a les than ordinary life...

Savannah/Hilton Head via Friends

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 12:00:00 +0000

My 30th birthday fell on a Monday which happened to be our travel day back home from Savannah/Hilton Head/Atlanta. We got home in the early afternoon and after opening cards and gifts and reading facebook messages I couldn't help but feel anything but overwhelmingly blessed. And as I lay on the couch responding to facebook emails I thought, "30?! This is great... I don't feel a day over 24!" It is then that I realized I had just taken 3 ibuprofen and was wrapped up in my body-size heating pad! Whatever works, right?

My friends and Justin offered to celebrate with me in Savannah this year. Justin and I had never been to Savannah, so we were excited to visit the southern city. Our 4 hour ride from Atlanta to Savannah turned in to a 6 hour ride, so we took advantage and visited the sites along the way. Oh, you didn't know Dairy Queen of Macon in the Exxon gas station was a must see? Surprisingly, our little southern town doesn't have a Dairy Queen, so the mini blizzards are a big time treat!

Our hotel was amazing, as was the weather, as was the downtown. The first night we were there we ventured out to experience the night life and at 11:30 Christina said, "It's YOUR birthday, what do YOU want to do?" But of course... what any true 30 year old party girl past her prime would say... "Go to bed." Maybe it was because our husbands were there or maybe because we are getting older, but it didn't go unnoticed that went on birthday vacation, had cocktails and never got drunk. Never even stayed out past 12:30, but we were staying in the Westin and they do have those heavenly beds. Best.Sleep.In.A.Long.Time.

Saturday we ventured over to Hilton Head Island to enjoy the HHI Westin and their beach! The weather was perfect... sunny and beautiful, but not hot and the beach wasn't overly crowded. Truly, we had the best of both worlds experiencing the southern charm of Savannah and the beach! What more could a birthday girl as for?

As with any vacation, it was over MUCH too soon, but I am so grateful and humbled to be surrounding by such kind-loving people. Thank you, Justin, Christina and Ken for making sure I felt celebrated and loved. I've never felt more.

Savannah via Instagram

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Allison has been talking about instagram for months and months and due to my twitter/facebook hiatus encouraged me to join so I could share my pictures during my trip. Usually, I just text them to her, but I'm glad she talked me into this. I love the idea of being able to edit them into art immediately.

Paula Deen's restaurant.

No, we did not eat there. We heard it wasn't worth the wait. I do love the tilt-shift feature that makes one thing in focus and everything else blurry.

Chandelier in the lobby of our hotel.

I'm thinking this one might need to go in a frame, but which room. A house is never really finished is it?

Tupelo is a type of honey, not made in Tupelo. Too bad. Have you heard the Van Morrison song? It's beautiful.

Savannah Bee Company

The Andrew Low House

Downtown Church.

I will say, I am super impressed with the iPhone 4. I took several of these while we were driving around and they aren't the least bit blurry. Amazing. I have about 30 more pictures that I snapped Sunday afternoon around the city, but I didn't run them through Instagram, so you'll have to check my facebook. After Easter, of course.

Wild Garlic

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:00:00 +0000

{This is what I look like at 7pm on Sunday night after waking up at 6:30am for a 7.5 mile run, Church, laying out, watching Tiger lose the masters, grocery shopping & preping and cooking dinner. eeekkk... sorry!}

Maybe it's because I just finished reading Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously, but I've felt so inspired to blog and blog about FOOD! I do not, however, feel inspired enough to cook through an entire cookbook in any amount of time. I loved the movie and I really loved the book, but I couldn't help but think about how expensive the project probably was, especially if you factor in cooking things you don't end up liking? But it would have been fun to have been her friend and invited to dinner at her house. Ok, so pictured above is me with the Wild Garlic! Crazy wild, huh? I had never really heard of it and in my online research I gathered that it was more popular outside of the USA, so measurements were tricky. I decided my first cooking attempt with Wild Garlic would be Wild Garlic Pesto, because as fate would have it...I already had the other ingredients. Most importantly I had a container of raw pine nuts that I've threatened to throw out for a while, but never did. I learned that you don't use the white bulb part of the wild garlic, instead you chop the leaves. The Wild Garlic has a pungent garlic smell {which i love}, and the websites said the taste was mild, but I disagree. Maybe I've been eating jar garlic for too long, but it was strong! {which I also love} I thought it chopped up gorgeously and was just begging for a photo. I bought a little 3-cup food processor that I believe will probably change my chopping life... or at least my salsa life. {made that too, Sunday night} For the Pesto I processed ~ wild garlic, olive oil, toasted pine nuts & Parmesan cheese slivers. I added salt, because the recipe suggested, but I think I probably should have laid off. It is so fresh and delicious tasting. So far so good and I'm very pleased with out FIRST CSA recipe! Stay tuned for the Mediterranean Turkey Burgers I made by incorporating the pesto. Original recipe found here...

Putting my money where my mouth is

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 12:17:00 +0000

As you well know, I made a BLOG with my friends two years ago and decided to make the change to a healthier lifestyle. When I started that journey I was overweight, unhealthy, unhappy, but determined. However, I had NO idea what healthy meant. Two years later, I am NO EXPERT, but my thinking has evolved in many ways.

My health journey progression...

1. Weight Watchers ~ count your points and eat less fat. This totally worked for me! I think in total I lost about 14lbs! Nice jump start!

2. Saw Micheal Pollan on Oprah and she said, "All our food became fat free and we all got fatter!" Considered the idea, what if Fat-Free isn't real food?

3. Read Pollan's book Food Rules to understand what real food was. It's a book that will challenge your thinking & help you learn more about what you're putting in your mouth. Plus you can read it in a day!

4. Evolved to ~ making the best health choices for me and my family at the risk of eating fat & real food!

I think there is much misunderstanding behind food, organics, processed, etc. and even I don't understand all of it all the time. I want to tell you what works for me, and I will on FFC, but please hear me now... I think Weight Watchers is a FABULOUS life changing concept. It changed my life and has changed the life of many others. Case and point... J.Hud! I do live in a world (life & business) where I like to re-invent continuously, so that's what I expanded beyond my original route.

