City and the country...

The weekend before last, Nicholas and I headed back to Charleston for his Internal Medicine Boards.  I met my mom and Phil in Columbia Thursday afternoon - so that Mills could spend the weekend with his grandparents and fam in the upstate - and then Nicholas and I headed down Thursday night.  As soon as we got into town, we met our precious friends, the Yoes, at Rue de Jean for a late dinner.  They were so nice to let us crash with them again, too! {Sadly they had to head out of town Friday night, but at least we got to get in some quality time beforehand, AND their little downtown penthouse is like staying at a hotel - thanks, guys!} I dropped Nicholas off early on Friday morning for a fun day full of testing, went back and slept for a few hours {heaven}...and then in true packing-in-all-the-good-Charleston-food-you-can-after-living-there-for-three-years-and-now-living-in-a-small-town-and-missing-gourmet-food-at-your-fingertips-every-night-of-the-week fashion, I grabbed some pad thai to go from Basil before getting an afternoon massage...ahhh.  Right after I picked Nicholas up, we got some unsettling news about our house we sold in Charleston {more on that later}, so Nicholas decided he needed a couple of drinks before dinner. :p  We had reservations at S.N.O.B for dinner. The appetizers and salads were DELISH, entrees were just okay, but the dessert made up for it! :)  Then we met our friends, Ashley and Chris, out for drinks at the Market Street Rooftop - love.  Saturday we went to Caviar & Bananas for brunch...WHY THE HECK DID WE NOT EAT THERE NONSTOP WHEN WE LIVED IN CHARLESTON?!?!?  Tons of people had raved about it, and we stuck with our favorite brunch spots like Fat Hen and Hominy Grill...but we were SO missing out!

Nicholas had:

B.E.L.T. :  bacon trio/ fried egg/ arugula/ heirloom tomato/ black pepper aioli/ sourdough

I had:

cheddar & chive house-made biscuit:  “local” pancetta/ fried egg/ cheddar/ black pepper aioli

And we split:

“caviar” & bananas:  bruleed bananas/ sweet tapioca/ local honey/ brown sugar marscapone/ almond tuile

Holy amazingness...now we were miserably stuffed afterwards and couldn't eat again until dinner, but it was totally worth it - one of the best brunches E.V.E.R.  And please, if you live there, don't miss out on this little gem like we did! I'malready daydreaming about the next encounter I have with that delicious homemade biscuit amazingness and those heavenly "caviar" & bananas...ahhhh.

We spent the rest of our Saturday with the Schonfelds...so wonderful I can't even put it into words...just typical hanging out on a Saturday. We were going to head to the beach, but the weather got a little hazy in the afternoon so we just took it easy.  For dinner we couldn't pass up our typical weekly spot, Taco Boy, for some delicious guac and margaritas!  Plus, we got to spend more time with Leah, Matt, & cute little Callahan, AND see the Schreiners and sweet baby Charlotte! It was a seriously great weekend with friends...the only thing we missed was...

MILLS! :)

We met mom and Phil at Za's in Columbia {our former, former weekly dinner spot} for lunch on Sunday to pick up our little guy and hear all about his weekend {not like I didn't talk to mom 20 million times over the weekend to get updates, ha!}.

Here is what this little guy was up to all weekend {in pictures...A LOT of them...}

driving his cars around the house...

playing with cousin peyton at the pool...

swimming laps - look at my little fishy!

having some SERIOUS fun!!! :)

Playing with his great aunt myra at the pool, too!  My grandparents built this pool for me, the first summer after I was born.  Totally giving away my age here, but it's gotten a lot of use since 1983. ;)

hey handsome!

juice break!

swimming with Philly!

And "racing" with Peyton!

{play-by-play} :)

Sad he had no one paying him any attention...at all...right?  ;)

Look out, big boy on the move!!!

{this face - above and below - was him singing "do do do do, " the shark song while he was on this "shark" floatie}

Then it was time for a lunch break with Peytie...

fries and ketchup?? yum!

Mills also enjoyed riding Peyton's old Barbie jeep... :)

he loves anything that he can ride and/or moves!

Mills and his great-grandmother, MaMa!

