Weekend Catch Up.

This weekend was a pretty low key one, which I'm always ok with, especially right before the holidays where everything is go, go, go! 

Friday night, we had a girls night at Caroline's house and her co-worker did an Arbonne spa night for us. I was actually really impressed with their products and liked the fact that we got to try so many of them. Their products are pricier than what I would normally pay, but after learning what parabens really are and the fact that I turn 31 next month, it may be time to step up my skin care game. Have you tried Arbonne products before? Did you like them? 

Saturday just consisted of running errands, eating lunch at Five Loaves (yum), watching football, and grabbing a casual dinner at Outback. 

Sunday morning, a couple of family members on Cameron's side and I hosted a baby shower brunch for my sister-in-law, Nancy. She is due in January with our third niece (first baby for her, other sister in law has two girls) and we could not be more excited! It rained non-stop all day, but I think everyone still had a great time. There was some really yummy food and Nancy got some great, thoughtful gifts. 

Sunday afternoon we held our 2nd annual Friendsgiving at Kate's parent's house on Little Oak Island (almost to Folly Beach). There was everything from oysters, to fried turkey, to all of your go-to Thanksgiving sides and desserts. Could not wait to put my stretchy pants on when I got home. Friendsgiving is becoming more and more special with the addition of each little one. :)

Awesome view

This guy melts my heart

Group pic (yes, we all wore plaid on purpose)

Linking Up: Stocking Stuffers.

Morning! Back again to link up with April, Zelle, Elise, and Katie for their Favorite Things Link Up and today we're sharing our stocking stuffer picks! All I do now is Cameron's stocking, which can sometimes be boring because all he wants are practical things, so this was fun to do a girly version of things us girls want but not necessarily need. 

My favorite item on this list is the Bittermilk cocktail mix. They are based out of Charleston and I learned about them a couple of months ago because my co-worker's husband works for the company. There are six different flavors..the 6th being just released last week at Sean Brock's newest restaurant in Charleston, Minero. 

one - bittermilk cocktail mixer
two - tassel keychain
three - sugar giftset
four - hanky panky underwear
five - capri blue candle
six - sugar paper monthly calendar

Thursday's Thoughts.

A little shot of randomness today...

-Tonight Cameron and I are trying out Co for the first time, then going to the Charleston Classic basketball tournament at the College of Charleston. South Carolina is playing Cornell. We don't ever watch basketball, but I will always support the Gamecocks and hey, the tickets are free. 

-In an hour, I'm going to get my hair done. And I have no clue what I want to do with it. But I do know that I am sick of the stringy, limp, straight hair I was born with. If only I come out looking like Cheryl Cole. #hopingforamiracle

-As an update to No Spend November. I feel like I've done pretty well! However, last weekend we had people over for an oyster roast and I bought two decorative items for the house. Atleast I haven't bought any clothes though! 

throw // faux flower arrangement

-Speaking of that oyster roast, it was so much fun and I've got to admit, we had a pretty sweet set up.

Brady watching Curious George with Baby D

-Last night I had a delicious meal planned out, broke the news to Cameron that we'd be eating a meatless meal, then went to go cook it and realized we didn't have a key ingredient. Major fail. So, I convinced him to let me cook breakfast for dinner (pretty sure he's the only person ever that doesn't like breakfast for dinner). I whipped together some Greek style omelets (feta, tomato, spinach and mushrooms) with some cheesy grits and turkey bacon. So freaking good. 

K bye! 

Linking Up: My 2014 Christmas Wishlist.

megan's christmas wishlist 2014

Today I'm linking up with April, Zelle, Elise, and Katie for their second annual Favorite Things link up party! I will be linking up with them today and the next 2 Tuesday's to share with you some of my favorite gifts to give and receive! 

My wishlists every year tend to get more boring, in my opinion. Even though there are some fashion items on my list, I would much rather have items for our house, and yes, that does include an adorable, fuzzy, golden retriever. Brady needs a sibling. 

Items on this wishlist include:
Anthropologie Glistened Geo mini skirt
Design Darling long tortoiseshell necklace
Kate Spade wallet in vivid snapdragon
Kendra Scott earrings
Golden retriever puppy - extra fluffy
West Elm mid-century tripod floor lamp
Tory Burch In Color book
Fat roll of cash for furniture

If you'd like to see what else is on my wishlist, you can view my Pinterest wishlist board here!

(I highly recommend you making one, too, and sending it to your friends and family. It makes getting exactly what you want so easy. I also love when my friends/family members have one because it makes shopping for them a breeze.)

Friday Five {Navy Blue Headboards!}

Last week I mentioned that I'm wanting to finish up our master bedroom with a headboard and matching bedside tables. I originally thought that I wanted a light tan headboard, but since seeing multiple photos of navy blue headboards, I think I've changed my mind.

It's hard not to be swayed after seeing these pictures... 

{one}

{two}

{three}

{four}

{five}

And just for fun, let's just throw this chest from Joss & Main in the cart, too. 

Happy weekend!

Girls Weekend in Greenville.

This weekend, Emily (& Lane), Katie, Kelly Anne and I made the drive to Greenville to visit our good friend, Jenny. She needed some quality girl friend time in her life and we needed her smiles in ours. 

It was a good ol' fashioned girls weekend that consisted of sitting around the table talking for hours, sharing 2 bottles of very special champagne, poking fun at each other, doing things we didn't know we could do like hanging blinds, and so much laughter. 