Ok so now that we've chased that rabbit for a while I should probably get back to telling you what I'm really talking about. We joined our local CSA & picked up our first share yesterday!

{Cute market tote courtesy of Allie & monogramming courtesy of Sam}

CSA stands for "Community Supported Agriculture" which is a very fancy acronym for "I pay local farmers to grow my veggies/produce/herbs so I don't have to buy them at the store." I would have taken pictures at the farm, but at the risk of being that weirdo, I refrained.

First share includes...

~Arugula

~Wild Garlic

~Radishes

~Parsley

~Cilantro

~Swiss Chard

~Kale

~Lettuce (can't remember the proper name but it looks kind of like romaine)

I also bought my eggs there, which brings up another story all together, but I'll save that for another time.

In my life, I have never cooked with wild garlic (which is VERY different looking from tame garlic), Swiss chard or radishes. So, one of the most exciting things about being involved in my local CSA to me is to be able to get creative in the kitchen and share with my friends. I am hoping to make some wild garlic pesto this weekend, because I have all ingredients on hand! (How often does that happen without planning?)

Go to this website {Local Harvest} to find out if your community has a CSA. This is a trial run for us and it might make more sense for us to share a share with our friends next season, but we will see! It is a little pricey up front, but as Michael Pollan taught us ~ You can either give your money to local farmers now, or give your money to doctors later. I'm happy to help my farmers.

Will hopefully post recipes soon!

the last week in my 20s

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:38:00 +0000

This time next week I'll be celebrating my 30th birthday! It is insane to me that my 20s are almost over. Part of me wishes I had made a big 30 for 30 list or something like that, but alas I didn't. I'm ready for 30! I feel happy and settled like I'm on the right path and I know for sure that the last thing I feel is old. Granted, I have a heating pad wrapped around my neck and back at the moment. Maybe I have a jacked up neck and back, but that doesn't make me OLD! I can remember my 20th birthday like I celebrated it last night. It fell the same night of the Sigma Chi/SAE party, Manmouth, (was that what it was called?) and I dressed to the nines in a black tube top and black skirt. Wonder what shoes I was wearing? Shoes are always a tell tale sign of the times... 2001. Too bad there aren't any pictures. So... here we are, 10 years later and a lot has happened, so I figured I ought to give my 20s a proper reflection.

Turned 21. Wasn't the best present of your 20th birthday was that you were 1 year closer to 21? Maybe it was just me, but I couldn't wait to be able to get into Schooners.

Graduated from Baylor. I still look back and think about my study habits to social habits and have no idea how I did it. In 4 years.

Moved to Austin. People ask me now why I moved to Austin and it was because my BFF was moving there, so why not? Such a wise decision and I'd move back to Austin tomorrow if given the chance.

Lived on my own~ish. Enjoyed all my roommate experiences, some more than other, and some I wish I could form a compound with now. But my single girl studio apartment that I lived in in Chicago is my happy place. I go back there in my mind when I've just got to get away.

Changed my hair ~ In the past 10 years I've been red, brown, black, blond, purple. Short hair, long hair, messy hair, angled bob, The Rachel, straight, "curly", teased, flat, frizzy nappy. Of all those, I think I want to revisit blond.

Watched every single episode of Sex and the City. Saw both of the movies and then watched it over and over and over again. How is it that the episodes are still relevant and their clothes don't look out of date?

I started my career, but at the time I had no idea that it was my career or how it would all pan out.

Met my good friend, the stiletto. In 2004, I wore 4-5inch stilettos every.single.day. I thought there would never be a time when I wouldn't feel more comfortable in stilettos. Now I can't wear them for more than a couple of hours at a time.

Tried sushi. Gagged my fool head off at first bite and now I love it. Spicy tuna, y'all!

Traveled from coast to coast, but not out of the country. If I had to pick between NYC or California... I'd pick California. Obviously, not the city, but such a great place.

Moved to Chicago. God closed a door, opened another one and that move changed my life.

I met my best friends in my 20s. I lost some best friends too. Martha Stewart once said, "Sometimes best friends are not, and that's too bad." Couldn't agree more. Losing friends, I believe, has shaped me into a better friend. I'm so thankful for the best friends I have. Truly, they are the best.

I lost all of my Grandparents. It is so weird to think that they are all gone, but I am very lucky that I had all the years I had and made the memories I made.

Friends ended. "I didn't get on the plane." I bet a week doesn't go by that I don't drop a quote from "Friends" in a conversation. Still so funny, but unlike Sex and the City... their clothes DO look out of date!

Started a blog. Well, a xanga, then a blog and here we are. Wish I had known then that the internet is written in ink, but I do love looking back and seeing how I've changed.

Met my husband at an Avis Car Rental in San Diego, California. When he introduced himself, I immediately looked for a ring. I was pretty sure that he was way too conservative for me. He's made me want to be a better person. I think I've made him a little less conservative.

Got healthy and lost 20lbs. To look back on where I was it boggles my mind to realize I'm at a place where I like to exercise. I had a couple of glasses of wine the other night and confessed that to Christina. I guess it's no secret... I enjoy working out. It takes a long time to get to THAT place!

Taught myself how to cook with the help of my good friends at the Food Network. Now it's one of my favorite hobbies and I get to do it all day every day and most nights at home.

Moved to the South. I NEVER thought I'd move back to Texarkana because it was so small and now I live in a town that is half the size of Texarkana. Welcome to Mayberry my friends... a far cry from Austin and Chicago, but charming all the same.

Got 2 babies... Lola & Stella. Good grief I love those angels. Not sure if I would treat my kids as good as I treat my fur babies.

Bought a house. Basically by myself, because Justin was out of town. I adore our little cottage, but wish that it had of come with endless funds to make it fully my own.

Started drinking wine. Wine got a bad rap in college... it was just so snotty and pretentious. What was I thinking? Give me a glass, a bottle or a box... I love it all!

