Ready or not...

Well, today just did not go as planned. I had planned to have everything ready and spiffy with a nice introductory post to the new blog, but then Young Mister Gray woke up last night at 10 p.m. throwing up. While I had him in the tub cleaning him up, I noticed some green goop in the corners of his eyes. Great. I washed it off with a wash cloth and prayed it would be better in the morning. Then, instead of situating myself on the couch with a laptop in my lap, I had a sleepy little boy to hold and watch Curious George with until he fell asleep. When we woke up the next morning and he cried and told me to keep the lights off, I knew we were really in trouble. Instead of driving him to school and spending the day working, I drove him to the doctor and spent the day being mama. It wasn't a horrible day, just not the day I had planned. Those plans included a morning post linking to my new site I have been building up for the last few days. Oh well. This will have to do instead. Please go check out the new site. Look around and do let me know what you think! I promise to do a true introductory post over there next week! {Knock on wood} A big shout out to my friend, Rebekah Wright for designing my new logo and for getting me all set up on the new blog! After you check out the new site, be sure to look her up at Wright Printing!

Pre-Spring Cleaning

We have been doing some pre-spring cleaning around our house lately. Vacuuming the rugs front and back, pruning bushes in the yard, decluttering the nightstands, bookshelves and dressers--you know, those places where things tend to gather and then collect dust. It is so nice to accomplish these tasks, and then to just revel in a newly decluttered space. My mind is somehow more at ease and clearer when the physical clutter around me is tidied. This explains my need to declutter my workspace before I can think and get things done. Some can work just fine with papers piled high and important documents buried beneath a jumbled heap, but I would just sit and think about how all of that needed to be cleared before I could really focus on the tasks at hand. Even as I child I always had a place for everything. I instantly knew if one of my siblings had been in my room, even if they tried to leave things as they were. I have been told that I would put away my dirty clothes in my dresser just to have them off the floor and out of the way. I am sure that my mom appreciated this particular quirk of mine. Don't worry, I now very much appreciate the importance of a hamper!

The same goes for my digital space. I feel anxious if my desktop is too cluttered with applications, folders and files. I like to have everything filed away neatly, in its place and out of sight. I go a bit crazy when the the apps on my phone are not organized. Please tell me I'm not alone in this! This extends to my blog as well because, in a way, it is another workspace of mine. Some time ago, I began to feel like my blog itself was too cluttered, and that it really didn't fit me any longer. It affected me more than I realized for quite some time. It finally came out when I was emailing my friend Bekah about the changes I wanted to make to my blog. I didn't feel like posting. I didn't want to draw readers to my site because the design no longer seemed to reflect me. Bekah and I had long been planning a revamp for my blog and after that discussion I knew I needed to get busy determining what I really wanted it to be. I set out to find inspiration for the new look. It didn't take long to find a common thread in all of my choices--clean, simple and fresh. I am pleased to say that is exactly how it turned out! When I look at the new site, I feel like I can breath again, and it makes me smile. I'll be sharing more details on tomorrow's Friday Refresh. I can hardly wait! If you follow me on Facebook, you might have even noticed that I already unofficially unveiled the new logo. Go check it out if you haven't yet. I am pretty ecstatic about how she worked my own handwriting into it!

Thinking outside the Valentine's box

So, confession, I am not really all that into Valentine's Day. I can't remember a time that I really was. Jeremy and I do not celebrate the holiday and up until this year, I've had no reason to decorate a shoebox and buy a package of valentines for Young Master Gray. As you might guess, I was not exactly thrilled to have this task this year. I did come up with a cute idea for the valentine's box, but my heart still wasn't in it. The valentine options at the store were nothing to get excited about either. I didn't want to spend way too much money on overpriced slips of paper plastered with obnoxious characters that would most likely end up in the recycling bin. (Yes, I know it's possible that one day Young Master Gray may beg for them and I will most likely have to change my stance.) Then, the other day I was scrolling through my Insta feed and I saw the cutest valentines from Gingiber.

Seriously. Just imagine me with heart eyes.

I have shopped with this small, Arkansas-based business before (see Young Master Gray's shirt in yesterday's post, for example) so I did not hesitate to purchase them. I mean, for $2 for the digital download and the cardstock that was already sitting in my printer, it was a no brainer compared to the boxed valentine prices! Not to mention they are super duper cute. Cute enough for me to want to hand them out to my own friends!

Now I cannot wait for Young Master Gray's Valentine's Day party! Gotta get started on that shoebox...

Fools on Parade {Downtown Fayetteville}

Yesterday was a bright and beautiful day. The weather was chilly unless you were standing in the sun, and then it was just right. The perfect day for a parade.

The annual Fayetteville Fat Saturday Parade of Fools was a taste of mardi gras with an Arkansas twist. It was our first time to go and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was very family friendly. They talked the laissez bon temps rouler talk (with an accent), but didn't really walk the walk. At least not during the parade.

Since Young Master Gray fell asleep in the car on the way, we ended up making it right on time instead of early like I had planned. Even though we didn't get a great spot to watch the parade from, I think it turned out to be for the better. As it was, we waited a really long time for the parade to even start. Luckily, we were right by a police car and got to see a firetruck drive by before the parade began. Plus, we were right by the Walton Arts Center where they were in the middle of a construction project (as you can see in the above photo). In other words, we had plenty of trucks to look at while we waited.

Afterwards, we got to go see the "choo-choo" Young Master Gray had been eyeing since the start of the parade.

