Weirdness

At the wedding I coordinated last weekend, I spent the majority of the day getting everything perfect for the ceremony and reception. The rest of the time while I was waiting on everyone to arrive, I decided to take some photos to share the gem of a place that is The Island House on John's Island. It's truly too good to not share with others!

The wedding venue is absolutely beautiful!! Stunning really...its on the water, there is a tent, but no guests are allowed inside the home. The house has the same decor as the last owners and they have not changed it; it has stayed within the family, who decided a few years ago to start using it as a wedding venue.

 I definitely feel that this house has spirits, ghosts, haunted, whatever you want to call it. I could feel someone or something there with me.  Not in a scary way, but just ... felt a presence.  

When I first walked inside, I noticed red carpet, red furniture, then I noticed the red wall paper. It is like velvet. You can literally pet the walls!

  I then noticed the bright blue kitchen.  The cabinets are white, but the walls and the countertops are blue blue blue!!  The floor and all lighting is also blue.

In the red room area there is a statue of a man as the captain of a boat, holding the wheel.  I took a picture b/c it was disturbing.  If I were a child having to live in this house, that captain would really scare me. 

  There are the usual things in the house like dead fish and stuffed deer heads on the wall.  There's also a stoplight chandelier.  Oh yes... RED, YELLOW, GREEN!!  haha It's located in the second kitchen.  The house is massive on the outside, but on the inside the way it is broken up, it makes it seem so small.  I would love to see it remodeled, but with all of these fancy decorations, it'd be a shame to see it change too. 

  Last, but certainly not least, there is a bedroom downstairs with wallpaper that looks like a deck of cards.  Want to wake up to the Ace of Spades?  You can with this wallpaper.  I have never seen anything quite like it! 

  Since most people don't get to see the indoor decor of the Island House unless they pay the rental fee for an event, I figured I'd share some of the photos I took below because words cannot express what photos can!!! :) Enjoy!!!

Deer & Fish, this is not so bad, I'm used to seeing this type of stuff in SC

Stop light fixture in the second kitchen and more fish.

Scary statue man!  He's really got a mean look on his face!

BLUE kitchen.  Blue.  What you can't see is the matching light/floors. 

Red walls from afar don't look so bad!

Red carpet, red furry walls....

Can you tell it has felt on it?  Seriously... I could pet them!

Poker anyone?

A close of up the craziness

The outside of the house.

Happy Halloween from Beau & Jasper

  How is everyone's week going? The weekend went by way too fast for me. 

    I took Jasper to his annual vet visit yesterday.  Poor baby had to get three shots!  He did a great job!  I talked with the vet about how Beau is constantly hyper, even at the age of 4.  He's large, loud, and crazy.  Even though we give him more than an adequate amount of exercise, he's always amped up.  Even after he runs all day at doggie day care, he comes home whining and wanting constant attention.  He gets so excited when people come to see us that he jumps on them, licks them in the face, and basically tries to knock them over.  Since my in-laws are coming to town this weekend, the vet prescribed Beau some Valium to "take the edge" off.  I'm testing it out on him tonight to make sure he doesn't get sick or have some crazy reaction.  I want him to be his fun loving self, but when you're 115 pounds and think you can sit in someone's lap, howling in their face, sometimes meds need to be taken.  haha 


   In addition to the boys getting their vet visits in this week, I also treated them to a spa day at the grooming room doggie spa!  Nails clipped, teeth brushed, fur combed, paws massaged, soaking in a mud bath, and a bath complete with some doggie cologne spray!  They look so handsome and smell so good! 
   
When leaving the spa, Beau decided to "greet" another customer dropping off her dogs by lifting her skirt up from the back and sniffing/licking her!!!!!!! OMG!! I was mortified, but luckily everyone laughed.  Beau greets every lady that has a skirt on by lifting the skirt up and peeking underneath.  He does this to me whenever I come home from work too. This is why we need the valium.  haha 


   Adam doesn't like me to humiliate the boys by dressing them up for Halloween, so I decided to take their photos today with the orange bandanas that the spa gave them.

  When I told Beau not to look up lady's skirts anymore, this is the face he gave me:  

 
 

"This iz my chair, I haz it" 

Check out those big paws!!! He no longer has Freddy Kruger nails now. :)

exhausted from his day of pampering

Happy (early) Halloween from the boys! 