Got an iPhone. Think back to your first car phone/cell phone. Now, how great is the iPhone? I've had 3 now and I can never go back!

Didn't learn how to not put my foot in my mouth. My Stupid Mouth by John Mayer is still one of my most played. Maybe I learn how to shut the heck up in my 30s. Here's hoping!

Didn't learn how to arrive early or on time. I'm still late everywhere. STILL! My internal time clock is just 10 minutes behind the world clock. My weakness will always be my weakness.

Ran a half marathon! It felt amazing to push myself to new levels, and now 2 years later I'm thinking about doing it again this year. Running isn't an addiction for me, but I do enjoy setting and reaching goals.

My feet got smaller and my hair got thicker. Is that a getting closer to 30 thing?

Got Facebook. Deleted Facebook. Got Facebook again. How different would life be without Facebook? It's taught me how to be a better internet stalker and that nothing is ever truly private!

My real body age, which was tested a month ago, is 24. The truth is, I feel far better now than I ever did at 24. If the 20s were any indication of what's to come... my 30s will be fab.u.lous!

Finally, that no matter where I am, God is always faithful to provide. Even when I scan this list, I can't help but think how undeservedly blessed I am. For that, I am so grateful.

America's Next Great Restaurant

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:54:00 +0000

Who's watching America's Next Great Restaurant? I was interested in watching for several reasons.

1. Love Bobby & Curtis. (sorry, Lorena...I'm sure I'd love you if I knew you)

2. LOVE, LOVE everything about Chipotle.

3. I own one of America's Current Great Restaurants.

Justin, however, was not as excited to watch because there is something about boys watching reality tv that completely unnerves them or threatens the revocation of their man card! Are y'alls boys like this?

I was hooked after the first show, because I agreed 100% with the top 10 that the investors settled on. But when they had them run an actual restaurant during an actual busy lunch hour... genius way to separate the men from the boys! Also, made me feel validated in my feelings that the restaurant business is HARD work!

When the operation was burning down around them (by the way... we've all been there) I said to Justin, "I will have so much respect for Steve Ells if he takes his jacket off, rolls up his sleeves & gets to work." Totally forgot to have him put on a half apron! It was a tad ironic, because the exact same scenario happened to us on Saturday night. We could literally feel his blood pressure and his pain! After that, Justin was hooked!

So, these are my favorites... I like their concept, but I also think the "get" it!

1. Sandra ~ Limbo. I think she changed her restaurant name last week, but we were both fans of the name Limbo. Great concept, great experience, will totally work in the fast casual setting!

2.Eric ~ MeltWorks. I like his concept and it seems like it could be a hip new thing. With the right people on the bus, I think he could be a successful business operator.

3. Greg & Krystal~ GrillBillies/Hick's. Their concept is one of my favorites, but they have GOT to rein in their ideas. I think the judges want theirs to work out too, but they really need a chef with solid food knowledge to help them create a well rounded menu.

Is it totally weird that I wish I was competing on the show to see if I could get the investors to invest in me? It's probably best I just stay where I am!

almost forgot.

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 12:36:00 +0000

{Shopping for Seminar...this was not a keeper}

I have a new friend here in Tupelo that found out I live in Tupelo because she saw my blog and asked a mutual friend to introduce us! While eating lunch this week, she mentioned me having a blog and I had to stop and think for a minute.... I do? OH YEAH!

{Lunch at Ajax in Oxford, MS...southern comfort}

Perhaps I should neglect no longer. I read blogs and occasionally comment, but when it comes to maintaining my own, I'm dropping the ball! I allowed twitter and facebook to rule my social media life, and I finally reached the point where I had to stop cold turkey. Let me blanket this in an enormous {ME PERSONALLY ~ NOT JUDGING YOU} I felt like there was something wrong with me if I knew what your best friend's cousin's mom was up to the second I woke up every morning but hadn't so much as cracked my bible. So, for me, something had to give. Something being facebook & twitter. Not sure if it's a Lent thing, or if I just need to step away long enough to get my priorities back in line and my addiction subsided. Again, this is my thing... I do not judge you. How could I? You can't judge other people when you're addicted to freaking twitter and facebook...at 29.

{Snuggling on the couch with Lola}

It's been 2 weeks... I miss twitter the most. Besides keeping up with my friends, I kept up with the news on twitter as well, so I feel out of the loop at times. Thankfully, Justin is a news junkie so he keeps me posted on all things Kardashian. Just kidding...kind of. It does crack me up that after 3 years of marriage he still tries to break Pop-Culture news to me. Guiliana is my homegirl... you can not get anything past me!

Speaking of JF... these pictures have been all about me. Which, I suppose it's my blog and it is a lifeLESordinary and not alifeJUSTINordinary, but I'll share some web space with him.

I was tempted to not share this, because I didn't want every desperate housewife to harbor jealousy in their heart over my husband. Really, if he knew I posted this picture to the blog he might start alifeJUSTINordinary for the soul purpose of getting me back! We love face-time on our phones and when you pause it, it freezes your face and I'm savvy enough to snap a picture to remember that face forever!

Alright, alright... here's normal Justin by the Christmas tree with Stella. It's funny that I posted a picture of me with Lola & Jf with Stella, because usually Stella is my baby and Lola is Jf's baby. Now I feel a little bad, so I'll leave you with an incriminating picture of me. I have no shame...

{Sexy.Sweaty.Bangs!}

and I'm really pretty when I get finished with my workout.

Snowtorious B.I.G.

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:15:00 +0000

That was the *BEST* name given to our little Mississippi snow storm we had over the weekend/Monday by one of the local news girls. It's good, right? I apologize in advance if you clicked hoping to see pictures of our little family decked out in winter gear posing in the snow. We have no such pictures. I did however video the dogs playing in the snow, but we forgot and talked to them in our dog voices on the video, so it will not be shared. Christina says the way I talk to my dogs could be an SNL skit, but no need to try it out with you guys!

