Fallish Weekend

Nashville, you did me right this past weekend. 

Your weather could have fooled me, feelin' like it's October already.

We took full advantage of the dip in temperature, and enjoyed some much needed family time.

Thanks to a team member friend of mine, we were gifted with six end-zone seats to the Vandy football game. With a chill in the air, football just felt...right.

Of course, we needed our fall drinks from Starbucks to keep us warm! (Holla if you're a fan of the pumpkin spice latte!)

Not pictured: us chugging our beverages after taking this photo, as the security man told us we could not bring our drinks into the stadium. Classy, I know.

I mean... really? Geez, I love this guy.

He went to work at 7:00 on Saturday morning, so that he could meet us at the game later in the day.

He's just the best.

The whole clan.

After the game (which ended up being an exciting one in the 4th quarter), we came back to La Casa Darcy to continue the fall shenanigans. The guys tossed around the football while I got the chili on the stove.

That's right- we made white chicken chili, courtesy of Paula Dean. It was DELISH! You can find the recipe here.

(Serve with jalapeno cornbread- Mmm, mmm, good!)

And what's a better finale to a family fun day than playing Mexican Train? We snacked on magic mix and shared some laughs.

I really could not be more thankful that my brothers live in town, that Jon and I get to be involved in their lives and them in ours, and that we see each other throughout the week. 

This season is going to be one to remember.

And this fall weather? You just keep it comin', Nashville.

autumn & spice and everything nice

Y'all.
Today is September 1st.
September!
If you can't believe August has already come and gone, raise your hand. (Two hands raised high.)

I am not complaining; I am merely stating that summer flew by!

Although summer was full of fun, friends, food, and frolicking (I like alliteration, okay?),
I.cannot.wait.for.fall.

I know, I know... Fall officially doesn't begin until September 23rd. But in my heart, fall begins September 1st. TODAY.

I have been planning ahead for the next few months in the Darcy household, and it's going to be a good time all around.

Fall is my absolute favorite season. (Can I get an amen?)

Just think about all the Autumn goodness to come:

pumpkin spice lattes
pumpkin spice doughnuts
pumpkin spice cream cheese
pumpkin butter
(Let's be honest- anything with pumpkin flavoring, really)
pumpkin patches
pumpkin carving
caramel apples
kettle corn
hayrides
corn mazes
drive-in movies
football (Yes, Mr. Darcy, I'm excited for your favorite sport)
BOOTS
cuffed skinny jeans with ankle boots
flannel shirts
oversized cardigans
leather jackets
(I mean, fall has the best clothes. Am I right?)
fall home decor
autumn spice candles
candy corn
pine cones
leaves in brilliant, warm shades
jumping in am oversized pile of leaves
crisp skies
chilly nights

Fall even has its own smell, doesn't it?

I. can't. wait.

If you're a fellow Fall-fanatic like me, what are you most looking forward to?

Fabulous photo from this cute photographer's site.

(This phrase will probably end up in our home. Like tomorrow.)

This Guy.

This guy brightens my entire day just with his smile.

This guy makes me laugh until tears are streaming down my cheeks.

This guy is my teammate in all things.

This guy is my biggest cheerleader.

This guy loves me better than I deserve.

This guy is the absolute best part of me.

He is my best friend. My husband. My love.

I adore him.

Love someone today. 

And tell them that you do.

Chirp.

Well, I finally did it....

For a while now, I've been pinning pictures of teal-painted kitchen tables. 

It became very obvious that I developed quite a liking to this "look".

This is the Lenox fine china set we registered for our wedding 2 1/2 years ago. 

The pattern is appropriately called Chirp.

Little did I know how prophetic this Chirp pattern would be.

My Mother-in-Love (yes, that's what I call her) gave this table to my husband during his bachelor days. We decided to keep it after we got married (although I don't think Mr. Darcy quite envisioned the plans I had for his table).

Enter my newest obsession- Annie Sloan chalkpaint. 

I have yet to master the dark wax (or the clear wax, for that matter), but I am loving how easy it is to maneuver this paint. 

