{bits of my week}

...realized it was dumb that I didn't think I would need a bedskirt.  New bed looks a bit janky.  Order placed.  But won't ship until mid April.  

...even though the bed skirt won't ship for a while I think I found what I want to hang over the bed. 

//both via etsy//

...i randomly wandered into Barnes and Nobel after work yesterday to find that Victoria Stilwell of "It's Me or the Dog" was speaking and signing her new book that is out.  Very interesting! Her book can be found here.

...ordered some shoes to walk around in at The Masters {more on this later} with 3 Putt since Sperry's were on Ruelala this week.  please take a moment for this amazingness. 

Sperry "Biscayne" Topsider

It's been a good week.  What about y'all??

Love you. Mean it. 

~the single gal~

Weekend Recap

Just wanted to do a quick weekend re-cap! An important one since I met 3 Putt's "mum"! Eeep!

So Friday started out as a pretty decent day but took a real downhill slope after lunch. Long story about a case I did not want to evaluate that day but par for the course lately at work.  I really wanted to sneak out a few early so I could have some time to freak out if I needed to and simultaneously have time to wind down.  Except I got super wound up about work and it was a terrible afternoon so by the time my poor Dad called me on the way home I burst into tears and cried all the way home.   Not a huge deal but I definitely was not pleased that my face was going to be extremely puffy all night.  You know, because I'm not one of those pretty criers -- its all snot and a red face.   I can tell you Big John was not planning on talking to a hysterical female Friday afternoon, but he handled it super well so mad props to Dad. 

Dinner went well on Friday! Mrs. 3 Putt is super sweet.  She even brought me and Hogan some little presents and I thought that was so nice.  We met at 8 and I was home just after 10 to show Hogie his new collar and get ready for bed delivery the next day.  

Saturday was super hectic -- Mrs. 3 Putt wanted to come up to see Hogan {even though I have a feeling she probably wanted to further inspect me and my place}.  Wouldn't have been a big deal but y'all my bedroom was a straight disaster and I had no idea when the mattress people were coming and I was trying to frantically clean the whole time.  I have to say -- the timing barely worked out. I had just enough time to attempt my first effort and trying to make up that giant bed with all the new bed covers and shams.  I was still upstairs when they rang the doorbell.  

Saturday was probably the nicest time I had with Mrs. 3 Putt -- we took her to BBQ and came back to walk Hogan at the Greenway.  She was really enthusiastic about taking lots of pictures of me a 3 Putt.  And putting them on Facebook.  Let me tell you the one from dinner on Friday was not my best work by any means.  Definitely had puffy eye face. But it seemed to make her happy so there you go.  

I did regroup for a better pic on Saturday: 

And here is Hogie and your sneak peek of the new bed and sporting his new collar.

I know this bleeds into the week but Monday was a helluva day at work {they tend to be the worst lately} but I left the house with a sweet card in my car and found these when I came home.  Nice to have a little bit of Spring inside even if it's 30 degrees still. 

How was your weekend?

Love you. Mean it. 

~the single gal~

Monday Obsessions: {bedroom pinspiration}

Well it's basically freezing and small, light snow flurries have been whirling around all day today.  The first day of spring has come and gone but it's still cold or we are getting completely drenched with rain.  I know I joke about my seasonal affective disorder...but I think I have it for real. I'm a bit miserable with my closet, shoes, trying to walk to the dog, and the legit prospect of no boat rides anytime soon.  

Luckily, the money I've been saving my spring clothes hasn't been spent because the weather is awful and I've therefore been funneling it towards my bedroom makeover.  I still have a few items to grab before the big reveal and I'd like The Housewife to come over and just take some legit pictures with her nice camera so I don't subject you to iphone snaps after all my hard work.  

I thought I'd show some pins that are inspiring my new bedroom.  Well, I'm as inspired as a poor person can be that can only decorate from Homegoods and Goodwill.

I always thought I'd indulge my random antler obsession downstairs, but I think that it would be neat to maybe have something small but statement-like above the bed like this gold gem below. 

//via//

Ignore the ombre wall...but let's pay close attention to more gold horns but also paired with a bench at the end of the bed that adds a pop of color.  Love this! 

//via//

 I also love the idea of a desk on one side of the bed that doubles as a night stand.  