I LOVED being snowed in! It was fabulous to know I couldn't go anywhere and it was like the 2 day weekend I dream about having! We did a lot of relaxing, chili making, movie watching, but I knocked out several project and created more. After taking down all the Christmas decor, my house was flocked with glitter but felt oh so empty, so it put me into over drive!

First I sanded a night stand for our bedroom, sanded a mirror that I will be selling and then painted the night stand. Those items were on the list. Then I decided to paint the guest bedroom! It's been a major eye sore (to me), but not a major priority until yesterday.

Here's the night stand! Now we have matching night stands in the bedroom and the color inspired me to trade out the bed and paint a cute headboard I have the same color! Fingers crossed that I have enough paint left to finish. The headboard has the same spindle look of the lamp, so I think it will tie in nicely. Back to the guest room...

I had about 3/4 a gallon of Lazy Gray in my laundry room, so I went to town!

{Sherwin Williams ~ Lazy Gray}

Once I got started painting I was able to get some more ideas for what I wanted in this room.

I picked these curtains up a while back, because I knew that I would like them and eventually find a place for them. I originally thought, living room, then master, but at $8.99 for 2 panels of curtains... how could I not? It's hard to find inexpensive curtains period and it's really hard to find inexpensive curtains that don't look cheap and these are pretty good.

Anyway... I think they are going to be PERFECT in the guest room! I can't wait to show you the finished project, and I have a very special guest coming in 8 days, so hopefully I can be done really soon!

It's January, right?

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 15:56:00 +0000

This picture was taken on our 3rd Anniversary (December 1) and Of course by now it's mid-January, but it's taken me that long to recover from the holiday season! Our business triples around Thanksgiving and we don't look back until New Years! Justin and I are extremely grateful to do what we do, and the people we have the pleasure of serving with, but I think we both agree that the holidays last just long enough.

The week before our anniversary it hadn't even crossed our minds that our anniversary was approaching. Which is humorous to me, because we work around high school/college aged kids that calculate the seconds they've been in a relationship and celebrate reaching month by month milestones. (I could do an entire series of posts dedicated to the nuances of deep southern relationships. They, at times, boggle my mind and it's like a different time here!)

I'm thinking, that because we both forgot, this year was the best anniversary yet! No anticipation, no major plans and no expectations to meet or not meet. I do love that we have the luxury of taking off the entire day together for our anniversary and it doesn't go unappreciated. It's a nice time to get away after Thanksgiving/Black Friday and before school gets out for the holidays. We went where we wanted to go, ate at places we loved and enjoyed stuff that we like to do. It was nice.

I'm reminded of our vows that we took 3 years ago. Do any of you newlyweds ever look up and think "3 years? Really? Feels like 50!" Not in a bad way, but can I get a witness? To recap, our vows are taken from Ruth 1.

16But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.

17"Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may (K)the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me."

I never wrote about or recapped year 2. It was a tough year and our work circumstance and living circumstance left us in a strained place. Thankfully, we were in the strained place together. When you work a stressful job together as a married couple half of the job is figuring out how to separate the two and learning that you always have to work on the art. Year 3 came and we both realized we had a LOT of work on our hands and we set out to get in front of our pain and resentment that our circumstances had caused. We did and now we're perfect. JUST KIDDING! Do y'all ever read blogs and think, "WOW, this person is a good fiction writer, because that can NOT be real life?" I mean really...perfection seeping from every corner of their little space on the web. That's too much for me!

Back to me. Year 3 was a year of settling and a year of peace for Lesli & Justin. It was amazing to me how peaceful and loving our relationship felt the minute our lives were settled. The tension, anxiety and frustration started to fall away. Now, having to go through the process of buying a house with my husband being 5 hours away was less than peaceful, but nothing lasts forever. He returned and we had a new lease on life in our marriage, our business, our town and our new/old cottage.

I still have unsettling moments where I think hideous resentful thoughts like, "I do this ALL for you and WHAT thanks do I get?" It's not pretty and I'm not proud of those thoughts, but I feel it's important that I be honest. After all, I am not a fiction writer and need not try and convince you that I am the perfect sexy wife married to the perfect sexy husband.

I'm happy (albeit begrudgingly) to be reminded that I made a covenant with God that where he'd go I'd go and where he'd stay I would stay. Covenants are a powerful thing and not something I'm willing to mess with. Thankfully, I have the next 60+ years to work on getting this right and I have a partner who is willing and ready to work with me. To put it simply... grateful, settled, peaceful.

PS~ Some of you commented to me on twitter that you had a problem commenting. I just did a test comment and commented as a guest instead of logging into any of the services. I put my name, email and website and it sent me the comment for approval. Sorry, if you've had something to say and couldn't say it. I appreciate you reading and being a friend!

~Christmas Home Tour~

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 17:04:00 +0000

I've been collecting Christmas decorations since Justin and I got married 3 years ago and all they've really decorated were the inside of boxes in our storage! I bought everything after Christmas, and immediately put it away, so most of it I had completely forgotten about! This year I was more than happy to pull out my decorations and did so the week before Thanksgiving! We had about 15 guests in our home for the holiday and I wanted everyone to feel festive and cozy!

Allison sent me a link to a blog home tour and I was so inspired to share with y'all! I so loved getting to decorate for the first time ever, that I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I do!

First let's start with the mantle and all the little decorated areas of the house and then we'll move on to the trees!

The stockings were hung by the chimney that's closed off... but still! I definitely would have liked to have done more here, and I probably will next year, but I have a strict rule about buying decorations AFTER the season when you can get them for the best price. I do like the festive touches that brought our mantle up to season. I like the glitter pine cones in the pink stems so much that they might just stay year round. Is that ok?

This is our entry way table with glitter tree that I've put our cards on. I took this picture a while back, so there are a few more that haven't made it on the tree yet! Can't wait until it's full of friendly faces! I filled my milk glass bowls with black, gold & silver ornaments and a Merry Christmas sign!

I snatched these gold candle sticks from my Gram's house a few visits ago. My mom hated them, but I just love them at the opening of my dining room and living room! These glitter pine cones and tiny birds have found their perfect home in the rim.

