2012 ~ A Year in Review!

I feel like it was just yesterday we were celebrating the New Year for 2012 and now here we are staring 2013 in the face! Can time slow down please?! 2012 was a fabulous year in the Harrell household and I am more than excited to see what 2013 has in store for us!

In January, we threw my mom a HUGE 50th Birthday party!!! It was a success and she was beyond thrilled to celebrate such a milestone with her friends and family!

In February, we celebrated our 6th Valentines day together and 2 years of being engaged!

In March, I began blogging regularly which has opened lots of opportunities for future endeavors!

In April, our wedding day was featured on Heart Love Weddings!

In May, we made our modeling debut in a local magazine publication, Suffolk Living Magazine! It was beyond fun and surreal to see ourselves in a printed publication! The hubby was also promoted at work!

In June, we celebrated our first year Wedding Anniversary with a Annimoon trip to Charleston, South Carolina. This city quickly became my favorite place in the states! We documented our trip with a photo shoot by the fantastic Dana Cubbage Photography! I was also promoted at my place of employment!

Our wedding day shoes, our toasting flutes, and our wedding video! 

In July, we celebrated the hubby's 26th birthday with a weekend trip to D.C. to see his team, the Braves, play the Nationals! We also celebrated Baby Reef's 1st birthday with a pool party at his brother's house!

In August, we joined my in-laws in Emerald Isle for their yearly family summer vacation! My best friend also came down to visit for a weekend and we celebrated the engagement of two dear friends!

In September, we bought a new car!

In October, we traveled to the hubby's Alma Mater, Hampden-Sydney College for our third annual Homecoming weekend, with his baseball buddies and their wives!

In November, I cooked my first Thanksgiving Day turkey and pumpkin cheesecake which both turned out to be delicious! We also attended our first black tie event!

In December, we celebrated my 28th birthday and our 2nd married Christmas together!

I can already see 2013 being a fantastic year for us and I truly hope 2013 brings millions of blessings to all of you! Thank-you for making this past year so much sweeter - see you lovely fans next year ;) !!!!

"For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, We'll take a cup o'kindess yet, for auld lang syne!"

Friday's Letters!

It's Friday with a 4 day weekend that greets me at 5 pm! Whoohooo!



Dear Unorganized Clutter Everywhere Home, I am ready to get down and dirty with you! Meaning you are in for a serious cleaning this weekend! Not to mention you are in need of organization! I can't take it anymore! It's to the point that I look around and don't even know where to begin! Dear Amish Mafia, I can not even take you seriously! I can't help but laugh when these "mafia men" handle their business and the screen blacks out with text stating they can't show what happened! Really? Is this a joke?! Dear Shellac Manicure, I freaking love you! I love how you make my fingers look so girly and how you last for so long! I really need to treat myself to you more often! Dear Christmas, I'm not going to lie, I'm ready for you to get here! This was the first year I waited till the last minute to Christmas shop and needless to say I can feel my face preparing for a stress break out at any moment! Dear Baby Reef, you make our family complete! I adore how funny you are, how snuggly you are, how well behaved you are! Your personality never ceases to make me smile! I love you my little furry child and thank God daily for picking us to be your family! I'm also obsessed with these photos of you from daycare this week! Precious! 

Have a fabulous weekend, darlings!!!

Under the Tree for Me!

Here are a few things that I'm hoping Santa brings me this Christmas!

A monogrammed necklace to adorn my neck!


Order Here

All past seasons of White Collar {So I can watch Mr. Bomer anytime I want}!

Order Here

The Remington Large Curling Wand! I tried the mini one and it works wonders, however for my long hair I think the large one would be easier!

Order Here

 A glass engraved jewelry box with my married monogram! There is something so classic about this and I know it would look beautiful on my dresser!

Order Here

Two of these Bergère chairs for our home office!

Order Here

I haven't asked Santa for much this year but hope he comes through with a few of these items!

Happy Thursday loves! XOXO! 

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I was so surprised with how many bloggers actually participated in yesterday's Blogger Day of Silence in honor of the precious children and victims of the Sandy Hook tragedy! There were sooooo many of us who participated and I am so proud of the blogging community for this! Healing will happen, one step at a time, one moment at a time, one prayer at a time.

Found here

Now that I'm back to blogging full time, I could not be more excited to get back to WILW! Ready to see my list?! Me too!!

