7 years and no itch!

Mr. Banker and I celebrate seven years of marriage today! We were married on a hot and humid Sunday afternoon- gotta love May in the South! Here are two of my favorite pics from the day. Excuse the quality as these are scans. That's right, our wedding was actually photographed on old fashioned film negatives, haha.

Atlanta Food & Wine Festival: Saturday

We decided to take our time getting ready on Saturday morning. Well, until Mr. Banker was wide awake at 5. I tried to sleep some more, but ended up getting up around 6:30. We went to breakfast at The Silver Skillet. It was soooo good!

Mr.'s pic

My pic

Biscuits. Enough said.

I had biscuits & gravy and cheese grits. Mr. had the country ham platter. Both delish!

Here is a last minute addition to my outfit- bee earrings! I got them from Target in the Fall. Similar here.

Then it was on to Wonderland Gardens.
Getting our directions for the day. You can see the wide array of clothing- workout gear to overalls and straw hats! I was sooo very happy I purchased a new hat. I know my hair would have been awful!


We harvested garlic for most of the morning and then did a little bit of planting. I was happy about this, since planting was a lot messier than harvesting!
BBQ lunch!

After lunch we went to check into the W Buckhead for our 2nd night. I liked the feel of this W better than Midtown...though the view wasn't as great (Lennox Mall vs. Piedmont Park.)

I'm obsessed with this deer pillow...anyone know where this is from or seen similar?
We went to dinner at Rathbun's that night. We didn't love the feel of it- crowded, loud...just not our thing. It would have been much better for a group, but not for a date night. The food was good, but not fantastic. I'm still dreaming of our last date night at Woodfire Grill.

Here's my outfit for dinner:

Lilly Pulitzer Sami Top
Lilly Pulitzer white cotton pants
Gold peep toe braided wedges (similar here)
Lilly Pulitzer Caliente Straw Clutch
Michael Kors watch

Ballard Backroom!

We visited Ballard Backroom in Roswell, GA for the first time a few weeks ago. I am SOOOOO angry with myself for not going before. Not sure if we just hit a good day (as is the case sometimes with outlet-type stores) or if it is always this great. I know I'll check here first before buying any big pieces again!

Here is what we purchased:

I knew I was looking for a desk chair for my office. I was thinking a parsons chair, but stopped in my tracks when I saw a large section of these Macau chairs marked down to $50 (from $249)! So we picked up one armless one in cream (may paint a bright color.) Then I started thinking how great a pair of black arm chairs would look in our formal living room.


I'm currently looking for ideas/inspiration for our formal living room. Currently it looks like the place where old furniture/books/toys go to die.
Talk about a blank slate! So hopefully these chairs will work well in the room as it evolves!

We wandered around a little more and didn't see anything that we needed (or could fit in our Lexus sedan.) But then my eye fell on the Final Sale badly busted items. I always like to pick around these areas to see if there is anything I can repurpose for cheap. Like this cabinet door I found at Ikea for $3. A few hooks and it's an awesome key/leash hanger for our back hallway!




So I'm rummaging and realize that there are several Beadboard Drying Racks! I have been lusting after these for years and have had it on Mr. Banker's carpentry to-do list...but we knew it was going to be difficult, so it kept getting pushed aside!

We inspected and found one that didn't have any structural damage that would require work, just a few paint touch ups.
Here's a close up of the damaged spots.

It was marked down from $219 to $10! We could not have bought the materials to make it for $10!

We did surprisingly fit 3 chairs and the drying rack in the car...but next time I'm definitely taking the SUV!

Atlanta Food & Wine Festival: Friday

A little preamble here...Thursday morning I got a call from my sister-in-law. She was sick and going to the doctor to check if she had strep. I felt horrible for her and quickly went into panic mode trying to line up backup care for the boys to cover as much of the weekend as we could. We don't have any other family in Atlanta, but consider many friends from church as second family. In the end SIL did have strep, and I was only able to find someone to cover Friday evening and Sunday afternoon. In steps my Bestie, who offered to drive in from Charlotte with her own toddler in tow to watch the boys. How awesome is she? I didn't even have to ask, or beg. I'm still beyond words for how lucky I am to have her as a friend. Also a shout out to her
awesome ex-SIL/friend who offered to come too to help. She is a baby whisperer and I KNOW Little Bear loved hanging with her!

