A Southern Accent

When we moved into our house , I loved the soft green color of the walls in the family room, and the fact that the previous owner had installed plantation shutters on all of the windows. I decided to take these two elements of the room and create a sort of cottage/coastal feel. My friend suggested I hire a decorator for some ideas, so I did. In just one hour of consultation I'd decided a direction for my room and got some great advice. The number one thing she told me was to pick an accent color for the room. I had a picture from Coastal Living that had bright oranges, browns, cream and blues, so I decided to pick orange as my accent color. I painted my previously boring brown Pottery Barn coffee table a bright Adobe Orange and picked out fabrics and accent accessories that carried the color throughout the room. Next step for this room is hardwood floors - I can't wait! If you're looking to update a room in your house, just pick a color and go for it!

We attended our first open house to evaluate kindergarten this morning. I cannot believe my little man will be starting school next year. It's been said a million times, but those years fly by so fast. When my little guy was born, I was a huge stress ball . I suffered from PPD , was scared to cut his fingernails, carry him anywhere alone or leave him behind. It's amazing not only how much a little person grows in their first years, but also how much a mother learns in those early days, weeks and months. You learn to trust yourself, to trust your intuition, to stand behind your beliefs and that nothing is more important than your little person and your little family. It really is amazing that something so little can change life so much. In a good way.

New print in the shop - southern inspired this time! I printed one out for myself and it's hanging in my hallway!

...I'm designing and thinking about fonts and picking out colors in my head and... Just wanted to share a recent blog header or two or three that I've been working on for some new and old blogs out there. The first one is brand new, so she doesn't have posts yet, but I'll share her address with you when she's up and running! This second one's name makes me chuckle every time I see it! Click on the header to visit this blog: And another cute title... Please let me know if you'd like a new blog header! I've also gotten several requests for logos and have been working on a couple of projects for friends out there in blog land. I'll let those ladies reveal their new identities, but I do offer logo and brand design as well at very affordable prices!

to put up Halloween decorations? I don't really care...I already have them up even though my husband thinks I'm crazy. My sister and I both love Halloween - and when I say I love, I mean it makes us all giddy inside, like we've been eating chocolate for three days straight. We love any kind of Halloween decoration, Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin, and all of the fun activities surrounding the big day. I don't know where this comes from - maybe we just had so much fun as kids at Halloween. Living in the country, you couldn't really do trick-or-treating door-to-door, but my mom would always pile us in the car and take us to people's houses to fill up our plastic candy bags with the reflector stickers. I remember my grandmother would always have a special treat for us and we'd always go to the Halloween carnival at my mom's school. Soooooo...I've got to pass these traditions on to the little guy, right? To kick off this Halloween season, I hit up Ta...

Ok, I don't have any grey hair yet (I had hubs look at my roots this weekend), but OMG, this picture taken yesterday at the zoo makes me look ollllllllllllllllllllld... I don't mind the freckles so much, I've grown to love them, but those wrinkles and that thin skin under my eyes need some work. And a lot of people don't tell you this, but most ladies get dark spots on their skin when they get pregnant - another hidden gem of pregnancy - and mine are most prominent on my forehead, of course. So, give it to me ladies - what wrinkle products have you tried and have actually worked? I'm gonna buy something and do a before and after of the most recommended product and let you know, rather - see, what happens.

You can't go wrong with Chapel Hill, Tyler Hansbrough and a puppy. The new AT&T commercial was filmed in Chapel Hill and has shots from Time Out, the Chi O house (at the end) and campus. I think I even saw Duke pop up for a second, but I'll let that pass. Evidently the cutie at the beginning is a local guy. A co-worker of mine said he's actually from Chapel Hill and she knows his family.

Dooce does it again. I love to read Heather Armstrong's witty postings at Dooce .com , and often come across some of the hateful comments people leave on her blog. She may not be for everyone, but I just don't understand why people even take the time to leave nasty comments on a blog they profess to hate. But Heather has taken these lemons and made some wicked lemonade. She's started a blog devoted entirely to the hate-mail she gets and has loaded it up with tons of ads. So, basically, she's actually making money off of all those comments and throwing it back in their face. Pure genius if you ask me. It's called Monetizing the Hate and you can check it out by clicking here .* *I do not support the sometimes harsh language on this site, but do think it's a great way to fight against the blog haters.

Had I been raised in the 60s, I certainly would have been a hippie. I'm not saying I would be dropping LSD or anything, but I totally dig the fashion. So, with all intentions of going into the local Anthropologie to order the yellow shoes (I just decided I have WAY too many red shoes), I hit the sales section and found a fabulous purse that was originally ninety bucks and on sale for forty! Ok, so now I'm thinking I could possibly wait on the shoes, buy this purse, those cute earrings I've been eyeing and still possibly have some moola left for a shirt... So that's what I did. If fate intends me to have the yellow shoes, they will still be there for my next paycheck. Just going with flow, man. Power to the paycheck. Peace out yall. (too much?)

