You Might Have My Pajama Pants, But I'm Wearing Your Flip-Flops!

Dear Caitlin,
     I know you told me that you took a pair of my pajama pants with you to Cleveland so you could wear them when you were lonesome for me.  Well, guess what I found yesterday?  I found your brown flip-flops in my closet!  You know the ones I'm talking about; the ones you always love to wear.  I don't know how you got off without them, but I'm wearing them now.  YEP!  They make me think of you (smile here...).

                                              I'm glad you left these; they are really comfy!

I didn't get out of the house as early as I thought I would Friday since I slept in pretty late and then got on the computer to write you a letter.  And then, Sarah had to go to the doctor and I met her there to help with Parker.  I quickly packed my "Ya Ya Bag", which contained all of the important things one brings to keep an almost 2 year old entertained:  my i-pad with her games on it, Ritz Crackers, diapers, wipes, apples juice and the really big gun...a chocolate brownie!  Well, as fate would have it, I had to bring "The Big Gun" out first.  I had just gotten there and was playing an i-pad game with Parker when the doctor came in and she took one look at him and began to scream!  Of course, I immediately reached for that chocolate brownie; HEY!  I know what will calm a girl down!  And it did the trick.  By the time we finished there and grabbed a sandwich from Subway (I know...I was scared to eat that since I swallowed my partial in the last one), I FINALLY headed to the nail shop.

When I got to the nail shop, it was really busy by then but I was determined to get my nails done.  They seem to be hiring new people all the time there and I was sort of shocked when I walked in and an older white man asked if he could help me.  Hmmm...I just stood there for a minute and waited for some oriental person to ask the same question; surely that guy was not a new employee.  Well, apparently he was (although I never saw him doing nails...).  He did, however, start the water for my pedicure and that worried me a little bit.  I didn't want him doing my pedicure...I wanted one of the orientals!  Strange, I know, but I'm sure you understand.  Anyway, in the end I did get an oriental and I was happy!  Happier still that I chose YOUR favorite OPI polish color to have my nails done with...Bubble Bath.

 I know...I have never used this color before but it made me think of you.  I like it too and think I will use it again!


I forgot to tell you that when I left this morning, Ryan had begun to clean his closet out.  Hours later when I returned, he was still at it.  This inspired me and I decided to start on mine too.  In the middle of cleaning it out, Parker woke up from her nap and I had to get her a snack (her new favorite is ice cream sandwiches...).  Then she decided to "Help Me".  Well, her "helping me" consisted of her getting into the little piles of stuff I had laying around on the floor.  Look what happened when she found some make-up...

After Sarah and Parker headed home, Dad and I decided to just order pizza for dinner; did I tell you that there is finally a place that delivers way out here now?  Ryan was STILL cleaning his closet and room out!  That had been an all day task for him but I was happy since I wouldn't have to do it now (BIG smile here...).

Well, I am planning on having a day out with Caki today and will take plenty of pictures for you to get to see what all we did.  I will really miss you getting to go with us but look so forward to the week you will be here!  I miss you BUNCHES and love you SO MUCH!
                                                                                                                Mom

Missing You "In Person"...

Dear Caitlin,
     I told Dad that other day that Skype reminded me of the old episodes of "The Jetson's"; who would have ever thought back then that we would be able to see the person we were talking to on the telephone!  Oh well, I sure am glad that I get to have morning coffee with you; it's the next best thing to having you sitting right here with me in the mornings.
     I really slept in this morning; I was just so worn out from getting up early every day this week that I didn't crawl out of bed until 8:30!  I don't have too much planned for today.  I think I will go get my nails done first thing this morning where there won't be many people at the nail shop.  Then, I need to come home and put up all that laundry that I have been folding and hanging up all week long.  And then, I think I will FINALLY tackle all of the decorations from your wedding reception that I haven't had time to put away yet.  Hmmm...Did I just say that I wasn't going to do much today?!  Well, I will do as much as I can, depending on the "heat factor" today.
     As you know, I kept Parker again yesterday and we had a great time, as usual.  I love that she now says, "I love you" and "Hug you".  She helped me with the laundry the other day and yesterday she decided to help me out with unloading the dishwasher...

                       I'm pretty sure I would never have let y'all do this...OK, I might have!