Funny story about this tree topper. I snagged in on sale last year and never actually put it on a tree! This year when I was decorating it wouldn't stay on top of either of my trees! Can't figure out why they would make a tree topper that wouldn't top a tree, but I digress. So, during the process of decorating this topper moved from room to room, but finally found it's home on the coffee table amongst the mercury glass, feathers and magazines! Now I think it looks like it always belonged there!

This was another thrown together hodgepodge that I thought turned out so nicely! This is on the side table of the couch. It's a gold and silver garland that I fastened together, threw some cream fabric in the middle and added some mercury glass. Like the previous topper, I was hoping to put this one on my gold tree, but it was too tall and too scary for hard wood floors. (Side Note: I've never dropped so many things in my life as I have on my hard wood floors! I am getting to a point that I need to buy extra of everything because I am bound to drop one and break it!)

On to the dining room. This is our green hutch and I thought this would be the perfect place to display the only red and green decorations that I have in the entire house! Can you imagine Christmas without red & green? Come visit my house and I'll make it easy for you. One of my Christmas trees is gold & one is black... I don't even have green trees here!

I picked up some of these Santa mugs last year at Justin's grandmother's antique store and picked up more of them and the jug from my gram! Gram's have little green rhinestone eyes. They fit in perfect with all the glitter and sparkle around here!

I love glass ball wreaths, but forgot to buy balls last year so I could make my own! I ended up going to a thrift store here and finding bags of glass balls for right around $8 total. Add that to the $1 I spent on tinsel and I have a fab new glass ball wreath for less than $10. If you look at this one up close, you can see how old and eclectic all the balls are and that makes me very happy! You'll see this one again in our Christmas picture!

Here is the "Diva" Tree! This was a green tree that I got last year and spray painted black. It was $40 cheaper to buy it green and buy the paint to make it black rather than just buying a black tree! It's a 6ft tree and I love how the mesh netting and over sized ornaments turned out! Wouldn't this be perfect in a sassy little girl's room? For now it's just perfect for our master bedroom where the colors are mostly black, white and pink.

This is the gold tree that's in the living room. I die a little inside every time I see the red wrapping paper, but I didn't wrap those presents, and I felt a little wasteful to unwrap them all and re-wrap in my paper, so you must forgive just like me. It's really hard to get the full effect of the gold tree without it looking white, and if I could invite each of you over for hot chocolate you could see all it's vintage glory with your very own eyes.

Here's the entire room lit up at night so you can get a better picture. I keep wanting to apologize for the quality of the pictures, but really, I'm not a photographer with a fancy camera, so this is a good as it gets and it could be a lot worse, right?

Family pictures inside the cottage.

Family pictures outside the cottage. It was actually snowing outside when we took this. Thanks for indulging me and looking at my house! From our house to yours... Merry Christmas!

Kitchen video tour

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:59:00 +0000

I was so inspired by Ryan's Halloween tour that I bit the bullet and did a video tour of our kitchen! She was right ~ it's so much easier to video than to photograph! Our kitchen is definitely a work in progress, but aren't all of our houses a work in progress as far as decorating and design are concerned?

It feels very nice to rest after going full speed for so long. Now that our Labor Day company has come and gone it feels like there isn't as big of a need to hurry around painting and arranging things. Of course I'm already thinking about Thanksgiving and starting to plan for that! Thanksgiving in our own cottage kitchen. Less than 2 months!

Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:00:00 +0000

I promise I'm NOT going to go day by day on what we've accomplished at the house. Can you even imagine? I'm not even sure that I would care to see that, so I promise I'll spare you and hit the highlights.

From the moment I posted that last post up until right now we've been working like crazy on our home. For an older home, it is not in bad shape, but it did need some work. Thankfully, it mostly needed a fresh coat of paint. And luckily for me and Justin we had 3 more than willing friends who moonlighted as painters.

One of those friends actually moonlighted as a general contractor. The previous owners had installed "tile" paneling and I preferred wainscoting. I told my friend Craig that I eventually wanted to take the "tile" down and replace it with wainscoting and he said, "No time like the present!"

And all of the sudden ever man in the house gets the opportunity to live out their demolition dream and the walls came tumbling down. Ok so the walls didn't come down, but that nasty "tile" came down.

I'm sure it looks fabulous in your house, because you are all smart stylish people who know how to work it. The "tile' installers that came before us were not you.

The actions of the first night called for our first trip to Lowe's first thing the next morning to pick out wainscoting & chair rail. I am very lucky that Craig owned his own custom cabinet business at one point in time, so he's very handy with the saw and the installation.

And while the boys handled the hard stuff... I tackled the cabinets.

I love the open cabinets, and I like the idea of a different color inside. Unfortunately, I have nothing that is blue, so it had to change too. Out with the old, in with the new.

I'm excited to share all the before and after pictures with you, and trust me there are a LOT! Please be patient with me, as we are running our business (had a GREAT 1st month ~ Thank you, God!) and doing all the work ourselves with the help of our dear friends.

2p.m.

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 14:02:00 +0000

As I live and breath, I NEVER thought this day would come this summer. Would you believe that it is easier to buy a restaurant/start your own business in this great country than it is to buy a house? We learned that the hard way, and perhaps I'll take the time to write that story out, because it is WILD!

In an effort to NOT jinx us anymore than we have already been jinxed because we are sole-proprietors, I've refrained from sharing this info and picture until now. This is our cottage that we are closing on today at 2 p.m. Not a great picture of the house, but I wanted to get Justin and the sold sign in the shot.

The next time you see our little cottage it will look much different! My neighbor is the project manager and lists and time-lines are already on paper and we have a team of 5 that is ready to get to work!

