Weekending - Siena's First Birthday

This weekend was a whirlwind but oh so fun! Stephen and I hosted our niece's first birthday party (and our first big party) at our house this weekend. It was so much fun to see family and friends come together to celebrate Siena - the party was a success and the weather couldn't have been better!

Friday afternoon, John and Lauren arrived to our house and we all got to work on decorating. After Siena's nap, we headed to our park before it got dark so the boys could play some basketball and Siena could check out the swings. Once we were done at the park, Lauren and I made the cupcakes for the party (they were pig cupcakes and they turned out to be a riot - see the pictures below) and then we all settled down to watch Tarzan. I only saw half of it but I was really impressed with the story line - I might have to go back and re-watch the first half.

Saturday, we were up bright and early getting things ready for the party. Lauren and I ran to get everyone bagels and then after breakfast, we all loaded up and hit the garage sale that was going on in our neighborhood. Stephen's been saying he wanted to find a blower and edger at a garage sale and he walked away with both for a grand total of $28!! He also found a stand for his new TV for $10. I, on the other hand, did not fare out so well; the one lady I was trying to bargain with wouldn't budge so I walked away empty handed :(

Once we got back from the garage sale, Siena went down for her nap and it was a mad dash to get the house and food finished and ready for the party. It seriously couldn't have been a more perfect day to be outside - we had the best breeze which was perfect for everyone sitting outside watching corn hole. Siena seemed to have a great time and only had one meltdown when she rubbed icing all over herself on accident and everyone awed loudly which startled her - poor girl! It was so funny watching her open presents and the best gift was this weird, alien thing that sang and danced.

She LIT UP when she saw that weird alien toy lol!

After the party was over, Stephen's family stayed behind and we had a big corn hole tournament. Lauren and I were teammates and we won every match! It was so much fun :) After the tournament, John, Lauren and Siena headed out while Stephen's parents and younger brother stuck around for a little while. I got to cleaning the house and after they headed out, Stephen and I went to Chick-fil-a for salads (we need a good salad place in our area ASAP). After dinner, we were exhausted so we crashed after starting Hotel Transylvania.

Unfortunately, my body didn't get the +1 hour memo on Sunday (who needs kids to mess up DST when you wake up 2 hours early on your own ;)) so I got caught up on This Is Us and Chrisley Knows Best and even made breakfast! After church we ran to the grocery store and then after lunch, we finished watching Hotel Transylvania. I was hoping to have more of a lazy Sunday but time seemed to fly by with working on a Premium Pineapple order, cooking dinner, making lunches and doing laundry. I was so thankful to have a full Sunday to myself since we haven't had one in over a month.

It was such a fantastic weekend but man, throwing a big party is exhausting! This week is going to be no different - Tuesday is election day (thank goodness it's over!), Wednesday we're hoping to go to a food truck rally and Thursday morning we're heading to Nashville for my cousin's wedding!! I can't wait to see my family and explore Nashville :) I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Linking up with Biana

Confessions

It's been a while since I've done a good ole' confessions post and I've got some things I really need to get off my chest ;)

I confess...

That I'm so excited that it's already November, yet I can't believe that it's already November. I think we've packed ourselves so full this fall that I really haven't gotten to enjoy it like I usually do. Let's hope I can stick to my idea of not being as busy next year

That I made a Greek Humus over a month ago, mentioned it on the blog and planned to blog the recipe but after sitting down to work on it, Stephen and I both agreed it really wasn't that good lol

My best friend had her baby on Monday and she's the cutest little girl ever! I can't wait to meet her in December!

This is super random but I can't believe Jojo and Jordan are still together!!! Anyone else shocked they lasted this long!? I also will NOT be watching Nick's season

Today is my niece's 1st birthday and I don't know how in the world this year went by so fast! I feel like it's so unfair that she's so big already! Stephen and I are hosting her first birthday party for family and Orlando friends this weekend and I didn't realize how much work it was going to be getting the house ready! Hopefully Sunday will be a very nice and un-stressful day since the party will be Saturday

I can't believe how dark it's getting in the evenings now... It's like pitch black by 6:30/7 and we haven't even had the time change yet! I'm going to feel like a vampire because the only time there's sun, I'm sitting in my cube

I feel like every week I say how I want to be a better blogger and get more posts done and every week I barely get a Monday and Friday post up. I'm just going to confess it's probably going to stay that way until January...

