Showing you my life

Kelly, from Kelly's Korner is again hosting Show Us Your Life - Wedding Party & Flowers/Ceremony. I really loved my flowers and the bridesmaid dresses, as well as the tuxes the guys wore, so I have to participate this time too!

Mr. Potts and I were married November 8, 2008. It was such a wonderful day because we were surrounded by friends and family. I loved my flowers - I adore fall & all the colors associated with it. I love the nip in the air and the way cheeks get rosy after a bit of time spent outside.

My bouquetArtsy picture of my bouquet with our ringsMy Maid of Honor and me - don't you love the colors of the dress and how the bouquets just popped? Yes - she towers over me. :) She's my best friend in the whole world!


All of my beautiful ladies and their bouquets. Somehow at the end of the night both Mr. Potts' niece and my niece ended up with a bouquet.
The flower girls and me. They both wore an ivory dress with a chocolate sash.
One of our favorite pictures. We have a print of the sign in the background. We're going to frame this picture and hang it below that one.
Mr. Potts and his Best Man - the vests & ties of the groomsmen were a deep chocolate with cocoa stripes. The vest was deep chocolate. They looked so handsome!

A good shot of my hair clip. I loved it! Could you tell my niece didn't want to leave? She was having too much fun dancing!
I hope you've enjoyed my trip down wedding memory lane!

It's gettin hot in here....

Tara from Jimmy Choos and Tennis Shoes tagged me to play! I'm to list 5 things that make me feel sexy. She is so absolutely beautiful & so very sweet. If you haven't been by her blog, you should go & say hello. Not only that, but give some love to sweet Sadie too!

The rules are as follows:

- Write 5 things that make you feel sexy

- Post a pic (only IF you dare)

- Pass it on to 5 lovely bloggers

1. The way that Mr. Potts and I laugh together - we always have the best time together & he always makes me feel sexy.
2. Getting dressed up & doing my hair. It doesn't matter if it is for a wedding or to go out, I love it!
3. When I'm done exercising. I'm a red, sweaty mess, but it makes me feel so good.
4. Painting my toenails. Enough said
5. Laying on the beach. Nothing better than dragging my toes in the sand.

Laughter - plain & simple.

I'm passing this along to the following lovely bloggers:

Mrs. Jetplane - Leaving and Loving on a Jet Plane
Lindsey - Learning to be a Wife

Whitney - That Girl & her pug
Ashley - Pink-ture Perfect
Megan - In this Wonderful Life

We all need to remind ourselves every once in a while of our own sexiness. Take a second & tell me what makes you sexy.

PS - For your pleasure...

I've updated my reading list to the right. If you're a regular commenter and I don't have you on there, please let me know! I'd love to add you to my highlight list.

Premium Meme

My friend, BEG at Brown Eyed Girl tagged me for the Premium Meme award. In accepting this, I must list 7 traits about myself and then pass the award onto 7 other bloggers who deserve recognition for the personality they share through their blog.

If you haven't visited BEG, make sure that you go & say hello. She is in the midst of planning a staycation & regularly posts Menu Mondays - I've definitely gotten some good ideas from her!


I've done a few of these, where you reveal things about yourself. I'm not sure what I have left that I haven't revealed, but I'll give it my best.

1. I have neat handwriting. I usually get compliments on it & I tell people I learned from my mother. She has great handwriting - she addressed our wedding invitations for us.

2. I consider myself an excellent driver. Mr. Potts agrees - henceforth the reason I am always the one driving. He tells me I'm much more relaxed, yet at the same time very aware of everything that goes on around me.

3. I'm trying to bribe Mr. Potts in to a new puppy (this means I'm not above using sneakiness). We won't get one until I'm not traveling for work (which may be never considering the economy) because I'll have to be the one to train it. I asked him if I asked for a baby, could we have a puppy instead. No go on that one! I'm in love with Viszla's and Weimaraners.
4. I like things in my house to be clean. I am constantly spraying & wiping in the kitchen with the Clorox spray made for all surfaces.

5. Referencing back to #4 - While I may be someone who wants things clean, I'm not necessarily a neat freak. Mr. Potts will fuss at me because our kitchen table will be taken over by purses and papers, the floor around it littered with shoes.

