These Boots Are Made For Walking

I finally purchased my first pair of cowboy boots last week! Kae and I have wanted them for years...really, years. And somehow purchasing them in Tennessee makes them seem even more legit. I love them!

I didn't know there was a whole science to buying cowboy boots. Let me tell you, there is! If I hadn't of asked for help I would have walked out with the wrong size and had been one unhappy lady once they were broken in.

But, all is well, I got the right size for me! They are so comfy, no wonder cowboys (girls) wear them all the time...

Lyla June

Megan and Justin welcomed Lyla June to this world on Monday, August 29 at about 6:00 pm. Poor Meg, it was a long labor! She filled me in on all the details though (at my request). I'll spare you those....

Lyla June was 8lbs 14oz and soo long! She looks just like her daddy and is just adorable. Scott and I went up to see the family at the hospital on Tuesday night. Lyla as barely 24 hours old!

She is just the sweetest, and so well mannered (ha, for now!). No, really she is. I went and saw Meg a couple weeks ago and little Lyla just slept in my arms for over 2 hours.

Congrats guys!!

That Stinker...

Scott stops by periodically to see me at work (he does have to pass my "office" on his way home...). On one of his more recent visits he thought it would be extra special to take a picture of me in "my element".

 

I guess this is what "my element" looks like. Notice the water bottle (most likely Crystal Light) and apple peeler. That must mean I'm a snacker (which I am) and that I'm a healthy snacker (which I am. Not).

Have a Good Laugh...

at my expense!

At work I do the product videos for our website and blogs (which I also write, hence why I don't write as much on this one). We always get a good laugh at watching them, and although everyone tells me (even customers) that they liked the videos, I still laugh so hard when I watch them.

Videos:

1. Wearing Scarves
2. How to use the Ergo Baby
3. UPPABaby Strollers (P.S. It's the one I will want!!)
4. Glass Bottles

Oh, and don't mind the Southern accent. It comes and goes, but mostly comes. When we move it will go away, I promise. I can't help it....I talk like everyone around me talks!

Thanks, Costco

I ran out of Q-Tips the other day. Thankfully, I needed to take a trip to Costco.

Pretty sure I won't run out for a while. If I use 2 per day (which I usually do), these should last me....just over 2 1/2 years.

Meet My Friend

The last couple days have been quite cool here in Memphis, so we have enjoyed nights with the windows open instead of the A/C on.

So I woke up yesterday morning (after Scott had already left) and I heard a bird in the living room. It was so loud. I thought it was really inside the house. Our fireplace is kind of random/sketchy and I wouldn't be shocked if there were birds living in there...

Anyway, I came out to the living room and this is what I found.

He (or she) was just sitting on the window ledge singing away. It wasn't chirping, but rather that gulp/cry sound some birds make (does anyone know to what I am referring!?).

He didn't last long and soon took off to be with his other friends. Dang it, I hate it when that happens!

Sunday Snacks

It never fails that I crave something sweet on Sundays. Why is that?! Well last Sunday, instead of baking something we would devour all to ourselves, I made these:

.

Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips. Super easy and super delicious! Just melt some butter and spread it on 3 tortillas. Shake on some cinnamon/sugar mixture and cut into triangles. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 10 min at 350.

Delish!

Makeup

So, unlike my aunt Kathy, I cannot keep up with notebooks. Try as I have, they get lost, I forget to write in them, or they are not around when I need to jot something down. I am left to use an old receipt or something similar, which too ends up lost.

In an effort to preserve information that I may need to recall on later, I'm borrowing this great trick from my friend Rachel. When she got new makeup she put pictures of each container, it's name and her shade on her blog. When she got a new house she put the brand, name and color number of the paints she used in each room. Clever, if you ask me. Let's just hope that Blogger doesn't one day disappear!

I now have the need to document my makeup selections, seeings how I finally found the ones I love, and the ones that love me.

