Southern Charm & The 5 Reasons I LOVE It!

Reality television is the norm these days.  I admit I liked the Real Housewives of _______.  However, I love Southern Charm.  Like cray-cray-infatuation-style-middle-school-girl-again love it.

Here's the deal - I cannot pinpoint the reason I adore this show.  Yes, I'm a southern girl but that's not it because that is stupid.  Not all Southerners like Sweet Home Alabama or sweet tea or pearls or fishing.

OK wait a second um maybe that's a false statement.

Moving on...

The other night I was trying to decide what it is exactly that sings to my heart on this show and this is what I came up with.



1.  Cameran

Alrighty fellow Belles - Cameran Eubanks is probably our best friend that we haven't met.  Not only does she sound like the majority of us she is the girl that I think we can identify with the most.  She's from small town South Carolina (hey Andersen, SC we love you even if you got a bad wrap on episode two!); she's got that boy humor that we get so well; she can bait a hook; and she drinks Busch Light (episode three and I'm not a Busch Light drinker but I will turn up a Natty); her style is impeccable.



2.  Accents

For once I watch a show and I do not really notice accents because they sound like me.  Except for T-Rav that's just very, very Low Country.  Let it be known I love a good Southern accent like the ones from that region.  Once upon a time I knew a couple guys that had that same accent and I would pull a "just keep talking" on them and grin the whole time they spoke.  I couldn't understand a word.



3.  Shep

I would be lying through my teeth if I said that boy wasn't hot as a four alarm fire.  We all know a Shep - man whore who is so freaking attractive we cannot turn away (while at the same time wondering how many times he has had the clap.)



4.  Location

Currently, I am five hours away from Charleston.  I have been to Charleston and fell in love with it.  This translates to me considering it as a local town and because of that crazy five hour localness I love the show.



5. Those parties

I may not be an old money (or new money) millionaire but the parties (and dinners) they throw on the show are reminiscent of the ones I have attended.  They start off with good intentions and then the crazy shows up and there's a fight or dagger tongues screaming across the yard between two people while everyone looks on with drinks in hand whispering about how psycho so and so is.

Do you watch Southern Charm?  What pulls you in?

Mondays at 9PM Eastern on Bravo

Bathing Suit Season! (Another Pinterest Post!)

Last week I posted the first five outfits for spring that came up on my Pinterest search.  I think several of us enjoyed that post!  This week I'm sharing the first five bathing suits that came up when I Pinterest searched bathing suits for women.  Enjoy...

Why do I feel like the photo shop was messed up on this?
#ummm
#waitasecond

Hey wait a second!  That looks like my Mammaw's every day undergarments!!!
#notjoking
#pantiesandbraonthebeach
#cancallanythingswimwear

If you can rock this then I am jealous.  See I have boobs that are bigger and if I put on that top I become uni-boob woman.  I have a yoga bra that I adore but I can rarely wear it because it has no support for boobs over a B cup and I end up looking like I'm smuggling another head under my shirt.
#truth
#boobissues
#ohthejoysofwomanhood

I really think these are cute...but more for a four year old than a grown up.  Fluttery and sweet just doesn't seem very fitting for grown ups - but ya know that is my weird way of thinking.  And I guess it plays in that I like my bathing suit flush against me because otherwise the suit annoys the pee out of me.  Not literally but ya know...
#nopeeinginthepool
#weknowyounastypeoplepeeintheocean
#bathtime

I actually like this one...
#meow

Around The Home

What's crackin' on this Tuesday?!?!

Lately, we have had a heck of a lot going on over at the house.

Remember that Spring Bucket List?

We can check another item off the list!

Our yard has been undergoing the regrading we so desperately needed!

Alright, alright maybe it is more than the yard!

Almost all of the land.

Here is what it has been like over the past five days:

Looking good - excavating and bulldozing.  This was day one!

Are we building pyramids?

Good buy toothpick pines!

