Friday, October 31, 2014

Happy Hour Time

Well, look who finally decided to show up, thank goodness for Friday is all I have to say! Not only is it Friday but it is Halloween, that is a double bonus in my book! I hope every one has their costumes ready to go, decorations up, and ready to have a great weekend. Cheers!

“There will be a few times in your life when all your instincts will tell you do something, something that defies logic, upsets your plans, and may seem crazy to others. When that happens you do it. Listen to your instincts and ignore everything else. Ignore logic, ignore the odds, ignore the complications, and just go for it.”
~ Judith McNaught

Drink Special!
Old Salem
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons water
4 sprigs fresh mint
½ glass shaved ice
2 ounces dark rum
Put the sugar into a tall glass and add the water, add the mint, shaved ice, and rum, and mix well.

Around Town!
Nashville, TN: Night on Demonbreun Street Halloween Pub Crawl at Demonbreun Street, Saturday, November 1 at 8:00pm
Seaside, FL: Trick or Treat in Seaside at the Amphitheater, Friday, October 31, 4:00pm
Louisville, KY: Literally, A Haunted House at Culbertson Mansion, Friday, October 31 – Saturday, November 1
Virginia Beach, VA: Haunted Halloween Festival at Hunt Club Farm, Friday, October 31 – Saturday, November 1
Baton Rouge, LA: Greater Baton Rouge State Fair at Airline Highway Parish Park, Friday, October 31 – Sunday, November 2

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Pumpkin Decorating

As girly and as wimpy as it sounds I have never enjoyed carving into the pumpkins and scooping the pumpkin seeds and slim out, on the other hand I have always enjoyed decorating a pumpkin. Now, despite my dislike of cleaning the pumpkin out carving one is always fun, but I thought I’d mix it up this year and go a different avenue. Since I decided to forgo the traditional carving I opted for a painted pumpkin and a glitter pumpkin, because well lets face it, painting can be fun and glitter makes everything better!
I did the blue willow inspired pumpkin first. For some reason I thought it was going be super easy, and honestly it wasn’t that hard just a little time consuming. A few weeks ago when I was scrolling through my Instagram one of the pictures I came across were some blue and white pumpkins Karolyn from The Relished Roost created. So, of course after I saw that photo and because of my love for basically all things blue and white I though why not paint a blue willow inspired pumpkin.

Supplies Needed:
-       Ghost pumpkin
-       Pencil
-       White tempera paint
-       Blue tempera paint
-       Black tempera paint
-       Paintbrush
-       Paper plate to mix colors
-       Water and paper towel to rinse off paintbrushes

How I did it:
I first lightly sketched a picture on the pumpkin with a pencil before I painted the pumpkin. I decided not to paint the pumpkin white all over before I started drawing the blue willow print because I liked the antique and thought it would look good with the different shades of blue. The main paint color I used was blue, of course, and then I mixed the blue paint with either the black or the white or sometimes both depending on which shade of blue I wanted to use. I used the finest tip paintbrush I had and painted over the pencil drawing I did before hand.
 The second pumpkin I did is a gold glitter polka dot pumpkin. Glitter + Polka Dots + A Little Kate Spade = Perfection In My Heart! I have seen a few pumpkins glitter pumpkins on Pinterest and other websites and have been wanting to create one of my own.


Supplies Needed:
-       Ghost pumpkin
-       White tempera paint
-       Paintbrush
-       Gold Glitter
-       Elmer’s Rubber Cement Glue
-       2” Circle Stencil {I used this one}
-       Water and paper towel to rinse off paintbrushes

How I did it:
Before I put the gold glitter dots on the pumpkin I first painted the entire white using the largest paintbrush I had to make quick work of it. I though painting the pumpkin stark white would make the gold glitter dots pop a little more. After painting the entire pumpkin white let it sit to dry 1-2 hours depending on how thickly you applied the paint. After the paint has dried it is time to make the gold glitter polka dots! To make the dots I cut out the 2 inch circle on my printable circle stencil sheet {click here to get the stencil}, I then placed the stencil on the pumpkin, painted the inside of the circle with Elmer’s Rubber Cement Glue then shake the gold glitter right on top of the glue, repeat this step to achieve as many gold glitter dots as your heart desires. I would advise you to do the glitter outside or over a sink to keep it contained – I did my pumpkin outside and the glitter was everywhere. 

Kate Spade + Gap Kids

This morning I received an email from the Kate Spade store about their adorable collaboration with Gap Kids. I love Kate Spade and The Gap Kids used to be my go-to store till about the eighth grade. I so wish that this Kate Spade + Gap Kids collaboration existed back in the day when I shopped Gap Kids! Truth be told I am wishing I was eight today so I could get away with wearing the bow print dress and the red and white bias stripe tights. Here are my favorite items form the limited edition Kate Spade + Gap Kids collection.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Halloween Playlist

I can hardly believe that it is the week of Halloween! I will admit that Halloween is not my favorite holiday but it is fun to have the chance to be someone else for a night plus I always feel like Halloween is the official opener to the Holiday season! Now, one thing I love about any holiday is how festive one can get with them. As we all know Halloween brings pumpkin carving, costumes, fun decorations, and of course no holiday is complete without some festive music to go along with the day. Download my Halloween 2014 Playlist from Rdio if you are looking for a few good Halloween songs to play at an upcoming Halloween party or just for fun!

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Madewell Addiction

About a month ago a Madewell store opened up in my town and it has turned into a dangerous thing. Before Madewell opened I had a few people describe it to me as “the tomboy sister to J. Crew” when I first went in the store I saw a lot of plaid shirts and boxy sweaters, and my initial reaction upon my first glance around was “I’m not sure this store is for me” – well, my first glance reaction was way off.

Madewell has turned into a store that is almost as dangerous for me as Anthropologie is. Every time I venture into Madewell I see an item that I mentally store in my head as a possible item to add to my wardrobe. I love their flannel shirts {especially the plaid ones}, leggings, sweaters, but most of all I love their skirts. In all honesty I haven’t bought a skirt for the fall/winter season in almost two or three years {shameful, I know} partly because I am more of a dress person and partly because I just haven’t seen one that I “love” in a couple years. Madewell has so many cute skirts for the fall/winter months and I have been stalking up on them and they all look so great with a chunky sweater, button up, or long sleeve tee. I think I can safely say the Madewell store has renewed my fondness for skirts during the wintertime.

Below are my favorite things from the Madewell store that I have come across thus far. {psssst… a few of these items are on sale!}. I am almost ashamed to say it but I really was not that familiar with Madewell till one opened up close to where I live, but now I am not sure how I went so many fall and winter seasons without them.