{Weekend Recap} Easter Egg Hunts & Home Shows

Happy Monday, girls! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Friday was payday for this girl so to start off my weekend I headed over to Walmart to pick up those galvanized serving pieces I mentioned in Friday's post. However, after spending five minutes trying to debate which pieces I needed and which pieces I didn't, I ended up walking away without purchasing any because I just couldn't decide between all they had to offer. Any of you ladies ever do that? Please tell me I'm not the only one...

After leaving Walmart empty handed, I headed over to a local nail salon to treat myself to a pedicure with a coworker. My poor feet haven't seen a pedicure since last summer so some grooming was definitely in order before I could bust out the sandals this week on our vacation. And I have to say, the end result was pretty amazing! I can't stop staring at my perfectly polished feet. I'm definitely thinking my coworker and I need to make this an every payday sort of thing (;

We ended our Friday night as we always do. When Kevin got home from work, we all piled into the car and headed to meet my parents and cousin at a local pizza joint. Having had pizza the night before, Kevin and I decided to try out something different and thank the good Lord that we did. We tried out the restaurant's steak and cheese calzone and it was AMAZING. We'll definitely be going back and ordering another one again. Mmmm Mmmm Mmmmm.

Saturday morning Harper slept in which allowed me time to get ready and tidy up the house a bit. When my parents arrived at our house with breakfast in tow, Harper decided to wake up. It was nearly 10 o'clock. Yes, I'm as shocked as you ladies are. She never sleeps that late but there's a first for everything.

After breakfast was done, I got Harper dressed and we headed to Kevin's work for their annual Easter Egg Hunt and Family Cookout. Last year Harper was too young to participate so this year we decided to try it out. Sadly, Harper didn't find any eggs as all the older kids had snatched them up in no time but she still had fun running around the place and that's all that matters. After finishing up the Easter Egg hunt, we headed into the plant and got to sneak a peek at what Kevin does for a living. I've never seen the actual behind the scenes work that takes place at Ball before so I was as fascinated as Harper was to see Kevin in his element. And how much does he look like a doctor with his little white coat and glasses?!

When we finished up our lunch with Kevin, Harper and I headed to Greensboro with my parents for the annual Southern Ideal Home Show. Each year my mom's work participates in the event so she always ends up with extra tickets. However this was the first year  I've ever tagged along. And after going, I will never not go again! While there I saw so many neat ideas for our home. I literally have almost maxed out my phone's photo storage thanks to all of the pictures I took of various things at the event. Trust me when I say you'll be seeing some new projects heading our way to the Holt household. After telling Kevin all about my inspiration and the things I'd like to do at our home, I'm pretty sure he's going to say I can never go back. My free ticket is going to cost him quite a bit in the end! haha Here's a look at a few of my favorite spaces. 

Yesterday was our typical Sunday. Harper and I took Kevin breakfast since he was working, ran back home to change for church right after, and then met the family at church. Of course, church was followed with the usual lunch at Mom and Dad's with my friend Brittni in tow. After hanging around Mom and Dad's for a while, Brittni and I headed out to do a little shopping... mainly for our upcoming vacations that'll take place this week.

When Kevin got home from work, we met up with his brother and his brother's girlfriend for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. When we got home Harper informed us it was time for "night, night". While Kevin put her to bed, I headed to the laundry room to finish up washing a few loads of clothes only to discover we had a major problem. Our washer wasn't working. After slightly panicking at the thought of having to fork out $1,000 for a new washer, I called my brother for advice. Five minutes later he showed up at my house to the rescue. After a little engineering, he had it up and running. Thank God I have a brother who can literally do anything. He comes to my rescue more times than I'd like to admit! But what else are brothers for (:

Have a fabulous week ladies!

{Link Up} Being Fearless, Current Obsessions, and Home Updates

Happy Friday, girls. This week was a fast one and you'll find no complaints about that from this girl. Fast weeks are my favorite; though a part of me realizes that that just means my baby girl is getting that much older :/ Cue the tears. But on to happier things like this Five on Friday post. So lets get right to it...


