pack your summer travel bags - a shabby apple give-away

For years, my best friend Cassie and I have called packing for a vacation Paper Dolling (that's what I named my fashion board on Pinterest, too!). Half the fun of anticipating a trip for me is deciding who I want to be when I'm escaping my reality of daily commutes, deadlines, and what's-for-dinnering. Clothes can set the tone for a glamorous getaway. 

Just in time for summer travel,  Shabby Apple is offering one I Do Declare reader a $50 gift card to shop its online vintage boutique. Let's get to packing....

A Long Weekend with Girlfriends:
Right now, I'm on a long weekend with a mix of friends from high school, college, and D.C.  We'll be seeing a concert, touring a winery, relaxing at a day spa, and dining at our resort. I will regret not putting this Lemon Drop skirt in my suitcase. With flats by day, it's perfect for shopping or lunch. At night, it's easily glammed up with jewelry, heels, and a clutch.

Fourth of July at the Beach:
I spend most Independence Days in Virginia Beach. No matter where you are on the 4th of July, you'll be the star in this striped Catalina one-piece.  It's made in the U.S.A, so Lee Greenwood approves!

Destination Wedding:
How nice of you to plan your vacation around your friend's special day. The fact that cake comes with sand and sun can hardly be beat! One of my all-time favorite destination weddings was to Maine to see our friends Megan + Eric say I Do. In this pretty Tie the Knot frock you'll stop just short of upstaging the bride. 

You can buy one of these dresses, the swimsuit, or choose from so many more styles (Shabby Apple offers maternity and children's clothing, too) with the $50 gift card you can win by: 

1. Giving Shabby Apple a thumbs-up on Facebook if you don't already "Like" them
2. Leaving a comment below telling me what Shabby Apple dress is your favorite

I will name a winner on Friday, June 7. Good luck!

a free treat!

The Christmas card I sent out last year was a little cheeky, and I was worried that certain people (think Grandma) on my list wouldn't quite understand it. If only I'd known then about Treat, Shutterfly's new custom greeting card site, I could have whipped up something personal and special. 

Treat is perfect this Christmas if you don't have the budget to bulk order a ton of photo cards, but still want to send your nearest and dearest a greeting. Or, if you want be sensitive to certain friends on your card list, a Treat card would be special alternative. Maybe your friend who is in the middle of a divorce shouldn't get your card with your wedding photo displayed. Instead, create something personal and festive just for her. 

Not just for holidays, Treat will come in especially handy when you're searching for a birthday card or a  note of congratulations for friends and family that require a little something more than a grocery store greeting card. As a super card nerd, I'm pretty excited about this new site where you can make and send one-a-kind cards without even having to lick a stamp!

To celebrate the launch of Treat, I Do Declare readers will receive a FREE card today (11.19) and tomorrow (11.20). Create and send a greeting to someone you're thankful for this week...just because you can. (enter the code TREATBLOGR at checkout)

Who will get the Treat card you make today? 

fake fall

God help me if a food is packaged as "Limited Edition". I have a weakness when it comes to seasonal treats. I will justify the consumption of very unhealthy foods and drinks all in the name of it-only-happens-once-a-year. At Christmas time, it's hands-down cranberry or pomegranate flavored ginger ale. I drink it like water. 

This fall, it's fake candy corn and faux butter.

White Chocolate Candy Corn M&Ms.

If you happen open these while shopping at Target and feel the urge to impulse buy, let me suggest indulging. I know there are some candy corn purists out there (I'm looking at you JR and Cas) but I promise, you won't be tricked if you sample this treat. 

Country Crock Pumpkin Butter

In general, I'm a bit of a butter snob. I like the real stuff. But I guess since some of the flavors are natural I can turn a blind eye toward this spread. On toasted bagels, waffles and sweet potatoes it's just delicious. 

Are you helpless for seasonal treats, too? What are your favorites this fall? 

be a Southern Living host with your own paper napkin interview

Southern Living magazine has a cute monthly feature called the Paper Napkin Interview where celebrities answer fun questions about their lives and their work. It always ends with something clever the featured guest has scribbled on a napkin.

As you know, I'm a nerd for a party napkin and prying fun facts from dinner companions.  I found these napkins recently in an Annapolis gift shop (and also on Amazon if you're interested) that I think would make the perfect addition to any kind of party!  

Each of the styles could double as place cards. Also, set out some blank ones with pens for guests to fill in any Call Me, Maybe information they may want to exchange.

