Happy Birthday Dad!

I must take a few sentences on his special day to share with you what makes my Dad so special to me. He is my advisor, my strong shoulder, my teacher, my encourager and my friend. I don't know what I would do without him. I love you very much. Enjoy your day!

Sweater me not.

I just had to share this. It has been really chilly here in Birmingham the last few weeks so Coco pulled Lucy's sweater out to keep her warm. She usually does really well and loves to snuggle up in it. After a few hours it gets a little old so she wiggles her way out. This picture was snapped mid-wiggle. Coco and I were laughing so hard at her walking around the house "stripping" her sweater. Not two minutes after this was taken the sweater lay in the middle of the kitchen floor. Lucy's sweater "strip" was successful!

How can you not love this face?

A little Christmas Cheer

Merry Christmas everyone! While I have been VERY behind getting into the Christmas spirit, I did manage to get my tree up (thank you Coco!) a little over a week ago. I am almost done shopping and I even wrapped some presents this week (see - they are under the tree)! My plan is to be a baking fool this weekend...I do love to bake this time of year. Mostly because I like to eat, but ya'll already knew that. :)

I still have a few more presents to buy...I find I leave the hardest for last, why is that? Has anyone found such a fabulous gift they must share with the rest of us? I am definitely open for some inspiration!

Catching Up...again

Wow. I am a terrible blogger. I feel like I should reintroduce myself. In case you forgot who I am, check out this post. I am remiss. I apologize. I thought I would be better than this. This season has caught up with me. Oh I hope to keep my promises.

So a lot has occurred in the life of Kiki and Coco since mid-November (the last time I really blogged). I will try to keep this brief (ha!) and give you a rundown...

MC and I took a road trip to Florida for a MonogramChick Trunk Show at my parent's house. So much fun to be home even if it meant that getting there would take 8 or more hours. Long story. And long ride. But nice to spend it with MC. Let's just say our little trip involved lots of DC and these...

Is anyone else addicted to these this time of year? Here are a few pics from our trip...a few of all of MC's merchandise spread all over the house and some from a fun family dinner (thanks dad!). We had a great time, way too short but so wonderful to be together.

Mom and MC...aren't they beautiful?

Dad and me

Thanksgiving with the Marshalls! Coco and I spent Thanksgiving with his family in Macon and it was definitely not without entertainment! We had a great time visiting. Coco's mom, Jo, worked so hard to prepare a scrumptious meal. We arrived Wednesday night and Thursday morning I helped with some last minute food prep. One of those items was the turkey. Let me be clear and state that neither Jo or I had ever cooked a turkey. This became apparent when Coco's Aunt Molly discovered upon removal from the oven that the turkey had been cooked upside down! It literally fell apart in the pan, it was hilarious! It was actually really tasty since all of the yummy white meat cooked on the bottom with all of the juices. Who knew??? We spent nearly an hour texting pictures to everyone we know, this is one infamous turkey!

Me and Jo...I love this picture.

Pulled turkey for Thanksgiving anyone? Anyone have any crazy Thanksgiving stories?

Happy Birthday MC!

Okay, I know I have been a terrible blogger lately - its been more than two weeks! Life is crazy around here. I vow to do better. What better way to start back than to wish my beautiful sister a happy birthday today? I don't know what I would do without her. I wish her a day full of pampered moments and lots of DC and Christmas nougat. :)

Happy Birthday to MC, my very best friend and my fabulous sister!

I can't wait to see you tomorrow to celebrate! Oh, and I apologize for the sub par pic...I am ill-equipped today. And for my blogger buddies, December is busy month for us - lots of birthdays and holiday celebrations so stay tuned! I will even have that giveaway I have been teasing ya'll about!

Sick...

...that's me. All week. Be back soon.

A little Christmas Spirit

I am on the email list for Better Homes and Gardens 100 Days of Holidays and I love to get the email each day to get inspired for the season. I wanted to share some inspiration I came across last week. I love a beautiful table setting, I think I come by it honestly. My mom is an amazing hostess and never leaves a detail undone. Not only is her holiday table beautiful the food displayed on it is fabulous as well. Oh to be like her. For those of us that need a little, er, a lot of help, check out these stunning rooms.

All photos are courtesy of bhg.com

Do you have any fabulous table decor ideas for your table? What is the one holiday decoration you cannot live without?

A road trip...or two.

Coco arrived back in town just in time to turn himself around and drive with me to Atlanta. Coco's dad, B, is having surgery today and we are in Atlanta spending time with him and Coco's mom at the hospital. Please keep B in your prayers that the surgery is successful and all goes well. We love you B and hope you are back at it soon!

