Mother's Day 2015

It was probably the best one so far. The first Mother's Day we celebrated with a 10 day old so if we didn't have pictures to prove it, we wouldn't remember it. Last year we celebrated by swimsuit shopping which is as delightful as it sounds (rookie mistake). 

Andrew kept asking me what I wanted to do this year and I finally decided on a day of "doing what I want to do when I want to do it." Which is only possible to a certain extent when you have a two year old. 

So the day consisted of church, a Dave's hot and juicy with bacon, a Mad Men marathon, a walk, a sea salt and dark chocolate bar, dinner at Outback with friends, and ice cream in bed at 10:30 while watching Shark Tank. 

Isn't that all a mother really wants? 

It was delightful until I woke up puffy from all the water retention that happens when you spend 24 hrs eating trash and watching TV. But I wouldn't trade it for the world!!

I also decided my gift to myself would be sleeping in on a Monday and I daresay I out gifted everyone. Jamesy and I are still in PJ's. He is playing with Buzz and Woody and I am trying to get things organized for the big graduation week/weekend ahead! 

Yes, that's right... Andrew is graduating this Saturday and we couldn't be more excited, relieved, anxious, exhausted, or filled with awe and wonder that this seminary journey is coming to an end. Which is basically how you feel when you have a newborn. And with that, this post has come full circle! 

I always complain that I never had good pics with my boy so Andrew captured this one last night. And I've gotta say its a money shot. I can't get enough of those sloppy wet kisses!!!

UGA Subway Art

For Christmas I wanted to make my BFF Katie a little homemade gift.  I started with the idea that it would be fun to make her a cute Christmasy subway art for her new house and I came up with the simplest idea ever since I am not an overly inclined craft wizard.

Check it out:

First I found a really cute, free printable Christmas subway art. You can download it too if you want! Just click HERE and print away! Oh and if you want a billion more Christmas printables, just click HERE.

Then I purchased an 8X10 picture frame. A fancier one would have probably looked a little better but since this was a first time attempt with this project and I didn't want to ruin a fancy one, I got a really basic one. 

Next, I got a can of color coordinating spray paint and painted that bad boy bright red. 

Lastly, I put the printable in the frame and Voila!

Wait a second...

My frame is the perfect shade of Georgia Bulldog red. 

Hmm....

I had an explosion of thoughts and decided that it would be way more fun if Katie could use the frame at times other than Christmas and since she is the biggest Georgia Bulldog fan I know besides my dad, a UGA subway art would be PERFECT! 

Except...

I couldn't find a single downloadable one online. (Ok, so there was one but I didn't like it.)

I decided to dabble around with that amazing online photo editing site pixlr.com and make Katie a custom UGA subway art. Doesn't that sound fancy?

Y'all know I like to dabble... 

I'll be darned if the dern thing didn't turn out pretty dog-gone well. Can you tell I'm from South Georgia? 

So for kicks, I thought I would go out on a limb and share it for free with you all since there seems to be a lack of good (mediocre?) UGA subway art in cyberspace. 

To download my UGA Subway Art for FREE just click HERE. 

The image will open up in Google Docs/Drive. You might be able to print from there but if not, just click File then Download and it should open up in a format that you can print. 

If all else fails and you just NEED UGA Subway Art in your life, shoot me an email and I will be happy to send it to you in the format of your choice! 

charlottebryan1@gmail.com


Linking up with these cool bloggers:
 YOLO Monday

Welcome Joseph and Jacob!

I was reading back through the blog recently and realized that I never wrote about a pretty major event that took place in our family. 

On August 30, 2012 Andrew and I were made uncle and aunt to Joseph and Jacob, our beautiful twin nephews!!!

Hurricane Isaac hit at just the right time for us because we were able to evacuate in time to be in Alabama for their birth.

I can not tell you how sweet they are and how loved they are by their big brother and sister. 

It has been a little crazy adjusting to four babies all 5 and under but my in-laws are major troopers. I just wish I were closer to be able to help (and snuggle!). 

I just wanted to welcome them to the world even if it is almost 4 months late! And I am sure James is super excited to be born into such a fun family of cousins!

Merry Christmas from Santa's littlest elves!

Christmas Tour of Homes

I have been so excited for today's blog post for weeks! I am linking up with one of my favorite bloggers, Kelly's Korner, for a Christmas tour of homes. 

Normally my home is pretty decked out but since we are living in a smaller space and have a lot less storage we kind of went Christmas Lite. All we had was what we could fit in my car when we went home one time this fall and since I'm not a very good planner, we ended up with a really odd assortment of things.

To make up for it, I am also going to show you two other special homes, my BFF Katie's and my Mama's! (They both might kill me so make some really sweet comments down below, k?) 

This is the big picture of our living room. I hung live wreaths with gold ribbon on the inside to bring in a little Christmas tree scent since we weren't getting a real one. I got his idea from my friend Callie who did it last year. I just thought it was stunning in her home! 

This is our entrance table and tree. We took one of the trees we typically have out by the front door and put it in a galvanized bucket. Then decorated it with only our favorite ornaments since all of ours wouldn't fit. I just put some other random nick knacks that  happened to make it to New Orleans on the table . 

I hung another wreath in the dining room. One of my favorite things went on the table, my glittery red and green tree that my mama gave me. This was the day of the SEC championship so I  was getting ready for company. And that's all I'll say about that. 

As a result of the lack of decorations I tried something new this year. I took some of my favorite Christmas cards from past years and framed them and stuck them around the house. Don't know if I'll do this every year but it's good for now. 

More accouterments adorning the book shelf. Love looking at my niece and nephews with Santa everyday!

Lastly, the Willow Tree nativity that I so cherish! It is the main focal point on our entertainment center. Sometimes I want to leave it out all year. 

Moving on to Katie's! Just look at her beautiful kitchen table. I love the bright green and Fiesta Christmas china!

Chalkboards and Happy Everything platters are so in. Don't you love that little elf? 

And finally, how breathtaking is her mantle? The red trees were her grandmother's. Y'all know I love sentiment so I think this is my favorite part of her home! This is her first Christmas with her hubby in their new house... so exciting!

OK y'all. There are few sights I love more than the house I grew up in all decorated for Christmas. My mama out does herself every year and I am always left speechless. This year the theme is simple and understated. I haven't seen it in person yet but I think it is going to be one of my favorites. She used classic velvet ribbon rather than big bows so it has a very old-timey, Charles Dickens feel. Here goes!

Buffet with live garland and willow tree nativity (like mother like daughter!).

We always have a GINORMOUS tree. It's not decorated yet in this picture but you get the drift. 

Mantle with greenery, pine cones, and lights.

Staircase with greenery, magnolia leaves, and ribbon.

I adore how she hung the outside wreaths this year. That ribbon is the best. 

And the piece de resistance, the front door with the giant wreath welcoming me home for the holidays in just one week. Praise the Lord!

Hope y'all enjoyed seeing mine and my closest gal's homes this year. Merry Christmas!