Such a fun afternoon hanging out in Downtown Fayetteville! It made me wistful for the Crescent City. I can't believe it's been four years since I wrote this post about my visit to New Orleans. I definitely want to make it back one day!

Galentine's, Gilmore Girls & a Giveaway

....and Ghiradelli. There will be Josh Cellars wine as well, but it just didn't fit with the alliteration. As Paris Gellar said, "Never underestimate the power of alliteration, my friend."

This post is sponsored by Ghirardelli Chocolate and Josh Cellars wine in conjunction with their #asweetpairing campaign. All words (except a smattering of Gilmore Girls quotes) and opinions are my own.

One of my best gals is going to be in town for Galentine's Day and I just can't wait. I have been thinking and planning and scheming (and wishin' and hopin') ever since I got the text confirming her visit. What should we do? Where should we go? Can we do all of the things? If not, how many of the things can we squeeze into this one visit? Then, after seeing the news of the confirmed revival of Gilmore Girls on Netflix, it hit me. We should must have a girls' night in a la Gilmore Girls, complete with ordering in way too much takeout and a themed movie marathon. Should we have pizza? Chinese (including one of each item on the menu, of course)? Burgers with fries? All of the above? What am I thinking? Definitely all of the above. Okay, okay. We probably shouldn't have all of the above. As Lorelai said, "People don't realize it takes years of training to eat the way we do." And even then, it can still make you queasy. Takeout is imperative though, I mean, you don't want to risk going to a restaurant and getting a "urine mint."

Once the food is selected, the next question is what movie theme do we commit to watching? Just a few of the many, many movies referenced on the show include The Godfather (I, II, and III with extra showings of the Sofia death over and over), Pulp Fiction (remember the Quentin Tarantino themed party?), Lord of the Rings, Duck Soup, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pippi Longstocking, The 2000 Year Old Man, American Gigolo, Bringing Up Baby, Brigadoon, Casablanca, Cocktail, and The Yearling....okay, I'll stop now.

As you can tell, there is really no limit to the film and food choices if you stick strictly to those featured on the show. If fact, those choices can become quite overwhelming so I've narrowed them down for you. Presenting a Gilmore Girls movie playlist for your own girls night in, including the perfect junk food/takeout pairings.

1. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory + Pizza and an assortment of Ghirardelli chocolates
Season 1, Episode 7: Rory's Birthday Parties
A classic film paired with a classic takeout food. Don't even think about ordering salad. And chocolate is just a given. I personally prefer the Ghirardelli dark chocolate squares with sea salt caramel.

2. Godfather I, II, III + Chinese food, Mallomars and biscotti
Season 4, Episode 1: Ballroom & Biscotti
This is really an all day event, but you could definitely squeeze in at least 2 Godfather's and a Sofia dying.

3. The 2000 Year Old Man and Silent Movie + Tator tots, pizza rolls, and rocky road hot fudge sundaes with whipped cream & maraschino cherries
Season 2, Episode 15: Lost & Found (references both the films and the sundaes)
Mel Brooks is a favorite of the Gilmore Girls. Lorelai even claimed to want a tattoo of Brooks on her butt.

4. Grey Gardens (the original & the HBO remake) + Hot dogs, Beefaroni and Pop-Tarts
Season 3, Episode 9: A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving
A documentary about Big Edie and Little Edie, a mother and daughter who were once a part of high society (relatives of Jackie O., no less) and are now living removed from the life they once lived. Sound a bit familiar? Even Lorelai and Rory make the sobering connection. "Add a few years and that's us."-Rory Gilmore

5. Casablanca + Burgers, fries and pumpkin pie with a side of Chinese food
Season 4, Episode 5: The Fundamental Things Apply (Also the episode that references "urine mints")
When Lorelai learns that Luke has never seen any film Casablanca, she invites him over to watch it and another classic...Hardbodies. Spoiler Alert: He makes it through Casablanca and falls asleep during Hardbodies.

6. Funny Face and Sabrina + Mac & Cheese, Twizzlers and brownies
Season 7, Episode 4: 'S Wonderful, 'S Marvelous; Season 3, Episode 21: Here Comes the Son; Season 5, Episode 10: But Not as Cute as Pushkin
During an on-again edition of Chris + Lorelai, Chris sets up a private drive-in screening of one of Lorelai's favorite films, Funny Face. If you're going to watch one film starring Rory's doppleganger  (according to Miss Celine), then you might as well make a night of it and watch another Audrey Hepburn film mentioned on the show.

"Since I just ate, uh, half a bag of marshmallows, 6 poptarts , 4 bagel dogs, and a really stale cheese nip...yep, it's brownie time." -Lorelai

It pretty much goes without saying, but the food goes down best with copious amounts of coffee. Since I have a toddler who wakes me up early in the morning, I'll probably end up switching to a glass of Josh Cellars merlot (aka chef's juice) once the evening begins! A meme-worthy wine quote from Gilmore Girls:

Lorelai: Would you like some more chef's juice?

Rory: More wine would be great. 

There are many meme-worthy quotes about coffee on Gilmore Girls. So many that I could do a whole other post on them, but I will share this one. This exchange between Lorelai and Christopher sums it up pretty well:

Lorelai: Do you want some coffee?

Chris : I'll get it.

Lorelai: Do you know how to make coffee?

Chris: Yes, I do.

Lorelai: My coffee?

Chris: One bag of coffee per cup of water, right?

Lorelai: Perfect. 

And, without further ado, here's where you enter to win a $75 American Express gift card. Also, be sure to follow me on Instagram! I'll be giving away another gift card there.

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