Let me back up. My skin has been horrible. HORRIBLE. Like, worse than Jr. High/High School bad (and it wasn't really that bad, luckily!) I thought I was too old to deal with this...anyway, I made an appointment with a Dermatologist in January but the earliest appointment was April. I guess that's a good sign that she's so busy? So I waited. And waited. And, oh yeah, I waited some more. Finally my turn came and she was great! She was so super nice and answered all my questions. I'm now on prescription creams that work wonders!

I was curious about makeup, and didn't want it to counteract any progress I was making with the cream. I told her to spell it out for me and tell me exactly what brands to get. There are so many...it's overwhelming! She said that there were lots of great ones, just find a liquid that's oil free. I said no, tell me EXACTLY what brand!! She said Clinique. Thank you.

So that weekend I went to Clinique. Sweet Angie set me up with foundation, powder, eye shadow and new brushes. She was great and best of all the foundation is EXACTLY the same color as my skin. It's wonderful. MAC, my old go-to was never able to get that close! It was an eye-opening experience. I said I feel like I have crossed completely into adulthood. Finally. (Except for motherhood....which will come.)

This post is more for me than anyone that may be reading, because I will now follow in Rachel's footsteps and list what I got so that if the labels happen to come off the bottles I'll know exactly what I need when they end up empty.

1. Perfectly Real Foundation- 02(P)

2. Blended Face Powder- 08 Transparency Neutral

3. Quick Cream Eyes- Truffle

This is so easy- just dab it on with the brush and the pat with your finger. Done. 

*Note: the colors in the pictures are not my exact shades. They were just the pictures on the Clinique website. Also, their brushes are fantastic. Putting foundation on with a brush has changed my life. I recommend it to anyone and EVERYONE!!

Foundation Brush 

Powder Brush

Nashville- Saturday

(For record keeping sake, we're on Saturday, March 19, 2011)

We started Saturday morning by heading to Franklin (where the stars live!). We went to the "historic downtown" and walked around the shops on Main Street. We sat and enjoyed a small breakfast/brunch at Starbucks and then continued our (my) window shopping. I did however leave Franklin with an adorable hat from this super cute store called Philanthropy. They don't have a website, but they do sell off Facebook. Unfortunately we didn't see anyone famous, and I forgot to stop by the Bluebird Cafe that a lot of people are discovered at (Taylor Swift, to name one), and apparently eat lunch. I was sad about that, but that just means we'll have to take another trip back!!

After Franklin we hit up REI in Brentwood and then headed back downtown to grab lunch at 5 Guys (yeah!!) and catch the Country Music Hall of Fame before getting the Predators played the Red Wings.

We didn't know the Country Music Hall of Fame would close at 5, so when we got there just before 4 we were nervous we wouldn't have enough time...but since the tickets were 1/2 off for being so late in the day we took our chances. It's a good thing we did because we finished the whole place in exactly and hour and didn't rush/skip anything we wouldn't have skipped in the first place.

The architecture was amazing. The building is built to look like the bass clef  when seen from the air. And the windows in the font combined with the facade of the building are designed to look like piano keys- blacks and whites. 

Keith Urban- Days Go By

Miranda Lambert- White Liar

 

The walls were full of floor to ceiling gold and platinum records. Very cool!

After the CMHF we walked over to Bridgestone Arena to grab our seats for the Preds vs. Red Wings. It was a crazy game, people were crazy loud (as it should be) and there was even some Red Wings fans seated by us. I may or may not have shouted mean things at them. Preds won, Scott learned that we don't say nice things to the opposing teams fans, even when they are nice to us, and we headed to the Flying Saucer beside our hotel for celebratory dessert. It was AWESOME!! Hands down, my favorite thing to do (go to NHL games, not eat dessert at Flying Saucer).

I know it's blurry but this was Krazy Kyle. He played the organ the whole game.  Mom- I think I found your new job. Scott said your name could be Tasmanian Tammy

Scott got us great seats!! And there was nobody behind us because we ended the first section. So nice!

In our seats enjoying the win!

Nashville- Friday Part II

Where does the time go?! Updating this blog is hard work :)

So...The rest of Friday in Nashville was spent at the Grand Ole Opry, The Mall at Green Hills, and the Cheesecake Factory.(Delish!)