1)  Be Fearless
A couple of weeks ago, I ordered this tag necklace from Initial Outfitters. It was one of those items that when I saw it, I knew I had to have it. So often, I allow fear to creep into my mind and heart and it stops me from doing the things I know I should do or the things I want to do. I find it no coincidence that "do not be afraid" is written in the Bible a total of 365 times. It is God's daily reminder to us that He's there; that He's got this; and that we should be fearless. I pray that this little gem will remind me daily to trust in Him and not allow my fear to cripple me.

2) Pretty Blooms
Last Saturday I purchased two bouquets of fresh yellow tulips for our kitchen. Throughout the week, they've been opening up and I just can't help but stare at how beautiful they are.  With all the rain and cloudy skies we've had this week, the pops of yellow have been brightening up our kitchen as well as our moods. I'm pretty sure I'll be grabbing a few bouquets of these each week until summer arrives and things are much more colorful and cheerful.

3) Current Obsession + Must Have
If you follow many home blogs or visit many home decor stores/departments, you'll see that galvanized metal is a fast growing trend. It's everywhere and slowly but surely, I'm becoming obsessed with it. So far I've limited myself to only purchasing one galvanized metal piece which so happens to be this adorable mail holder. However, I've got my eye on these large metal letters from Hobby Lobby as well as these galvanized metal serving pieces from Walmart. At less than $10 a piece, I can't promise they won't make their way into my buggy this weekend.

4) House Project Updates
It's been a while since I've filled you all in on the current house projects we've got going on. At the beginning of the year, I shared my plans with you all of how we were redecorating our master bedroom and living room. Currently, our master bedroom is about 80% complete. We've made the headboard, got new bedding, painted the space, started our gallery wall, and found the perfect chair. However, I'm still on the hunt for the perfect floor length mirror and we still need a few more pieces of wall art. Hopefully by the end of April I'll have a full reveal to share. As for our living room, we haven't done much to that space yet. We've hung new curtains, purchased a new lamp, and ordered fabric for the pillow covers I'll be {attempting} to make but that's as far as it's gone. We still need to have our carpet cleaned, decide what to do with our current bookshelf, and purchase a few new decorative items for our space. 

5) Weekend Plans
It appears this is going to be another fun filled weekend in the Holt household. On our agenda for the weekend are pedicures, an Easter egg hunt, a movie night at our house with some of our favorite people, more home shopping adventures, and packing for our upcoming trip to Charleston. Check back next Monday/Tuesday for a full weekend recap (:

Have a great weekend my friends!

{DIY} Planter Box

Good morning, ladies! I'm excited to be sharing this DIY planter box that I built for our dining room about a month or so ago. For the last year or so, I've been eyeing these babies on Pinterest. There are endless options to style and decorate planter boxes for every season of the year and all the possibilities make me giddy. If you don't believe me, head on over to Pinterest and check them out for yourself. 

When Kevin and I started redecorating our dining room and I realized our new chairs were going to be about five inches shorter than our old ones, I knew I was going to need a shorter table centerpiece and a planter box fit the bill. After doing endless searches to find one, I finally found several options I liked on ETSY but at $50+ I just never could quite pull the trigger on purchasing one. And then one day, I had an idea... why not just make one? So after coming across several tutorials, I headed to Lowes with my Dad and got all the necessary materials. And you know what... it didn't even cost me $20!

Supply List
1- 1 x 6 x 6 whitewood board
1- 2 x 4 stud
1 small bottle of Titebond wood glue
1 8 oz. can of Mimwax wood stain
1 sponge craft brush

Cut List (Note: I had Lowes cut my wood when I bought it)
1 x 6 x 6 cut in half to make 2- 36" pieces
2 x 4 stud cut at 36" and 2 pieces cut at 3.75"

I'm one of those people who has to get started on a project right away once I have all the supplies, so after getting home at 9pm on a work night, I headed out to the garage to start my project.

The first thing I did was spread out the wood on some old cardboard and start staining the pieces using a sponge craft brush. I ended up using 3 coats of stain and painted each coat about 20 minutes apart.

