Weekending: Memorial Day Style

I don't know about y'all, but this past weekend was so wonderful, it had us questioning why we don't have 3 day weekends on the regular... But seriously, it was the first weekend I didn't have to work on orders all weekend and it was fantastic - we had events and places to go as well as some downtime. Thankfully, it's not an awful week for us because 1. it's a short week and 2. we leave for California on Saturday!!!!!!! AHHHH

via

via

On Friday, we ran to Lowes after work to see if Stephen could swing a deal on some paint for our master bedroom; it didn't work and we left empty handed :( Afterwards we swung by Aldi on the way home and I feel like every time we go in there, we are more and more impressed. I got some things done around the house and then tested out my new hair dryer-brush after my shower. Y'ALL!!! This thing is SO legit! I've literally never seen my hair so shiny and flowy - even hair stylists can't get it this nice with their blow driers and round brushes. Now, it did take a while to dry my hair but my hair is super thick and longer. 100% worth it in my opinion! A huge shout out to April for sharing :)

Ignore my pj's and no makeup face - get the dryer brush here (don't forget, you can return a product to Ulta simply because you didn't like it)

Saturday, we tried to sleep in (well, Stephen did) so I got up, did my workout, finally embroidered a few shirts for myself for work and then we got ready to head over to Orlando. We stopped at Chick-fil-a on the way out and then went to the outlet mall in hopes of some great MDW sales.... we walked away with nothing! We were super bummed there wasn't much. J Crew Factory had some cute items but it was just a smidge out of what I'd spend on a whim. I did find these pants and this shirt which I thought were adorable and perfect for traveling out to CA but it was a little too much for me to spend on a "travel outfit" so I passed. 

This weekend was the last weekend our passes were good at Disney until the end of summer so we ran over to see the new Pandora area in Animal Kingdom. I'm so glad we got there later in the day because it was packed - they had the park shut down earlier in the morning and at one point it was a 3 hour wait just to get into Pandora. Thankfully, we only waited about 30 minutes (I won't even tell you the line times for the 2 rides). The area was neat and well done but it was small and not much to do other than the rides. 

After Animal Kingdom, we headed over to Hollywood Studios because they started a summer Pixar symphony where an orchestra plays along with Pixar movie clips. It was super neat to see but man, when the UP opening sequence started, I was straight struggling - it's SO sad!!

After Hollywood Studios, we went to Magic Kingdom to eat and see the fireworks again. That day was a truly magical day at MK - we saw a newly married couple running through the park in their wedding garb and a professional photographer following them around. She truly looked like a princess and at the end of the night, they danced to the park music above the train station, overlooking Main Street. So romantic and so magical! We also saw a proposal in front of the castle before the fireworks began!

After the fireworks, we were able to ride a few rides and then we headed home. We were pooped after a long, hot day.

Sunday, we headed to church and then to Publix before coming home and cleaning all day. Stephen worked outside all day on the yard as well because we had some friends coming over that night for a cookout. I barely made it with getting the house cleaned up before they arrived but y'all, the house feels sooo amazing clean! With all of the embroidery and my normal job going on, I can't tell you the last time we really cleaned the house - it looks and feels so fantastic! We had a fun cookout and everyone left with us to have enough time to watch the season finale of The Crown and now we can't wait for season 2!!

Monday, we slept in, I read in bed some, made breakfast, got to work on a new hat that I can't wait to share this week (I'm obsessed), made acai bowls and then I ran to the mall. I saw Old Navy had the same type of jogger pants as J Crew but they were a little cheaper. I also found these pants which I loved but apparently they weren't 50% off in the store even though there was a sign and they are 50% off online... thanks ON... After ON, I ran to TJ Maxx to get a neck pillow for our long flight (goober) and I ended up finding a fun gingham shirt while there. Once I got back, we ate lunch and then watched the new Beauty and the Beast which I continued to compare the entire movie to the original and didn't like the new one. My sister also watched it this weekend and didn't like it either - I didn't like they changed some of the plot and the characters. The rest of the day was spent catching up on things and getting ready for the week.

