Happy Birthday, Pops!

I'm a few days late with this post but my Dad celebrated his **th birthday over the weekend and I thought it was only appropriate to give him a shout-out! He and my mom went to visit their BFF's, Laura & Franco, in North Carolina for a weekend of wineries and good food! So, one more time..

Happy Birthday, Dad! 

A few things about ol' Chuck:

He loves to laugh and have a good time!

He lovvvvves my momma!

He loves the Gamecocks!

He loves to grill...

...and drink wine.

He loves his immediate family...

...and extended family just the same.

He likes to nap...but will immediately wake up if you change the channel.

His eyes get verrrry squinty when he's had a few adult beverages.

He loves his dog, Boomer, like a son.

He loves his girls.

Slacker.

I've been really slack on re-painting the furniture I bought off of Craigslist. (post here) So I've decided to look for grey & yellow rooms online for some inspiration..

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Hopefully my motivation will come back to me!

Giveaways to enter!

Happy weekend! I'm working today from 8am - 12pm so I'm of course passing the time by reading blogs! A few blogs I've read today are offering great giveaways that I wanted to share with all of you!

 Ashton from Soulshine (and fellow sorority sister, woop woop!) is giving away a $25 gift card to J. Crew and a journal from Surcee Press. Go here to enter!

Canadian Prep is giving away a hand painted Lily Pulitzer painting with the print of your choice!  Go here to enter! Here are a couple that she's already done..

  Megan from Honey We're Home is giving away a $50 gift card to Stella & Dot! Sooo many beautiful pieces of jewelry I could use that towards! Go here to enter...and then check out her closet - HELLO!

On a weekend note, Cameron is taking me to Fat Hen tonight for dinner and I'm sooooo excited. We haven't been in a long time and the food is always delicious!

One more time..

(Sorry for the re-post)

Now that Cameron and I are settled into the house and the living room is complete (minus a rug) it's time to start putting some pictures on the blank walls and filling every nook and cranny with knick knacks! Where is the first place I look? CSN of course! I've acquired some CSN Rewards from previous purchases and won another $30 credit to CSN yesterday! The possibilities are endless of what I can buy! Here are a few things I bookmarked from their wall art and decor section. . .

CAKE - Node Bowl

Graham & Brown - Peony Canvas Art

Graham & Brown - Paintable Small Squares Wallpaper in White

(I think this would look really cool on a ceiling!)

 

Graham & Brown - Sailing Ships Framed Print Art - 16" X 16" (Set of 2)

PLYprints - Love Heart by Alexander Girard

Kenneth Wingard - Reed Bottle Ice Pop

Kenneth Wingard - Cobble Pillar Vase/Pillar Holder

And last but certainly not least...

iittala - Alvar Aalto 3.5" Water Green Bowl

(Are you seeing what I'm seeing??)

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving how much fun Bottles n Brushes was last night! Six of us went to celebrate Emily's birthday and we had a great time! It was kind of intense at first because we were a few minutes late, but we caught up with everyone and walked away with masterpieces. :)

I'm loving that it's already Wednesday! I only have to be at work for 5 hours and then I get to go a tasting of Duvall Catering's new menu! If you're looking for a caterer in the Charleston area, Duvall is awesome! Everyone there is so easy to work with and they also do design & floral for events! 

Duvall website

I'm loving that there will be a box on my doorstep when I get home today! This will be inside...

Tribal Bath Mat from West Elm

I'm loving how obsessed these two guys are with each other! Ok, so it's more Cameron obsessed with Brady, but still..

Hope everyone has a great day!

Tasty Tuesday - Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

I made these tasty treats for my Dad as an early birthday treat since he will be out of town for his birthday. They weren't the prettiest things I've ever baked, but they were still yummy! It could have been because I don't have an electric mixer at the moment! Ugh, such a pain. Oh, and because I didn't sift the powdered sugar. Oops. Good thing my Dad loves me no matter what. He did send me a text that said "they are soooooooooooo gooooooooood!"

Recipe and photo from Bon Appetit

Ingredients

Cupcakes

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 very ripe large bananas, peeled

1/2 cup sour cream

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

Frosting

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (do not use old-fashioned or freshly ground)

Chopped lightly salted roasted peanuts (optional)

Preparation

Cupcakes

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 12 standard (1/3-cup) muffin cups with paper liners. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Mash bananas with fork in another medium bowl until smooth. Mix sour cream and vanilla into bananas.

Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and egg yolk and beat until well blended. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with banana-sour cream mixture in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating just until blended after each addition. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups (generous 1/4 cup for each).

Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center of each comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to rack and let cool completely.

Frosting

Sift powdered sugar into large bowl. Add cream cheese, butter, and peanut butter. Using electric mixer, beat mixture until smooth. Spread frosting over top of cupcakes, dividing equally. Sprinkle lightly with chopped peanuts, if desired. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

NOTE - These will make more like 16 cupcakes. I had a good amount of batter left over after I poured 12 cupcakes.

Happy National Margarita Day!

Happy 27th to my BFF in the WWW!

Emily.

Teacher. Friend. The whitest teeth you've ever seen. Beautiful. Funny.

Work Hard, Play Hard Weekend

This weekend I definitely put to use the saying "work hard, play hard."

Friday after work I went with Frankie, who was in town from North Carolina, to California Dreaming to enjoy some $1.95 adult beverages. Was just supposed to stay for an hour tops, but wound up staying for atleast 3. Her family was up there, as well, and they are VERY entertaining. :) Left there and met up with Cameron at his co-worker, Matthew's, surprise 30th birthday celebration.

Birthday Boy

 

Saturday we were up around 10am despite being hungover because it was the day we've been waiting for since December! Our new couch from Haverty's was being delivered! And I'm pleased to say that the delivery experience went much smoother than the original pick up fiasco. After they left we put on our tennis shoes and went outside to enjoy the sunshine and rake a few a LOT of leaves.

After we got the front yard finished it was time to get ready for Kady & Kyle's wedding! It was the PERFECT day for a wedding! Seriously, 75 degrees and sunny in February?!? That just doesn't happen. The wedding was a lot of fun and Kady was gorgeous, as expected! 

Perfect sunset, Perfect dress from Rent the Runway, Perfect date

The Mr & Mrs!

After the wedding a lot of our friends were going to The Music Farm to see the Michael Jackson cover band, Who's Bad, so we decided to join! We both had never seen them before but quickly found out what the hype was all about. The place was PACKED and the band was AWESOME. Will definitely be seeing them next time they're in town! I didn't take any pics at the concert, but I did manage to get a video of "World's Drunkest Girl." PS - this video was AFTER she face planted off the front of the stage.

Sunday we tackled the back yard's leaves, cleaned the house, made a quick trip to the grocery store and whipped up some yummy treats for my dad's birthday. Keep your eye out for tomorrow's Tasty Tuesday recipe because it is going to be a GOOD one. 

43 bags of leaves!

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend, too! Officially jealous if you have the day off from work today!