Hydrangeas

My Mom's sweet neighbor gave me this lovely hydrangea bouquet the other day.  I just love the color combination!  It's amazing that they both came from the same plant.

They look lovely in my dining room.

I think I need to get a plant of my own to cut from!  It would be so nice to have these in my house all Summer long.

The Fourth of July

We enjoyed the fourth with our dear friends and their sweet one year old daughter who were in town from Texas.  We spent the day together just catching-up while the girls played.  Since it was raining in the evening and we couldn't BBQ we decided to go out for a yummy pizza.  It was such a good day and we miss them already.  I was having so much fun that I barely picked up my camera for photos... which I am now regretting.  Oh well, hopefully we will get out to Texas to visit with them again soon!

On Saturday evening we had dinner at my parents house to celebrate the fourth with them.

It was a great weekend, even though it mostly rained.

My festive garland for the fourth of July!

My herbs and flowers are growing like crazy with all the rain we are having!

We are forecasted to have another week of rain.... hopefully the sun will soon return!

Rainy days

We had a very rainy Winter and Spring this year and so far, a very rainy, humid Summer.  I am really longing for some sunny and warm weather where we can enjoy being outside and perhaps open the windows.  I feel like we have been stuck inside for months upon months now.  Yes, we are definitely experiencing a bit of cabin fever.  So Charlotte has to get some energy out wherever possible...

monkeying around on her bed.

Just look at all of that energy!

Playing with her train set...

and reading books.  

She has several of her favorite books memorized... I am just amazed!

Random Post

Okay, well Charlotte gave up her nap almost a month ago and is not interested in afternoon quiet time, so I have been busy trying to keep her busy and entertained all day.  We are spending our days playing with her train set, playing in her kiddie pool, visiting the library, the park, etc.  I feel like I haven't had a lot of time to put a post together and I'm just too tired after we get her to bed at night.

So I made lasagna a few evenings ago with all of my fresh basil and it was delicious!  I used a simple organic marinara jar sauce and just added lots of fresh basil and ground turkey.

I also added a layer of basil... we really love basil in our house!

Fresh out of the oven and ready to enjoy!

We celebrated my Mom's birthday on Tuesday at a lovely French Restaurant and I snapped a photo of Charlotte by the pretty flowers after lunch.  She is getting so big and really changing everyday.

I hope you all are having a nice summer!  Hopefully we will do something fun for July 4th and I'll have more photos to share. 

Ahhh... it's Friday!

I am loving my new orchid that my hubby surprised me with on our anniversary!  He knows what I like!!

And I am also loving this perfect summer wine I picked up at Whole Foods today!

Happy weekend!!

New Artwork and It's Our Anniversary

While in Charleston, we visited the Spoleto Art Festival and found a little something from a local artist to bring home with us!  It's just perfect... bright and colorful and it makes me happy every time I look at it!  Just a little something to remember our fun vacation by.

I may eventually frame it (any thoughts on frames?), but for now I kind of like it the way it is...

propped up against Charlotte's artwork in the kitchen.

Oh, and "Happy Anniversary" to my dear husband!  We are celebrating seven years today!

Back from Vacation

We just returned from vacation in Charleston and The Isle of Palms.  It was really nice to get away for some much needed family time!  We enjoyed the sunshine, blue skies, the beach and lots of wonderful seafood!

Charlotte had a blast playing in the sand!

Charlotte and daddy playing in the water!

View from the harbor in downtown Charleston... just beautiful!

Charlotte and mommy!

Finally... a family photo!

(Sorry for the blurry iPhone pics!)

The window boxes in Charleston are out-of-this-world-gorgeous!!!  I could have stared at them all day!

Hanging out at the park.  She loved throwing pennies in the fountain!

Charlotte is so happy to be riding the trolley in downtown Charleston... just look at that happy face!