THOUGHTS

Last Saturday was Kristin's wedding...I wanted to share this good idea for all of you that are engaged and planning a wedding :) They had rented a photo booth that took 6 pictures, she then had a scapbook with all the stickers you could imagine and she wanted each guest to make their own scrapbook page...I thought this was a fun and good idea. Here is a picture of the strip I kept, the other 3 went to Kristin...all I can say is Kristin got mom and I's pumpkin man face, and other crazy poses... :)


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Ok, so all that don't know I have started a business and have named it, The Peacock & The Pearl...you need to know this so you don't get confused in the next few paragraphs.

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Last year I designed at tree at the Orlando Museum of Arts, Festival of Tree's. This year I'm doing it again, but thought I would design a tree around my business name, I'm calling it..The Pearly Peacock. (More to come on the tree at a later post)

After you design your tree, the museum holds a gala, which is a black tie event to celebrate the opening of the Festival of Tree's, last year I was boring, I wore BLACK. This year I wanted to be a little different..like have a theme...so here is my idea and I would like your thoughts!

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I found these peacock feather earrings at T. J. Maxx a couple of weeks ago...I HAD TO HAVE THEM..These were the inspiration piece to the outfit...and then I came up with another idea!

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See this? This is my wedding dress. You can't really see, but the waist band is pearls! So I thought, what if I went to the seamstress and had it cut off into cocktail length??? It matches the peacock earrings perfectly, and it has pearls on it! (Peacock & The Pearl)...what are your thoughts? I really think it would look great being knee length...I would wear it more. IT's not a traditional wedding dress, and the secret is, it wasn't a wedding dress at all to begin with...

After looking at pictures of my wedding dress, I thought, Have I ever posted pictures of the wedding on my blog?? I don't think I ever have so here they are :)

This is my dad..:)

Here is a quick story..

Jaclyn wanted Jason as her husband so bad...she really tried catching the bouquet, but as you can see my sister ripped it out of her hands....

Everything ended up working out, since Jason caught the garder..they were engaged 2 months later..it really does work...:)

Jim and I are heading to Alabama on Halloween for the Mississippi Rebels vs. Auburn Tigers game. I'm excited because we get to stay in an old bed and breakfast, pictured below. I'm hoping it's decorated in HALLOWEEN VINTAGE PUMPKINS...and it's filled with Pumpkin men..just kidding.

Does anyone know of a good place to eat in Auburn????

Jaclyn & Jason's Visit

Jaclyn and Jason arrived on Saturday, the plans were to grill and relax. The boys were so tied up enjoying cocktails and football Jaclyn and I maned the grill (whats new) and enjoyed some cocktails while doing it.

Jaclyn with the Green Egg

The menu, grilled lobster tails & steaks, with grilled onions, zucchini and squash, and the classic baked potato...it was yum :)

The boys were so busy with the game, we plated and served them

(wow we were nice!)

Sunday was the day to RECOVER and to get ready for KEY WEST, we headed out for sushi that evening...IPHONE PICK BELOW

Monday we headed down to the Keys, a 7 hour drive. I must say it was intense...Jim's driving resembles a bobble head, all I can say is Jason drove back to Orlando, THANK YOU!!

J & J on the card ride down...this was 3 hours into the car ride, I couldn't take pictures 7 hours into the car ride because we were ALL CRABBY PATTIES...

We arrived in Key West around 6, here are some pictures of our hotel.

Picture from our balcony

Below is the hotel bar where Jaclyn enjoyed her FIRST MOJITO..

Jaclyn and her 1st Mojito

Here are some pictures around Key West

Hemingway and the Marlin

Pic of all of us at the Southern most point of the USA...

Our second night we ate at this little restaurant named, La Trattoria. All I can say is AMAZING...Jaclyn emailed me the other morning saying she was dreaming of her crab and lobster ravioli's...I can't talk much about it or I will get depressed and hungry. Here is a picture of my dish,

We tried the escargot for a starter, it was VERY good!

