The Official End of Summer

Usually I'd consider Labor Day or the first day of school the last day of summer.  The pool usually closes on Labor Day, but back to school always elicits thoughts of Halloween, football, fall, and pumpkins.  However, this year I am marking the end of summer (though not the end of HEAT) with the end of my maternity leave.

That's right, after twelve blissful, sleepy, pajama-filled weeks home with our newest little lady, it's time for me to hit the grindstone again.  I am so very sad to leave Riley, but she is going to be in great care.  Ryan and I worked hard to find a great daycare that we love, but nothing beats bumming around with her all day.  I'm definitely excited to see my friends again and to use my brain in a different, non-diaper counting way.  There are a lot of moving parts that I'm nervous about, like leaving her, pumping, the morning schedule.  But I know that with a lot of grace and a little luck, we'll make it.

And in order to make myself feel a little better, I did a teensy bit of shopping.  It didn't help a ton (I'm still much bigger than I want to be!!), but it did help a little.  New shoes really make a difference, people.

So if you get a chance today, say a little prayer for me.  I'm going to need it!!

Mid-Weekend Recap

I refuse to sell my weekend short and am sure we will embark on new adventures today, but I do want to document the fun we had yesterday, hence the optimistic title.  It's quite possible that all we do today is house chores and horseback riding, but one just never knows.  It is Shark Week, after all.

Yesterday morning, in all my craziness, I scheduled an 8AM photo shoot.  This is the third year for the Tails of Love photo book put together by the Humane Society of the Ozarks - an organization near and dear to my heart (I was even co-Volunteer Coordinator for nearly a year...I don't know where I found the time!).  Our family has been in it both of the previous years, so we couldn't imagine not participating now.  This is our second year to use Chris Blake, a member of the board, as our photographer.  He is a very patient man and we are so grateful to have him to take our pictures.

I scheduled the darn thing at 8AM because we were in the middle of 105 degree heat and I knew Landry would not be long for this world in any kind of heat.  But when we woke up Saturday morning,  it was barely 60 degrees!  The dogs loved it, but Alli was freezing in her cute little dress.  The shoot was, as ever, painful with two rowdy dogs and a kid who won't look at the camera, but Chris felt like he got some good shots, so here's hoping.

Afterwards because it was so incredibly cool, we decided to head up to the Farmers Market with the boys.  They were the hit of the day, and Alli had a great time too.

The world-famous "Hamdry" as my sister calls him

The PedalPops guy gave us a frequent buyer card...

Afterwards, we returned to The Natural Pet (mentioned here) to try Landy out on some new dog food.  Then, on our way home, Ryan pulled a u-turn and slid sideways into a new place on Township called In Retrospect.  I introduced him to thrifting a few weeks ago, and I think he's hooked.  In Retrospect just opened August 1st, and the tagline below the name said "Vintage.Kitsch.Flea-tastic."  Sign me up.

There was so much adorable stuff there, but I flew through it with Alli, Ryan, Cash & Landry waiting in the car, so I didn't get to ponder it like I wanted to.  But we are definitely going back - it had the feel of a place that already shopped the thrift stores and repainted and updated them for you, which is nice in that one, it saves you the time of doing it yourself and two, it gives you good ideas if you want to do it yourself.

We then headed home to all take naps - the long week and early Saturday morning took its toll on everyone.  We got back out around 5PM and did some new furniture shopping.  I think a healthy mix of old and new keeps your house from looking like a thrift store itself.  Plus, they can be pretty proud of their stuff, those antique stores.  Sometimes, it's to your advantage to get new!

Here are some inspiration pieces I snapped while we were out:

• Hall tree - PierOne: Oh how I long to have a mudroom and a launch pad.  This hall tree would definitely help - it has good spot to hang purses, keys and backpacks, a mirror to make sure you don't have mascara clumped in the corner of your eyes, a bench begging for punchy pillows, and concealed storage below.  PierOne knows how bad I want this, because it's around $350, but oh my!  You should note that it also comes in a mahogany, but we both know I prefer the white.  Cute pose, RLowe.

• Lamp - Furniture Row:  We got a bedroom suite and our current kitchen table at Furniture Row some years ago, and we've actually been pretty happy with both pieces.  I didn't see too much in there that grabbed me this time around except this pretty lamp.  I love the big base, and I love that the shade is almost burlap - very textured and very not white.  White fabrics don't last long at this little abode.  Oh, and sure.  I like it because it's white.

• Jewelry Chest - Ashley's:  This gem drew me in from across the room with her slender build and weathered look.  I didn't know until further inspection that she was a jewelry chest - complete with hooks, drawers, and even those special drawers that you can put your rings in.  Top it off with that blue and white paint job and I was hooked.  Price tag scare - they knew I was coming.  This little baby is $700, so I am thinking she will just need to stay inspirational for me.

• Buffet Table - Ashley's:  I was pretty smitten with this leggy buffet table the minute I saw it.  My most favorite piece in our house is my gorgeous buffet table (sort of spied here), so maybe I have a thing for these multi-functional go-anywhere pieces.  Entry tables, serving tables, sofa tables...these babies can do it all.  This lady was on sale for $500, which isn't terrible.  Maybe one day I will have a spot for her.

So there's a little shopping with the Lowes this weekend.  Hope you all had a wonderful Saturday, and here's to Sundays being just as fun!!

