Scott Won't Let Me Decorate for FALL, So...

I've re-decorated for SUMMER! Inspiration? CATALOGS!!! The new Willow House (formerly Southern Living at HOME), Ballard Designs and Pottery Barn catalogs are simply incredible and leave me wishing for one thing: unlimited funds to decorate my home. Hey, I'll even settle for a couple hundred...ha! Since I didn't have a couple hundred, I pulled out every home decor item I could find in the house and went to town. I basically find something I like in one of the catalogs and try to recreate it with things I already have. Some of the little areas turned out GREAT. Some, not so much...the mantle is NOT working for me...it's a work-in-progress.

Decorations UNDER the table? YES! I'm working on collecting more neutral hard cover books. They're all over the catalogs and we just don't have that many. Heading to Half Price Books later to see what I can find! Scott will be happy to have his books back. P.S. I can't believe that at one point I wanted to get rid of this table. That goodness Scott didn't let me. I'm in LOVE with it...best $99 purchase ever. Thank you Weirs!!!

Oops...more of Scott's books. He hasn't noticed, yet. My mother-in-law gave us this cigar box and I loved how it looked on my copper table. The small glass vase has wine corks in it (these look great as neutral, textural fillers). Also, you'll notice that the catalogs use plates everywhere (as trays) not just in the kitchen areas...kind of FUN.

Another genius Weirs find! This hutch matches the furniture perfectly and, again, only $99! Scott found it...he's good. Okay, so you caught me. This is kind of fall-ish, right? I couldn't help it! Actually, it's the first thing Scott noticed when he got home. You see, fall is Scott's most FAVORITE season and won't let me rush into it when it's still 100 degrees outside. I asked if I could decorate on August 1st and he said I had to wait until September 1st. I certainly don't want to put a damper on his fall happiness...ha! I tried to bargain with him but no such luck...can't wait until September 1st!!! Pumpkins here we come...

LITERALLY...Too Hot to Handle

Sunday, July 18th was the first (and last) time I have raced in UNBEARABLE heat. The first 6 miles felt GREAT but as it got even hotter, I started sweating less and began to feel chilled...NOT a good sign. Actually one of the first signs of HEAT STROKE...awesome. I slowed it down and crossed the finish line 2 minutes SLOWER than this race last year. Unimpressed? Me too. Just happy to have survived!!!

The girls...ready to take on the Too Hot to Handle 15K. For those of you that don't know, that's 9.3 miles. It should have been a fairly easy run...HA! Do you see the EVIL sun rising behind us?

This is what you get to eat after you run...well, not really but I went against my better judgment and rewarded myself with food. ALWAYS a bad idea (for me, at least). I would like to point out that I only ate one biscuit (for whatever reason, that makes me feel better...whatever).

With my fifth coffee in hand, our dehydrated group heads home. Don't let the smiles deceive you.

And our true feelings about the race (mostly mine and Julie's since Alex rocked it out) are revealed...

Who Unleashed the CRAFT MONSTER???

WOW! What a BUSY week and fun weekend. Every single summer, it never fails: my home becomes craft city (poor Scott!!!). You never know when it's going to hit, but it's bound to happen sooner or later. This year, it happened after Courtney Alban introduced me to The TomKat Studio. What I once considered decor for a baby shower, was all about to change...

The brunch table...candied bacon, sausage egg casserole, monkey bread, mini muffins, fruit with dip, chocolate-dipped strawberries and chicken minis. Mmmm

A close-up of the candied bacon (mom gets all the credit)!

The drink bar...coffee with fix-ins, citrus infused water, mimosas and punch (made from ginger-ale and white grape juice).

The dessert table (party favors)...cupcakes, chocolate-covered pretzels, rock candy, marshmallow pops, jelly belly jellybeans, dove chocolates, hershey's kisses, tootsie rolls, york peppermints, almond joys, gummy rings and sour strips...did I miss anything? The sour candy and marshmallows went first. Grab a bag and fill 'er up!