Happy Tuesday!

   I am so happy to announce that I live in the #1 City in America according to Conde Nast Traveler!  I wouldn't live anywhere else, I LOVE it here!! Everyone is so nice!  Apparently, people outside of Charleston aren't as friendly - according to a ton of people I've talked to this week about us getting voted #1. 

 
   Check out this video!  Also? The guy singing is Calvin Taylor, he used to tour with the Drifters & even more exciting, he's singing at one of the weddings I'm planning in November! I can't wait! :)




Here are a few of the other things I'm loving this week:  

- My new hair color.  Yes, that's right, I'm even more platinum than usual! Amber lightened my hair up a little yesterday to a "Playboy" Blonde.  And no, there aren't any photos...yet. 


- The Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion. Woah!! haha  The drama, the trash, I just can't turn it off!

- Where in the World is Matt Lauer is coming back!! 

Pop up Video!

   VH1 is bringing back Pop Up Video!!!  Does anyone else remember this?! I remember watching it when I was in 8th or 9th grade.  

  Which got me to thinking about some songs and lyrics and what not.  How many times have you realized that you're singing the wrong lyrics to a song?  I know I'm not the only one!!


For example, my parents always liked listening to Rod Stewart when I was little; I thought the words to "Forever Young" were actually "Forever Yacht".  Because, that makes sense, right?  I had a taste for luxury at a young age apparently.

   Then there was the Credence Clearwater Revival song, "Bad Moon on the Rise". Or as I sang for years, "... don't come around tonight, for it's bound to take your life....there's a bathroom on the right...".  Makes sense to me!

   But it's not just me.  As a child, Adam thought in the Elvis song, "Return to Sender" that 'sender' was an actual place.  HAHAHAHA

  I had a friend in college that thought the Outkast song, "Ms. Jackson" said, "I'm sorry Miss Jackson, ooooh!! I am for real! Never meant to make your doggy cry, I apologize ....."  Doggy instead of Daughter.

  A friend of my mom's was talking about how cruel she thought "Mrs. Robinson" was when she was a child.  She is Jewish and thought the song said, "go cook a Jew, Mrs. Robinson" instead of "coo coo ca choo Mrs. Robinson". What an awful thing to think as a child!! I guess sometimes mishearing lyrics can be scary or hurtful. Also, in her defense, "coo coo ca choo" doesn't make any sense at all, but what a relief I'm sure it was for her to hear the true lyrics!

  With all of these misheard lyrics, I thought for sure that this one song in particular was definitely saying something else than what I thought I was hearing.  In the car, I heard Michael Jackson's "Wanna be Starting Something", actually listening to the whole song.  I'm not sure I've ever listened to whole thing before and actually listened to what he was saying.  Because Michael is a wee bit hard to understand sometimes, lets be honest, his vocals were a little "whispery" at times, I was comfortable making up words to the song.

   So I'm driving down the street, singing away, "you're a vegetable!!!.. you're a vegetable!!!!... and they hate you, you're a vegetable!!!"

   So of course I had to youtube this and find out the real lyrics.  Low and behold I didn't make up the lyrics, it really does say "you're a vegetable!".  Don't believe me?  Check it out here and fast forward to about 2:06 minutes. (ps, is he really with a tiger? interesting)
 


  I read all of the lyrics and I'm still not sure exactly what the song is supposed to be about, but I like it.  And some people are always trying to start something... so there ya go.


 Here's what I'm loving this week:

  1.  Another successful wedding planned and completed by my company, Simply Smitten Events.  Congrats to Mr. & Mrs. Oliver! :)

  2.  The fair is in town and that means... elephant ears!!! (Not to be confused with a funnel cake, 2 very different things!) I might be drooling now. 

Remember Adam's anniversary gift?  I got him App State cornhole!  We've been playing! :)


4.  Old Navy has totally stepped it up this fall! I went in there the other day and all of their stuff looks super luxe, but their prices are still reasonable! And they remodeled the entire store, so its easier to shop.  Love, love, Love!


