TGIF, I Can Almost Smell Fall

I don't know what it is, but this week has been a long one. How has your week been? 

Featured Blogger this week on High Five For Friday

I am so honored to be the featured blogger this week on High Five for Friday, hosted by the lovely ladies at Bright on a Budget, Della Devoted, and Cup of Tea! 

Etsy Sales Hit 100!

After a little over 6 months with my shop LegallySouthernStyle I have finally hit 100 sales! I know that may not sound like a lot for most people, and I am the first to admit it. BUT, for something I just started out doing for fun and have really come to enjoy it was so exciting to see the number of sales roll into the triple digits! To celebrate, I'm offering 10% off all orders from now through the end of the month (so hurry!), with the code "Legally100" - please let me know if y'all have any questions or are interested in a custom creation! 

Heading Home

This weekend my mom is hosting a wedding shower for the soon-to-be wife of one of my good friends from home, so I am heading back to help her out. I am actually really excited. I haven't been home in a while, and this will be the first shower I've attended in over a year that I wasn't the bride! My husband is also really looking forward to it because my hometown features a car show once a month, and we have never been in town for it. Luckily for him, there's one this weekend so he'll have something to do during the shower! 

Decorating for Fall

I'm not sure if it was the crisp morning we had a few days ago, or the decorations that are starting to take over the stores, but I am so ready to get our house ready for Fall! Soon after we moved in last December, it was a whirlwind of wedding planning, followed by lots of small home improvements (that never seemed to end). I finally got myself together to get our house decorated for spring, but its been that way since mid-April, and I am ready for a change! I just bought this wreath at Lowe's last weekend, and I cannot wait to get it put up. I am trying to maintain a little bit of sanity and at least not get things up until mid-September, but it is really hard! I'm not sure I can pull off the full interior fall decor, mostly because I still feel like our house is a little mis-matched on the overall decor. Welcome to two houses becoming one, and very little starting budget to speak of. I am determined to consult Pinterest and do my best. I am trying to get in order all of the projects I would like to accomplish and check them off one by one, rather than just trying to get things piece meal and hope it works. A girl needs a plan. 

Any other new(ish), or well seasoned home-owners with tips on getting everything in order in a new house? I am open to any and all suggestions at this point! 

Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale

Every year I tell myself I'm not going to partake because I don't really need anything, and I shouldn't spend money. And every year I log on to the site and wait as the 50,000th person in line. This year was no different. A few weeks ago I'd actually purchased a few dresses at a local Lilly store in Knoxville while they had some great sales going, and I fell in love with the Marlowe Boatneck dress even more than before. I love how comfortable this dress is, and in the world of Lilly, it is one of the less expensive options, which is always a plus. So of course I caught a few more of those during the After Party Sale. I am still waiting patiently for that shipping notification so that I can then wait a little less patiently for the mailman to deliver some bright additions to my already colorful wardrobe! Did any of y'all score some great deals during the sale? I will be sharing all of mine when they arrive! 

Have a great weekend, y'all!

xoxo

linking up with:

Oh Hey Friday | Five on Friday | High Five for Friday | Friday Favorites 
The Wednesday Showcase

TGIF, April Fools!

Thank goodness the fact that it's Friday is not an April Fool's joke! Am I right?? How do y'all feel about April Fools? I don't hate it because it means it's almost my birthday, but then again, I do not really love practical jokes. However, I very much love watching them played on other people. Have y'all ever seen the ways that Ellen scares the guests on her show? I am probably a terrible person, but I think it is hilarious!

Lazy Weekend Ahead

My mom has been up to visit us/her mom for the last two weekends, but is taking a break this weekend. I love having her here, but I also feel like we have to be busy all the time, you know? We still have plenty that we'll be doing this weekend - mostly house and law related, and I have a few Etsy orders to fill - but at least we can do it on whatever schedule suits us without feeling like total bums for watching TV until noon. Not to mention my in-laws are coming next weekend, and then Derby activities are in full swing (!), so this is probably the last weekend that we have a good excuse to just hang out.

Easter Brunch

Last weekend we had lunch with my ant and uncle who also live in town, plus all of my aunt's family and it was so fun! She has a lot of brothers and sisters, so there are now a lot of small children, and it. was. loud. Five children under the age of 5 kind of loud, but so fun. Our assignment was deviled eggs, and of course I didn't just want to take any old deviled eggs, so I found the best recipe for deviled eggs topped with pimento cheese and they were a hit! If you are ever looking for a way to dress those eggs up just a little more, put about a teaspoon of pimento cheese and a little smoked paprika and people will think you have hung the moon. Seriously, try it. I'm not sure we'll ever make regular deviled eggs again.

