Welcome back.

It has been over a year since I blogged.
Nothing to say I guess?
Just stopping by now to do a dump of England pictures from my trip this summer with my mom and my sister. I like saving things like this for posterity, I guess in case my hard drive gets destroyed or something?
So, welcome back is two fold - a new blog post and a second trip to England for me. It was a lovely, fun week full of map reading, subway riding, scenic pictures, some great food, and sweet time with my family.
(Also - forgive the pictures being all in a wacky order. I got tired of trying to rearrange them from a weird upload.)

The first day there, Mary picked us up from the airport and on the way to her house, we stopped at Stonehenge. After flying all night basically and being awake for too many hours, it was so nice to see these wide open spaces, beautiful skies, and amazing scenes.

My favorite little barn in all of England.

A beautiful little country church and cemetery up on the Moors. The weather could not have been more perfect.

Little kneeling pillows in the church. I imagine someone's Mema did all the needlepoint on these so you'd have a soft place to put your knees.

We all nearly melted over this little cutie. Wild horses on the moors. 

And so many sheep!

Sheep!

Mom and Sis on the train!

Old school locomotive. See the fire burning inside right behind the guy?

Our sweet, gracious host - cousin Mary. 

I think Mary said this building on the hill was part of the Royal Naval College.

 

I loved this little colorful seaside town and its delicious brie baguettes!

Mom and I on the train to London.

The three of us at the Exeter Cathedral. Always so windy!

Inside the Exeter Cathedral.

Hello Big Ben!

We went on a walking tour as part of our tour bus tickets with a super knowledgeable, friendly little guide. Watching the Changing of the Guard was on mom's "don't miss!" list so we actually got to see most of the stages of it from the old palace to Buckingham and everything in between.

Gargoyles on Westminster Abbey - for Mom.

Westminster Abbey.

Part of the Changing of the Guard.

Yeomen of the Tower. And us.

Mom and I at the Tower of London.

Mom and Sis at the Tower. Mostly just wanted you to notice the faux monkey over their heads. 

Tower Bridge - not to be confused with the London Bridge.

Mary was a genius and got us tickets for a play at the Globe Theater. It was a Irish version of the Taming of the Shrew. We all enjoyed it and our seated, in the shade tickets quite immensely!

Inside the Globe Theater. 

This is us being thankful for our seated/shaded seats. 

Westminster Abbey.

The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, with our 2,000 closest friends.

For mom.

For mom.

My sweet Momma - who can't pass a flower garden without enjoying it - a trait I hope to carry on.

That's pure joy. One of the highlights of our trip was having a proper high tea at the Lanesborough Hotel. So posh. We were totally out of place but had a hilariously good time and the food and tea was delicious!

Watching their flowering tea bloom. 

My favorite little hazelnut chocolate. So they brought me three more. 

I'm so thankful for this woman - and apparently catching my sister off guard. I'm thankful that she wants to make memories and go place and enjoy life. 

And for these guys humoring us with  photo in the park. 

February Birchbox!

It is Birchbox time! This was a pretty good box this month - it looks like they partnered with Us Weekly (magazine) but I am not really sure where anything different or special happened because of it. That's ok with me since it is basically a gossip mag - something I am interested in having less of in my life. :)

Upon first opening...the theme looks like Step. Pose. Repeat. I know this is NY Fashion Week so maybe that is the connection.

Here are all the goodies before inspection...

This is Dr. Brandt brand "Pores No More" pore refiner. I don't think I really have a problem with large pores but sometimes I use products like this before my foundation when I am really trying to pull it all together. So, I'll stock it away!

This is the "lifestyle extra" for my box this month - 32Oral Care brand effervescent breath crystals. I am not sure if i will be able to convince myself to use them since they pop in your mouth - I'm a sensory gal. Mint flavored Pop Rocks aren't my jam but I will probably stick them in my desk drawer at work in case I need them! :)

I am excited about trying another product from the Beauty Protector line of haircare. I loved the last one - a spray de-tangler, heat protector,  and this one is similar. It is the Protect and Oil product and defends against UV rays, heat, and breakage. I like to use these on days I know I will be drying and curling my hair - I think it really helps!

I edited my beauty profile to include "no more than 6 perfume samples" per year and they have actually done a good job of that. I was getting one in every box and now I only get one in about every 3rd box so that is nice...makes me more exited to get other things and more excited about perfumes when they do show up. This is another Juicy Couture brand scent "La La Malibu"...smells nice. I'll add it to the collection in the bathroom and use it periodically. 

This is the thing I am actually most excited about. Ruby Wing brand nailpolish that changes colors in the sun. Oh yes. Excited. The color is called Kitten Heels and it changes from the bright pink to a darker magenta pink...I might whip this out next time I paint my nails. I am desperate to change to bring spring colors! :)

All in all, a fun and interesting box. Thanks to the person that gifts these to me every month! :)

Beautiful day.

I had some vacation time that I needed to use before the end of the year so I gave myself a 3 day work week this week!

