite Coupon Websites:

www.stockpilingmoms.com

www.krazycouponlady.com (recently featured on"Extreme Couponing")

www.southernsavers.com

www.couponmom.com

www.hotcouponworld.com

Just a hint: These websites do all the leg work for you, they scope out the deals for various products, tell you the price, where to find a coupon, and the final price you will pay. Now, coupons are very regional, so these that I have listed work well for Central Kentucky and the surrounding areas. If you live elsewhere, I would search for other websites that may be more beneficial for you!

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Also, I recently found a super cute blog that pulled at my bargain-finding heartstrings:

Miss Lindsey, over at The Bargain Blonde, has all kinds of sweet stuff on finding beauty bargains! She recently wrote a review on ELF $1 False Eyelashes, and I have to say, I am in LOVE with the ELF line of cosmetics! I had tried some of their stuff a looooong time ago, maybe in high school, and had forgotten about it until recently reading several of my favorite bloggies boasting about how great this stuff is. So, what did I do? Of course I ran to Target and grabbed up 5 new items to test out. ELF's line of makeup is mostly $1, $3, and $5 price points.

Hello, Awesomeness~!

I'll let you know what I think in an upcoming post! I'm still playing with all my new ELF goodness!

XOXOXO

PS-I jazzed up the blog a little with new buttons and a new background, lemme know what you think :)

A little DIY Action

So I've always been told "Courtney, you're so crafty!" by friends and family, especially through high school and college. I will admit I love a good craft or three, and I'm a paper & pen junkie, but I'm really just beginning to dip my toes into the whole DIY world. Mr. Bee is pretty darn good at getting his hands dirty and producing wonderful results. Just within the past two weeks, he has constructed a storage building in our backyard for our lawnmower and tools he doesn't frequently use. {*More on that later, this is about MY project!* :)}

Some time ago we were out perusing flea markets and yard sales, and my eyes spied a lovely little footstool. (Yes, we sometimes feel like Grandma and Gramps, looking at flea markets! Mos of the time, we are the younges LOL) My wallet smiled too, because if memory serves correctly, I believe I only shelled out about $5.00-$7.00 for the thing. It's been so long ago that I don't have or just can't find a picture of how she originally looked in all her circa 1992 glory. I will say she had a dark cherry stain and country blue cushion.

Here's a picture of the cushion, a' la Home Interior 1992:

In other words, "it ain't my style!"

So what's a DIY girlie to do? I grabbed a can of spray paint and a yard of much cuter fabric and got to work!

Step 1: PAINT-

My weapon of choice: Krylon Indoor/Outdoor White Gloss. Simple as that. I will say that I had previously painted the legs with a different type of spraypaint, and it was an ugly flat color. So I guess it sort of served as my primer, ha! So really this was my second go-round with getting this footstool back into action!

Step 2: FABRIC-
Next, I began to cover the cushion with my new fabric while I waited on the paint to dry. I completed this project on my front porch while my daughter played nearby. The sky was overcas, so the pics are a little blueish. I basically layed the cushion over my lap and wrapped the fabric around it. I then used Mr. Bee's staple gun to staple the fabric to the bottom of the cushion.

Stapled around the corners:

The newly re-covered cushion with my handy staple gun:

~Voila!~

The finished project:

(So proud I actually started and finished a project, even a small one like this, ha!)

I have the perfect spot for this little jewel...our home office/treadmill room :)

Have a great Wednesday! :)

Double Whammy

So, let's recap the quality programming from Bravo last night. ;)

First up, we had the Part I Reunion of my ladies of RHOOC. Oh Lawd. They were wild and crazy and we aren't even finished yet! Gretchen and Tamra were really at each other's throats last night, and I really am getting tired of Tamra feeling she is important enough to discuss EVERYONE else's love/work/financial lives. Like really, get your own crap together first. I thought Peggy handled her first reunion very well, she was mostly quiet unless Andy asked her a question, but I have a feeling that is all about to change next week when they begin to discuss Alexis & Jim! Ha! Those two are a whole other case of crazy! I completely understand wanting and having a traditional marriage, but let's get real here, people! I really think she exaggerates it all just to get the attention. (duh.) And let me also point out how I find it kind of crazy that Alexis and Gretchen side with each other against the other wives. Gretchen, a self-described liberal woman who isn't sure she even believes in marriage anymore (!), and Alexis, the wife some have described as a "doormat" to her husband. Wow. Anyway, let's discuss Vicki and Donn. I really felt bad for Donn, and think he was probably being very genuine when he stated that the whole situation was not handled with dignity & respect. It seems like they renewed the vows, and then Vicki is crying to Tamra about having "serious issues." And I ALSO really think Donn made a good point when he talked about how he wasn't sure if Vicki hanging out with Tamra had any influence on their marriage. Vicki sees Tamra get a divorce, and then having "the time of her life" with her hottie boyfriend, and BOOM, Donn is out the door. Whatev.