Being an Adult is Tough

I'm not sure I ever shared this story here, but a few months ago my car was shot at while I was driving. Thank goodness the bullet missed me - it hit right in front of the driver's side mirror. When I made the initial report they didn't think they were going to be able to catch the person that did it because I didn't really see anything, and at the time I admittedly assumed it was just a really loud/hard rock when it hit. I know that sounds so ridiculous, but I mean seriously, who thinks that they just got hit by a bullet?? Anyways, two months later, they do have a guy that they are pretty sure did it because he was picked up the same night for reports of the same thing. Last week I (my husband) finally took my car to the body shop to have the bullets extracted and an estimate done on the repairs. Good news (maybe?) is that they found fragments of the bullet so they can hopefully connect this guy to the others incidents. Bad news is that it is very expensive to get a bullet hole fixed in your car. Who knew? Apparently the paint on my car is very difficult to match, so they have to take the whole side apart, even though it only hit one panel. The whole thing is just bizarre, but I guess I'll always have an interesting random fact about myself to tell now. Jury is still out on what I'm going to do. On one hand, I hate seeing it every day, but on the other, its a lot of money for a relatively small cosmetic fix.

Mexican Food Can Do No Wrong

On a lighter note, we have already planned to go out to dinner tonight and are having Mexican food and I am so excited. I cannot think of any instance that I would turn down a good Mexican dinner, or lunch. Someone sent me a recipe yesterday for at home and healthy enchiladas, and it looked delicious and I fully intend to try it, maybe even tomorrow. I'm serious y'all, I have no limits. Please tell me I'm not alone!

Derby Season is Upon Us

For a lot of people Spring time seems to really start after Easter, or you know, actually on the first day of Spring. But in Kentucky it seems like Spring is really here when Keeneland Spring Meet opens, and the Derby festivities are upon us. Because of some weird calendar days this year, Keeneland is opening a little later, next weekend, but I am sure we will spend at least one weekend up there, and then of course Churchill for the Derby and summer meets. One of my favorite parts about going to the track is finally having an excuse to wear all of my dresses that are just a tad too much for the office. I. Can't. Wait.

Bonus: Get Skimm'd

It's been a while since I mentioned the Skimm, but let me tell y'all it is still just as good, and possibly better. Not familiar with the Skimm? You should be! The Skimm is a daily email that comes to my inbox around 6:15 in the morning. It has been written by a team that has read pages and pages and piles and piles about what is going on in the world and breaks it down into something you can read in five to ten minutes It is a great and succinct way to keep up with the news of the world, while still having plenty of time to keep up with your own life. Perfect for anyone who has a commute, moms who just don't have the time to read an entire newspaper, and for everyone else that wants to be informed. It has helped me with many trivia answers too :) It has also been a life saver this election season with one million debates and one million candidates. I don't know how anyone can keep up with that. Seriously, just check it out. Sign up. If you hate it, its easy to cancel. I will also say, unlike many "once a day" emails, it truly is once. a. day. and no weekends.
Disclaimer: I do not get paid for this, but I do receive some cool swag depending on the number of people who sign up through my link. So I'd like to think of this as a not so desperate plea for y'all to help me out!

How has your week been? I am so jealous of everyone going on Spring Break this week, so if that's you - enjoy!!

Have a great weekend, y'all!!

xoxo

linking up with:

Oh Hey Friday | Five on Friday |  Casual I Friday | xoxo Rebecca | High Five for Friday | Friday Favorites 
The Wednesday Showcase

TGIF: St. Patrick's Day Parade!

We made it, y'all! It's Friday! This is what's been going on around here, what have you been up to?

St. Patrick's Day Parade

Every year Louisville has a huge parade for St. Patrick's Day, as I'm sure most larger cities do. I've only been to the parade here once, but it was a blast. Usually it falls on one weekend of spring break, so we weren't usually around. Well now that school is over (!), we don't get spring breaks anymore :(, BUT that means we'll get to go to the parade and I am SO excited! I think I enjoyed it so much because the early afternoon is basically just spent tailgating until the parade starts, and there are few things in life that I enjoy more than a good tailgate. Does your town celebrate St. Patrick's Day?

My First Fix

Next week I will have a more detailed post, but I received my first Fix this week and I was very underwhelmed. I'd filled out my style profile and pinned things to a board that I shared with them, but I still received items that I just didn't ever see myself wearing. Ever. I plan on being very specific with my comments when I return the items so that I am not disappointed next time. Do any of y'all receive StitchFix? Have you had the same issues, did you think it got better as it went on?

