Shameless Plug: Masons

So while browsing my Facebook (and you should so friend me so I can leave you in purgatory for the requisite 7 days before I confirm you), I stumbled across a post that was VERY intriguing.

$500 to Masons?!?  Are you kidding me?!?!

For those of you non-Northwest Arkansans, it's a super chic boutique with high fashion that I constantly drool over (and on a few lucky instances and bonus checks, shop at).

Check it, seriously.  And let me know what you'd buy.  I'm totally thinking red denim and studded heels.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Football season, girlfriend!!   Did you think I'd linked you up to a Christmas post?  Aw heck naw.  You're reading a blog by a real live Southerner, so you know I'm talking about football!  Yesterday was the season opener for our Razorbacks, and the Holloway-Lowe tailgate was out in full force.  

Merry Football Season and Go Hogs, y'all!

Gaudy Gold Gone

Last weekend, we did such an easy fix that I'm almost embarrassed.  Like, I should have done this two years ago when Ryan hung the screen door.  But I didn't, and I let the gaudy gold finishes dominate our entry for far too long.

Finally, my friend Sherry (yes, I called her my friend even though she has no idea who I am) over at Young House Love inspired me to make a change in my life with this post.

So I said, "Hey, I can do that!" and I did, for about $10 at Home Depot.  And maybe Sherry should teach me about taking "before" pictures, so the "after" is more dramatic.  But picture a really worn out and extremely dated looking gold before so that this after works for you.

For deets on how, hit up YHL.

Horsing Around

I said the day Alli was born that I would never force anything on her.  I'd never make her do any extracurricular activity that she didn't enjoy, and if she ever told me she wanted to stop something, I would let her, no questions asked.

Of course, that applies to everything but horses.

I bided my time.  I waited for her to get old enough.  I focused on dance recitals, gymnastics, birthday parties, church activities, and all the things that keep little bitty kids busy.  But on the way back from Destin this year, I decided it was time.  The time I had been waiting for.  The time for Alli to start riding lessons.

Finding a hunter jumper barn in Arkansas is a challenge, as most people ride Western 'round these parts.  I finally came across a great barn in Fayetteville called Deer Creek Farm.  So I gave them a call to set up a lesson, hoping little six and a half year old Alli was old enough to ride.  I started when I was seven, so I reasoned she had to be decently close.  After a week or so or trading emails and phone calls, we set up a lesson two weeks out, and I was overjoyed.  At the recommendation of her new instructor, the week before we hit up a tack store owned by one of the riders at the barn - Everything Horse and Hound off Township.

Hello?  A tack shop in Fayetteville?  How did I not know this existed?

So we headed there and met Katy, the owner, and got Alli fitted for boots, jodphurs, and a helmet.  Oh how I wish the colors had been as fun and girly when I was a kiddo.  She got to pick between black, tan, and purple jodphurs (those are riding pants for those of you who don't know), and guess what she picked?

Duh, purple.  Did you have a doubt?

The bigger test came with the helmet selection.  Ms. Katy had one size small helmet in stock, and it was purple to match the pants.  Unfortunately, Alli spied the medium pink helmet.  We went back and forth discussing the merits of pink vs. purple, but at the end of the day, she decided she wanted to order the pink helmet in her size and wait for it.  That's my girl.

Seriously, I may order one for myself.


Tune in for a later post about how lessons are going - we just had lesson #3 yesterday!

Vacay Baybay

Yeah, so I've been off this summer.  I wish I had a super great reason, like being out of the country, undergoing a major life change, or turning off my internet.  But since we're in the trust tree, I was just being lazy.

We've been up to quite a bit here around the Lowe castle this summer, including our annual pilgrimage to the beach with my family.  This year we got to go back to our favorite spot in Destin, FL (I can't remember if I mentioned last year, but we had to reroute to Myrtle Beach, SC due to the oil spill).  We hit up the same fantastic condo Breakers East and cozied up with the Holloways for 7 days of bliss.  There was a notable addition to the packing list this year that made Ryan the drink mixer a much happier individual.  I wish they were paying me to push this product, but I'm just an avid, unpaid fan.  Budget it in.  You need one.

