Hello everyone! Long time no read, I know. 2014 has been moving along pretty quickly for us – I can’t believe we’re already into April! Here is what we’ve been up to the past two months…
I finally opened my Etsy shop! It’s called Peace Love Print, and I provide customized invitations, thank you cards and party supplies – all digitally so that customers can print everything themselves. What is Etsy, you ask? Etsy.com is a website where anyone can open their own “shop” and sell handmade or vintage items. My best friend Cassie has a very successful Etsy shop – she makes amazing cookies (https://www.etsy.com/shop/CookieCoterie) – and has been urging me to open a shop of my own for some time now. I spent much of 2013 creating my shop inventory and feel very good about finally opening my shop! It’s been a big personal goal of mine and felt great finally achieving it.
Here is what Peace Love Print looks like and some of my designs. You can visit my shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/PeaceLovePrint.
Not really knowing what to expect as far as sales when I opened my shop, I’ve been pretty surprised by the response I’ve received from customers! I have orders weekly and am excited to keep adding new inventory to my shop. If you are on Facebook, please be sure to “like” my page at facebook.com/peaceloveprint!
Valentine’s Day also came in February and Alan surprised me with some beautiful red roses and chocolates in a cute kitty container (he knows me so well) when I got up for work that morning! I still don’t know where he hid those roses the evening before without me seeing them…
Also in February, Mardi Gras is always a big celebration here in Mobile, AL. Alan and I headed across the bay to go to a parade with my family in Fairhope one Saturday evening, and we had a great time! The floats were amazing and we caught tons of junk!
March always feels like the start of Spring to me, and although we started out with some still freezing temperatures, by the end of the month it really felt like Spring was in the air! Some of my best friends from college, Jenna and Daniel, came to visit Mobile with their two little boys during the middle of the month, and Alan and I got to go meet them for dinner at Wintzell’s Oyster House in downtown Mobile. We sat outside enjoying the good weather and company.
Also in March, my sister Angela and her two boys came down for Spring Break and stayed with Mom and Dad for a week! I got to see them several evenings after work and even took a whole day off to spend with them. We had a big time at the Bass Pro Shop, shopping at the Eastern Shore Center, playing and having dinner.
And to wrap things up for March, the last day of the month marked me and Alan’s seventh wedding anniversary. To celebrate, we headed to one of our favorite cities in the world – New Orleans! We spent the day sight-seeing around town and at the Aquarium of the America’s (I was very shocked to find out Alan had never been!), ate the most marvelous muffulettas we’ve ever had at Central Grocery, shopped, and enjoyed drinks on Bourbon Street. While there we visited the St. Louis Cathedral (another first for Alan), listened to and watched several interesting street performers, and were lucky enough to catch a traditional New Orleans wedding parade down Bourbon! Never a dull moment in the historic city of New Orleans!
Wow, it’s already February! The first month of the year came and went in a flash, but not without its fair share of fun for the Warrens. We did some traveling, saw some good live music, survived the flu (that wasn’t part of the fun part I mentioned earlier) and a Winter storm. Here are the highlights!
Alan and I kicked off the year by making a quick visit to Memphis to see my sister, brother-in-law and two precious nephews. We had such a good time with them, and I wished it could have lasted longer. I pray that one day we live closer to them so we can be around more to watch our nephews grow up, and I love spending time with my sissy! We also got to see one of my best (and oldest) friends, Anna, and her sweet hubby, David. We all went to a delicious restaurant called Local Gastropub, and enjoyed a night full of good food, wine, and laughter.
On Saturday, January 11 we met up with my parents to see the Black Jacket Symphony perform the entire Beatles album, Abbey Road, at the Mobile Civic Center. The tickets were one of my parents Christmas gifts from me and Alan, and I think they had a pretty good time taking a stroll down memory lane, listening to some music from their generation. First we ate at one of our favorite downtown Mobile restaurants, Buck’s Pizza, and then headed to the show. Afterwards we went for a nightcap at Serda’s Coffee Company. Mama and I even got to hang out with some of the band members!
The day after the show, I woke up with a fever of 102, the chills and was achy all over. It was off to Urgent Care for us only to find out I had Strain A of the flu! Unfortunately, Alan and BOTH my parents came down with it the following day. 😦 I felt terrible for having infected my whole family the night before! But we all came through it with flying colors and are practically rolling in hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes until flu season is over.
Finally, the last week in January didn’t go so quietly for us in Mobile, AL as we had one of the worst Winter storms in the history of the Gulf Coast. On Tuesday, January 28 it started sleeting around noon and didn’t stop till well after dark. The temps got down to the upper teens and we woke up Wednesday morning to a Winter wonderland! Everything (including the roads) was covered in a slab of ice, and what looked like snow on the rooftops was solid ice. Needless to say, we were stuck at home for two days as we waited for the temps to get warm enough to thaw everything out. Alan and I did take the opportunity to go outside and play a little (very carefully). Here’s what it looked like:
Happy February!
