Friday's Letters

Dear Theatre Movie Line-Up, I am so ready for you! We have already started enjoying your post-summer blockbuster movies and are so ready to spend Friday nights and/or Sunday afternoons seeing movies like Argo, Looper, Django Unchained, The Hobbit, and Les Miserable! (to name a few...)
Dear Nails, I apologize for your great neglect. I'm finding less and less time to make you pretty, but I think about you lots.  Perhaps we can set aside 30 minutes for a nice salon to make them look feminine again.
Dear Pinterest and Polyvore, Please stop taunting me with all your beautiful fall wear! I have already done my shopping for the season and husband says I have to stick to my budget. You are not making this easy.
Dear Friends Who Gave Me a JAR of Hershey's Kisses for My Birthday, I guess it isn't your fault that they are on my desk at work, but you are terrible to me. Don't you know mindless chocolate muching is a bad habit I cannot shake?!
Dear Mother Nature, Please do not rain this weekend. I have big plans of running, eating outdoors, and attending Foxfield Horse Races.  You sent rain last year; I think it is the sun's turn to come out.
Dear Apple, Keeping up with your latest and greatest is like keeping up with the Joneses. How do people do it? iPhone 5, you look fantastic and everything but the 4S and I have barely gotten to know each other... we will probably meet one day when the iPhone 10T comes out.. you know, in like a year.
Dear Blog, Sorry I have no pictures today, but I put up lots yesterday so maybe you can share.




Have a wonderful weeked!!
Love,
DD

Fall To-Dos

Being in Virginia has been pretty wonderful so far.  Yes, at times being away from our family and all of our old friends is very difficult, but we have been so very blessed to meet some wonderful folks here that help to fill the void. There is something that Virginia offers though that, I'm sorry Mississippi, just does not compare to home. I know you all know what I'm talking about. It's all ANYONE is talking about these days... FALL! AUTUMN! HARVEST SEASON! L'AUTOMNE!

 

Really though, what is there not to like? Sweaters, boots, football, beautiful scenery, bonfires.. should I go on? Well I'm going to, because this season the husband and I are trying to absorb everything fall has to offer, especially around Charlottesville. I've created a little bucket list for us, and I plan on checking off every.single.thing.

What to do this Autumn:

 

 

1. Apple Picking
2. At LEAST two winery tours

3. Foxfield Horce Races - if you're not from Cville, just picture a racetrack surrounding a large field of great local food vendors, puppy racing stalls, and carnival-like attractions for kids and families next to tents of obnoxious graduate students in full-on Kentucky Derby wear. It's a can't miss. (Please note the appropriate attire won by husband and me)

4. Pumkpin Picking (or maybe just visiting a pumkpin patch after they've picked the pumpkins...)

5. Hiking Old Rag Mountain. Or really just any hiking that allows us to see views like this one from last fall.
6. Attend multiple Octoberfest events (starting with our first one tomorrow night here!)
7. And last, only because it technically has nothing to do with Virginia, but ALL to do with fall... travel over to Lexington, KY to see our very own Missisippi State Bulldogs!

What are your plans for the fall? My bucket list could always use more inspiration!

Love,
DD

Weekend in Review

TOP LEFT: is my fall inspired chicken, brie, and apple sandwich with homestyle mac & cheese. Seriously? Yes. And I could already eat it again. TOP RIGHT: Joe's Virginia Ham Biscuits on, yep, pumkpin bread. BOTTOM LEFT: When Sunday touted a low temp of 44°, I decided it was time for this pair of Calvin Kleins to make their seasonal debut. BOTTOM RIGHT: With cool temperatures outside and a sick husband inside, there was a lot of couch/kitty snuggling at our house this weekend.

Well hello, Monday! As per usual, this weekend came and went before I realized I was back at work making my first morning cuppa joe. However, my husband and I did manage to squeeze in a few fun activites before the inevitable cold virus fell on our house and took my husband hostage. Which, yes,  has led me to pump my body full of oodles of antioxidant gren tea, every vitamin in our medicine cabinet, and any Vitimin C filled citrus fruit I can get my hands on... hey, my strong-as-an-ox husband is sick for the first time in years, and someone has to take care of him!

But back to happier and healthier days: Joe and I FINALLY double dated up with our new-parent friends to enjoy some delicious food and outdoor weather before going to see Lawless (Tom Hardy. Gary Oldman, Shia Labeouf, Jessica Chastain -- definitely recommend, but beware if you are squeemish!) Nothing beats the Downtown Mall on a 70° Friday night with some seriously good-for-the-soul food and a sweet newborn in tow. What can I say? She was a welcomed fifth wheel; that baby girl is as precious as they come.

The second part our our weekend consisted of a little relaxing, a lot of closet overhauling, taking care of my sick hubby, and of course football.  Our Alma Mater, Mississippi State University, is 4-0!! It was a big night for us Davises crouched in front our baby macbook screens watching a poor quality pay-per-view showing of the football game. It was worth the sacrifice, though, it will VERY exciting to see our guys play live again in a couple weekends in Kentucky. Maroon dresses, tall boots, and cowbells: here we come! Hurray for fall!