And the color choices? Way too fun to stick to the neutral tones.

Am I right?!

One Saturday, while The Hubs wasn't home...

I covered our tile kitchen floor in plastic and let out my inner Picasso...

It was interesting crawling around the kitchen floor, trying to adequately cover each inch of the table and in between every crevasse of the chairs. (I know one thing- next time I'm investing in knee pads!)

However, the hard work was totally worth it!

Here's the (somewhat) finished product...

Well, what do you think?!

One day, when we own our own home, my dream kitchen will have gray walls, white cabinets, and lots of crisp white accents. Then our breakfast table will truly pop!

Remember the predecessor of this whole project- my Chirp fine china?

Well, if you ask me, I'd say the whole color-coordinating worked in my favor.

I was pretty giddy when setting the table for dinner last week. :)

Oh, and Mr. Darcy? Don't worry...he loves how his table turned out.

I say somewhat finished because I'm still considering adding the Annie Sloan dark wax, which would create a distressed look. What are your thoughts?

Write Your story on my heart

This past weekend, women from our church gathered in a b-e-a-utiful cabin in Gatlinburg for our annual Women's Retreat. To say we were excited for a weekend girls' getaway would be an understatement. 

My gal, Di, and I were ready for our roadtrip. We brought the goods- coconut M&Ms, Sweedish fish, girly magazines, Chic-fil-a breakfast, and most importantly- a playlist with all the woman-power Greats: Mariah, Whitney, Martina, Shania...

The weekend was full of relaxing moments. Sunbathing on the deck with the gals (while pretending to read, but really doing a great job at the art of gab instead) earned me my first tanlines of 2014.

The theme of the weekend was "Write Your Story". In our services, women shared their stories in the most honest, candid, vulnerable ways. They shared the good, the bad, the lovely, the ugly, the joyous, the devastating, the exciting, and the unbelievable. These are women that I love and respect; women that I "know" from church. They are Godly women. But somewhere along the way, I forgot that they are real. And they have stories, too.

 There is something unbelievably beautiful when we share our stories together. That is when the glory of The Lord is revealed best- when we show how He has radically changed our lives.

In hearing their stories, I was challenged to form my own; to reflect on the work The Lord has done in me.

 The best part? He's not done with me yet. The healing has just begun.

After LOTS of laughter, and a steady flow of healing tears, we headed home.

I am beyond thankful for the weekend, and for the hard-working and talented women that planned and and executed the retreat. 

My prayer at the end of this retreat was simply this:

"Lord, I give you the pen. Continue to write Your story on my heart."

Oh, and these faces? These were gals that were thrilled to be together, yet giddy to get home to their handsome husbands.

hoppy easter

One of my favorite traditions growing up happened on Easter morning. My Mom and Dad... er, the "Easter Bunny"... would hide our Easter baskets somewhere in the house, and my brothers and I would "hunt" for them. We eagerly searched for these goodie baskets! Mom usually filled mine with a new favorite movie, a coloring book, a CD, lip gloss, nail polish, and of course- jewelry to match my new Easter dress. 

Although I am a twenty (plus some) year old woman, my Mama made me a lovely Easter basket while she was in town a couple of weeks ago. It was a complete surprise to have her show up at my office on her way out of down to make a special delivery (my two favorites- surprises and presents!).

Here are the items from my adult Easter basket:

A lovely vase I had been drooling over at Target. I told her about it on the phone, and she bought it!

My... I mean, the husband's... favorite candies. :)

The women in our family love little boxes. It usually means there's something shiny inside!

And there was something shiny inside - a beautiful necklace, adorning my two favorite colors.

This, y'all, is my favorite Easter candy: egg shaped bubble gum is my jam!

And these new white chocolate M&Ms? They're crazy good.



Now, I know that Easter baskets are not the point of celebrating Easter. And maybe it's silly of me to get so excited over a basket full of goodies.

But this means so much more to me.

