Sayings To Live By

    Quotes are on the list for some of my favorite things in the world...I enjoy them and if there was room would have one in some shape or form on every wall in the apartment.

    I think they are wonderful reminders throughout the day and can always add a little needed perspective to any situation :)

    I believe I am going to start dedicating a day to "Sayings To Live By"...I think I may make Mondays the day to do it, because I think it'd be perfect to start out the week with some uplifting sayings, but this week...we are going to end with them! HAPPY ALMOST WEEKEND!!



    Without a doubt, one I need to remind myself of often.



    xoxo

    *all pictures are from Pinterest. I have yet to figure out how to give people credit for them, but I will work on it!!

Fourth of July Foods

    Independence Day honors the birthday of the United States of America and the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. It's a day of picnics and patriotic parades, a night of concerts and fireworks, and a reason to fly the American flag. More information on this holiday can be found HERE. In honor of this, I found some celebratory food ideas that are too cute!  I personally love the red, white and blue chips, and if I were going to a house party, that is totally the dish I would bring!  I hope you get some inspiration from the pics below! Happy Thursday! xoxo, Julie


    Red, White and Blue Chips!
















    Red, White and Blue Sno Cone!

















    Red White and Blue Layered Cake!

















    Red, White and Blue Cake!












    Upside down Ice Cream Cone!





















    Red White and Blue Chocolate Dipped Strawberries!












    Stars & Stripes Cheesecake Shots! How-to HERE.














    Red, White and Blue Smoothie!



Sparkler Message Photos

    Since the Fourth of July is approaching and you are bound to come face to face with some sparklers at some point this weekend, why not take advantage and take some cute photos with them?  Sparkler messages are popular in wedding photos, but don't have to be limited to that one event!  Instructions on taking sparkler photos are HERE. I can't wait to try this! Happy Thursday! xoxo, Julie


    

What I'm Loving Wednesday

    I'm linking up again with Jamie's, What I'm Loving Wednesday post!

    Can you guys believe it's almost July?!?! Woahhh. Life is moving so super fast!


    I'm loving...that one of my closest and sweetest friends from college got ENGAGED this past Sunday! It's always so wonderful to know one of my best friends has found their guy :) Let the wedding planning begin! She's going to be such a beautiful bride.


    I'm loving...that another one of my sweet friends from college will be getting married 1 MONTH from tomorrow! There's just so much love going around and I am so happy for these people. She deserves all of the happiness in the world and I'm giddy excited about her wedding day. This is one of the gifts I got her...I love it and think it's so perfect for a bride on her wedding day!



    I'm loving...that July 4th weekend is here! July 4th is one of my favorite holidays, for all of the obvious patriotic reasons, but also because of the celebrations around it! I love the fireworks, the cook outs and all of the patriotism! One of my favorite things about the 4th is getting a chance to spend time with family. C and I won't get a chance to go home for the 4th but it's memories from all of the 4th's before this year that make me so crazy about this holiday! We sure will be missing everyone and wishing we were with them!

    ...oh, and another very important favorite part of the Holiday...a fruit pizza flag!! We have turned this in to a tradition, and look forward to it every year. I am so very excited to have this deliciousness on Monday! I'll be sharing the recipe and pictures of mine after the festivities!

    I sure will be missing my one of a kind family this week. A skype session will definitely be in order!


    I'm loving...Pretty Little Liars. Yes, I said it, it's my guilty pleasure...now, let's move on to the next thing.

    I'm loving...frozen yogurt! It's everything my taste buds crave and I believe C and I will be needing to make a trip out for a treat tonight :)

    Happy Wednesday! xoxo

Stubborn

    I'm selectively stubborn.

    I'm not the kind of stubborn that always has to be right, and not the kind of stubborn that stands tall and won't be the first to apologize during an argument. No, that's not me at all...in fact, I'm normally a pretty big baby during arguments.

    However, my stubbornness comes out full force when I'm sick.

    I'm a..."oh, I'll be fine. I don't need that medicine. It'll just go away on it's own" kind of stubborn.

    Sometimes I'm right, and sometimes...most of the time, I'm wrong.

