Hello My Sweet

I love, love, love dogwoods in bloom. My boys planted a little dogwood in our backyard for me last year as a mother's day gift. I squealed with delight when I saw a handful of blooms opening up and had to capture and share the moment! What's your favorite spring bloom?

Creative Collaboration

What do you get when you cross an idea from Martha with a FREE print from The Vintage Moth and one of my favorite new pieces?

I think a pretty cute way to celebrate spring!

Then I just tossed in a few twigs, added a jar of eggs and cute little bird to complete this nook!

Unplugged Update

Kimba asked us to report back on our unplugged experience so here goes...

I kind of felt like a cheat at first because I had to do some work and submit a party on Friday morning. I did end up responding to several email and attending to some computer work until about midday. After that I signed out and headed out to spend the weekend in my home town.

My goal was to unplug for at least 24 hours but I actually managed to make it over48! I usually worry about what I'm missing out on when I'm not in touch via email, facebook, blog, etc. Guess what? The world didn't stop spinning because I was out of touch - ha! Can you tell the Lord has been dealing with me on pride issues - ha ha! It was nice to have a good reason to not obsess over the weekend.

I also unplugged from a little mommy/wife guilt and enjoyed a selfish weekend with my best friend. BBC was visiting my MIL learning how to be a farmer when he grows up and DH got to enjoy a little extra video game time.

Sometimes we girls need to unplug from a little more than the computer and re-energize ourselves so that we can better love and serve those important people in our lives! The weekend concluded with a quiet and reflective 2-hour drive home today and a big welcome from both my boys when I returned. This unplugged thing wasn't so bad after all!

(I couldn't resist checking in and writing this quick post before heading to bed - some habits die hard. Can't wait to check out my favorite blogs and get caught up on your world!)

Unplugged

Well the day is here! Kimba over at A Soft Place to Land is challenging us to unplug today. I'm going to give it my best. I will have to cheat a bit because I have a party to submit in the morning but I will for sure do my 24 hours. The real challenge will be in not going over and checking on all my favorite people!

This came at a great time as I need to get more work done on my projects. and I'm heading out of town this weekend. I'm such a procrastinator when it comes to packing. I'll report back next week on going unplugged AND on my project progress.

Are you gonna unplug with us?

Spring Break Ambitions

Spring break is this week. BBC is not in school, yet, but because it is spring break in town my party schedule is slow during the week. He is going to Mamu's house Wednesday through Thursday so I figured that was a great reason to get some projects knocked out around here! So here's my list in no particular order.

Update Decor with Spring Cheer

Paint Walls and Finish Fabric Projects in Den

(Still haven't figured out what to do with the trim, beams, and built-ins so I will leave those as is for now. Thanks for the input so far!)

Divvy up and Deliver SIX Boxes Full of This

Get Monica Closet Back Under Control

And if there is time, complete this project that I started just before I created this blog. Yes, several months ago! It keeps getting put on the back burner due to color conflicts with DH. Maybe I will just make a few executive decisions this week - ha!

The list is very ambitious I must admit... We'll see how it goes!

March Door Decor

Wild and Crazy March Door Decor!

Notes to Self...

1. Clean Door
2. Schedule Hair Cut
3. Pull Weeds

What a Week!

This week didn't go at all as planned. Some changes were welcomed and some not so much. I'll try not to whine about the not so much changes and stay focused on the positive. Monday BBC and I traveled to my home town. DH couldn't make it because he had to work (even though he worked 30 hours straight with zero sleep beginning on Friday - oops - not supposed to be whining...).

As planned we met my family and ate at Pizza Parlour for lunch. This is definitely a dive but well worth a visit. Great CHEAP pizza. Located in Alma on HWY 71 N. Wish I had a picture.

After that we headed north to Lake Fort Smith State Park. My brother and I practically lived at the original park in the summers. That park is now flooded but the new park opened last year and I highly recommend a visit. It is gorgeous and seriously makes me want to move back.

We all met up to celebrate this guy's second birthday! He actually turned two on March 1st but my family is off on dates because we celebrated Christmas two weeks late - ha! Seriously the other kids were on spring break this week so it was a great time to meet up. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day and we ended up spending five hours there! I can't wait to get back up there!