House Makeover

Now that the wedding planning has come to an end, I can really focus more attention on our new home, which naturally means I want to dive right in and change everything. I am (somewhat) realistic enough to know that I need to prioritize certain things and consider the length of each project. I remember watching house hunters and when people would complain about paint thinking they were crazy, like no big deal, just repaint it. And in the grand scheme, yeah, if the house is otherwise what you're looking for, paint colors can be changed. But now that it is my turn to repaint half of our house I have a lot more sympathy. We're already very moved in, so painting will require moving all of the furniture, either out of the room or to the middle, and a couple of days per room. I know, I know, still not the worst thing. But I'm just saying, it would be really cool if I could change paint colors in real life with the ease that I was able to change them when I built a house for the Sims.
Anyone out there a veteran at interior painting with some tips or tricks? Or major regrets?

New Etsy  Listings!

Another thing I'd been neglecting while planning our wedding was my etsy stop. I still had the opportunity to craft, but it was all for the wedding! Now that I am happily married I've had the chance to start creating new things and adding new listings to my shop. (And plenty more are on the way!) I would love for you to check it out! I can also personalize just about anything, so don't hesitate to contact me with questions or requests!

OJ Simpson vs. The People

If you are looking for a new show, or a Saturday afternoon's worth of binge watching you should check out OJ Simpson vs. The People. Obviously we all know the outcome, but I think the show is still very interesting. I am just barely old enough to remember when the trial was on TV, although I didn't really understand what was going on. Honestly I remember thinking it was so boring that they were just broadcasting this trial all the time. I have seen and read a lot of articles and photos from the actual event and it is amazing how well the producers have replicated so many aspects through the show, even down to the wardrobe of OJ and his attorneys. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Have a Great Weekend, Y'all! 

xoxo 

linking up with:

Oh Hey Friday | Five on Friday |  Casual I Friday | xoxo Rebecca | High Five for Friday | Friday Favorites 
Merry Monday

See You Later 2015!

I think I have finally recovered from the holiday craze and am one-hundred percent ready to jump in to 2016!

Y'all, it has been a crazzzzy couple of weeks! First of all - WE CLOSED ON OUR HOUSE! Which really itself is what has contributed to most of the chaos around here lately.

Of course in addition to that is still the wedding planning, which starting to all come together, while still feeling like there are a million things to do - more on that tomorrow. But all in all, it is has been a great few weeks and I wouldn't trade it for anything, well, except maybe for a little extra sleep.

I don't know what it is about this year, maybe the wedding, maybe the new house, or maybe the fact that for the first time I'm not heading back to school after the holidays, but there is just something in me that wants to make this year the year. You know, making resolutions and keeping them, getting rid of old bad habits and welcoming new positive ones. This year is going to bring about a lot of change, and I don't want to get lost in the shuffle and forget what is really important to me and what really matters. So, for possibly the first time ever, I am setting goals for myself and for my family. Real, written, goals. And for the sake of accountability, I want to share them with all of you as well, in hopes that we create a network of support, and I want to know your goals and resolutions as well!

These Short Term goals are really things that I am hoping to accomplish in the next month or so. I keep a to-do list every day, although there are certain things that obviously cannot be done in a day, but still require some kind of timeline/deadline. The wedding is less than two months away, so clearly that will part of the resolution has to be done soon! I also don't love living in a complete state of chaos, so I would like to get things as settled as possible in the new house. What are some of your short term goals? 

If I'm being honest, a lot of these Long Term Goals should really be life-time goals, but y'all that is hard to think about sometimes. Like, I know I should eat healthy, but I also know I love ice cream. You know? 

But seriously, I am really hoping that by sharing these goals I can stay accountable and be diligent in my every day decisions. I don't think any of these goals are unreasonable. I have generally been an active person, so working out often isn't intimidating, it's just difficult keeping that schedule when my day to day feels so unpredictable. Similarly, I've always done well keeping a budget for myself, but now there are two of us, so I feel a little more guilty if I want to go a bit above the budget, while expecting my fiance and soon to be husband to abide by it. But this is a new chapter and I am so looking forward to it! 

Are you a big goal-setter? Like I mentioned, I'm not the type to make big resolutions, or any kind of resolution that is actually tangible, so I am really looking forward to see how this turns out - any advice welcome! 

I hope you've had a wonderful start to 2016! Cheers!

Have a great day, y'all!

xoxo 

linking up with: 

Wednesday Showcase