This basket reminds me that my Mama is thinking about me all the time... literally.
She thinks about me wherever she goes.
She cares for me, and she wants to add a little happiness to my life.
(And it's proof to me that we both have good taste. Ha!)

My Mama and I are not perfect people, and we don't have a perfect relationship. But what is a perfect relationship? We love each other, and there is a beautiful amount of grace that we are learning to extend to one another.

I'm thankful for this. And for the way that she loves me.

The real gift here is her.

Frozen

If you still have not seen this move, you are missing out!!!

I have loved been infatuated with this musical since I saw it on Black Friday!

For months, I have been secretly listening to the soundtrack via headphones at work, and not so secretly belting out those high notes in Idina's flawless performance of "Let It Go" in the shower. (What? In the shower, I could pass for Ms. Menzel's sister...right?)

I have been a fan of Idina's for years, and of course she completely wowed me in this Disney movie.

The biggest surprise in talent- Kristen Bell! Who knew she could sing? And further more, keep up with Idina?!

A co-worker friend of mine (a guy, mind you) showed me this on YouTube today- Kristen Bell's LIVE performance of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman", and I had to watch it three times in a rom (and then maybe a few more times after lunch)...

Watch it! She's incredible!

Kristen Bell Live

In other news, my Mama was in town over the weekend. We had a pretty fab (and spontaneous) weekend together!

My cousin, Kelsey, and her little girls were also visiting from Louisiana. Last night, all the cousins met at my Grandmother's for a cousins-only dinner, which never happens because we all live so far apart. What fun!

My absolute favorite part of the night was watching Kelsey's four year old, Anna Claire, beam over the movie "Frozen". We talked about it all night...she even gave me "Elsa hair".

And this ladies and gents, was the most magical part of the evening.

Enjoy the magic. (And the twirl at the end.)

Wordless Wednesday

Have you ever heard the saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words"? I truly believe this.

I'm going to try something here I learned from a fellow blogger:

Wordless Wednesdays.

On Wednesdays, I'll post a photo or two that mean something to me, or evoke a special feeling or emotion. I hope you enjoy these selections.

I'll kick it off today with these photos taken by my amazingly-talented sister-cousin Kate Whitmore. Mr. Darcy and I had a session with her last Thanksgiving weekend. We love how she captures so much life in her photography. (We love you, Katie!)

(Yes, I realize I am already breaking two Wordless Wednesday rules: There are definitely more than just one or two photos, and I used words. Haha, we'll try again next week.)

Be Our Guest

The guest room. Ugh.

Up until now, this room has served several purposes, and none of them well, causing a severe identity crisis:
bedroom/bathroom for guests to use during their stay
home office for both Jon and myself
storage room for everything that hasn't found a "place" in the house (AKA the junk room)

We have been focusing on a word in our house recently: simplify.

This word is being applied in several areas of our life, but in this case, we applied it to our "stuff" being held captive in our guest room.

We have been cleaning out the guest room- throwing away papers, organizing important items, and even selling things that are nice, but we simply just don't need.

Man, it feels good to clean out and simplify!!

In the midst of this simplification process, I decided it was a perfect time to "redo" the guest room. After all, our families both live out of state, and they will need a place to stay upon visiting us.
(Remember I said I sold items online? Well that cash was just burning a hole in my pocket. I was in search for some killer deals!)

These are before pics of our "guest (miscellaneous) room":

This redo involved my first try with Annie Sloan chalkpaint! Although I didn't opt for the dark stain/antique look, I still loved working with this paint. There was no prep required before use! It gave such a fresh look to pieces our families have had for nearly twenty years! 

Reclaimed furniture = my favorite.

The best part of the redo- most things used in the room were items we already had in other areas of the house! We just recycled them for a different use. 

The only items purchased were: one new lamp (TJMaxx), one new curtain panel (Target clearance), and Annie Sloan chalk paint/wax.

So... what do you think?!

Working on a next-to-nothing budget, I am beyond pleased with how the room turned it.

It really is a calm, peaceful, inviting space now.

Family, come be our guests!