I know that the lemon spray reminds you of me; do you know what reminds me of you?  TEA!  Remember all of that tea that you brought me right after you graduated?  I've been brewing a cup nightly and every time I drink a cup, I think of YOU...

LOVE this teapot that Dad got me this year for Valentine's Day; One of my new "Favorite Things"!

                                 The cup that I drink my tea out of is one from my wedding china.

I need to call and check on Sarah this morning; see how she is feeling after her wreck yesterday afternoon.  I'm so glad that Dad was home to go up and help her out with that.  I am also so thankful that she didn't get hurt and that the baby wasn't with her. 

Well, I suppose I need to get up out of this bed (Yep...I'm acting like this is a Saturday morning...) and get going.  You need to call Dad or Justin to see if they have booked your flight in yet because if they haven't, I am going to be coming up there to see you!  Oh, and by they way, I went ahead and got you a hair appointment for that Friday just in case you do make it here.  I asked Eryn about what you should do about trying to find someone in Cleveland to do your hair.  She said, "Just ask someone whose hair your like, where they get theirs done."  Hmmm...I told her that didn't work so well in D.C. when the guy first turned you into Malibu Barbie and then the next time turned it gray!  She had forgotten about that.

I am planning on getting out and doing some things with Caki tomorrow if I'm feeling OK.  It's been a long time since we have done something on a Saturday so I hope I feel like going; keep praying that this thyroid issue works itself out and I start feeling good again.

Dad, Ryan and I will all be heading to the lake house on Monday to prepare for the 4th.  Aunt Cindy and Uncle Clint will be there for four days and I know that Dad is looking forward to spending some time with his family this year.  We won't be having as many people over for the 4th this year as we usually do and it won't be the same without you there, but I will take some pictures to post for you.  You do the same if you and Kevin find some sort of celebration to attend there. 

Here are a few more pictures of others who miss you...

                                                                 Poppi and Parker

                                                                            Parker Ann

Sissy and Annie miss you too!  They just don't seem to get the skype thing; they hear your voice but don't see you!


OH...I almost forgot!  They delivered Dad's Father's Day present yesterday.  He was VERY surprised...

                                        The Big Green Egg.  I can't WAIT for him to use it!

OK...So, I'm REALLY getting up now.  I hope you have a great Friday and weekend.  Let's try to Skype again today if you have time.  I love and miss you MORE!
                                                                                                     Mom

Hunting For Antiques

Dear Mom,

On Tuesday afternoon I went out in search for some antiques to decorate the apartment. My main goal was to find a bunch of crates to decorate my walls with. The cool thing about this town is that all the antique shops are all on the same road and next door to each other, which made it easy to find them! My first stop was this big country antique store. The place was two stories and it had two big houses connected. This is the place where I ended up finding ALL of my crates! the older man ended up giving me a great deal on them too:)

My next stop was this little antique house that had really nice antiques, Jefferson House

This place was three stories and had a lot of furniture. 

Next door to Jefferson house was this really cool barn they also have and it had all kinds of neat antiques!

It is a big red barn full of all kinds of stuff! You will really like this place... here is a picture of the inside...

My next stop was this little village where they have have some boutiques and some more antique shops. The Tree House Antiques was my first stop in the village. The neat thing about this place is that you can shop around then have lunch inside:)

This is the tea room where they have tea, coffee, sandwiches, soups and salads! I think we both will have to try this little place out when you come visit:)

They also have an outside sitting area that I think we would like having lunch at!Oh and under this is a picture of all the wines they sell... the basement in the home is a little winery room.

After the antique shop I walked down to a little jewelry shop, then a home decor shop, eye glasses shop, and a cute baby shop! Also in this area they have a yoga place and spa! 

After a long day of shopping around, Kevin called me at like 4pm and said he could meet up for an hour before he had to go back to work.. it was nice getting to spend some of the day with him! I ended up going home after and just decorated the house some more.

Yesterday I stayed home all day... I had to do LOTS of laundry as well and am still working on it today! I also cleaned the house some and worked on cooking a Boston Butt for dinner:) Dad helped me get it ready and told me how to cook it the right way.. I knew it would turn out great! I actually took some after pictures once it was done!!

