mamma mia

happy mother's day!

happy easter!

p.s. ~ have you seen the peeps?

let the good times roll ...

the new year, so far: 

birthday bombe in gatlinburg, 

mardi gras celebration,

bachelorette party in raleigh,

and finally ... 

LONDON!!

(more on that soon)

like molasses in winter

where you wondering where i've been?

well. 

my computer has been running verrrry sloooooooooowly.

some days, i don't even turn it on.

naturally, these conditions are not conducive to blogging.

i've been on a self-imposed hiatus.

hopefully this won't be lasting much longer!

here a few pictures of life since i've been gone: 

venturing out to enjoy the fall (and apple cider)

trying to go apple picking but actually going wine tasting 

having a weekend away in new orleans 

planting daffodil bulbs for the spring 

celebrating thanksgiving down on the farm 

enjoying the snow, snow, snow!

and having a very merry christmas 

here's to a happy new year! 

life's a beach

this past weekend, i got to pack up early and head out-of-town for a special treat: a long weekend at the beach with family and friends, enjoying the sun and the sand and the free entertainment from the gulls at dinner.

unfortunately, the pics stop there, since the trip ended in illness for most of us.  but all in all, the beach is still the beach, and i'm so thankful for this get-a-way trip!!

spring is back!

and so am i ... back from three back-to-back weekends away, including a roadtrip down to oxford that was more than worth the 10+ hour car ride, which was great, by the way, excluding tornadic activity and the times we felt like this.

more on that later.

right now, i am extremely proud of my daffodils. 

i decided back in the fall to plant a few bulbs in these large planters, below my pansies.  feedback was skeptical at best.  i cleared out the top soil by mid-february, and voila! we have new life springing forth.  it was a great day when i spied those baby shoots first peeking up.  i'm so excited for these blooms. 

***

i'm back from a wonderful weekend and Easter celebration at home.

here's a sampling of the table decorations i made: 

and here are the inspiration and instructions for the bunny ear napkins. 

Happy Easter, everyone!  He is risen, indeed, alleluia. 

mardi gras!

last night, we celebrated in style, i mean, we feasted on red beans and rice, followed by king cake, of course.

last year, d got the baby. 

sadly, she couldn't bring us cake for this year,
so i decided to make ours from scratch.

i was nervous, but it turned out deliciously!

yum!

valentines day

i'm having a little trouble believing it's already the middle of month.

the snowy weekends and busy days have caused the past few weeks to blur.

time flies whether you're paying attention or not. 

and, here we are.

happy valentine's day!

thanksgiving? unbelizeable.

yes, thanksgiving was two weeks ago.

yes, i have been fairly slacking in the blog department.

but now i'm back, and don't you want to hear about my thanksgiving?

i thought so.

i like to think of it as the "extended family's great escape 2k9", aka BELIZE.

activities included snorkeling in the sea, zip-lining in the jungle, and tubing through the mayan caves.

skies may have been cloudy, but it was warm, and it was the beach.

yes, there was turkey- and lobster.

and we all enjoyed the view.