party time

happy birthday mom and sister!

saturday morning - danielles's baby shower at lane's house

I am all in favor of baby showers for as many children God blesses you with

{yes, the duggars included}

yummy cake shop cupcakes

dorian & ashley with the cutest table decor...monogrammed onesies

I love sisters, especially sisters that match

diaper covers from moi

me, ashley and dorian

{time for a blog dorian!}

saturday evening - surprise birthday party for chris...author of this hilarious blog.

bbq & beer along with flowers by yours truly

with carson and rian

sweet grandmothers with the triplets :)

mom with sk

sunday blunch @ sage...meet david :)

sally baby and her new exersaucer

"I love a good party"

misc.

I just returned from lunch with my mom. She came in town for the weekend and I'm so happy. Dad and Michael were also going to be here this weekend but then they got a better offer...fishing in the Florida Keys. Today they are lobstering and I am jealous. But having mom, Miss I-don't-drive-long-distances, make the trip up is always a treat. We met in Havana at the infamous Mockingbird Cafe. I finally took a few pictures of the food they present. It's top on my food criteria - fresh, flavorful, and colorful! So here it is...the place I always talk about and their festive food:

pollo de mary...blackened chicken salad

mom's delicious shrimp and leek bisque

This weekend is cause for multiple celebrations. We're celebrating both mom{July 30} and sister's{August 10} birthdays! I don't want to ruin any surprises but I heard a rumor that mom brought something from Betty Cakes in Ocala! Tomorrow I have two parties to attend and arrange flowers for and then hopefully we'll have a girls night to see Julie & Julia. And in between we'll be frequenting all our favorite local shops. Mom visit = the absolute best.

In other news, I provided room and board for my dear friend Erin this past week. She is an ADPi sista and was a freshman when I was a senior. She needed a place to stay before she moved into the chapter house and I welcomed her in. It was so fun having a temporary roommate and Fern enjoyed having someone around the house between the hours of 8am-6pm...where she typically has no interaction. We ate at one of our favorite restaurants, Sahara, not once but twice and would go back tonight if we could.

And last but most certainly not least Sally Kate is 7 months old today and with that said she sat up for the first time by herself last night. She is a doll.

Happy, happy weekend.

day tripper

Yesterday I spent a wonderful afternoon in Thomasville, Georgia. Only 30 minutes outside of Tallahassee it's an easy and fun day trip. They have a wonderful downtown stretch full of boutiques, antique store, and cafes. I went and frequented all three and more. It's nice when you can get out of town for a leisurely afternoon and still return to your own bed in the same day. Of course I pulled my camera out to highlight my favorites of the day which included both places I dined at. And at the first cafe I ran into my friend and fellow blogger Ashley. She has a fabulous blog called Smitten Design. I just adore the name!

I hope to return soon to Thomasville and there's talk about us taking Mom up there for lunch next Saturday - so that kind of soon suits me just fine. If not, I am bound and determined to make it to the Thomasville Rose festival in April...and we all know how much I love a good feshtivuhl!

for lunch the sparkle goat cafe...I can spot a place like this a mile away!

I loved the decor and the food was even better

the number two with quinoa, a south american side. the tea was yummy too! I'm not big on tea in a bottle but this was a refreshing mix of honey, mint, and some other flavors that make up sweet leaf tea. on the bottle it says "homemade goodness in a bottle"...agreed.

I loved the use of all of the planters to display the names of stores, etc.

for supper jonah's fish & grits.

their specialty is shrimp and grits which you better believe I ordered!

but these might have been the most tasty thing I had all day - fried green tomatoes topped with feta, sundried tomatoes, and a balsamic drizzle. wow.

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