This Lil' Birdie

Saying Goodbye to Blogger

2012-08-05T19:57:00.001-05:00

It's official. This blog is getting a makeover starting with a new name, a new location, and a new design.

Visit me over at fifty-five 18.

This Lil' Birde Loves: Baby Della Grace

2012-08-02T20:48:00.001-05:00

I have a precious friend named Kandy. She has two beautiful daughters named Keilah & Karrah that have become my adopted family. And a few weeks ago, Karrah had a sweet little girl named Della Grace! Kandy is just fabulous, so as a grandmother, her name is "Yetta" like on The Nanny. Love it!

But when I found out Karrah was having a girl, there was a pause of about 3 days before I started working on baby clothes. And I keep adding projects! I can't help it. They're just so cute & itty bitty!

This onesie day gown was one of my first Della Grace projects.

It's a little blurry thanks to the iPhone camera, but I just love this fabric for baby things. This gown is very similar to the one I made for my friend Kelli a while back.

See, isn't she just beautiful?!

And such a beautiful mommy, too! Thanks for letting me dress your little love, Karrah. Now I just need to hold her and love her and get my baby fix before we get back to sewing!

This Lil' Birdie's Kitchen Makeover

2012-07-28T14:32:00.003-05:00

I love my house. Really, I do. But I hate the ugly colors the builder chose, so DH and I have slowly but surely been painting everything we can. I use "DH and I" loosely because I have yet to pick up a brush or roller. My sweet father-in-law has been the official painter which leaves me to be the color picker. I'm totally fine with this arrangement.

But we have finally made it to the kitchen which was honestly pretty boring (this room was never actually painted by the builder, just primed).

Here's the before... Blah.

And the after... The color is Benjamin Moore's Kingsport Grey & I love it!

(See the table & chairs? Stay tuned for a major update in the next few weeks!)

This Lil' Birdie Cooks: Shrimp & Grits

2012-06-11T13:00:00.000-05:00

It's not very often that I cook dinner and am wowed by my own food. It's normally a general feeling of "meh" and being underwhelmed that I followed the recipe to the tiniest pinch of spice and it didn't work out like I wanted. But Friday night was a whole different story.

I found this recipe in Southern Living for grilled shrimp & cheesy corn grits and let's be honest, give me cheese, grits, corn & shrimp and I'm a happy happy girl.

But that seemed like a LOT of work for some silly ol' corn and shrimp, so I improvised.

And this is how it turned out...

YUM! I actually boiled my corn & then made the grits the same way listed in the recipe. But thanks to Pinterest, I found this shrimp recipe and ooooh it was good!

So go on. Try it. I promise you'll like it!

This Lil' Birdie Got Married!

2012-06-10T20:10:00.002-05:00

It's true! I got married! It's almost been one month since I officially became Mrs. Newman (actually, according to the US government, as of June 4, 2012, I became Mrs. Newman since it took FOREVER to actually change my name... but that's neither here nor there!).

I wanted to share a few of my favorite pictures with you (without going overboard, I promise)...

A big thank you to the American Village for offering us such a wonderful venue and being so sweet to tote us around on golf carts when it was raining. And to Barb's Cakes for the best strawberry bride's cake and cutest groom's cake ever!

This Lil' Birdie's Weekend Projects

2012-03-04T14:47:00.003-06:00

I have an entire list of projects that need to be done both around the house and for the wedding.

Instead, this weekend, I...

...updated my Twitter profile background! (Yep, I've been super productive!). It's lovely, though, isn't it? I found it HERE. Do NOT judge me on the amount of tabs I keep open in my browser window. I've been known to cry if someone exits the window.

If you follow me on Twitter, you'll notice that I also changed my profile picture! Here's the picture I very obviously cropped to exclude the FH (love you, though!)...

It's one of our engagement pictures that our amazing photographer Tommy Coleman took back in November. That old rickety building we're in front of is actually less than a half mile from our house! (and just so we're clear, I'm 99% sure someone was living in there because there were blankets & old rags hanging out inside one of the holes in the wood *shudder*).

What else did I do this weekend? In no way, shape, or form was this a productive weekend because most of it was spent watching this on repeat....

Did you not know of my love for Despicable Me and the minions? Oh, but they're my favorite! Haven't seen it? Then I insist you stop what you are doing right now, go watch it, and get back to me. I've yet to meet someone who doesn't like this movie, and now they're giving us a Part 2?! Oh, I cannot WAIT!

