My Heart’s in the Highlands

Virginia Highlands, that is.

There are so many lovely areas around Atlanta where I would LOVE to live. Growing up, I was a city girl and I could walk everywhere. Craig and I often talk about moving in town once the girls are in college. I would love to be able to walk to darling boutiques, antique shops, book stores, restaurants and coffee shops.

Seriously, how fun is this place? I heard about it from my friend, Paige and knew I had to check it out the next time I went to Virginia Highlands. It did NOT disappoint. The bagels were so light and delicious, not at all dense. The vanilla butter cream cupcake was delicious beyond words. (I would have taken more pictures, but I got in trouble and had to stash the camera…)

Hmm, I could totally live in this house. What do you think? I love everything about it, the architecture, the front garden, the fence. Oh, the fence, it’s spectacular isn’t it? I wonder what the house looks like inside…

The Sunny Spot

His favorite place, where the sun streams through the window in warm, cozy ribbons.

The Sunny Spot!

Is there any better place to be on a gorgeous, spring day?

Big fluffy bed, best view in the house, sprawled out for a long afternoon nap.

Anthro Love

For those of you who have ever had the pleasure of strolling through an Anthropologie store, you know it’s a treat for all the senses. The store is beyond lovely, their window displays are UNBELIEVABLE and of course, every nook and cranny in the store is an absolute treasure trove.

My parents are in town at the moment and Anthropologie is one of my mom’s favorite stores too. You can always find the perfect, most unique and breathtaking gifts there! I could spend hours in that store and still not see everything. It’s pure bliss every time I go there.

I love the meal-planning magnetic notepad. This will be great to see the week’s menu at a glance. LOVE IT! I also love the ALL OUT OF notepad. My “Real Simple” “Things to do” checklist had recently run out and I have been looking for a replacement for quite some time. Tada!!! Found!

How darling are these colorful little page flags? I can’t wait to use them to flag our favorite recipes in my cookbooks.

Could you just die?!?!? How precious is this adorable little giraffe jewelry dish. It’s ridiculously cute and functional!

I’ve had my eye on this ceramic egg holder for quite some time now. I am going to use it hold my jewelry/earrings.

I also had two ceramic Ikat bowls that I decided against at the checkout. (I may go back for those…) I wanted a cute bowl to put my rings and watch in while I am baking/cooking. I have another anthro bowl that I bought last fall that I can bring downstairs to use now that I have the darling giraffe dish to take it’s place.

Seriously, every time I go in that store I walk around with a big goofy grin on my face. There are so many lovely things to see.  If you have never been and you get the chance, you must check it out. You won’t be disappointed.

Flash, Kaboom, Sizzle

Last Saturday night we had an incredible thunder and lightning storm. It was very intense and the lightning was so frequent it felt like a nonstop strobe light was in the house.  At one point, just before midnight, there was a brilliant flash followed simultaneously by a deafening clap of thunder. Craig was asleep and immediately leapt out of his chair. I nearly over-turned the computer table, it scared me so badly. We ran upstairs to check on the girls, Lauren was hysterical, sitting in bed with her pillow wrapped around her ears. Livie was still sound asleep.

Not long after, I opened our garage door a crack so the cat could have some shelter during the night and I smelled smoke. Thick in the air, but no idea where it was coming from. I ran upstairs to tell Craig, who, at this point was snuggled cozily into bed and didn’t want to get back out. After a thorough check of our house, including the attic, Craig ventured outside in the pouring rain to find smoke billowing out of our darling neighbor’s A/C units.

I called her and asked her if everything was okay over there while Craig was calling 911. They must have had several calls because it took a while for them to arrive. Craig put the fire out with the hose. I honestly think if he hadn’t, it would have spread to the wiring throughout her house. The fire department arrived, three trucks and two squad cars. They checked everything and gave our neighbor the all clear. She spent the night at our house just to be on the safe side.

The next morning, after I walked back next door with her, we were standing in her kitchen and I noticed a giant strip of exposed wood traveling the full length of one of the trees in her backyard. We had originally thought that the lightning had struck the a/c units, but in fact, it struck the tree out back and traveled to her her house… and unfortunately, ours too. We discovered that morning, that our beloved flat screen hadn’t survived the storm. Things could have been WAY worse. Our neighbor is so lucky that the fire stopped at the outside wiring to the house and didn’t continue burning inside.

As you can see, the tree is right on the other side of our fence.

So long, sweet Sams*ng. You were awesome for the one short year we had you. (Craig replaced it with a new one that afternoon. We are hoping it can be serviced but I think she may be a goner.)

Sunshine girls

On Friday night, just around dinner time, the girls were playing in the backyard just as the sun was starting to set. The weather was gorgeous so I stepped outside for a few pictures.

Olivia kicked the ball to the top of the slide where Lauren was waiting to catch it. This provided endless entertainment for these two silly girls.

Two turkeys.


Oh how I love these girls!

I love pictures of their tiny feet. Looks like it’s time to wash the Crocs again…

Healthy, quick and tasty

I had been wanting to try Ellie Krieger’s Honey Roasted Sweet Potato recipe for quite some time. It looked simple, delicious and healthy so I gave them a whirl this week and they were exactly that. (Recipe can be found in Ellie Krieger’s “The Food You Crave”)

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
• Peel and chop  your sweet potatoes (I used two large ones but the recipe calls for three) into 1-inch  pieces.  
• Mix 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil with 2 Tablespoons of Honey and 1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice
• Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pour the mixture over the sweet potatoes. Toss to coat
• Bake, stirring occasionally, until fork tender. (About one hour)
• Keep an eye on them, mine were ready before one hour, at around 50 minutes. I just checked their progress each time I stirred them.

Warning, these sweet potatoes are seriously delicious. Watch out. You many want to eat ALL OF THEM!

I seasoned one pound of tilapia with salt and pepper.  Place a steamer basket inside a large pot and add water, enough so that it doesn’t come through the basket. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer and add the fish and some lemon slices. Cover and let steam for about 4-6 minutes until the fish flakes easily. Keep an eye on it. You don’t want to over cook it.

Chop broccoli or if you are lazy like me, buy the already chopped kind in the steamer bag in the produce section. Add to a microwave safe dish, add 2 TBSP of water. Cover and cook on high for 4 minutes. Check for doneness and cook longer if necessary.

This dinner was sooooooooooooo good, not to mention healthy. It earned rave reviews from the whole family. It was a snap to prepare and took little time to cook.

Teacher Appreciation

This year, for teacher appreciation, we decided to give the teachers an assortment of yummy cookies. In the past, I usually baked the treats myself or picked up a cute potted plant to give as a gift.

I spotted these adorable green and white polka-dotted bowls at Target and knew instantly what I wanted to do with them.

I stopped by Publix and picked up six dozen cookies from the bakery.  (2 dozen chocolate chip, 2 dozen sugar cookies with sprinkles and 2 dozen oatmeal raisin.) The Publix bakery is pretty spectacular!

I put an assortment of the cookies in each bowl, placed each one on in a baggie and tied them up with pretty ribbon.

Et voila! A simple and cute teacher appreciation gift for your favorite teacher!