Now that premiere week is over, here are my opinons on the new shows I was giving a try:
New Shows I'm giving a chance...
Pan Am  - LOVE this so far!
The Playboy Club - still on my dvr, haven't even watched it yet, probably gonna cut it
Hart of Dixie-  thought it was cute!
the X Factor - I've seen 15 minutes of it, I've stopped watching
Revenge - I am completely addicted to this show now!! Unfortunately, Adam doesn't love it. 
Up All Night - this is also cute, will keep watching
A Gifted Man - cut
Dirty Soap- love
Suburgatory - will give it another shot this week

Ok, so until next time, keep on singing! :)

xoxo, Becca

Happy Anniversary!

   Adam and I have our 2 year wedding anniversary coming up on October 11th.  I can't believe it has been two years already, where has the time gone?! The 2 year anniversary is a traditional gift of cotton.  I ordered a gift for him last week, which arrived today on the front porch.  Because Adam was off to work, I had to lug this thing in by myself. 

   Hope he can't tell what it is through the box b/c it was soo heavy, I wasn't physically able to move it more than just a foot inside the door. 

  Can you guess what this is? I hope not because it is staying right there until Adam gets home and I can have him move it. haha 

   Speaking of anniversaries, love and all that, I have something disturbing I should share. A lot of our married friends have recently had children or are currently pregnant with their first.  This has people prying to see if Adam and I are next.  Let me assure you, we are not next.  In fact, the best I can answer that question is, we still have time to make a decision, which is a ways off b/c we are very indecisive about the whole thing.  There are pros and cons, but definitely more cons right now. 

   However, the idea of Adam and I creating a child intrigues me. What would it look like? Obviously blonde, light skinned, maybe Adam's squinty eyes with long lashes and my dimples?  Sigh, if only there were a magical baby maker photo machine.  BUT Wait!!! There is!!!! The Nest.com has this silly baby making thing on their website, which they just happened to email me today, where you mash up a photo of yourself and your spouse to "Create" a baby! They also have celebrity photos you can use too.  I didn't try that option..yet. 

   So the first one I mashed up was a photo of me and Adam from Facebook. 
Here's the result for our baby boy: 

I'm not sure what is more disturbing about this photo.. the fact that it is quite obviously the ugliest baby I've ever seen OR the fact that he clearly has a mouth full of adult teeth.  All 37 of them and possibly the wisdom ones too. 

  Even though I found it a bit disturbing, I figured, what the heck, I'll throw caution to the wind and see what our baby girl would look like!

 
  This girl was apparently born today........ with a full head of hair, teeth, and a daisy headband.  First of all, at least she is wearing pink, but everyone knows that 1.  my child would never wear mini gold hooped earrings at the age of 1, 2.  A headband made of daisies?! I know we went to school in Boone, but we aren't hippies!  and 3.  Her hair is a hot mess and she has no eyebrows!  Ridiculous!!

   If you feel the need to find out what your future "adult" babies will look like, then go to makemebabies.com and make your own!  Weird. 

   

Monday Confessions

   Ok, I must confess something that I'm truly embarrassed about.  A few months ago, I got up early on a Sunday morning and turned on the television.  I was waiting for "The Today Show" to come on at 8am, but it was 6:30am (yes, I know I am an early riser), and nothing but infomercials were on tv. 

  I got sucked in to "The Firm".  They promised me I could "get fit in 30 days!".  I watched for almost an hour as women repeatedly gave their testimonials about how easy the workout was, how they loved the motivation, how it was the best thing since sliced bread!

  Here's the break down....  you work out 3 times a week for 30 minutes.  Each week has 3 dvds, for a total of 12 dvds  (or 4 weeks), 1 dvd is cardio, 1 is sculpting and 1 is a combo of both cardio/weight training.  You do this for a month and miraculously see all these results. 
    For only $99.99 you receive a 12 dvd set, a set of pink dumbells (soo cute!) with their add on weights, a nutritional booklet, and some other little things.  I decided, YES I must have "The Firm!". 
    The dvds are NOT easy, I enjoy my Jillian Michaels dvds much more than the firm.  I do like it though. Here it is, over 30 days later and I am here to tell you, I am not "Firm", but I am quite impressed with the muscles I've gained.

    In case you were wondering, said dvds are now collecting dust. 

  SO, Lesson learned, do NOT watch tv on Sunday mornings because I will order things. 

  While I'm confessing, I must also tell you that yesterday I ordered the movie, "Beastly" on demand.  Yes, it has Mary Kate Olsen in it.  And yes, it was cheesy, had bad acting, and I surprisingly still liked it.  