I bought the ones on the right, the empty frames. I plan to scribble in questions and place throughout the next party I host. Conversation starters are always fun, but especially handy if you have a mixed guest list. 

What's the last thing you scribbled on a napkin?

For Eyes - Glasses USA

Oddly, I was always that child who wanted braces and wanted glasses.  Kids of the '80s - we had different image issues compared to today's youth. Clearly.

photo credit here

My crooked teeth delivered the heavy mouth metal as a teenager, and though I didn't really need them,
after college, when I had my first vision insurance plan, I bought a pair of  eyeglasses that I sometimes wore while working as a TV reporter when I wanted to look smarter....and be just like Ashleigh Banfield.  Remember her?

The prescription was so light, mostly just to magnify, but the price for my lenses and frame....so expensive!  As a 20-something, I hadn't quite figured out that there's a BIG difference between looking smart and living smart! Despite my natty glasses, I didn't see it coming, but my days (and Ashleigh's for that mattered) on TV were numbered....

Still for years I sported my fashion frames, until one day the frames just broke.  Since my vision truly was fine without glasses, at that stage in life I could see the difference between want and need, so I was wise enough  not to spend money on new specs. 

These days, I still sometimes wish for fashion frames - especially sassy tortoise shell ones that look great on everyone - but the only glasses purchased in our house are for Dan (who, as you can imagine thinks my need to accessorize with rims is....redic. )

Like most husbands, his only request when picking out new eyes: he wants cheap eyeglasses! Like most wives, I want them to look striking - and as with any kind of shopping, I want the purchase process to be fun!

To find that balance, we'll be shopping for Dan at GlassesUSA.com, an online eyeglass retailer.

There are so many frames from which to choose, and to take the guesswork out of buying glasses online  the GlassesUSA.com guys created a "Try It On" Mirror where you can upload your photo and see for yourself how you (or the husband who lets you shop for him!) will look.

Prices are reasonable. Options are fashionable. And...GlassesUSA.com is giving I Do Declare readers a 10-percent discount on prescription glasses (CODE: Blog10). You'll find other deals at GlassesUSA.com and on Facebook.


With prices this low, and shopping this easy...It might finally make sense for me to blur the line between want and need and score a pair of glasses for myself!

*Disclaimer: This was a sponsored post, and though all thoughts + opinions are mine, I was paid to blog  for GlassesUSA.com. Please support companies who support bloggers!

Cinnamon Cheese? Trust me.

Before heading to last weekend's winery day, I popped into my beloved, Trader Joe's, for a little snackge. A slab of Toscano dusted with cinnamon caught my eye. 

When it comes to food, I'll try anything, and the cinnamon cheese combo really peaked my interest. I felt like it could go either way - really odd and nast or extremely delish, Fall-ish and the perfect compliment to wine.

The latter won out. It was soooo yum.

My boyfriend Trader Joe also has a Toscana cheese soaked in Syrah. I'm hitting the wineries again this weekend with Dee, so I may have to give that slab a try. In the meantime, for your fall parties, for your Christmas parties...for a weeknight when you don't want to cook and dinner will mean cheese and crackers......give this cinnamon cheese a try (East TN readers, I hear a Trader Joe's is coming soon to Knoxville!!!). It's so good!

Pinteret Prejudice Disproven

This is my obligatory I'm Falling In Love With Pinterest post.

I held out for a while. You know all the reasons: I didn't need another social media distraction.

photo from here

Pinterst seemed like non-creative people just recycling ideas of the clever-minded.

photo from here

I didn't even undertsand how it worked.

photo from here 

While some of that remains true, like a sorority girl during the second semester of her sophomore year.....I've been Pinned.

photo from here

Let's have a candlelight!

photo from here

All you crazy bloggers and natural organizers, sorting your finds all tidy and clever - you were right. It's very fun, and the material for people like me who google party ideas (though it's truly SO much more than balloons and tablescapes) is truly cause for celebration.

photo from here

So, all you hold-outs, righteous with your non-computer time? No one loves a martyr.

photo from here

Come join me on Pinterest!  (If you want an invite, let me know!)

SEC Gameday Fashion

For those of you who are ready Fall, you're likely already planning your college gameday wardrobe. As we Southerners know, when football season rolls around, it's not just about whether you win or lose....it's what you wear to the game!

photo credit: Tru Colors

I mean, this dress alone is enough to make this Vol fan yell Roll Tide! How cute????