These crazy yummy cupcakes came from the Market Street Bakery (guests couldn't believe it). At only $6.99/dozen, they can't be beat. I would order them again in a heartbeat. I prefer the buttercream frosting; however, whipped frosting is also available. Do you see my personalized circle cupcake toppers? I created them on www.scrapblog.com, cut them out with giant punchers from Hobby Lobby, and hot glued lollipop sticks on. Super simple and super adorable!

The chocolate-covered pretzels were so cute and a big hit! I loved making them and was thrilled at how they turned out. They looked perfect on the table.

The marshmallow pops turned out GREAT! For the base, I used floral foam, scrapbook paper, ribbon, moss and my personalized circle stickers. I made them the day before and after they dried, I wrapped saran wrap around them...they were delish the next day.

A view of the entire table...I was nervous earlier in the week, but it all turned out FABULOUS! Check out the poms on the chandelier...my favorite. Made out of tissue paper and floral wire...simple and inexpensive but lovely.

The mommies-to-be of honor, sisters Nicole Hyatt and Hayley Rachavong. Can't wait to meet sweet baby Jett (due early August) and baby Sawyer (due mid-September)!

It was a great party and fun was had by all. I was so happy that I was able to put nearly all of my Southern Living at HOME collection to use! The new fall catalogs arrive soon and I can't wait to get my hands on them!!!

A BIG thank you to all of the hostesses: Stephanie, Emily, Cindy, Janice and my FAVORITE side-kick, momma.

Thanks for checking-in!

~Caroline

So...What's New?

It's been almost a year since my last post, so life should be different, right? Well I hate to disappoint you but things are relatively the same in our little family of 2 (sorry Sadie, 3). Not surprisingly, I still have PLENTY to say...ha!

It's hard to believe that I just wrapped up my 6th year of teaching! I love my job and I'm very grateful that I can say that. Even on the toughest of days, I never question whether or not I chose the right profession. Though I'm thoroughly enjoying my summer vacation, I look forward to getting back in the fall. I love those little guys!

Scott is the Senior Director of Partner Services for the Frisco RoughRiders and is nearly half-way through his 7th season with the team. He is excellent at his job. How do I know? His clients absolutely love him and brag on him whenever they get the chance. It's a very busy time right now and I miss him a ton but I am so very proud of him.

I can't believe I didn't blog about this but Scott and I successfully completed our first marathon on December 13, 2009. We pretty much went from couch potatoes to marathon runners in 11 months...it was crazy (and challenging) but we're so glad we did it. The day after the race, I should have felt amazing but in all honesty, I panicked. I didn't have a class to go to or a race to work toward and I was terrified that after all of that hard work, I was going to quit. I quickly requested to mentor RunOn's spring half marathon class and registered to run the Dallas Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in March to keep myself on track. At the end of the month, we'll begin marathon training again with the San Antonio Rock 'n' Roll Marathon as our goal race in November!

We've been extremely fortunate on the vacation front the past few years and since I last blogged, we've been to the British Virgin Islands, Colorado, Mexico, Canada and we just got back from Vegas. We'll be heading to Colorado at the beginning of August and Florida in November and are hoping to plan a trip to Italy within the next year. We LOVE traveling and feel blessed that we are able to do it together.

This November, we will celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary and you may have noticed that we still don't have kiddos of our own. Please know that we LOVE kids and definitely want them. The time frame keeps changing...so stay tuned!

After nearly 3 years on this weight-loss journey, I'm very close to my Weight Watchers goal. It has been a year of ups and downs but in the end, I'm thrilled to say that I'm down 75.8 pounds!!! There's no trick to it (I wish!)...just hard work, accountability and determination. I've been up as much as 11.8 pounds and had a 6 month plateau, but I didn't give up. The motivators that worked for me 3 years ago, don't necessarily work for me today. I'm constantly having to revamp my food choices and workouts to continue to be successful and to see a loss on the scale. It's really hard...ALL OF THE TIME. I still struggle daily to make the best decisions; especially when it comes to food. When I mess up, I forgive myself, move on and make a better choice the next meal. I've tried losing weight over and over again but this time is different...I AM going to see this to the end. I was recently watching Jillian Michael's new show Losing It and I LOVE what she said to one of the families, "Don't try. Trying is planning to fail."

Well, that's it for today. I hope to continue blogging because I really enjoy it. Thanks for checking in!