    I've had a terrible cough for the past month. After about week 3 I figured it wasn't going any where soon and it sounded more and more like I was smoking 10 packs of cigarettes a day...which was not the case at all.

    After a lot of convincing from my parents and C, I went to urgent care yesterday after work...

    Bronchitis. I have bronchitis, and my stubborn self was trying to fight through it without medicine. I have apparently lost my mind and all sense of knowing when I need to see a doctor and get an antibiotic.

    24 hours later and I am feeling 100 times better!

    Truth is though, if I had gone just 2 weeks in to this cough mess they would have sent me away and told me to take Mucinex. I'd like to think I waited just the perfect amount of time before going :) ha!

    So...the lesson is...I have got to drop my stubbornness in the sick department and send it else where!

    Very very thankful I am feeling better tonight and very thankful for these sweet people that have put up with this nasty cough for so long. Thanks Doctors for doing your job. You sure do make life a lot more enjoyable!

    Happy Tuesday!

Birthday Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

    It's my birthday week! YAY! To celebrate I am going to make these cute cupcakes I found on Martha Stewart and bring to work!  And to be even more popular amongst my peers I'm going to substitute splenda for sugar. Adorable, right? Happy Tuesday! xoxo, Julie




















  • Makes 12





  • Ingredients

    • For Cupcakes

      • 12 sugar cones
      • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
      • 1 teaspoon baking powder
      • 1/2 teaspoon salt
      • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
      • 1 cup sugar
      • 3 large eggs
      • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
      • 3/4 cup milk
    • For Decorating

      • Swiss Meringue Buttercream, plus 1/2 recipe chocolate variation
      • Gel-paste food color, optional
      • Melted chocolate
      • Chopped roasted salted peanuts
      • Maraschino cherries
      • Assorted candy sprinkles

    Directions

    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove center of a 12-inch tube pan and cover pan with a double layer of heavy-duty foil. Use a skewer or paring knife to poke 12 small holes in the foil, 2 1/2 inches apart. Gently place a cone in each hole, pushing it down until only about 1 inch of cone is showing.
    2. Make cupcakes: Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk, and beating until combined after each. Fill each cone with 2 to 3 tablespoons batter. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
    3. Decorate cupcakes: Tint some of the buttercream pink with gel-paste food color, if desired. Use an ice cream scoop to place buttercream (untinted or pink) on top of cupcake, then top with sprinkles. For "soft-serve" cones, use a pastry bag fitted with only a coupler (or a large plain tip) to pipe buttercream in a swirl over cone, then top with multicolored sprinkles; or, for "sundae" cones, drizzle melted chocolate over buttercream, then sprinkle with peanuts and top with a cherry. For soft-serve "twist" cones, fill a pastry bag fitted with an open-star tip (Ateco No. 828) with untinted and chocolate buttercreams, placing them side by side in bag; pipe two-tone swirls. Serve immediately.

Personalize US Postage Stamps

    This is the coolest thing ever! Did you know you can add your own photo to U.S. postage stamps? It's a little pricey, but will not break the bank! How cute to send out holiday cards with a picture of the family dog on the stamp? Or to send out wedding Save-The-Date cards with a picture of the couple on the stamp? The possibilities are endless, and you can customize your stamps here! Happy Tuesday! xoxo, Julie










    http://photo.stamps.com/Store/?source=si10985886

Mrs. Lilien's Proper (Printable) Placemat

Miami (Pre-Trip)

     I'm headed to Miami soon, and I am super excited! I've only been there one other time and it was on a business trip, so I am really excited to experience it as a vacationer! I'm using this week to research things to see and do, as well as plan a Miami summer weekend wardrobe! I'm also going to download a play list of Miami themed songs, and watch as many Miami movies as possible! Happy Monday! xoxo, Julie













    A few things to see and do...

    Hitting the Beach at South Beach










    Cuban Food in Little Havana














    Coral Castle










    Miami Aquarium














    Ocean Drive




















    Pool time at the Ritz Carlton!














    Plus Shopping, Dinner and clubbing!


