Weekending

This weekend ended up being different that originally planned with my sister deciding not to visit - even though we missed her, we found plenty to do and had a great weekend :)

Friday, I kicked off the fun weekend with lunch with one of my co-workers at Chicken Salad Chick. I got the Southern Chicken Salad and it was delicious! We will definitely be going back there for lunch. While I was at work, Stephen received our new kitchen table, except 2 chairs were missing... thankfully they didn't give us any trouble and we'll be getting the final 2 chairs as soon as they come in. Later that evening, we met up with some of our friends to go rock climbing! We had such a fun time and I even overcame my fear of heights a few times ;)

Saturday morning, we were planning on hitting a few garage sales and then going to the parade of homes, but we slept in later than we thought we would so we skipped the garage sales and hit 5 houses on the parade of homes. They had some amazing homes and we loved seeing the different designs - one of them reminded me of Ron Burgundy's house but we weren't allowed to take pictures there. 

I'm obsessed with this entry way

This was the coolest bathroom ever! 

After the parade, we ran to the mall to run a few errands and while we were there, we ran into the bookstore and I found the magazine that my friend Camilla's wedding was featured. They did a great little spread on her wedding and the pictures look beautiful!

For dinner, Stephen wanted to grill out pork loin and he did a great job! I paired it with roasted broccoli and gnocchi. We enjoyed sitting outside together while he was grilling because the weather was amazing (can't wait to finally get a patio set so we can eat out there)! After dinner, we finally started LOST and so far, we're already hooked. It'll be interesting to see how it all turns out...

Sunday we did the usual... church, Publix, mowing (that was Stephen lol), ironing and getting everything ready for the week ahead. I was hoping to relax a little more but it ended up being a fun weekend!

I already forgot to mention it on Friday, but I snagged a few great items from the Mud Pie sale. They have some items up to 80% off which is an amazing deal!! There were lots of swim suit cover ups which is perfect for summer! I grabbed this cover up (in 2 colors) and this tunic.

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

Five on Friday

I have to say, ever since the big rain last weekend, the weather has been amazing lately!! This weekend is shaping up to be beautiful and we can't wait to get outside!

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My sister was supposed to come down for the weekend and we were so looking forward to seeing her but last night she decided it was best not to come with all her school work. We'll miss having her here but the weekend quickly filled up already lol Tonight we're so excited because we're going indoor rock climbing with our supper club friends - I haven't done rock climbing since college! Saturday we might try to find some garage sales and since it's so nice outside, we might cash in our rain check for the par 3 golf course down the road.

Two
My Project Management Professional certificate finally came in! I've got it hanging proudly in my cube!

Three
So my mom and sister have been telling me for months to do this YouTube video called "8 minute abs". I finally started it 2 weeks ago and we've been surprisingly diligent about doing it every day (minus Sat & Sun). It's a riot to watch and do - it's from 1994 and the main leader loves to use the word "gang". The outfits, the music and the things he says are so 90s and so fun! There's also a lot of other "8 minute" videos on YouTube. My sister said she's getting some definition and can see her abs!!

Four
Draper James posted the most beautiful tablescape on Instagram yesterday... all I can say is, when can Reese come design my entire house?!

Five
Seeing a lot of friends and bloggers who live in and near Charleston, it's got me itching to go back. It is my favorite city ever and I cannot wait to go back one day! If we didn't just book our plane tickets for Denver in August, I'd push Stephen to take me back there ;)

I hope everyone has a great weekend!! We're supposed to get our new kitchen table and I can't wait to get it in and see what it looks like! If you want a sneak peek, you can follow along with me on Snapchat - ashleyhirst23.

Confessions

Time for a fun 'fesh sesh

I confess that I'm not sure what to do about my privacy on Instagram. I've had it private before but I like the non-private setting so I can have the fun feed on my blog. I've had the non-private setting for a while now and suddenly, the creepers liking my stuff has really ramped up. I'm talking the "like me for 1,000 followers" and women with questionable pictures. Do I have any options other than making myself private again? Does anyone else have this problem?

I confess that Stephen replaced our kitchen lights with LED bulbs. I do not like the look of the white LED bulbs... not on houses for Christmas or inside as light fixtures - I think the white light is too harsh and I really like the softer, yellow lights. The kitchen lights are great, they are the perfect soft shade; with those a success, Stephen decided to replace the other bulbs in our house. Unfortunately, he bought the harsh, bright white lights and I felt like I lived in a warehouse. Thankfully he found a different brand and replaced all the white bulbs with the softer ones and I couldn't love it more! He doesn't get on me when I leave a small lamp on in a dark house anymore lol

I confess that I watched Shay Shull on the Today show and thought she did a great job cooking her BLT pasta with Kathy and Hoda. She looks like a natural!

