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Magnolia Mamas
Showing posts with label New Year's Eve. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Year's Eve. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 1, 2020
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Weekend Getaway {St. Simons + Sea Island}
Every year for New Years Eve, for as long as I can remember, we have spent with Jen and Mr. Cute celebrating his birthday, but this year when our neighbors invited us and another family from our neighborhood to join them at their beach house we decided it would be a fun change.
We were out of town right after Christmas so turning around and driving again wasn't ideal, but the kids were SO good in the car so it made the trip down there easy as could be...except for it taking us 2 hours to get out of Atlanta. The traffic was horrible and we weren't the only ones trying to get out of town for the weekend.
Our friends' home is on St. Simons, but is part of a Sea Island property and they are members at Sea Island, which was such a treat. Their home was so nice and one of the best things they did was convert large walk-in closets to bedrooms. My family of five was able to fit comfortably in one space. My friend, being the sweet hostess that she is, had left a gift on our bed.
It was such a sweet thing to come in and see after hours in the car and instantly made us feel welcome. The lotion smells amazing and I know I'll think of our trip every time I use it!
We had sitters at the house for the kids so the adults all went to a very nice dinner that evening at The Lodge. I would have taken pictures inside, but I didn't feel like it would have been appropriate. Think huge wooden beams, amazing decor and a very elaborate, yet warm lodge type environment. We had a delicious dinner with amazing service and then all hit the sack.
The next morning the kids played outside a while and then we all got ready to head back to The Lodge. It was so dark the night before that I didn't get to really see how beautiful the grounds were that surrounded this area. There were big oak trees, hanging moss, and gorgeous views.
While the gals of the group checked out the pro-shop, the guys took the boys to hit golf balls at the range over looking the ocean. I know the boys couldn't appreciate the view, but they loved the experience. In fact, when we met back up with them, Boo-Boo was looking so disappointed. I asked him if he didn't have fun and he quickly corrected me. He was upset that they had to "let some other people have a turn" and wanted to hit some more. I need to get that boy into golf lessons ASAP!
The guys stayed back at the club to have lunch while the moms took all of the kids for a little more sight seeing. We stopped for lunch at Chick-fil-a and then did a little shopping! C knew all of the best places to take us and I was super pumped to find some awesome deals on a little Lilly!
Next we went over to Sea Island and oh my goodness, it was gorgeous! More huge tree lined streets, lots of history and beautiful homes and hotel.
We took the kids to The Cloister to get fresh cookies and hot chocolate that is available every afternoon and then we walked around the courtyard a bit. It was a warm day and everything was so beautiful.
We took the kids to a few other shops and let them pick out souvenirs before heading back to their house for the evening. The adults got to get all dressed up and head back to The Cloister that evening to ring in the New Year.
I got this dress on super clearance right after Christmas at Belk for $14!!! I wasn't going to buy anything new, but then when I realized what a good deal it was I couldn't resist.
It was fun to get all dolled up and the kids were all so sweet. I guess they don't see their parents dressed like that too often so they kept making all sorts of comments about how nice we looked. Blondie wanted to take pictures of us so, "Everyone could see our beautifulness." :-) I just loved that and she sure knew how to make my day!
Our dinner reservations weren't until later so we were able to spend some time with the kids, get them fed and settled for the night and before heading out to dinner.
We ate at Tavola at The Cloister and it was such a fun experience because we sat at the pizza bar and watched the chef make our pizzas right in front of us. That coupled with great wine was the perfect way to spend our time leading up to midnight. We finished up and then found a spot on the patio to countdown and watch the fireworks. It was a great way to ring in the New Year!
The next day we stayed around the house and played games, did puzzles and just relaxed. Then around lunchtime we made our way back to Sea Island one last time so the kids could do a little fishing at the dock. My kids LOVED this and it honestly brought back so many memories for me.
My grandparents lived on the Intercostal, so my entire childhood was spent fishing off their dock. They got a few crabs out of the water that were interested in the bait and then Boo-Boo capped off his day with a fish!
After lunch it was time for us to pack up and head home. We wanted to have a full day at home the next day to get caught up on things, but it sure was hard to leave sunny and mid-60's weather to come home to a cold and rainy Atlanta. It was such a fun weekend away for us though and the perfect way to kick off 2017!