  Speaking of ordering things... here are my fav's for today:

Buy Here

OMG, I MUST have one of these skins for my phone!!!  Of course, I've got a Droid, so I'm not sure I can have one.  The Iphone gets all the fun stuff.  hmph. 

photo & buy here

Um, yes,  I must have this on my wall!! I think a pretty big J would look great above our bed!  I love anything monogrammed. 

LOVE!

    Why didn't they have cute stuff like this when I was in college? If you aren't in a sorority, this shop has other adorable options for you to choose from. 

   Who is catching up on all your favorite shows this week? Here's what I'm watching:
Old Shows: 
Real Housewives of New Jersey & Beverly Hills
America's Next Top Model - all stars!
Greys Anatomy
Project Runway
The Rachel Zoe Project
Glee
Modern Family
Desperate Housewives

New Shows I'm giving a chance...
Pan Am
The Playboy Club
Hart of Dixie
the X Factor
Revenge
Up All Night
A Gifted Man
Dirty Soap

WOW... thats a lot! I hope my DVR is ready! haha  I am thinking a lot of the new ones won't make it onto the permanent list of what I watch and/or they will probably get canceled. 

  OK.. It's wedding season, so I'm busy! Gotta go! :) 

Weekend Break Down

   Well, this weekend is a bust.  Adam and I were supposed to go to dinner with our friends last night, but I have completely lost my voice, so I wouldn't be much fun.  We rescheduled for brunch this morning, but guess what? Voice is even worse today.  I can whisper, but its a strain.  I blame ragweed, golden rod and pollen.  I feel fine, but sound horrible.  The only thing to do is blog.

  Is anyone having a Halloween party this year? For those of you that don't know me personally, I have a major love for bacon.  What does bacon and Halloween have to do with each other? Only this:

Order Here

 Even though Adam and I haven't gotten an invite to any parties and even if we did, I already know what he'll be, this is such a cute costume!!  Or perhaps a bagel and cream cheese would work too. 

   Things I'm loving right now...

I MUST get this skirt!!!

Boston Proper

I can't get enough of Maroon 5's "Moves like Jagger" and it gets stuck in my head.





Now its stuck in your head too, isn't it?

Glitter Ballerina Flats

   I'm not sure how I feel about these.  I think they look ridiculous, but kind of love/hate them at the same time. I would love to order these, but I'm not sure how they will look on my size 8.5/9 foot. Also, I have a hard time finding flats that fit my narrow ankles.

  Anywho, back to the hot tea with honey, chai tea, coffee, water, cough drops, etc. I'll write when again when something funny happens, other than me sounding like Kermit the Frog. 


xoxo, B

  It has been quite a while.  Ok, It has been since MARCH!  I haven't had a lack of things to write, I just have been way too busy. Have you started following my Simply Smitten blog?  I write on that one quite a bit more, not that it should excuse me from writing on this one, just saying.
   Also, I figured since I haven't written here in a while, this blog deserved a new look, what do you think? 

  We're entering into my favorite time of year!! I love to "Fall-erize" my house every September.  Even though it is still really hot at 80 something degrees outside, I am in denial and ready to wear my knee high boots.  Two weeks ago I ripped out all of my wall flowers from Bath and Body Works (spring/summer scents include: Pineapple Orchid and Pineapple Mango), and replaced them with my signature fall scents!  Nothing says fall like Creamy Pumpkin & Apple Crumble!  Creamy Caramel is my absolute favorite candle they have, but you can't find it in the stores anymore, only online!

   Going with this theme, I was thinking, what else could I add to my house for fall?

um, yes please! I want one of these for my front door!! 

And if I can't find one of  those, then I'll make one of these!  Looks simple enough, right?  I found this here. 

I want this for my front porch too! What a cute gift this would make for someone!  You can buy them here, or I think it would be somewhat easy to make yourself!

And while we're talking about fall, can we please address what has taken over my house?  Football.  ugh.  I know I'm supposed to be a good little wife and LOVE watching football with my hubby, but I don't.  I simply do NOT love football.  However, with that being said, I do miss going to college football games every Saturday!  I might be more enticed to watch games if I had these:


    THE perfect App State tailgating dress (with a gold/yellow sash instead of course)

Can I have this with a yellow monogrammed sash please? *hint hint* Find it here

 

Find your college here. What a great Christmas gift!