Going back to Destin meant we were able to hit up some of our favorite spots that we missed last year, including The Back Porch, The Harborwalk, and Harry T's.  Alli especially loves Harry T's because it's right on the harbor,  and if you time it just right you can sit outside and watch the ships come in for the night.  There's always a lot of waving and yelling and greeting the ships, and they often blow their horns or hold up the day's catch.  Very fun atmosphere.  Plus their drinks are huge.  Just sayin'.  We also hit up a great new place called Fishbar.  The food was ah-mazing.  I think we spent all of our eating budget for the trip there because we just kept ordering and ordering.  So good.

As always, no one wanted to leave and we condo-shopped while we were there.  A family can dream, can't it?  Where'd you go on vacay this year?  Are you the type who loves tradition or are you always trying out somewhere new?

Oh, and yet again.  I'm back, bitches.

Waiting on our table at the Back Porch

Mama's baby loves the ocean

Shrimp and Corona for breakfast

Alli with rescued parrots on the Harborwalk

Drinks at Harry  T's - I told you they were huge

Lowe family at Harry T's

So Hot in Herre

This weekend I did something I said I'd never ever do again.  I went to Riverfest in Little Rock.  After Hank Williams circa 2005 or so, I said I'd never again darken downtown Little Rock at 9PM on Memorial Day weekend just to see a concert.  The cigarettes, drunk people with their kids, and walking just aren't worth any artist who decides to come.

And then, Nelly came.

Oh yes.  My favorite artist in 8th grade (and every grade since then) signed up to come throw down in the Rock town.  I was in a dilemma.  And I broke my pact.  I had to go back.  I had to see Mr. Derrty Entertainment himself.  I wanted to ride wit him.  I had to batter up and practice my country grammar.  I wanted to see his grill, what, his grill in person.  And no, I didn't wear Air Force Ones, but I wanted to.  Because I am #1.  And I think that's the last of the song title references.

Nelly put on a super show.  I've said it to a few of you, but honestly, I didn't expect much.  Rap concerts are touch and go.  I saw Snoop Dogg (from just a few rows back) this year and he was awesome.  I really didn't think I'd get two good rap concerts in a year.  But Nelly can entertain!!  And knowing every single song he sang helped a lot too.  I think I screamed over him half the time.

And how cool am I?  I went with my siblings and my mom.  Seemed like the best way to spend Riverfest, having beer slung on you and seeing people with their newborns at a Nelly concert - with my own mom screaming "Girl, I think my butt gettin' big!"

Roomies

About two weeks ago, we added to the crew here at Chateau Lowe.  Can you guess what's going on???

Via

Squelch the rumors.  No babies.  Mama just likes brownies.  And I stuck to my word - Landry is the last furry addition for a long time.  Better than a baby or a puppy - my sista sista moved in!!

Did you all just breathe a collective sigh of relief???  You were afraid I thought I could squeeze one more animal in here?  I'm pretty sure that would short me one husband.

So yes, my gorgeous, vivacious, fun-loving, polar opposite of me sister is cozied up in the former cat room - ahem, guest room - and yes, I did buy her a new bedspread.  And move the condo and litter box out.  Now they all reside in my room for now and we all know just how happy that makes me.

It's only been two weeks, but I've so enjoyed her living here.  I seriously needed another partner in crime to watch trashy TV and eat junk food with.  Poor Ryan hasn't watched ESPN in weeks.  And I think the estrogen is getting to him - he actually commented on Real Housewives of New Jersey last night.  Anyway, she's been a super roomie, a big help, and a lot of fun!

Welcome to the casa, seester.  Now move over so Cash can get on the couch, get your dishes out of the sink, and fold my clothes.

Kidding...really.

A few of my favorites

I'm sorry, but there still isn't a lot going on at Chateau de Lowe right now.  We are spending lots of time outside, but don't have any major projects going on to share.  So I'll talk about my favorite subject - me!  Similar to the theme of the fill in the blank post, I'll fill you in on some of my absolute favorite things.  So you know what to get me on my favorite holiday or Christmas. 