My husband has waited four years to be able to sit with the little man and watch sports. When our son was two, he would sit for about 10 seconds, then move on to something else. Hubs would look at me, defeated and nervous that we had brought a man into this world that may not like sports. I assured him that the day would come when they could sit together and marvel at the wonders of Tiger's swing, Brady's arm and Kobe's jumpshot. That day has finally come and as they watched Monday Night Football together last night, I could see the pride in hub's face. The little man wanted to pull for the "red team" because that's his current favorite color, and I convinced him that Tom Brady was all that (because he is). The two sat in the chair closest to the TV, locked in a football trance, while hubs explained the game of football. And so, the little guy that never wanted to leave his mommie's side has begun his transition to manhood. Afternoons are now filled wi...

Although I only caught bits and pieces of the MTV Awards last night , a quick look at People.com today and you can see that not only were their controversies and calamities, most importantly, fashion had an EXTREMELY bad night - a night of too, too short dresses and ugly shoes. I'm telling you, if this is the future of fashion, help us all. Number one, this stuff is just not fashion-forward, it's just plain ugly. It was like a competition to see who could look the weirdest last night. And these people actually pay their stylists to put these looks together for them. I think I could have come up with these from a quick stroll through Kmart and Claire's Accessories. So, who do you think was the worst last night (besides Kanye , of course)? And I'm sorry, but that performance by Lady GaGa was in poor, poor taste. Why oh why would Kermit agree to be her date?

My uncle was diagnosed with stage IIIb lung cancer several weeks ago and has just begun his fight to rid his body of this disease. He will be enduring 39 radiation treatments and chemo once every three weeks over the coming months and I'm sending out a request for prayer, for healing strength and peace. My cousin (his daughter) had a birthday party for her little girl this weekend, and I got to meet the newest member of our family, born three weeks ago. Since everyone in their immediate family was there, we took some photos. I really love the last picture and the representation of the "Family Tree". To me, it also represents strength and the power of family, standing together and facing life as it brings its surprises and challenges. "In Luke 18:1 Jesus told his disciples that they "should always pray and not give up." and then Jesus asked "...will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?" Pray to God fro...

They call my husband "The Golf Whisperer" at his club because he's so good at what he does. He's a professional golf instructor and some days gives up to seven or eight lessons. He can just look at your swing one time and tell you what's wrong. He can watch Tiger hit the ball on TV and tell you which way it's going to go. Some of his kids he's worked with have gone to college on golf scholarships, and some of the retired people he's worked with have shaved strokes off their game after playing for years. I like to watch golf on TV and grew up hitting balls with my dad, but I personally have no desire to chase a ball around for 18 holes of golf- but the little guy certainly has the bug. Santa brought him golf clubs for his second Christmas and he's never really looked back. He loves to go to the course with daddy on Sunday afternoons or hit balls in our yard. My husband claims he's never seen a four-year old hit the ball like our little guy, but...

I did quite a bit of shopping and browsing in the stores this weekend and it's amazing how different the trends are this year! There's lots of plaid out there (still not quite sure how I feel about that) but I do know that I love the chunky shoes I'm seeing everywhere! So, I think it's time to spend my Anthropologie gift card from my birthday and I need your help in deciding which shoes to choose! I love the selection of shoes they have right now because they are funky and chunky - two traits I love in a shoe. Below are the finalists - tell me which ones you like the best and why to help me shop!

While crawling on me while I was trying to find the appropriate shoes in my closet this morning, the little guy says to me, " Mommie,why are you so squishy ?" My response, the only response I could think without saying cause I don't work out enough and eat too many mini chocolate bars from the office across the hall, was ,"Cause that's how God made mommies." His response, "Oh, ok."

My husband loves to fish and grew up going deep sea fishing. I'd never been out before, and we've talked about chartering a boat for years. I grew up fishing in ponds around my house with my dad and I've always wanted to try deep sea fishing. Monday, my father-in-law, who is also an avid fisherman, invited us all out for a half-day of fishing. Hubs, my little guy and me all boarded the boat along with my mother-in-law and father-in-law at 6:30 Monday morning. We were armed with fried chicken, ham biscuits and suntan lotion. I was ready to experience my first "real" fishing trip. We weren't going to go too far out, since it was just half a day and I wasn't sure how the little guy would do. But once we got out of the sound, past the lighthouse and about a mile into the ocean, I started puking. I got the sweats and all I wanted to do was jump off that friggin boat and was willing to swim back to land. My MIL got sick too and ONLY because of this did we decide...