And what is a weekend in the country without some apple-picking???

{which reminds me that I have a really good recipe to share with you later this week involving those apples, picked by those sweet little hands!}

Oh, and Mills also got his first pair of rainbows, compliments of GaGa and Philly!

More country fun...golf and baseball with apples!

Mom said he would hit the apple with his "bat" then throw it and run like he was running bases, haha! I have no clue where in the world he saw/learned that!

And of course, his very favorite toy - the hose!!!

Doesn't he look like he's really missing his parents in this picture??? {wink wink}

I mean, this boy had some F-U-N!!! That's for sure! I think his grandparents had something planned out for him every minute of the day - he was probably bored when he got home! :)  Thanks, everyone, for taking such good care of him and letting him have so much fun!

Oh, and he even came back with a DVD player for the car that GaGa and Philly got for him...spoiled rotten, ya think?? :)

And thanks to our Charleston friends, too, for hosting us, spending time with us, and just being awesome friends. We love y'all!

Ahh...

A sigh of relief that I finally feel like I'm starting to catch back up with life...

for the moment.

Maybe it's the fact that we actually have curtains hung in two rooms now...oh, the little things!

I've still got a ways to go...but right now, the boys have gone out for a little early evening golf, and I've got about an hour of uninterrupted, quiet, mindless time to catch up on some blog reading...glass of wine and box of Pepper Jack Cheez-Its in hand (SO delish, btw)!

I'm not ready to tackle all of the pictures and events I've got to catch up on around here...too much to do around the casa. 

Instead, since it was actually in the 80's for the majority of the day today (and Mills and I were able to play outside, finally!), I'm dreaming of some fall-ish days...pumpkin spice latte in hand,

 and these babies on my feet:

{and a house that's complete, with everything in it's rightful place, of course} And perhaps some Charleston friends whom I miss dearly, transplanted to our new town - is that too much to ask???

I didn't think so. ;)

Wordless Wednesday

{sent to my phone by Nicholas over the weekend while I was at my SIL's bachelorette party at the beach...made my day, my cuties playing in their cardboard box house, ha!}

18 Months!

Mills turned 18 months old on July 4th...I figured I better do a quick update before July gets away from me {sliding in at the last minute, as August 1st is tomorrow!}.

{I took these pics back on July 4th, in our old house...it took a couple of tries, and some were too cute not to share}

hehe, his face makes me laugh

{oh is it really that bad, buddy???}

I didn't think so! :)

 "You're the best, Mommy!"

oh.my.heart. the sweetest boy!

"Will this work, Mom?"

And now Mr. Millsy, what are you up to at 18 months?!?

-You still continue to be busy as a little bee! You love to play, especially outside, and you love water. Your favorite toys right now are your little 4-wheeler, trike, blocks, train set, and anything else that we pull out of a box (this has been a busy month of packing and unpacking).

-You're a great eater, and you're really loving fresh fruit these days - strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, apples, grapes...you can't get enough! You also love broccoli, green beans, yogurt (as always), hot dogs, CHEESE, crackers, waffles, and all of the other usual suspects. We let you try about anything that we eat. Your new favorite is chips and salsa at the mexican restaurant (dressing in dark, non-staining clothes is a must every time).

-You are still the best sleeper EVER, and I am so very {beyond words} grateful for that! Just this morning you slept until 10:15...I was ready for church before you even woke up! Typically you go to bed between 8:30 and 9:00, and wake up between 8:30 and 9:45...sometimes 10! You take one nap, from 1pm to 4 or so every day. At first after the move the afternoon naps were a little shorter, but just this week they've gone back to normal - thank goodness!

-You still love, love, love your momma. :) And of course your daddy, too! I definitely think I've got a momma's boy on my hands though - in a sweet, healthy, not gonna be living in the basement at age 30 kind of a way! :)

-You jabber all.day.long. "Mommy, Daddy, Ga-Ga (Gammy), Pappy (which you LOVE to say in a high voice, all day long), Harley," and you say "LuLu" off and on, too! You've even said Kelley, Gray, MaMa, MyMy, BayBay (for PayPay) - all family members' names. You are learning new words every day, but at the top of the list are "cheese, shoes, thank you, dog, and juice." You know the animal sounds for cat, dog, and duck, and we're working on a few others. You can also point to your (and anyone else's) eyes (which you do to Harley all day long, poor thing), nose, ears, and mouth. And you love singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider," and "Ram Sam Sam" (with motions, of course)!