Can't wait for next week! Now, when are my Beverly Hills ladies coming back!?

Let's not forget those Jersey girls. Let me first say that Teresa and Joe (Gorga) really need to get their crap together. Anyone who watched last night could see how much each of their kids love each other. It's really sad to see this division in their lives. They are both crazy though. I find it hilarious how on every Housewives show, there is at least ONE who think they are singers. Hello Kim (Atlanta), Hello Luann (NYC), Hello Gretchen (OC), and now, Hello Melissa! Ugh. Just be happy being a spoiled, narcissistic Housewife. I mean really! LOL They honestly are like watching a trainwreck. You love 'em and you hate 'em, but either way, you can't tear your eyes away! LOL On another side, I love how Momma Caroline just waltzed into the local radio station and wanted to start her own radio talk show. Wonder how that will pan out? She does crack me up though. Her little quip about being thrown in the swamp had me laughing out loud. Oh and another thing, Ashley is REALLY getting old. The "poor little me" I have to commute into the city, Wah! Can you hear the violins playing for you Ashley? And then Chris decides to get her a brand new freaking Jeep. Ugh. It really disgusts me. THEY are HER problem. They are the reason why she is the way she is. It's annoying. It'll be interesting to see how long she keeps THIS new car. I wanted to slap her when they were sitting at the dealer and SHE wanted to lay the ground rules of who could drive the car SHE ISN'T EVEN PAYING FOR. GROW UP. GET A LIFE. End of RH Speech.

We had a wonderful weekend spending time with friends and family. I shot a former co-worker's wedding on Saturday and was so excited to see my old co-workers. I think my next post may be a "Queen Bee's Prior Life" post. Hahaha. No, I'm serious. ;)

I hope you all had a great weekend as well! :) Muah!

A Little Bit of Randomness...

So...first of all, let me just say how SHOCKED I am that I am actually blogging while sitting on my front porch! Little Miss is playing in the lava rock and her Radio Flyer wagon, and we actually have a slight breeze blowing!

(photo from Instgram app on my iPad, so if the quality is poor, there's my excuse!)

The past few days in the 'ol Bluegrass have been quite unbearable! The humidity is out of control, people!

Anyway, So excited that "So You Think You Can Dance" is back! This season is going to be amazing! I'm still mourning the finales of my favorite shows (Greys, Vampire Diaries, etc) but I really think that my poor little DVR needs a break!

I'm feeling so blessed at this point to be home with Little Miss, but girls let me tell ya, after working for so many years, and for the past year and a half going to grad school full-time on top of work, this little homebody is getting a little cabin-feverish! LOL My husband would say I'm just never satisfied, and I try to roll my eyes and protest, but he's usually right! (Shhhh!) I'm the girl who LOVES buying a new planner just to mark and scratch all in it! It's definitely been an adjustment so to speak! Especially the whole not being able to run to my favorite stores and buy new pretties, now that we are down to one income! It's a new adventure! ;)

However, I did just recently celebrate my 26th birthday. (Now officially closer to 30 than 20, man I feel old!) I say all that to say this: I got a new pretty! My parents instead of actually buying me a gift, gave me money so that I could buy my own. Now normally, I like to hoard gift cards and whatnot, but with this shopping dry spell, it didn't last long! Bought a DIY project kit at Hobby Lobby, (more on that later!) AND because I am a certified bargainista, I hit up my local TJ Maxx. (LOVE that freakin place!)

And this beauty found her way into my arms and heart:

My newest baby, chillin with the Petunia's I've manage to keep alive for more than a few days...

For months now, maybe even a year, I had been pining for a tan Michael Kors addition to my collection. Howev, after perusing the aisles and not finding what I liked, or anything in my little price range, I decided on the sweet little Cynthia Rowley number seen above! She will be an excellent neutral "go-to" bag!

At least I can enjoy my MK sunglasses:

Night ya'll!

Reshaping it All!

Hey ya'll-



Hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day holiday weekend. We spent some time away with my parents and had a great trip.

While away, I was able to finish the newest addition to my book collection:

"Reshaping It All," by Candace Cameron Bure, is an excellent read for those who want to lose weight using Biblical references for support and guidance. Candance gives you a workable plan to reaching your goals, whether they be losing weight, feeling better about yourself, or bringing your whole family into leading a healthier lifestyle.

