In the spirit of SPRING

After all the snow this year.. I'm so excited about spring. Last weekend a friend asked me to make some treats for her dogs so I used my flowers and Easter shapes.. Which inspired me to bust out the Easter wreath and the Easter decorations (seen in the back drop of my nieces dresses).

Well today I got a really exciting little package in the mail that made me even more excited for spring things. My best friend, Betsy, who owns Little Dreamers Boutique, sent me a cute little dress and some dresses for my super cute little nieces.
 

 My nieces dresses

And a pretty dress just for me..

 And these are the super cute spring dog treats 
I made over the weekend. Miller is in love with them

And here Miller is with his frog... 
courtesy of his Grandma and Grandpa Lash

Countdown to Cup

Cup is only 5 days away. 

For those of you not from SC.. the Carolina Cup is the big thing for Spring. Pretty dresses and floppy hats (well if you don't look like a nerd in a hat.. which I do).  Well as crunch time approaches so does the dress stress. And as a procrastinator, I have not a clue what I want to wear this year.

I bought this really cute French Connection dress a while ago but never wore it so it was my fall back plan. With no luck searching it's pretty much going to be my Cup dress now. So I'm not going to put it on here but these were some of my top choices..

 

I don't really wear Lilly to Cup because SOOO many girls do and I hate getting out there and having on the same thing as someone else. However, I was considering it this year, just because we aren't going to be in College Park and the odds of someone at 1 of 3 tailgates we'll go to having on the same thing is pretty slim. So I went to Lilly a few weeks ago and tried on a few different dresses.. here are the ones I was considering...

I love Lilly but they run big. However, this 0 was perfect fit.

I haven't tried this one on but I love it on the model

I also really liked these but I couldn't seem to find either when 
I went shopping in Knoxville.

Loved the neckline on the Nanette Lepore

loving yellow this spring.. this Milly was a fave

fresh spring make-up must haves

I'm a huge fan of natural beauty (obviously, isn't everyone) so I like make-up that looks very natural. I'm kind of a minimalist when it comes to make-up. Partially because I'm too lazy to spend alot of time on make-up, if I can't apply it while driving it's usually not part of my look. Despite all of this, I love playing at sephora and just looking at all the fun stuff. 
About 2 years ago I discovered this lipstick I love. (which my mom initially bought me but now I'm hooked on.. I hate lip stick but she thinks it's an essential make-up piece..) That being said, this isn't your mom's lipstick, it just brightens your lips with out that lip stick look - I LOVE IT!!

dior addict lip glow - $29 at sephora

That and a good mascara are my 2 must haves to leave my house. I have very few short little eye lashes so a good mascara is key for me. I've tried so many but Bad Gal by Benefit is by far my fave. Once again, I'm lazy so I don't use eyelash curlers anything fancy and I've found this little gem does all the work for me. 

benefit bad gal lash - $19 at sephora

When I feel like putting in a little extra effort one coat of mascara and a little Kitten by Stila and I look bright eyed and bushy tailed, even on the sleepiest  mornings.

Stila Kitten eye shadow - $18 at sephora

It's been crazy..

The weekend before last we kicked off wedding season 2011. CONGRATS TO ROBERT AND HEATHER!! It was good to go home and see friends. 

On our way back we found out about a shooter that was on the mountain side shooting at officers, only a mile from our house. He shot 4 of our local sheriff's deputies. Needless to say the last week here has been crazy.

I know I complain about the place we currently live (alot) but working in this office, I've become close with several of the officers in town, and watching this area (where we see so much bad) come together for the 2 officers we lost, it was really amazing. Where I work I feel like all we see are the bad things in the county but riding in that funeral processional and seeing people on the side of the streets with their hands over their hearts and people holding up signs "we love our law enforcement" was so heart warming. 

On a brighter note: The other 2 officers that were shot are expected to make full recoveries. Despite the fact that we saw so much bad that Sunday, we've also been lucky enough to see something Amazing. One of the officers was expected never to walk again but by the grace of GOD (literally), he is now expected to make a FULL recovery. He's going to rehab and they are doing surgery to repair his spine. We don't know when he'll be able to walk again but they do expect him to.

After all of the sadness here, it was good to go back to SC for another fun weekend with friends and to celebrate St. Pats. So that explains my absence. Hope eveyone had a good (safe) St. Patty's Day!!

The perfect Bag!!

All of my friends know that I'm obsessed with pictures.. they would probably describe me as borderline obnoxious with a camera. Well a few Christmases ago my big ticket gift was a Nikon camera, which I'm obsessed with, and my parents being the amazing people they are threw in an extra lens and a Nikon bag.

Well I love my camera and I carry it everywhere (well everywhere I don't fear I'll loose it or break it) but the bag I have barely holds the camera and one lens. So I've been looking for almost a year for a bag to replace, it especially since I have a list of other fun tools I want to add to it. Finally, I think I found the one I love!! Now I'm just trying to decide... fun color or practical brown?

 the Belle.. 

fun colors and lots of room

It's a little pricier than I had hoped to find but how can you put a price tag on pretty and functional. All I have left to do before making a purchase is read some reviews and pick a color!! I'm really excited about this particular find.

Spring is coming and the clothes are HERE!!!

So far on my wish list are these cute little items I found at a boutique in Knoxville and a few others i found while shopping online. Lucky for me my birthday is in spring so I always get a few new goodies (paid for by the parentals) and these are definitely making my wish list..

Love these colors

Love this for early spring

more fun colors (might be my cup dress)

Another favorite for early spring

Love this Trina Turk top

 

French Connection tiered skirt 

(love the print but you can't really see it here)

 

This is my Birthday/Easter Dress - I'm OBSESSED with it!!

This one is my mommy's favorite 

so fingers crossed it will make it in my closet after April

jewelry

So a few weeks ago I was looking for some fun green jewelry to wear for St. Pats.. no luck but I did stumbled upon these cute little sea turtles on Splash of Pink's website. I couldn't order them then because obviously buying a valentine's day gift for the hubby was more important. Well my fun new earrings came in yesterday and completely made my long day worth it. I'm so glad I decided to order my Fornash Sea Turtles last week because they are perfect. (Green is one of my all time favorite colors so I'm in love with these little guys)

If you don't know.. I'm kind of obsessed with little sea creatures. Starfish and Sea Turtles are my absolute fave but I pretty much love it all. So next time I'm having a bad day, any of these would make an easy pick me up.. and a fun additions to my summer jewelry collection.

I already have these starfish from J. Crew.. and they make me happy every time I wear them. I even splurged and bought the necklace to match. I hope my turtles have the same effect.. but I already know they will!!!