I confess that we FINALLY purchased our Colorado tickets on Tuesday! I'm so glad we finally nailed down a date and can get the ball rolling on our vacation this year. I've also booked our rental car so the next step is where to stay!

I confess that I'm really enjoying our lunch time workouts - it makes the afternoons go by faster, I don't feel bad if I want to relax when I go home, we get out of the office, it wakes me up and I can catch up with my friends! I'm so glad I finally decided to join them, it's been such a good thing!

Linking up with Jessica and Annie.

What's Hap-pinning: Dining Table Centerpiece Inspiration

Now that we're getting our first official dining room table, I want to make sure the centerpiece looks more official. I usually throw some fake flowers in a vase and call it a day but with this table, I want to make it a little more pronounced and grown up. Who knows, maybe I'll add a table runner!

My go-to flower for decorating is hydrangeas. They're so beautiful and they're my favorite flower - I think a nice vase with a white flower might make the table stand out, but they're already throughout the house and I don't know if this is overboard. Also, we have a Italian-esque painting in our dining room so I don't know if it will clash [see at bottom of post]. 

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This picture makes me want to get a nice mirror to replace the painting..

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I saw this picture from Ashley Furniture when we were looking at their table (we probably would've purchased this set if it didn't have a two-toned table - who does that?) and I fell in love with the jars of cotton! Again, I don't know if it will match the painting... sounds like we might have to replace that painting ;) (Stephen would never go for that)

I'm thinking the winner might be something more like this. I can replace the flowers in the box for the different seasons and holidays and Stephen will have a fun project to work on with building the box.

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And for reference, here's our current situation: 

I've decided to definitely replace that chandelier one day... who knows when that will be though

What tips/ideas do y'all have for dining room centerpieces? Linking up with Jessi.

That Weekend We Randomly Bought A Kitchen Table

I'm going to be annoying and skip right over explaining that title - keep reading and it'll make sense (or just skip to Saturday happenings ;))

We had a fantastic weekend at home and I feel like we got a lot accomplished in a short amount of time! Friday, we were too tired to grill out and the weather was questionable so we set out in hopes of finding a Chinese takeout place near our house (we found a great place by our apt but hadn't tried for our house yet). We found a delicious place and right next door is a cute ice cream shop that we'll have to visit someday. We did steal the table outside of the ice cream shop to eat our Chinese al fresco since it was so nice outside. Afterwards, we ran into Publix to pick up some food to grill Saturday and made it home just in time for it to start pouring rain. We watched Jack Reacher and it was actually really good!

My friend's husband was camping this weekend so Saturday morning, we invited a friend and myself over to make breakfast and watch Hot Rod. Afterwards, I headed home and Stephen and I went to a local nursery to look at some plants for our yard. It was sprinkling so we threw on our rain jackets and wandered around. The nursery was amazing - it had so many plants and it was decorated so adorable. We got some great ideas and then Stephen gladly obliged to stop by Hobby Lobby to look at their pineapple collection before heading over to Target.

On our way to the mall, we passed by a furniture store that was having some big sales so we decided to pop in and see what they had. They had a fantastic farmhouse table and 6 chairs that we ended up getting for a great deal. We are definitely not the type of people to make a purchase like this on the same day as seeing it but the deal was too good to pass up and we've been keeping our eyes out for a new table set and haven't found one for a good price. Before finding this table, we decided we were going to make our own table but we did have some reservations - it was going to be a lot of work with all the staining, how would we get chairs to match unless buying all fabric chairs and what happens if we mess up? After seeing this deal, we decided it wasn't worth all the hassle... so now we've got a new table coming on Friday!!

After buying the table, we ran to Hobby Lobby and I was really disappointed in their pineapple collection so we headed over to Target. We picked up some very exciting things i.e. toilet paper but we did find some Easter bowls on sale for $1.19 each and Easter candy that was 70% off. I found the cutest outdoor pillow but didn't end up getting it - maybe next time. We also ran to Homegoods and Stephen found a few things, I found nothing lol

Bowls

Pillow

Afterwards, we headed home and even though it was getting late, we decided to grill out. Stephen grilled our whole meal and it was amazing! He even made fresh garlic in olive oil which tasted amazing on Italian bread. Dinner was pretty late so we caught up on some Chrisley Knows Best and headed to bed.