I honestly could not put it down! Now that I've read it once through, I'm re-reading each chapter and making notes in my prayer journal for Scripture I want to be able to easily look up and/or memorize, and notes for keeping myself on track. I look forward to seeing the results as I shape up and slim down this summer/fall/winter/spring, etc! :)

If this sounds like something you'd like to do as well, I highly recommend this as your next book buy!

Away

We are on a tiny little weekend getaway with my parents...see ya'll next week! :)

Two Teeny Tiny Years

I.Cannot.Believe.She's.Two!

Our sweet Little Miss is now 2 years and 3 months old. For this year's party, I actually went with a character theme. I had practically sworn that I would NEVER do a character theme for our birthday parties', but she's been obsessed with Dora the Explorer for a while now, so I just went with it. Hey, you're only 2 once, right!? I scoured the internet for cute Dora parties, and not just one's that come straight out of the box. I like things personalized, and don't we all to a degree?

I had a good friend bake her cake, and my mother and I also made cupcakes:

Instead of paying someone else to make cutesy little cupcake toppers, I just made them myself. Cute enough. It's not like our party will be mentioned in "TOPS in Lex" or anything! Hahaha.

Some of Ava's "auntie's", hahaha. (Only child here.)

We had wonderful family and friends share this special day with us...and I'm already planning her birthday party for next year! :)

Another 6 month update

Well...let's see...let me try to pick off where I've left off again...I swear, one day I will be a GREAT blogger! Ha!

As of May 7th, I am officially a Master in the Art of Teaching! :) After 18 months of long nights, long papers, and short patience, I have graduated with my Masters degree. (*happy dance!*) Perhaps that is why my sickly little blog has been neglected for so long! :) I had a incredible student teaching experience. The program I enrolled in allowed me to hand-pick my supervising teachers. My mother is still currently teaching in our local school system, so I knew exactly which school I wanted and the teachers I wanted to work under. My first placement was with a 3rd grade teacher who has been teaching for over 25 years...She was amazing. She also happens to be my mother's best friend, and her daughter and I have been best friends for 20 years. We met in pre-school. :)

Here's a picture of us at her wedding in September 2009:

Anywho, my next placement was with 5th grade. This was also under a wonderful Reading teacher who is just awesome...I can't believe it's all over...so now I'm working at home! LOL When Ava was born, I wanted to be a SAHM more than anything...and now I have my chance! It's definitely been an adjustment these past few weeks...being home all the time now and seeing the Mister everyday, instead of just on the weeekends, due to his work schedule. But I really love being home with Little Miss all day. I think it's made me a better mother, and hopefully my hubby can see a small difference in my attitude! LOL

Now that I'm home during the day, I have a completely different agenda and mindset. My home has never been cleaner and more organized! Still have a ways to go though! Hopefully I can document the madness on the little blog here.

Another thing that's really been on my heart lately is just to live simply. Now I love my "stuff" as much as the next person, but I really just want to get "back to the basics." I want to grow in my walk with God, I want to grow closer to my husband, and I want to be the best mother I can possibly be to Little Miss. I want to purge my home and heart of the "extra stuff" that isn't meaningful to myself or my family. I honestly believe that this "career change" is God's way of letting me take a deep breath, and clean the dust bunnies off heart and soul. It's a new season of life for me, and I am so looking forward to the work that lays ahead. I want to be a Proverbs 31 wife, a woman that my husband and daughter can be proud of. I hope I can accomplish that in this lifetime.

In closing tonight, any readers I may have out there, I must say thanks for sticking with me...as touch and go as it's been these past couple of years, I still keep coming back! LOL

Night ya'll!

Uh oh, oh no!

Well ladies, we've been hit with a case of the pneumonies. My poor hubby who was initially diagnosed with strep, (don't EVEN get me started on THAT!) has now officially been diagnosed as having pneumonia in his left lung, as of Thursday night. He initially went to the instant care center on Sunday evening because he had started feeling bad...they LOOKED into his through and said, "Oh, you must have strep."

By Thursday, he had been in bed all week, progressively getting worse. I rushed home after school (the babe was with her Nana all day) and took him to a different Instant Care. THESE good, kind, INTELLIGENT doctors did the appropriate bloodwork, chest x-ray, etc, and properly diagnosed him. A shot, new antibiotics and two days later, he is feeling somewhat better.

These have been my new best friends all week:

I'm off to continue playing nurse...hope everyone has a great weekend!


PS-I'll be watching this tomorrow evening! I'm a sucker for made-for-TV Hallmark movies! Hey-it's got Betty White in it! It's GOT to be good! ;)



XOXO

Killed Off...

Out of all of the snow days we've missed this year (Over a weeks' worth!) today was the one that was most-needed. Well, in my household at least! Hubby has a bad case of the strep and since he is our caregiver during the day, I was really worried that school would be in session today...Luckily for us, they did cancel and I've been able to be home all day with baby girl...