A lazy weekend of Twitter, YouTube, and Photoshop, and absolutely nothing checked off of my to-do list? Fabulous!

P.s. A very large amount of my time was also spent on Pinterest. Again, don't judge me.

This Lil' Birdie Gingerbread Cookies

2011-12-18T16:05:00.001-06:00

It's Christmastime, and I am absolutely addicted to these gingerbread cookies!

My sister made them back in October for her Stella & Dot show, and I couldn't stop eating them! She was sweet enough to send over the recipe, but I've waited until the holiday season to make them so that I can fully appreciate how truly yummy they are! (And so I can share the yum with friends and family!)

The recipe is easily doubled, but I got 33 small-ish cookies out of this batch (and a couple of big ones that I'm already calling dibs on)! Here's what you'll need:

2 3/4 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp (what I call a "pinch") salt
3/4 c. shortening (seriously, just get the Crisco. It MAKES these cookies!)
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1/4 c molasses
extra sugar for rolling cookies before baking
optional: hershey kisses (for a little extra something sweet, but only if you want)

To make these:

In a large mixing bow, beat the shortening on low for 30 seconds. Then add in sugar and beat until combined (be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl!).

Add in the eggs and molasses and beat until combined. {BTW, am I the only person that thinks molasses smells absolutely horrible? Oh, I'm not? Glad to know we all agree that molasses stinks!}

In a separate mixing bowl, combine flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Beat the flour mixture into the egg/shortening mixture until combined.

Next, shape dough into 1 inch balls, and roll them in the extra sugar. {P.s. I have a problem with washing my hands while I cook in that I do it WAY too much. So the process for taking this picture went a little like this: wash hands; shape dough; roll dough in sugar; wash hands; take picture of dough ball in sugar bowl; wash hands; put dough ball on cookie sheet. *WHEW* And this is why there aren't a ton of "during" pictures when I share what I cook}

Put them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat mat and bake at 350*F for about 8 to 9 minutes (my first dozen went in for 9 minutes; the last batch went in for 8 minutes).

Ahhh, fresh out of the oven! {Just so we're all clear on this, these cookies smell a LOT better once they're cooked! It's that durn molasses that makes the dough stink!}

These are perfectly yummy just as they are, but I just happen to think everything is better with chocolate. So I did this...

The chocolate kiss is the perfectly sweet way to balance to the more savory taste of these cookies.

If you so choose, while your cookies are in the oven, get out that bag of Halloween Hershey kisses you found on clearance at Publix for $.72 (no, really! I bought them this morning!), and take the wrappers off a dozen or so.

Once the cookies come out of the oven, and while they're still hot, press a kiss into the top of each cookie.

Cool on a cookie rack, or be lazy like me, and spread out some wax paper on the counter and slide the cookies off the cookie sheet and onto the wax paper.

These are great Christmas gifts for teachers and neighbors.

I tied four little guys up with a little leftover polkadot Christms ribbon.

I found these adorable Christmas boxes at TJ Maxx for $2.99 for 3, and I think that with a big lime green bow, these will make great gifts for my neighbors.

Next time I make these, I want to try rolling the dough into gingerbread man shapes and decorating them. But I think I'm going to lack the patience to put that much time and effort into these yummy little bites!

Let me know if you make these gingerbread cookies! I promise you'll love them!

P.s. I'm so excited that Petite Hermine featured my Brown Sugar Body Scrub on her Sunday Linky Party today! Linking up again this week!

This Lil' Birdie Made Marshmallows

2011-12-11T16:50:00.001-06:00

Homemade marshmallows? Oh, yes!

I LOVE marshmallows (we're even having s'mores as our wedding favors!), and lately I've been hearing more and more about gourmet marshmallow shops popping up like cupcakeries did a few years back.

{source}

So when I ran across this recipe for marshmallows, I knew I had to try it!!

Overall, I would say marshmallows are pretty easy provided you have a stand mixer. In the first six minutes of beating on high, the fluff grew so much I was afraid it would poof out of the mixer!

Two minutes into beating on HIGH

Five minutes into beating on HIGH

The hardest part is by far the cutting and sugar dusting -- I had marshmallow all over my shirt and hands and counter.... I just love messy cooking!! My advice? Work on a BIG (very easy to clean) surface covered in wax paper and powdered sugar!