Favorite non-horse animal:  Dolphin

Favorite animal print:  Zebra

Favorite non-Arkansas SEC team:  Florida Gators

Favorite season:  I've said before, I like them all as they come, but I really love fall.

Favorite place to vacay:  Destin, FL - such good memories there with the fam

Favorite city to visit:  Dallas  (I love STL as well and went to Chicago for the first time earlier this year and I think it could grow on me too.)

Favorite non-Mexican food:  Italian

Favorite professional teams:  Dallas Cowboys, St. Louis Cardinals, LA Lakers

Favorite Disney movie:  The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo (I'm a Pisces.  I love water.)

Favorite blog:  Young House Love - so evolved my style.  Live The Home Life is a close second though!

Favorite place to eat breakfast out:  Common Grounds.  I still love me some Waffle House though.

Favorite swanky place to eat dinner:  Bordinos.  After that, Bonefish.

Favorite car I've owned:  My 1999 white Honda Accord that I got when I graduated high school

Favorite candle:  Yankee Candles Farmer's Market.  It's like fall in a jar.

Favorite non-pink color:  Teal or purple

Favorite animal at my house:  Lola.  Most of the time.

Favorite dinner I can make:  Braised chicken cabernet from Pampered Chef.

Anything I left off?  Anything else you've been dying to know?  Any one of these your favorite too?  I'd love to hear about it!  Happy weekend!!

Living Room Lowedown

Nope, I didn't float away.  But I bet you were worried.  We've had some serious rainfall here in the past few weeks, and all Mrs. Lowe wants to do when it rains is zzzzz.....  It's pouring right now, lightning flashing, thunder rolling, and I can barely keep my eyes open.  I'll try to get through this thriller of a post, but no promises.  You only get so many good rainy nights to snooze to.

What a great weekend we Lowes had!  Despite the rain, we managed to attend 2 birthday parties for Alli's classmates, have the cute little twins who are exactly Alli's age over for the afternoon, go see Rio, and shop until we dropped!  The last part is probably the most interesting - I got some finishing touches for the living room and I'm ready to reveal the whole room!  Get crunk.

We've repainted the walls a few....thousand times.  Ok, this is just the third paint job, I promise.  And they've all been blue, I've just had to tweak the shade.  I'm so in love with this color, I continued it down the hallway and into the kitchen, as you saw here.  I'm not super great with the angles, but here's a few shots of the progress:

Yes, I have little doggie followers who creep in my pictures.  You can see I've tried to mainly stick to blues, creams, and browns for the big pieces with fun pops of color like the hot pink table and frames or the green storage ottomans.  I'm really loving it!

Sorry for the severe lack of your usual wit, humor, and joy...but I warned you.  It's raining.  G'night.

Evacuate the Dance Floor...

...because my baby is owning it!!!  I'm going to get a little stage mama on you here, so get over it.  Al Breezy takes dance class once a week.  It's a combo ballet/tap class (the only one they offered for her age, trust me.  I wanted hip hop).  She gripes about it every week, but she always has a great time.

So anyway, she got her recital outfits this week.  She's the only girl in the class of 7 that got a pink outfit.  And no, I didn't bribe the teacher.  Or threaten her.  It just really happened.  I promise.

Filling in the Blank

I've seen this around the blog world some, but when I read a good one by my friend Alex, I finally decided I needed to jump on the train.  So let's play "Fill in the Blank", because you know I love a good test format, especially if I'm the subject matter.

1.  I'm not willing to splurge on tights.  Whether I get the from Wal-Mart or the Limited, they all get runners.

2.  My favorite drink is a cold margarita on a warm patio with a ton of friends around me.  Preferably at La Hacienda by Baum Stadium.

3.  I love a good thunderstorm while I'm trying to go to sleep.  Something about lightning, rain, and the rumble of thunder that makes me go zzzzz.....

4.  I'd love to go to Italy on vacation.  But I can't seem to quit going to the beach long enough to save up for it.

5.  The hardest part about being a mom is getting up early on Saturday.  And worrying about every little thing you do or say having a lifelong impact on the most important person in your world.

6.  My favorite shoes are my Jessica Simpson espadrilles.  For now.

7.  My favorite time of year is football season.  Love the weather, love the food, love the friends, love living smack in the middle of Southern football at its best.  Go Hogs!