SEC Gameday Fashion is what I'm blogging about today over at the DC Ladies , and you'll find even more cute looks in your school colors, with links to cute boutiques offering very sassy styles! Yes, even Tennessee orange!

And...while we're whistlin' Dixie, if you haven't read the Rick Bragg What Stands in a Storm article yet in this month's Southern Living, I promise, you must! It's the best feature I can ever recall reading in SL. Both my mother and I cried the entire way through it - so good!!! I hate to cheat on Pat Conroy, but Mr. Bragg may be my new Southern writer boyfriend...

Happy Friday!

In Pounds, Not in Days

As I've mentioned, I'm dieting {once again!} these days. I've lost nearly 20 pounds.  I'm about to top any amount of weight I've ever lost during one diet. Still, I have more weight to lose than ever before, so there's a long way to go before meeting my goal...but that's another story for another blog (one you'll likely only hear if I'm actually successful...).

When you are successfully shedding pounds, it becomes such a focus in your phsyce that it's all one thinks about. It's pretty much all I think about lately. In fact, when on vacation with my family, Dan pulled me aside and said, I think you talk about your diet too much. At one point, my mom said to me, after I was weighing food options for the day, Why don't you go call that girl? That girl being the simply fabulous Kris of Simply Flabuloss, who has been my diet buddy and calorie confidant.

Kris posted not long ago about how now that she is slimming down, she's more into jewelry + accessories. I feel the same way lately about clothes.

In general {and likely by a fat default} I don't get too into fashion. I like pretty clothes as much as the next girl, but labels and brands don't really matter to me.  Since I've spent the bulk of my adult life losing and gaining and losing and gaining weight, I've never invested too much in my closet. During the times of gaining I've especially shied away from shopping for anything but....black. I do, however, own 12 sets of dishes. Hmm....and I wonder why I struggle with the scale???

I was talking to a friend about a necklace I bought this weekend*, and the outfit I would pair it with for a party out on the water. She asked when the party will be, and I told her the date, followed by...or in 7-10 pounds.I have a lot of fun events on my calendar this summer, and already I am mentally playing paperdolls with how I want to look at weddings, lunches with old friends, sailing trips on the Chesapeake, seeing Dolly at Wolf Trap.  As I look at the calendar, counting down to all my fun engagements, I think not in days...but in pounds. Specifically, pounds lost.



I don't know how healthy that is. It's obsessive, indeed. But...it can't be as bad as thinking in terms of food** which, let's be honest, I've also used as my countdown!

*It's on sale for $19 at Target,  people - do NOT pay ebay prices!
**Homemade Ice Cream recipe coming up this week for 4th of July - you'll love it!

Summer Loving

Boots No. 7 Wipes

When I stayed at Mary's house for the Royal Wedding Party, I forgot to pack my face-wash stuff. She had these, so I used them and it was love at first wipe. Since then, I've gone through about three packets. Recently, I threw them in my really junky beach bag down in Charleston, and LOVED having them handy for wiping my face after being in the ocean, or before re-applying sunscreen. If, like me, you're a lazy nighttime face washer, these are also fantastic.

Trader Joe's Cilantro Salad Dressing

Down at Folly Beach, near Charleston, there's a great little place called Taco Boy.

My family ate there every day we were at the beach, and I fell in love with the Mahi tacos, or more specifically, the cilanto lime sauce that came on the tacos. In an effort to recreate that now that I'm home, I bought this. It's not exactly the same, but it's super close, and super delish! I've used it twice for cooking since buying it on Monday, and it's in tonight's supper plans, too!

Reading by the Water

I LOVE to read in the summer.

Here's the view from the hotel where we stayed in Charleston. I'd curl up on a sofa on the porch and turn a few pages every day...after doing the same on the beach. While I was gone, DC Ladies posted a blog I wrote on great Southern books for summer.  Now that I'm back home, I have vowed to spend more time at the pool, with a book...instead of with a book on my couch! This weekend, I'll be reading the new Jen Lancaster, If You Were Here. What are you reading this summer?

Coach

My love for Kyle Chandler, the actor who plays Coach on Friday Night Lights runs deep. Like, so deep, I bought the final season of FNL months ago when it came out on DVR (before it aired on NBC) and watched it all in about 2 weeks. FNL fans - you'll love how it ends. LOVE. Anyway...Coach is in a movie this weekend, Super 8. It's Sci-Fi. I hate Sci-Fi. I love Kyle Chandler. Thus, I will go watch Super 8. What can I say, I'm brand loyal.