After having the stain sit overnight, I headed out to the garage at 6am the next morning and started assembling the wood. All I did was lay the 2 x 4 stud cut into a 36 inch piece on the bottom to be my base and then stood my 1 x 6 boards cut at 36" on both sides of the stud. Once I knew their lengths would add up, I lined the sides of the stud with wood glue and placed the boards back next to it. In order to keep them tight and secure, I placed objects on both sides of the 1 x 6 boards to help them stand up. When this step was done, I took the 3.75" pieces and dropped them into the ends. I lined them with wood glue as well so they'd attach to the edges of the 1 x 6 boards.

By the time I got home from work that afternoon, the glue had completely dried and I sat this baby on the table and admired it for a good hour (; For the spring, I decorated it with some Fresh Picked Hydrangeas from Hobby Lobby!

Overall this was a super easy project and I'm in the process of making a few more of these babies for some friends. So go try it out. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

{Home Tour} Dining Room

As promised, I'm here today with a reveal of our dining room. At the beginning of the year, Kevin and I decided that this would be the year for renovations and redecorating our home. At the top of our list was redecorating our living room and master bedroom as these are the two most commonly used spaces in our home. While purchasing items for both of these spaces, I came across these beautiful tufted chairs at Target on super sale and couldn't pass them up. So along with those spaces, our dining room got a little makeover as well. Check it out!

Here's the overall picture...

And for the details...

What do you think?!

...............................................................................................................

Get the Look

Dining Table & Bench: World Market

Hutch: It's an antique piece handed down by some family friends

Dining Chairs: Target
Mirror: Purchased from a local antique shop

Planter Box: DIY Project

Hydrangeas: Hobby Lobby

Table Runner: Hobby Lobby

Dishes & Silverware: These were borrowed from my Mom

Chargers: Pier 1

Wall Monogram: ETSY

{Weekend Recap} The Weekend of Parties

Our weekend was filled with a whirlwind of activities. From tackling two birthday parties, a trip to the Children's Museum, shopping for some spring items, redecorating our dining room, and sprucing up the kitchen... it was a crazy, busy weekend. But oh how much fun we had! Let me just warn you... be prepared for a picture overload (;

On Friday after work, Harper and I headed to Greensboro to hunt for a few items for the house. On my list were flowers, a new table runner, and a spring rug for our entry way. And lucky enough, I was able to cross off all three items on my list within an hour and a half thanks to a trip to Homegoods, Hobby Lobby, and Pier 1. Unfortunately, I also added a few other things to my list since I couldn't decide between a few items but so the story usually goes (; 

After our shopping adventures Harper and I headed over to the Greensboro Children's Museum to meet up with Kevin for a birthday party. Owen, one of Harper's classmates from daycare, was celebrating his second birthday. His party was Mickey Mouse themed so Harper was in heaven. After devouring a slice of pizza Harper was all ready to play so the next hour and a half flew by what with chasing her around the place and all. I'm not quite sure who was the tiredest when the party was all said and done... but my money would be on Kevin and me. 

Saturday morning Harper and I met up with my parents for breakfast. Afterwards, we headed to Danville with my sister so I could return a few of the items I had purchased the night before. Buyers remorse and all :/ Anyone else do that?!

When Kevin got home from work Saturday evening, we headed over to my parents' house to grab a few things I wanted to borrow for our dining room table settings. Since Mom and Dad were about to ride out for dinner when we arrived, we decided to tag along and ended up making our way to Ruby Tuesday for a steak dinner. After which, I made my dad swing me by a local market to pick up some fresh tulips to brighten up our kitchen. Aren't they gorgeous?!

Sunday morning Harper and I slept in which had me rushing around the house like a mad woman trying to get ready to visit Kevin at breakfast on Sunday morning. Whoops. We were only ten minutes late which was about fifty minutes sooner than I thought we would be (; haha After breakfast, we swung back by the house to put on our Sunday best and then made our way to church with the family. And of course, church was followed with the usual lunch date at my parents' house.

Following lunch, Harper and I headed to another birthday party. Kevin's best friend's son was turning two and was having a Thomas the Train party. Stacey did such a great job with all of the decor. You should pop over to her blog and check out the full details here. She's seriously amazing. I tell her all the time she needs to be a party planner but I don't think I'll ever convince her to leave teaching!