We are in the ATL until Friday when Coco and I go our separate ways (again). Boo. I am headed (by way of car...yikes) to Florida with MC. She is having her Annual Trunk Show & Open House for monogramchick.com at our parent's house in Lakeland, Florida. It should be a fun and exhausting weekend!

It'll be a whirlwind few days between Atlanta and Florida. I am looking forward to it all and I promise to take many pictures and share them with you next week!

Pumpkin Spice Bread

Another great recipe that I made this weekend (so I guess I spent some time in the kitchen). This is super easy and not at all bad for you!

Pumpkin Spice Bread

1 box Spice Cake Mix

1-15oz. can pure Pumpkin

A few shakes of pumpkin pie spice

Mix all three ingredients together (I usually beat with a handmixer for a minute or two) and bake according to the cake mix directions. You can make lots of mini muffins, a bundt cake or a loaf with just one recipe.

It is delish. And only three ingredients, no eggs, butter or oil! Budget and waistline friendly. :) I like to make it Sunday afternoon and cut it up in sections to eat for breakfast all week. A cup of coffee and some Pumpkin Spice bread...yummy!

Catching Up

I know, I know. Long time, no blog. I think I have blogger's block. Does that exist? Or maybe life has been too boring to share lately. Or maybe I have been too busy. Whatever the reason, I apologize for my absence and I promise to be better. Blogging really is therapeutic and, for me, it is a great way to exercise the other side of my brain.

Coco is out of town for work until Wednesday night so I am home with Lucy. So for the next two days the TV will be permanently tuned to HGTV and Lucy will not move from her window perch for fear that she will miss Coco's arrival back home. Oh, and I won't cook. That I am looking forward to. Coco will be traveling most of the next two weeks and I really don't like it when he is gone. I like it too much when he is here. Oh well. This too shall pass.

I thought I would share an easy peasy dessert recipe I made over the weekend for some out of town friends. I have no idea where I got this recipe so if you recognize it, give the owner some cred!

Butterfinger Cake

1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix

1 bottle caramel topping

1 can condensed milk

1 large tub cool whip

2 butterfinger bars, crushed

Prepare cake according to package directions. Immediately after removing cake from oven, poke several holes all over the top with a fork. Mix sweetened condensed milk and caramel together, pour over hot cake and spread over entire cake. Chill well. After cake has chilled completely, spread cool whip over the top and sprinkle crushed Butterfinger on top of cool whip.

I forgot to get a picture before the feasting began. I promise this ooey gooey yumminess is a crowd pleaser!

November already?

I can't believe it is November. Where did October go? Or September for that matter? Time flies. I love this time of year so much I just wish I had a magic watch where I could suspend time. There are never enough hours to bake enough sweet treats, shop for that perfect gift, decorate my home, spend time with family and friends, and most importantly celebrate Jesus this season. Here's to making every effort to do all of these things and then some...and do them well. I guess I should start with a list...how do you start your holiday season preparation?

Happy Halloween!

This past weekend Coco and I decided we needed to add a little fall color to our front door in anticipation of the trick or treaters we hope to see on Saturday. We stopped by a great garden shop in town, Sweet Peas, and found these great pumpkins and set them up on our front stoop. I love pumpkins and in my opinion, the uglier the better. Don't you just love the one resting on top with all of its bumps?

The best part? These ugly little punkins can greet our guests right on through Thanksgiving!

Coco and I are looking forward to Saturday. This is the first year since we have been in our house (we have been here 4 and 1/2 years) that we will be home on Halloween. We are usually hanging out with friends elsewhere but this year we decided to do the hosting. Hosting might be a generous word - we plan on setting up chairs on the front lawn with our friends and eating and drinking our way through All Hallow's Eve while greeting the creatively dressed children in our neighborhood and passing out our favorite candy. What are your plans?

Drama Queen.

Sunday afternoon Coco and I took Lucy for a walk around the neighborhood. A few of Lucy's friends were out so we stopped to play for awhile. We watched Lucy tear around the front yard of our neighbor's house being chased by two boxers, Goose and Bower. After about 30 minutes we walked a very tired Lucy home.

Apparently her jaunt was a bit too much because later that night we found that one of her paws was bleeding. It appears she cut it during her play session. We cleaned it out, used some liquid bandaid and wrapped a self adhering bandage to her paw. As soon as the bandage went on, she started milking it. She didn't even act like anything was wrong before her paw was wrapped up (the bandage just helped keep the little bit of blood off of the furniture). Coco and I almost fell on the floor laughing because she wouldn't walk on her paw - she scooted around like a tripod! She got this pitiful look and found her bed. I couldn't resist, this was too good not to take a few pictures. This is priceless...she is such a drama queen..wonder where she gets it from?

