5 on Friday

TGIF

Who else is excited for the weekend!!  This is my first weekend in town in over a month, so I personally and SUPER pumped!  Looking forward to catching up with good friends and enjoying Lexington. I thought I'd share some thing I'm loving this week, so here's my 5 on Friday.

{one} Sugar Cubes. 

I know this is very random. But, this has been one of my new favorite items to have on hand. They are so cute - and give me the perfect serving of sugar. No guessing how much is in your tablespoon - two sugar cubes gives me the perfect amount of sweetness to start my mornings off right!


{two} The Sam & Libby collection at Target.

I practically lived in Sam & Libby flats as a child. Those cute little ballet slippers with bows on the top. Yep, those are them. Well S&L have come a long way since the 80's... check out the new collection at Target! They are also on super sale right now - stop by your closest Target today and stock up before they are all gone. I am also excited to see what they have in store for Fall this year.


{three} Kara's Party Designs.

I stumbled across Kara's website after a good friend of mine, Stephanie Maxey, was featured on her blog for EK's 3rd b-day. EK's party was SUPER adorable and so very thoughtful, just like Steph. Be sure and check it out: "You are my Sunshine Party." Also, Kara posts the best ideas for parties... fun, creative and crafty. Just how I like them!!


{four} Under the Dome.

Who else is hooked on NBC's latest show, Under the Dome? The hubs read Stephen King's novel a while back and was excited to watch the show, so I obliged and now... I'm hooked. I can't wait to see what happens next week!


{five} Sam Adams Long-shot Brews.

Every summer Sam Adams hosts America's Longshot Home brew Contest. Where employees and those at home compete to have their home brew bottled and distributed in a six pack. Each year, they select one employee and two home brewers from thousands of entries. This year, my favorite is the Strawberry Lager... it's close to Abita Strawberry, light, crisp and refreshing!

Wishing you all a fun-filled weekend ahead!

xo, trace

Number 200

Today I just realized is my 200 post on the blog. Woo-hoo! Thank you to everyone who has been following along. I haven't really had much time these days to update you on my good eats and craftiness, but I swear next week is looking better already...

For today, all I am wishing for is more hours in the day.

More days in the week.

And more time in my bed; In my sneakers and on the treadmill. 

Safe Travels to KJ who is on her way to Lex now. Excited to spend the weekend with you and catch up on life!  Also, excited for our first Lex-baby's first birthday!! {Pics to come on Monday}

It's almost Friday. 

xo, trace

KA 75

I hope everyone had a great weekend! We spent ours celebrating a fabulous 75th convention with our Kappa Alpha family in San Antonio. Jesse was hard at work putting on a great show {with the help of a great staff}, while I worked a lil and played a lil more. 

A fun addition to the convention schedule  more recently has been "wives events" that this time in particular, were really fun!  We gathered on Friday morning to make thousands {literally} of traditional paper Mexican flowers for the banquet Saturday night. I must say, most of the work was done by the National Presidents wife, who has been working for 2 years on prepping them for us. The starting product looked a like this.. 

Tissue Paper and a pipe cleaner. And the finished product was this... 

It was fun to gather with almost 40 other wives and guests to chat and craft! My perfect morning... With a delicious breakfast and coffee too! Not to mention how pretty the banquet looked on Saturday. 

Friday afternoon we joined the rest of convention {minus the staff} at SeaWorld. So. Much. Fun. I rode every ride, got soaked to the bone and left with a few beers in the belly, a good tan, and lots of funny memories with great friends. 

Friday night was BforB, where the KOAEF raised over $70,000 for educational funds and I had the pleasure of modeling a beautiful black Onyx necklace... that went for a few grand. I was proud. :)  

Saturday we had a private fashion show at a local Texas ladies store {compete with a fabulous bridal trunk show}, at Julian Golds. They were wonderful to host us and teach us a little about what to expect in fall fashion trends. 

The rest of the trip flew by... Pool time, shopping, receptions, traditional Mexican dancing, lots of Mexican food and a great Sunday celebrating with the staff. After every KA event I am reminded just how lucky we are to be surrounding by such amazing examples of gentleman. It rings true in each and every volunteer and staff member of Kappa Alpha Order and I am very lucky to also call one my husband. 

Knight Commanders Banquet 

Staff dinner at Rossario's... Yum. 

Kudos to the awesome staff who worked tirelessly for the Order last week. You guys are truly the best and I feel so lucky to have you in my life! 

