Mint Juleps & Silver Platters

Grant K. Gibson

2011-05-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

I believe I just fell in love with another man... I just discovered Grant K. Gibson and fell in love at first sight! For starters check out how fantastic his apartment is!

Grank K. Gibson

Grant K. Gibson

I love everything about his style! My dream home perhaps? His style is eclectic, classic, and modern all one in! His apartment just prooves my point that not everything has to match, it is all about displaying things you love.

Beach Trip

2011-05-19T08:45:00.000-07:00

My husband and I are headed to the beach this weekend for a much needed vacation! Side note: I have a slight obsession with packing for trips... I have to make sure that we have everything we need. It is always better to be over prepared than under prepared! We have our typical pack list, but we have also learned a few tricks along the way!

For starters, we went to Asheville, NC for a weekend (The weekend we got engaged!) We arrived in Ashville and after the long drive from Birmingham and decided we wanted a cocktail. (Come to find out I think my engagement ring was burning a hole in my husband's pocket and he needed to relax a little.) However, everything was closed. Ever since then, we have packed 'the cooler' for road trips. We include all of the ingredients to make a cocktail of our choice, snacks, and a wine opener (just in case). I found the perfect cooler for us at LL Bean.

This cooler comes in three different sizes, family, picnic and personal.

Don't leave for vacation without it #2.The resort we went to for a honeymoon was all-inclusive. Which in turn means, 'Senorita, would you like another drink?' every time your drink gets slightly low. It is wonderful! The only downfall to being on the beach sipping a cocktail is your ice begins to melt and you can not finish half of your drink. A wonderful couple we met on the beach one day introduced us to a brand new use for an insulated water bottle. Pour your drink in and it stays cold and fresh until the very last sip!

This is when the Trudeau Cool Off Hydration Bottle comes in handy. It even has a straw that pops up when you slid the lid open! Add your favorite cocktail or a cool glass of ice water and you are ready to go!

A good beach chair is always a must as well! My husband hates to 'drag' it down to the beach. However, we all know that you cannot read laying on a beach towel without straining your neck. It's just not going to happen. Here comes another LL Bean favorite!

This beach chair is fantastic! It's very sturdy and allows you to stretch out your leg and relax at the water's edge, while keeping you out of the sometimes cold water.

Additional never leave for vacation withouts:

Ziploc bags are always a must for the beach! One large Ziploc holds all of your sunscreen, while protecting your beach bag from spills! Another protects your cell phone, camera, credit cards, and id.

One trick I learned from my mom was to bring garbage bags! Throw your dirty clothes, wet swim suits and towels in there to keep them away from your clean clothes!

Also always be prepared by bringing all of the medications that you 'may' need. Nobody wants a horrible headache or upset stomach while on vacation. Bring medications with you so you to have to make a quick dash to the store when you do not feel well. Minimus.biz has single dose OTC medications for a lot less expensive than the nearest convenience store. They also have a huge variety of other travel sized needs.

Tutwiler Wedding

2011-05-18T13:58:00.000-07:00

So... I mentioned a few days ago that one of my best friends got married at the Tutwiler Hotel last weekend. Natalie Jones Phototography did a fantastic job at capturing Annie & Richard's special day! Check out some of their photos!

Check out Natalie's blog to view all of her great work!

Design Inspirations

2011-05-18T12:45:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love our new home! However, our kitchen is a bit ho-hum. All of our guests seem to gather in the kitchen, so why not make it one of the most fantastic rooms in the house! I would love to remodel our kitchen and here are some design inspirations that I found at Coastal Living.

Coastal Living

This may be one of my favorites! I am a sucker for white marble. I think it is classic, timeless and just beautiful!

Coastal Living

LOVE! Very European and unique at the same time! I love using pieces in a room that you wouldn't necessarily see in the space, but they work perfectly!

Coastal Living

Most people don't care for a white kitchen. However this kitchen is very warm and welcoming! The white main-stays serve as a blank canvas for you to dress up, without having to remodel the entire kitchen when you want something new.

Coastal Living

This kitchen is all about WOW!! I know I would get tired of the lacquered red cabinets, but they are absolutely wonderful!! The over eclectic design of this kitchen is amazing. Who would have ever thought to use distressed wood floors, a farmhouse table, lacquered red cabinets and a gold chandelier all in the same kitchen! MARVELOUS!!

Coastal Living

This kitchen is very simple, yet elegant.The neutral back ground allows you to change the loo and feel of your kitchen daily if you would like!

Coastal Living

I love the dark wood floors in this kitchen! I also really like the contrasting cabinets, using black for the lower cabinets and white for the uppers. Who says brown and black do not match... I'm also a sucks for bamboo roman shades. They always add texture, warmth and casually dress up windows. This kitchen has to be my absolute favorite!

Baked Manicotti

2011-05-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a lot of catching up to do at our house. Laundry, dishes & cleaning, not to mention cooking dinner, all needed to be taken care of. Luckily, I have a super easy recipe for Baked Manicotti that I could prepare and let cook while I'm doing the things around the house the needed to be done. I found this super easy recipe on Kraft Recipes website.