This boy is loving all the dirt and "mountains" in the yard now!

And so is his sister - they are dirt kids!

A lot of work...still in progress!

Needless to say now I'm just praying that the rains hold off and we can get some grass seed sown very soon!  

Are you working on any projects around the home?  Share them!  I love seeing what we're all into!

Tales from the pasture...

Monday - already?  Last week I had an extra day and a half off and boy did I enjoy that!  We won't talk about how it makes Monday that much more devastating to face (slam the alarm clock!)

I have a lot to fill you in on.

Last Monday was my daughter's first riding lesson.  Guys, she did awesome.  The trainer she is working with is simply amazing - a whisperer if you will.

My daughter had been extremely afraid after being thrown off Molly.  She wouldn't even touch a horse after that happened.  When Prissy Buns came to live in the pasture my little girl was still a nervous wreck. Though she did attempt to get back in the saddle she was overcome with fear. I'm not kidding when I say she was out just as quick as she was up.

Being her mom I'm somewhat (I think and hope) in tune with her and I could tell she wanted to ride.  There was the fear from having trusted an animal and it not-so-gently letting her down but there was also something in her actions around the same animal that said she wanted to do it.

She was just overcome by fear.

Last Monday I was nervous for my girl C. Lately I have noticed she is becoming less self confident and my mama heart was breaking.  Her excitement for the lesson was off the charts but in the back of my mind I worried she would panic and be in tears once she was faced with getting on the back of a horse again.

I didn't want my baby to be embarrassed.  I didn't want her to feel like she couldn't do this.

As moms we want to take sickness and pain from our babies.

We want to remove self doubt and raise them up as high as we can.

Too many times we think the cure is to surround them, coddle them, and give them no room of their own to try.  It isn't that we don't want them to try it is just that as moms we have a fear of their failure too.

Arriving at the ring we were surrounded by girls of all ages and all levels of riding.  I imagine for an eight year old girl who wants to ride so badly it was magical in a way; being surrounded by various horse breeds and girls who cold maneuver about with ease on these huge animals.

It was also overwhelming.

I could see the uneasiness building up in my girl.

Why couldn't I take it from her and give her all the self confidence she needs?

If you're not a mom then I'll let you in on a secret that will make you ever so successful anytime you deal with children for long periods of time.  Sometimes mamas need to ease away so that their kids can do their best.

I eased away.

While my girl was in the stable I was sitting out staring at an empty horse ring - saying little prayers that this would be a good experience.

To cut down on this post I want to share this with you -

There were tears.

There was fear.

There was shouting and crying.

Then there was a girl who told me a couple days before - "Mama I just want to be able to ride a horse and not be afraid," in the saddle - smiling, finally - and then out of the saddle and rubbing and talking to a horse that just a hour before she was shying away from.

On the way home the talking from the backseat was incessant.

That was so fun.  That horse is amazing!  Did you see me?  I cannot wait to go back.  I want to ride tomorrow.  Can you please ask if I can come back tomorrow?

We spend a lot of time worrying about our kids.  We want the school work to be perfect and their manners impeccable.  As moms we want their worlds to be without a crease, nick, or worry.  Our lives revolve around their lives.

But sometimes if we ease away a little bit - they do something amazing.

Spring Saturdays or Saturdaze!

Good morning/afternoon/evening, loves!

Admitting it, owning it, carrying it - I have been a bad blogger lately.  Life has been fun and relatively busy and that leaves no time to sit down at a computer and put together a post.  In a way that bums me out but in another way it makes me happy.

For me it is sure fire sign that we aren't in winter anymore!

I missed High Five for Friday <sad face> yesterday.  So today I'm following in Katie's footsteps and posting Six for Saturday for this past week.

*1*  Sundays
Last Sunday was fabulous.  The kids went to church with their grandparents while the hubby and I went out to breakfast, made a Lowes run, and worked around the house.  Sundays are quickly regaining the title Favorite Day of the Week from me.  The past few have been beautiful and filled with relaxed family time - two things you cannot beat!

