Monday, October 28, 2024

Fallidays Day to Night Outfit with Tieks

Leaves are changing, pumpkins adorn porches and the crisp air has arrived. It is finally feeling like fall here in the south and we are soaking up every second of it!  Now that the cooler weather is here we are excited about all of our new fall clothes and outfits.  

One staple in our wardrobes this fall is our Tieks. These luxury Italian leather ballet flats are the perfect shoe for fall and can easily take us from carpool to date nights. 

Our favorite daytime looks are usually casual denim with a cute sweatshirt paired with ballet flats. These Romantic Blush Tieks are the perfect pop of fun for a neutral look. 


For a fall nighttime look we are loving the coated denim trend paired with a silky top, gold jewelry and again the Romantic Blush Tieks! 


They are stylish, flexible, comfortable, and extremely durable. Tieks are known for their craftmanship and also the fact that they mold and form to your foot making them extremely comfortable to wear. Best of all, they fold up easily so they are perfect for travel.  

We love the neutral Tieks since they go with everything, but they come in pretty much every color of the rainbow and with lots of fun patterns and prints mixed in, too!  

Cream Tieks


You'll find us in our Tieks, both day and night, all season long! 




Friday, October 25, 2024

Senior Homecoming Dinner


 It's really hard for me to believe that senior year milestones are flying by.  I really feel like we were just at the first day of school senior breakfast and now Halloween is just a week away. 

One thing I have learned about seniors is that they think they are grown and responsible enough to make all their own plans and arrangements, but often times the follow through doesn't occur without a little assistance from the parents. They had really good intentions with homecoming plans, but when your group grows to 68 people, the planning becomes a little difficult. That's exactly what happened to this group and they didn't want to split up for dinner. However, no restaurant was going to take them and it would mean renting an event space in order to keep them all together. When we found out just two weeks before homecoming that they didn't really have a plan we agreed to host them at our house. I just prayed for good weather because with a group this large it was most definitely going to be an outside event! 

I knew that I wanted it to feel special for their last homecoming and didn't want it to feel like they were just eating in someone's driveway. I had an idea of what I wanted to create and loved the way it all turned out. 

We already had a lot of tables so I added to those and then rented chairs from a local spot. I had a handful of other moms who offered to help so they all came over earlier in the afternoon and helped get everything set up. It went quickly and I loved seeing it all come together! Almost everything was from Amazon and I will link it all at the bottom of this post. 

The timing of photos and dinner plans for both girls was a little tricky, but we made it work and got back to our house just a few minutes before the seniors started to arrive. Some other senior parents came to help with crowd control during the dinner and the breakdown of everything. I remember looking around and one point though and saying that this didn't feel like 60+ kids. 

We put clear vases on the table for all of the girls to place their beautiful bouquets in. It was so pretty to see all the different flowers and it saved me from having to make a bunch of arrangements. 


I was going to get light up marquees letters to spell out HOCO, but ended up going with 2025 because I figured I could use it for a lot of other events this year! They come in a tiny box and have to be put together using hot glue. 

The kids wanted Willy's catering so that was super easy to arrange and then I just did tea, lemonade and water to drink and mini Crumbl cookies for dessert! We got really lucky with great weather, but we did have our two outdoor heaters on the driveway and they were much appreciated by the girls after the sun went down.

People often only say negative things about teenagers, but this group was polite, well-mannered, and so grateful they had a space where they could all be together. I am so happy I was able to make the night special for them! 


Linking what I can: 

Tablecloths (I did 90x132 so they would be floor length for my 6 foot tables.)

Gold Paper Chargers 

Plastic Plates 

Gold Plastic Silverware 

Clear Plastic Glasses with Gold Trim

Marquees Numbers (3 foot)

Clear Jars for Bouquets  (We also used some random vases I have collected over the years.)

Gold Mercury Glass Tea Light Holders

LED Tea Lights

Green and Gold Scallop napkins came from Party City 


Friday, March 8, 2024

College Visits and Campus Tours

Thank you Bright Horizons College Coach for sponsoring this blog post. All thoughts, ideas and experiences are my own!  


We are getting back into the swing of things after being on Winter Break a few weeks ago and then being out of town for a cheer competition last weekend! During Winter Break Handley, my oldest, had practice during the week and since I knew we wouldn't be going on vacation anywhere, I decided to schedule a few college visits with her. We'd been to a few schools for college cheer clinics over the past year, but I had several friends with older kids tell me that they highly recommend doing campus tours early and taking advantage of school breaks during your student's junior year. It was great advice because while it would be nice to go during the summer, we've realized that you really get a better feel for the school if you go visit when the colleges are having classes. You can see the type of students that are walking around campus, get a feel for what life is like there on a typical day, and fully understand the culture of each campus. Plus, I'm learning that she will start applying early in her senior year, so having the majority of visits completed really helps with deciding where she will apply! 


While each of our tours have been a little different, they are generally the same at each school we went to.  You start by making a campus tour reservation on the school's website. They do fill up quickly, so I definitely recommend booking them as far in advance as possible.  Each school let us indicate how many guests would be attending (in addition to the student) and while we saw several families with siblings and both parents, most prospective students had one parent with them.  


For each college visit we've been on we like to start with a drive around campus and the town to get acquainted with our surroundings. Next we try to have lunch at a fun local spot and do some shopping. This has always provided us with great opportunities to chat with some current students who are generally working at the local shops and restaurants. We love to check out the book store for some gear and of course then take the official campus tour.  Each visit we have done has begun with an information session about the admissions process and an overview of the University before splitting into smaller groups for the tour.  Some schools have been walking tours around campus and others have been on a bus or shuttle with stops to see some of the highlights. We learned SO much on our tours because they are all given by current students and it is nice to hear their thoughts and be able to ask questions of someone who is currently enrolled.


It's been really exciting to learn about a lot of different schools and what makes each of them unique!  I've enjoyed trying to imagine my daughter on each campus and to hear her take on each one that we've visited so far. I feel like there are things about all of them that she has liked and hope when it comes time to make her final decisions that all of these visits will prove valuable. Thankfully, her college counselor from Bright Horizons College Coach has been incredibly helpful during this process.  Not only has she given guidance on what to take note of during each college visit, but she also helped put together a customized college list based on Handley's interests, her transcript, and an in-depth survey she took. It was nice because the schools were broken into probably, possible, and reach categories. That list helped us think about a few more schools that weren't on our initial radar that we might want to check out. This process has been fun so far and it is so hard for me to believe that this time next year we'll likely be planning dorm room decor! 


Learn more about Bright Horizons College Coach!

Monday, February 19, 2024

Fashion Fix {Cowgirl Boots from Amazon}

Giddy up, girls!  I love that the cowgirl boot trend is continuing and I hope it is here to stay. My daughter has an upcoming event she needs to wear boots for and I came across so many affordable pairs on my search so I though I'd share them! 



1. Silver Boots ($35.99) 
2. Black Boots - ($49.99)
3. Gold Boots ($49.99)
4. Pink Metallic Boots - ($35.99)
5. Light Pink Boots ($59.99)
6. Ivory Boots - ($59.99)
7. White Tall Boots ($59.99)
8. Classic Boots ($52.00)
9. White Boots ($49.99)



 

Related Posts

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...