2 cups spaghetti sauce, divided
1¾ cups Original Ricotta Cheese
1½ cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
½ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup pesto
12 manicotti shells, cooked, rinsed in cold water

Heat oven to 350°F.

Spread ¾ cup sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish. Mix cheeses, egg and pesto until well blended; spoon into resealable plastic bag. Use scissors to cut small corner from bottom of bag.

Fill manicotti shells by squeezing cheese mixture into both sides of each shell; place in baking dish. Top with remaining sauce; cover.

Bake 40 min. or until heated through.

Note: Substitute Cottage Cheese for the ricotta and/or 100% Grated Romano Cheese for the Parmesan. If you prefer a more traditional style manicotti, simply omit the pesto.

Wedding Weekend & Crawfish Boil

2011-05-16T07:38:00.000-07:00

We had a very busy weekend! One of my best friends got married on Saturday at the Tutwiler Hotel in Birmingham, AL. It was absolutely gorgeous! Check out this hotel!

This is a night view of the hotel. Can you image having guests seated in front of the hotel and standing on the front steps getting married... It was beautiful!

A tradition that our friends have started with each other is all of the girls arrive really early on the day of the wedding, have mimoas and enjoy girl time together! This is one of my favorite things to do! We bond and the bride gets to relax a little!

Not only did we have a wedding this weekend, but we also attended a birthday party after the reception. A friend of ours had crawfish boil for her 30th birthday! I love any excuse to eat crawfish! Yum!!

Attending her crawfish boil made my mind wonder... I love crawfish, we have a new house with a large back yard.... maybe we should start having an annual crawfish boil! Love it!

Jenny Steffens Hobick post photos of her annual clambake... I love her ideas! Check out the photos below. You can check out her blog Everyday Occasions.

Everyday Occasions

Really cute simple invitation. Mine would say Crawfish boil instead of Clambake.

Everyday Occasions

I love Jenny's table setting as well! Casual yet elegant. Jenny's clambake setting may be a little too formal for our carfish boil. Typically, we lay newspaper down on the table and dump buckets of crawfish, corn & potatoes all over it! It's a little messy!

Lay some newspaper out, get some cheap buckets from Target & you are set!

Design Inspirations

2011-05-13T13:24:00.000-07:00

My husband and I just purchased our first home in December of last year. I absolutely love everything about if, however, our kitchen is a little ho-hum... I would love to remodel it! What do you think about these kitchens? These are some of the design inspirations for our dream kitchen.

Coastal Living

Clean, classic, and elegant... everything I love in a space. The clean white cabinets, white marble subway tile back splash and white marble counter tops allow for an ever evolving space. This kitchen has a blank canvas that may be changed by adding or taking away accessories.

Coastal Living

How would you like to have a European modern feel in your kitchen? Every time you walk into it, you feel like you have ventured into another world!

Coastal Living

Gorgeous! Who would have ever thought rustic wood floors, a farmhouse table, red lacquered cabinets and a golded chandelier would all belong in the same kitchen? This kitchen is beautifully eclectic! I know I would eventually get tired of the lacquered cabinets, however, you have to be able to appreciate the wonderful design!

Coastal Living

I truly love the classic, simplicity of this space!

Coastal Living

Another clean neutral kitchen... Look at the possibilities with this kitchen!

Coastal Living

This kitchen is my dream kitchen! I love the dark, rich hardwood floors that serve as a resting place for the black lower cabinets. Who ever said you brown and black don't match? Work your eye up to the contrasting clean, white cabinets that flank large sunny windows dressed with bamboo shades. I love the traditional, yet modernness of this kitchen!

HauteLook

2011-05-13T12:25:00.000-07:00

I love getting things at great deals!! Woot! is one of my favorite wesbites to find GREAT deals! They have everything from a kids.woot!, to shirt.woot!, sellout.woot! and even a wine.woot! They one have one deal a day, unless they are having a woot-off! During a woot off, when something sells out, they offer another iteam.

Today I ran into a wesbite kind of like Woot!, but they have clothing and accessories for women, men, kids, your home, and even Getaways! I have a new love in my life! It's called HauteLook. HauteLook has designer items at sale prices and they even have a deal-a-day offer!!

Here are some tips they gave me when I got started...

Welcome to HauteLook, where you'll find the world's best brands at exclusive, members-only prices up to 75% off retail.

Be the first to learn about new sale events: Each day we'll send you an email announcing the new sale events for that day. You can also preview the week's upcoming sale events 24/7 on our website. If you do not wish to receive email notifications, you can unsubscribe at any time.
Get here early: Sale events start at 8 AM PT/11 AM ET and run 36 - 72 hours. Be sure to log in early for the widest selection.
Earn $10 credits: Receive a $10 credit each time a friend you invite makes their first purchase. The more friends you invite, the more credits you will earn.