6. I get wonky little chin hairs which I'm OCD about plucking. I have two that come in regularly that MUST be plucked immediately! I have a coarse little black one & a wiry little white one. By the time I'm 50, I'm going to have had electrolysis to get rid of my cheek/chin hairs otherwise I'll be able to join the circus as the bearded woman.
7. I am a lotion addict. I keep lotion in my bag, in my laptop bag, on my desk, in a desk drawer and in every bathroom at home. Currently on my desk that I'm loving is Neutrogena comforting butter body cream. Perfect for my hands & nails since I am constantly washing them. Speaking of washing hands, how do people in a public bathroom just walk out of a stall, see someone washing their hands and then just wet their fingertips & run them through their hair? Nasty! I'm speaking specifically of women in my building who I see every day. You'd think there'd be some shame!

For this fun little tag, I pick the following:

Julie from Wearing Mascara
Kirby from Good Gals Inc
PP&MS from Pink Pearls and Muddy Slippers
Brittany from Living in the Moment
Emily from From the land of cotton...
Kimmie from Full Circle

Go visit these girls and say hi! I promise, you'll love them all!

Showing my Heart

The beautiful Brittany from Notes From the Grove and Emily of From the land of cotton recently tagged me to play "Show My Heart." If you haven't visited Britanny yet, you must. If only to read her Bachelorette Top Ten. Well and to see her pin-up shots. And to read about her husband going into a gas chamber. Seriously - just go! Make sure to say hello to Emily as well! She is looking for suggestions for a gift for a special man in her life. Not only that, but she's a Southern girl, just like me!

So, with no further ado, the rules: "With as much creativity as you can muster, show your heart in: a picture, a poem, a song (or piece of music), a phrase (or quote), an item of clothing, a place, and (just for fun) a Disney princess. If you want to join in, tag six more blogs."

PictureThis is me and Mr. Potts about three weeks before our wedding. Hayden is the yellow lab and Maddy was my Great Dane. This is one of my favorite pictures because it is my family. We had to put Maddy to sleep the next day - she had congestive heart failure which we caught too late.

This is such a precious picture to me.

Poem? I'm not so great with poems. I don't know that I've read any since college. What came to mind, instead, was when Carrie read from the book of love letters of great men to Big. I love Sex & the City & loved the movie. Now, the book itself is not a real book, but I was inspired. To choose my "poem" I choose Beethoven's Immortal Beloved - the one Big quoted at their wedding. :)

Good morning, on July 7

Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved, now and then joyfully, then sadly, waiting to learn whether or not fate will hear us - I can live only wholly with you or not at all - Yes, I am resolved to wander so long away from you until I can fly to your arms and say that I am really at home with you, and can send my soul enwrapped in you into the land of spirits - Yes, unhappily it must be so - You will be the more contained since you know my fidelity to you. No one else can ever possess my heart - never - never - Oh God, why must one be parted from one whom one so loves. And yet my life in V is now a wretched life - Your love makes me at once the happiest and the unhappiest of men - At my age I need a steady, quiet life - can that be so in our connection? My angel, I have just been told that the mailcoach goes every day - therefore I must close at once so that you may receive the letter at once - Be calm, only by a calm consideration of our existence can we achieve our purpose to live together - Be calm - love me - today - yesterday - what tearful longings for you - you - you - my life - my all - farewell. Oh continue to love me - never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved.

ever thine

ever mine

ever ours

The next was to pick a quote. This one rings true with me simply because since I've met Mr. Potts, my wishes started coming out and coming true.
When you love someone, all your saved-up wishes start coming out. - Elizabeth Bowen

Song: Jack Johnson - Better Together
I don't know how to put a video on here, so I'm linking it up.
If anyone can tell me how, that would be wonderful!

My item of clothing? Burberry Ombré Leather Shopper.My place? New Orleans. I've lived there & loved it. I was heartbroken when Katrina hit. I've been back and love it still. Some of my best friends are still there. I introduced Mr. Potts to it - I actually gave him his first trip there the night he proposed to me!

