NUMBER 215

since it’s the first day of march, here’s your new calendar! weee!

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happy weekend!

NUMBER 214

BAH! the last 8 days have been nuts, and i'm feeling incredibly blessed. i've got some big design projects on the horizon, a special giveaway coming up, and a few new pretty things around the wyatt house!

andrew’s parents came to visit last weekend. while andrews mom and i were out shoe shopping and antiquing, the men were knocking holes in the wall….literally. we’ve been staring at electrical wires coming down beside our tv for some time now, and it was beginning to make my eye twitch. we decided that the ideal option for us would be to have a built-in shelf to store the tv receivers, xbox, etc., and since my father-in-law is a contractor, we knew he’d be just the man to do it for us consult.

i'm so incredibly pleased with how it turned out. every time i walk by i can’t help but make a comment like “it looks SO good!” “it’s EXACTLY what i wanted” …etc. the project will be complete once we put a coat of paint her this weekend! thank the good Lord for handy men!

our second pretty present came tuesday night. andrew and i have been a one car family since we moved to charlotte over 2 years ago (wow! i can’t believe it’s been 2 years). not only were we a 1 car family, our 1 car was a 2 door toyota celica that i've had since high school! it was really hot in 2002, trust me! the celi is an unbelievable car, SO reliable, and we still have her (no tears were shed yet!), but this will be a nice luxury that we both can enjoy. we picked up a 2011 jeep grand cherokee on tuesday night and have been joy riding ever since!

hope everyone has had a great week! my dad’s on a business trip in tokyo, so my mom and jack (the dog) decided to make a road trip down for a long weekend to do a little (more) antiquing, paint some more rooms in the house, and do some girl things. can’t wait!

NUMBER 213

please disregard the major mess i'm making while i redesign the blog [again]!

NUMBER 212

hey y’all! sorry i'm not sorry for the radio silence over the past week-ish. i've been having TOO much fun playing designer for sweet bri over at just bri. bri is the founder of the charlotte social – a networking site for charlotte bloggers. i was giddy with joy when she asked me to help out with the design because 1. i love blog design (obv.) and 2. i TOTALLY support her cause. i've met some incredible girls and real life friends through blogging and am SO excited to see what the charlotte social can offer these amazing women. below, i've featured some branding and design elements i developed and the final site design!


y’all stop by, and tell bri i said hi! if you’re interested in a fresh design for your blogspace, fill out a design request to get started!

NUMBER 211

tomorrow is valentines day, and i find that most people either really love or really despise the holiday. although i'm incredibly thankful for my valentine (and love receiving something sweet from him this time of year), i'm still on the fence. i don’t find myself itching to go out to a fancy restaurant or send my significant other a lengthy wishlist of luxury items. in years past, we’ve had dinner in and exchanged cards, and i'm expecting (and looking forward to) this year to be no different. the discussion so far has been: to get in a good workout (thinking the gym will be pretty dead), stop somewhere after to get some delicious takeout (tbd), and maybe indulge in a homemade treat for dessert (again…tbd). to me, valentine’s day is about spending time with those who mean the most to you: husbands, parents, girlfriends, close friends – and letting them know that they are appreciated and loved. it doesn’t matter how much you spend, what you wear, or how good you are at writing love letters. what matters most is love… and maybe, chocolate.

NUMBER 210

we tuned into the grammys last night, and i'll say i was SO pleased with the winners this year! all of my favorites won (carrie, fun., and the black keys), and i just went to bed feeling so happy!

so…lets get down to business. overall, i was a little disappointed with the fashion of the night. everyone seemed a little bored (and boring). maybe it was just the absence of those we love to hate: nicki minaj and lady gaga.

rihanna is probably one of my least favorite artists of all time (pink gets 1st runner up), but in my opinion, her red carpet look was the best of the night. her hair was perfection, and i love love love the shape and the movement of her dress. however, i do wish she would have covered up her goods in the front a bit more – there’s no question about it, that dress was sheer.

another best dressed was girls star: allison williams, and katy perry’s date for the night. i thought this was a really pretty, classic look – she’s not a nominated artist (or even in music, that i’m aware of), so wearing a show-stopping ball gown or some outrageous getup would be in bad taste (in my opinion).

honorable mention: taylor swift, adele, florence welch, jayz. i'm just glad to see adele in something other than black.

i wont go into a lengthy discussion about the worst dressed, kat dennings or carly rae jepsen. kat did a decent job of maintaining her ‘girls’ but the tie dye, sparkly, rouched, saran wrap look just isn’t working for me. i think carly rae chose a beautiful dress, but she’s swimming in it. it just seems to me that she picked this dress right off the rack and never had a fitting. her hair style, that signature mouth-open stare (not pictured), and the blue eyeshadow…just wrong.

honorable mention: beyonce, jennifer lopez, carrie underwood (performance outfit – didn’t like the LED dress in concert, don’t like it now), faith hill, john mayer

who were your hits and misses?

