A Baby Buck Is Born

I can't think of a much sweeter reason to celebrate than the birth of a new baby.  My dear friend, Meredith, just gave birth to her fourth little one.  And in true Meredith fashion, she wanted to wait until the birth to find out the gender.  She claimed it was a tradition, I think it was just an effort to annoy me.

With the aforementioned circumstance, we decided to hold off until the birth and have a Sip and See....with a real gender appropriate theme {which you know was mighty important for me}.  As soon as I heard little William Joseph was a BOY my wheels started turning.  We already had the date set in place, now it was time to pull this celebration together.

William's father is an avid outdoorsmen and I'm just loving all the deer antlers everywhere, so from there the Baby Buck theme was born.  And I think it turned out super darling.

We had near 30 guests with five hostesses and the littlest guest of honor.  Needless to say, we used every room in my house which in turn needed to be decorated.  

I spent a few weeks collecting anything deer related I could find.  Hobby Lobby and Target were great stops in my quest.  I tossed in some greenery, flowers, a few things off my Cricut, a few deer antlers and my house was transformed into a rustic Sip and See.

All of the food had a rustic flair to it.  I regret that I did not get one picture of the spread.  It was delish, but most importantly adorable.

All the guests left a welcoming note for the baby buck in the pages of this book.  I about squealed with delight when I found it on Amazon.  Baby deer books are not easy to come by.

And of course, we couldn't let the guests leave empty handed.  How fun are these deer antler wine stoppers by Kate Aspen?  I just love her party goodies.  And I'd like to think it was a functional favor.

The guests mingled, ate a smorgasbord of incredible food {thanks to my co-hosts}, drank from the the bubbly bar {which I again didn't grab a picture of}, and passed little baby William around.

Here is the sweet mommy and her lovely mama.  I just adore these ladies.

It was a pleasure to host with these incredible ladies.  We worked so well together and pulled off the Sip and See beautifully.  Excuse the B&W, but I dare not scare you with my exhaustion, this was at the parties end.

Welcome to the world Baby Buck William!  And an enormous congratulations to Meredith and her family.  What a lucky boy.

Home Of The Braves

Our Atlanta Braves Baseball team just got a mighty nice housing upgrade.  Clay and I have been itching to take the kiddos out to experience it.  Not only is the facility way more fabulous, but the whole vibe has taken a giant leap.  You never have to ask twice to "take me out to the ball game".  I'm a little all American like that....love me some MLB.

The weather could have not been more perfect for our Braves day.  However, one little was not interested in attending.  I imagine it had something to do with Braves colors not looking good on her that day.  Or she "she didn't have anything to wear".  I promise I can't even exaggerate the drama.  So with that being said, we offered Maggie's ticket to Grandma and off we went.

We made sure to arrive plenty early before game time to give my, what became, two kids time to explore.

This little dare devil didn't even wince at the opportunity to ride the zip line, even with big brother going second.

We made our rounds through the kid's alley.  Face painting and carnival games galore kept my littles busy.

Soon the game was calling our names {most especially Daddy's} so we took our seats.  I'm a little bit of a seat snob when it comes to baseball games, but knowing the kids would get a little antsy, we opted for left field.  To my surprise, you really can't go too wrong with any seats at the new stadium.

Lucy made it all the way to the top of the 8th.  I'm thinking it had something do with that fidget spinner she scored at the gift shop.  She was determined to get it going in her tiny hands.

So much family fun.  I got to hang with my Jack, who just returned from camp {squeal}, the Braves pulled out a win and I soon found out, Maggie didn't miss us a bit.

A win-win for all.  Go Braves!

I'm 40 Y'all!

Trucks, Cowboys, & Country Music, I mean, what else can a girl ask for?  Maybe a little of this too...

Y'all I'm the big 4...0..., that could have been a real downer, except it was the BEST birthday EVER!  Just when I thought the celebration couldn't get any better, it just kept on happening.  I was spoiled rotten by the best friends a gal could ask for.  Add a little live country music and honky tonkin' and I was over the moon.  Have I ever mentioned I am country girl at heart?

I was chauffeured to Nashville, Tn in pure luxury.  I mean, who doesn't love going to their 40th in a mini van? {just for the record...I am not a huge mini fan, totally a running joke}  Can't lie it was comfy though.

We arrived to the Omni Nashville early afternoon.  Which, I must take this moment to give my hubby huge props, he took care of all our rooms, our spa day, and a few other things we racked up.  What a sweetie.  The rest was all on the girls and I'm pretty sure that's the way he wanted it.  He's good at a lot, but let's be fair,  party planning is not his thing.

Just look at what the girls did for me?  Weekend totes filled with goodies.  Not a detail was missed.  Cristina and Alison spear headed this endeavor.  It was quite a project they took on, but I couldn't be more grateful {or have done it better myself!}

You do know I love a good theme...and favor.

And this is only a snip-it of what was inside.  They had my fave snacks and drinks, personalized pool tees, personalized cups, sunscreen, lip gloss, tylenol, and more.  It was slightly AMAZ-O!

Night one was a blast.  I threw on my cowgirl boots and we headed out for a casual dinner of BBQ, but before hand we pre-celebrated in our hotel room.  

This is also when the girls gifted me with the most beautiful Hermes bracelet.  I was completely shocked and in love at the same time.  It's a beaut!  Thank you girls from the bottom of my heart!

I can't imagine a better meal to put me in the Nashville spirit.  The mac n' cheese was absolutely divine at Peg Leg Porker.  If I don't go back to listen to country tunes, I may go back just for that little taste of heaven.

Did someone say calories?  No worries, we were on our way to work them off....and then some.  Hello Nashville Pedal Tavern.

Yep, there she is.  And she wasn't budging unless we were pedaling.  The sweet reward {besides working off that mac n' cheese} were the honky tonk stops along the way.  

I'm telling you the fun we had should be illegal.  I've never laughed and sweat so hard in all my 40 years.

Of course, we had to get a pic at every stop.

We were all sure that nothing could top the first day and night of our Nash Bash, until day two rolled around.  We enjoyed an incredible spa and pool day.  And we even got to sport those cute tees and sunglasses.  Love my girls!

By evening, we were at it again.  Where's the live music?

We had pre-dinner drinks on a rooftop in the Gulch.  And even had a few star sightings {none of which were Blake Shelton sadly}.  We followed it with an amazing dinner at a lovely seafood restaurant.  And I must note, my girls know me too well...my fave food...so thoughtful.  And then we were out kickin' up our boots again.  I just can't stop when country music is around.  It's exhilarating!

We spent our final day out checking out the town.  There is so much to see beyond Broadway.  You know how fabulous that mac n'cheese was, well just wait until you try Biscuit Love.  Yum!

We couldn't make a trip to Nashville without checking out Reese Witherspoon's boutique.  Let me just tell y'all, it's nothing but southern in there.  

I finally got my star sighting that I had been waiting for.  I think it's fair to say I'm a little Blake obsessed {in a totally innocent way}.  Leave it to Gwen to ruin my chances of seeing this guy.  He was off on a birthday get away with her.  FYI...Blake and I share birthday weeks.  It's a good thing I'm Gwen obsessed too or I might be just be a little upset with her.

Come evening {and sadly our last night} we chased the sound of banjos and guitars one last time.  My boots were screaming for one more night of honky tonks.

Come morning it was time to say goodbye to our Nash Bash.  Seriously, the best birthday ever!  Can I please turn 40 one more time?  I couldn't have asked for more...love me some sweet besties and country tunes. 

Peace Out Nashville...until next time...

I'm 40 y'all!