I am so not ready for this weekend to end but hey, at least we now have a 4 day work week (or 3 days if you're Stephen ;)) Linking up with Biana.

Five on Friday

I cannot believe it's Friday and the last Friday of May!!! Time is just flying by! I'm super pumped for a 3 day weekend - we're planning on hitting the outlet mall, Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom on Saturday and Sunday we are hosting a small get-together with our newlywed group. I'm definitely looking forward to some activities along with some time to get things done. We need to get our trip planned for California next weekend!!!

One
I'm not very good at doing my hair. Basically I can't do anything fun with it other than straighten it and scrunch it after a shower - I'm just not skilled with hair. I don't understand how people curl their hair with a straightener; it looks amazing I'm just not skilled enough to make it happen. When April shared on Snapchat that she blew dry her hair in 9 minutes, didn't use a straightener and her hair looked amazing, my ears perked up! Now I will preface that I have NOT tested this product out - I will let you know on Monday if I actually like it.

I ended up buying it at Ulta the next day and with their 20% off coupon, I saved $12 (also, free shipping on orders over $50!). It's also currently on sale for $10 off on Amazon but I love buying beauty products from Ulta because you can return anything! Let's hope it works and I can count it as an early birthday gift ;)

Two
I'm going to go ahead and say this: I did not plan on this FoF being all about hair but the majority of it will be. I watched an older video of how Julia gets her adorable top knot and noticed she used bobby spins. I was always skeptical of them but when I saw her put one in, I thought it could actually work. When I was in Ulta buying the above item, I decided to pick up a pack of bobby spins (3 for $5) and give it a try! I threw one in when I got home today (with no pony tail) and I'm a believer! I've had it in for about an hour so far and it's super secure and kept everything in place! Now let's see if I can achieve her adorable top knot ;)

via 

It's super difficult to take a picture showing off a bun that's at the back of your head... please ignore the awkwardness of this picture ;) But everything's secure in my bun and I have super thick hair

Three
Last hair-related post but back to #1, I tried to curl my hair with a big barreled curling iron for the gala which stayed for like 1 hour before falling. I noticed that even though I straightened the top and used hairspray, my hair was super frizzy and displaced at the event. I need help finding a product/process that will keep my hair from getting so out of control when I curl it - also, it needs to be cheap lol

Four
I've been reading for a few years that Christina really recommends The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller. While we were in TN for Christmas, I decided to pick it up at the amazing used bookstore nearby and this week, I finally started to read it. I'm not even through the first chapter and I really like it! I can't wait to continue to read it :) Has anyone else read it? What do you think of it?

Five
My mom is so sweet and continues to feed my pineapple addiction. When we went to Disney, she had a bag of goodies ready for me (aren't mom's the best!?) - she brought the adorable Pineapple shorts, a cute pineapple tray and this adorable wreath hanger! I love how it looks (excuse the poor lighting) but now I'm thinking I might need to upgrade our wreath lol

Also, Madison continues to support my addiction and got me an early birthday gift - a pineapple tank and tee from Old Navy!

I hope everyone has a wonderful long weekend!! I'm so thankful for those who served our country!

Weekending | Astronaut Hall of Fame Gala

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Mine was super productive - I pretty much worked all weekend but I learned a new skill and I was able to finish a bunch of orders, oh and we attended a gala ;)

Friday, I had an all day meeting at a local hotel. After it was over, I was so tired, I just walked straight past the "team building" happy hour at the hotel bar and went home. When I got home, I went for a bike ride while Stephen skateboarded. Stephen skateboarded to class in college and gave his little brother his board; well, his little brother graduated a few weeks ago and gave it back to Stephen so he's been enjoying getting back on it after 5 years. We had dinner after and enjoyed a low key night.

Saturday, I made us breakfast after sleeping in and got right to work on some PPE orders. I learned how to digitalize a picture so I can embroider new things (I was able to do tiny paw prints, I've got to learn how to do bigger things now lol). I also found these adorable designs in my software and I can't wait to play around with them! Later that afternoon, we got ready and headed out to Kennedy Space Center for the annual Astronaut Hall of Fame Gala. We were both super excited when Stephen received an invitation to attend again this year :) Thankfully, I was able to wear my bridesmaids dress from my SIL's wedding. We had the best time and enjoyed sitting with Jeffery Hoffman this year.