The same as this blog didn't turn into a wedding blog, it will not turn into a design blog, but I will be tracking our progress and sharing updates. This has been a long time coming and it thrills my soul that in a matter of hours I will be settled.

a "BIG" moment

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:30:00 +0000

I conduct all of our first round interviews in our business. Some people will hire anyone, I will not. One of the questions that has always stuck out to me is question number 6. Who is your hero? 97.9% of the time I get Mom, Dad, Aunt, Uncle or Grandparent. And when I ask why, I usually get the same response. "They've always been there for me." LAME! Shouldn't a hero be someone who inspires greatness in you? I think it's a tough question and every time I ask it I wonder who I would say.

A few weeks ago I was in Atlanta for business and Alison Sweeney *tweeted* an invite to go work out with she and Jillian in Atlanta. I assumed that they'd be working out downtown and I'd be a good 20 miles from where all the magic was happening. For grins I googled it, and would you believe my luck... they were 4 miles down the same street I was staying on! What? I called Justin and he said, "DUH! You have to go!" The opportunity to work out with the work out person I most look up to? It was MY moment and I had to take it!

So what was actually going on was Biggest Loser was shooting their first episode of Season 10 & invited the community to come out for a workout and show taping. They shot various parts of the episode around the country. They introduced 3 potential BL's and had them compete for 2 spots on the show. Jillian led the entire group in a work out and when I say led I'm saying that when I was doing push-ups my hands were basically touching her shoes and I was praying to the virgin Mary tattoo on her ankle! I expected there to be 1,000s and 1,000s of people there, but there were maybe 175?

Filming a show is a huge undertaking, so there was a lot of waiting around, but I was a woman with time and my iPhone {excuse the poor quality of the photos} on & in my hands, so I was in for the long hall. They interviewed people who were future cast hopefuls and asked how BL had inspired the crowd. BL inspired me to run a Half Marathon {which I'll be doing again this September!}.

First things first ~ Alison Sweeney runs out! Haven't we all been loving Ali since she was chunky Sami on Days? She was TINY in person and so engaging with the crowd. Also, she had on the cutest nude wedges ever and I can't quit thinking about them and looking for them!

Then out came Jillian and the workout started immediately, so I snapped a pic before she came over and camped out by me. Jillian seems very HARD and LOUD on BL, but it was definitely more of a playful "yell" during the filming.

Yes, the workout was HARD! For those of you who have ever done one of Jillian's work out video's, it was like doing one of her videos on fast forward. 10 minutes and I was pouring sweat and panting! So, if you've been wishing and hoping you could get trained by Jillian I suggest you put her video on fast forward and try to keep up!

Then the potential contestants came out to tell their story and weigh in before the competition. Which was the first 2 to complete a mile would be immediately escorted to the ranch. There were limos outside, but I have no idea where they were really going.

Before anyone came out the director said, "I'm not sure how many of you have stepped on the scale lately, but I'm sure most of you haven't stepped on the scale in front of strangers. Please be respectful." Then he genuinely choked up. It was just as emotional in person as it is on your couch. You can't edit that kind of emotion in to a reality tv show... it's just there.

Ali tweeting how excited she was to meet me in person. Y'all all saw that tweet, right?

My turn on the scale! Thankfully, with NO cameras (but my own), NO sound affects, and NO actual weight being posted!

I didn't get to take my picture with Jillian, but I got a good picture of who Jillian is. I think there's a lot of "acting" in these situations and putting on for the camera, but cameras rolling or not...Jillian loves her work and her mission is to make your life better. I was amazed at how genuine she is and how truly un-judgmental she is. Is un-judgmental a word? I left that day with much deeper appreciation for Bob & Jillian and what they do on the Biggest Loser and to everyone being inspired at home. I also left with my answer to the interview question if I ever get asked.

don't leave!

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 03:54:00 +0000

I've been working on my Biggest Loser experience post all weekend and somehow the second part didn't save! Wonk Wonk! Don't leave... I promise I'll be back! Plus, it's a really good story, it's just already 1 minute past my bedtime and I'm somewhat of a stickler. Love ya, mean it.

Michael Cohen Marshall

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:00:00 +0000

day of blogging silence to honor Megan & Brent & remember baby Cohen. Click picture for cohen's story.

time off

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:01:00 +0000

Ahhhhhhhhhhh! The time has come for me to kick up my heels, drink sweet tea and take some time off! I have about 10 days before I drop Justin off in Atlanta for a 6 week training class and I want to enjoy every last minute I have with him and our babies. Of course, I've been awake for the past 4 hours and he's still sound asleep. We all do time off differently.

May was wild. Weekends and travels too me to Texas, Atlanta, Arkansas, Atlanta, Birmingham. That's not a type-o... I was in Atlanta twice in a weeks time. Both times for work, but one of those times I got to meet Jillian Michaels & Alison Sweeney! WHAT?!? Yeah... it was an amazing moment in my life and I have many pictures to share with you!

June is here and we are officially Mississippians! All my stuff that I've missed so dearly has been hauled from Kentucky and unloaded into a garage in Tupelo waiting to find its way to it's new home. Oh yeah... we're in the process of buying a home. See, I told y'all ~ the best is yet to come!

I've missed you guys and missed consistently blogging, so hopefully during my "time off" I can commit some time to the old weblog! Thanks for sticking in there with me!

the best is yet to come.

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Fri, 28 May 2010 11:00:00 +0000

In 6 years of blogging I RARELY talk about my job in specifics, but Justin and I recently made a giant step in our career and I felt it worth sharing.

In July 2008 Justin entered into a program that we believe would most help him achieve his dream of owning his own restaurant. {I hope you can figure out by the pictures what the restaurant is. Due to google concerns I will not be writing the name out.} This program moved us to Norman, OK for a couple of months, Austin, TX for a couple of months and in January of 2009 to Tupelo, MS.

Here we are in front of "our" restaurant on President Obama's Inauguration Day. Our challenges were large, but with a combined 19 years of experience; we were so ready for the task. {No, that isn't a mistake. Justin's first day on the job was his 14th birthday. I only brought 5 years of experience to the table.}

We wore many different hats in the restaurant ~ boss, manager, counselor, mother, father, friend, milkshake spinner. At times it was emotionally exhausting and other times we were both overwhelmed by how obvious that this was more than our career ~ this was our ministry.