And what's a good marshmallow without some chocolate and crushed candy canes? These little treat bags are FH's co-workers. Lucky little guns, aren't they?

I think this is by far my new favorite snack. Easy to make, easy to eat, and YUM YUM YUM!

Can't wait to try these in some homemade hot cocoa!

(p.s. linking up to Tip Junkie's Homemade Projects party!)

This Lil' Birdie is Crafty: Brown Sugar Honey Body Scrub

2011-12-10T21:04:00.001-06:00

This Christmas is involving quite a few homemade presents for me. One of my favorites was given to me a few years ago and I can't stop making it for myself. So for Christmas gifts this year, I decided to share the love. (Sweet friends that might get this as a gift from me: just pretend you've never seen this and act surprised, okay? Okay!)

Here's what you need to have amazingly soft and yummy smelling skin this winter!

1.5 cups of brown sugar
1/2 cup of EVOO
1 tsp vanilla extract (here's your yummy smell)
1 full tablespoon of honey (this is specifically a help for dry skin; you can leave this out if you want, but I LOVE honey!)

Mix it all together and put it in an adorable little mini Ball canning jar (I found mine at Target for less than $5 for a set of 4). A pert bow, a little scrapbook paper tag (can you tell I haven't made mine yet?) and you've got an adorable gift for neighbor friends, teachers (except in Alabama where our "ethics" law say you can't give teachers gifts anymore), or pretty much anyone!

Don't worry if the oil separates from the honey and sugar, just mix it back in and rub-a-dub-dub!

Linking up with Petite Hermine's Sunday Linky Party and The Girl Creative's "Just Something I Whipped Up" party!

This Lil' Birdie is Obsessed: Gold Ceilings

2011-12-10T19:45:00.001-06:00

No, really. Gold ceilings.

See?

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I cannot get over how amazing this looks! It adds such amazing flair to this room.

{source}

And this! Ooh ooh ooh! The cabinets are fantabulous! If I thought I could talk FH into painting our cabinets, this would be on the list of possible colors. All that natural light....I'm in love.

Now, FH isn't crazy about the idea of painting a ceiling gold, but I think it would look absolutely amazing in our guest bedroom/ someday nursery upstairs with creamy walls, dark furniture, and linen accents. And so begins the process of convincing him that I am, of course, right.

This Lil' Birdie has a Fresh Fiancee

2011-12-09T17:56:00.001-06:00

You won't even begin to understand that title until you click HERE.

No really. You should totally click there. Or clicking here is cool too.

Because that there linky up there (and further up there, too) is your direct access to my future hubby. My own dear FH has started his own blog.

Here's a little excerpt from today.....

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And yes, before you ask, he actually is as big of a goober as he seems. Boo boo? Don't read that last sentence, okay?

No, really, he's fun and you'll enjoy his musings and recommendations. And now I insist you visit and tell him I sent you just to annoy him a tiny little bit!

This Lil' Birdie Loves Fudge

2011-12-08T19:25:00.001-06:00

I've never been much of a candy-maker. Cookies, cakes, and especially cupcakes. That's pretty much a weekly occurrence at my house. But candy? Not so much.

Until my sweet friend Julie introduced me to fantasy fudge last year. Never heard of fantasy fudge? You don't know what you're missing. Really.

Not only is is super fabulously amazingly good to eat, but it's also super fabulously amazingly easy to make!

Here's the recipe I use. I've never tried the stove method. Give me a microwave any day, and I'm a happy girl!

Make this in the microwave and then take a little baby cookie cutter and cut out some cute Christmas shapes! (P.s. see how my lil' tree is missing a corner? I didn't wait until mine was fully cooled & hardened before going after it with the tree cutter, and this is what happened. Heed my advice so yours turn out better than mine!).

This makes a great and easy gift idea for neighbors or co-workers. Cellophane bags or cookie tins, a little twine or ribbon, and you're done! Or do things like me, and make it and eat it all yourself!!!

Enjoy!

This Lil' Birdie is Obsessed: Bayou Salvage

2011-12-02T22:00:00.001-06:00

Christmas is just around the corner, but I just now am starting on my Christmas shopping list. I can't help procrastinating; I simply cannot stop thinking about linen dresses for spring wedding showers!