//via//

Or maybe even a console table on one side?

//via//

My main conclusion -- decorating is hard.  I mean, a girl can pin all she wants but making  that shit happen in real life is a different story.  What's in your bedroom? What should I get to keep it up to date or look just a bit more put together? I obviously need something else to put my energy into while I have to stay inside from the cold, the wind, and the rain. 

Love you. Mean it. 

~the single gal~

It's So Hard To Say Goodbye

Tonight will be our last night in this house. We are staying with my in-laws for a few days so we can finish packing tomorrow and the movers come on Wednesday. Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited about the new house and everything that we will do there. What about everything I did here though? I brought all my babies home from the hospital here. I realized the other day that #1's picture with her chalkboard saying "Last Day of Preschool" for this year will be on the steps of another house, as seen in this post. I won't get to see my hydrangeas bloom this year. How many times will I drive by my new house thinking I still live in this house? Yes, that's totally something I would do. I can't even believe I'm leaving my beautiful stencil wall in the twins nursery!! I spent a long time in the bathroom floor with #1 potty training this fall super pregnant with the twins and hardly able to pull myself up out of the floor.

I remember moving into this house. I thought it was so far out from everything. I remember thinking to myself, "How long would it take someone to find me if I died?" Obviously the Single Gal lives 15 minutes away now so it wouldn't be an issue. I love our little house. We need more space now though. It's time to move on. The new house is also closer to the Single Gal....of course! Trying to decorate a larger house keeps me up at night. I know, first world problems/housewife problems, right? You can make a home anywhere but I'm still sad to let this place go. I would add a picture but we wiped our iMac because it was running super slow and everything is on the backup drive thingimagiggy.

My sinuses are OOC right now and I'm doping up on Allegra. I haven't seen the gym in over a week. I didn't realize when we set closing that it was Easter weekend but Easter weekend is always supposed to be the first weekend in April. Am I right or am I right? The church Easter Egg Hunt is today but we have been graced with thunderstorms and cold weather so that's going to be a no go for us and two infants. I'm working on egg coloring projects today for #1.

Well, cheers to change! I'll be sure to take some before/after pics because the new house needs lots of painting.


The Housewife

Where I Try to Navigate the "Big Steps" of a Relationship

I worry that all this work lately has meant the death of The Single Gal.  I'm trying to hang in there folks.  Trying.  Worked late again tonight {shocker, I know}.  I tried to be a super hero and also go to the gym but I hit 27 minutes on the elliptical and called it quits.  Tuesday nights sleep was a bit rocky since 3 Putt helped me disassemble my current bed frame and take it to the garage so that all I have to do is shove around my mattress and box springs when my new mattress comes on Saturday.   I'm trying to keep my eyes on the fun stuff -- new mattresses, upcoming life news, dreams of spring {even though it's still freezing here}, starting new books, and taking big steps with 3 Putt.  

I was so frazzled with work a few weeks ago I forgot to tell y'all that we had dinner with my Big John and Pammie.  Like just me and 3 Putt.  And my parents.  I guess the good thing about being so busy and working so much was that I had almost zero time to get nervous and freak out about it.   I know it doesn't seem like a crazy big step to some of you but it is to me -- my fam will tell you I keep people in the closet.  Not because I am ashamed of them but because there is just no need for anyone that I'm just "dating" to meet them.  Also, this way when you break up there is just less explaining to do.  If 3 Putt was anything but calm and cool about it I didn't know.  Dinner went really well and since I had been working so much I actually just enjoyed being with everyone and having a night out rather than thinking of all the things on my "to do" list at work.   I texted Big John the next day and he said he enjoyed meeting 3 Putt and thought he was a "really nice guy".  Big words from Big John = happy Single Gal!

I bring up "The Dinner" because 3 Putt's mom is flying in from Scotland tomorrow.  And we are having dinner on Friday and Saturday.  SO nervous.  I have a zit brewing just underneath my left nostril -- you know, the kind that you can feel before they randomly well up into the size of an SJP beauty mark? I'm already pretty sad the weather still calls for sweaters because I would rather wear one of my pretty Lilly skirts but I know you can't have it all.  {blahblahblah} 3 Putt also swears that I'll not have trouble with her accent but I'm pretty sure I may spend part of dinner with the blank look I have on my face when I go to the nail salon.  Anyway -- wish me luck.  You girls know how it is meeting a man's mother.  It can be a tough arena.  