Loved making a hat for Jessi :)

How adorable is this little flamingo!? I have some plans for this guy ;)

Please ignore my wind-blown hair; I didn't realize it was going to be so windy! lol

Stephen looked mighty handsome in his suit and gold bow-tie :)

With Jeffery Hoffman

Sunday, we went to church, did the Publix run except it was pouring rain when we were checking out - we were so excited for the rain because we're in an awful drought and our grass is dying but guess what? NO rain at our house... seriously!? Anyways, after lunch I got right back to work and finished a ton of things! I don't know how these people do it with a family, a full time job and starting their own company - I have a steady stream of orders but nothing crazy and I'm filling almost every weekend with embroidery! I am SO SO thankful but I need to know their secrets on how they do it ;)

How fun is this little monogram on the back of a hat!?

I'm obsessed with these metallic gold thread pillow case monograms!

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!! Linking up with Biana.

Five on Friday

I'm finally back for another Five on Friday! This whole week, I've been blogging about our recent Disney trip - I hope you've enjoyed the posts and hopefully gotten a few good tips :) I can't believe it's already the weekend but I'm welcoming it with open arms. I've got a few orders to fill and Saturday, Stephen and I will be attending the Astronaut Hall of Fame Gala again and I'm so excited! I'm most excited to see the new heroes and legends exhibit - I'm a big Mercury 7 fan.

One
My mom bought me the cutest embroidered pineapple shorts from J Crew Factory and I'm obsessed with them. They are so comfortable and super adorable. I'm bummed because I planned to link them but now I can't find them anywhere online :( I did want to link the same shorts as my blue shorts I wore to Magic Kingdom - they're currently on sale.

Yesterday I decided to take a trip to the mall area to look for a couple new dresses I could wear to Napa (see below) and ended up bringing home this adorable black dress from the Who What Wear line at Target. I was shocked that it actually fit and wasn't too short. The material is also very structured but thin which makes it perfect for summer.

Two
I've been listening to podcasts on my drives into work - a lot of people have been talking about a new podcast called S-Town so I decided to give it a try. I'll go ahead and save your time and tell you not to listen to it - I could be the only one who didn't like it but it was super crude and ended up with no real story line. There were a few twists which kept me interested and at one point I thought there was going to be a treasure hunt but nothing was resolved and it awkwardly ended. I just didn't enjoy it and am shocked it's #1. #endrant

Three
We are so excited to be going to San Francisco and Napa in a few weeks!! I was offered the opportunity to go to Napa for a business trip and I jumped on it (a few years ago I never would've because I hate long flights); after Stephen loved bringing me on his NYC business trip, he wanted to come with me. It was tough, but we found a cheap flight for him and a great price on a hotel downtown San Francisco. I believe we have all of our site seeing nailed down but we need some good places to eat! We'll be in the city Saturday and Sunday morning then we'll head over to Napa so we also need some good winery recommendations - note, we don't really drink wine so we're looking for a beautiful place to walk around and take pictures ;)

Four
Lately, my hair's been getting fairly long which I like but also don't like. I decided to continue to grow it out through the summer then chop it into a bob. After deciding that I'd go fairly short, I've decided to donate my hair to locks of love! I've never done this before and have always wanted to so I figured it's now or never :) I need to grow a few more inches so it might be well into the fall before I'm able to cut it.

Five
Today I'm debuting some fun, monogrammed fleece blankets at PPE! I thought these would be perfect graduation gifts for high schoolers heading to college. I still have my first fleece blanket that I bought after high school and loved using it throughout college. I figured you could monogram with a fun color or college colors :) I have this darker grey color (seen below) and a lighter tan color.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Disney | Days 6 & 7

I'm back with my final post of our recent Disney vacation. You can see day 1 here, days 2 & 3 here and days 4 & 5 here. As our final day at Disney, we slept in and then headed over to Epcot. We took our time walking around and then ate at Germany for lunch. The food was delicious and afterwards, we headed to Sorin' for one last Fast Pass. After riding Sorin', we headed back to the condo for naps before meeting up with some family friends for a few minutes.