Like these beauties all from Etsy!

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Can you tell that I am loving absolutely everything from Bayou Salvage's Etsy shop? I think I might need to re-make my Christmas list because I don't know how much longer I can live without her lovely linen everything! Take a look yourself and just see if you don't fall in love with something!

P.s. Bayou Salvage has no idea who I am; I just truly love her items and will be purchasing soon :)

This Lil' Birdie is Decorating for Christmas

2011-12-02T21:33:00.001-06:00

It was pretty well established last year that Christmas is my favorite favorite holiday!

And this year I'm even more excited to be able to decorate my own house! No more apartments for me -- time to bring out the BIG tree!

FH and I put the tree up the Sunday before Thanksgiving (to give me ample time to enjoy it). We have the perfect little nook beside the fireplace, and isn't Sweet Sister's tree skirt fabulous?! {P.s. That painting behind the tree? FH's great-grandmother painted that. So special. }

FH's parents were nice enough to give us his ornaments for my tree this year. Here are a few of my favorites:

Seriously old-school technology.

His JanJan & Granddaddy went to Alaska earlier this year and brought back this guy. **SHHH.... I broke this one. Twice. Thank God for superglue!***

Merry Christmas, Dudes! Why, yes, we did grow up in the '90s! How ever did you know??

Dear Santa-bell, your beard reminds me of fluorescent light bulbs and marshmallow twists. Sincerely, a energy-saving sweet fanatic.

Speaking of "Belles", even Puppy gets an ornament...

Or two! What can I say? She's well-loved!

Pinterest has fed my Christmas obsession, and I have a whole list of projects for this year. But the first thing I need to do is decorate outside this weekend. Starting with getting rid of the dead mums that have been hanging out on the front porch since September. Wish me luck.

This Lil' Birdie Had an Uneventful Sunday

2011-10-02T18:13:00.002-05:00

This happened today....

{Oatmeal Crispies from The Pioneer Woman}

And this is happening as I type...

{Chicken Spaghetti from The Pioneer Woman}

Can you tell what I've been cooking out of lately??

{The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond}

Oh, let me tell you this is one of my favorite cookbooks! Sure, a lot of her recipes are online, but seriously, the cookbook is worth buying for the photography alone... I think I bought this the VERY DAY it came out... and FH seems to like it, so it's definitely a keeper!

This Lil' Birdie is Prepping for Fall

2011-09-30T20:53:00.003-05:00

8 yards of burlap fabric, some brown ribbon, mums, and fake pumpkins. It's official... Fall is here!

{Source Unknown but here's where I found it}

I found this picture in the many many hours I spend on Pinterest, and I have to say, my handcrafted version of this will be on our door as soon as FH decides where the nail needs to go (which will probably be around Christmas).

{Again with the not knowing the source... Pinterest!}

And then, of course, there's this... While I'm not the biggest Halloween fan (I don't mind some decoration but nothing scary), this is adorable! Who would've thought? Buttons on a pumpkin!

{Found on Pinterest but originally from here}

But these are so cute, too! Good thing I bought 3 faux-pumpkins! But can I just say, not having a Hobby Lobby nearby is cutting into my creativity -- the nearest one is about an hour away!

Fall means the glorious return of cooler weather and sweaters and boots and comfy and cozy...

{Source}

And I wish my fall wardrobe looked remotely this fabulous.

Goal for Fall: look effortlessly chic. Need: all new clothes.

Like this...

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And this...

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Fall means it's finally time for shopping. And crafts. And hot chocolate. And fall festivals and Halloween costumes. And all things wonderful! Oh, how I love Fall!

Happy Fall, y'all!

P.s. If you're not on Pinterest yet, you really should be! I can get lost for hours on this site with absolutely no remorse!

This Lil' Birdie Goes Shopping: Leather Chairs

2011-09-13T20:58:00.003-05:00

I have my heart set on finding fashionable leather chairs for our living room. FH has his heart set on recliners. Me, not so much, but since he's been so sweet about letting me pick practically everything (aka: everything), I figured recliners couldn't hurt.

Then I saw this...

And I realized something. Recliners can hurt. And that one right there hurts my heart.

But surely somewhere there has to be a pretty leather recliner that looks more like a club chair? That's a good compromise, right?