One really fun change of plans is that I got to bring my oldest nephew back home with me for a couple of days. He and BBC are just four months apart and are great friends (all the cousins are great friends and that makes me smile). So I got to experience what twins would have been like - double ha. We had a big time. We went and toured the fire station, watched airplanes take off, and ended up at The Wonder Place here in Little Rock. The boys had a blast. My favorite picture of the day was featured on Wordless Wednesday.

Now that I think about it I guess the rest of the changes fell in the not so much category. Things have been crazy around here and I haven't been able to work on home projects or blogging as much as I would like. I will say I've spent a goodly amount of time on my home business and the Good Lord has given me my best month ever! PRAISE!

I've really been working on keeping my priorities straight. I struggle with this every day. I'm glad to know I am not alone. I talk about this with my friends regularly. I see posts about it - like Kimba's. I love her challenge to unplug for the right reasons on March 27th. I am planning to participate and report back on how it all goes! I can't tell you how many times I sit down to quickly check in and HOURS later wonder where the time went.

Well I guess I've done enough rambling for now. I will call it a week and hope to have some fun posts for next week. I hope to get to stop by and do some catching up on my favorite blogs this weekend. Hope you have a happy first weekend of spring!

Wordless Wednesday

Dear Neighbors

Dear Neighbors,

Thank you for allowing me to randomly sneak over during the freezing weather a few days back to rescue a few cheery blooms from the edge of your yard. I promise I have treated them better than the freezing weather and they have repaid me by bringing many a smile to my face over the past few days. As a token of my thanks, please feel free to stop over and pick a big handful of the clover that is currently trying to overtake my yard.

Graciously Yours,
Southern Fried Gal

Mid-Design Crisis

Age is one of those things that I never thought would bother me until recently. I don't think it is so much my actual age just the things that are going on around me. I continue to see myself in the 25-27 age range even through I left the 20's a few years back!

I have glimpses of reality every now and again. For example, my current pastor is just a couple of years older than me. And recently the 1994 Razorback Basketball Championship team celebrated the 15 year anniversary of that fabulous night. I was at the UofA when that all went down. It was weird to see how the team (and Nolan) have aged.

Another big dose of reality is the decor in my home. I knew several years ago when we bought this house that the den needed major updating. I have lived with it and tried to camouflage as much as possible over the years. Now I need to make a bigger move toward the reality of the day.

One of my biggest fears is to have home decor that is dated. In the past I have been drawn to warmer colors like reds and golds. Green is my favorite color and I like to have a touch of it in every room. I am currently obsessed with the cooler side of the color palette and really drawn to aquas, robin's egg blue, and of course lighter shades of green. I am totally drawn to the above picture and it has served as my inspiration for updating the den.

I found a fabulously inexpensive fabric at a clearance sale last Friday. I think it is just what I need to update the green sofa in the den and bring in that pop of blue! I have just about everything worked out in my head except one thing....

I want to paint the mantle and built-ins and I'm struggling with which color to choose. The trim throughout the rest of my home is white - should I just go with that in here as well? The den opens up to the formal living room and foyer and both have white trim. Or should I be bold and do something different in here? And if so, what? Help!!! Any input is greatly appreciated!!!

Serious Business

I promise to get back into the swing of home projects, tall tales of a five year old, and other miscellaneous rants. But for now I'm going to talk another moment about my wonderful company! I can't help myself because Southern Living at HOME is hooking me up more than ever! I just think it is rude to brag about something so wonderful and never offer it to my friends! So here are some of the reasons to take a look!

When you become a Southern Living at HOME Consultant, you can earn a 25% profit on your personal sales. You also earn a 5% business supply credit based on retail sales so you don't spend your profits on important items such as catalogs and order forms. Earn up to an additional 9% of wholesale each month when you build your team. The earning potential doesn't stop there! Our Choices Program rewards consistent leaders within the company by paying out a cash incentive that can be used toward savings, a dream home, a new car, or school tuition - you choose! PLUS I am continually amazed at the level of training, support, and incentives (products, additional cash, trips, etc.) hosted at the company level.

