Five on Friday

1. I know I already shared this on Instagram, but it's too great not to share here too. My mom works for Orvis and a few weeks ago they received the following email:

 

We are being visited this week by a friendly mallard duck, who has been greeting associates at the entrance all morning.

 

A wild bird expert I contacted told me he is fine, has recently molted (lost his flying feathers) and is probably seeking a quiet place to hang out away  from the pond while his feathers grow back.  He is harmless and will probably waddle away when he gets hungry or thirsty.

 

The bird expert I spoke with said we should not feed the duck.  Not only are the foods we have here not particularly good for the duck…if we feed him, he might get confused and decide this is a good place for him to stay. 

 

That said, please don’t feed the duck, watch your step around the entrance to the building, and be extra careful driving in the HR parking lot.  We don’t want to hurt or confuse our duck friend as he resolves his own unique and personal issues!

 

On Wednesday, I received the following text from my mother:

Apparently he also now quacks when greeted. I know they are still working with the wildlife expert to make sure their little friend is A-OK, but I can't help but anthropomorphize here and think the little guy looks like he would like to come inside and join the folks in Finance. I'm quite jealous; I really wish we had an office duck at my workplace!

 

 

2. Forget everything I said about not being into dressing up for Halloween. Next year I'm going as Ina. Now I just need to convince M to go as a bottle of "good" vanilla or olive oil or Jeffrey. (Thanks to Food & Femininity for the inspiration!)

 

3. I love, love, LOVE the idea of giving this necklace to a new mama or a recently married friend. I happen to have some engaged friends and some pregnant friends, so ladies, please act surprised when you receive this from me :) M, this would make a wonderful gift for your wife (hint, hint, wink, wink).

 

4. I'm an aunt! My sister-in-law gave birth to the most beautiful twins early yesterday morning. I am counting down the days until I get to meet my adorable niece and nephew!!!!!

 

5. Truth. 

 

 

 

 

 

Third Time's A Charm

Yes, that's right, we're moving again! For the third time since our engagement. {The fourth time if you count the fact that we moved in together 2 weeks before M proposed.}

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I haven't made it much of a secret that we've been pretty unhappy with our living situation for the past 2 years. We knew that if an opportunity presented itself this summer, we had to jump on it and go. As it happens, just such an opportunity presented itself a few days ago in the form of an incredible job offer for M.  So in a little less than 4 weeks, we'll be driving our dogs and all of our worldly possessions to Vermont.  I'm becoming a Yankee!  After our somewhat nomadic lifestyle over the past couple of years {4 moves in 2.5 years}, we are looking forward to putting down roots in New England.

I am a bundle of nerves right now. I'm excited and scared and stressed and happy and stressed and nervous and stressed.  Did I mention stressed? Coordinating a 600-mile move on 3 weeks' notice to a place I've never set foot in is causing me to consume a lot of Tums. It will absolutely all be worth it and we're lucky to have friends and family connections in the area, but woof. Throw in the 100+ pounds of neurotic coonhounds who will be moving with us and I am a bonafide mess.

Things I Am Excited About:
*Christmas in Vermont {Hello..."White Christmas" is only one of my all-time FAVORITE movies.}
*Fall in Vermont. Duh.
*Summer in Vermont. Goodbye Southern heat and humidity. Won't miss you at all.  Except in months November-May.
*Proximity to Canada. No, seriously. I have never been. And we will be 90 minutes from Montreal. So basically 90 minutes from France Lite. Just go with it.
*Proximity to Boston. 3 hours from many dear friends and one of my favorite cities. Yay!
*Proximity to seriously amazing skiing. Can't wait to hit the slopes.
*J. Crew, Trader Joe's, Williams-Sonoma, and TONS of adorable little locally-owned shops and restaurants. {I realize I've probably just committed a major Vermont sin by listing large corporations as a reason I'm excited to move there.}
*Being the most conservative person in political conversations for once.
*Finally justification for my obsession with coats.
*Living in a fun city with lots to do and lots of people our age. I am going to go on a friend binge. I can't wait.
*ALL THE CHEESE.