I mean, you have the River Shack (best fried pickles EVER) which has bar stools like thisBars like thisJackson SquareHole in the wall bars - literally, the name is Johnny Whites Hole in the Wall.
Disney princess. Hmm....very hard!
I googled & found a quiz to tell me which Disney princess I am. Apparently, I'm Pocahontas. Which is actually really funny when you look at the last picture of me. Ha!



That was much harder than I had expected it to be.

I'm tagging the following lovely ladies - and anyone who'd like to play along.

Angela - 20-Something Dreams and Cocktail Wishes
Belle - Une Belle Vie (I bet I know which Princess she'll be!)
Melissa - New Girl on Post

A weekend full of birthdays

This weekend Mr. Potts and I celebrated three birthdays. Phew! Talk about being exhausted. Friday night we went to dinner at Las Ramblas with a group of friends to celebrate Mr. Potts. Dinner was excellent & the sangria there is to die for! It was so good that we decided to go out after dinner - and then kept going until 2am. Mr. Potts also decided (at 4am) that a bath was in order. I told him the next day that he could have drowned since he kept falling asleep in the tub!
The shirt he is wearing here? Not the one he went in with. One of our friends got it for him from the restaurant. On the back it says, "Strong like bull".

Saturday we went and celebrated with another friend. This involved chicken wings, can eating and bowling. Yes - can eating! The birthday boy has a special talent of being able to "eat" a can top off. He did this on Saturday in a quest to get on the radio. Yes, he was highly intoxicated by this point.

Mr. Potts and one of my best girlfriendsShe's not a graceful bowler...
The shenanigans of the can...The finished product.
Sunday was just as busy with Mr. Potts and me taking care of my beautiful niece and precious nephew all day & then grilling out that afternoon for both her birthday (5th) and Mr. Potts'.

I need another weekend to recover from this one!

Showing you my dress

Kelly, over at Kelly's Korner is hosting Show Us Your Life.

This week is the dress. So, for you all to enjoy - My wedding dress. It was a CasablancaOur first dance was so fun for us. We took Dance lessons & danced to "When You Say Nothing at All" - the country version. We had a few fun parts, but I loved this oneWhere is it now? In it's garment bag, hanging over the back of a chair in our foyer.

Dinner tonight with friends

Tonight we're going to dinner to celebrate Mr. Potts' birthday with a group of our friends. We're going to Las Ramblas - our favorite tapas place ever!! One of my favorite things to get is the Fried Goat cheese - it's served with almonds, roasted garlic & quince honey. Oh yum!

I have to admit though that I was a bit irritated after I sent the original email to our group of friends asking who'd like to come. Originally, dinner was supposed to be Saturday night. I received a response back from someone that he and his wife were planning on celebrating his birthday that same day, just earlier in the day. In the form of a bar crawl. Well, he never waited to see if I responded (I was on vacation & was pretty sporadic about checking email) and his wife sent out the email invitation the next day after I had already sent mine.

I was irritated. I wonder why she couldn't push the plan back one week and do it next Saturday. Because they planned to start at Noon and go til about 6pm. I had already the day before said dinner would be at 7pm. Even if I had pushed it back an hour, it still would have been not so fun - most people by that point would be falling down drunk. A few weren't going to be able to celebrate Mr. Potts' because they had already committed (before either emails were sent) to the all day bar crawl.

So I moved the dinner to Friday night. People are still coming, but I'm disappointed that a friend of mine didn't call me after I sent my email to talk to me about it, but just pushed ahead.

Am I wrong to be a little irritated?

I do tend to get upset more easily & dwell on things like this. So I should be over it by Sunday.

Happy Happy Friday!!!

I'm such a planner

Now that Mr. Potts' birthday has passed it's time to plan the next big thing. Not my birthday, not our annual holiday party, not anything to do with the cruise we're taking in November. Nope - not a single one of those. Instead, I'm focused on Mr. Potts' 35th Birthday!

I admit. I love birthdays. I personally celebrated my 30th for 3 months. Yep, 3 months. I'd do it every year if I could, but Mr. Potts will only let me do that for the big ones. Big ones are anything that end in a 5 or a 0.