We spent most of the evening at Brian and Stacey's. By the time we got home, we barely beat Kevin from his twelve hour long shift at work. Since we were both exhausted and Harper hadn't had a nap, we called in some Japanese take out and spent the rest of the evening relaxing on the couch and watching some basketball. Which is a perfectly acceptable way to end a weekend in my book (:

Hoping your weekends were filled with just as much fun. Check back tomorrow for our dining room reveal!

{Link Ups} New Jobs, Dining Room Updates, & Easter

Happy Friday girls! I didn't get around to blogging much this week as it's been a pretty busy week in the Holt household but I still wanted to pop in for the usual Five on Friday even though the day is half gone. So let's get this show on the road before it's too late....

1. Kevin's New Job

You might remember back in December Kevin found out he might be laid off for part of this year. The news was rather disturbing despite that we knew it would only be temporary and not permanent. But still, the thought of Kevin not drawing a paycheck for 10+ months was scary. Over the last few months, we've learned more and more information and the lay off has been put off and put off and has yet to happen despite that Kevin was initially told it would start at the beginning of the year. As time has gone on, our fear has lessened and we haven't had a ton of concerns regarding the lay off as there are days I question whether it's even going to happen as business is booming and Kevin's working non-stop. However, a couple of weeks ago, Kevin was presented with the opportunity to move up in his company and begin a new job. This would insure he had a job during a potential layoff and prevent him from being laid off pretty much at anytime in the future. After a lot of prayer and talking it over, Kevin accepted the job, despite it being so very different from what he's done over the last eleven years, and began it this week . It's definitely been an adjustment for him and is going to take some time to get used to as is the case with any new job. So your prayers over the next few weeks for this guy as he gets acclimated would be greatly appreciated (:

2. My New Job

While we're on the topics of new jobs, I started a new job myself back at the end of February. But don't worry, I'm still teaching my little third graders too! Hence why I've been rather busy here these past few weeks and have lacked a lot of blogging time. Back in February, I was presented the opportunity to coach volleyball with another one of my coworkers at a local middle school. Having coached intramural volleyball for the last three years, I was ready for a change and decided to accept the challenge. It's definitely made for some longer days and less time at home but I have thoroughly enjoyed  myself over the last couple of weeks. It's been nice to have something to do for myself outside of work and home. Getting to spend my afternoon with the thirteen girls on our team is never short of laughs and chuckles. Might I add, we are currently 2-0 and I can only see our winning streak continuing because our girls are a beast and totally dominate the volleyball court! & check out our coaching shirts... you just can't ever go wrong with a monogram (;

3. Dining Room Chairs

A few weeks ago I shared my dining room chair dilemma. I purchased these tufted chairs back in January and for an entire month they sat in our front foyer because I couldn't decide whether I wanted to keep them or not because they appeared so much shorter than our old ones. Yet, after seeing all four of the ones I had ordered put together, I was in love! I loved them so much I decided I wanted to order another set... but then I ran into another dilemma. They were sold out. But thanks to an amazing customer service representative, I was assured that at some point they would come back in stock and I should check back often. So for the last three weeks, I have stalked Target's website about twenty times a day to see that little red icon that said "add to cart". And on Monday, I got lucky! I quickly tossed them into my cart, added my coupon code, and purchased these babies for nearly half price before someone else could snatch them all up! Now that I have them, my dining room is nearly complete (:

4. DIY Projects

Speaking of the dining room, I made this little planter box several weeks back for our dining room table. I had been eyeing them on Pinterest for months now and even got ready to purchase one on ETSY until I had a genius idea to make my own. And I am so thankful I did. These babies sell for $50+ on ETSY and I made mine for less than $20! This bargain shopping mama sure was doing the happy dance when it was all said and done! As soon as I get some fresh flowers for it, I'll share the full tutorial on this little blog of mine!