Also -- I really don't want this to become some "gush-about-your-boyfriend" platform but 3 Putt has been really great the last few weeks about putting up with my insanity.  First off -- he keeps saying he doesn't think I am acting insane {surely a fib} even when I am.  Second, he has been SO helpful in doing everything I ask or anything he can to make sure I'm not staying crazy stressed out all the time.  It's really nice.  Really, really nice actually.  

Is anyone else going through the crazy other than me and The Housewife? Drop a line. We are in the struggle, too. 

Love you. Mean it. 

~the single gal~

Monday Obsessions: New Bedding

As fun as booking a trip to the Dominican Republic for myself and 3 Putt was last week -- I also had some other big girl/grown up expenses.  Since The Housewife is moving the lovely bed I was "storing" for her in my guest room {aka - the only guest bed I have} will be going back to live at her pretty and amazing new house.  She closes in like two weeks.  Since Emily is using the guest room here until she buys something I obviously needed to find something for her to sleep on as soon as possible.  

After a lot of hemming and hawing I bit the bullet on a new mattress for my room -- a King size mattress for me {eep!} and will move my current queen mattress into the guest room.  Mainly I did this so I can get more dogs and we can all lounge comfortably on Saturday mornings.  While spending a gigantic amount of money on a mattress was not as fun as spending lots of money on vacation, I sure did have fun ordering new bedding this past weekend. I'll try to post some pics in a couple weeks once all the chaos of deliveries, moving mattresses to other rooms is completed and bedding orders have been received.  Until then I thought I'd give a sneak peek of what I went with in the end for my new linens. 

{dear Lord don't let me regret it because you can't return monogrammed shit.}

{west elm gray striped duvet} 

I liked this pic even though it shows twin beds because you can also see the Euro shams, regular shams, and the duvet.  I also grabbed plain white king shams in their "pintucked" fabric to add some "texture". I hear you are supposed to try to have that when you decorate.   I really thought I would do plain white everything and find some jazzy pillows but I just couldn't do it.  This is bold and clean -- and I liked the feeling of it.  Also, can we talk about how all my shams together cost more than the duvet?! Sheesh. 

And maybe after taxes have been paid {still haven't done that yet} and the bank account is replenished I can show you a headboard that I would like to attach to this king bed I just bought.  

Love you. Mean it. 

"I Work Ouut"

The Housewife here! Shocking I know....twice in one week. Pinterest is all the rage these days and while I'm frantically trying to commit to paint colors for my new house I pinned a treadmill workout. I do quite a bit of "fitness" pinning but to be honest have not really tried anything I've pinned. That is until TODAY.  I was a do-er and not just a pin-er.

via Self Magazine

Y'all this seriously kicked my butt at the gym today. I had to revise it a little because let's face it, I'm not in my fighting shape....yet I managed to do the ladder up to 7.5 but had to recover at a 3.5 pace walking for two minutes and I completed 4 rounds. I cooled down a bit and in 40 minutes my distance was 3.35 miles. I enjoy workouts like this when I'm not training for half-marathon or marathon distances because I'm so focused on watching the time and increasing the speed time just flies by. It's very different from when I have to log anywhere from 7-12 miles on a treadmill. I'm chained to the "dread-mill" because when you have children in the childcare center you can't leave the premises. Makes sense.

So if you need a good change up from logging regular old miles give this a try. It's going to be my new go to while I'm not training for any races. I'm going to try to complete two half-marathons this year, both in the fall. The Single Gal and Turtle had such a good time running the Athens Half we will probably do that one and maybe the Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon. 2014 will be my marathon year. The Single Gal and I are out for lame Las Vegas Marathon of 2011 redemption. We are planning either Chicago or Marine Corps. I will probably vote for Chicago because I ran my PR there and we have a sweet Twitter friend who lives there and runs who made the twins the cutest little hats. Pictures to come!!


Remember, endorphins make you happy. Lets be happy!