*2*  Monday Lessons
My daughter started her horseback riding lessons this past Monday.  The trainer is a-freaking-mazing.  I really never expected C to get back on a horse again after her fall but after some time out in the ring with Ms. Linnea the child was in the saddle.  Mind you they didn't walk, trot, or really move but she was back in the saddle and by the end of her lesson not wanting to leave!  I look forward to seeing the progress next week.

*3*  Bike Rides
This week I was able to fit in a random bike ride with C.  I love riding my bike it makes me feel amazing and super young again.  Remember summers pedaling up and down and all around?  My bike was probably one of my best friends growing up.  It really breaks my heart to think that technology has taken over so much with the generations of today.  Operation Cut It Off is going to take effect here.

*4*  Dirt Therapy
Finally! This girl had her hands in the dirt this week.  I planted some petunia mix flowers in an oak barrel for our front flower bed.  In the next week or so there will be a lot more sowing and planting going on around here.  Keep reading.

*5*  Yard Sale Season
Who is excited about yard sale season?  THIS GIRL!  I absolutely adore going through people's stuff (in a very legal way meaning yard sales, garage sales, estate sales, tag sales, etc!)  This weekend seems to be the kick off for it all and I have already hit up a few.

*6*  Dirt
The video is the great segue into a post coming this week...not about death but about dirt.

Tales From The Pasture
Summeritis
Fashion 5

Fashion 5 (Inspired by Pinterest!)

Hey loves!  The other night I was playing around on Pinterest (because that is what we do) and I typed in Spring Summer Fashion.  It immediately spurned this blog post.  The first five pins in my feed have now made it to my blog.  A little silly but hey it is a fashion post!

Wow I cannot wait to wear this to the grocery store!  Seriously, it is very intricate and does have that wow factor but um yeah. #thatsfunrightgrandma

So this would be sweet for a five year old.  I just don't get the rage for women to wear clothing more appropriate for kindergartners.  Like LuLaRoe - heard of them?  I don't particularly think its cool for adults to sport Gymboree style clothing - I mean unicorns and you are 35?  I just can open a whole can of worms on that one....#theregoesthefunofit

This is a dress.  Wait, what?  This barely is covering the goods.  Maybe I'm old or maybe I'm modest or maybe just maybe I'm not a hoochie.  Respect yourself. Give me another two inches of fabric and I'd be in love. #thiscomingfromagirlwhodoesnotwanttoshowoffthekitty

I really like this but I'm so afraid of thick horizontal stripes.  No matter what you think these do have the power to make you look double your size and for most women that isn't something we're going for.  The belted waist helps slim but hmm, I'm just not too sure.  #thoughtsofaselfconsciouschick

I remember this look - this exact look from 1991. Oh and I had that skirt. #guessthatmakesmeold

Summer-itis

Admitting today that I really love spring!  But I really love spring when it actually sticks around and is a little on the warmer side!

This past weekend was beautiful but so terribly cold (for North Carolina!)  I believe we barely hit fifty on Saturday with wind gusts up to thirty miles an hour.  This girl cannot take that!  

Sunday warmed up to fifty-nine with less wind and we were able to enjoy it.  

But it got me thinking....

1.  I need to be wearing flip flops every day.

2.  My tank tops need to be worn and not under a sweatshirt.

3.  I should be enjoying warmer-ish evenings in the backyard under the stars.

4.  There should be more hands in the dirt and less hands getting warm air blown into them.

5.  Black dress pants should be neatly tucked away.

6.  Where is the lemonade?

7.  Sundays should mean river banks and not couch blankets.

8.  The heat should not be on.

9.  In all honesty, I should have already had my first sunburn of the year.

10.  I'm ready for school to be out.

Yes, I have summer-itis and it is only (barely) mid April.

Holy cucumbers.

How about you?