24 and many more...

So, this past week was my 24th birthday and I couldn't have been more blessed with better friends or family to have shared it with!

The day started off with class at KSU and when I came home, Patrick had a nice breakfast made for me with a little extra surprise on the table!

Classic Ray Ban Aviators from Sunglass Hut

Prior to my birthday, Patrick gave me this beautiful Kate Spade necklace as an early gift--he couldn't keep it a secret!

Following breakfast, Patrick and I went to the gym, picked up firehouse (PS- It's FREE on your birthday), and headed to Alexander Park for a cute little picnic under a big Oak tree. It was so nice to sit in God's great nature...it felt like a mini vacay.

These two have my whole heart

Fun fact, my best friend/roomie and I share the same birthday, how wild is that? So, after the park, we all headed to the nail salon for Mani/Pedi's + wine.... including Patrick.... shhhhh!

Okay, now the point of this post was to talk about the delicious blueberry lemon pound cake my sister made for me. It was perfect.

Find the recipe here

Lastly, my sister got me an awesome watercolor paint set and some new calligraphy pens... here's my first painting!

 

Happy Thursday, everyone!

Which Wich: Flag Your Bag

Patrick and I went on a lunch date yesterday at Which Wich in the Avenue and stumbled across a fun campaign going on called Flag Your Bag.

Between now and July 4th, Which Wich is encouraging customers to decorate a Which Wich bag and hang on the community wall as a way to say "Thank You" in Red, White and Blue. They will then collect all the flagged bags and fill them with treats to send off to our brave service members and veterans! To read more about this campaign or to see all the flagged bag submissions, click here!

Patrick came up with the idea of a Bald Eagle with his wings open and I decided that that would be a great place to put the American Flag--under his wing span! I learned that I'm not very talented at drawing Bald Eagles, but I think it still turned out pretty cute. Plus, it's the thought that counts, right?

My Flagged Bag!

The Community Wall @ The Snellville Which Wich!

You have until July 4th to visit any Which Wich locaion and Flag Your Bag in support of our awesome service members and veterans! And remember to share your masterpiece using the hashtag, #FlagYourBag!!

Try Something New: Calligraphy

I've always wanted to try calligraphy... ever since I was a little girl, beautiful handwriting has always caught my eye.

I found myself slacking on getting into God's word and found that I was just reading without pulling anything from the passages. So, I decided to spice it up a bit. I went to Hobby Lobby (My favorite store EVER) and bought a simple Strathmore Drawing Notepad and two beginner calligraphy/artist pens. I bought Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens. I bought one medium sized black pen and one brush and only spent around $15 including the notepad.

This is how my take on Bible calligraphy turned out.

I still have tons of learning to do on the correct calligraphy strokes, but hey, I had fun and I was able to take a verse and meditate on it as I was making it into something I think is pretty!

Happy Calligraphy-ing!

Memorial Day 2015

Let me start by saying, the pool at my apartment complex was not open on Memorial Day....What pool in the history of America isn't open on Memorial Day?!

Needless to say, my family and I made other arrangements to meet at Bogan Park in Buford and man, did this bring back some childhood memories! I'm actually grateful that my pool wasn't open considering it was windy and overcast for most of the afternoon. And plus, we had Greyson who really enjoyed all the slides at Bogan Park!

If you've never been to Bogan Park and live in Gwinnett County, you should definitely try it out...entry is only $5.50!!

Greyson (my nephew) and myself having fun at Bogan Park!

After Bogan Park, my family and I had an American Cook-Out at my sisters house with hamburgers, hotdogs, fresh corn on the cob, broccoli and brussell sprouts. Dinner was followed by watermelon for dessert, baseball in the front yard and sparklers and pop-its!

Grey loved the sparklers!!!!

And of course, so did my boyfriend and I! Scarf from Dress Up!

And to end the night, Greyson and Patrick played a little guitar duo! This completely melted my heart.

I hope everyone had a safe and fun Memorial Day!