Magnolia Mamas

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Fashion Fix: Dressing for the Derby

In just a few weeks the Mr. and I are going to be heading to Louisville, Kentucky to attend the Kentucky Derby.

I could not be more excited about this trip. It's like this sporting event was meant for me! With its rich traditions deeply rooted here in the south, its every preppy girls dream! From donning beautiful spring pretty dresses, topping it off with a stylish hat and sipping on mint juleps all day, I can already tell I'm going to love pretty much everything about the derby.

I've done a lot of reading and research about the derby and was surprised to find that the Kentucky Derby is the longest running sports event in the United States. Over the years, many traditions have formed, but dressing for the derby has stayed the same. Beautiful spring dress in pretty pastels, florals or bright colors are sure to make you derby ready and no matter what style you choose, something preppy to express your inner southern belle is a must.

Quite possibly the most popular tradition associated with the derby are the hats! Wearing a hat at the derby is supposed to bring good luck so that is how that tradition began! High fashion, style and elegance can be seen all over Churchill Downs. I'm probably most excited about this part of getting dressed up for the derby. When I was a little girl I LOVED wearing hats. I would always look forward to Easter so I could wear an Easter hat to church and sadly this is a tradition that has kind of died. I have the fondest memories of my grandmother helping me embellish my Easter hats with silk flowers.

The verdict is still out on just what I'm going to wear, but thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite combinations I've found so far. I know lots of people attend derby parties so hopefully this will help give everyone some inspiration. You can see my Pinterest board HERE with lots of fun ideas!

Loft has this pretty one shoulder eyelet dress in pink fizz and it so feminine. I just love the ruffle at the top and the scalloped hemline!

I thought it would be perfect paired with THIS blush pink hat. That bow is so pretty and preppy and I like the idea of a monochromatic ensemble in different shades of pink.

There is nothing quite as classic as a white dress and this Lilly Pulitzer lace one with fringe detail at the waste makes it unique.

Navy and white is one of my favorite color combinations so I think this hat would go well with the white dress and be the perfect classic style for the derby.

Vineyard Vines is actually the official clothing sponsor of the derby and they have such cute things for the big day. I just love everything about this Run for the Roses dress paired with the straw hat and seersucker bow.

Lastly, this lovely Lilly Pulitzer print is so bright and fun for spring. The colors are so vibrant and I love the pink detail on the neckline.

Paired with a simple hot pink hat, I think this would be a darling derby day outfit!

And let's not forget about the guys! The Mr. isn't usually one to dress overly preppy, so I'm super pumped to see him in seersucker and a bowtie. How handsome would any guy be in some of these?!

Click picture to see more details.

I'd love to know...are any of you attending the Derby this year? Anyone going to a Derby party?

Monday, April 17, 2017

Rock Candy Cocktails for Spring Entertaining

Happy Monday! We are going to keep today as bright and cheery as possible because let's be honest - Monday.

We have a few fun events coming up and I wanted to do something a little different and unique for a drink. Spring is so fun for entertaining and wanted the drink to be just as colorful as the colors around us. I had been to an event a long time ago where they used rock candy to garnish their cocktails, and I used that as a little inspiration for our latest cocktail concoction.

Rock candy totally reminds me of when I was a kid, and when I showed it to my own children they thought it was the funniest lollipop they had ever seen.

After mixing the candy with one of our favorite stand alone drinks (mmm, champs!), I realized the rock candy was actually perfect on several levels as a drink garnish.

The candy doubles as both a flavorful addition as well as an adorable stirrer.

I loved how colorful and fun each of the drinks came out, and while I went for the rainbow effect for spring, you can use a single color to coordinate with any event you have planned.

The multi colored rock candy were each flavored differently so each cocktail was a little surprise when you sipped it. Again if you are looking for consistency I would pick one single color.

Make the hop over to Savvy Sassy Moms to check out the recipes, and all the ways we used rock candy in these fun cocktails for spring entertaining.

What unique ways do you use candy in recipes? Share with us!

Friday, April 14, 2017

Friday Favorites

Yay! It's Friday! After a long, whirlwind of a week after returning from Spring Break, we couldn't be more excited to be heading into a weekend!

It's been awhile since we've popped in with some of our favorite bloggers to do a Friday Favorites, but I've stumbled upon some many great things lately that it was the perfect time to share.

Here are just a few of my favorites lately!

It is already so warm here! A few weeks ago I made the executive decision we were boycotting all things cold and officially packed away all of our winter clothes. I'm not sad about it one bit.

The kids have grown a ton since last summer so I've needed to grab a few essentials here and there. While I did that, I might have grabbed a new thing or two for myself.

I just couldn't leave this super cute anchor sweatshirt behind.

Not only is it adorable, it is also so soft. Like probably the softest sweatshirt I own.

I also spotted some other fun nautical themed pieces on my adventure, and I'm contemplating going back to grab a thing or two. These were some of my favorites...

Did you see those fun seersucker pants I partnered with the coziest anchor sweatshirt ever? Those would be my second favorite find.

They've been on repeat lately, and I even wore them when we went to the Braves Exhibition Game a few weeks ago.

They are the perfect weight for spring and have just the right amount of stretch to make them comfortable. They also come in a shorts version that I have my eye on for summer, and for all you moms-to-be there is a maternity version as well.

And what's new spring clothes without new spring shoes?

I've wanted a pair of the Shoreline Converse Chuck Taylors forever, and finally broke down and bought a pair.