Ok, now on to Friday! I had planned to pick Mr. Banker up from the airport and we were going to go to lunch, shopping and then check in to the hotel. Those plans were changed up a little since we had the boys in tow. We picked up our passes in Midtown and the made sure Mr. B was up for a little shopping. I was DYING to go to Belk at Phipps Plaza and shop the Lilly section...I was really hoping to find a dress to wear Sunday afternoon. Of course, the boys only lasted for about 5 minutes of shopping and sweet Mr. B took them off in search of entertainment while I shopped. I think I tried on 10 dresses but wasn't loving anything and finally settled on a pair of Callahans in Hotty Pink Cherry Begonias.

We took the boys home and cleaned up, packed and waited for the babysitter (a first for us), the sister of a friend from church.

We checked into the W Midtown where our room faced Piedmont Park!



Outfit for the evening-

Cynthia Rowley dress from TJ Maxx
Ann Roth Espadrilles

The party was held in a reception space on the top floor of the W. The food was pretty good, not plentiful (I pretty much drank my dinner). All foodies know you have to take pictures of your food...this was the most picture worthy- Ice Cream with bananas, bacon and a rum sauce. Yum!I will say that you could definitely tell this was the first year for the festival. We purchased a special package that included our night at the W, so the F&W folks had trouble knowing how to check us in (we were the first ones since we picked up early in the day.) There was a definitely lack of literature about the weekends events. That and things like seating and amounts of food seemed to be lacking. However, we did thoroughly enjoy our time and look forward to attending some events next year!

Saturday and Sunday recaps coming later this week!

Fashion Dilemma

This weekend Mr. Banker and I are getting an (early) anniversary getaway weekend in Atlanta, thanks to our awesome sister/SIL. We'll be attending the first Atlanta Food & Wine Festival! We are wannabe foodies and when we saw the "foodster" package, which was geared towards 20-somethings like us, we were super excited.

However, I wasn't completely thrilled about Saturday's event- a day of volunteering at a community garden followed by a BBQ lunch and craft beer tasting. I'm all for the food aspects, but gardening really isn't my thing. I haven't been able to keep any plants alive in our home and am very happy about my latest Ikea purchase of a few fake plants!

So once I got done praying that maybe it would just get rained out, I started brainstorming my outfit options! At first I thought I would pair skinny jeans with wellies and a tank or tee depending on the weather. That would have been perfect for weather like today, with highs in the low 60's. But, of course, the forecast for Saturday is calling for a high of 89! Yikes!

After talking over my options with bestie, I decided on a tank and shorts and packing a dress to change into for lunch. This sounded easy enough, but then I imagined not having somewhere to change/feeling sloppy for the majority of the day since you can't really accessorize when you're going to be "working."

Finally I settled on this-

A Day in the Garden by forever29blog

J Crew striped tank top
$55 - net-a-porter.com

J Crew linen short
$65 - jcrew.com

Sperry platform loafer
$79 - piperlime.gap.com

TopShop floppy hat
$44 - topshop.com

What do y'all think?
Would love to know what you would pick to wear!

OOTD: Busy Sunday

I know stylists love to put together day to night looks, but I'm really a fan of multiple wardrobe changes in a day! Some days, like yesterday, you just don't have time to change. I had a packed day of teaching Sunday School (which requires a comfortable outfit to sit in those tiny chairs!), worship service, potluck lunch, spa appointment, shopping at Ikea (must have comfy shoes!) and then dinner with friends. I had planned on a dress, but when I saw the weather was in the 60's I had to come up with a plan B. Here's what I decided on...

Yes, I realize I really need to find a better spot for full length shots!

Flower embellished cowl neck tee from TJ Maxx
Bracelet from Old Navy
White linen capris from Old Navy (this season, but not online)

Navy stripe flat espadrilles from Old Navy (only red left online)

Obviously I'm an ON fan...I love their cheap accessories and tees. Also, since I'm hoping to drop some more pounds, I'm not up for dropping $$$ on quality bottoms. I really do love these pants though and went back hoping they had them in black...but they only have navy.

What is your go-to ensemble for a busy day?

