Ellie

Ellie has officially joined the family!!

We ended up getting the Black lab that had the lime ribbon. We picked her up yesterday and had one simi sleepless night- at least for Jeff. He kept getting up at every noise she made thinking she had to go out. He had the Friday off from work (or so he thought- he had to go in after lunch) and I took the afternoon off. Since I had to go to the work in the morning, he offered to take her out in the middle of the night. Having never had a puppy before (either of us) he woke up to every sound thinking it was her letting us know she had to go to the bathroom. Live and learn- I don't think he will do that again. She woke us up around 5 o'clock when she really had to go out with a much louder moan.

She was timid when we first brought her back, but has since gotten over any fears she once had. She has burst of energy and then is out for about 2-3 hours.

Trying to keep her energy up

Jeff's brother came to meet Ellie!

She is soo cute! I will try my hardest not to make this blog all about her but I just had to post some pictures while she is still this little.
P.S. I swear she doesn't have blue eyes- it's just the way the flash went off

Domestic Diva

When design, food, and fashion collide you get these:

via: Anthropology, SpiceRac Design

Adorable Aprons!!

I think it's safe to say that none of these are your traditional "Grandma" aprons. I received two cute aprons during wedding showers and Love them! I must admit though, I forget to put them on most of the time. Ooops

Tie on any of these cute aprons next time you're in the kitchen and be a fashionable cook!
You might find that dressing the part will help inspire you too cook and may bring out your inner Julia.

Weekend

I hope you have had a relaxing weekend!

Via: Corrie Bond

Although I did not lay in the hay, I did get a chance to sleep in (the last time for a while- getting the puppy on Thursday), go shopping, and have dinner with good friends!

What did you do?

Mad about Mad Men

Have ya'll joined in with the "Mad Men" obsession? I sure have! It is one of my favorite shows and I am so glad the new season has started. If you are not familiar with the show, is it based in New York city in the 1960s and portrays the life of "Ad Men" and all of their glory.

AMC's synopsis: The series revolves around the conflicted world of Don Draper (Hamm), the biggest ad man (and ladies man) in the business, and his colleagues at the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce Advertising Agency. As Don makes the plays in the boardroom and the bedroom, he struggles to stay a step ahead of the rapidly changing times and the young executives nipping at his heels. The series also depicts authentically the roles of men and women in this era while exploring the true human nature beneath the guise of 1960s traditional family values.

One of my favorite characters is Joan, Christina Hendricks! I just love her look. I read where she is really a natural blond. I couldn't believe it! She is gorgeous as a red head and it fits her so well with her pale complexion.

This shoot for the LA Times shows off some fabulous head gear from Phillip Treacy and Laura Kranitz.

Vintage Bathing Suits

It is Hot Hot Hot!!
Even though summer is almost over and I am gearing up for fall, I know we still have several days left with this summer heat. Weather like this always makes me miss the beach. I wish I was there right now so I could enjoy the gulf breeze, cool water, and good times with family and friends.

This year you probably saw a come back in the classic shapes and designs of the 40's, 50's, and 60's. They are a modest fit yet form fitting style bathing suit that was seen in the past and can be found today.

Images via bobbins and bombshells, Hub pages

These vintage styles could be found in almost every store and on every beach.

Images via: Mod Cloth, StyleHive

Puppy Update

On Sunday we were able to stop by and see our future puppy again. In the past pictures I posted, they were only 2.5 weeks old. Since then we have stopped by twice to see how they have grown - And they sure have grown!

Below are some pics at 3.5 weeks old. The active one's this week were the black with the red ribbon and the yellow with the pink ribbon.

Here are some at 4 weeks old. We weren't able to stop by and see them this week. These pictures are some that Pam posted on her website.

As you can see they were just starting to get curious!


Below are the most recent pictures taken on Sunday. They are 5.5 weeks old and were a lot more active and playful. The black with the yellow ribbon and the black with the lime ribbon were the most active.

In a little over two weeks we will be able to take her home!

Celebratory Weekend

We had a great weekend- full of celebration!

I got a Promotion!!!

My new title is "Senior Financial Analyst"
Doesn't that sound so professional and old.

layouts myspace

I am really excited though, it's in my same department so no significant changes from that aspect. The day I got it, I had to work late so we decided to celebrate this weekend. Even though we didn't celebrate that night, Jeff did had these waiting on me when I got home


Friday night Jeff's parents took us out to Flemings to celebrate. We all got their awesome steaks and had wonderful wine.

Then Saturday was date night. Jeff and I went to a relatively new restaurant in Memphis called JG which stands for Judd Grisanti. Anybody who has lived or is familiar with the Memphis area has probably heard about the Grisanti family. They own several Italian restaurants in Memphis: JG, Elfo's, and Frank Grisanti. Judd use to be co-owner and chef of Spindini, one of our favorite downtown restaurants until he left to start JG's. Therefore, the menu at JG's is very similar to Spindini. On top of the great menu choices, they had about 6 specials to choose from. Jeff and I both got one of the special options. I got the Halibut and he got the Lobster Ravioli. Both were sooo good! On top of that, we got a molten cake for dessert.

Afterwards, we did my favorite pass time- relaxing on the coach listening to music.

Celebrations are soo fun!

Country Livin'

There is just something about the country that is soo calming.

Long stretches of farmland, endless roads, crops, and trains. I don't know what it is, but I sure do love it. It just reminds me that life doesn't have to be taken so seriously and to just enjoy what we have.

You can always feel the American pride when in the country. It was shown on every corner in every small town that we passed through.

Overall, we had a very relaxing weekend even though it included a lot of driving.
Along the way back from Mimi's house (Jeff's grandmother on his dad's side) we stopped by several Antiques stores. I ended up having some luck and I am so excited about my purchases!

Isn't this such an interesting basket? What an odd shape- I love it! Got it at The Marketplace in Monticello, AR.

Another Marketplace purchase

The following items came from an antique store in Bastrop, LA called Past Perfect.

Of course there were some things that I would have bought if I had room in our house. Anne and I always say that if we had a storage shed or POD we would be able to buy everything we liked and then, when we could afford a beach house it would already be furnished. Novel idea isn't it?! Below is a picture of one of those items I would have purchased.

Three tall lanterns!! They were the perfect size and would be soo cute in a beach house.

Below are some glass items I found at one of the antique stores. I probably wouldn't have noticed / paid much attention to them if I hadn't read the post Velvet & Linen did about them. She found several at an antique store and set them on her window sill overlooking the water. They really are neat. I didn't get them though, they only had these four and I didn't think that was enough to do anything with.