Sunday, we went to church and then to Publix before coming home and working in the yard for a little while. The weather was BEAUTIFUL Sunday so we took full advantage - yard work and a nice walk in the evening.

I hope everyone had a great weekend as well :)

Linking up with Biana.

5 on Friday

Is it just me or did this week fly by? I'm not complaining though and am welcoming the weekend [and April] with open arms! Since today is April Fools, do y'all have any pranks planned? Every year I got my mom with taping the kitchen sink sprayer so when she turned on the water, she got sprayed. Last year I did something funny but Stephen didn't notice it since he had a long day at work so this year, I plan on bringing it back. I'll share on Monday :)

This would be the best prank for my office! 

One

This is super random but I follow Jason Kennedy (the E! News anchor) on snapchat and he is an absolute riot sometimes!! With the face altering filters, he will come up with these voices and stories that fit perfectly with the filter! It's hysterical and I'm not sure if anyone else follows him over here in blogland but I thought that I'd share. His name is unclejj1981.

Two

Everyone's been going crazy with the new Instagram updates and my feed was FILLED with "turn on notification" pictures. I was worried about not seeing people's pictures that I liked following but I didn't want to be getting hundreds of notifications anytime someone posted something. One of my favorite bloggers, Krista wrote an article about the changes - what they are and what they aren't.

Three

I mentioned this in my Easter post but for Christmas this past year, we asked my in-laws for some rocking chairs for our front porch. We didn't receive them because the stores weren't carrying them at that time. Home Depot finally had some over Easter weekend and they took us to pick 2 out. They've only been on our front porch a few days but we love them!! Unfortunately, there's lots of bugs around but one evening I powered through and enjoyed blogging from the front porch. Can't wait for summer nights chatting with Stephen out there :)

Four
I've been seeing the Our Queen at 90 documentary floating around and finally watched it the other day! I really enjoyed it and if you love the royal family, you'll really enjoy this video!! It's on the long side but still very good!

Five
I stumbled upon this blog post about conflict resolution within marriage and I could really relate to it. I found myself nodding in agreement while reading it tons of times and thought that I'd share!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!! Tomorrow morning, I'm meeting some friends for breakfast followed by a movie and hopefully we'll get to check out some nurseries afterwards for our landscaping overhaul. Hopefully the rest of the weekend will consist of lots of relaxation!

Thoughts for Thursday: Landscaping Overhaul

I would die if our yard (and house) looked like this

When we moved into our house, it was flipped and the landscaping had been redone before we moved in. It looked so clean and crisp and we didn't mind the plants that were picked but we soon learned that it wasn't done 100% right. Apparently our previous owners were European and loved to garden - looking at google maps, you could see plants all on the side of the house and front yard and our back yard was an absolute disaster. Everything was cleaned up and kept nice when we bought it but a few months after moving in, we realized that none of the old plants were properly dug up.

Our yard looked so crisp when we moved in! (We still need to pressure wash the driveway and sidewalks)

Certain types of plants keep.coming.back; no matter how many times we pull out the roots, they always come back. Last year, we decided that we wanted to redo most of the landscaping but wanted to do some of it ourselves. After pulling out the plants on one side and the back of the house, we quickly realized this was more than we could handle so we agreed to hire a professional to give our yard a total overhaul.

Here are some of the highlights we'd like for the yard:

1. Remove/redo all the plants in the front yard but keep the green/yellow plants and shape them up into short hedges
2. Get rid of all the mulch and replace with dark rock
3. Redo all of the concrete "trim"
4. Get all of the tree beds cleaned up
5. Get the back yard cleaned up where we removed previous bushes and plant new ones
6. Keep things clean-lined and simple for minimal upkeep
7. Remove 2 pine trees in the back yard (Stephen is desperate to get this done)

I love the clean(er) lines and staggered plants in the two pictures below and I'd love to add some color like in the 3rd picture.

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So instead of it being a quick project, it's turned into basically a total overhaul. We got a quote last fall for some smaller adjustments but the company never got back in touch with me which makes me glad because we actually need more done than we thought. I'm sure our neighbors will be thrilled once we get everything cleaned up - one lady gave Stephen a passive aggressive suggestion on how to clean up the weeds lol

We're hoping to visit a few nursery's this weekend to get an idea of what type of plants would be best for Florida (I would die for some beautiful hydrangea bushes but I don't think they'll stand a change in the FL heat) and prices before going out to get quotes from landscaping companies. If y'all have any tips please let me know!!

Linking up with Annie and Jessica.