The First of Many Posts About Homegoods

I'm the first to admit that I have an unhealthy obsession with Homegoods. And TJ Maxx. And Marshalls. I frequent probably 6 different locations of these stores on a regular basis. And also know locations of others "if I just happen to be in the area." One of these is in Greenville, SC on the route we take to visit our families in NC. Recently I made Bestie take a trip to a newly opened store in her town only to find that it wasn't open yet! Hopefully I have drawn a good enough picture of my infatuation with these stores!

Currently I am brain storming design ideas for my office/mommy cave (more posts on this will follow!) It will include pink walls and Lilly Pulitzer fabric, that much I know! While hunting for some accessories one day I came across this stop-me-in-my-tracks adorable Wellie Bookend. On clearance. I Die.

What is better than one wellie bookend? Two, of course! So when I found another one I was super giddy excited. When I get to the checkout I mentioned that one was on clearance and one was not. The cashier said something about checking a number that determines when it came into the store, which is how they do their markdowns.

*Side note: I find that these stores are very standoffish about their markdowns. They do *NOT* like you to ask them to check if something should be marked down. I have asked before when I have seen items that I know have been there a while, or possibly even lost their sticker. Has anyone else experienced this?*

2nd bookend came in later than 1st clearance bookend, so it couldn't be marked down. That's fine I'll take both. Went on my happy way, found a google pic to send to bestie to show off my find and parked the bag in the basement with all of my other treasures to be unpacked later.

Fast forward a few weeks when I am cleaning out my office space looking for items to put in our yard sale. I pulled out my adorable Wellie bookend to show Mr. Banker Man and quickly realize I only have 1. Oh the horror! I check the receipt and I was only charged for one. Homegoods Emergency. I must go now!

As I quickly scanned the aisles with only one thing in mind( which is NEVER the case when I'm shopping) I found the lost Wellie! That is a Homegoods happy ending!

Giveaway from The Preppy Poppy!

I'm so excited that in my first week of blogging I already won a giveaway! So excited to see what I get to pick out from Smathers & Branson courtesy of the lovely Preppy 101

I have my fingers crossed for this giveaway too from Diary of a Domestic Failure!

How cute is that? I'm sure the boys would like this green as a break from all of my girly beach bags :-) Good Luck, y'all!

Nice to Meet Y'all

Hey y'all! I hope to attract at least a few blogland readers in addition to IRL friends, so I'm going to keep this blog semi-anonymous. I love blogs and fully believe in the therapy of it all. I have no predetermined content or idea about what I'll share here. Just a place for me to have a few moments to jot down what I'm thinking about, share deals I've scored or projects I'm working on! :-)

First, a little about me. I was born and raised in North Carolina. I spent four fabulous years studying (just a little bit) at a private women's college where I made so many lifelong friends. Two weeks after graduation I married Mr. Banker Man, my high school sweetheart. We returned from our honeymoon, packed up the Uhaul and moved to Atlanta. We were on the "five-year plan" to wait to start a family and for those early years in our marriage enjoyed purchasing and renovating our first home, becoming dog parents, traveling and getting settled in our careers. We were thrilled when Big Bear joined our family in 2009 and I was able to reach my ultimate career goal in becoming a stay at home mom. The first year of his life went by quickly and included lots of milestones, some fun trips and a move to a new house in our same North Atlanta suburb. Shortly after Big Bear's first birthday we learned that we were expecting an extra special Christmas gift-Little Bear. Our "room-to-grow" house was filling up fast! Now we are settling into life as a family of 4 and this busy mommy is learning how to juggle it all.


As 2011 started (feel free to want to punch me when you read this) I felt like the perfect little life I had envisioned was handed to me wrapped up in a beautiful package. A wonderful husband that works so hard for our family, 2 beautiful, healthy sons, a house in the suburbs, a SUV and a luxury sedan in the driveway...the "yuppie" life my girlfriends and I always joked I would have. And I do. More than anything I just want to bottle up this moment of time when the worst day means that the house is a wreck, I don't get a shower, both boys need their diapers changed at the same time, Mr. Banker Man works late and we eat PB&J for dinner. I know I am so blessed and want to fully acknowledge that fact. All that said, I'd like to freeze time in this moment and stay "Forever 29."

Happy Birthday to Me!

photo cred to my bestie!

To celebrate my very first 29th birthday, I'm gifting myself my own little corner of the internet! This will be my place to chat about all the things I love in life (aside from my three best guys)-shopping, cooking, tv, movies, wanna-be interior design, etc. Thanks for indulging me :-)