A Southern Accent

...gift bag... Seriously, have you seen the list of the awesomeness that the actors at the Oscars receive? It's valued at more than $75,000 and I could get much more joy out of it than the actors in Hollywood making millions a year! Let me tell you what I'd do with the Oscar Swag: - My husband and I would use the Maldives trip to celebrate our upcoming 10 year anniversary. We never really got to have an appropriate honeymoon because we were married September 22, 2001, right after the attacks on the World Trade Center. And guess where our one week honeymoon was supposed to take place? You guessed it - New York City! But we ended up having to cancel and just went to the beach for a week instead. How awesome would this trip be for our 10 year celebration? - I'd use all of the skincare and fitness products to get me into shape and healthy - one of my goals for 2011! - But I would give the fitness retreat to my bestie. She's having a baby in March and I know one of ...

See how I did that there? Stay classy, stay glassy....anywho... My MIL shared this with me today. She said she and her friends were mad because they probably wouldn't live long enough to see all of these great innovations. On the other hand, I may be alive, but probably won't be able to afford them. Here's hoping my local mall, government (ha!) and employer will be able to cough up the cash. Either way, pretty neat stuff. If you don't have time to watch the whole piece, at least skip to the end to see the wall-sized 3-D home system. I would probably sell an organ to buy that (no, not really, mom). But, I wouldn't put it past Mike. Could you imagine ESPN on that thing????

This post is about whatever pops into my head. Nothing too exciting going on over here, but I don't want to neglect the old blog. And I have been up to some new things, just nothing too exciting to write a whole blog post about, so we'll combine into one... - We took Walker and my nephew to the circus last week. Let's just say the old circus has come a long ways since I was a little girl. The graphic screens they have are amazing and the prices of the toys and souvenirs are ridiculous, but it was worth it to see the smiles on their faces, or  rather, the clown noses on their faces. - I recently signed up for Pinterest and I'm having so much fun on the site! You can follow me here . So glad someone thought of this - I come across so many great ideas and pics on the web and never have seemed to be able to organized them in a productive manner. This system is great. Just to show you some of the fun things you can pin on the site, here's a great print I found just ...

To follow up on my announcement that I'm now offering photo editing and the accompanying contest, below you'll see one of the photos I received from a winner, Jill, from Little Miss Mommy . It's quite a cool photo, here's the description, straight from Jill: "This photo was taken at my daughters first birthday party.  We wanted a large venue with a cool theme so we chose an event center that used to be an old historic firehouse.  Here is what their website had to say about the piano.  "The Main Firehouse is a large space perfect for all gatherings and features an available wooden dance floor, large firehouse doors with windows and the infamous piano that the Beatles’ George Harrison played on air during his historic Benton visit in 1962." " So, this picture is actually of her little girl sitting on the actual piano played by a Beatle! How cool is that? This is how the picture looked when Jill e-mailed it to me... And this is how it now l...

They seem to be popping up everywhere. So simple and basic. But I love the look, so I decided to create my own. You've probably seen this really cool one in the Kate Space shops. They are actually hand-painted for each of her shops. I attempted a smaller version, different font. I think I like the one in the Kate Spade stores better, so I'll probably try again! Do you think a wall of ampersands would be too much???  There's a great tutorial on how to make one of these yourself here if you're interested!

I'm a bit quiet this week, thus the lack of posts. It's not that my mind isn't filled with dreams of paint swatches and remodeling, to-do lists and plans. I'm just not in a motivated mood and February isn't making me get up and go. February is always a bit of a lengthy, slow month to me. It's the last step in the bridge towards spring and most often I want to jump over it and get on with things. Valentine's day comes mid-month, filled with hearts and love, but is quickly forgotten as fast as the chocolates can be devoured. February is kinda like a Tuesday. Tuesdays are probably my least favorite day of the work week. Not the first day, not the middle, not the next to the last or the last work day. Just Tuesday. Tuesday used to be the worse night of television as well, but at least now it has Glee. I'm ready to get outside, sit by the sidelines at soccer practice and check my flowers for new buds. Ready to open the windows and let the cool air in an...