YUMMY HUH?! Kevin loved it :) 

So I have a few more decorations I have worked on yesterday and I will upload them... I am not done with my wall with the antique picture frames and crates though. But you can get the idea of what I am wanting it to look like! I have to go back today and get about 5 more crates for the other side of my wall now!

this is the wall I have started working on ... I still have LOTS more to add:) the entire wall will be covered like this!

I added some cute twigs and branches in the bottles in my guest bathroom.. and in the ones in my living room!

Well that is all for today... I have some laundry to start folding:( my least favorite part!!! I enjoyed our skype date this morning.. I love having my breakfast and coffee with you in the morning.. and getting to see sweet Parker! Well I will call you a little later today! I MISS YOU and love you MORE!!

love, Caitlin

It's HOT, HOT, HOT!!!

Dear Caitlin,
     I read this quote on Facebook the other day, "Summer is my favorite time of year...Said NO ONE from the south!"  OK...So, I guess I will admit (reluctantly...) that perhaps Cleveland MIGHT have something appealing other than having The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  While you are enjoying temperatures in the 70's, its was 104 degrees here today!  Yep...It's too hot to even breathe when you walk outside; therefore, I try NOT to walk outside very much unless it is very early in the morning.  Even in the evenings you can almost feel the steam still rising from the ground.  Now, although, I am not enjoying the heat very much, I WILL still be enjoying some pretty warm temperatures while y'all are piling up the snow there in Ohio.  Anyway, I look out the window at the pool but just cannot even bring myself to get in it during these sweltering days...

                              This was from Monday; the temperatures just keep rising each day!

Although those rafts seem to be calling my name, I can't bear to walk the short distance from the house to the pool in this heat!


While I have been busy all week trying to catch up on laundry, I haven't seen much of Dad.  You know how it is after a week long vacation...Work, work and MORE work for him to get caught up.  He was in Shreveport for a meeting Monday night and didn't get home until almost 10 and then at another meeting in Winnfield Tuesday night, not getting home until almost 9!  Thank goodness he will be here Wednesday,  but he will be heading to Houma on Thursday (sigh...).  Hopefully Ryan will be back from Allison's by then so I will at least have somebody to talk to.

               I'm not sure how 2 people can dirty so many clothes...remember when it was 6 people?!


I LOVE the new comforter and chair you bought for your bedroom!  Now, we just need to get to work on decorating those walls.  I sure wish I was there to help you do that; you KNOW how much I like that kind of stuff.

I was glad to get to Skype you Monday night and again Tuesday morning with Parker.  It's kind of nice getting to share a cup of coffee with you in the morning...even if it IS over the computer.  Sarah told me today that she will probably be working two days a week at the bank for the rest of the summer.  I guess that means I will have to tape MORE "Dora the Explorer" episodes!  That child is CRAZY for Dora.  While we were at the beach, I taped about 20 episodes but I'm not sure that's enough for the entire summer; she walks over to me and says, "Dora!"  I also found some really cute games for her that I put on my i pad.  You go to the app. store and in the search bar put:  Duck Duck Moose and there are so many cute games that she can play.  I KNOW...I spoil her terribly!  She also says, "Ya Ya's i-pad", when she want to play her games.

I have to go to work today but am rewarding myself by eating lunch with Caki and then having a massage before I head home!  Actually that's the massage that I missed right before vacation when I swallowed my temporary bridge.  Then, I will FINALLY get to have dinner with Dad for the first time this week (smile here...).

Well, I have also started working out again this week.  It's kind of hard too because I haven't done much since my two surgeries and all of the graduations, wedding and vacation.  Also having problems with my thyroid have sort of kicked me in the butt...Have I mentioned lately how much I HATE my thyroid?!  Hopefully things will get straightened out soon, but in the meantime I am getting back on the "Work-Out Band Wagon".  I'm also thinking of joining a yoga class here in town since I'm not going to the one at the gym any more.  I really wish I could just get out in the morning and walk but it would have to be SUPER early because by 8:30 or 9 it is already way too HOT to do that.  Oh well...I just wanted to tell you what was going on and that I MISS you and LOVE you VERY MUCH!  I so wish you were here so we could go see "Brave"...Do you think there is anybody who will go see a kid movie with me?  I will write again soon and cannot wait to see more of the progress you are making on decorating your apartment.
                                                                                                       Love you MORE,
                                                                                                                    Mom