We were out of town right after Christmas so turning around and driving again wasn't ideal, but the kids were SO good in the car so it made the trip down there easy as could be...except for it taking us 2 hours to get out of Atlanta. The traffic was horrible and we weren't the only ones trying to get out of town for the weekend.
Our friends' home is on St. Simons, but is part of a Sea Island property and they are members at Sea Island, which was such a treat. Their home was so nice and one of the best things they did was convert large walk-in closets to bedrooms. My family of five was able to fit comfortably in one space. My friend, being the sweet hostess that she is, had left a gift on our bed.
It was such a sweet thing to come in and see after hours in the car and instantly made us feel welcome. The lotion smells amazing and I know I'll think of our trip every time I use it!
We had sitters at the house for the kids so the adults all went to a very nice dinner that evening at The Lodge. I would have taken pictures inside, but I didn't feel like it would have been appropriate. Think huge wooden beams, amazing decor and a very elaborate, yet warm lodge type environment. We had a delicious dinner with amazing service and then all hit the sack.
The next morning the kids played outside a while and then we all got ready to head back to The Lodge. It was so dark the night before that I didn't get to really see how beautiful the grounds were that surrounded this area. There were big oak trees, hanging moss, and gorgeous views.
While the gals of the group checked out the pro-shop, the guys took the boys to hit golf balls at the range over looking the ocean. I know the boys couldn't appreciate the view, but they loved the experience. In fact, when we met back up with them, Boo-Boo was looking so disappointed. I asked him if he didn't have fun and he quickly corrected me. He was upset that they had to "let some other people have a turn" and wanted to hit some more. I need to get that boy into golf lessons ASAP!
Next we went over to Sea Island and oh my goodness, it was gorgeous! More huge tree lined streets, lots of history and beautiful homes and hotel.
We took the kids to The Cloister to get fresh cookies and hot chocolate that is available every afternoon and then we walked around the courtyard a bit. It was a warm day and everything was so beautiful.
We took the kids to a few other shops and let them pick out souvenirs before heading back to their house for the evening. The adults got to get all dressed up and head back to The Cloister that evening to ring in the New Year.
I got this dress on super clearance right after Christmas at Belk for $14!!! I wasn't going to buy anything new, but then when I realized what a good deal it was I couldn't resist.
It was fun to get all dolled up and the kids were all so sweet. I guess they don't see their parents dressed like that too often so they kept making all sorts of comments about how nice we looked. Blondie wanted to take pictures of us so, "Everyone could see our beautifulness." :-) I just loved that and she sure knew how to make my day!
Our dinner reservations weren't until later so we were able to spend some time with the kids, get them fed and settled for the night and before heading out to dinner.
My grandparents lived on the Intercostal, so my entire childhood was spent fishing off their dock. They got a few crabs out of the water that were interested in the bait and then Boo-Boo capped off his day with a fish!
After lunch it was time for us to pack up and head home. We wanted to have a full day at home the next day to get caught up on things, but it sure was hard to leave sunny and mid-60's weather to come home to a cold and rainy Atlanta. It was such a fun weekend away for us though and the perfect way to kick off 2017!
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Monday, January 4, 2016
New Year's Eve and 2016 Goals
We hope everyone has gotten off to a great start for the New Year. We had fun celebrating New Years Eve last week. My kids spent the night with grandparents and had lots of fun of their own. They wen to Fernbank's Noon Year's Eve party and had so much fun! There was a DJ, dancing, a balloon drop at noon and so much more fun! Apparently it was really crowded, but they still loved it!
As for us grownups, we had a few friends come over and we watched football and got all dressed up for an adult only night out (plus one little guy who is sweet as can be).
We ate at Paper Mill Grill and I had heard mixed reviews about this restaurant since it had recently re-opened, but we were pleasantly surprised by our meal. Yummy appetizers, great dinners, good drinks and delicious desserts! If you go get the "Happiness in a Jar" dessert. Dessert in a mason jar...you can't go wrong!
Then we all came back to our house to ring in the New Year. We watched more football, danced, laughed, toasted with champagne at midnight and watched fireworks that were happening in the neighborhood. We all stayed up way too late, but it was so much fun!
It still feels weird for me to write 2016 when writing the date, but I just love all that comes with a New Year. New goals, new ideas, and new hopes and wishes! I wanted to quickly recap my goal for 2015 and set a few new ones for 2016!
Last year I was really ambitious. I had some good goals and some of them I stuck to while others I failed miserably at.
