Lately...

I know you'll be so glad to check this blog and not see 9 by Design. Can't believe 20+ days have passed. Opps.

Well, here's what we've been doing.

These folks came for a visit:

We had a great time- golf, shopping, eating, drinking...what else can you ask for? Can't wait to see them (and the WHOLE Hedgspeth fam) in two weeks at the lovely beaches of NC!

The day Mom and Dad headed out, we hosted a party to celebrate our friends Dan and Jayme's time here in NC. We love where we live, but being the in middle of Duke and Carolina makes May difficult. Every year we lose friends to graduation and new jobs out of town. Dan and Jayme moved back home to Michigan and our other great friends, the Smith's, headed to Indy. Both are dearly loved and dearly missed already.

Back to the party, with lots of friends and lots of kiddos!
Brad and Julie (below) get a gold star because they came all the way from Nashville to surprise everyone.
Here is our shepherding group, mixed past and present:
We love these people, and they bless us daily!

We also had Lillie over for a mini slumber party. Date night swap is the best idea ever. Thanks McGinity's!
I know you love my child's drool covered chin and dirty bib. Gross.

Here's a cute one, just so she can redeem herself (and to prove that we have been spending time at the pool) This hair has a mind of its own...
I will be back with more soon, I promise. Including a great before and after...

Today's Obsession

I'm kind of obsessing over this new Bravo show, 9 By Design. Synopsis: Husband and wife design team build incredible homes filled with stellar modern art in order to flip them. They also have a design firm Sixx Design. Oh, and they have 7 (very stylish) children.

I am also thinking a lot about designers with and without educations in the field and about design bloggers. I probably need to think about it more before I blog to the public about it. I don't want to offend anyone (while I do love design and love people that love design- bottom line). I used to be a member of ASID (American Society of Interior Designers)--mainly because my old boss made me :) ASID, amongst other organizations, pushes hard for the interior design title act. I don't like that. I'm not a member anymore. I do like having an accredited design degree. The designers from Sixx Design are self taught. Most of the most popular designer bloggers don't have degrees (at least that is my understanding). You'd think that education leads to success. I'm sure that it does sometimes. I've been perceiving lately that the design spotlight is on people that simply have good style (which is VERY important). Does anybody have any thoughts on this? I'm going to just bluntly say that I'm not sure how I feel about it. It is negative of me to think that all you have to do these days to be a design guru is have the time to read every magazine and talk about what other people did? Am I just having issues with my own lack of magazine time? :)

Surely this happens in other fields, but what does it look like? Like are Doctors upset that I can now go to clinic in Walgreens or CVS?

Is it wrong that I think the people that do design without an education have more fun?

Like I said, I probably should have maintained an internal monologue about this. I really am just happy for design to flourish- I don't care who's in the spotlight, really. I just have noticed the shift. On the other hand, Thom Filicia is everywhere right now and Albert Hadley was in Elle Decor last month. The experienced and the educated have not gotten off the bus. In the meantime, I will do my best at my job and will continue to read the blogs I love and watch 9 By Design (and try not to covet their latest house).

Why?

While watching a game last night, it occurred to me that baseball is the only sport where the coaches wear the uniform. Why would they do that? Do they really need to be in sliding pants, just in case? What if Roy started wearing a Carolina basketball uniform? Inappropriate.

Why does stuff like this only happen when Stephen is working on a Saturday?
And why do I feel guilty when I do this during Sadie's afternoon nap?
Maybe I won't feel so guilty this week since I had to deal with that tree this weekend :)

And yes, 11 years later, I'm reading Harry Potter, and I'm kind of obsessed (to my complete surprise).

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and Mother's Day! Stephen was very sweet and cooked me pancakes. I had a great first Mother's Day- thank you, Stephen!

MMJ Replay

Happy Six Month Birthday, Sadie!

My little bit is getting so big! Check out that shoulder definition- she's pumping iron. (Sidenote- $10 says that when my mom reads this post that she will tell me I should have ironed Sadie's sunhat- love you, mom) I was getting ready to type that I can't believe that six months have passed, but I kind of can believe it. Babies are a lot of work- a lot of wonderful work. I am so thankful for Sadie, and we praise God for these past six months. Let's reflect on when she was fresh into the world....
Is she saying "west side" in this picture? It's also funny to she her with dark and straight hair.

Enough reflecting, let's note that Sadie made her first trip to the pool this past weekend. I unfortunately forgot that she'd need swim diapers, so next time, we'll get in. If she is anything like her mom, she will spend a lot of time at the pool. I would occasionally leave the pool to attend my college classes, and even then, kept my suit on under my sundress and picked up an ice cream cone on the way. Nice. This is when Stephen would start singing Glory Days to me.
On another note, my roses are GORGEOUS this year:

Hope everyone had a happy Tuesday! I'll be back soon with a post about the My Morning Jacket concert.

Asheville

Nine years later, I am finally doing this post. Sorry. Last month we went to Chattanooga, as you know, and then we stopped over and spent a night in Asheville. We've decided that a car trip with a baby is all about meandering and not about getting from point A to point B. I've also decided that Asheville so close, and we don't spend near enough time there.

Stephen had some Marriott points, so we stayed at The Grand Bohemian in the Biltmore Village. It was pretty awesome. Our room was ENORMOUS. I will high light some design elements below:

There were kind of a lot of antlers, but it really didn't bother me. The houndstooth carpet was sharp, the bedding super soft, and there was a lot of custom lighting and furniture, which I found impressive.

See exhibit A:

Yes, that is the bathroom and bathtub to the left. Sadie enjoyed her first hotel stay. We were just thankful that she didn't scream her head off, and luckily they placed us next to the stairs. When would I have ever thought about that before?

Pressing on...here is the wet bar. I liked the horizontal paneling and the floor tile.
I definitely was excited about the stone counter top in the bathroom. The picture doesn't show the color very well, but it was brownish grey and aqua blue.
I also have a confession to make. I recently came home from a client meeting and gossiped with Stephen about how I could not believe that they wanted biscuit colored sinks, toilets, tubs. It just sounds dirty. Well, I got to the hotel, and I felt like I needed to renig. It totally had biscuit everywhere, and it looked nice. Any feedback on this would be appreicated (Doug, you're probably the only person that reads this blog that might care).

Anyway, if anyone is looking to pick up a piece of art for me, you can find this in the hotel hallway. A burro and sheep?! We're destined to be together (but it probably needs a different frame).
We were only in Asheville for a night, so we ate Mexican dinner and headed back to watch tv in bed. We don't have a tv in our bedroom at home, so that is my favorite part of staying in a hotel. The next morning we loaded all our crap (I mean how much does a family of 3 need for one night?) back into the car, and headed downtown. We didn't have much time, but we hit up Mast General (love) and then tried out the highly recommended Tupelo Honey. All I can say is sweet potato pancakes:
And an incredible biscuit:
That is the kind of biscuit I will take all day long. When I die and go to heaven, it is going to be like eating this biscuit with their homemade blackberry jam and melty butter. I think I could eat at Tupelo Honey everyday for the rest of my life. I can't wait to go back and try their shrimp and grits (hello goat cheese and spicy red pepper sauce). Let's also savor the fact that some menu items have a "SHOO-mercy" option, where they kick it up a notch. Love it, and their t-shirts are cute, and I bet the pecan pie that they will ship anywhere is worth whatever it may cost. My final comment is that we almost danced to Tupelo Honey (by the great Van Morrison) at our wedding (no song change, just regretfully opted out of dancing-I really don't like being stared at), so it was fitting that this was our special anniversary meal.