Scott's favorite part of the trip, or so I think it was, was the Opryland Hotel. Surprisingly enough! We arrived at the Grand Ole Opry, got a few pictures and checked out the concert schedule for that night. There was nothing inspiring listed, so we headed over to the Opryland Hotel to see what that was all about. The only disappointing part is that the outlet malls there were still closed from the 2010 flood.

So...we walk into the Opryland expecting to see a nice hotel, perhaps some historic details, but mostly I'm just thinking that all the hype is because it's part of the Grand Ole Opry. It's riding it's coat tails. I was wrong, kind of (I still think it rides it's coat tails!).

When you walk into the hotel you're in a series of hallways, but it opens up into a large conservatory type room. The entire room is full of live gardens, complete with gardeners working on their plants as you walk around. There are palm trees, streams, waterfalls, tropical flowers...the whole works. There are small shops, shops built to look like you're in New Orleans (or Cuba...), restaurants, etc. It was pretty cool. Scott was blown away!! The hotel rooms had balcony's that opened onto the conservatory room. Would be nice. Mom and dad: it reminded me of the Sheraton in Calgary when we had the room with the balcony that opened onto the waterpark.

Mom- these totally remind me of the arrangements you and Kris used to have in the early 90's. Hilarious (and quite hideous, as I'm sure you would agree!) I'll give you one guess as to who still thinks these types of arrangements are still in....teeing off :)

These buildings looked like Cuba to me, although I think they were aiming for New Orleans. 

After we had strolled around the Opryland Hotel for quite some time we headed out to do the Belle Meade Plantation tour. It was fantastic!!

At Belle Meade we did the guided tour, and our tour guide was great. She was dressed in period costume and had lots of personal details about the family to add to the story/history of the home and family. 

The Plantation was owned by the Harding family (passed down down 4 generations, I think. Somewhere around there). The tour was about each generation, what they did to grow the plantation and how Belle Meade (the name of the plantation) grew to be the most famous thoroughbred horse farms in the United States. In fact, all of the winners of the Kentucky Derby (don't know about the 2011 winner though) can be traced back to Belle Meade. The tour was great and we both agreed it was money well spent.

The Mansion. This wing on the right side was added when the 3rd generation inherited the home. The second generation added the shell motif that sits on top of the house in the far left of the photo.

The playhouse that was built for the grandchildren

The building in the foreground was the smokehouse I'm pretty sure!)

The gardener's quarters/storage shed

The smokehouse again.

The Carriage House where the horses and carriages were kept.

The slave's quarters. The number of slaves that lived in each 10x10 room (2 shown) was staggering. Either 4 adult males or an entire family. Now there are only these few standing, but back in the day there were over 40 rows of cabins for all the slaves.

We spent time on the grounds taking pictures after the tour. The plantation covered 5400 acres, and there is a HUGE retaining wall built from layered stone (aren't they all, I guess!) that was built by the slaves that were employed at Belle Meade (Scott says it's technically "owned" by Belle Meade...I was just trying to be a bit less harsh!). Most of the plantations acres have been turned into a neighborhood (Belle Meade), but the stone retaining wall still stands and wraps around the community. It was so surreal. Being down here definitely makes slavery and the civil war seem so much more real. You just don't hear too much about it or experience the history of it up anywhere else. 

The wall built by the slaves. It outlined the 5400 acres that the Harding family owned.

After leaving Belle Meade we headed to Green Hills were they have a fantastic mall complete with a Tiffany's and Restoration Hardware. I was in HEAVEN at that store. I wouldn't complain one bit if my whole future house was furnished in Restoration Hardware products. Also, it was much more affordable that I previously thought, since I had never actually been/looked around one. A pleasant surprise!

The Cheesecake Factory was at the mall as well, so we enjoyed dinner there and got 2 pieces of cheesecake to take back to the hotel. Unfortunately, due to getting lost on the way back to the hotel, and because they didn't give us plastic forks we had to wait a really long time to eat it and it was warm. Not as good as it could have been :(

That wraps up Friday!! Here comes Saturday...