In July we got an Extreme Home Makeover! I never realized that Justin was wearing the same outfit! He looks great though, and so does our face lift! Goodbye red tile!

In May we were called in for our final interview. I got to go, so I made sure to dress us accordingly. Justin wasn't as thrilled to be taking the picture, but he's really good about indulging my need to match. Everyone we met commented on our coordinating styles and it made my heart proud!

All our hard work payed off ~ we are NOW bonafide restaurant owners. Life is good and they way things have been going lately I can tell that the best is yet to come.

Gretchen Wilson is stuck in my head!

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Our neighbor is a huge Mississippi State Fan and we've been itching to get out of town for some college baseball, so it was decided that we'd scratch this itch at Super Bulldog weekend in Starkvegas with Mississippi St. hosting Tennessee. His girlfriend suggested that we buy seats in the stadium, but he would not hear of it! It was decided that we'd sit out in left field on trailers. I couldn't quite picture it, but this is what we rolled up on!

Cue Gretchen...I am a redneck woman! This totally reminded me of the rooftop bleachers in the outfield at Wrigley. If the rooftop bleachers were on the roof of a beat up truck! Of course, I loved the junker charm of it all and was amazed at the creative efforts that people went to to ensure the maximum tailgating baseball experience!

We had our trailer all to ourselves and it was a perfect day for baseball. The high was 75 and ever so often a breeze found us. Funny how times change... I used to BAKE at baseball games. This day I came armed with my hat to cover my face, 30spf sunscreen and an umbrella! Somehow, I managed to still get some sun! Pretty wild, huh?

These are our neighbors! I'm pretty sure you've met their fur-babies, but here are their pretty faces! Aren't they cute? We adore them! The boys both share a major love of modern warfare, which affords us girls lots of magazine reading, gossiping & trash tv!

It's hard to naturally photograph tv watching and magazine reading, so I'm so glad we finally got a picture together!

I miss my stuff!

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Have I said that out loud to YOU lately? Well, if I haven't ~ I DO! Go ahead, get on your high and mighty soap box and tell me it's just stuff, but then go put ALL of your belongings (besides your clothes) in a storage unit for the next 15 months.

Of course it's not like I haven't shopped, but it's very strange to not put my decorative touch on my home. To give me a fix I recovered some junker chairs I found at the back of a junk store.

There were 2 of these beauties for $15 a piece. Are you as shocked as I am that they were in the junk store? Like a bad mom, I had to leave them sitting in my mom's garage for the past year, but she was kind enough to return them to me. She risked life & lung couped up for 5 hours in a small space with these things!

I've been in love with this fabric from hobby lobby for years now. Maybe only one year, but I've loved it since I saw it.

I think it turned out perfect for these little chairs!

I found the silver pillows at Ross for $6.99 the same day. Not sure if they will permanently make their home on the chairs, but it's fine for now. I just realized in looking at the picture that the pattern is going in a different direction on each chair. Would never have thought about it, but I love the flair it adds!

Easter Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Only 15 days later...{my birth day in pictures.}

Good Morning ~ I am 29. I snapped pics throughout the day as a way to photograph the moment. So, here was my first sight of myself as a 29 year old. The first thing I did was get up and put my work out clothes on so I could do some yoga. This is my absolute favorite work out shirt right now ~ got it in a clothes swap and it was the best swap ever! Loose but not baggy, good arm coverage, nice v neck... perfect. And isn't my new iPhone cover darling? Those are black, clear & hot pink rhinestones...Sassy little birthday gift!

Ah... back to the day...can't start the morning without this little one at my feet.

Good morning, baby Stella! Such a happy girl wagging her tail. Look what we found waiting for us in the kitchen ~

First we found this box in the corner...

And this jewel sitting on the counter! Glee ensued! I use a hand held emulsifier to mix things instead of a blender, so I figured instead of getting a blender I'd just go straight to a juicer. Ali inspired me and by now... I am in love!

Moving along ~ it is Easter Sunday, so we best get together our Easter Attire & get out the door to church!

Look ~ I didn't wear my yoga clothes to church! Interestingly enough, I wore this dress in Orange Beach last year on my birthday. Faux Pas? It was liberating picking out my "Easter dress" the morning of church and not fooling with the fuss of specifically buying something new. Aren't we always buying something new?

Justin is happy to coordinate with my clothes. I love that about him.

We were both very excited to be enjoying brunch outside. Enjoyed it so much my shoulders got burned and I had no idea!

Couldn't get enough of the sun, so we opened the sun roof, loaded the babies and headed to the park!

See... there we are coordinating again. I believe this was one of those moments where we walked out of our closest and were like, "We match!" Funny how that can unknowingly happen.

Nosey-Rosies love to people watch at the park!

Then we headed down to see/feed the ducks.

Looks like they are having fun in that water. Maybe I could too? I like baths.

And in she goes...

Loving every last minute! Until it dawns on us. Our dog just jumped in a nasty ass park pond!

Is that the smuggest face you've ever seen? Yeah, she smelled like a crotch after that, but that bath was worth it for getting to swim with the ducks.

We still couldn't resist the beautiful weather so we came home and washed our cars. Manual labor on my birthday? It was really nice to be outside.

I ended the evening snuggled on the couch with my 3 loves watching Sunday night shows. As I get older, my birthday is taking new shapes and form from the wild and crazy birthdays of my early 20s. I will not lie to you and say that I took to this change beautifully. There are definitely times that I miss not being able to sit down at a dinner table with 10 of my closest friends, but this is my life now. I'm learning to love where I am and trying to never forget how undeservedly blessed I am by the simple things. Growing up and old isn't all bad.

Eda-Eda-Edamame!

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Hello, WHIRLWIND! I didn't get a chance to update my food on Thursday, because I was away from the computer, and when I arrived home on Friday all we had to eat in the house was oreos and rotel. I enjoy getting creative with a bare bones cabinet, but I think that would have been a stretch even for me.

