How I spent 2013...

This is how I spent 2013... 

January

NYE in C'ville

Trip to Baltimore & DC

February

Mardi Gras in Mobile

Albany & Richmond Drive-In's

Erik moved to NC

March

Surprise Bday Trip to Lake

Windy Whirl 5K

Ava was born!

Easter Blessings

April

Lyons' Oyster Roast

AOII Workshop in Baltimore

Kentucky with the Powells

May

My Uncle Pat's Wedding in Mobile

FCA in St. Louis

2 year Anniversary Trip to Roanoke

VA Beach trip

June

Friday's Alive

St. Simmons Island

Trip Home! 

Karen's Baby Shower

Found out Syd was expecting!

AOII Convention in Chicago

July

FEA in San Antonio

Mangofest 

Olivia was born

Found out Lynsey was expecting! 

Albany, NY

August

KA Convention in San Antonio, TX

KJ came to Visit

ECU/AOII Trip

Community Festival

September

Labor Day at home with the Fam

FCA Board Retreat in Louisville, KY

Blacksburg with Jen & Jim

Hospice Glow Run

Franklin, NC to see The Lyons'

October 

Wine Festival

Zac Brown Festival in Charleston, SC

Halloween

November

Found M&M were expecting!

Melissa's Shower in RIC

FCA Midyear in Indy

Auburn/Georgia Game

Red Hen Dinner

Thanksgiving and Gobble Wobble

December

Christmas Parties!

My 30th Birthday

Christmas

NYE in Lex!

Merry Christmas

Just blogging in to wish you a very Merry Christmas Eve! Sending you lots of love from our family to yours tonight and all year long! Just enjoyed a beautiful Christmas mass and waiting for my brothers family to arrive for gumbo and Santa tracking... and keeping the kiddos out of all of these until tomorrow.

 

Don't forget to leave Santa some cookies and milk!

xo, trace

Surprise Birthday Getaway

To add to the excitement of the holiday season... My 30th birthday was smack in the  middle of the celebrations! When I first looked at the calendar a few months back, I was sorta bummed. I knew we had work parties, friends parties, community events and dinners.... I thought my birthday would just get lost on the shuffle. But honestly, this was the most special birthday to date! Many thanks to all the love from my family and friends that made me feel so special. I'm a very lucky girl!

My parents kicked off the week with a present each day, that the hubs wrapped and numbered. 

Lots of little happies, they were all so fun!

On Thursday the hubs planned a surprise getaway. I wasn't quite sure where we were going until we pulled up... at The Greenbrier. Y'all, So beautiful!!! 

The entire resort is amazing... We did a bunker tour, had lunch, I had a spa day/massage, followed by afternoon tea, drinks, checkers, and a wonderful dinner in the dining room! 

The Mangos surprised us with a basket of goodies and bottle of wine, perfect for a birthday picnic on the way home. They also made my day by collectively sending "the 30 things they love most about tracy" via texts throughout the day. It was so sweet. :)  J's boss also sent a bottle of wine to dinner... And I got a serenade from the piano player at dinner. The perfect 30th Birthday getaway!

But the fun was just beginning... I came home to 30 balloons from Miss Molly Vice tied to our back door. 

So fun and thoughtful!! Love you, GF!!

Early evening involved more gifts from my bestie and parentals. 

Can't wait to have a Moscow mule, Ale!

Followed by a nice work dinner with J and his staff, who are like my family too. Love them! But little did I know that the celebrations were just the beginning! 

M&M surprised us at the Miracle (recap found here) and my sister in law made e the most fabulous hat for our tacky party! 

I could share tons of pictures from the party, but lets just say it was one for the books! 

... And brunch came early on Saturday. Little did I know that brunch at the country club was a disguise for a surprise girls brunch hosted by Jessie and Meg! I was so shocked y'all! It was super sweet. 

All my favorite Lexington ladies were in attendance. It was the perfect cap to the perfect birthday bash! 30 doesn't seem quite so bad after all. 