Enter Pottery Barn and their gorgeous manhattan collection...

Oh, be still, my beating heart! I seriously lust after this furniture. Our closest Pottery Barn is an hour away, and if I had the time, I would go & just visit this recliner.

But alas, I have no time nor do I have the spare cash to fork over $2000 per recliner (we need two).

And so the hunt begins.

This one isn't so bad. And it's a La-Z-Boy which should make FH happy, but it seems a little too "fluffy" in the seat region (which is essentially like telling a chair it has a big butt).

This one could be a possibility in a darker leather, but the arms are too modern & boxy. I need an arm I can comfortably sit on. This is not that arm.

I'm starting to really like this one. At first I kept thinking maybe it was a little bit too "man cave-esque" to go in our living room but it just looks so comfortable. I can see myself curled up watching whatever Swamp show FH has chosen for our nightly entertainment. Mmmm... Cozy.

I have a feeling this one will be a budget-buster, too, since it's from Thomasville, but a good recliner will last for years & should be a well thought-out purchase.

This is what I will continue to tell myself as I spent way too many hours agonizing over this decision. I can justify anything.

This Lil' Birdie Sews: Onesie Dresses

2011-09-11T09:24:00.001-05:00

We've talked about this before. I'm not the best seamstress ever. I can sew straight lines and I can imagine very cute things in my head; but rarely do those two combine with fabric to make cute things. My Houndstooth GameDay top was the first exception. And it gave me the confidence to make this...

A tiny little onesie dress for a sweet customer who has become a dear friend. I cannot wait to meet Miss Ella Reagan and see her in her new dress. Personally, I think it's stinkin' adorable, and I might be just a *little* bit biased.

What do you think? Have my sewing skills improved as much as I think they have?

P.s. A big THANK YOU to BananaBearBoutique for the tutorial!

This Lil' Birdie Sews: Gameday Top

2011-09-06T08:11:00.000-05:00

During one of the MANY MANY MANY hours I spend on Pinterest, I came across this adorable tutorial from Sweet Verbena. While I'm not exactly an expert seamstress (nothing with curves, please!), I figured this would be one project I might could easily tackle.

I didn't have any type of "knit" like she recommends, but I didn't have some good basic cotton in a black and white houndstooth print, so I decided to make a little Game Day top since we're officially in football season now (Roll Tide, everyone!). And since it's amazingly hot in Alabama until oh, about October, I volunteered to make one for my future sister-in-law too! This one started out as hers, but I accidentally cut it a little too short (it sits just below my waistband, and sweet future s-i-l is a good 4-6 inches taller than me!).

I had to do a little more finish work than in the tutorial so that the edges wouldn't fray, but I think it turned out pretty cute!

I'll be sure to post a picture when I actually get to wear it!

This Lil' Birdie is Getting Married

2011-09-05T12:32:00.000-05:00

(I'm warning you now, this is a LONG post with LOTS of pictures, but it's well worth your time! Promise!)

It's official!!

Sweet boyfriend is no longer the boyfriend! He's future hubby (aka: FH!)!

One incredibly slow Saturday at work, FH's mom walks in (she's also my boss) holding a beautiful arrangement of alstroemerias (my favorite flowers).

Me: "Ooh, pretty! Who are those for?" Future MIL: "You!"

And then she hands me this.

Operation VISH (Very Important Scavenger Hunt).... at this point I kinda knew what was going on, but it was still exciting!

I'm currently obsessed with a nursery glider we have in our store. It's a fabulous suzani print that absolutely MUST MUST MUST come live with me soon! This was under the seat cushion....

We actually met at a Mexican restaurant on The Strip in Tuscaloosa. My comment about his purple shirt got us talking. So off towards campus on Football Fan Day (oh, and did I mention it was also Sorority Rush Week's Bid Day?) in the worst traffic of the year... to El Rincon...

This was taped to the front door (lucky no one pulled it down!!)

FH's old roommate was very much a part of our relationship when we first started dating. "Rob" actually slept on the couch in FH's condo. That couch has been moved, but this was in its place...

At this point I'm thinking, OMG, this is really happening. He's upstairs. Wait. Where was his car?

At the top of the stairs, this was sitting on his open computer...