-Moving has been a little hard...mainly you've been just a tiny bit fussier/whinier than usual, but not bad when it's just the two of us, more when we're around other people. The saddest thing is that you've been bringing me your shoes to put on, asking me to pick you up, then waving "bye-bye" like you want to go home. Breaks my heart. I think you did this like 20 times a day the first week we were in the new house, but the past couple of days you haven't done it really, so I'm hoping you're getting adjusted.  It's a big change for all of us, bud!

-You're the sweetest thing in the whole wide world, I love that I get to spend my days with you, and your Daddy and I (and the rest of our family) absolutely ADORE you!  You're the best thing that ever happened to us, for sure, sweet thing!

We love you!

Mommy and Daddy

{And after our photo shoot, just goofing off!}

Our precious 18-month-old! :)

Playing catch up, for sure...

We're finally "settled" in {I use that term loosely because we still have quite a few boxes around the house, waiting to be unpacked} our new house, and getting used to our new town.

Yes, we miss Charleston and all of our friends there terribly.

We've officially been in our house for one week, and as of Tuesday we finally have internet and TV - thank the Lord! You'd be surprised how quiet and lonely it can be around a house {even with a toddler and dog} without any background noise...at.all.  I happily welcomed Kathie Lee and Hoda back in to my home this morning, and it felt like a normal day again! :) 

I forgot how hard moving is...not fun at all.  Add in a toddler? Even less fun!

In other exciting news, we also closed on our house in Charleston yesterday. We drove down Tuesday night to get her all cleaned up and ready to go, and pick up a few things we couldn't fit on our big trip, had a late dinner at Cypress, and crashed at Robert and Calee's...I say "crash" because we got there at like 11pm and left the next morning before 8:00. We didn't get to visit for too long, but it was nice to see their sweet faces. It was really sad to drive along Harborview Road and know that it was the last time our house would be "our" house. And "our" Piggly Wiggly, and "our" Starbucks, and all of the usual little routines that we had. However, the emotions were on the back burner at the moment, by the overshadowing dread of taking $40,000 to the bank for closing...yes, you read that right...that extra zero is supposed to be there. We bought in early 2008 when the market was soaring...and now, well let's just say we were thankful to sell our precious little house.  I could think of a lot better things to do with $40,000 {A LOT}, but it is what it is, our house is sold, and we're very glad of that! Two mortgages would also be less than fun.

Here is our official listing...notice the "SOLD" status, my friends! :)

So here we are...back in our new town, and I have so much to catch you up on. Now that we're getting adjusted and in somewhat more of a routine, I'm hoping to be blogging regularly again.

See you tomorrow!

{and I promise, with pictures, too!}

Be back soon...

Hoping to have our internet connection up and running by tomorrow or Thursday, then we'll be back in action! :)

Prepare yourself...

I really should be packing right now, but instead I'm still perusing the world wide web for a light fixture that will strike my fancy for our new family room

Clearly more important, right???

I'm glad we're on the same page.

The renovations in our new house will be ready this weekend {supposedly...I'll believe it when I see it, ha}!  If you're wondering why I haven't shown you any pictures...well, my friends, there is a reason for that.

You see, this little house need a lot of some work to drastically clean and update bring out her potential.

And that will be a work in progress.

I've been scouring lighting and fixture stores around Charleston, as well as the internet, to try and get everything planned out from afar. That's not easy.

But I've managed to get almost all of those main details done (some steals, some splurges - I'll divulge the details later), except for the lighting in the family room. All of the accessories - window treatments, a couple of new furniture pieces, etc...can wait - but not so much on the blank ceiling where we'll be spending a lot of our time. Plus the wires are all hanging out from where they removed the awful 1980's antique ceiling fan.