She just recently moved in to her new house so we spent all day Saturday unpacking boxes and doing whatever we could do to make her house feel as much like a home as possible. We eventually took a break long enough for a group selfie and a nap.

After naps, we refreshed and headed downtown Greenville to check out the shops and grab dinner. We stopped in to one of Jenny's friends' store called Vann & Liv, which is the absolute cutest kids store that just opened last week! I fell in love with this adorable sailfish onesie and almost bought it for our future kid (no, not preg), but stopped myself due to No Spend November. Maybe it will be on sale come December!

For dinner, we went to The Lazy Goat, which is a tapas restaurant, and it was amazing! We almost ordered every single tapas and dessert on the menu. 

fried goat cheese // jean francois merieau malbec // tres leches

Can't wait for our next girls weekend! 

Friday Five {Fair, Happy Hour, No Spend November, Christmas List + Greenville Trip}

Hooray! Another weekend is here! It's been a very busy week, as evidenced by the pile of dirty laundry, so here's a peak of what I've been up to.

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On Sunday, we took our annual girls trip to the fair! I made sure to eat a big breakfast, but skip lunch because I knew how much we were going to eat. Below is only a fraction of what we ate....which is why I made sure I went to the gym this week instead of hibernating. 

{two}
Wednesday after work, I met up with some super sweet girls for happy hour. Ashley always gives us a heads up when she is going to be in Charleston, so we try to meet up when she does! 

Jillian, Shelby, Me, Ashley

{three}
Speaking of Shelby, I'm following her footsteps and participating in No Spend November! No new clothes, home decor, no unnecessary spending. So far, so good! The best thing for me is just to delete those sale emails the moment they pop up in my inbox. 

{four}
The Christmas list requests have begun and while I always have my Pinterest wishlist available, this year, our biggest request are donations to our furniture fund. Since we've decided that we're going to stay in our house for a few more years, rather than building or looking for a new one, it's time to finish up those checklist items that have never gotten done in the past 4 years that we've been here. First up, complete our master bedroom. The top two items that we need are matching bedside tables (the one I'm using I've had since freshman or sophomore year of college, Cameron has also had his since college) and a headboard. 

{five}
In a few hours, Emily, Katie, Kelly Anne and I will be on our way to Greenville to visit our girl, Jenny! We're helping her move in to her new house this weekend and having lots of girl time, and hopefully lots of laughs.

Halloween Fun!

I know Halloween was last week, but I really wanted to do a re-cap because Cameron and I haven't dressed up in a while and it was Lane & Ashton's first time "trick or treating" (really just riding around the block in a wagon). 

After work, I went to Katie & Emily's neighborhood to walk around their neighborhood with them, looking at all of the creative costumes and watching Lane & Ashton have the best time.

The cutest monkey (complete with banana) and pumpkin you ever did see!

Collage I borrowed from Emily :)

After we were done walking around the block, we all went home and changed for our Supper Club Halloween party! 

Cameron and I were.......

We decided to all dress up in couples costumes and not tell anyone else what we were dressing up as. It was fun keeping this secret and them seeing everyone's costumes for the first time as they walked in the door. 

And here's a fabulous collage that Sally made of all of our culinary creations that night. :)

Can't wait to continue this tradition!

Creamy Cheesy Chicken & Garlic Quinoa Bake.

This recipe was perfect for dinner last night, as I was wanting something warm, comforting, and yummy. It's definitely not the quickest meal to make, but it is worth it and you'll have leftovers for lunch or the next night's dinner. I split the recipes into two different dishes, and dropped the extra one off to my friend, Jessica, this morning, who is at home with her one month old!

Creamy Cheesy Chicken & Garlic Quinoa Bake

Recipe and photo from Iowa Girl Eats.

Ingredients: 
3-3/4 cup chicken broth, divided
1-1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed and drained
2 chicken breasts, cut into hunks
salt and pepper
2 Tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons gluten-free or all purpose flour (I used brown rice flour)
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
3 Roma tomatoes, seeded then chopped
3 green onions, chopped
6oz freshly shredded fontina cheese, divided

Directions:

1. Bring 2-3/4 cups chicken broth to a boil in a saucepan then add rinsed and drained quinoa. Place a lid on top, turn heat down to medium, and then simmer until nearly all the liquid has been absorbed and quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat then let sit for 10 minutes with the lid on then remove lid and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8×8 baking dish with nonstick spray then set aside.
3. Spray a large skillet over medium-high heat with extra virgin olive oil or nonstick spray then add chicken, season with salt and pepper, and then saute until golden brown – chicken does not need to be cooked all the way through. Remove to a plate then set aside.
4. Turn heat down to medium then melt butter in skillet and add garlic. Saute for 1 minute or until golden brown and fragrant. Sprinkle in flour then whisk to combine and cook for 1 minute. Slowly stream in remaining 1 cup chicken broth and milk a splash at a time, whisking to avoid lumps. Add Italian seasoning, season with salt and pepper, and then turn heat up slightly to bring to a simmer. Turn heat back down to medium then simmer until slightly thickened, 5 minutes.
5. Remove skillet from heat then add cooked quinoa, chicken, tomatoes, green onions, and half the cheese and then stir to combine – mixture might look soupy but it’s fine.
6. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish then sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Place on top of a baking sheet in case of bubble overs then bake for 20-25 minutes or until top is golden brown and bubbly. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.