I hope you all had a nice Memorial Day! We actually had a last minute cancellation of plans and stayed home, which turned out to be really nice. Neither Jimmy nor I remember a holiday weekend where we had nothing on the agenda. We ran some errands and had nice family time. Yesterday the entire family took an afternoon nap, which was pretty heavenly.
Here are some highlights from the past week or so.
Last weekend Jimmy took Quinn to visit his grandmother, so Oliver and I had a mother/son weekend. His Godmother and I took him to his first movie, and then he and I hit up Build A Bear and Legoland. I claimed it was still part of celebrating his birthday, but I honestly enjoyed it as much or more than him.
He picked out the bear and UGA outfit himself... and then when I asked what he wanted to name him, he immediatly said "Paul." That child amazes me sometimes.
Oliver and Paul sat through all of "Boss Baby." It was honestly not my fave movie, but I loved watching him. The Phipps reclining seats were clutch. He kept climbing into my lap and back into his own seat. It was really sweet.
Our favorite part of Legoland was the ride where you shoot the dragons, and other than a 10 minute breakdown where Oliver threw himself on the floor and cried over not being able to skip the line, we had a nice time. :)
We loved the 4D movie even thought Oliver couldn't quite figure out the glasses!
On Sunday we celebrated my Father-In-Law's Birthday at Bones. The meal was really incredible. Thank you and Love you Jack! Happy Birthday!
Tuesday was Oliver's last day of school, which was really a lot more emotional than I thought it would be. He's had the most amazing first year and LOVES going. I actually cried a little bit when we left, which is not like me at all!
I mentioned last blog post that we were getting doves from Stromberg's. They arrived at the post office, and we went to pick them up as a family.
I did my first Instagram Live video as we released them into the cage with the old doves. It was really touch and go there for a minute as we didn't know if there would be a peaceful welcoming or a fight to the death.
It was sort of a mix of the two, but I'm happy to report they're all friends now.
On Thursday Quinn turned one! We went to Jalisco's, which is becoming our family birthday tradition.
Don't worry... she's reaching for the cake, not the beer.
Last week I spoke on the phone the someone about developing a strategy for doing PR for my paintings. I spent time reaching out to people seeing if they would do trades or features of my art. I really am trying SO hard to become successful with the art. It's truly been a lifelong dream of mine, and specifically something my dad always really wanted for me. I wrote about that in my eulogy. He was so supportive of my photography and painting and was such a huge cheerleader for me. Since he passed away I feel like I really need to give it my ALL as a way of honoring both him and myself.
In my search for people to collaborate with, I fell in love with a few feeds. I ended up obsessed with what other people were doing. Creativity is so inspiring to me. Here are a few of my favorites.
See what I mean? there is so much inspiration out there! I've worked really hard on improving my own instagram and am not selling paintings directly from my feed. Check it out if you like.
And now on to this past weekend.
I did a little shopping to fluff up our house a little (always). I stopped by Interior Philosophy. Have you been? I'm obsessed with it all... especially the pillows. They are phenominal.
Check out their website and Instagram.
On Saturday my mom and I went up to Dawsonville to the Restoration Hardware outlet. DID YOU KNOW THAT EXISTED??? It was heavenly. I wasn't planning on getting much, but before I knew it I was headed home with new pillows and new bedding (more to come on that), and new bar stools that I scored for $45. Below are a few highlights.
FYI, I chopped those myself just for the picture.
Can you believe it? For someone who loves interiors and a deal, it was pretty much the best thing ever.
The rest of the weekend we spent as a family at the lake and the pool just enjoying being together.
Have a great week everybody!
Blayne