Friday was going to be the first showing of the new fireworks show at Magic Kingdom, Happily Ever After so we knew we had to see it before the trip was over. We headed over there about 2 hours before the show and waited in the middle of main street with tons of other people for an hour before the show started. Y'all. Disney does not disappoint! This was the best fireworks show I've ever seen - it was so magical and I'm not ashamed to admit I might have cried a little lol I saw lots of other people crying too ;) They had a big display on the castle along with amazing fireworks - I still don't think I'll see everything after seeing it multiple times. I can't wait to go back and see it again Memorial Day Weekend! 

After the fireworks, we rode Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean before waiting in like a 30 minute line to take pictures with the Tangled lantern. We need to figure out how to get the professional photo because those turned out so much better. As the park was closing, Stephen and Caroline decided they wanted to get some ice cream and then we headed back to the condo for the night. 

Saturday, we slept in, packed everything up and then my family headed back home to TN while Stephen and I ran back over to Epcot. One of my good friends, who I randomly met at a Christian leadership conference in high school, was also in town with her family so we met up at Epcot. We grabbed lunch at Mexico and enjoyed catching up for a few hours! Of course once we decided to leave, it was raining and storming so we booked it for our car while they headed to another ride.

Stephen and I were tired and ready to get home - I got laundry going and we ran to the grocery store before watching a movie which I passed out in the middle of. I got 9.5 hours of sleep that night - I can't tell you the last time that's happened lol We had so much fun and were sad to get back to reality but we were definitely ready to get back to our healthier lifestyle - those big meals were killing us.

Linking up with Annie.

Disney | Days 4 & 5

After 3 full days of constant walking, we kept Wednesday as a hotel day. Our condo/hotel had multiple pools, a lazy river and putt putt course which gives you tons to do! We slept in for the first time, my dad ran to the grocery store and then my mom cooked breakfast for everyone before heading down to the pool. We spent all day at the pool which was fantastic! Once we were done at the pool, we showered and headed to the grill to make dinner. It was seriously the perfect summer day. After eating dinner, we went to play mini golf at the Fantasia Mini Golf course. The neat thing about this place is they have a 18 hole goony golf and a 18 hole "legit" golf course. Knowing my family, we did the legit course which was a lot of fun but also very challenging! We finished the night with a big round of card games which was the perfect way to end the day, especially since my sister's boyfriend had to head home the next morning.

And this was the only picture I got all day

By Thursday, we were exhausted - the lazy day before just about did us in. We got up early, Keith headed out and we ran over to Hollywood Studios. Stephen, Caroline and my dad ran over to Rock'n' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror and was able to do those a few times before meeting my mom and me at Toy Story. While they were riding the thrill rides, my mom and I did Toy Story Mania and took pictures with Woody and Buzz. My sister wanted to take pictures with Woody and Buzz so we waited in line again with her (it was longer than the line for Toy Story Mania!) and then we all used our Fast Passes for Toy Story. 

After the ride, we walked around Hollywood Studios, saw an adorable Frozen sing-along show, Stephen rode the Star Wars ride and we ate lunch at the Commissary. Honestly, they've taken so much out of Hollywood Studios in order to rebuild the park that right now, it isn't worth the money to do a 1 day, 1 park pass there - definitely get a park hopper for that one. We finished the park fairly early and headed back to the hotel for much needed naps.

After our naps, we drove back to Hollywood Studios to catch the bus over to Magic Kingdom for our reservation at the Liberty Tree. Y'all, this place is so good! Our favorite place to eat at MK - they serve traditional American food (think Thanksgiving) family style and it's all you can eat. After we could barely walk from all the food, we headed back to Hollywood Studios to see the Star Wars fireworks for the first time. This was also the last showing of Wishes at MK which has been their fireworks show for years. SO many people came out to "mourn" the end of Wishes which was comical to us. The Star Wars show was really good and once it was over, we headed back to the condo for one last round of cards.

If you'd like to catch up, you can see day 1 here, days 2 & 3 here. Linking up with Jessi