Clemson Homecoming with Bonnie Blue

Well we are down to only two more home games this season for Clemson football! The fall is flying by!! This past week was homecoming and we played Syracuse. Taylor's parents have a golden retriever named Bonnie Blue who they bring up every home game weekend, but they usually keep her in the camper! Since this game was a night game and we had all day to tailgate, they brought her along to hang out for the day :) I convinced Stu to talk her with us on our walk across campus to see the homecoming floats that Student life makes every year. We really want a dog of our own, but this was definitely a test of how it will completely change out schedule!!
Miss Bonnie Blue has a mind of her own, as you'll see in the pictures below. She often decided to stop at random tailgates for attention, or just to let us know she needed water.

 

 

Update on house plans

With everything I have been doing, I have let my blog fall on the back burner, so tonight will be an update! I have been doing trunk shows around the state for A Southern Touch, babysitting, and even taken on a position at a local children's boutique in Greenville. It's been crazy getting my schedules together, and now with the holiday season, it's going to be even more nuts! And to top it all off, we are a month in with renovations to our new house... Check out what's been going on so far!

 

Most of the floors that we plan to pull up are now all out! The wall that we are taking down is between the kitchen and the dining room. We want to open it up to have a bigger feel, and be able to put a small island with barstools up where the wall was.

I have been living on Pinterest and buying home décor out like crazy and here are some ideas I have fallen in love with for our house!

Days 1-5 of our fixer upper

All carpet is up and most wall paper is down! My thighs are burning from being hunched over ripping up the particle boards that were under the foam which was under the carpet.

October's Favorite Things

I can not believe that we are already in the second week of October 2014!! Where has this year gone?! I have finally got together my favorite things for this month :)

Kate Spade Bangle- I picked up this fabulous bracelet at the New NordstromRak in Greenville! It's definitely in my everyday stack now!

Two Faced Eyebrow Kit- You all know that I do not wear a lot of makeup, but I have been trying a few new things like contouring and filling in my eyebrows. After using this kit once, I would recommend it to anyone! Another one of my NordstromRak finds :) I picked up this little love box for $11 vs the regular price of $39!! What a steal!

Ally B Boutique Monogrammed Boots- Last month, Stuart and I ventured to Tallahassee to watch Clemson play FSU. We drove down Friday afternoon and stayed the night in Thomasville, GA since its just a short drive out of Tallahassee. We got brunch the next morning a did a little shopping before heading to the game, and I could not believe this fantastic find! Stu bought me this perfect pair of boots for under $70 including the monograms and shipping cost!

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread- White girls love their Pumpkin Spice!! This time of year, I get extra excited about lighting candles around the house and making coffee because it's always pumpkin spice flavored :) I love a good pumpkin bread and Trader Joe's has the perfect box mix to make your own! I made this for the tailgate last weekend, and it got eaten up quickly!

OPI Nail Color- Going My Way or Norway? - My nails are currently pink for Breast Caner Awareness, but this gorgeous color is coming next! A light toned sandy brown creme polish that's just about light enough to be a nude but still has some color and richness to it.  A nice, tame color for the season.

Biltmore Malbec- While we were on my bachelorette party, my girls and I went to a wine tasting at The Biltmore. Most Biltmore wines are sold in local grocery stores, but there are a select few that they keep special for Biltmore goers only! This Malbec wine is one of them! I am not usually a fan of red wine, but in this case, I quickly changed my mind :) I have tried other Malbec wines since then, but haven't found any this delicious!

Aztec Sweater- I am all about some Aztec print this season! I picked up a loose open Aztec sweater from TJMaxx for just $20! I love the one I pictured above though because of all the colors :)

New House!!

Last week, I posted some pictures on facebook, but have failed to update everything on here...

 Stu and I are excited to say that we have finally found a house that we are in love with! We closed last Tuesday and started renovating Thursday!

 

We have a list of things we would like to do before we move in including, take out carpet, put down hardwood floors, take down wallpaper, paint walls, ... etc.

#orange4tucker

The loss of a loved one is like no other pain. Grief lingers for the rest of your life, touching you with sorrows in different ways at different times. Your goal is not necessarily to rid your life of the pain, but to live with it and remember the best things about your loved one.

My heart dropped and I instantly got a lump in my throat as I read a text from Stuart yesterday afternoon while at Starbucks. My eyes filled with tears, as they are now, and I kept reading the text over and over in my head. I had watched the news earlier in the morning and heard that a Clemson Student’s body was found in Lake Hartwell and they had indentified the body. I didn’t listen in close to who it was because we really don’t know too many students left at Clemson, I didn’t possibly think it could be one of them.

A few weeks ago, Stuart and I were dog sitting for a family in Greenville, and decided to take the dogs downtown for a walk. Of course I got hungry and Wild Wing Café was the first place I thought of because we could eat outside while the dogs laid under the table with us. Our furry little buddies, Finn and Tucker, greeted everyone as they walked by including our waiter, Tucker. We laughed as he introduced himself since he had the same name as the dog. I am always finding out everyone’s life history, so obviously I started to ask him about his self as he kept coming back to our table. He told us he was from Piedmont and was going to be a sophomore at Clemson. Since I am all about going greek, I asked if he was in a fraternity and he quickly said he was looking forward to pledging SigEp.

Tucker had an unforgettable smile and a personality that made you want to be friends with him.

As we watched the news last night, it weighed heavy on my heart that this tragedy happened. Tucker Hipp was only 19 years old. He was his parent’s only child and he was in a serious relationship. I just was talking to Stuart on Saturday about losing a spouse and not under standing how you could ever get over it. I hope this is something that we will not have to deal with in our lifetime, but feel awful for those who have gone through it. The Lord sure does work in mysterious ways, and I will never understand how he chooses who will come live with him next. 

I feel safe to say that sweet Tucker is holding up his tiger rap and representing Clemson well.  

The righteous cry, and the Lord hears

And delivers them out of all their troubles.

The Lord is near to the brokenhearterd

And saves those whoare crushed in spirit.

Psalm 34: 17-18

TBT Tallahassee edition

Stu and I are headed to Tallahassee to watch Clemson take on the Florida Seminoles this weekend and in honor of our road trip I decided to post some throwback pictures of our last trip there!

 

Props to FSU for having the most fun tailgate I've ever been to! These people really know how to host a party to get ready for their team to play! We got so many ideas from them... and have failed to recreate any of them at Clemson ... YET.

 

Our sun filled weekend included going out Friday before tailgating our tails off on Saturday and then that long car ride home Sunday.

The FSU fans were also some of the nicest people!! I guess the fact that they know they are better than everyone has something to do with it... but hey, they welcomed us into their city and shared their town with all us tigers for the weekend! We even had a surprise visit by their head coach's wife! Of course I had to get a picture with her :)

I hope we will be able to come back with this many memories this time, even though we will be missing The Wolf Pack on our trip!