high school

This past weekend I went on vacation with my close high school friends. From as close as Ocala to as far away as Spain, and everywhere in between, we all met in St. Pete Beach for a weekend of fun in the sun! Several months ago Abby called to tell me they were planning a trip and I better be there. I believe her exact words were something like "put it on your calendar now before you book it up!" So Friday I began my long trip down south but made a stop in Ocala to drop off Fern conveniently at lunch time. Mom and daddy took me to Latinos and it was delicious as always!

I had so much fun with all of my friends from high school plus the additions to the gang by way of girlfriends and fiances...15 of us total! Our group of guy friends have grown up together and have been extremely close. They are always the ones who plan the get togethers and their dynamics are hilarious. When I was invited I was so thrilled. They have always included me even though I moved away after we graduated. For the most part this group went to school in Gainesville and have remained in each other's daily lives, but they've always welcomed me right back whenever I was in town. This is what I love about these people. It's so crazy to think that we left the halls of Forest High School over 6 years ago and what's even cooler is seeing the professions my friends are embarking on - one is about to finish Dental school and another is starting Medical school in the fall. And I'm not bragging by telling you all of their achievements. It's just that if you know them like I do...well you would be amazed too :)

I can't say we had any food worth a mention but dinner was never boring to say the least. However, on Saturday morning a few of the girls went to a local establishment, Seahorse, in nearby historic Pass-a-grille beach. The food was standard but the atmosphere was neat. It was established in 1938 and there were lots of old Florida memorabilia on display.

I said goodbye on early Sunday morning and headed to Tampa to have brunch with some of my close college girlfriends. We met at Pinky's and I want to go back right this instant. The food was divine. All of the girls ordered an open-faced frita-ta and I ordered a delicious oatmeal pancake. My favorite part of this cafe was the antique hutch full of eclectic coffee mugs that you can grab and fill and re-fill as you wait for a table. My kind of place. It was so good to see my sweet friends too! I do believe another rendezvous is in order, soon.

It was a long day of traveling back to Tallahassee but I enjoyed replaying the fun I had in my head with Fern fast asleep in the passenger's seat. The trip was overall too short and we are all longing to still be there right now. Hopefully our travel agent, Mr. Jones, will start working on next year's adventure!

at sunset

the seahorse

pass-a-grille beach

bocci ball studs

me and christine

the whole gang

brunch in south tampa

meghan, libby, pamela, nance and mc

dessert in the nursery part II

Last Thursday night the Edenfield's and I went to visit the Meadows family and their three bundles of joy! This was the first time seeing all three babies since they've been home. They are now a little over two months old and are healthy, happy, and growing...not to mention extremely adorable. Of course we brought dessert from FGF to continue our tradition {part I}.

I also got to finally take pictures of the trips fabulous nursery! Rian and Chris were sweet enough to consult me to make the nursery not only chic but functional. We all decided "Palm Beach Chic" would be the inspiration and suitable for two girls and one boy {Reese, you are lucky we considered you :)}. Rian and Chris already have great style and ideas so I was on call to reassure and pull it all together. The most functional piece in the room is the crib - remember not one...but three. They are smaller scaled crib and to me are the neatest things. They also happen to fit perfectly in the space. Grandma Barbara {Chris's wonderfully talented and patient mom} made all of the bedding and the window treatment. She is amazing! And since babies are sleeping here now their beautiful pillows are tucked safely away.

It was so lovely to visit with them. See you all soon!

hadley, reese, and carson with aunt sister

very apropos.

stylish hamper

names painted by moi and modeling by reese

it's a wrap

One year that is. Today marks the real blog anniversary!

Happy weekend.

radcliffes take ikea

Sister, SK and I traveled to Ocala this weekend to be with the fam. Michael is home for the summer so he had the pleasure of spending time with us too! On Saturday we went to Orlando and I had the Ikea experience for the first time - an experience it was. Not my cup of tea per se but I'm glad we went. Sally Kate enjoyed her stroll through Sweden and learned how to blow raspberries and continued to do so the entire day. The Radcliffes took Ikea and left with a knowledge of some new foreign words and one purchased item...lemon cookies. It was either that or Swedish meatballs. That evening we all attended a banquet for a historical society we are members of. It was great to see many family friends we have grown up with and of course you know who {Sally baby} got all of the attention.