Things I Am Nervous About:
*I have never lived outside of the state of Virginia, let alone outside of the South.
*I have never lived more than 3 hours away from my parents.
*Winter in Vermont. I am terrified.
*Our heating bill. See above.
*Lack of Duke's mayonnaise.
*Lack of "y'all" in the vocabulary.
*Moving somewhere I have never been and renting a house I have never seen. All the makings of a potential disaster, or at the very least, an interesting living situation for the next year.
*Finding gainful employment. Vermont has a rather small economy and people hold on to full-time jobs with both hands.
*Money. As if I wasn't already nervous about that, we're moving to a place with a higher cost of living.
*ALL THE CHEESE. {I don't do moderation very well.}

The positives far outweigh the negatives and we are both over-the-moon excited. I've promised the dogs that Mummy will buy them some snow boots and jackets and they're not so sure about the whole thing, but I promised them there would also be dog treats, so they're on board. This will be an exciting adventure for us and a place to start over after a challenging couple of years.

Native New Englanders, any advice on what cold-weather gear I should start stockpiling now?

Friday Favorites

I need a new work tote bag in the worst way {damn you, budget} and this one is just so classic and chic and simple.  And surprisingly affordable.  AND 25% between now and Monday. Anyone feeling generous?

Summertime means Campari to me. On our honeymoon, I had a pre-dinner Negroni every night. This herb-infused version looks like it could become a summer staple.

Seriously dying over this perfect, perfect baby girl nursery inspiration board via Snippet & Ink.

Rolling out this Memorial Day classic recipe: Ina Garten's Flag Cake. Festive AND delicious!

 

 I'm sure most of you have seen this video, but I just had to post it {If you're reading from Google Reader, you'll have to click on the post to see it. Any idea how to fix that?}. Our dogs are our family members and I can't even begin to imagine how this discovery provided a bright spot in an otherwise devastating situation. Get your tissues handy.

Have a safe and wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Hiking and Picnicking

Last Sunday was the first real spring day we've had, so we packed up the dogs and headed for the nearest state park.  It turns out that hiking with two extremely curious dogs makes for very full hands, so the above pictures were the only ones I managed to get. 

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But fortunately some people on the interwebs were kind enough to share their photos, so you can see how beautiful it was! We want to go back without the pups so we can tour that gorgeous historic home on the property.  That view made the burning I felt in my legs all day yesterday totally worth it.

We also packed a picnic, but we were too busy scarfing down our lunch to be bothered with pictures.  I made these sandwiches

{they were just OK}

and brought these chips {the best chips EVER and made not too far from where we live!}

{BBQ for him, Chesapeake Crab for her}

and packed it all up in this nifty picnic cooler set.  My mother-in-law gave us one of these Picnic Time Malibu coolers at one of my showers with our monogram on it.  We used it for the first time on Sunday and I'm kind of obsessed with it. It has everything you could ever need, including a handy compartment for wine bottles, plates, napkins, utensils, wine glasses, a cutting board, a cheese knife, and a bottle opener.  GENIUS. At the time, I wasn't sure we would ever use this, but now I'm dreaming up all the different picnic opportunities this baby will afford. Love it. 

It felt so great to be outdoors again and to do something active {read: something other than watch DVR'd reruns of 'The Americans'} on a Sunday afternoon.  I can't wait to go back again, especially since all this hiking will come in handy for quickly approaching bikini season!

Snapshots

Last Wednesday, we woke up to this view out of our bedroom window. The snowquester!

We enjoyed a lazy day at home, but ventured out in search of these that afternoon.  We had both heard a lot of people waxing poetic over these, but neither of us thought they lived up to the hype.  They tasted very strange.

Thursday was another snow day for me, so I decided to be productive. First project was some seriously overdue All-Clad cleaning with a new-to-me product, Bon Ami.  Full post coming later this week with the after photos and thoughts on Bar Keeper's Friend vs. Bon Ami.

After I finished my cleaning projects, I decided to do a little antiquing. I've made no secret of the fact that I don't love where we live. One of the few positives is our antiques emporium.  We live not too far outside of Virginia horse country, so our store tends to get some pretty good loot, like these custom riding boots and monogrammed silver plate hand mirror. 

This one booth had Louis Vuitton luggage, a Dior purse, and a Gucci purse.  I'm tempted to go back for the Gucci {$65!!!} since it matches my vintage Gucci wallet.

 

Loved this dresser-top vignette and the settee in the as-is room had a stunning frame! Very tempted to purchase and reupholster in something fabulous...

How darling is this pug needlepoint pillow?!?

Loved this mirror. Would be great in a certain little boy's big boy room {cough, Jennifer, cough}

The most epic key hook ever.