Design Inspirations

2011-05-06T14:30:00.000-07:00

We just purchased a new home in December of this past year. It's a work in progress to say the least! We re-finished our over 50 year old floors, painted all of the rooms, and are purchasing items to furnish our home. I've been told that this is a never ending process... I have found several inspirations for our home that I love...

Some favorite bedroom design inspirations that I found this week....

House Beautiful

I love that the main (large & expensive) items in the room are very neutral, classic & timeless. Add a splash of color and voila! You can change out the accessories in this room depending what the color you like at the time.

Elle Decor

Something about this room makes me fall in love with it over and over again! I'm a sucker for monograms and love the pillow shams! I'll have to purchase some from Leontine Linens.

Unknown

I love the cleanliness and simplicity in these two rooms. (The top one may be perfect for our guest bedroom!)

Unknown

This is a really great bedroom for a child. I really like the colors that were incorporated into this room!

Unknown

The rich navy of the walls, the masculinity of the over-sized armoire, and the beautiful dark wood floors look great together! Brighten the room with a crisp, clean white duvet and floral throw pillows and you have the perfect balance of femininity and masculinity.

Yummy Pizza!

2011-05-06T06:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo and I had planned to fix a Mexican dish for dinner, however, I didn't have all of the ingredients I needed so on to plan B. I made a delicious Bell Pepper, Red Onion and Goat Cheese Pizza.

Epicurious

1 10-ounce purchased fully baked thin pizza crust (such as Boboli)

1/4 cup olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 cups (packed) baby spinach leaves (1 1/2 to 2 ounces)

1 1/2 cups thickly sliced mushrooms (5 to 6 ounces)

1/2 cup drained roasted red peppers from jar, cut into thin strips

1/2 cup paper-thin red onion slices

8 large fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips

5-ounce package soft fresh goat cheese, coarsely crumbled

Preheat oven to 425°F. Place pizza crust on large baking sheet. Mix olive oil and minced garlic in small bowl. Using pastry brush, brush 2 tablespoons garlic oil evenly over crust. Top with spinach leaves, then sprinkle with sliced mushrooms, roasted red peppers, red onion slices, fresh basil, and crumbled goat cheese. Drizzle pizza evenly with remaining garlic oil.

Bake pizza until crust is crisp and cheese begins to brown, about 18 minutes. Transfer pizza to board. Cut into wedges and serve warm.

I find recipes all over the internet and store them on a website called TasteBook. I have found that Tastebook is the best (and least cluttering) way to store all of my recipes and also find new ones! You can "Find the best recipes from top sites, magazines & cookbooks and save your "faves" in one convenient place." Once your have enough recipes 'saved' you order your own personalized cookbook! I love it!

Cinco De Mayo!!

2011-05-05T12:46:00.000-07:00

Today is Cinco de Mayo! It's time to gather your friends together and have some margaritas! Why not try out a different type of margarita today like a beer margarita! Enjoy!

1 lime, cut into 8 wedges

2 chilled 12-oz bottles beer (not dark; preferably a lighter-style lager)

½ cup thawed frozen limeade concentrate

½ cup chilled tequila

Ice cubes

Rub lime wedges around rims of 4 Margarita glasses.

Dip rims in salt to coat lightly.

In a medium pitcher, combine beer, limeade, and tequila.

Fill prepared glasses with ice, then with margarita mixture.

Garnish with remaining lime wedges.

Serve immediately.

Confections of a Foodie Bride also has a Grapefruit Margarita that sounds and looks incredible! We just had a random man come by work selling grapefruits & oranges, therefore, this margarita may have been calling my name long before I even laid eyes on it! I may have to try this one out tonight.

ENJOY!

Our Wedding Video

2011-05-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

I married my best friend of the love of my life on April 2nd of this year! We were given a late anniversary gift yesterday when our wedding videographer posted the trailer for our wedding video. Joshua Kidd did an AMAZING job capturing our special day!!

Ben and I were married in Seaside, FL. Our wedding ceremony was at the Seaside Interfaith Chapel and our reception was on the Lyceum Lawn. It was beautiful and perfect in every way!

Emily & Ben, Seaside, FL April 2nd, 2011

Things I Love...

2011-05-04T12:09:00.000-07:00

I love all things pretty! Therefore, I LOVE a lot of things! Some of my most loved items are:

I LOVE a great pair of pearl earrings! The first Christmas gift that my husband gave me was a beautiful pair of pearl earrings! They match anything and everything and are always classic and timeless! ( Jcrew has a great pair!)

I also have a slight obsession with silver platters... and all things that shine! (The main reason I love mint juleps is because they are served in silver cups.)

Silver platters are one of the loves of my life because they last many lifetimes! I absulutely LOVE things that can be passed down from generation to generation (I told you I'm from the South...).

Following along on the all things I love...

Monograms fall right in line with pearls and silver servers. ( Leontine Linens in New Orleans is the BEST!)

Welcome!

2011-05-04T11:38:00.000-07:00

I've started this blog to share my love of all things beautiful. Some of my favorite things include home decor, making something old look new, pearls, classic wardrobe staples, Audrey Hepburn and a mint julep. I love all things southern, classic and refined.