The Dress, The Hair, The Princess

Not that she wasn't a sight as a bride, but I think last night Catherine looked even more stunning than she did on her wedding day. LOVE her dress.

Meeting Dee!

I love that today, I'm meeting one of my blog besties, Dee, of Dee's Adventures! She's in D.C. for a wedding, so I get to give her a little VIP tour of the Capitol before lunch somewhere on the Hill. I feel like I already know Dee because we're like the blond/brunette/Vol fan/Tiger fan version of each other!

What are you loving this summer?

Baubles for a Bargain!

I have a magnet on my fridge, with a likeness of the Queen Mother Dolly Parton, that reads, "The smaller the town, the bigger the hair."

Since I was born + raised in a small town, I would like to add also....the bigger the earrings. 

Even in the 'burbs, I sort of have a thing for big ole' baubles.

I have tried being understated in small studs or tiny pearls like so many of my refined, preppy friends.

At the end of the day, I'm just far more Ashlee Simpson than Laura Ashley.

photocredit: celebritydesk.com

I don't know if it's because as a little girl my mother forbade the wearing of over-sized, adult accessories, despite my being 10 going on 21, but when it comes to earrings....size matters to me.

You can imagine, then, my delight (now that I'm 33 and still shopping at Forever 21) when I found these....

...each costing less than $7.

Yes, $7!  Cheap enough for even a child to afford, but yet, so mammoth only the most mature lobes can hold them.

Your ears heard it from me - fun + CHEAP earrings are hanging at Forever 21...(and they don't card you, even if you look well past the legal drinking age).

eBaBy! {Baby Gift Ideas}

I'm in the business of all things mommy and baby these days.


No, not for why you may think. I've just got lots of mommy friends!


My mommy friends have made me a full-blown auntie and we all know aunties have to give good gifts and I've found some super affordable ones to share with  you!


I just made a trip to meet Baby Ellis and  I wanted to take a few happies, ones that were personalized. Baby E's mom kept his name top secret while he was warming so mucho monogramming and personalizing time has been lost.


I got Ellis this little onesie with his name on it...and as you can tell, he loves it, especially because he's already earned the nickname E (not unlike his aunt who often answers to simply, P).

I got him a burbing cloth like the one below (only with a monogram) because even at a mere 3 months old, Ellis needs to be a gentleman when he gushes...and a sweet little bib that looked like this, only with an "E".

Let me tell you a little secret....I got this stuff all off ebay, and  if Ellis' mom wasn't such a bargain shopper herself, I'd be embarassed to admit that each item was less than $20.  (I used Monkey Bug Monograms for the burp cloth and bib; I can't recall who made the onesie).


I know that Etsy is the new black and all, and I do heart it....I'm just saying....don't forget about ebay!

Spanx Swimsuits

How did I not know this by now? I thought I was America's Number 1 Spanx buyer?

Spanx has a swimsuit line.  And, the suits are pretty cute (even if showcased on women who cleary don't even need power panties)!

I have a real love-hate with the Spanx.

I hate that I so often need them. I love the magic those skintight little monsters work.

Though the weather is warm and I'm a mere days away from heading to Hawaii, I'm in NO way ready to be sporting a swim suit. Not even close, y'all....

So here's hoping some extra tightening from a magic bathing suit can undo a winter full of carb-loading.....

credit all photos: www.spanx.com

Getting Naked Cured Me

I have been sick for days! It started with a persistent cough last Wednesday and since then, I've had every nasty symptom in between: headaches, fever, nausea, fatigue, weakness, sneezes, sore throat. That classic crud that everyone seems to have landed in my throat (and head, and chest) last week and nothing - not homemade chicken soup, cough drops, cold meds,  a hot toddy , ibuprofen or lots of rest - could cure it, til I drank this...

I was at work yesterday, fully prepared to leave after lunch because I just felt so rotten. I had an appetite only for a smoothie and just enough energy to get me to the cafeteria where I happened upon a bottle of Naked.  I coughed up the near $4 for 15.2 ounces of what proved to be pure cure-all and I am here to report that a short time after drinking it, I felt a zillion times better.

I'm not a doctor, but if your fighting the nasties as the seasons change, it wouldn't hurt to hydrate with a little Naked Power-C.