Linking up with Annie

Weekending

Happy Halloween and the official last day of October!! We are officially moving into holiday season and I couldn't be more excited, yet feel so unprepared! I honestly feel like I missed fall this year - it's been so hot and we've been so busy; I only baked 1 pumpkin thing this year!

Anyways, after traveling for the past 2 weekends, we were looking forward to having a weekend at home. Even though we were home, it was packed to the max with parties and getting things ready for my niece's 1st birthday party next weekend. I feel like my list never ends!

Friday, Stephen got home from CA and since he was tired from traveling, we stayed home, cooked dinner and watched Singin' in the Rain (lol! It was fairly good). Saturday, we got up for a volunteer meeting at church before heading over to a friend's baby shower. It was the most beautiful shower and we can't wait for baby Olivia to get here!

This will be hard to follow - the mom-to-be is my SIL, Lauren's brother's wife. So my niece has 2 Aunt Ashley's and we got a kick out of the adorable labels

After we got home, we went to work pressure washing the driveway. Since the day we moved in, we've known our driveway needed some major work and Siena's upcoming party was just enough to make us do it. It was amazing how dirty the driveway and sidewalks were and now they're so bright! Later that evening, I worked on some party decorations while we watched the World Series and FSU game.

Before/During

After - Ignore the giant cracks lol

Before

After - and ignore the overgrown grass lol

Before

After - I'm most excited about how well this turned out and got rid of that giant dark spot

Sunday, our church was celebrating their 20th anniversary so they threw a big service at a nearby park. We volunteered for it and were there until about 3 pm. We had a great time but we were exhausted and needed to get home to finish some projects. We finally finished the final 2 windows and now our whole house has upgraded blinds - goodbye metal ones!! We love them and are so glad it's finally done. 

Before - We actually had vertical blinds in the left window and horizontal, metal blinds in the right window. The vertical blinds had 2 missing panels so our guests had to close the curtains if they didn't want everyone walking by to see them lol 

After!

I hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoys their Halloween! We'll be hanging out outside handing out candy and then walking around to see the "local" haunted houses in the neighborhood. 

Linking up with Biana

Five on Friday

One
How is it that this is the last Friday in October!? I can't get over the fact that we're officially into holiday season and only have 2 months left of 2016! I am so excited for what's ahead - hosting my niece's 1st birthday party, a long weekend to Nashville, TN, heading to my parents for Thanksgiving and of course, everything that comes along with December and Christmas!

Two
A giant picture of my boss's face has been floating around the office and the other day we came in to it taped to one of the Halloween decorations. He keeps joking and saying it's skinny Chris lol!

Three

Stephen's been traveling this week and I'm so glad he's coming home today! However, when Stephen's not home, I'm super productive because I just want to hang out with him when he is home. I switched over our summer/fall clothes, ironed an entire pile of clothes, caught up on This is Us (with lots of tears from this week's episode..) and cleaned up the house some. 

One of the fun things I was able to do was go to happy hour without having to worry about getting home by a certain time. Last night we went to a sushi place for happy hour - sushi and Korean tacos!

I never go out, so it had to be documented

Four
Earlier this week, we got busted by the HOA for taking out 2 pine trees (that could've easily come right through the house) and a dead/diseased holly tree. They forced us to plant 3 more trees so Stephen ran out and grabbed 3 palms - we planted them in the corner of the yard and we actually like them! Guess it didn't end up being too bad of a thing ;)

Five

I'm so excited I was finally able to share an adorable blanket that I made for my best friend who's due with her first baby in a few days! I'm so happy she loved it!

I hope everyone has a great weekend! We have all sorts of things planned - (hopefully) going to a pumpkin patch, carving said pumpkin, a baby shower, a church celebration, planting fall flowers, getting the house cleaned for our niece's birthday party and finally pressure washing our driveway and sidewalks. We'll see how much we get done...

Nashville, TN

Alright y'all, I need some help! In a few weeks, Stephen and I will be going to Nashville for my cousin's wedding. We will have 1 day to ourselves to tour around before my family meets up with us. I haven't really done much research into the city but I know we want to hit the Draper James store (okay, that's just me), the music area and I'd like to get our picture in front of "I Believe in Nashville" painting.

As a note, every night we'll be doing something family/wedding related so we won't be able to do much nightlife but I would appreciate any lunch/breakfast spots!

Thanks in advance for the advice!!

Linking up with Annie