Doesn't she look pitiful?

Poor baby

Oh, and before you think we are cruel parents - she really is fine. She is back to her old self...drama queen and all.

Target Tuesday

Birmingham just got a new Super Target and I have been itching to check it out (Note: we have other ST's but this one is NEW - so fresh and so clean clean). Supposedly it is the biggest Target in the U.S. After my first visit, this could be right. Ashley invited me to go with her Saturday morning to see how fabulous it might be. Fabulous it was. Yes, I was the freak taking pictures of random items throughout the store, items not necessarily for sale. I have no shame. And Ashley was a good sport. After we stopped in at Starbucks for a Pumpkin Spice Latte we were off to wander aimlessly through the aisles. I think we were there for at least 2 hours. A few pictures that captured our fun...

Yep, I took a picture of the buggies (no squeaks!). Yes, buggies. I live in the South - deal with it.

$8 earrings - lurve it.

Um, I don't think I can pull off these rain boots, but aren't they cute for less than $30?

I loved this jacket - but I picked up the wrong size and had trouble getting out of it!

Doesn't Ashley look adorable - with her baby bump?!

Christmas time! Their decor is out in all its red and green glory. I loved these kissing balls.

Don't you need some furry friends?

Isn't this Mercury Glass Candle Holder for $30 beautiful!

I can think of no better way to spend my Saturday morning (thanks Ash!). By the way, I am on the hunt for some fabulous leggings. And nope, I didn't find any at Target - I looked, trust me. Yes, I am taking the plunge. I cannot find a pair in my size that I like (I want the cotton kind with NO sheen). Any suggestions from my fellow leggin' sportin' bloggers?

Orange you glad?

The color orange is everywhere this fall. I was a bit skeptical at first but the more fabulous photos I see, the more I am warming up to the color. It is the perfect fall color and there are so many shades of orange you can easily find one that will work in your home. Check out the inspiration I found below from BHG.com.

If you aren't ready to make a big commitment to the color, how about dressing your table with these great orange inspired items from Anthropologie?

Or maybe you are ready to make a small wardrobe commitment (also courtesy of anthropologie.com)?

Have you capitalized on the color orange in any way? Do share!

A Surprise Visit!

I walked into my house Monday evening after work and my wonderful parents were standing in my kitchen! For many of you that may not sound like a surprise but the sheer fact that they live 9.5 hours away in Lakeland, Florida made their presence a sweet surprising treat! After tears and squeals from me, Coco revealed their secretive little plan. My parents dear friends own a business that brings them to Birmingham on occasion (it helps too that their two sons live here as well). They are fortunate to use a private plane for business and needed to be in Birmingham for dinner Monday night. They were so sweet to invite my parents Monday morning to come along (and my parents were so great to drop everything at the last minute to come visit for a few hours)! My mom called Coco to orchestrate the surprise and Coco made dinner reservations at one of our favorite Italian restaurants, GianMarco's. We spent the evening talking, laughing, drinking and eating. It made my week, er, month! We don't get to see them near enough and it was so much fun to have a night together.

It was so nice to hug their necks and talk face to face. Thank you Mom and Dad for coming! And thank you "Air Harrell" for bringing them to us! I can't wait to do it again! Have I mentioned I LOVE surprises like that?

Wordless Wednesday

Poor Bailey

Giving dogs a bath can be quite the experience. Coco and I have it easy with our Lucy - she is good to just hop in the bath tub and wait on us to get our scrub on. Okay, so "us" may not be the most accurate use of words here. I can't tell you the last time I bathed Lou Belle, Coco is so good to me (and Lucy).

Isn't she too cute? Patiently waiting in the tub on her Dad.

MC's pooch, Bailey, is another story. Bailey is not so keen on the bath idea. Maybe because he has so much hair you have to use a super soaker to get him clean. Last time MC was in town, I had the privilege of being dragged asked to go to the pet store to bathe Bailey. Um, right. It is a good thing you can lock yourself into the bathing area otherwise Bailey would have torn through the store just to get away from us.

Bailey looks thrilled doesn't he? I think his whole body was shaking at this point. Aren't our "aprons" fabulous? They need a monogram. :)

I got to chase Bailey around the room to attempt to get him dry. MC took this action shot to commemorate the experience (thanks a bunch). Getting this dog dry is impossible - hours later he was still damp. How do I know? He planted himself in my lap and wouldn't move. He loves his Aunt Kiki and I love the little ball of fur.

Any excuse to hang out with my sister. Don't worry - we capped off our bathing experience with pedicures. Hey, we need our pampering too, right?