So....for his 35th birthday next year (I know, I know, I'm awful) we're going to go away.

We have 4 choices. We're blessed to have these choices because Mr. Potts' father is a member of the Registry Collection & has a house in the mountains of NC. He can trade a week out there for a week out somewhere else.

We're trying to decide between these:

The Grand Mayan - Los Cabos
The Grand Regina - Los Cabos

Vallarta Gardens - Nueva Vallarta This was the only one I could save pictures from. This is my favorite so far as they are actual houses. If we were to invite a couple (or 2) there would be plenty of room.
Grand Colony Island Villas - Belize

Has anyone had any experience with Los Cabos, Nueva Vallarta or Belize? Anyone pick one over the other?

What truck just ran over me?

Who went out last night to dinner with friends? Mr. Potts and me

Who proceeded to share 3 bottles of wine with said friends? Mr. Potts and me

Who stayed out way too late last night? Mr. Potts and me

Who wants to still be in bed all snuggled up? Mr. Potts and me

What were we thinking??

Mr. Potts' Birthday

Mr. Potts had a great 34th birthday yesterday. He doesn't like to make a big deal out of birthdays, but I do. So, I had to surprise him.

He had received a Sirius radio a few years ago from his dad & has really enjoyed it. He's mentioned a few different times how he'd like the "boom box" (that's what he calls it) that goes along with them, so we could use it at the house. Unfortunately, since his unit was an older model, it isn't compatible with the newer boom boxes - I feel so silly using the word boom box.

Yesterday after work I headed to our closest Best Buy armed with a printout from the Sirius site showing what I wanted - at a discount. I asked if they'd match it, since I want to buy local and I really wanted it that day. They agreed!

Once I was home, I set the gifts up on our bed & then shut the door back.
Side note: We have to keep our bedroom door shut while we're not there or the dog & cat will lounge all over it. Nothing worse than waking up in the middle of the night to a mouthful of pet hair.

Mr. Potts arrived home & went upstairs where he was so very surprised to find the boom box on the bed. A little perplexed, knowing that his unit didn't work with it. I told him that I wanted to make sure that he received one he could use with his car, but helpfully pointed out the Nordstrom bag sitting on the bed. Which had the new unit in it!!

I'll admit, I was giggling & clapping like a school girl - I was so excited to have surprised him!
Here he is with his birthday surprise - already reading the instructions.
Close up
Mr. Potts is a HUGE Bruce Springsteen fan. The first channel he put it on was the Bruce Springsteen channel. Which happened to be playing one of my favorite Bruce songs.
Bruce will be coming back here in November & we're planning on going to the concert. The last time we went, was as a Valentines Day gift & the tickets I got him were phenominal! Not the area in front of the stage - we're both too short for that, but great tickets on the first row!

In addition to his surprise, I made dinner for him - a chicken pepper stir fry which was yummy! After dinner, we celebrated with a Birthday Cake Bread. We'll be having cake with my family on Sunday afternoon since my niece's 5th birthday is today. The BCB is really yummy so I had to share the recipe. You could also call it Zucchini Apple Bread - I forgot the carrots.

Birthday Cake Bread

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 medium grated peeled Granny Smith apple
• 1/2 cup grated carrot (about 1 medium) – (optional)
• 2 medium shredded zucchini
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted (optional)
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup skim milk
• 2 large eggs
• Cooking spray

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Combine flour and the next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.
• Add grated apple, grated carrot, shredded zucchini, and walnuts to flour mixture; toss well.
• Combine canola oil, milk, and eggs in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.
• Add egg mixture to flour mixture, stirring until combined.
• Spoon batter into an 8 x 4–inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray.
• Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove cake from pan. Cool completely on wire rack before slicing.

Vacation Recap

This past week the Potts' were out of town on vacation in the Outer Banks - they are beautiful! It was a nice trip, with a few highlights and a few lessons learned.

The sunsets were beautiful. From the back deck, I could sit with my book and a glass of wine & watch the sun go down. It was also chilly!