    Wardrobe pack list...
    White Beach Sarong









    Plus: Gold Flip Flops, Gold Heels, Gold Hoops, Short Dresses, Beach Bag & Sunglasses!



    Ipod play list...










    Miami-Will Smith
    Rhythm is Gonna Get You-Gloria Estefan
    Miami Vice Theme-Jan Hammer
    Margaritaville-Jimmy Buffett
    Over The Rainbow-Iz Kamakawiwo
    La Isla Bonita-Madonna
    The Beach Soundtrack

    Movie agenda...













    There's Something About Mary
    Miami Vice
    Wild Things
    Meet the Fockers

Fun At It's Finest

    It was a perfect weekend, a perfect weekend with no plans, but tons of fun stuff!
    This was the sunset in Buckhead on Friday night. Is this not gorgeous? This mountain girl loves that there's still the beauty of nature even in this tall building city :)

    Saturday morning might be my favorite part of this weekend. We found a farmers market just down the road and I was giddy with excitement about going! We got there and there were tons of people and great vendors!

    I am a sucker for cute stuff like farmers markets, and especially fresh cut flowers from the farmers market! We got there a little late for the pretty bundles, so I figured I'd save my money for the next Saturday we make a trip there.

    We found a lot of great stuff and ended up buying salsa, potatoes and some fresh bread! I'm excited to be more in the know and knowing what to expect the next time we go. I can guarantee this will be where we spend every Saturday morning we are in town. I'm just in love with it and cannot wait to go back!



    This is the pretzel bread we bought and used for our lunch on Saturday! So very good!

    We came home from the Farmer's Market had lunch and then headed to one of C's co-workers, son's little league games. They were 7 year olds and SO in to this game. It was a tournament, so clearly, there was a lot at stake!

    I loved watching how hard they worked and their excited little faces when they had a good play. I quickly became impressed and was very invested in the team. They ended up winning and were so sweet celebrating. Yes, I got tears in my eyes. They had just worked so hard and ended up crushing the other team.

    Go Titans!

    After a day full of shopping at the Farmer's Market and sitting in the so very hot sun at the little league game, we were exhausted. We stopped by the grocery store on the way home and got our favorite meal, shrimp/crackers/cheese/blue moon and headed home to stay in for the night.

    We were enjoying our lazy Saturday night and I decided to catch up on twitter...I saw where one of our favorite cupcake bakery's nearby was selling cupcakes for $.50!! Yes, 50 cents, compared the normal $2.50!! I promise within 30 seconds C and I were out the door and on our way down the road. I don't even think we turned off lights or the TV.

    I'm not sure we even wanted cupcakes, it was more the excitement of the deal! We ran in and they still have a ton of red velvet left, which is my fav! We also managed to get a cinnamon swirl, too! We got a few others to try...heck, I'd try any cupcake for $.50!

    Our $4 cupcakes, that would normally be $20!

    Sunday was a productive and good day too. We went to Crate & Barrel and bought some wedding gifts for a couple that will be getting married soon. Love shopping for our friends, but it makes it really hard when you're buying stuff that you want too :)

    We went to the grocery store for the week then C made dinner for us!

    It was one of those perfect rainy Sunday evenings here! I loved it and it made everything so green and refreshing!



    This is one of the crazy things about living in the city...this is our view walking out of the grocery store! Isn't that weird? Maybe not for a lot of you, but for me it's so bizarre.

    Grocery store view in Atlanta.


    Waynesville-NC.jpg

    Grocery store view back home.


    Such a huge difference! But both, very beautiful!


    I can't decide if finishing up a perfect weekend makes Monday easier or harder.


    Regardless, it's time to go back to work for another week whether I am ready or not! Hope everyone has a great week :)


Wedding Tree

    How cute is this wedding tree I saw on Gingham & Pearls! Instead of a sign-in book, have guests thumbprint a tree and sign their name next to it! It could also work well with any ol party! Happy Friday! xoxo, Julie

    

Shopping Bag Frames

    I saw this idea on my college friend Annie's blog All Things Annie, and I love it! I'm saving my favorite bags and doing this ASAP in my closet! Happy Friday! xoxo, Julie


    

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