December was a great month for the Warrens as we got to celebrate our favorite holiday – Christmas! It truly is the most wonderful time of the year to us, and we love that we got to spend some (much-needed) time relaxing, de-stressing and celebrating the magic of Christmas surrounded by our family. Flake and Gus also really enjoy Christmas because it means there is a big, lit-up tree in our house for a few weeks.
My parents usually spend Christmas in Memphis with my sister, brother-in-law and nephews, so we get together with them and my Uncle Ron the weekend before to celebrate. This always involves fun, laughter, presents, and of course, food.
Mr. and Mrs. Clause
Jolly Ole’ Saint Nick
Me and Mama being silly.
Time to eat!
Mama’s beautiful Christmas dinner table.
After eating and visiting we went to see The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. It has kind of become a tradition since last year we went to see the first movie after our Christmas celebration. Next year, we’ll have to keep the tradition rolling and go see the third movie in the series! 🙂
Our celebrating continued when Alan’s parents came down on Christmas Day. We all had a great time and ate a big Christmas dinner, opened presents, and watched a good bit of our new favorite show, Duck Dynasty.
And also in December, I got to visit a little with my best friend and her daughter, Olivia. These are two of my favorite girls and I was so happy to see them the weekend after Christmas.
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!
Happy New Year! It’s been several months since I’ve posted and have been very busy with the holiday season. We have done a lot of celebrating in the past two months and even a little traveling. Let’s start with Thanksgiving.
We went to Decatur, AL to spend Thanksgiving with Alan’s parents this year. We had such a nice, relaxing visit with them and of course ate a ton of delicious food! Here are some highlights…
I got to watch a little bit of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade that morning with Flake snuggled up in my lap.
Linda, the Master Chef, hard at work in the kitchen.
Our beautiful (and delicious!) Thanksgiving turkey.
Bill got the honor of carving the turkey.
Next up…Christmas!
The weekend before last was a fun one for me and Alan. I had a birthday a few days before, and we celebrated with my family on that Saturday. We went to dinner with my parents and Uncle Ron, where we enjoyed a very yummy dinner at Carrabba’s, had a few drinks and a good time visiting with everyone. They even had delicious cupcakes for me!
Then on Sunday Alan and I drove to Destin for the day to see my sister, brother-in-law and our two precious nephews, who were visiting for the week. I love spending time with them, and wish we could do it more often. With Tropical Storm Karen looming on the horizon, it wasn’t much of a beach day, but that didn’t stop us from having a good time. We hung out in the condo, went to brunch and walked around the Baytown Wharf.
As you can see we had a lot of fun playing and being silly. It was a great weekend!
Happy first day of Fall, everyone! I am so glad it’s finally Fall – it’s my favorite season. I am really looking forward to some cooler temps, too, but I am afraid it will be a while before we see any of that here in the deep south. It’s been a while since my last post so I will give you all a quick update on a few things that have been going on with me and Alan. I didn’t take many photos over the past two months, honestly, so you’ll have to excuse some of the low quality cell phone pics…
We traveled to Hattiesburg at the first of August to celebrate my best friend’s daughter’s birthday. Olivia turned 4 and had an “Old MacDonald” themed party. She had so much fun and was adorable. Of course Cassie went all out with the decor. Check out the cake and cookies she made herself! She’s so talented!
Also in August, Alan and I had a fun date night when we went to a concert in Mobile at the Civic Center Theater. The band is called Black Jacket Symphony, and they travel around putting on shows where they cover an entire classic rock album. They’ve done The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. When we went on August 24th here in Mobile they performed Led Zeppelin’s album IV. It was AH-MAZING, to say the least. From the incredible band to the lead singer’s eerie likeness to Robert Plant, the entertainment was overwhelming. We had a blast and even got to walk the “red carpet” and get our photo taken like celebs.
Mom and I got together a few times in August for some fun girl time. We went and had pedicures one day, and then got our hair done another! Afterwards we met up with the guys for dinner.
On Labor Day weekend we celebrated with my parents and Uncle Ron at Mom and Dad’s house in Daphne. We all had a good time visiting and of course, eating. Dad grilled some awesome steaks and I helped Mom in the kitchen. And by “helped” I mean mostly encouraged her to be silly and take funny pictures with me.
Happy Fall everyone!
Two weeks ago we had a reason to celebrate in the Warren house. Alan turned 35 on July 28th and the weekend of his birthday his parents, Bill and Linda, came down from Dectaur, AL to help us celebrate. They arrived on Friday and that evening we went out to one of Alan’s favorite restaurants in Mobile: Osman’s. We stuffed ourselves with schnitzel, steak, chicken Marsala and salad. It was such a treat!
Bill and Linda at Osman’s.
One serving of the Wiener Schnitzel. Yes, just one! It’s so much food!
My steak was delicious!