5. Getting Ready for Easter

Is it just me or do you ladies feel like it's unreal that Easter is just around the corner? I mean, really? Didn't we just have Christmas? I had all intentions of going all out for Easter this year but it just sort of snuck up on me. So other than Harper's Easter books on her picture book ledges in the playroom and a cute little bunny I picked up from the Target One Spot sitting in the foyer, this is as good as it's going to get this year as far as Easter decor is concerned. Oh well, better luck next year!

Here's hoping you all have an amazing weekend! See ya on Monday friends!

{Weekend Recap} The Perfect Weekend

Happy Wednesday, girls! I know I'm quite a few days late with this weekend recap but after the most perfect weekend ever, I was in denial that it had came to an end. Because seriously y'all, our weekend was THAT good! Weekends like this past one are hard to come by and it makes me sad to watch them go...I can only hope next weekend is half as good as this past one!

Friday

Friday after work I headed home with the intention of cleaning our house and tackling the laundry. But after the long week I had, I decided to change my plans and spend an hour curled up on the couch with a book before picking up Harper from daycare. I felt a bit guilty that I should have been using my time more wisely but sometimes a girl just needs a break. And it's not often the house is empty and quiet so I decided to take full advantage of the rare occasion. 

After picking up Harper from daycare, my friend Brittni came by to help me make some decisions on some house projects we've got going on. Harper was absolutely thrilled that "B" had came by as I'm pretty sure she's her favorite person in the world. So when the decisions were done, Harper and B played while I tidied up the main living areas before we all headed to meet my parents for our usual Friday night dinner.

After returning home from dinner, Kevin put Harper to bed, and we stayed up long enough to catch the tail end of the UNC vs VA basketball game. It was all I could do to hold my eyes open but to watch our Tarheels win and advance to the championship was worth the lost sleep!

Saturday

Saturday morning, Kevin and I were up bright and early to go view a house that recently came on the market in a nearby neighborhood. We loved the layout of the house but it was missing some of the must haves on our final house wish list so it's safe to say, we'll be staying put where we're at for a while longer. Though Harper may be a bit disappointed as it was obvious she loved the place; but then again, it may have just been all the toys that were in the house that attracted her the most (; After our house showing, we grabbed breakfast at a local diner; something that's rare these days as our weekend breakfasts with Kevin always take place in the car at his work. It was definitely a nice change of scenery that's for sure. 

When we finished up with breakfast, we headed to one of our local schools to "Catch the Reading Bug". An event hosted by our school system to encourage and promote literacy. The event included free books, author signings, crafts, and book character costumes so I was pretty sure Harper would have a blast. Unfortunately, Harper didn't make it because when we got there we noticed she was conked out and if there's one thing we've learned as parents, it's that you never wake a sleeping baby (; So in the end, we just headed over to my parents' house so Harper could finish out her nap and we could hang out with them.

Later in the afternoon, Kevin and I took Harper to his parents' house so we could have an evening to ourselves. We ended up heading to Greensboro where we did a little shopping and I grabbed a few new spring tops, some new shoes, and one too many pairs of statement earrings (more on my new purchases later!). After visiting several shops, we decided to head over to Burger Warfare, a new restaurant in town, and grab a bite to eat. The restaurant theme is a mix of Transformers meet Call of Duty but it was really neat looking and the food was amazing. If you live in the triad, do yourself a favor and go NOW! We'll definitely be heading back again soon.

Our original plan was to go see our Tarheels play in the ACC championship game after dinner. One of Kevin's friends had gotten us two tickets on the fourth row and we were super excited to be sitting so close. But after finding out we were going, some of Kevin's family wanted to go as well so we gave up our tickets in hopes of finding five tickets together. Sadly, that didn't happen and we ended up not being able to find any more tickets at all. We were bummed but instead made the most of our night by going to see the new Cinderella movie instead. It wasn't nearly as fun as being at the game cheering on our Heels, but after seeing that Carolina lost, I'm kind of relieved we ended up only spending $20 for a movie instead of $300 for the game! It was a loss this money saving mama could swallow after all!

Sunday
After running around all day on Saturday, we opted to skip church Sunday morning and spend the day at home together as a family. On top of that, a friend of mine was coming by to see some of the changes we've made to our home here lately and with her visit, I knew we'd be pressing time to get to church. 