All in all, I was pleased with how detox week turned out. Thursday night I have to admit that I cheated a bit. I had dinner and stayed the night with my aunt & cousin, and I just can not bring myself to be a stuffy vegetarian! Flexitarian {meat a couple of times a week} is fine by me and much more manageable with my lifestyle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jill asked in one of the last comments what Edamame is and it dawned on me that there might be others of you that don't know! Edamame is the Japanese word for boiled Soybeans! I think the first time I ever tried edamame was as an appetizer for sushi. Last year when I was doing WeightWatchers I was trying to cut out fries and chips and had the idea that this might be a yummy salty replacement! I've eaten this a LOT, sometimes several meals a day since then and I can honestly say that I haven't gotten tired of it yet and if I miss it a couple of meals I crave it!

For a long time I could get it at Sam's in a box with 8 individual servings, but then they stopped carrying it {probably because I was the only person buying it}. Funny story ~ one time I asked about it and the manager said, "Why don't you just get some green beans and put soy sauce on them!" I hope you read that with your very best country accent.

Now I buy them by the bag and the serving is large enough to split it up between a couple of meals, but the nutrition information is so fabulous that you don't have to feel bad if you want to eat the entire thing! I snapped this pic of the nutrition label yesterday while I was eating so y'all can see what I'm talking about. Also, if you count WW points, this is very low points! Waaa hooo, right?

Let me know if you have any other questions and I'll get back to you! Next I want to show y'all how to eat healthy on a budget, because I hate that people think eating good is just oh so expensive!

wednesday ~ Detox Week

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Halfway through the week!

Breakfast ~

Same, Same, Same! I'm telling you ~ I'm a major pattern eater! Also, once I heard Dr. Oz say it was a good idea to eat the same thing for breakfast everyday, so maybe it's not so bad.

~
Lunch ~

1 Baked Sweet Potato w/ sprinkle of cinnamon

Edamame: no salt.

{i used to eat garlic salt on my edamame, but I've worked very hard to cut salt out where i can, so I rarely sprinkle salt on anything. i miss it on edamame, but I'm getting used to it.}

~

Afternoon snack ~
1 Banana

Dinner~
1 Avocado
leftover rice, bean, rotel skillet from yesterday

~
After dinner ~
handful of almonds

~Can I confess something to y'all? I ate a frozen thin mint today and I ate one yesterday. I know! I just didn't want y'all to get any ideas that I'm trying to put on that I'm perfect at the eating/detox thing, because it is hard! At home I don't know any girl scouts, so I am not tempted for a minute to get them ~ out of sight, out of mind. However, my Mom has an end and really why not enjoy a thin mint during this season? It's a rare american delicacy, right?

The point is, and I tell my mom this all the time, because she herself has lost 25lbs since January {Go, Mom!} if you're eating good and exercising regularly it will not set you back to have a thin mint. Be smart though and don't go crazy, and we've all gone a little crazy before!

tuesday ~ detox week!

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:00:00 +0000

breakfast ~
exactly the same as monday except I ate natural peanut butter & regular vanilla soy milk. i think you'll find that i'm a very patterned eater.

~

mid-morning snack~
nothing. honestly, i felt full until lunch

~

lunch ~
1 whole avocado
1 amy's organic non-dairy burrito
{found this @ Target yesterday & thought i'd give it a try. was FULL of good for you goodness and not processed preservatives}

~

afternoon snack ~
1 banana

~

dinner~
large fruit cup~ mandarin oranges, strawberries, apples & grapes
mexican skillet~brown & wild rice, rotel & black beans
{justin & I make a soup version of this, but it made a great hearty meal non soup version}

~
Today was a fantastic day! Got to spend a lot of time with Ali {Brown Eyed Blogg} discussing nutrition and eating healthy. We might be total weirdos, but we were having the best time processing our knowledge and sharing new ideas for meals. Really y'all, at first I thought doing a detox like this would be impossible, but you have to get creative and think beyond the usual thoughts of your mind. Christina, who is also joining me this week, told me tonight that she's never felt so good after eating. It's amazing what taking away preservatives and cow antibiotics and cancer food can do for your health! I know this detox seems extreme, so start with small changes if you have to. I think you'll be surprised at how quickly good habits can form out of this!

monday

noreply@blogger.com (lesli) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:00:00 +0000

wanted to give you guys an idea of what my menus for the days look like. not super entertaining, but it keeps me accountable and more importantly, aware!

breakfast ~

1 banana

1 slice of whole grain toast w/ almond butter

8oz of almond milk

~

morning snack ~

nothing... i was on the road, but one of my FAVORITE travel snacks {of course if CFA in not close by} is the fruit & walnut salad from McDonalds! of course on the detox, you'd skip the yogurt, but it's not a huge serving anyway.

~

lunch ~

i met my aunt out to eat for lunch, and it's a small town so we had mexican. i ate chips & salsa, but kept my servings to a minimum. we're always chatty, so that helped us both not to gorge! We didn't even eat one basket of chips! I ordered a Tostaguac with no beef or cheese, so basically ~ corn tortilla, guacamole, beans, tomato and lettuce! They accidently put beef on mine, so I had to scoop about 1/2 a pound of ground beef off! yikes!

water to drink

~

afternoon snack ~

1 banana

~

dinner ~

edamame

natural peanut butter on whole grain bread {sandwich}

large fruit cup

~Notes~

First day will probably be the most challenging, because I was in the car for most of the day. I can not stress to you enough how important it is to get your protein in! If you are eating protein and not eating meat your body won't miss meat, but it does feel weird if you're used to a meat and two sides at lunch or dinner.

Also, the first time I did a detox week in January I expected MASSIVE headaches because I was a MASSIVE unsweet/sweet tea drinker. Surprisingly, when I wasn't putting crap into my body my body didn't punish me with a headache.

The hardest part for me will definitely be no sugar. Why on earth would I chose Texarkana week for Detox week? Hello, Bryce's Pie? Yes. I'm.An.Idiot.