Saturday we had a big birthday celebration and it was a very fun day. The birthday boy requested a southern fried chicken dinner, so naturally we went all out with turnip greens, mashed potatoes, pinto beans, biscuits, appetizers, homemade sangria and of course, birthday cake. We needed help eating all of this so my parents and Uncle Ron came over. We all had a great time visiting, laughing, celebrating, oh and eating, of course! Here are some snapshots from the festivities.
Mom and Dad hard at work in the kitchen, frying up some chicken!
I think it’s safe to say Alan had a pretty good birthday this year!
Here’s to the next 35 years!
This post is long overdue and I apologize for it being so late! Our latest renovation project (and hopefully the last in this house!) was done in June on the “master bathroom” in our home. I would hardly call it a “master” bathroom, however, seeing as it boasts a tiny stall shower and you can’t comfortably fit two people at once in the entire bathroom. It is directly off the master bedroom, so I guess it is considered as such but I just like to call it “Alan’s bathroom”. 🙂
Overflowing with aged green tile and a sink and toilet that are probably older than me and Alan combined, the bathroom was in serious need of a makeover. The first thing that came to mind when walking in to that bathroom was “Holy 1950’s!” and to say it was outdated is an understatement.
Alan enlisted the help of his good friend Greg, master handyman and woodworker, and Brian, an avid and creative DIY’er. The two voluntarily came over and spent the whole day working in that tiny space, transforming the “ugly” into the “wow I can’t believe it’s the same bathroom”. Greg arrived bearing multiple power saws, drills, saw horses, and many other types of tools that I can’t name, and the three set to work, stopping only for a quick lunch. The goal was to cover the hideous green tile with a white wainscoting, apply trim to the top and bottom and install a new toilet and sink (made in this century, preferably). Also, there was the question of what to do around the small window in the bathroom, which was also surrounded by the tile.
Our bedroom was a disaster area during the reno.
At the end of the (long) day, it was looking pretty impressive. We were so thankful for Greg and Brian’s help and honestly don’t think it would have turned out this well without all their expertise, sweat and backbreaking work. Next, it was time for Alan to paint the trim, install the new sink and put down some flooring.
All that was left was a new light fixture, and here’s the finished project.
The whole project took about a week, with the light added several weeks later. It was well worth the time and money and we are thrilled with our “new” bathroom!
What do you think about it?
This past weekend was Father’s Day and to celebrate we headed up to Decatur, AL (outside of Huntsville) where Alan’s parents live. Each year on the Saturday of Father’s Day weekend there is a car show at Monte Sano State Park put on by the Huntsville Cave Rescue Unit. We went last year and had so much fun! To continue the tradition we went again this year and Alan’s dad, Bill, entered his 1968 Monza Corvair in the show (he won best in show last year!). It was such a beautiful day high up in the mountains, the weather was perfect and there was a good turnout for the show. They blasted Oldies music, we ate hamburgers and hot dogs, and even got to go walking on some nearby trails through the woods in the park.
Bill’s Corviar – isn’t she a ‘beaut?!
Monza Corvair – not to be confused with a “Fonza” as I kept calling it 🙂
This little guy was shining that car for a loooong time! So cute.
Mercury
Pinto
This was the COOLEST car! Called a “Rat Rod”, this guy made it out of junk parts. It was extremely creative – right down to the vintage suitcases strapped to the top.
The trophy table had three handmade trophies that were very unique!
Later that day we headed back home to Bill and Linda’s where the guys grilled steaks and the puppies played in the water hose.
We had a wonderful Father’s Day weekend with Alan’s parents and are so happy to have been able to spend it with them!
You may remember from my last post that my sister Angela and two my nephews, Harrison (5) and Lawson (2), came to visit last week. They stayed with Mom and Dad and my brother-in-law Jason flew in on Wednesday to spend the rest of the week with us. Angela and the boys stopped at our house on their way in on Sunday and on Tuesday Alan and I went and met them at Tacky Jacks on the Mobile Bay causeway for dinner and fun family time!
On Thursday I headed back across the bay and we all went and ate at the Bass Pro Shop. Uncle Ron came and met us and after dinner we all walked around the store, played at the “shooting range” and marveled at all the wild animals and fish. Then on Friday Alan and I went to Mom and Dad’s where we all met up again for a family backyard bar-b-que, Bulman style!
Mom and Angela hard at work in the kitchen.
Uncle Ron and Harrison playing.
The pre-dinner spread!
Dad, the Grill Master!
Two precious nephews.
Little Lawson man
Uncle Alan teaching the boys some tricks.
Big happy family! Bulmans, Singleys, Acuffs and Warrens. One thing we know how to do when we all get together: EAT!
We celebrated Dad and Angela’s birthdays a little early.
Lawson wanted to help blow out the candles.
Angela loves Duck Dynasty.
I love my sweet family and cherish the time we get to spend together. We always make a lot of good memories!
What's Up With The Warrens? 