8.  My dream house is clean, decorated, historic, and in the Washington Willow Historic District in Fayetteville with a wraparound porch.


9.  My favorite movie of all time is Gone With The Wind.  I was raised on it.

10.  In junior high I was insecure, athletic, addicted to Abercrombie, and trying to fit in.  Who wasn't?

Bloom Boom

It's one of my favorite times of the year.  Not that I care for spring any more or less than any other season, I just love it when the weather changes!  In case you hadn't picked up on it, Mrs. Lowe loves her a good change.  Hence the 45 paint colors in this ever evolving place we call home.  So when it's late spring and the temperature is inching up, I'm always eager for summer pool time.  When that fall crisp gets into the air, all I can think of is Thanksgiving and football.  When winter comes a-knocking, I'm always up for a good excuse to hibernate.  And when the days get warmer and the flowers start blooming, I'm ready for spring.

It's only been warm here for a few weeks, but I am cautiously optimistic that it's here to stay.  In fact, this weekend, we Lowes did some planting, walking, patioing, and general outdoor merriment.  We officially have declared it spring.

My parents are coming up for a visit next weekend, and my mom always helps me plant my pots.  Your girl may have a decorating eye, but she has a black thumb and no sense of style when it comes to flowers.  Other than I like for them all to be pink.  So Momsy works with that one stipulation and always helps me plant the most gorgeous pots year after year.  People stop me and ask me about them and I stumble through the flower names and look like a fool.  But the house looks rocking.

I decided to get a jump on her this year by planting a few of the pots with flowers I know we like to use year after year.  Even plant moron can pick up on a few things after 3 years.

These pots are Alli's.  The first year we had the house, my mom got her Gerber daisy in this pot.  So every year we do a pretty pink Gerber daisy here in the full sun that is our back porch.  This year Miss Bree opted for a softer pink.  Subtlety.  Something her mother lacks.  Next to that is a new pot from her Granny, Ryan's mom.  She put some little succulents (sorry, Johnnie, I can't remember what they are called!) in this cute pale pink pot.  I topped it off with a bulldog - my mom bought this for herself and Alli talked her into giving it her instead.  As usual.  We have another pot on our bistro table and  I'm planning to add two more out there as well, but those will stay unplanted until my pro gets here next weekend.

These are New Guinea impatiens in a wicked hot pink outside the front door.  They see very little sun and generally do pretty well here (unless I overwater them like I did last year).  Hopefully I've learned my lesson.

My mom bought this pot for me when we lived in our first apartment.  I always have a geranium in it - it has a really tiny mouth, so the geraniums sits just perfectly in it.  This is the one plant I have that I've never struggled with.  I can keep those alive like nobody's business.  Yeah, I'm bragging about it.

Ryan and I put this bed in the second spring we lived here - obviously it's on the side of our house around the AC unit.  We started out with spirea there, but they had a hard summer last year and we ended up losing them.  We replaced them this weekend with loropetalum.  So you can see that these plants are still babies, but I am so excited for them to grow in.  I read somewhere that loropetalum can grow 3 feet in a growing season!!  I added these pots last summer, and those are snapdragons peeking out.  Of course in assorted colors.  Including pink.

Last summer we decided to plant along the other side of the house, but elected not to put a bed in.  I felt like we'd regret it, but Mr. Lowe did not enjoy the other bed installment.  So I used his lack of enthusiasm to leverage some hot pink knockout roses.  Easy care, pretty flowers, and look good without a bed.  I'm hoping these bad boys burst into bloom soon.

And now a sad shot.  These four ladies have been with me since Spring 1 in Chateau de Lowe.  Mom, Dad, and I spent the better half of a weekend putting this bed in and planting these gorgeous Encore Azaleas.  They have had a few tough winters and are looking pretty darn sad right now.  Alive, but sad.  They barely bloomed last year at all.  I'm looking at you, plant-loving readers.  Help me bring them back.  I love them.  I get physically ill thinking about them not blooming again.  Save them.

Okay, recover.  And check back soon - hopefully this time next weekend I'll have some more gorgeous flower pots to share with you!!