On Sunday we spent the afternoon visiting grandparents and Miss June in Ocala before heading back to Tallahassee. Everyone was tickled to see how big and fun SK has gotten. Miss June is a dear friend of the family who helped raise us. She is battling cancer and is not doing well so it was wonderful to spend some time with her. It was the first time she had gotten to see the baby and she was thrilled. She held each of us at that size and has watched us grow ever since. While she stayed the same 4'-11" {or shorter} we grew taller than her but we always looked up to her. She would stay with us every Saturday during football season when we were young while m & d went to the gator games sans kids. To this day I will not eat Kraft Macaroni and Cheese because we had it every. single. Saturday. Yesterday she shared stories about how well behaved I was as a toddler ;) And maybe my favorite Miss June-ism is that whenever you receive a card in the mail from her...confetti follows. We had a wonderful visit this weekend and hope to be back soon. I had not been home since Easter and I think that's the longest stretch thus far. Oh, and we did get to go to Latinos on Friday night. We closed that place down!

sally kate waving hello to reese, carson, and hadley :)

nap time...sweetly holding my blonde locks

sister and I at the banquet

made my day

This morning before I left town for work I got a call from our upholsterer saying that if I'd like to stop by to see the sofa he re-upholstered before he delivered it back to my client's house it was ready. I was there in a flash. You see, this is the stuff I love - the more "decorator" stuff. It's so fun! I love, love, love the way it turned out. The Schumacher Imperial Trellis print on the front is one of my all-time favorites and finally someone else shared the love. The rest of this client's living room make-over is just has fabulous so hopefully I can show you the finished project in due time. Enjoy!




Tonight I'm helping my dear friend Kelly of Bella Flora arrange flowers for a wedding this weekend. I've been having wedding/party withdrawals so this will surely satisfy! Back to work...

summer nights

But first...

MISS MANDY'S HAS RE-OPENED!!

This is one of my absolute favorites shops in Tallahassee and in the last month they have relocated to a better, larger space. I am now pleased to announce they are back in full swing! Unbeknownst to me, they opened their doors this past Tuesday so when I drove by yesterday to just check I was delighted to see their two signature foxtail ferns flanking the front door and the always welcoming OPEN. So I immediately called Lane and she and Camp met me there in record time. The new store is beyond fabulous and has even more salvaged furniture and accessories than before. Good move Mandy...welcome back.

Ah, summer nights. When the sunlight lingers until almost 9:00pm I am happy. The Gunters have been extending the invite to dine with them lately. They are so sweet to have me for dinner and whenever I question it they say "well we usually have just enough for one more! " Thank you, sweet friends. It's so fun visiting with them after a long day at work and we always manage to scheme new furniture arrangements for their house. Of course the obvious reasons why I enjoy these nights so much are they are just a hop skip and a jump down the street and the food is always delish. Whenever they say, "charcoal grill" I say, "See you in a few!" Last night we had this great tasting grilled chicken {charcoal of course} pasta salad. We paired it with none other than a summertime favorite lemonade--raspberry lemonade to be exact! It was all so colorful and refreshing.

check out lane's blog for the recipe {and a similar blog post, haha}

I may start selling this from a make-shift stand in my yard

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Sales is not my forte so here's my pitch:

Helping others has never tasted so good!
{and that was even borrowed!}

Pre-order sales are going on now and the brand new Junior League of Tallahassee cookbook is only $26.82, which includes tax. If you are interested in purchasing one leave a comment with your e-mail address and I'll send you a form.

Keep in mind these books are great for Christmas, Mother's Day, Father's Day, birthdays--really any holiday--and you know how much I love a good holiday!