I love that they are slip on and comfy to wear when I am just running out and about. I've worn them with everything from my seersucker pants to my cut off jean shorts. They've become my favorite new spring shoe.

Last week, I posted a sneak peek on Instagram of a little cocktail I am working on, and a few of you mentioned my nail color.

This is actually two different polishes that I combined. I love mixing and matching nail polishes and in the spring I tend to transition to lighter shades.

In the picture I am wearing this pink mixed with this silver glitter as a top coat. This particular pink is one of my favorite pale pink shades and a go to year round.

Here are some of my other favorite spring polishes...

Most of these are rotated in and out until summer when I break out everything bright, bold, and neon. :) People are wearing sunglasses for a reason, right?

Rarely do I try new beauty products, but this one has given me all the heart eyes and I just had to share.

I am crazy about all things coconut, and when I saw that Marc Jacobs new beauty line contained it, I was intrigued. I gave the Dew Drops called "Dew You?" a whirl and this coconut based highlighter has quickly become one of my favorite products.

Not to mention it smells ah-mazing!

I want to give the primer a try now too. I'm curious, have any of you tried it? Do you love it?

Last up for the week actually comes from Baby Cute. She is rapidly becoming her own little grown up person and again I've been reminded how different each child is.

We spend a lot of time in the car to and from activities and while Baby Cute is quite easy going, like any normal toddler she is not a fan of sitting in her car seat for long durations. A few weeks ago I dug out an old Baby Signing Time DVD for her and she has become obsessed!

And much to my shock she's picked up on some of the signs! We were in the kitchen one day and B.C. kept making this noise over and over and waving her arms around. I didn't think anything of it until L.C. said, "That's right Baby Cute, it's a new day!"

So B.C. knows more signs than she does words. L.C. is my interpreter (because it wasn't until I sat in the backseat of my car to watch this particular DVD to confirm that this wasn't some toddler secret language they had cooked up). And now I permanently have the song "I'm a Bug" stuck in my head.

I had chosen the DVD because it had cheery music to it, but being able to learn a new thing or two while she is having fun is just an bonus. She is the first of my three kids to actually take to baby signing beyond the signs "all done" and everyone's personal favorite - "snack".

That wraps up my favorites for the week, but before you head into your weekend, don't forget to enter our April Showers Giveaway. We can't wait to give one lucky mom over $1500 in prizes!!

Happy Weekend sweet friends!

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Consolidated Gold Mine

Over Spring Break last week we both stayed in town. We were quite jealous of everyone's amazing beach pictures all over social media, but sometimes it is nice to just have some downtime. Our staycation wasn't without any fun though. We love "field trips" with our kiddos and we'd heard tons of great things about Consolidated Gold Mine in Dahlonega.

We've actually been trying to get to this destination for over a year now and last Friday was finally the day. After literally being stuck at home due to bad storms, we were happy the sun was shinning and the weather was gorgeous for our putting.

Dahlonega is located just a little over an hour north of Atlanta and is a very easy drive. It was well worth the drive, too! We pulled up with very excited kiddos and they couldn't wait to find some gold!

The boys started picking up gravel rocks in the parking lot and claiming some of them were gold. Then they were all about the map showing where original gold mining took place in North Georgia.

We bought our gold mine tour tickets and after watching a short video showing the history of gold mining, our miner tour guide led our group into the old mines. It was like walking into a cave and we had to go down several flights of stairs and steep ramps.

Because of the low hanging rock edges hard hats were provided for everyone, which we just loved! It made us feel very official.

Due to the steps, ramps and tight quarters, strollers were not allowed so if you have a baby, you'll want to wear them in some sort of sling, front or back carrier.

The mines were very cool and we were told it stays like that year round. Also, there is a lot of moisture and water so it can get muddy. We all wore our rain boots and were so glad we did!

During the tour, our guide shared more history including some of the tools that were used in the mining process. It was pretty interactive and they let the kids assist in different demonstrations, which they thought was fun.

After our tour, we celebrated the fact that we made it in and out of the mines with all 6 kids! A field trip requiring hard hats could have been bad, but it was great.

Next up was time for what the kids really wanted to do...find gold. With each tour ticket you are given one pan of sand (and potentially gold)! A short video demonstrates how to use the water to help pan for gold.

The kids did great and after you have just a little bit of sand left in your pan these nice miners help finish up and point out/package your gold for you in tiny test tubes.

Each of the kids had between 1 and 3 TINY flecks of gold. Some of them were expecting a golden nugget and others were thrilled with their findings. You almost needed a microscope to see the flecks, but they were excited and felt rich with real gold!

Because they had so much fun panning for gold, we decided to give the gemstone mining a whirl, too. We bought a bucket and that was enough for 2-3 kids to share. The bucket is filled with a variety of gemstones that are mixed into dirt/sand.

The kids sit at a sluice (channel of running water) and scoop the sand into their framed screens. As the water washes away the dirt and sand the gemstones are left behind.

They absolutely LOVED this activity and it was probably their favorite part of our day. Many of their gems were colored stones and different types of rocks, but some a few lucky ones got giant ones like this!

We left with a few flecks of gold, some pretty neat gemstones, and the idea that we had hit pay dirt! They all said they wanted to come back again and they were exited to trade with one another and compare all of their findings.

Before heading home we stopped by the historic downtown area and grabbed lunch at a local place. Because the only thing more precious that gold and gemstones...Mexican food.

This outing was a real treasure!