Flower Balls

I love the idea of having flower balls to jazz up a party. For the "backyard barbeque"wedding shower this weekend, I am going to make floating flower balls to put in our small pond. If you've ever been to the Wynn in Las Vegas, they have the most gorgeous flower bouquets hanging from trees in the lobby. These floating bouquets are similar to some that were at a wedding I went to in Maui last summer. Mine are going to be much smaller, consisting of green and yellow fake gerber daisies.

When I was little, my family (WHOLE family) took road trips to Nashville,TN almost every year. We loaded up our green, Ford mini-van, set our box TV in between the seats, and drove the eleven hours from Suffolk, VA through the Great Smoky Mountains. One of my favorite stops along the way was Dolly Parton's famous, Dollywood. Located at the bottom of the Great Smoky Mountains in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, Dollywood is one of the most popular family vacation destinations (at least my sister and I thought so as kids). With that being said, we might make it one of our stops along the drive to Nashville in a few weeks for the CMA Music Festival. I also want to visit the Biltmore in Asheville, NC (because Richie Rich was filmed there, duh) and maybe do some hiking along the way. So excited!

America's Next Top Models?

I spent this past weekend in OBX with three of my best friends from UNCW.  As you can see, we have a little too much fun when we get together. It is a rare occasion that we can all get together for a fun, catch-up weekend, so this was a real treat :-)  I only wish we all lived next door to each other still... 

My sister and I got this amazing dog painting done for my parents this past Christmas by the talented Alessandra Sulpy. If you're dog obsessed, like my family is, you will appreciate the detail and accuracy she puts into her creations. I sent her pictures of our three dogs, picked a neat background, and this is what she came up with. The pricing depends on how many dogs are in one picture and the size of the canvas. Ours came out to $150 for a 10X16 painting. Well worth it!

Heartless

Kris Allen's performance on American Idol last night blew Adam Lambert and Danny Gokey's performances out of the water. His performance was inventive, edgy, and as Randy said, better than Kanye's original version (ha! Take that Kanye). AND, his rendition of the song was pure acoustic. From the beginning of the season, I picked Adam to win it all, but now I'm rooting for Kris big time. Don't get me wrong, Adam is very talented, but I think everyone assumes he will win. I think Kris Allen might surprise everyone. Just check out this performance from last night:

My very first rock concert was No Doubt in 5th grade with a friend and her mom. Growing up, I was in love with the band and idolized Gwen Stefani. Even now, if I could have one fashion role model, she's it. No Doubt has a new single out, "Stand and Deliver," previously recorded by Adam & The Ants and Sugar Ray. I saw it performed on Gossip Girl (yes, Gossip Girl) last night and I think No Doubt might be making a pretty sweet comeback. I can't wait to see what they come up with next! "Sunday Morning" is still an all-time favorite...

Country Music Festival

I haven't been to Nashville, TN since I was little, so I am super pumped to go to the CMA Country Music Festival for four days in June (crossing my fingers).  The line-up includes artists such as Little Big Town, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum, and many more!  My personal favorite, Dierks Bentley, will also be playing and I cannot wait.  I've been dying to see him for the longest time.  If you haven't checked out any of his tunes, listen to sweet and wild:  

Four days of non-stop festivities in the birthplace of country music sounds like a great start to my summer.