Friday AM I was up bright and early to catch a flight to NYC for one of my dearest friends' bachelorette weekend.  This was the first of many glasses of bubbly consumed in the following 48 hours.

I tried out the white manicure trend that I've been told is big this spring.  Everyone agreed that it was definitely a do.  Color is Essie Blanc.

Lobster Benedict with Old Bay hollandaise for brunch. Deeeeelicious.

After a wonderful weekend with friends, I was so happy to get back to snuggles with these two. 

{Finally} Friday Favorites

Hi all! Apologies for the radio silence this past week.  I was unexpectedly hospitalized last Thursday night and have been slowly working my way back into the real world {and through the pile of unread e-mails and blog posts awaiting me}.  I'm fine, but it piled on to what was already a pretty icky month.

I am SO happy it's March.  I am SO happy to turn the page to a new month because I need a do-over.  Don't get me wrong; February had its high points.  Celebrating M's birthday and Valentine's Day and some serious work highs for M.  I got to visit with my sweet Grandmother and my parents and my sister.  We went an entire month with no car or pet-related disasters.  These are all good things.

But I also gained 2 pounds {see: birthday and Valentine's Day} and am still experiencing this mystery pain that no one can tell me the cause of and I'm just in a very strange place personally right now.  Feeling very adrift and uncertain of what I want and what the future looks like.  And for a Type-A planner like me who NEEDS to have every detail of every day planned out, feelings of uncertainty are incredibly stressful.  I try not to get caught up in the obsessive need to have a plan for everything and just enjoy this crazy ride, but without a plan, I can't help but feel like I'm wasting precious time and energy and youth.  Does anyone else feel like this?  I feel like you're supposed to have a decent amount of uncertainty in your life as a mid-twenty-something, but I feel like I'm surrounded by people who have it together, who know what they want to do and where they're going and then I feel like a loser for not having even the slightest inkling of what I'm supposed to be doing.

Also, my house is a mess, I have piles of laundry all over the house, and a to-do list as long as my arm. Nothing, I mean NOTHING, contributes more to my stress than unfinished business around the house. It's an unwelcome visceral reminder of how messy things are for me right now.

Now that all of that emo stuff is out of the way, let's get down to bidness with the good stuff, shall we?

pineapple upside down cupcakes, i need you in my life.

if we're being honest, i need this 25-day ballet bootcamp challenge a lot more.

i am super-duper intrigued by this salad dressing that joanna posted on and am totally going to order a case.  has anyone tried this? apparently it has a blue-blood cult following. 

dying for this dress, although it's completely sold out. hoping they'll e-mail me to tell me it's been restocked soon!

And just because. Aren't these two the sweetest? They weren't sure what to make of me being home during the day this week, but they took advantage of extra couch cuddles.  I love my little monsters.

Happy weekend to you!

Friday Favorites

Did you watch Westminster? I try to watch every year, since I am a major dog person.  We always root for the sporting and hound groups {I grew up with bird dogs and now own 2 coonhounds}, but I have to say, Swagger, the Old English Sheepdog stole my heart last night. What a cutie!  And all of those Purina commercials left me a blubbering mess.  As one of the commentators said, the real Best in Show is the dog curled up next to you on the couch.

 I'm making two things this weekend from scratch that I never have before: pizza dough and marshmallows.  I'll be using this recipe for the pizza dough and this recipe for the marshmallows. I'm a little nervous, but excited for the results.  Any tips or tricks for me?

I am getting super antsy for spring to get here and one thing I always look forward to is magnolia blooms. It's theeeee most heavenly fragrance.  Until then, I'm dying to get my hands on one of these Magnolia + Rosewood candles from Sydney Hale Company. They got a nod from Garden and Gun AND they donate 10% of their profits to animal rescue. Sign me up!

How sweet are these prints from The First Snow?  They'd be a great wedding gift, but I also think they would look darling in a nursery.

Now through Sunday you get an extra 30% off EVERYTHING at J.Crew Factory with code XOFACTORY, which means this darling silk tee is just $45!

Happy weekend!

Fox Favorite

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Sorry, no Friday Favorites today! I had a big presentation at work this morning that required an excruciatingly early wake-up call.  All I wanna do is curl up like this sweet little guy with some fuzzy socks and the remote control and not leave the house for several days.  Wishing you all a sweet weekend!