1. All the thoughtful phone calls, texts, blog comments, instagram comments, and facebook posts I received Monday, in honor of my 28th birthday! I felt so loved and appreciated by all of you and I am extremely grateful for everyone who thought of me on my special day!

2. The plans to purge and redecorate our home after Christmas! I adore our home, but much of our decor followed us from our apartment that I first moved into 6 years ago. To say my tastes have changed is an understatement! I'm planning on going a more classic route with french influences speckled throughout! If you follow me on Pinterest, you'll see a whole board dedicated to 'New Home Decor'. Purging is a necessity! We are at max capacity in this house and if I receive one more knick knack I may just flip!

Found here

3. My continuous effort to gain more experience in PR and Marketing to land a new job in the future! About a month ago, I finally decided I needed to beef my resume up to appeal to hiring managers and companies in the PR and Marketing field. Yes, it's what I majored in and studied in school, but they don't care about that! They want the hands on experience... and... well... I'll be the first to tell you, landing a job without the experience is nearly impossible! After mulling over ideas I finally decided I would volunteer my extra time {what extra time?} and help organizations/ companies with PR and/or marketing work! I just finished working with VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads on a campaign to help them win a $7,000 grant! Unfortunately, I floundered! Or at least I feel I did as they won 4th place, however, they did win a $2,000 grant so I assume that is better than nothing at all! I plan to continue to help them when I'm needed! I am also currently in the process of helping a local photographer as her acting PR representative. I have a lot of research and work ahead of me but I am looking forward to working with her! Lastly, starting in January, I will be helping the PR division of YAAA! Hampton Roads {Young Adults for Alzheimer's Awareness}. I know I will be extremely busy in the next few months but I am looking forward to it because I know the outcome will be more than my little heart desires!

4. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge expecting!!! I know this news is a few weeks old but holy moly I am so excited for them!!! While I do wish they had waited a wee bit longer {so her and I could be pregnant together} after watching TLC's A Royal Baby Story I have a new understanding of the pressures they are under to produce another heir to the throne. I think for American's it is difficult to totally comprehend the monarchy, their traditions and expectations. Ultimately it is Will and Kate's decision and I think they are perfectly capable of making the decisions that are right for them! I know having a boy is preferred but I secretly {not so secret now} hope they have a little girl! It doesn't really matter what they have because of the rule change that even if it's a girl she can still take the throne! Girls rule and boys drool!

Found here

5. The world Darling! I seriously believe I am going to make this my new favorite word, next to Fabulous of course. What is it about Dah-ling? It sounds sophisticated, endearing, eloquent! Classic as it gets! I do believe hunny is being replaced with Darling... asap! Now if only I had the English accent to accompany this beautiful word!

I hope you all are having a wonderful week so far! I've been busy starting and finishing up Christmas shopping! I have already promised myself that I will not wait this late next year! WIll NOT!

XoXo my Darlings!!!

A Blogging Day of Silence... A Tribute to those Precious Souls Lost!

28 years, 336 months, 10,226 days, 245,443 hours

I've been blessed with 28 years of life today! 336 months, 10,226 days, 245,443 hours of life on this planet! I'm truly humbled when I sit back and think of how lucky I am to have seen those hours, those days, those months, and those years!

I can recall being 18 years old and looking at 28 year old adults, thinking how old, wise, and mature they were! How they had great careers, how they were married, some possibly with children, and how that seemed to be so far away for me! Now it's here and while I do feel wise beyond my years, I don't feel old. Maturity comes and goes, depending on how you define maturity! I handle situations like an adult but I enjoy having fun; laughing, joking, being a kid. I may not have a great career but I'm working on it, none-the-less, I do have a job with benefits. I am now married and while we do plan to have a family, it won't be any time soon, Baby Reef is enough for now. It just amuses me to think of the 18 year old views I had of 28 year olds, and now that I'm 28, some are accurate while others are far from it. 