Both doors upstairs are closed, so I assumed he was hiding behind one of them. And for the life of me, I could NOT get his computer to open. He normally has it password protected and I tried at least 6 times to type that password in correctly. Seriously?! Are my hands shaking this much?! Finally I had to text him. The reply?

"Just hit enter"

Lemme tell you, I'm genius.

Here's the video....

Isn't he adorable?!

So I head off to my old apartment complex where I lived when we started dating (the "Mont by the River").

And this is what's taped up outside of my old apartment (and when I say taped, I'm talking I took paint off the post when I took it down!!)....

1. He hates Pride & Prejudice. I love it. We watched it on one of our first dates. He suffered through the whole thing. I think he might love me a little bit.
2. I had mice in this apartment. Not pets. Wild, field mice. Ick. This is why I moved.

But my clue led me on to our church and I found this...

This one made me cry. Big time. So sweet. And I haven't even mentioned this before but FH and I bought a house (but aren't living together) so that's where I went to find this...

This one's hard to read, but it says my furry friend (aka: Puppy) had my last clue. My first thought? Oh, no, what did he tape to my dog?!

But it wasn't taped to sweet Isabelle; just to the gate I use to keep her from roaming the house and making messes...

So on my way upstairs, I notice that my flowers somehow made it from work to the house, and I snapped a picture...

They're lovely!

When I got to the third to last step upstairs, FH (standing in our bonus room) dropped to one knee. I lost it. I don't remember the last few steps, exactly what he said, or even looking at the ring, but I remember one thing...

"I want to spend the rest of my days with you. Will you marry me?"

"YES!!!!!!" Cry cry cry. Blubber blubber blubber. Ring on finger.

Next thing out of my mouth?

"You couldn't have done this on a day when I actually washed my hair?"

This Lil' Birdie Loves: Big Sunglasses

2011-08-28T19:19:00.000-05:00

Yes, yes, it's been a while. Yadda yadda. All that.

But there's a lot going on and we'll get to that sooner or later.

For now, let's talk about my obsession with big sunglasses.

{source}

I think this is the epitome of classic fashion. If Jackie O wore a paper bag, I would probably still love it. But to me, the sunglasses just make this whole thing fabulous.

It is extremely possible to go too big (and I think Hollywood proved that point for all of us a few years back), but a classic big round sunglasses in black or tortoise shell, and you really just can't go wrong.

Which is why my next purchase will be these

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I will be sure to post my Jackie-inspired look as soon as (1) these come in and (2) I find the charger for my camera.

This Lil' Birdie Is Techy

2011-06-27T14:43:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I might have maybe lied just a little bit in the title of this post. Seriously, I'm probably one of the most un-techy people. Ever. But you'll understand the lie in, oh, about 5 to 7 minutes (depending on how fast you read, of course).

I had a conversation at work today about how babies born in 2011 will never understand life without a cell phone. I remember getting my very first ever cell phone in the ninth grade.

It looked like this.

Except that I was amazingly cool and "high tech" and had a pink faceplate cover. Just the front.

But that phone lasted a whole of less than a year before it was "outdated" and I got this lil' gem.

And I seriously thought it was the coolest thing ever when I got a phone cover (front AND back, no less) with "blah blah blah blah" written all over it. 'Cause you know, in the ninth and tenth grades, all you do is talk on the phone. Oh, wait. No, I didn't at all.

Anywho. This phone was amazing! I could play snake (Ooh, do y'all remember snake?!) And then I figured out the genius behind texting (when it took you sixteen minutes to text one letter because you had to push every button six times to get the right letter to come up and you could pretty much forget about capitalizing anything or figuring out the punctuation. Was there even punctuation?). And noone I knew even texted then.

See, I was totally techy before techy was techy.

But wait. It gets better. I remember pitching a. Fit. because I wanted a flip phone! OOOH! They were so cool!

So Mommy and Daddy caved, and I got this just before my senior year in high school...

Except mine wasn't blue, it was silver. But oh, it was so COOL! That black and white screen, the antenna, and when I hung up on people, it was just so SATISFYING! And the best part about it? I bedazzled it. Yup. Seriously. I had red and clear swarovski crystals absolutely COVERING that thing. But I was a cheap do-it-myself kinda girl even back in the day, so I didn't actually pay for a cover. No, no, instead, I individually glued like 60000000 teeny tiny rhinestones to the front of this sucker. And over the course of the next year, they fell off. Slowly. One by one. Until I had like 6 left and FINALLY decided to take them off.