Okay, so I'm gonna share some pictures...and like the title clearly states, prepare yourself. You will not believe how much better it already looks, and it has really good bones...beautiful wide-plank hardwoods throughout the whole house, a huge back porch, big back yard, and cute little curb appeal...I'll share all of the pictures once we're done, and do a whole before/after look, but on to the task at hand...
BEFORE

looking in at the family room from the foyer

looking back to the front door/foyer

my SILs checking things out...looking for potential. :)  It's actually a really big room, which is nice.

I know you're jealous of the fab peach marble fireplace, just admit it.

and another angle...the sliding doors go to the back porch, and the doorway goes to the back entryway, kitchen/breakfast area, and the stairs go up right there, too.

the aforementioned fan that we've parted ways with

And that door goes out to the sunroom, which will be a playroom...

When we were there last week, I took a couple of photos with my phone {so excuse the quality}

But here's what the back entryway looks like now, that's the family room ahead

And here's the fab fireplace being covered up! Hallelujah! :) Oh yeah, and beadboard has been put up in the foyer, hallway, and family room, too. Only one coat of paint has been applied so far, and they still have touch-ups to do before the second coat goes on - AND, the color looks disgusting from the photo, but it's the same color as our den now, which we love!

{SW Meadowlark}

Okay, and let me give you a feel of the surrounding rooms - the foyer has the same lantern as the back entry, but smaller (because the front door would hit the bigger one), here's what the OLD kitchen looked like...

but here's the progress that's been made as of last week:

all stainless appliances going in, and range hood instead of microwave (b/c i have a nice big pantry to hide that thing in!)

and this school house pendant I got from Circa Lighting downtown will be replacing that lovely fluorescent one in the middle of the kitchen ceiling {can I just mention that it is extremely hard to find lighting for the center of a kitchen that's not recessed when you don't have an island...sheesh!}

while the painting was being done... {and that light fixture to the far left has been moved to the dining room, just to have something there until I decide what I want...which is not an urgent decision at this point.

And this one will be going up in the breakfast area...minus all the danglies on there...which have already been taken off. I loved the rustic yet elegant look of it, but the dangles were just a bit too much for me, plus I wanted to make it a bit more casual since it's going in the breakfast room vs the dining room. We'll eventually have some sort of round table with four chairs...and we have the Ballard coventry benches ordered to flank the far wall in there so that people can hang out while I cook! :)

Okay, again I get distracted...back to the lighting in this room:

'

which is now painted this color:

Option 1 is a little funky, but could be fun thrown in this room. Oh, and we'll have two couches, with a ottoman in between (eventually) with a separate sitting area right when you walk in to the left, and our tv will be mounted above the mantle. So, I know it's hard to visualize now, I just need your opinions...I can make the room work around the light, ha! :)  Okay, back to option 1:

Alita basketweave pendant - it is 22 inches in diameter, 14 inches tall, just FYI.

Option #2, very similar, the geometric pendant:

Option #3, and still along similar lines, the troy sausalito pendant (25 inches in diameter):

It's a little pricier than my husband would like...but it's a beauty...which also reminds me of this light I just found, and it's not an option, unfortunately, as we won't be staying in this house forever and it's $725...but i love it anyway.

Mmmm {sigh}

Okay, back to the real world...and continuing my love with the look of the drum shade...

Option 4

the trellis linen drumshade pendant from shades of light...and of course I could do a pretty ceiling plaque and cord cover if needed... 16x16inches.

Option #5, the finley large pendant from crate and barrel:

And for a few different looks...

Option #5, greenhouse chandelier from ballard, could be cool...

And option #6, also like this griffin chandy from PB, but then we may get a little overboard on the chandeliers, or is that even possible? ha! I would really love this rope in a coastal house!

Option 7:

something simple like the eldridge pendant, again from ballard {btws, LOVING their carriage house lanterns in the new house!}

Whew, all these decisions are exhausting!!!

{we've been spending a lot of time in the water, hence the diaper attire!}

 Well I hear the little one moving around, waking up from his nap...will you please help me make this waste of my packing time/naptime productive, and tell me what you think??? :)  Y'all were so helpful with the bedding decisions and I totally need you guys. And if I'm missing something fabulous in the lighting department, let a girl know! :)

 Y'all have a good afternoon!