I can also remember thinking of where I would actually be at 28! I had no doubt I would be living in NYC! Working as a journalist for a big time network! Frequenting the most popular hot spots. Wearing the hottest fashions and designers. Living in a penthouse in Manhattan with a husband or a fiancé...or neither! I was okay with the idea of being Miss I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T! My how times and things have changed! While I would love to know if I could have made it in the big city, I'm perfectly happy with the life I now live! That life now consists of owning and living in a townhome in the suburbs 30 minutes away from my hometown. I work for a Mortgage Company as an Executive Assistant. I've been married for 1.5 years and I'm a momma to the sweetest yellow lab. My favorite hot spot to frequent is my home and lord knows I save my hard earned money for the few designer duds I own! Not an outlandish life to most, but it's ridiculously perfect for me! I know God has put me here and has given me this life over the other for a reason and I'm grateful for every day that I have been given to live it! 

While most of my birthday's have been celebrated with overexcitement and celebration, I'm spending this one, just appreciating what all I have! No parties, no big dinners, just keeping it low key! Spending the day with morning snuggles from Baby Reef, Christmas shopping, using part of my birthday gift from the hubby and going to get a mani and pedi, and having a sweet little date night with my one and only! I think occasionally forgoing the hoopla allows us to focus more on what we have and what we've done with our lives, to appreciate where we are, who we've become, and what we've done with the gifts we've been given. 

Love and Kisses to you all! Have a splendid Monday and even though it may not be your birthday - sit back and take a look at all the blessings that surround you. It puts so much into perspective! 

XOXO

Testing, Testing, 1-2, 1-2, 1-2-3

Hello Hello Hello my housewife lovers!!!!!!!! Let me first just say this isn't a full blown "real" post but it feels good to be "almost" back!

I have a whole new design layout thanks to the fabulous Miss Ashlyn over at Let it be Beautiful! This has been in the works for some time now, but I wasn't in a rush and Ashlyn was super busy studying her booty off in school! I knew it would get done when the time was right! Well now is that time!

I've missed the blogging world terribly and can't wait to dive back into it! I'm really looking forward to taking the blog in a whole new direction and to make this a productive and enjoyable hobby! The design was first and foremost! Now that it is complete, we've already moved on to the next step... making it more mobile! Meaning, either invest in a laptop or iPad! We bought a gorgeous iMac two Christmas's ago and while we love it, we obviously can't take it anywhere or use it throughout the house! I really enjoy spending time with my hubby in the evenings and considering he goes to bed at 9 pm our quality time is precious! I hated sitting in our office blogging away while he was in the living room watching TV! I also can't stand when we don't go to bed together, but going to bed at 9 really limits my productivity in the evenings, especially when I don't get home from work until 6! Needless to say an iPad or laptop was top on our "next to get" list! Well... low and behold we now have a Macbook courtesy of my in-laws! We can't thank them enough for this gift! Now I can blog on the couch with the hubby and "go to bed" with him yet still get things accomplished! So yes, as I write this, the hubs is sprawled out snoring and Baby Reef is keeping my feet warm! There are many more items on my blogging "to-do" list, but I think I am off to a roaring start!

I hope all of you have been doing fabulously these last few months and I can't wait to catch up with each and every one of you!

I'll leave you with our 2012 Christmas card! For the last 4 years I've used Vista Print for our Christmas cards as they are extremely inexpensive. This year I just couldn't find a design I really liked, so I checked out a few other websites like Minted and Shutterfly! I decided on Shutterfly as they were having a HUGE sale, a Free Shipping promo, and a ton of designs I loved! I saved HALF on our order! Can't go wrong with that! Now that the majority have been mailed out, I can share with all of you!

Photos taken by the ever so talented Tara of Tara Liebeck Photography!

Much love and XoXos!

HELP ME PLEASE!

Hey loves! I know it's been awhile since I've blogged and as much as I'd liked to say I'm back... well just give me a few more weeks {and NO I am not preggers}!

I am writing today because I desperately need your help! Recently I came in contact with a volunteering organization in my area in hopes to get some on-hands experience in Marketing and PR so that 1. I can add it to my resume and 2. eventually get a job in this field! This organization asked me to come up with a Marketing plan to help them win a $7,000 grant! It's a nation wide contest and there are four organizations a part of it! Volunteer Hampton Roads {who I am working with} is currently in last place and this needs to change!

Please visit this link and vote DAILY for the video with the green circles and children on the playset! I can't beg you all enough to do this for me!!! I don't want to fail them!!!!!

VOTE HERE! PLEASE PLEASE!

Thank you and much love! I miss you all and promise I will be back soon!!!

XoXo,