Keeping Fayetteville Funky

I've not made much of a secret of the fact that I absolutely love Fayetteville.  But with a busy week commuting to Lowell, raising an elementary schooler (sniff sniff), cooking, cleaning, exercising, grocery shopping, and just plain living, Ryan and I don't always take the time we should to truly see our city.  There are so many stores that we haven't even been to yet that we've heard about for years.

On this hot but wonderful Saturday with nothing to do but whatever we wanted, we decided to spend our day keeping Fayetteville funky - that's the name of the city office's campaign to get people to shop and eat locally, so I'm borrowing it.

First, we headed to the renowned Fayetteville Farmers Market.  Alli met some Razorback cheerleaders, which is always exciting even if you do get to hang out with them all football season long!

Then she and Ryan got popsicles from the PedalPops guy (they were really delicious and fresh with real fruit!).

We even stopped by the Fayetteville Town Center so she could push on the giant ball that's there.  She really enjoyed that.

After we perused the Farmers Market and bought some peaches, okra, soap, and flowers - we can't ever pass up good homemade soap and a gorgeous bouquet when we are there - we headed in to Riffraff, which is a cute little boutique on the Square with home items, gifts, and clothes.  After eyeing these tees for a few years, I finally bought one - love!

We also hit up the Mustache Store for Ryan, because I knew he'd love the offbeat general store feel and really appreciate the quirky stuff that's in there.  Once we wrapped up downtown, we ventured down College Avenue and popped in Vintage Violet and Maude.  Vintage Violet is an antique place with mostly clothes and some furniture, and Maude is the clothing store in front of it.  Then we headed to a new pet store in town to check it out.  We're such animal lovers, we can't pass up a pet store, especially when it advertises holistic, grain-free, very high end food (maybe one day I'll write about my obsession with animal nutrition...).

I picked the woman's brain about good alternative foods for Landry, who currently has some pretty weepy eyes and hot spots popping up all the time.  We got some samples and I have a feeling we'll be back in there to buy some Fromms Game Bird for him.  I just love dog food shopping.  Then we went to another new place for us, Walker Brothers.  I had long admired my co-worker's Curly Tail brand clothes (often red or white with a pig logo on them), and Ryan started mentioning it as well, so we headed in there.  Oh wow, did we have fun!!  Ryan scooped up a new polo and got the. perfect. tailgate. pants.  You'll just have to wait until football season to see them, but trust me.  Wow.  We also grabbed some great new collars for the dogs (spoiled).

Right next to Walker Brothers is Party House, which I've been in several times, and Tesori, which is a really precious store opened by one of my sorority sisters that I hadn't visited yet.  I had a great time browsing both - so many cute things!!

After that, we grabbed lunch at one of our favorite non-Hugo's burger places, Grub's.  When we walked in, guess what was on TV...

Dressage!!  Be still my heart!!

I have a confession:  this is the second time in my life (the first being last Friday) I've had a burger that I cut it in half and boxed that portion up for later.  Who am I?  I have to admit to you, you still get full on half a serving, and you're not stuffed and miserable.  It's actually nice.  I'm still ashamed.

Then we ran over to Target, our only non-local stop of the day, to grab some Scotch Guard for the dog collars, new welcome mats (I love replacing those regularly) and a new laundry basket for the laundry room.  My family can rejoice, we no longer have the falling apart wicker baskets from Big Lots - the new one is plastic, big, and teal.  After that stop, we went to a roadside antique place I'd been admiring in Springdale on our way to the pool all summer long.  Ryan's never actually been to an antique store, but he absolutely loves piles of junk so he really ended up having a great time.

Old patio furniture - I die

So now we're exhausted, home, and watching Olympic hand ball (Thanks, Ryan).  Here's hoping we get some beach volleyball or men's basketball (true life - I love Kobe Bryant, but don't tell anyone).  Happy weekend, friends!!

Shoe Shopping

While Alli has a sweet little friend over and Ryan's at work, your girl is enjoying her beautiful Saturday by doing a little spray painting and online shopping.  I'm sure you'll get pictures later of the frames and other decor that I'm updating, but I just had to show you what I'm shopping for!

Kids Silver Sparkles

TOMS!!  Gawd I love this footwear!!!  First of all, they are comfy, versatile, and cute (I may have 5 pairs), but more importantly, when you buy Toms, they donate a pair of shoes to a child in need!  Shoes and philanthropy?  Talk about my kind of shopping!  Even better - they are uber (yes, I said uber) trendy kids footwear!  Alli has had a red pair for a while (the only color they ever had in her size in stock), but it seems Toms has figured out that little girls love sparkles.  So far we've ordered the silver pair above as well as these two below:

Does this not scream "ALLI??"

You can't get pink without purple!

How fabulous are all of those?  I can't wait for them to get here!!  And I may or may not have been looking for myself as well (don't I need purple too??) when I came across these:

Made for Lara

Pretty freaking perfect for my blue-loving friend Lara.  I'm trying to convince her to wear them under her wedding dress in May.  Hello!!

I'm a genius

I wonder if she will let me wear MY pink glitters with my pretty blue maid (not matron) of honor dress?

Perfection

Or she could say no and give me an excuse to buy the silver glitters.  You know, whatever.