Thanks for all the love!

xo, trace 

Christmas Card Carousel

Today I am linking up with Faith for the Christmas Card Carousel to share our cards for this year!   

We decided to snap our own pics this year using Jesse's office for the backdrop - it helps that is office just happens to be a beautiful old plantation on a hill - Mulberry Hill to be exact. It's gorgeous!  Just wanted to share a few of our favorites.  

   ....and because we couldn't decide, we made two separate cards. I know I am indecisive - but when you put the hubs and me together, we are so much worse.  Hope everyone enjoys them!  

Merry Christmas!
xo, trace

Tis the Season

To be very busy....

Off to our last party of the year {in Lex}. I will be back with a full re-cap soon, I promise!  Hope you are yours are having a very Merry Christmas!!

xo, trace

Trimming the Tree!

This year, we picked up our tree the Friday after Thanksgiving from a local place, Herman's Produce, who gets them from right down the road... and they are as fresh as the day they were cut {which was also the day before we picked it out}, so it was perfect!  J is always a sucker for a big tree and this year was no different.

It certainly makes our tiny living room very cozy.

I tackled the lights and J put on the star!

Our tree is filled with ornaments from the many trips we have taken since we started dating. 

These are some of my favorites:

Radio City/NYC - Christmas 2012,

Clearwater Beach - 2008, 

The Smokies {homemade of course, from our camping trip} 2009, 

The Biltmore - Thanksgiving 2010 with my parents!

...and some of my all-time favorites. 

Our Honeymoon in Antigua 2011,

KA snowflake - made by my AOII girls for J right after we met in 2007,

Auburn Santa - College graduation 2006,

Wedding Program Ornament {made by me} in 2012

Putting up our tree each year brings back so many wonderful memories, I look forward to it each and every year and hope we are lucky enough to continue to add to our collection. 

Just a few snapshots from the weekend. We had fun Friday night handing out hot cocoa at the local Christmas parade. The storms held off just long enough for Main Street to enjoy the sounds of the season... and even a few clydesdales too!

Saturday night was our staff party... where we celebrated at the Abigail Inn with a big Auburn WIN!! 

Best pic of the night... J stealing the lottery ticket from Mrs. Mary during Dirty Santa! 

Merry Christmas!!! 

xo, trace

Lazy Days and Etsy

I love a day with no plans on the books. Those seem to be few and far between these days, so I'll take them while I can. Today was a much needed day of rest and catching up before our big week ahead. I'm looking forward to a full week of parties and the big 3-0 to cap it off! But today, {After seeing the hubs off at 5am for a flight} was perfect. Church was  cancelled due to the weather which was sorta a bummer, but I took full advantage of sleeping in... Catching up on some much needed craft projects, watching silly lifetime movies and watching the snow fall outside. If you know me, this is rare... Usually I try to squeeze in as many events as possible in one day, but today somehow felt great not really doing anything at all.

My sister-in-law has been a busy bee with our Etsy shop, and I had a few orders to fill too. I thought I would share a few of our fun crafts for sale: 

Snowman Pinecones - $5.99 or 3 for $15

Fort Kits - $35, including monogram 

Wedding program ornament - $20

If you're still looking for some last minute gifts, visit our Etsy shop! 

Cheers to a great week ahead! 

xo, trace 

5 on Friday

Happy Friday!! We are gearing up for the holiday festivities to begin this weekend... our local christmas parade is tonight and I'm hoping the weather clears long enough for us to hand out hot cocoa... but it's not looking promising. However, Carols at Blue Lab will go on rain or shine... such a fun tradition. Who doesn't love beer and Christmas Carols?  Now for my 5 on Friday...

{one} The Coca Cola Polar Bears Movie

If anyone has flown Delta lately - you may have discovered this little happy on your drink napkin. Or maybe I'm the only one who noticed... because of course, I was curious, tucked it into my bag and couldn't wait to google it. It's precious! For anyone within kids - such a fun story.  You should watch right now. It will make your Friday. The polar bear can is pretty cute as well. 