Celebration at the Menger Hotel. 

Until 2015... The Quest Continues! 

xo, tracy

Favorite Things via Classic Annie

Today I am following Classic Annie and talking about my favorite things! Who doesn't love talking about their favorites... I'm happy already, just thinking about them. The gorgeous weather outside doesn't hurt either!

favorite dinner

homemade pizza and a big salad

favorite book {currently}

anything by Dorothea Benton Frank

favorite summer cocktail

a Moscow Mule

favorite winter cocktail

Maker's Mark and Ginger

favorite song {at the moment}

If you want Some by Joel Crouse

favorite trip ever taken

This one is hard. We've had SO many. But our Honeymoon in Antiqua would have to be the BEST!

favorite job ever

Working the dock at The Oyster Bar - every summer of college. 

favorite indoor smell

Clean sheets!

favorite outdoor smell

Hands down BBQ on the grill. 

favorite day to spend a rainy day

umm...

favorite hangover food

A yummy brunch {with friends, laughing at our shenanigans the night prior}

favorite state I've visited but never lived in

Louisanna. Who can compete with the French Quarter? 

What are your favorites??

xo, trace

Meet Olivia Louise

The Elleard family has grown by 1! Last week I welcomed my eighth niece/nephew into the world.  Miss Olivia Louise Elleard graced us with her presence on Wednesday, July 24th at 10:20am. She weighed 7lbs, 13 ozs, and was 20 1/2 inches long. What a sweetie too!!  My maternal great-grandmother, Louise Johnson, would be very happy that she is carrying on her beautiful name too.  I just wanted to share some fun pics of her first week in the world...

Uncle Jesse and I had a fun Facetime session with baby O, so we could meet her on her "birthday." I love technology for that very reason... I really felt like we were right there in the hospital with her. So fun!

Resting in her sweet lil bouncy from Uncle J and Aunt T! 

Emi and Lucas are so excited about their new baby sister. It's just the sweetest! 

Love my sweet god-children. I was in tears last week when they gave me kisses goodbye... why do they have to live so far away?  I am thankful to have great brothers and sisters who talk about us and keep pictures around, so they know who we are... and thanks to Facetime, we get to chat every so often too. 

Love my sweet babies and wishing mommy well. Thanks for bringing us another baby to spoil!! 

Hope everyone is having a great Monday. It's just beautiful here in Virginia!! 

xo, trace

Mango 2013

Happy Sunday! Sorry for being MIA the last week... It's be a busy, but fun 10 days. I've been on 7 planes {one more standing in the way of me and home}, had 3 rental cars, been in 4 states and spent only 3 nights in my own bed. Only 3 nights at home this week too... but the travels have been really fun. I got a good does of girlfriend time in, a short day with the fam, one craft night at home, lots of work and some exciting adventures. It went a lil bit like this....

MANGOFEST 2013 was a blast. We ate, drank, slept, swam, bounced in waves, did lots of porch sitting, a lil bit of hot-tubin, lots of talking and laughed a a ton. I feel so lucky to have a great group of girlfriends who I love to pieces! They are the best dose of feel-good medicine anyone could really have. This is a just a preview of Mango 2013, along with some new finds that I wanted to share on the blog...

 

 

 

 

 

The acrylic stem-less wine glasses you see in all our pics are my new obsession! Perfect for the beach or back yard BBQ. They are already on the wish-list for when the new patio is complete.  I'm already thinking about the fall and how we can get a TV outside to watch some football with one in my hand.

We also made several yummy Mommy- mock tails using this delicious La Croix. So good! I am going to have to add this one to my cart... if I can find it in Virginia! It's really great with a lime too! {or rum for us non-mommies to be}

Drink La Croix

I also found some great summer cocktails to try!

 

Ale and Sydo got me hooked on some new lip balm.

 

 

Rosebud Lip Balm

 

Syd got us all great drink holders for the beach. I used the Cricut to put on names on them... lets just say that some turned out better than others. ha!

 

 

All in all it was a great girls trip! I even got  to sneak in a visit with these cuties..... hoping that I would have gotten to meet their new baby sis. But she decided to take her sweet time. She will be my next blog, say stay tuned!

 

xo, trace

Mangos & Sunsets

Off to the land of Mangos and Sunsets! It's MANGOFEST 2013!!  aka, girls weekend at Bees Knees! 

I will try to update from my phone, but until then, I will leave you with this.... 

Happy Weekend!

xo, trace