let them eat cake

{image via kate spade}

Thank you Marie Antoinette. It is no surprise that I love a good dessert. So this weekend I'll share what I've been up to {hint: cake}. On Friday, I went to dinner with friends to celebrate Danielle's birthday and we had a delicious cake from The Cake Shop. On Saturday, sister, Sally Kate, and I went to one of our favorite local shops, Simply Entertaining, for their Simple Idea Saturday. We learned how to make and sampled the fruit salad with lavender mint simple syrup and blueberry mojitos. Indeed they were simple recipes and I can't wait to try them myself. They were both so refreshing and tasty! We also had a good lunch and stop at the farmer's market. Then it was off to pick up Lane and Camp for a cupcake date at the newest place in town Lucy & Leo's Cupcakery. They have been open for less than a week and so of course we had to see for ourselves what all the buzz was about. No doubt I love the name/concept of a cupcakery and the decor was chic and cheerful but the cupcakes...well they get mixed reviews. They were good and the peanut butter frosting was top notch but if cupcakes are their specialty they need to step. it. up. So therefore, I will say it here for the millionth time my allegiance is to The Cake Shop. And if you're ever in Ocala my vote, hands down, is for Betty Cakes :)

Hope you're having a fabulous cake-filled weekend too!

birthday bliss

the spread at simply entertaining

sally kate {wearing her first bow!} and camp

both reaching for the cupcakes

locally grown zinnias from the farmer's market

wonderful weekend

I am back from a wonderful holiday weekend full of fun in the sun and family {mostly Marcus's family...but they claim me and I claim them :)} and friends galore. I was able to leave Tallahassee earlier than my estimated countdown on Thursday afternoon but not without going through yet another storm, but we won't go there. Let's just say I despise Crawfordville. Shortly after making my turn west onto scenic highway 98 I saw the water but more importantly the sun. Hello vacation! Sister and Marcus rented a house on the beach with Hillary and Jason for the week and they were so kind to include me. It was a house full of two lively young families and moi, Aunt Sister as Owen and Harris joined in on calling me :) We all had a ball!

On Friday me, sister, Sally Kate, and Hillary met Lane and Camp for lunch at....The Owl, no surprise there! We splurged and ordered anything and everything that struck our fancy and it was divine. We also laughed a lot and had a surprise visit from Marcus - just in time to eat what we couldn't. We also went to the newest shop on the block in downtown Apalachicola The Green Door. It did not disappoint. It was fab-u-lous and featured a local artist's paintings, fun jewelry, and vintage lagniappe. {Thank you Lane and Hill for the pictures...I forgot my camera on Friday!} We also enjoyed a relaxing late afternoon on the beach and then a bay-side party.

Saturday brought the 4th of July and the half birthday of yours truly. As mentioned before, I do a lot of sleeping on vacations. So as everyone prepared for the big island parade I was still comfortably content in my pjs. Come one {literally, you could just enter yourself}, come all - the annual SGI 4th of July parade was in full swing. We decorated Jake's truck and all of the little cousins piled in to wave, throw candy, and shoot water guns at the crowd. SK was left with me as we finished our morning nap and then she and I joined the gang on the sideline just as the family float drove by. As far as I knew the parade was right outside our front door...but no one told me it was a block in front. So there I was - pjs, glasses and all - walking down the sandy street with baby in tow. At least I had on shoes.

We spent another leisurely late afternoon {my favorite part of the day} at the beach. Thanks to the Dunhams for the provided tent/shade! That evening we went to join the rest of the family for a low-key celebration. In years past, the Randolphs have hosted a huge 4th of July party including tons of food and a dj. This was after all where sister and I met Marcus, Hillary, and Jason 6 years ago. And we've been celebrating the 4th with their family ever since. We ended the night watching fireworks off the beach on our balcony.

Check-out time on Sunday was 10:00am so I packed up and headed out. I was going to be darned if I got stuck in the midst of bad weather again. So I said farewell and made my journey home. I'm not sure when I'll be back but I can tell you that there's a wonderful article on Apalachicola in this month's issue of Southern Accents.

In other news, yesterday I received approval to register for the NCIDQ exam to become a licensed professional interior designer. The test is the first weekend in October and I.must.start.studying.

And just to let you know the kind of frazzled day I am having...I just stuck my black pen, not in its proper catch all mint julep container, but my full glass of water. oops.

lunch @ the owl

lane, camp, sister, and sk

matchy, matchy

the green door

the gunter family, the other mama, and social graces

blending into the sand...

the edenfields beachin' it

me and sleepy sally

the family parade float

on the parade route...oh, there's me in my pjs

owen and harris in the cutest mini-chairs

4th of july party pooper!

marcus and lucas on a sunset cruise on the apalachicola bay

this was a surprise attack on sk to get her to smile :)