1. Drink more water. I drink water, but not nearly as much as I know I should, so I want to be more conscious of it this year! It might mean more frequent trips to the restroom, but I'm hoping the benefits will be worth it.
Well I had really good intentions with this, but it just didn't happen. This was pretty much how it went down.
2. Read more books. I love to read and once I get into a book I usually can't put it down. However, it's just making the time to get through the first few chapters to get hooked that I sometimes struggle with. This year I'm planning to force myself to just get started on books because I know the rest will follow.
I seriously failed at this! I read a lot of our book club books, but didn't read as many as I had hoped. Maybe I'll do better this year...
3. Spend more time with my kids. This one might sound silly because as a stay-at-home mom I am with my kids all the time. What I really mean is that I want to spend more quality time with my kids. I'm always so busy at the house with things like laundry, cleaning, cooking and other household chores that my days don't have a lot of "extra" time for things like playing games, doing puzzles or watching movies together. This year I want to really make an effort to put the stuff on my to-do list aside so that I can focus on quality time with them. I love the ages they are at right now, but they are all growing up so fast so I just want to soak up as much of them at this phase as I can and really be present and involved with them.
This was probably the most important goal for me and I feel like I did really well at this one. I hate that my kids are growing up so fast and I just want to savor this phase of their lives as much as I can!
4. Complete house decorating projects. I have a short list of projects for the house I really want to accomplish in the near future. I did a lot the first few months of living in our house, but now that we are settled and comfortable, I feel like decorating the house has gone to the back burner. Now that the holidays are behind us, I hope to get the things on my list done.
I competed our living room and that was a big one for me, but there are still a few things I would like to accomplish. I feel like the house is an ongoing project!
5. Plan and take a big family trip. My kids have been begging to go on an airplane trip (the girls don't remember the last time they were on a plane) and since they are all at such great and pretty easy ages, I am ready to make that happen this year! I'm banking for somewhere tropical, fun, and family friendly.
This is something that I had hoped to be able to do, but for scheduling reasons we just weren't able to make it happen. However, we have some really fun family trips planned this year so hoping we are able to double the fun for our trips this year and make up for what we didn't do last year.
Now onto thinking about this year's goals. I have really been thinking long and hard about this and only have a 2 goals that I think will include a lot for me.
Organization at Home - We've been in our house for 18 months now and it's about this time that parts of the house are starting to get unorganized. I've learned this about myself, but if things are left out, piled on counters or not in their places, it causes me so much stress and anxiety. I plan to go room by room, closet by closet, and cabinet by cabinet. I will clean out, donate old and unwanted things, organize the stuff that is staying and most importantly, encourage my family to put things where they belong! This also includes organizing the garage and basement...two areas I dread doing, but I know will feel so good once it is done.
Organizing My Time - As far as organizing my time goes, I just want to be very cognizant of how I spend my time. I always have a long to-do list of things that are important, but somehow things don't get done when I would like for them to because I'm busy working on other things that just don't matter. I want to make better use of my time when my kids are at school so that when they are home I am able to focus on them. Once they are home from school I really don't have any time do the other stuff because I'm helping with homework, driving them from different practices and lessons, cooking dinner and getting everyone to bed. I volunteer at their schools a lot, but sometimes I end up being at the school 3-4 times a week. I love being there and being able to help out, but I need to schedule the times I will be there more thoughtfully so that I have time for the other things I need to accomplish as well.
2. Take Care of Myself. I am quick to do things for other people and often put myself on the back burner. This year I want to make sure I am also taking care of myself. That includes making some doctor's appointments I have been putting off, making good food choices, taking time to exercise like I should and making sure I'm getting enough sleep!
That's it for me! I figure the rest are things I will just continue to do from last year, but if I can accomplish these two things I will feel great and it will make 2016 a great year!
As for us grownups, we had a few friends come over and we watched football and got all dressed up for an adult only night out (plus one little guy who is sweet as can be).
We ate at Paper Mill Grill and I had heard mixed reviews about this restaurant since it had recently re-opened, but we were pleasantly surprised by our meal. Yummy appetizers, great dinners, good drinks and delicious desserts! If you go get the "Happiness in a Jar" dessert. Dessert in a mason jar...you can't go wrong!