Yep, I was totally cool.

But wait, my freshman year in college, this technology changer came out...

And I had. to. have. it. So on Black Friday my freshman year in college, me and my sweet momma and my extremely annoyed sister stood in line for THREE HOURS to get me this stupid phone. And oh, how I loved it! Once again, techy. See, it had a COLOR screen. And could play real music ringtones. And this is when my cell phone addiction came into play full force. No turning back now.

The Razr was followed by this guy cause it was even SMALLER and, wait for it, played iTunes. I mean, really. I HAD to have the phone that played iTunes (and I think I might've used it once. Ever.)

Which was followed by this...

Because... well... blackberries were just cooler and I wanted the full keyboard for texting. Seriously, at this point in my life I was the texting queen. No, really. From senior year in high school until about junior year in college, I texted. I didn't call. Half of my relationships started and ended over texts. Ahhhh... the good ol' days.

Then the Pearl was stolen when I dropped in during class (true story), and I ran around like a crazy person with no phone (had to stop someone one the Quad and ask to borrow their phone because I had ABSOLUTELY no way to get in touch with anyone *WAHHHHHH*), so I got this.

And email on my phone. And oh, bud, it. was. cool. Looking back now, I'm think this was the biggest, clunkiest phone I ever owned. But this was probably the one I had the longest. From Sophomore year in college all the way until my senior year in college when...

Sweet Petunia fell out of my rain jacket pocket and died tragically in the world's deepest rain puddle. I tried to resuscitate her. She went in the oven at 150 for six hours. She went in a bag of rice. She went under the fridge and came out dusty. Nothing helped.

So in the "Hi, my name is Ashleigh and I have no phone because land-lines are so not cool" stage, I found this. And it was a touch screen. And I was anti iPhone/Apple.

Really, please do not ask me what this phone is called. All I know is it sucked. So when my brother in law got an iPhone for Christmas, changed his mind, and offered to sell it to me for $50, I took it.

See, techy. And this was about a year and a half ago. iPhones weren't exactly new. But I had one! Yep, techy.

And since, as you can tell by now, I have an amazing track record with taking care of cell phones, within the first two weeks of having this bad boy, I dropped it, and shattered the screen (thanks, adorably cute pink sparkly case that did absolutely nothing in the way of actually protecting anything). So I lived with the phone with a broken screen for MONTHS until Boyfriend (who truly is the most techy person I know. Really.) decided he wanted the iPhone 4 (ooh, back to the bar phone but this time with color screen and a compass!) and I decided I wanted one too. So we pre-ordered. His came in first.

And that's how this came into my life.

We have discussed at length my obsession with phone cases. But I would say, at this time in life, the obsession is definitely not with the phone. The phone has become a part of me now, though. Could I live without an iPhone (provided I had SOME phone, of course! This isn't exactly the dark ages.)? Probably so. Do I want to live without my iPhone? Not particularly

Will I get the "new" iPhone when it comes out? Nope. 'Cause, you see, I'm already techy. And I'd really much rather put my money into new cases.

Like this.

AHHH! It's on sale! Off to purchase more things I don't need. Someone stop me? Please?

What's your cell phone evolution look like? Am I the only one

This Lil' Birdie Sanded

2011-06-22T16:25:00.000-05:00

So we've talked about my little obsession with Halcyon Green.

But if you know me at all, you know I'm never really "done" with anything.

Like the dresser that's currently my TV stand.

Here's the story:

The dresser was my Daddy's growing up, then mine as long as I can remember, and it wasn't particularly ugly, just not the wood color I would've picked (think walnut). So when Sweet Sister and I were moving in together for college, she needed a dresser, this was an extra, and somehow it made it to Tuscaloosa.

I painted it cream and then added a brown glaze so that it would match her "shabby chic" room.

Then when she moved out, it was once again my dresser. For two years, it was pretty and cream and made a great TV stand (plus, who doesn't need extra storage space, right?!).

You can see it in the background of this picture (please overlook the mess -- my best friend had decorated my apartment for my 21st birthday -- yes, that was years and years ago). That's Isabelle being a nerd about the balloons.

But apparently that wasn't good enough because I got a whim to paint it one day. I headed to the Sherwin Williams store, got Halcyon Green paint (didn't even take it home to look at the swatch), and bought paint.