Decorating The New Place

Dear Mom,

So a few days has passed since I left the beach and let me just say.. I MISS YOU!!! I have been keeping myself busy though with unpacking more and starting to finally decorate the new place:) So yesterday was Kevin's first day at work and he was out of the house by 7:30am. This meant I needed to find something to do all day. I set out around 9am and headed to Target first. The weather was so nice yesterday the high was 70 and the low was 60 degrees! I know Louisiana was about 102 yesterday!! HOT! Once I arrived at Target I had to stop at the little cafe' shop inside to get a snack. I got something that reminded me of you of course.... Popcorn and a drink:)

I was feeling a little down about shopping by myself again so I figured I could at least get some popcorn to bring my spirit up a little. You always get popcorn when you go to Target and that was just what I needed!

After Target I went over to Bed Bath and Beyond. I needed just a few things here... one being a pizza stone, crock pot, and some Keurig. After shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond I walked over to Crocker Park to go look for some bedding at Anthropology. I ended up getting some REALLY cute stuff:)) I got the linen comforter from Anthropology that I have been wanting and I got this really cute chair from Anthropology to put in my bedroom as well:) Here are a few pictures of them in my room. 

Anthropology bedding, burlap pillows from John Ward Interior in Alexandria, LA. 

Now I just need to decorate my walls in the bedroom!!

Up close picture of the bedding. It is a linen material with knitted design on it:)

This is the cute little chair I got from Anthropology as well. It has patches of burlap on it so it matches my bedroom perfect!

Up close picture of the chair.

So a few more decorations I have up in the house are my living room area, bathroom, kitchen and dining area. I still have a lot more to put up.. I'm working on it though!

This is our dining area. The table is from Mimi and the sides come out to make it bigger. The chairs are from an antique shop and I recovered the seats. The burlap table cloth, wire basket, and place mats are from John Ward Interior. The Moss Letters with the burlap ribbon were made by Lori Kees and her blog ishttp://ooohlalaflorals.blogspot.com/.  

Up close of the table decor:)

This was the window we had at the wedding that all the guests signed! Turned out perfect !!

Got the burlap lamps finally!! They were from Marshalls:)

My burlap foot stool that I got from John Ward Interior!

This is hanging in my kitchen.. it is a chandelier and it was also from John Ward Interior.

This is in my kitchen too and is from John Ward Interior.

Wall decor in the kitchen:)

This piece is in the living room area... and it holds my cookbooks! I need to get a bigger shelf for my cookbook though!

The next few pictures are of my guest bathroom.. the one you will be using when you come stay:) I haven't finished decorating it yet.

Little chandelier I have hanging in the bathroom.

The next few pictures are of the master bathroom.

Cute towel rack from John Ward Interior

This is on my bathroom counter top and the feather bouquet is from my bridal portraits.Lori Kees also made this for me:)http://ooohlalaflorals.blogspot.com/

These were the cute towels I was telling you about! They are from Anthropology:) As you can tell I'm obsessed with everything from Anthropology!

This piece is in my living room.. the bottles and the wood candle holder.

After a long day of shopping and decorating I headed to the grocery store... and you know how much I love grocery shopping.. NOT! lol I figured it would be best to make a list of everything I actually needed so when I got to the grocery store I wouldn't get overwhelmed. You know me, always making lists and being organized:)

okay don't make fun.. but this is the list I made for the grocery store!

I literally was at the grocery store for at least two hours attempting to find all the BEST deals! lol At the end of it, I think I did good!

Once I got home I decided to start cooking so I could surprise Kevin with some dinner. I was going to be making one of your dishes.. chicken spaghetti!! To be honest... I have found myself doing and making LOTS of things that remind me of you! I guess I like doing it because it makes me think about you and puts me in a really good mood:) Well the chicken spaghetti turned out perfect!! This picture is of me cooking it. I am always really bad about getting the after picture once it is done! I ended up making garlic bread and green beans to go with it. Kevin LOVED the chicken spaghetti!!

Well this blog is sorta long so enjoy reading it!! I am now about to get dressed and head out in search for some CRATES at some antique shops!! Oh and going to go look for some yarn shops possibly! I love you and miss you so much!!.. so glad me, you and Parker got to skype this morning.. it made my day!! Maybe since Kevin has to work late tonight me, you and dad could skype for a few minutes!! 

love, Caitlin