Christmas card holder

I have always used my trusty snowman wire holder for holiday cards, but this year I decided I needed to do something extra special!

I took a Wal-mart frame and spray painted it a bronzish color (very exact there!). I painted some clothespins a maroon color and hot glued them on the front. All I needed to do from there was attached a simple bow and hang up!

It was so easy and was a different way to show off my friends and family!

251 rooms...but who is really counting?!?

Over the weekend, the hubs and I went to visit the Biltmore in Asheville. We drove up early and spent the entire day exploring the grounds.


We started off visiting the amazing greenhouses in the morning. I have never seen such unusal plants! Take a look at the crazy snake plant...I love it!



For lunch we ate at the DeerPark overlooking a goregous hill. We enjoyed homemade mashed potatoes, green beans, turkey, and cornbread. It was like a gourmet Thanksgiving meal.

We then went and took a winery tour and Matt got to sample some of the homemade wine. We may or may not have brought home three bottles of wine....


The last leg of the day was the actual house. There are 251 rooms in the house, but many are still being renovated. We walked through soemthing like 50 of them AND were exhausted!!! I can't imagine going through the entire house. It was so breath taking to see all of the decorated Christmas trees.

We have a wonderful mini vaca together in Asheville. I would defiantly reccommend Asheville and the Biltmore to everyone!

Goodies!

My two puppies are kinda picky eaters. They will eventually eat the food, but sometimes it is in the middle of the night!

The one brand my babies seem to do the best with is Iams. It doesn't hurt their stomachs and they gobble it up right away! I figured I would send them an email telling them how great they are and see if they could throw some coupons my way. Is it just me or dog food coupons hard to find!?!

They were SUPER nice and sent me two aluminum food bowls, three coupons, and two adorable green bandannas for them. I could not believe how much they gave us for one nice email!

Thanks Iams... we love ya!

New car! yippe!

Since I got in my car accident last month I was out of a car! I did get to drive a very nice 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee for almost four weeks. It was a very sad day to have to return that baby, but it is nice to have a car of my own again. Instead of going the SVU route again, we decided on a sedan this time. It did take me a little bit to get used to the car, but now I love it!

I am now part of the Camry crew!

finished terra cotta Christmas tree... finally

So I know I was supposed to put pics of the finished tree up LAST week...but I got distracted by Thanksgiving!

I think it turned out really cute and so easy! Here are the steps again:

1. spray paint three small Terra cotta pots any green (mine was a dark green to match my living room)
2. stack the largest pot on the bottom, then the middle size pot, and finally the smallest on top
3. paint red/burgundy "ornaments" on your tree
4. use a terra cotta saucer spray painted black as the tree skirt
5. put a star on top!

Enjoy the pics! Happy late Thanksgiving friends!

'tis the season!

I have noticed throughout the blog world on the cute Christmas and winter craft ideas! It has really put me in the mood for the season...forget Thanksgiving, I am ready for Christmas!

I am patting myself on the back for getting ALMOST all of my holiday shopping done! woohoo!

The next thing on my list is this adorable Christmas tree craft made out of mini terra cotta pots! It will look so great on my mantel. An added bonus is that I found some mini pots at a garage sale last weekend. SCORE! Vist House of Hepworths to get the directions to make one of these babies. I will post the picture of MY finished product tomorrow!

Nate and Allison's wedding

One couple from our Supper Club/Softball team got married today. Nate and Allison had a ceremony in a beautiful church with the reception close by in a golf course country club (very fancy!!!!). They had such good food, including a shrimp and grits bar. YUMMY!! Sadly, the boys could not watch the Carolina game which caused them to escape to the car. I did get a chance to participate in the Electric Slide though. Classic!

Mary and I with the beautiful bride!

Who knew I was a gymnastist?

Yesterday I was involved in a bad accident on the way to get lunch for me and the hubs. A woman tried to cross over two lanes and I happened to be driving straight in one of the lanes! My car flipped and glass was everywhere. I had to get TEN stitches... I about died from that alone! Here some of the pics.


yes that is my blood from the cut arm!