 Isn't that goblet cup so cute too?  My tailgate drink would look so cute in it! I am thinking I MUST have one of these for the Carolina Cup next spring! 

   Ok, thats all I have for now.  I  will try to write more often, I promise!

Smitten Saturdays

    The hubby and I have what we call, "Mushy Mondays" & "Smitten Saturdays"; every Monday I do something sweet for him and every Saturday he does something sweet for me.  Usually this involves one of the 5 different love languages.

For those not familiar, the five love languages are:

1.  Acts of Service (ie. doing chores & errands for your partner)
2.  Quality Time
3.  Gifts
4.  Physical Touch
5.  Words of Affirmation

  Each Monday, I try to hit one of these 5 points, trying to divvy them up each week, so I get to all of them, then start over. I find  words of affirmation to be the easiest b/c I'm a "writer" by nature and love to leave little post it notes (electronic,as you may remember -  fruit or otherwise), all over the place.

  Adam is a "gifter".

  Since today is a smitten Saturday, Adam gifted me two items:

a lovely bouquet of sunflowers

and??

a toilet seat.

Ahhhh... the comforts of marriage.


 That only leaves me with one question, what should I get him on Mushy Monday?

Communication is Key

  Wednesday was Adam's 30th birthday, unfortunately, he got the flu the very next day!  102 temperature, coughing, basically the plague.  Poor thing!  We had to cancel his birthday party dinner tonight.

   My parents are heading over in the morning for brunch to celebrate my birthday and Adam's (mine is this coming Wednesday), and then Adam's parents are coming over to spend the weekend after that.

  I worked all day today at the spa, then went to the grocery store to stock up on food for the super bowl and Adam's parents coming down.  I diligently came up with a grocery list, meticulously writing down every single thing I needed to make the perfect super bowl party mix!  I even bought flowers to make the house look nice since the in-laws are coming down.

   Once I came home, I cleaned a bit, pulling sheets off beds to wash, etc.  I made a beautiful floral arrangement. I took a break to eat dinner and then got up to start cooking foods for the super bowl.  I just happened to ask Adam when his parents were planning to come down and he says....



    Adam: Oh, they aren't coming down.
    Me:  what?! why didn't you tell me?! I spent an hour in bi-lo buying food for your parents, I even bought flowers!
    Adam: I thought you knew!
    Me: *sighs*  I guess we can just give the extra food to my parents when they come down
    Adam: I thought you were just being really nice to me since I have the flu, the flowers made me feel better.
    Me: Happy Valentine's Day.

 

How much Old Bay does one couple need?

   For some reason since the beginning of the year, I have been on an organizational kick.  I just can't seem to get the house organized enough.  I've already organized three drawers, my closet (color coordinated), & our laundry room/pantry.
   It finally occurred to me today to take some before and after photos of this organizing.

  Today after going to the dr this morning, a quick trip to wal-mart, which you know I can spend hours in as I've mentioned before, (click here to read about my previous Wal-mart adventures), made diaper cakes for a baby shower I'm planning, did some marketing for Bellezza, talked to everyone and their mama on the phone, ate dinner and then decided to organize our spice cabinet.

   While organizing I realized three things:

1.  There are literally no expiration dates on spices.  Seriously?  I think I may have had some of these when I lived in Boone with Kristel.  No really.  haha And that was 7-8 years ago. Oh Gosh!

2. Adam has 23 bottles of hot sauce - this is after I threw out three that had expired.  Apparently HOT spices do expire.  Who knew?

3.  We have 6 canisters of Old Bay Seasoning.  I put it on everything, but I didn't realize we had so many!

 So here is my before:

And this is my after:

Finally! Wow, we should really have stock in McCormick Spices.

Wondering what is in the black basket at the top upper right corner?  Hot Sauces!

And to the left?

Even more hot sauces!


And for those Old Bay Spices?

 I ended up throwing away two Old Bay Seasonings and this is what we had left.  Does someone want to bring over some crab legs, shrimp, fish or stuff to make a Lowcountry boil? :)

I think I deserve one of my Valentine's Day Cupcakes I made myself 3 weeks early. :) Yum!

Have a good night y'all! :)