The Housewife

Checking In

It's the long lost Housewife. The Single Gal is so busy at work and I'm insane at home right now. We are doing well but it's challenging to pack with three small children at home. It feels so ADD because I can't start on any one room and completely finish it. That in itself drives me crazy. We also had to complete a few items from the home inspection requested from the buyers. One of those was to re-grout the shower floor. I'm very bitter about the items because this was one I did not want to do. You all know after going through making offers, getting them accepted etc. that you are not going to throw a deal away because someone won't re-grout the damn shower. However, it was not a terribly difficult job and we are pretty proud of the way it turned out. But STILL. It makes me rage.

Twins:

Had an excellent 4 month check-up last week. Harper is anywhere from the 50th percentile to 75th and weighs 14 pounds 14 ounces. She is a very happy baby and "talks" as much as her mother. Sweet little Hadley weighs 11 pounds 7 ounces. She is in the 10th percentile for everything. Hadley mimics #1 in many ways. #1 was also very petite but hit a big growth spurt between 6-9 months. Harper is also 1 1/2 inches longer (they don't stand up so you can't really say "taller") than Hadley. The only thing that bothers me is other people's reaction to the difference in their sizes. Harper stats wise is not a gigantic baby but Hadley is just petite. Twins are still individuals, identical or fraternal. Sleep is so so. I guess they wake up once in the middle of the night. Bedtime is between 5:30-6:30 and they wake around midnight and again between 4 and 5.

#1 was supposed to have her first gymnastics class last week but had several days of a low grade fever and we had to miss it. My friend has her daughter in the same class and she made them matching shirts and the same leggings. I can't wait!

I miss blogging about more than random things. I'm excited about my new house and have so many paint colors and things running through my mind. I'm looking forward to some well needed girls time  this weekend and my first visit to the Drybar with The Single Gal and Little A. I also made us reservations at our fav Little Alley.

Upcoming Atlanta Events and Such

Guys I am so sorry that work has been kicking my ass this week! I have a whole list of things to tell y'all.  Seriously.  It keeps growing every day.  

I thought I'd devote some time on this blog to look into some happenings around Atlanta!  While I can't attend all of these or maybe any of them the way my schedule is looking so far, I don't want anyone to miss out.  

Fellow Foodies -- as I was reviewing my cookbook post featuring the Lee Brothers from Chucktown I happened to see on Twitter that one of my favorite Ford Fry venues, The Optimist is having a book signing event for the Lee Brothers on March 26th.  Tickets are $65 per person and include tax and gratuity.  I have the link here and it will highlight the meal that will be executed by Adam Evan who is the head chef there which will feature recipes from Lee Brothers new book.  Books available too -- $35 plus tax.  It seemed pricey at first but once I looked at the menu and also saw you get cocktails it seems like a very fair amount and a very cool event.

Speaking of food -- I also heard this week that snobby yet famous Holeman and Finch (I have a hard time with places that don't take reservations) will be opening a burger stand in Turner Field this season.  It may actually be a better way to sample their fare from what I have heard about the wait at their regular restaurant.  

via

{article here from Southern Living}

In other news the Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus is hosting their annual fundraising event on March 23rd.  You can buy tickets to their 5th Annual Big Wig party here. Advanced admission is $30 and they will have an open bar and food from Gilberts, 10th and Piedmont, Fifth Ivory, The Jungle, Metrotainment Cafes, and The Great American Cookie Company. 

I may not make the Big Wig party but I think I am definitely in for their upcoming production of music from the Wicked musical on April 19th and 20th at the 14th Street Playhouse.  Tickets are $30 for No Rest for the Wicked! 

Happy Saturday everyone! Get planning for the rest of March's social calendar on my behalf since I am working all the time lately! 

Love you. Mean it. 

~the single gal~

Stuff from My Weekend

Well it was pretty much a super girly weekend here for The Single Gal.  The Housewife and I got together for a mani/pedi date on Friday after a long week and work and it was just what we needed to start off the weekend.  It seems like we haven't seen each other in forever!

I went with this OPI color "My Private Jet" for the weekend since it was so cold and frigid.  The Housewife and I have grown to love this one!

Saturday morning I hit The Dry Bar with Em for more pampering! 

I know it's blurry.  Let's call it art and be done with it.  But they poofed my hair up with the best "Southern Comfort" I've ever gotten there! We had a great time!  And then we went to have liquid lunch at Pure Taqueria.  

When you get home from liquid lunch you take selfies with the dog. 