After all that mess I am resting in the bed!

Might the heat actually be leaving us?

With Fall quickly approaching tomorrow, I wanted to get myself in the mood with a autumn craft!!

I found the large pumpkin welcome sign at a pottery place at the beach for dirt cheap. I cut in down some and put it in a terra cotta pot I spray painted black. All I needed was some Dollar Tree floral grass and pumpkins to make it a new Fall favorite!


I am OBSESSED with it-my porch is not complete, but it's a great first piece for the new season!

Go SEC!

The picture may be blurry (it was BORROWED from facebook), but it shows the final score in the Carolina and Georgia football game today. The Gamecocks donimated the Dawgs with a final score of 17-6!!!



Matt and I were not about to pay $75 per ticket to sit in the 100 degree heat! We went to The Loose Cockaboose and watched the game with tons of other fans. We had a really great time. I am so glad it is finally football season again!!!!

Heaven in a sweet, fried batter

When my sister came into town last weekend we made a stop at Krispy Kreme. We HAD to get a dozen...you know...too many choices! The very best doughnut there is the Caramel Apple Cobbler. It is one of the seasonal ones, so make sure to get to check it out before it is gone! It is the perfect combo of apples, crunch, sweetness, and the soft dough.

Yum...Yum...Yum

Dear blog,

Dearest blog,

I really do miss you terribly, but life has been pretty intense lately! I am trying to juggle school, cleaning, and time with the hubby. Apparently I do not juggle as well as I thought.

I PROMISE I will share with you some exciting things the little sister and I get into this weekend! Until then...all my love!

Wishing time would stop,
Ashley

Dinner Tip

This is a tip I have used not only for our dinner, but meals I give to family and friends. I made homemade spaghetti sauce late last week for dinner. For dinner tonight I decided to do penne pasta with a little change to the sauce, once you hear my secret ingredient you will die!

It is .....

CREAM CHEESE!

As you are heating your sauce, add a few spoonfuls of cream cheese in. Make sure to blend all the way. Once it is combined you will be left with a creamy version of your basic red sauce! Your husband will never know it was the same sauce!

New Monogram piece!

There is an adorable shop, called Two Sister Boutique, in Clemson the sister and I found during my visit. They have clothes, jewelry, fun knick knacks and one very special new product. Right when I saw the acrylic monogram pendent. I got to choose from almost fifteen different colors, which of course was overwhelming, but I thought black would go with a ton of outfits.

I did not get a chance to put it on a necklace yet, but I was so excited I could not wait to show ya'll! I included in the pictures the two different necklaces I am deciding between. I can't wait for this monogram beauty to be debuted!

Good-bye to a best friend!

Jenna, Jenny, and I were best friends all throughout college. We had such wild times together and have been through everything you could possibly think of! The three of us have been back together in Columbia for the past year and it was like old times. Jenny was accepted to the Charleston School of Law for this fall!!!!! We are all so happy for her and know great things are up ahead. We will miss her and her sweet, caring personality! Jenna and I will be planning our trip down to visit very soon!


A typical picture of the three of us in our car before going out... or maybe after a few drinks....

All of us at Rockaways for her going away party

Eat, Pray, Love

I just finished the book Eat, Pray, Love this week. I was determined to finish before the movie came out this Friday. I am one of those crazy people who must read the book before they can see the movie. It seems so much better to do the reading first. I have never seen a movie that was actually better than the book. The Notebook would be a close tie between the book and movie. Gosh that is a classic! I can not wait to see the movie this weekend with my mom and sisters! Have a great weekend! :)

Places I wanna go

I was thinking the other day about all the places I want to go that I haven't been. With Matt and I talking about having kids in the very near future, I got kind of frantic! It made me think about all the places I want to go. I would like to go to at least one of these places before we have kids... we'll have to see.