FISHING TRIP

We had a nice fishing trip, other than the extreme HEAT and the storm we went through...the rain drops felt like bullets and I got to see my first rain spout. It was SCARY

We caught grouper and snapper, Jaclyn has all the fish shots, so I'm counting on her to send me over the pictures SOON :) Here we are on the boat.

We had a blast! I have so many more pictures but am having problems getting them onto BLOGGER. Will post more later.

Allie's Visit :)

The month of September has FLOWN by :(...Allie's visit was FUN and I wished I could turn back time to re-play the weekend. She arrived on Friday night and we headed straight to Ocean Prime for a quick cocktail, which wasn't to quick since the band was playing COLDPLAY! :) Afterwards we headed home for snacks, shrimp cocktail and smoked Gouda on triscuits.

DAY 2

We woke up with smiles and headed straight to Akina for sushi, it was YUM! Afterwards we browsed around Homegoods and TJ MAXX. That night we grilled out shrimp and steaks, Allie made her famous BEANS which were THE GREATEST..she has earned the title, "Bean Queen".


Day 3


We made Seafood Chowder and Allie got to experience how many old people live in Florida by visiting the Leesburg Publix, she was scared. Mom and Joe had us over for a BBQ that night, and to top it off we got to watch Big Brother and Design Star together! :)

Day 4

Day four was sad, I had to take her to Disney so she could enjoy it with her family...THANKS ALLIE FOR A GREAT TIME, CAN'T WAIT TO DO IT AGAIN! :)

A few snap shots from the weekend....

WE CELEBRATED HER 30TH BIRTHDAY

WE COOKED

...WE HAD WINE CORK CONTESTS

(ALLIE WON)

AND WE DANCED...

The weekend was GREAT! I will explain what all we did later when my pictures are up. I dropped off Allie at the airport last night, It was great having her and I can't wait until she comes again...Thank you ALLIE!

"My mom has had my photo memory card all week so I haven't loaded up any pictures, I will save all the desorption's until I have my pictures up, until then here is a pic of Allie and Mom :)"



Next, I have Jaclyn and Jason coming in on Saturday from Oklahoma, we have planned many fun things including a trip down to Key West ;) Now I'm off to prepare for their visit!

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P.S. I also need your thoughts, Jim and I always go on a trip in October to celebrate our anniversary, any thoughts??? We were thinking St. Thomas since the hurricane ruined it last year, but also thinking the North East coast to see the fall colors...PLEASE COMMENT AND LET ME KNOW WHERE YOU WOULD GO! :) thank you!

GRILL FRIDAYS!

CHECK IT OUT!

http://classygirlsgrill.blogspot.com/

Now I must go peel shrimp for my guest tonight :)

Great Ideas

I was browsing the Internet and came across Amy Atlas Events, they do BEAUTIFUL WORK. If I could have any party in the world, I would choose Amy Atlas to plan it! Here are some pictures of some of the stuff they have done. Her shots give me inspiration and ideas...Enjoy! http://amyatlas.com/index.php/main/portfolio/

My Favorite!

and the others...

September will be GREAT! :)

I will be making this stuff on Friday! Why?..................

ALLIE'S COMING TO TOWN! Her plane doesn't get in until late, but wanted to have some seafood snacks for her arrival...what better than shrimp cocktail and salmon baguettes.

If you want a quick snack that looks fancy, try these smoked salmon bites, it's easy!

1) Slice any type of bread you like, toast them until golden

2) mix sour cream, cream cheese, dill, and chives, spread it over the crusty bread

Then top it with smoked salmon

3) Garnish it with anything...I use chives and eggs

I promise it's delish!

We will be celebrating Allie's 30th Birthday until Sunday, and then she heads to Disney to be with her family. I know we will have a great time. This is the first time she's visited my home so I'm really looking forward to it!

I wish everyone safe TRAVELS!

And then NEXT SATURDAY Jason and Jaclyn arrive! What a great SEPTEMBER! :)