But we did end up heading over to my parents house with Brittni or "B" in tow for the usual Sunday lunch. But unlike most Sundays, Brittni and I didn't end up hanging around after our plates were cleared because we had to attend an Initial Outfitters "Blingo" party. Because let's be real friends, who doesn't love Bingo and winning free bling?! In the end, Brittni won something and I didn't but I still ended up getting 25% off an order and free shipping, so that was okay by me (:

The rest of our evening was spent at home. While Kevin and Harper got some bonding time in, I cleaned up the house and tackled the mounds of laundry. At dinner, we threw a pizza in the oven and caught up on old episodes of Impractical Jokers. Before I knew it, it was 9 o'clock and the weekend was over....

{Link Up} Things From This Week

Happy Friday, girls! I don't know about you but I sure am happy that Friday is here. I've got five things to share from our week and about our upcoming weekend, so let's get the ball rolling shall we? But first, if you didn't catch any of my posts from earlier this week, you can catch them here, here, and here! 

1. A Much Needed Haircut

If you caught yesterday's post about Harper's first haircut, you might have also noticed that I got one as well. After spending way too much time trying to tame my mane each day, I finally decided to just chop most of it off. So after getting the go ahead from some of my best girls, I had nearly seven inches chopped off. And all I can say is, I'm in love! It's nice to not have to spend 45 minutes every morning trying to straighten all my natural waves!

2. Monogrammed Rain Jacket

After lusting after the Charles River monogrammed rain jackets, I finally pulled the trigger and purchased one off of Etsy from this shop. I figured it was just what my wardrobe needed for our upcoming trip to Charleston. After all, it rains a lot there so it was more of a need than a want (; Or so the husband was told! I kid, I kid. 

3. Sweet Treats

Yesterday my school did a fundraiser at a local yogurt shoppe. We do it several times a year and I don't often get to go as it starts later in the evening. But yesterday I had an hour to kill so I found myself standing in line with a waffle bowl, alpine vanilla yogurt, & way too many sprinkles! As I stared at my yogurt, I couldn't help but feel like I was 12 but these three ingredients are all I need (:

4. Sweet Gestures & Fleeting Moments 

Last night after my school's intramural volleyball game ended, Kevin and I decided to grab dinner at a local pizza parlor. As our food was brought out and sat on the table, the man asked us if we had seen the couple sitting in the corner. He informed us that they had paid for our entire dinner because we reminded them of themselves twenty years ago. Because twenty years ago they too had a daughter whose now all grown up. All they asked was that twenty years from now, we look on another young couple and do the same thing. Their generosity meant so much but the fact that they wanted to remind us of these fleeting moments meant so much more. 

5. Upcoming Weekend 

Kevin and I have a fun and exciting weekend ahead of us. We'll be looking at a house, going to a school function, catching dinner and a movie, and I even have a girl's day planned. Weekends like that are the ones I long for!

Hope your weekends are filled with family, friends, fun, and excitement! See you next week for the usual weekend recap (:

Harper's First Haircut

Yesterday marked another milestone for our baby girl. She had her first haircut and by haircut I really only mean a trim. But it made this little mama sad nonetheless. Harper has been in desperate need of a haircut for months now and having scheduled my own hair appointment for yesterday, I asked my hairstylist if it would be okay that Kevin bring Harper towards the end of mine so she could get her own little cut. Of course, Crystal is amazing and jumped at the opportunity. So as my appointment came to a close I sent Kevin a quick text to head up to the salon with Harper in tow. As expected, she was extremely bashful at first but after watching Crystal finish up my hair, she became a little more relaxed and welcoming. When my cut was finished, she plopped in my lap. In an effort to make sure she remained still, I broke out my phone and Harper enjoyed an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Youtube. The things we do as parents (; It worked wonders and she was as good as gold. In fifteen minutes, her hair was all trimmed up and she was ready to go (: Now I can only hope her next visit in a few weeks will go just as smoothly!

And here's her precious little cut this morning. Too cute for words but then again I'm partial (;