{two} Simple Suppers Cajun Fixins'

My mom sent us a fall happy box a couple weeks ago with pumpkin k-cups, the local paper from home {which I love to read}, and two of these simple suppers. We usually make everything from scratch and I've almost gotten completely away from buying anything in a can... but she swore they tasted almost as good as her homemade cajun cooking, and when you're craving mamma's cooking, anything with do!  We tried one on Wednesday night - and I must say, not bad.  It's doesn't really even compete with momma's... but it'll tide me over until Christmas. 

{three} Lilly Travel Pant

Thanks to Classic Annie I found myself some new black pants. I have been looking for something comfortable, workable and wearable to a holiday party. These look perfect! I can't wait to get them in the mail. 

{four} My Ambassadors gift from Makers Mark

They hit a home run with this years' gift - a "nightcap" for our Maker's bottle. So precious! The Makers' sweater hiding in the background was the gift in 2011 - love being an Ambassador.

{five} Chalkboard Table Runner

How cute is this table runner from Anthropology? Perfect for Holiday parties and gatherings through the new year. 

Tomorrow is our first party of the season and I can't wait. I have lots more shopping, baking, wrapping and crafting to get done this weekend... tis the season!! Hope your weekend is just as Merry and Bright! 

xo, trace

I Rented the Runway!

I signed up for Rent the Runway two years ago and I finally made my first reservation!  I am so excited to get my dresses. I got a coupon for my birthday and figured since it was my 30th, why not splurge?? The hubs has planned a fun lil getaway for us and mentioned a nice dinner, so I figured I would get dressed up for fun night out ...and we have a work dinner for him on my actual birthday, so I got two!

Just wanted to share my fun picks... 

Shoshanna - Lace Sierra 

MILLY - Black Lace Combo

Use coupon code FIRSTRTR25X7947 for $25 off your first order. 

There were so many fun ones... it was hard to pick!  If you're going to browse... give yourself lots of time. I spent at least an hour looking for just two dresses. 

Happy Thursday... excited to be back in the grove and ready for 5 on Friday tomorrow! 

xo, trace

Advent Day 3

Happy #Givingtuesday and OΔK Founders Day! We enjoyed a lovely reception at the office... And had a busy day raising funds for our Centennial. I had these adorable cupcakes made for our reception. 

Happy 99 OΔΚ! 

After a late night working.. It's finally time to decorate our tree!! 

xo, trace 

Turkey Day Recap and Advent Day 2

Well, we had a fabulous lil holiday this year. We stayed here in town and really missed our families... But loved taking it easy, sleeping in, and getting a jump start on holiday shopping and decorating. Here's a lil recap of how the weekend went... We started our holiday on Tuesday with what else... Mexican!

Donny T's did not disappoint and filled our bellies with extra calories to get the weekend started! After an early leave from work, haircut, and afternoon of baking... we had friends over for a drink and enjoyed a low-key night out on the town. After all, turkey day came early for us. 

That was at 5:30am.... With every piece of warm clothing on we could find. It was a crisp 22 when we walked out the door. The moon was shining though... Which pretty soon opened up to beautiful  blue skies for the 300 plus runners to participate in the 2nd annual gobble wobble in downtown Lex. It was a huge success!!

         {us at 5:30am}

After a much needed nap, I headed bak to the kitchen to get ready for our feast! We had such a wonderful evening celebrating with great friends and delicious food. 

After a second round of desserts and drinks at another friends place we decided on a slumber party at the Hastings and enjoyed a few extra bottles of champaign. :)

However the fun didn't stop there... we enjoyed a night at the Country Club with Gary Ruley on Friday night. 

...and of course Saturday looked a lil something like this:

Notice a common theme here... Food. Booze. More food. More booze. It was time to get back to the treadmill today!

We did squeeze in a lil bit of decorating {more to come} and also picked out our tree! 

My lil fox says it's Day 2 of Advent..

Cheers to a great month ahead! Tomorrow is #givingtuesday. Have you picked your cause yet... If not check it out at givingtuesday.com. 

xo, trace