NUMBER 209

vday is right around the corner, which means there’s been a lot of that pink-red-white combo in our presence. i love these cookies for a quick valentines treat because they’re pink and festive (and more importantly easy and delicious).

strawberry cake mix cookies
with cream cheese icing

1 box of strawberry cake mix
2 medium eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 stick of butter, softened

preheat your oven to 350. mix all of your ingredients in a medium mixing bowl with your electric mixer until it’s doughy. if you feel that it’s not doughy enough, add a little water (a 1 tsp at a time). then, i used my measuring spoon to form uniform-sized little cookies, and found that, since the dough spreads when you cook, these are the perfect serving size. bake your cookies for 8-10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack before icing.

i loaded up some store bought cream cheese icing into an icing bag, clipped the end to make a little piping tool, and drizzled the icing in zig zags across the top (and added sprinkles, obv). this was better for me because i had to transport them quickly to another location. i've seen other icing methods with these babies as well – in the middle for whoopie pies or just loading it all on top – either one works!

i store mine in an air-tight container in the fridge. cold soft cookie + cold milk = YUM!

NUMBER 208

thanks so much for the great responses to the "date my bro" post. keep 'em comin!

and in case you need a little pep in your step today...

being delivered to me, as i type.

love it in flame too!

i'm not a big pink girl, but if i was…

the lauralee is perfect for a night out on the town..or if your name is laura leigh (kate, you were so close).

diggin the red…

just gorgeous, but you’re out of luck – unless you’re a size 11.

these, on the other hand, are still in stock…. i would wear these beauties everyday.

i’ve already picked out my new pretties, have you?

and andrew, if you’re reading this, stop sweating, i didn’t buy all of these.

NUMBER 207

ok. so this post kind of started out a few months ago as a joke between andrew, my brother (john) and me. “why don’t you just set me up with one of your blog friends” was his request – verbatim. little did they know, that got the wheels turning. so when he received a list of interview questions last week compiled by alex and me, his response was “so this is really happening?” yes, john-boy. this is really happening.

ladies, after a handful of long-term-gone-wrong relationships, my brother is back on the market. and although he’s not rushing to the altar any time soon, he’s agreed to humor me and answer a few questions for inquiring single ladies.

time for a little q&a:

• What’s your most visited website? Barstool Sports
• What’s your favorite make-out song? Usher – Nice & Slow
• If you were forced to watch the same RomCom for the rest of your life, which one would you pick? Wonderlust
• What’s your favorite restaurant in Charlotte? Cowfish
• Have you ever cried during a movie? Yes… multiple times.
• If your life had a theme song, what would it be? Semi Charmed Kind of Life
• If you were stranded on a deserted island, what are 3 things you’d have with you? A Boat, Cooler full of Beer, a Beach chair
• What’s your favorite piece of clothing? Why? My khaki shorts, to show off these great legs.
• What’s the funniest thing you’ve ever experienced? Spraying my college roommate with a fire extinguisher inside our house
• What’s your worst pet peeve? Obnoxiously loud people
• What’s your favorite midnight snack? Anything leftover from dinner in my fridge with chocolate milk
• How many times have you seen The Notebook? 3
• What is your favorite thing about your sister? That she does cool shit like this for me… and has bailed me out of some tight spots. And she one of my best frannns his words, not mine.
• Who is your favorite actress? Why? Natalie Portman. Because she is wifey material!
• What is the best meal you can cook? BBQ Pork Ribs
• This or that?
  • iPhone or Android: IPHONE
  • chicken or steak: Steak
  • boobs or butt: Butt
  • city or country: Country
  • beach or lake: Lake
  • sports car or truck: Sports Car
  • Carrie Underwood or Taylor Swift: Carrie… sad to say. i gather that this was a difficult decision for him.
  • newspaper or books: Books
  • high heels or Toms: Toms
  • Biggie or Tupac: Biggie
  • salty or sweet: Salty
  • long hair or short: Long Hair
  • beer or liquor: Liquor
• If you were an animal, which one would you be and why? Panda, because in China they live the life of a king… and they get to hang out all day long
• Do you know what Pinterest is? Yes.
• Do you have a laundry hamper? How often do you do laundry? Yes. At least once every week and a half
• How long does it take you to get ready? 15 minutes from couch to cab.

some additional deets:
current location: charlotte, south end
gainfully employed
age: 24

and, just so there’s no pressure to deal with the obsessive/crazy/overeager sister, if you complete this form, the info will go straight to john. no need to even comment – unless you really want to, in that case, it’s encouraged!

go ahead, date my bro

NUMBER 206

today's the first of feb, and i just couldn't wait to get some pink in the mix! here's your new february calendar, because i know y'all were just waiting on pins and needles...

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if you don't see your device in the list below, or find that the sizes i've supplied aren't compatible, let me know about it, and i'll try my best to help you out!

happy weekend!