Hope all of you had a fabulous first weekend of atumn!
DD

Friday's Letters

LEFT: Foster puppy, Thor, mascoting at the Law School softball game RIGHT: SM Dalmatian Smoking Slippers via Fashionable Interiors

Dear First Ever "Friday's Letters," I am very excited to join the community
 of letter writing bloggers on Friday. I feel like I just joined in the community. Hello, all!
Dear Thor,though you are no longer my puppy and have a fantastic new owner, I still think you are the coolest dog around and am glad to have you as our softball team mascot. Also, I am very glad you grew your fluffy blond hair back out. Eskimo dog suits you well.
Dear Steve Madden , I am obsessed with my new Dalmatian Smoking Slippers. You are always so good to my feet. Thank you.
Dear Closet, I KNOW it is time for an overhaul; summer is on it's way out and fall is quickly on our doorstep, but committing the time to change you out is just not something I can do right now.  Perhaps one night soon you, me, and a big glass of wine can get together and make those summer tanks disappear.
Dear weekend, you surprise me how quickly you come, but you are also so fleeting. I wish we could find a better way to balance this.
Dear Husband, I cannot even explain how proud of you I am and of all the hard work you have been doing lately. I know you are overworked and sleep deprived, but it will all be worth it. You are going to be an amazing lawyer one day and the best provider for our family I could ever ask for. Chin up. Your cite check is finished for now and people want to give you jobs. It's been a good week. 

Have a wonderful weekend!
DD

Party Pinwheels and more

Yesterday, September 17, was my precious little brother's 14th birthday!! It's amazing to me that one of the first kids I ever took care of is now 14 years of age... *sigh* but that is not the point of this post. I was talking to my mom about her preparations for his "family birthday dinner" ( a huge tradition in our house) and realized I am very much a girl after my mother's own heart. Every birthday and holiday was a great celebration in the Majors household. Every holiday included my mom making any where from 3-10 wreaths to hang in and around the house and every birthday brought half of Party City into our living room. Well turns out when you grow up in a house like that you become an event planner. At least in my case...

Bringing us to the point of this post: I thought I would share some easy (yet somewhat time consuming) DIY birthday decorations that I made for my husband's birthday back in April, which you can read about here.

 

I first made some festive birthday pinwheels like ones I had spotted on pinterest, and strung them up across our dining nook.

 

  

1. To make the pinwheels I used a mini stapler and sheets of 5 x 7 paper I got from Michaels to scrapbook. This was a better use.

 2. I folded 2 sheets of the same pattern accordian style.

 3. Then, I put one on top of the other with the fronts facing the same way and stapled in the middle. 



4. Finally, all I had to do to finish these up was fan them back out and staple the two sides where they met. Anndd Voila!

 

 I hung mine with closepins on yarn because I ran out of time to thread them together. It worked out for me!

 

I also made a super easy Happy Birthday penant banner (as seen above) from some free printables found here. Just pick your patterns, fill in the letter, print, cut, and presto! Birthday Banner.

 

One of Joe's birthday happies was what will most likely be used as a tailgaiting bucket and some local craft beer from around Charlottesville to fill it up.  I birthdayed up the tub using recycled wedding supplies.

 

 

I just downloaded a neat font from DaFont, printed, cut out with a Martha Stewart Circle cutter and pasted onto some scalloped card stock that I affixed to the tub with ribbon.  Easy, cheap project.. especially when everything comes from your craft closet.

 

Hope you get some party crafting inspiration!

 

 

Love,

DD

 

 

 



25 and some the wiser

Well boys and girls, I have reached my quarter of a century year of life. It has been quite a journey getting here, but I am reveling in being 25. I'd like to think I've made some decent accomplishments in my lifetime thus far, and perhaps am even a little bit wiser than I was a year ago.

A few of the lessons I've learned:

Family is by far the most reliable and loving thing I've got going in

my life, and I am so very thankful. Never take them for granted.

Having a husband is the very best. Love him.

Stress really does give you wrinkles. It's not worth it -- which is why I'm still

working on being a worry-free kind of gal.

Keeping your own house is not easy.  I thought I was a clean freak until I had my

own home.. now I've decided it's OKAY if people come over and

I only vacuumed two days ago.

J Crew Factory is one of the best resources a wardrobe could ask for.

Second on that list is probably Target.

It is okay if your first few jobs aren't perfect, or even ideal. I don't think anyone lands

a dream job in their 20's these days.. and if you do CONGRATULATIONS! You are

 ahead of the curb. I am thankful to be where I am now, but I can't wait to see where else

 my career journey will take me. Just make sure to take advantage of every resource to

learn and continue learning and growing it whatever you are doing now.

 It can only make you more desirable later!

Finally, making new friends is a MUST if you are 800 miles away from the old

ones. Staying in touch with friends is certainly worth it, but they aren't going to be

the ones to hang out with you when your hubby's out of town or you need some game-night

therapy. Whether it's through church, community programs like the Junior League

or you know, law school classmates of your husband... find a way to meet people.

 Unless you are in your hometown, chances are you are surrounded by

 tons of other 20somethings looking to make friends as well.

 

Sooo while I wasn't pondering my deep-seeded 25-year-old-wisdom, I was celebrating this new year of life with new friends! My precious husband went above and beyond his normal planning capabilities to surprise me with a great day of friends, wine tastings, limo riding, fabulous fruit and chocolate cake from my fav bakery, and a bike (in a very appropriate champagne with pink and leather details)!

 




 

 



Have a wonderful rest of your week. It's almost Friday!

Love,
DD