new year, birthday cheer

You know I just adore all January birthdays! The New Year shuffles in fabulous January birthdays, such as yours truly. I took my birthday, which conveniently landed on a Friday, off from work and enjoyed my day to the fullest. This year was extra special as I spent the whole day with Sally Kate on our birthday date! We had a packed schedule and fitted in all of our favorite activities, or as Sally Kate refers to our rendezvouses as sister-tivities. I received three beautiful camellia plants for my birthday which I am enjoying daily along with several other birthday treats. Thank you to all my sweet friends and family for making my day so special this year, as always. xoxo

I sent sally kate a little birthday date itinerary in the mail

first stop was starbucks...and we let david tag along

we ran some errands and then met friends for lunch at sage

lane, mc, and katie

I enjoyed a delicious piece of pan friend grouper over flavorful gumbo

of course we got a pedicure and manicure

then we met karen (another january birthday star) at au peche mignon for some tasty macaroons and afternoon coffee. and I love this picture of sally kate...I think it captures all of her personality.

the best birthday date ever!

I got fun birthday wishes throughout the day but this might have been my favorite sent from pamela and olivia grace 

we had a delicious pizza dinner at joe mama's wood fired pizza 

a surprise betty cakes peanut butter cake from ocala

sally kate and I spent the entire day discussing how it was my birthday not hers...yet. it became more of a joke throughout the weekend and she even called me on saturday morning and said first thing, "sister, your birthday is over!"

surrounded by all my favorite things...cake, china, prosecco
...I mean family, friends...

after friday we did move on to sweet sally kate's birthday celebrations. she is now 4 years old and I can't believe it! david and I gave her a sassy pair of pink glitter toms shoes

on sunday of that weekend sk had a fun party at happy trails ranch

 the birthday cowgirl

 delicious cupcakes made by mom

 mary grace and sally kate

 it was such a fun and organized party venue! 
they fed horses...

 went on a hayride...

and rode horses and she was absolutely giddy about it all!

sk, camp, and avery...who all want to hide now when they see me and my camera coming towards them!

 happy birthday to you!

year in review/a long time coming

Well...it's been just a little hectic since we moved back to Tallahassee and therefore, quite obviously, the blog has suffered. But here we are 4 months since the last post (yikes!) and I finally feel somewhat settled in life, job, and home - for now. So, where do I begin? 

Fall 2012 was filled with more moving, a new job, and all that makes up life in between. At the end of October I accepted a job at the Capitol in the Senate President's Office. I am the official "Director of First Impressions", as a friend referred to it, and I love it. It's a total 180 than my design life but for now this position is just what we need until David finishes law school. And speaking of which, the end of 2012 marked the halfway mark of law school! That is something to celebrate and it brings a lot of joy to our lives. 

But before I get too ahead of myself, here's a glimpse into what this season brought to us:

being back in tallahassee means we get to go to our favorite little friends' birthday parties. this was camp's dinosaur party for his 4th birthday! it was adorable as always.

we enjoyed going to many home gator games and we celebrated david's goddaughter madalynn's first birthday!

we had a fun weekend in jacksonville for the florida/georgia game. it was fun to be with all of our friends. we also had a going away party that weekend, since we were all together, for our dear friend nick who was sent to afghanistan at the end of december as a navy jag. please keep his safety in your prayers and comfort to his wife back in jacksonville.

michael, david and danny

we enjoyed a wonderful thanksgiving with the micas

we moved to a sweet little house...and we're still unpacking!!

our favorite photographer, lane, took some fabulous pictures for our christmas card...

...and of all the normal, nice ones...we chose this quirky one 

I celebrated the start of camellia season!

sweet friends jonathan and meghan got engaged and I traveled to perry, ga. for a christmas shower

I am honored to be one of meghan's bridesmaids in her upcoming april wedding

week 3 of my new job and I was so graciously volunteered to coordinate the senate holiday party...and they didn't know what hit them! you didn't know state government could be so fancy did you?!

{don't worry - party was not funded by taxpayer money}

we celebrated the college graduation of allison!

 and in january she moved to louisville, kentucky to start her fabulous career

mica christmas card picture

brooks and alli

david wore an early christmas present 

we spent christmas in ocala this year and it was so nice to be there for an extended stay.

christmas eve

david and I (mostly david) made a delicious christmas eve seafood gumbo

I'm so happy to be living closer to mom and dad

we loved spending time with michael too!

we also celebrated christmas with the micas when we returned from ocala. 

karen, grandpa larry and david

julianne made delicious, from scratch, macaroons for dessert

we enjoyed traveling to st. george for a festive 80th birthday party for sassy...we love spending time on the island. and it's even more fun when there's a family party! 

happy birthday to you!

sister, me, and hillary

one of my favorite christmas presents from my husband was a meyer lemon tree and gorgeous blue and white container. on the last weekend of 2012 it was in full bloom and so fragrant.

on new year's eve we attended an engagement party in orlando for some sweet friends we made in birmingham. the bride is from orlando and we were happy to drive a couple of hours to see them and toast to their upcoming wedding and the start of 2013!

I know it's almost the end of January - but many blessings in this new year!