1. London, England
2. Seattle
3. San Francisco
4. Boston
5. New York (I have already been, but I want to go with the Hubby!)
6. Biltmore House (Asheville)

What are the places you haven't been, but would like to visit????

Tiger Town weekend

This weekend the hubby went hiking through the mountains with some buddies. Since he was going to be gone, I figured this would be the perfect weekend for me to visit my little sis up in Clemson. For a USC graduate, I love Clemson much more than I should! It think it has the most beautiful views and cute college scene.

Sadly, I did not have the camera with me to document our adventures! Here is our weekend in a nutshell...

Ate at some amazing places like

Treated ourselves to the best ice cream on the planet EACH day from here

Shopped and visited around downtown Greenville

Saw this interesting movie

and did tons of this

I can't wait to go visit her again!

Super easy shower gift!

One of my closest friends, Gail, is getting married in October. For her August monogram shower I decided to do a larger gift with a smaller gift. For the smaller gift I made a monogram frame for the future couple. It was so easy!

First... find the cheapest frame possible (garage sale 50 cents!)

Second... choose some adorable fabric that coordinates with said

Third... cut out the initials after printing them on scrapbook paper

Fourth... glue down initials using spray adhesive

THAT'S IT! :)

It is such precious and cheap!

Friend filled weekend

This weekend was one of those weekends you don't want to end. We had two couples, Brooke/Ryan and Beau/Christine, come stay for a weekend of hanging out. We love hanging out together as a group, there is never ending laughs with our crew.

When they came into town Friday we ate at one of our favorite Lexington restuarants, The Bistro. After dinner we watched the Braves game and relaxed. Saturday was a relaxing pool/lake day. The boys took out the Sea-Doos and played while we floated around the lake. We were then off to Casa Linda for dinner then Frankies Fun Park to Putt Putt and Laser Tag. I haven't palyed Laser Tag in YEARS and came in last place! Of course the hubby came in first...ugh!

I hope everyone's weekend was as exciting as ours! Here are a few pics from the weekend!

Matt and Ryan being silly at the end of Putt-Putt

Ryan wore my purse while playing the entire 18 holes...too many margaritas at dinner!

All the ladies!

Mary and I at dinner

The biggest margarita tower I have ever seen *128 ounces*

Must Read Chick lit!

I have become obsessed with reading books this summer. I don't have nearly enough time to read when school is in so I try and use all the free time I can get. I have been reading all types of books this summer, from fiction to autobiographies. One author I have been hooked on is Jill Mansell. Her books are WONDERFUL! I have read one of her books in two days!

All of her books take place in London (I would die to go there!) and have amazing interconnecting story lines. If you like books about finding love, losing love then getting it back again, these books are for you. I promise you will not regret reading her books!

I can't wait for October for her newest book to come out!

Where has summer gone?

I feel like this summer has flown by! I know it isn't over YET, but I know the end is coming soon. I bet most people would agree with at least a few of the following reasons (especially the teachers!)

1. Back to school sales at Target

2. Principal emailing us with meeting dates for August..already...

3. pounding, stressful feeling in your heart

4. you begin to see students from the school you work at in random places

5. people ask you, "Aren't you excited for school to start back!?!"

My answer is a big, fat HECK NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish summer could last forever!

Braves vs. Brewers

We made a very last minute trip to Atlanta on Sunday for the Braves game. Since our friends Kerri and Evan are such big Braves fans, we invited them to go with us! The four of us squeezed into the Kia (such awesome gas mileage!) and made the short journey. It did pour on us as we walked in the stadium...not so good for the hair!

The game was such a blast! Braves won and a grand slam ball even landed right near us! We were so close to catching it! Another favorite part of the game for me is the Home Depot tool race. I love cheering on those cute tools! :)

Here are some pics from the game....

MIA until Monday!

Blogger friends, I will be gone until next Monday! My family and I will be crusing from Charleston to the Bahamas. I can't wait to lay out while reading, eat gournmet food until I want to pop, and watch some awesome shows! I have been waiting for this vacation and now it is finally here! I will share pictures when we come back!