I took today off to hang out with my mom and my sister. I drove about 2 hours southeast to Ball Ground, GA. to a family owned gardens that my mom found a few months ago. Gibbs Gardens. She meant to go in the spring when their 1,000's of daffodils are blooming but missed it so she bought an annual membership to go back. I enjoyed our stroll through their Japanese style garden because the maples were turning beautiful fall colors. I mainly just enjoyed spending the day with 2 of my favorite ladies...

I came home to work on my costume for work. We are allowed to wear costumes (nothing questionable, obviously!) to work tomorrow which is just another reason that I love my job.
Nothing like procrastinating...waiting until the last minute to make my costume. I believe I did this to myself last year too during the Mrs. Potato Head fame.
Anyway...
I am going to be a peacock for Halloween...
And I had some extra supplies so I made Gwendolen a costume too.
And now I am staying up until Chad gets home because I can't wait to show it to him. I think it is hysterical. He probably won't.
Pics from work after tomorrow....

So blessed.

We always joke that we take a 12pm lunch very seriously at our office. At 12:01, you can expect someone to stroll by your doorway and tap their watches if you haven't shown up in the kitchen or room we eat in by then. I was at my desk at noon today when I looked up to see my sister and my mom standing in the doorway of my office. Surprise!! After last year's jumping out of a gift wrapped box for my birthday, I didn't even think to expect them until Wednesday so I was very surprised.

We gathered up my best amiga and as we were wondering to the front of the office to head to lunch I even stumbled upon my Chad. All my favorite people in one place! The best gift ever. Seriously. Ever.

Mexican food again - like last year - and an attempt to place a germy sombrero on my head but thankfully no singing. I snuck out for a couple of hours to hang out with my sister and mom - even though my mom just left Chattanooga not 24 hours earlier and sneakily spent the night in Atlanta. It was nice to not have much on the schedule for this afternoon and plenty of flex time to use.

Chad said he has been buying me little presents and hiding them where I won't find them in the house (maybe near the Halloween chocolate??). Today, he gave me one of them because he thought I could use them at a big meeting tomorrow that I am running for a new project team. A new pack of multi-colored Sharpies. I know, not romantic and a little weird. But, if you know me, you'd know that the way to my heart is colored pens and markers. What a sweet guy.

My sweet florist momma also gave me these beauties that I will enjoy on my desk for DAYS:

 

I am so blessed by people who love me and think of me and want to spend time with me. My little heart is overflowing.

August Birchbox!

Hurrah! August Birchbox time!

Almost as good as a Sister Box and a step below a Mom Box - but none the less, easier on everyone I'm sure. :)

This month's theme was "Finishing School" - not your grandma's type though - more like thinking about the details type of thing.

 

Upon first opening, this is what you see. I guess the little monthly inside boxes are here to stay. At least this month's is a beautiful teal!

First sample (as always, apologies for the terrible pictures. I am WAY to excited about all of this to stop and take great photographs of my haul!) is a Jasmine Seven brand Fresh Feet Wipes. These are two little towelettes to cleanse and soften feet...interesting. I don't usually go barefoot in public but I do love to wear my Chacos so it might be nice to be able to cleanse the footsies every once in a while. These will go in my purse! 

 

This is a uniqONE hair treatment - a leave in conditioner basically. I have superbly thick and dry hair so I'm always up for a try on one of these. It actually smells awesome - kinda like dryer sheets? Very clean. It'll be nice!

 

 This is the Jouer brand Eye Definer in the color "gris" (which I believe is grey?). Either way, it is a smudge-resistant eye liner which after testing on my hand - I'll attest to the fact that it isn't moving! I actually really like the color - I tend towards a more smokey liner instead of solid black so this will be great! It is not the twist up variety so I'll need to locate my sharpener soon....because I'll definitely use this!

 These were the two items in my inner box. The Coola brand sunscreen  - the perfect amount for a face application in sport, meaning sweat proof and water proof, in SPF 45. Awesome! Another purse addition for surprise trips to the park, etc. I used to think I looked better tan but now I'm realizing I look better skin cancer free and I'm pretty serious about the sunscreen! I don't want to open it to smell it since it is a once time use thing but I can't wait to smell the mango!

Second, there was a stila brand "stay all day liquid lipstick" in the color Beso. Um...it might look pink in the picture but it is RED. Like candy apple...fire engine red. I'm gonna try it but I think I will look silly. This one might get passed on to my more adventuresome sister. :) Either way, I really want to like it because I tested it on my hand too and it isn't moving! I would love to have a different color and have it stay all day for real!

 

Finally, Birchbox also partnered with Anne Taylor this month sot here were some styling tips and coupons in the bottom of the box. Fun! I don't love the way their clothes fit on me but they have some GORGEOUS statement jewelry pieces so I will definitely slip in there to use my coupon.

All in all, a pretty great month! Some things that I am super excited about trying - sunscreen! hair conditioner! - and at least one thing I am a little intimidated by but want to give a chance - RED LIPSTICK!

Birchbox rocks!