I actually had TWO birthday celebrations to attend for two of my most favorite people Saturday night.  So I ran over to JCT Kitchen to celebrate sweet Elise and then back up towards my area for cosmic bowling to celebrate Em.   It was super cold and I would only brave a frigid evening for those I love a lot.  Take note.  

Also, let it be known that I'm not afraid to hang up a birthday banner at the bowling alley.  Boom. 

Since I'm old and didn't get home until after 1 from bowling I took a day of rest on Sunday.  Hogan and I spent 4 hours in the morning catching on Downton Abbey {O.M.G.} and cooking fun stuff like fresh bread and I spent a lot of time eating all the things that I made.  I wasn't all that happy with the recipe I tried, so I won't post it.  It's likely that maybe I will get to try out a new recipe from bread pudding though since I cannot sit at home and eat bread all week.  Well, I could.  But I'd def gain a few pounds and ain't nobody got time for that. 

I'm trying to take more pictures, even if they are iPhone 3GS quality.  

Love you. Mean it. 

~the single gal~

Monday Obsessions: {Cookbooks}

Ever since I mailed that damn Smitten Kitchen cookbook to Little A and had the chance to thumb through it on my visit I have been dying to have it for myself.  And that is just one among a few others. I tried some homemade bread yesterday -- not sure how I like the recipe or how it turned out.  It tastes really good -- it just didn't puff up like I wanted.  Guess I need more practice.  And Lord do I have to find someone to eat all these experiments besides myself! I could gain 5 pounds alone on that bread and I have a feeling the second loaf is going to turn into bread pudding by the weekend. 

Here are a couple cook books I've been thinking of ordering.  What do you like to use? Any favorites? Something I shouldn't be living without? 

The Lee Brothers have a new one out -- The Lee Brothers Charleston Kitchen.  And really I might need one of their other books, too? 

I know I would probably really like this one as well. 

find here

I am also a big fan of Ina.  Who doesn't like The Barefoot Contessa?  I saw a recommendation from another blog saying that this one of her books was a good one.  I feel like she legit does a lot of entertaining so I would trust her with some easy but elegant recipes.  Maybe not for me to make, but I'd like to grab the book to see if I could. 

Happy Monday everyone! 

Love you. Mean it. 

~the single gal~

Buying and Selling

Housewife here to vent. We have decided to put our house on the market because as you all know we did some expanding recently. The market seems to be rebounding here. No ones taking you to the bank and you're not getting anything for a steal unless it's a short sale. That's just my unprofessional opinion though. It's HARD. My Dad always says, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." Blah.  Our house showed 10 times in 5 days. Which is really great, except no offers. Freaking crickets. I live like a gypsy. I keep supplies in the van for the little people and just go from family member to family member's home to kill the time and vacate my house.......for NOTHING. I think I'd be happier if someone just made a ridiculously insulting offer. At least someone liked it enough to make one.

Only, then someone made us an offer. One we basically didn't even counter. Then they ended up countering themselves two more times and we got a contract. In 20 days. Put that in the real estate is great column. The home inspection went very well and now we are just waiting for the buyer's lender to send their appraiser. When I say wait.....we have been waiting and waiting. My agent's operations manager calls these people 3 times a day. Nada. More crickets. Also, we could not find a house. The market has such a shortage it's unbelievable. Houses go in 3 days sometimes, people are in bidding wars and are jumping list price by tens of thousands on some homes according to our agent. It's crazy! So truthfully we were jokingly saying we didn't really care if the deal fell through because we would be homeless.

Then, we found a house. We secured a contract fairly quickly. So now I'm excited, but we are still waiting on the appraisal on our house. I don't think there will be any issues but you never know. I want to know if my dream home hopes are going to be crushed. Put that I. The real estate is lame column. Know what else is lame? All these conditions and contingencies. I swear they could put a contingency in that said, "This sale is void if a double rainbow shines and there is a pot of gold with a leprechaun at the end of it before said date and midnight." So if we could just confirm the appraisal and get that out of the way everything should be good.  I'm crazy stressed right now. Also, I'm so not packing up anything until the appraisal is returned. Thankfully we have until the end of March but still. I have three small kids.  My apologies for a lack of blogging once again.

Sigh.
The Housewife