Mr. Potts was so excited that not only could we take Hayden down to the beach, but she could swim in the water! She's so funny - she had no fear & couldn't wait to get out there & jump into the waves!

Jumping wavesHappy Dog!

We spent several days on the beach, reading, getting in the water (which was ICE COLD) and reapplying sunscreen. I also took the hat I wore to Derby - since I just had my hair done, I didn't want to ruin it & end up looking like a Vegas Stripper.

On Thursday we went deep sea fishing. I've never been & was ready to do something a little different while we were there. We made sure we had Dramamine & set off at 5:30am on Thursday morning. Yep, 5:30am. Who in their right mind gets up that early on vacation?

We went pretty far out & started catching fish. I was the only female on the boat. When it was my turn, the guys looked at Mr. Potts and asked if I would be ok. He just grinned & told them that I'd be fine - they don't know how stubborn I can be. I was going to get my fish in all by myself!I caught the biggest one of the day! Mr. Potts had his turn & caught a pretty big one too!

They were STRONG & didn't want to get reeled in!
On our drive back, Mr. Potts and I rehashed our trip. We usually do this and talk about the most fun part, what we ate that we liked the most, etc. During that discussion, I told Mr. Potts that there is no way I will ever spend another full week with his mom & step-dad. His mom mooned over him as if he was 6 - not 34 (today's his birthday - Happy Birthday Baby!) and married. I was totally ignored and when I would try to talk to Mr. Potts or his step-dad I was interrupted & totally talked over. I told Mr. Potts that on my vacation, I didn't feel that I should have to withdraw into myself & not talk. That was the only "eh" moment(s) of the vacation. I'd love to spend a week with his Dad & Step-mom or my Dad & Step-mom. Anyone else deal with things like this?

On a whole, our vacation was great! I was able to get away & relax. Hope you all had a fabulous week!!

Leaving to come home

Mr. Potts, Hayden and I will be leaving in about an hour to come home. I'm so excited to sleep in my own bed, but I'll miss the beach.

Does anyone else go on vacation and then look forward to getting home or am I the only one?

I've got a few cute pictures to recap the week - will fill you in soon.

Love from the land of sand

I love the beach.
I truly do.

I'm not so sure about sand in my bikini bottom.

Oh well, I'm sure I can deal!

It's all about the little things

Yesterday I sat back and reflected on the things that I am grateful for. It can be easy to come up with a list of things that we're grateful for. Listing things like that really do make me appreciate them, yet doing that yesterday started me thinking that even though we have bigger things that we are grateful for (life, family, love, health) that often, it can be the little things that bring smiles to our face. I really wanted to focus on that today and try to remind myself to notice the little things.

So today, my thoughts on the little things, in no particular order.

The way my niece and nephew light up with joy when they see me. Their childish innocence touches me and always brings a smile to my face.

Mr. Potts will often get up in the middle of the night and get me a drink of water. This touching gesture - that he would wake up and get out of bed for me warms my heart.

Pepe cat - ok, maybe he's not a little thing. He was a rescue and is not a cuddly cat. He actually is pretty stand-offish. Yet every morning, I wake up to him laying at my feet and am treated to a few minutes of purr time.
My plants on the deck. I planted caladiums and gerber daisies this year. I love seeing how big my caladiums are getting - they're spreading out & look so relaxing. When I see a new gerber, I get so excited, waiting for it to open up to the sun.
Planning trips to see my dad in Nashville. Mr. Potts and I are heading up there in August for the weekend before my birthday to see him and my step-mom. I love having something like this to look forward to. It was HOT the night this picture was taken at an engagement party in Louisville for us.
Driving my car. This is a little thing for me because I enjoy it so much. I truly disliked the car I had before - we call it the Maddy wagon now because I got it simply so that I could drive Maddy to & from her vet appointments. I went from driving thisTo thisTo now thisAnd I love it. I like shifting through the gears.

Puppies. I love seeing puppies. I love puppies that I know & those that I don't. I love seeing pictures of them, I love petting them, I love hugging them. And by puppies, I mean dogs from 6 weeks old to 15 years old. Big, small, I love them all!These are some of the little things that make me smile. What are the little things in your life that you treasure?