Two coats later it looked a little like this....

(Hi Isabelle! Always in the pictures....)

But I'm not a perfectly painted kinda girl (if you didn't know that before, now you do). So I took some brown paint and "antiqued" it...

This was the "finished" product....

Here's a close-up of the brown on top distressing (it looks very light blue in this pic but it's not!).

In retrospect, the handles should have been changed, but I'm lazy. They were good enough.

But now? Now that I'm moving into a big girl house (more on that later!) and this could possibly end up in my foyer, it needed SOMETHING.

So on the rainiest day Tuscaloosa has seen in a month of days, I decided to sand it.

Here's what happened.

It turned GREEN and white. Not quite what I was expecting, but I like it! Sanded is obviously on the left.

I definitely like it better. Like I said, it was absolutely pouring so I had to bring everything inside without finishing, but it gives you a good what it looks like now vs before picture!

Left is sanded, right is not. And here's a close up of the sanding

This piece is a favorite of everyone that visits (except the Boyfriend, he doesn't much like it). And now I think it's one of my favorites.

Can't wait to finish sanding it! (But my hands can definitely use the rest!).

This Lil' Birdie Loves Ruffles

2011-05-26T20:56:00.001-05:00

Hello, sweet little ruffled friend. Since The Limited is have a 40% off everything (yes, you read that right. EVERYTHING) sale tomorrow, you will most likely be living in my closet from here on out.

Heartbroken, Devastated, and How You Can Help

2011-04-28T09:33:00.000-05:00

Some of you know and some of you don't, but I have been blessed for the past six years to live in the wonderful city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. If you've watched the news at all this morning or last night, that name should ring a bell.

Last night, around 5, a F5 tornado one mile wide tore through Tuscaloosa.

As I sat in a saferoom with 8 other people 5 to 10 miles away from the tornado, I was the most scared I have ever been in my entire life. We had watched the massive tornado rip through Cullman, Alabama earlier in the afternoon, and couldn't even imagine that happening to our town.

It's one thing to see it on the news in another city, another state. It's a whole other thing entirely to hear reports of "total devastation" in YOUR town.

For some reason we're pretty much a tornado magnet sitting here just 45 minutes from Birmingham, Alabama. And we're no stranger to tornadoes. April 15th of this year we had a tornado rip through the south part of our town. But it wasn't like this.

To put it in perspective, the cottage I used to share with my sister is roughly where that arrow in the picture is.

This is Forest Lake and 16th Street E. I lived on Forest Lake and 19th Street E.

A sweet friend and her husband (our church's neighborhood missionaries) visited the site last night to pass out water and clothes. This is what she said to me...

"All roads impassible. Having to use dozers to clear roads. Talked to a police officer at Rec Center and he said there are more than 15 dead because he pulled 9 himself and in Rosedale[a government housing project] there were so many dead that they just marked them and set them aside. It's really bad... People can't even get out to get home to other counties, not even by the interstate. Only two gas stations open in all of Tuscaloosa; everyone coming to Northport."

My heart breaks when I hear this because this is my town. I know these people.

If you haven't seen it already, please watch this video. I don't think the person should have been in their car that close to the actual tornado, but I was with a friend in this area just Tuesday night for a Stella & Dot show. Now it's gone.

I would hope that your first response to seeing something like that would be to pray for anyone and everyone that was in that monster storm's path. Apparently it crossed four states (Alabama, Georgia, and then North Carolina and South Carolina).

I would hope your second response would be "How can I help?"

The prayers are much needed. The estimated death toll is 128 in Alabama, and that is before workers had daylight to search the debris.

We also need blood. I've heard reports of a blood drive today in at Northridge Fitness in Tuscaloosa. I don't know that for sure, but I do know that our local Red Cross location was directly in the path of the tornado yesterday. The Red Cross released a statement and you can read it here.

Also, our University of Alabama Student Rec Center has been set up as a shelter for those without homes. They are in desperate need of toiletries, pants, and undergarments.

If you would like to send a care package with some items, please send me an email at thislilbirdie at gmail dot com and I'll provide you an address.

Today, it's not about what team you root for or where you graduated from college. It's about human life and helping others. I hope you'll find it in your heart to help my beautiful city, because God knows, we need it.