This morning, I caught up on some DVR action. Besides frou frou shows like RHOBH or RHONY and such, I do like other shows with some depth. One of these is TNT's "Southland." I first started watching this show when it was on NBC...then they dropped it before the 2nd season aired, and TNT snatched it up...It stars a face many will probably recognize, Ben McKenzie, formerly from "The O.C." (And he's still as cute as ever!) The 3rd season just started a couple of weeks ago...and this morning it was on my "to watch" agenda.

(SPOILER ahead)

Imagine my horror and shock when at the very end of the episode, they kill off this guy! Kevin Alejandro starred in Southland as Detective Nate Moretta...and I LOVED him! He's been a show regular since season 1! I'm still distraught. I couldn't delete the episode off my DVR b/c I just can't.let.it.go!

Isn't it amazing how we get so attached to some of our favorite characters...(I'm like this with books too!) I've read several post-killing-off interviews w/ Kevin, and he says we'll still be seeing his pretty face as Jesus on True Blood. Just won't be the same though. *dang*. I hate it when this happens.

Anyone else watch Southland and want to sound off on this? It's going to take me a while to get over this!


Have a great Wednesday!

Two Years...

First off, let me reiterate: I'm a self-professed horrible blogger! I have all of these fun and cute ideas for this little 'ol blog, and then...well, life happens. I'm Type A and have all of these to-do lists and things I want to do, but I'm a Gemini and get easily distracted! Ha! Sorry for such a long absence, if I have any readers out there! If not, well, it's fun for me, anyway! :)

Little life update: I'm no longer employed! Well, I'm working, but for free! I'm finishing my Masters degree for Elementary Education. My Bachelor of Arts degree is in Communication Studies. After working in a corporate setting, I just wasn't satisfied. About 8 months after Ava was born, I was so unhappy and frustrated. I decided to go back to school to be a teacher. My mother has taught for almost 30 years, so I've kind of been raised in it! It's one of those life things where you think, "Why didn't I do this 7 years ago in undergrad!?" But sometimes it takes living a little to really decide what you want to be when you grow up! So, I've been working a full-time job, taken on a full load of classes, and have tried to balance both of those with being a wife to my husband and a mommy to our little girl. I hope I haven't let either of them down.

I'm now almost finished with my Master of Arts in Teaching degree. In January, I started my student teaching requirement! I am having a BALL, let me tell you! I'm currently in a 3rd grade classroom in a public school in KY. The kids are sweet as pie, and I have the best supervising teacher I could be working under. With all of the snow days and holidays we've had this month, I've only been in the classroom for about 9 days...but I already feel like I've learned so much! She's just amazing! I'll graduate in May and hopefully find a full-time position in the fall.

Now, that little baby girl that convinced her Mommy to completely change her career will be turning TWO in just a couple of short weeks! Here's a little recap from her first birthday party! I LOVE planning her birthday parties, and have a little stash of ideas to pull from in these next few years when she's still young enough to let ME plan it all! Ha!

Her first party was a little ladybug theme. I made almost all of her decorations, and with the help of my cousin, and her nifty Cricut, even made the invitations!

Take a little looksie:

Homemade banner...Found a LOT of cute banners on Etsy, but thought I could make just as cute of one as I could buy!

Banner for her highchair:

Ladybug cake & cupcakes! :) Made by a dear friend.

My little lady at her first birthday party...Bib was ordered from Etsy.

For this year's party, I really wanted a cute Candyland theme...however, in this house, it's ALL about Dora the Explorer! So Dora it is!

I've been a little busy here lately with all of my lesson planning for school! So this year, I skipped the homemade invitations! I actually went with (gasp!) store-bought invitations. I know, bad DIY Mommy. Oh well. She won't even notice! Ha!

I do still want to make a banner for her highchair, and I've got several other cute ideas for the decor...more of that to come later!

I'm home today on another SNOW day, so I'm catching up with my blogging and the Real Housewives of Atlanta on another Bravo marathon! LOL

I really can't wait for the RHOBH reunion. Kim and Kyle's fight broke my heart. It really was like watching a train wreck. I couldn't tear my eyes from the screen. I really felt that they were genuine, and that the whole scene wasn't just for reality TV. Camille on the other hand, dirves me up the wall! Her voice alone is like nails on a chalkboard...ugh. That I could do without! But I love Kyle, Lisa, and Adrienne! Thursday will be a big night for sure!

That's all for now, ya'll! Have a wonderful Monday!

PS-Can someone please help a girl out with my blog header? I have tried several templates, made my own in Photoshop, and finally just ended up with this plain 'ol thing...and it's still fuzzy and out of proportion...I want a CUTE header! Not a happy girl right now!