Then we all came back to our house to ring in the New Year. We watched more football, danced, laughed, toasted with champagne at midnight and watched fireworks that were happening in the neighborhood. We all stayed up way too late, but it was so much fun!
Last year I was really ambitious. I had some good goals and some of them I stuck to while others I failed miserably at.
Carrie Beth's 2015 Goals/Resolutions:
1. Drink more water. I drink water, but not nearly as much as I know I should, so I want to be more conscious of it this year! It might mean more frequent trips to the restroom, but I'm hoping the benefits will be worth it.
Well I had really good intentions with this, but it just didn't happen. This was pretty much how it went down.
2. Read more books. I love to read and once I get into a book I usually can't put it down. However, it's just making the time to get through the first few chapters to get hooked that I sometimes struggle with. This year I'm planning to force myself to just get started on books because I know the rest will follow.
I seriously failed at this! I read a lot of our book club books, but didn't read as many as I had hoped. Maybe I'll do better this year...
3. Spend more time with my kids. This one might sound silly because as a stay-at-home mom I am with my kids all the time. What I really mean is that I want to spend more quality time with my kids. I'm always so busy at the house with things like laundry, cleaning, cooking and other household chores that my days don't have a lot of "extra" time for things like playing games, doing puzzles or watching movies together. This year I want to really make an effort to put the stuff on my to-do list aside so that I can focus on quality time with them. I love the ages they are at right now, but they are all growing up so fast so I just want to soak up as much of them at this phase as I can and really be present and involved with them.
This was probably the most important goal for me and I feel like I did really well at this one. I hate that my kids are growing up so fast and I just want to savor this phase of their lives as much as I can!
4. Complete house decorating projects. I have a short list of projects for the house I really want to accomplish in the near future. I did a lot the first few months of living in our house, but now that we are settled and comfortable, I feel like decorating the house has gone to the back burner. Now that the holidays are behind us, I hope to get the things on my list done.
I competed our living room and that was a big one for me, but there are still a few things I would like to accomplish. I feel like the house is an ongoing project!
5. Plan and take a big family trip. My kids have been begging to go on an airplane trip (the girls don't remember the last time they were on a plane) and since they are all at such great and pretty easy ages, I am ready to make that happen this year! I'm banking for somewhere tropical, fun, and family friendly.
This is something that I had hoped to be able to do, but for scheduling reasons we just weren't able to make it happen. However, we have some really fun family trips planned this year so hoping we are able to double the fun for our trips this year and make up for what we didn't do last year.
Now onto thinking about this year's goals. I have really been thinking long and hard about this and only have a 2 goals that I think will include a lot for me.
Carrie Beth's 2016 Goals
1. Organize. I am a very organized person, but at times I feel like my life is in complete disorganization. I feel like I'm going a million miles an hour and in a million different directions. Things pile up, stuff gets tossed in closets and forgotten about and my time because used in ways that are not productive. So my big goal for this year is to organize. Organization at Home - We've been in our house for 18 months now and it's about this time that parts of the house are starting to get unorganized. I've learned this about myself, but if things are left out, piled on counters or not in their places, it causes me so much stress and anxiety. I plan to go room by room, closet by closet, and cabinet by cabinet. I will clean out, donate old and unwanted things, organize the stuff that is staying and most importantly, encourage my family to put things where they belong! This also includes organizing the garage and basement...two areas I dread doing, but I know will feel so good once it is done.
Organizing My Time - As far as organizing my time goes, I just want to be very cognizant of how I spend my time. I always have a long to-do list of things that are important, but somehow things don't get done when I would like for them to because I'm busy working on other things that just don't matter. I want to make better use of my time when my kids are at school so that when they are home I am able to focus on them. Once they are home from school I really don't have any time do the other stuff because I'm helping with homework, driving them from different practices and lessons, cooking dinner and getting everyone to bed. I volunteer at their schools a lot, but sometimes I end up being at the school 3-4 times a week. I love being there and being able to help out, but I need to schedule the times I will be there more thoughtfully so that I have time for the other things I need to accomplish as well.
2. Take Care of Myself. I am quick to do things for other people and often put myself on the back burner. This year I want to make sure I am also taking care of myself. That includes making some doctor's appointments I have been putting off, making good food choices, taking time to exercise like I should and making sure I'm getting enough sleep!
That's it for me! I figure the rest are things I will just continue to do from last year, but if I can accomplish these two things I will feel great and it will make 2016 a great year!
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