Someone got in trouble last night because she couldn't keep her little paws off the blueberry bread...but she was so darn cute, I had to take a picture. Sweet, Crazy Lucy On another note, check our my guest re-post on mommie guilt over at Southern Momentum !  Leave a comment for these fabulous ladies and let them know you stopped by!

I showed Walker the iPod Valentines I wanted to make for his class for next week (on the right). He looked at me a little funny. Then I realized that he's probably never even seen this kind of iPod. He doesn't know what a track wheel is and if it doesn't have a touch screen, he probably wouldn't know what to do with it! So I set out on designing an iTouch Valentine to create for his class and share with you guys (on the left)! Click Here to Download iTouch Valentine Graphic Instructions: 1. Print and cut the iTouch template. (if you have Illustrator, etc., edit text on back to customize) 2. Tape or glue to front and back of a conversation heart box 3. Paint sides of conversation heart box black (optional) 4. Cut white string and tape/glue to box, cut and tie on shorter string to longer string to create two ear bud cords. 5. Tape/Glue end of strings to Hershey kisses to create ear buds. 6. Personalize back of iTouch with a written message (optional)

I have to admit, I don't think I have a single item in my house that is pink. Maybe that's why I'm so in love with the latest issue of House Beautiful magazine, featuring the color pink as a vibrant and exciting way to perk up a room. Or maybe it's because I'm desperately wanting spring to get here. Or it could be because February is the month for lovers and I love Valentine's day. But, I totally think I've found the colors to use when updating my downstairs bath. Photos from House Beautiful Magazine And if you're not convinced and want to be trendy and hip, honeysuckle pink is Pantone's color of the year for 2011. I absolutely adore this shade of pink. Look for it to show up in weddings, home and party decor, make-up shades and clothing throughout this year! Random Side Note: My parents' yard used to be filled with yellow honeysuckle, the pink ones are actually harder to find around here. Which leads me to this question: hav...

I don’t typically do posts on random things, but my mind is racing this week, so I’m hoping if I put them down in front of me, it will help stop the craziness in my head. That and the drugs , of course.  I’m still in love with my new church. We’ve been twice now and I’m already looking forward to going back this Sunday. I’ve never felt this way about church before and it’s exciting yet scary at the same time. I’m not sure why I’m scared, but maybe it’s because I’m getting closer to God and that’s an exciting but scary thing for anyone to experience, I would think. Oh, and I think the pastor there is a rock star, really. And Mike is as excited, which thrills me more than you could ever understand. Here’s a pic from last week’s service. They rock it out. Walker missed four days of school this week because he was sick. That makes for   a rough week for everyone. I worked from home two days this week, Mike watched...

Only one person wants to enter my contest??? Free photo editing ain't cheap yall...

Do you have a wedding picture you wished had a little more pizzazz? Do you have a photo you think is great, but just need a little extra edit to make it perfect? Do you want to convert a photo from color to an artsy black and white print? Need some extra sharpening or boost in color? I'm now offering photo editing services for $10 a photo. All you have to do is send me your high-resolution photo, I'll send you an invoice via PayPal, and once payment is received, you'll have your updated, edited photo in 36 hours or less. When you send me your photo, let me know what edits you'd like, so I can be sure to get it right the first time for you! To the right are just some examples of how much editing can change and improve a photo, showing the before and after shots. So, send your photo as an e-mail attachment to asuthernaccent (at) aol.com and I will get back to you with any questions and a proof to get the process started! AND A CHANCE TO WIN A FREE PHOTO EDI...

So as some of you may remember, my best friend is expecting a little girl in March. This is both good and bad because I get an excuse to look at little girl clothes, and I also get an excuse to buy them! I saw the SheSheMade line on Kelly's Korner initally, and had to order one of their cute onesies! This is the one that I ordered, she is going to name her little girl Harper. The bottom has a pink skull and cross-bones on it!! So cute!  Then this cute little one piece I picked up at Target... ...and this adorable tutu outfit from Babies R Us... Somebody stop me before I deplete my bank account! Isn't she a beautiful pregnant lady? No really, tell her how beautiful she is because it's her birthday today and she needs some happy thoughts to push her through the last stretch!