Whether you are thinking about joining my team on a part-time or full time basis please contact me. I would love to share the benefits of our opportunity so you can decide if this is a good fit into your life. Everyone that schedules and holds an opportunity chat with me by March 15th will be entered into a drawing to win a Gail Pittman hand-painted serving bowl! No pressure to join - just a chance to learn more and win!

What are you waiting for? Let's chat!

20 Little Things To Look Forward to in Spring

Melissa over at the Inspired Room is hosting another 20 Little Things Party this week. These are so much fun! What are you looking forward to this Spring? Let me know in the comments section OR let me know if you put up your own post!

1. Time at the park with good friends
2. The best color ever- spring green
3. Bird silhouettes through the frosted glass on my front door
4. Bunnies
5. Walks around the lake
6. Pedicures
7. Tulips peeking up through the ground
8. Bird nests filled with eggs
9. Dogwoods in full bloom
10. Flip flops
11. Earning a FREE vacation to Cancun with Southern Living at HOME
12. Spending warm and sunny days out in the backyard
13. Dressing the door
14. Container gardening - so much fun to create
15. Sidewalk chalk
16. Rain showers
17. Spring cleaning
18. Celebrating 9 years of wedded bliss
19. Azalea bushes completely covered in blooms
20. The promise of new life!!

Shelf Life

This is the shelf in my home office. Before becoming a SAHM I worked in corporate America from my home. The furnishings in here aren't gorgeous - just practical. Sprucing up my office is on my list of projects this year. I want to share how my shelves are currently organized. There's a lot of practicality here and hopefully it inspires you in your home office!

First off - my office is small. So to take advantage of space, BBC does his project work in this chair on the empty shelf. This comes in handy when I need to work my home business nowadays.

The top two shelves are a throw back to my 12 years in the corporate world. It holds some of my favorite awards and memories...

One shelf is now dedicated to my Southern Living at HOME business and serves as motivation.

Notice there is no staging going on here. There are still remnants of his project work from earlier in the day - marker hiding under the shelf, marker marks on the carpet, and a paint brush - nice...

One shelf contains a little monkey, er, I mean BBC. He has spent many hours on that shelf. One of my best memories was him crawling up there when he first started walking! I could do a whole post with just pictures of him on that shelf over the years.

Remember me the organization freak? I do love my containers and labels. DH thinks it is ridiculous. Don't look too closely or you will see that the scissors and glue container has been contaminated with crafting supplies. BBC is generally pretty good with my organization systems - ha! I hope I train him up to love organization as much as I do! I know he already likes to sort!

Don't laugh. This is my BBC shelf. The drawing in the back was my first attempt to try and creatively capture his image. I have friends that have these types of drawings and paintings in their homes. They hired a professional. I decided I could do it myself. I thought it was not bad for a first-timer... Maybe I will try again. Maybe I will hire a professional. Maybe I will just frame this one.

Thanks for checking out my shelf life - hope I've inspired you in some way!

February Women's Ministry Decor

My women's ministry team meets once a month for fellowship, dinner, and a Bible study. My partner, Trish, and I are responsible for the hospitality of the group. We decided to have a theme for each monthly meeting. For February we went with "That's Amore!" Our vision for the decor was a Tuscan countryside setting. Remember we are on a ZERO DOLLAR budget so Trish and I shop from our homes and the women's ministry closet! Here's what we came up with...

Trish and I both had Tuscan pottery from Southern Living at HOME. Everything else was from the closet. We used the baskets of bread and dipping oil as functional decor!

We needed something to coordinate with the other tables and this was a bit of a stretch but I think it worked. Trish had the cute (and authentic, I might add) pottery piece. It wasn't substantial enough on its on so we found the faux 3D urns in the closet.

The "view out the window" to the Tuscan countryside!

And finally, more faux urns, greenery, and yummy food!

It has been a lot of fun collaborating with Trish and stepping up to the zero budget challenge. It's not always perfect but it works and I believe it serves the group well. Our next meeting is in a couple of weeks and we are going to have a lot of fun with the comfort food theme!