Friday 5

Woohoo it's FRIDAY! I have to be quick, we are finally taking some family photos today with our photographer. We're just doing a mini sesh at our home but I'm so excited to get some more snaps of Miss A (if I have any more space to frame them...) I hope ya'll have a fun and safe Halloween weekend and I'll see ya'll back here .... in NOVEMBER! Say what?? Happy Friday!

 

Linking up today with April from A. Liz Adventures, Amanda over at Meet @ the Barre and Karli with September Farm. for Friday 5 and Friday Favorites. Join in!

 

1. Favorite snaps this week (via my instagram @jessiotey03)

2. Favorite finds - I love browsing the Lilly Pulitzer instagram page for desktop and mobile backgrounds. I had to save and use these two this week:

3. Craft time! Ya'll, I had to jump on the ghost feet bandwagon with Miss A! Now next year we can frame it and set it out as Halloween décor. Look at those squishy feet would ya? To have a wide awake and super excited baby, I'd say it turned out pretty cute!

4. Speaking of crafts, look how cute this built-in growth chart is that my friend and her hubby put in their home!

5. Favorite funny - so fabulous

Are You a No-Reply Blogger?

Ahhhh no-reply status is awful and frustrating! It breaks my heart when someone comments on my blog and they show up as no-reply and I can't respond to their sweet comments. Also, you may not even know! I just don't want anyone to think I'm ignoring them! I actually had the same problem when I started blogging and had no idea - luckily a sweet friend (who had probably had enough of my no-reply status commenting on her blog) found my e-mail and sent me a step-by-step. Sometimes it can even revert back to that status without you ever knowing so hopefully ya'll keep me on my toes as well. Anyway, here are some helpful tutorials ya'll can use or save for later. Hope this helps and have a great rest of the day! (time for my second cup of coffee if I do say so..)

 

 

Tutorial from Venus Trapped in Mars

Tutorial from Anyone Can Decorate

What's Hap-"Pinning"

How's it going ya'll? What's new and what's hap-"pinning" currently? Remember you can post about anything that is going on. Just grab our button and link up below! This week I'm focusing on all things Halloween costumes! I must admit I decided on Miss A's costume months ago when I came across this furry little pink bunny number. I was a bunny at her age and I'll have to do a side by side once we dress her up! Here are some of my favorite Mom and baby costumes I've pinned this week. I swear one year I'm going to be able to get the hubs to participate - its my goal! (is it bad I already have our costumes planned for next year so that he has to be involved? Think League of Their Own) Also, I thought I'd take a little borderline inappropriate trip down memory lane .... sidenote: I loved hooker boots back in the day and have no idea where or why I would buy them.... ps Jenn, the Redskins one is dedicated to you partner! Muah!

Link up with Jenn or myself and let us know what's hap-pinning ya'll!  

 

 

Weekending

Happy start of a new week! (and a busy one at that!) I have such a busy week ahead - meeting with a local pageant board member on Wednesday, family portraits on Thursday, meeting with a new venue looking for marketing help and wedding planning on Saturday PLUS Miss A's first Halloween! Whew! This weekend was great though, I finally got to travel down to NC to meet little Mr. Apollo Peck and see the new parents Tiffany and Joe. He was SO tiny and I now fully understand God's plan: they are that tiny for such a short amount of time that you get amnesia and forget so you do it all over again....yep, that's it. Saturday hubs was working late and my Dad was out of town so Mom and I hung out and grabbed dinner with Andi for a girls night. I was also able to test out a new recipe that we loved. I'll share it in this post for you and the others later on. I've definitely been on a new recipe kick - am I the only one? Fall always makes me feel that way! Anyway, hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!

 Linking up today with Meghan and Biana

 

 

New Weekend Recipe: Pepper Jelly Pork Chops

Ingredients

• 4 (3/4-inch-thick) bone-in pork loin chops (about 2 1/4 lb.)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 3 tablespoons butter, divided
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 large jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup red pepper jelly

1. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Melt 1 Tbsp. butter with oil in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork chops, and cook 8 minutes; turn and cook 10 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest portion registers 150°. Remove from skillet, and keep warm.
2. Add flour and jalapeño to skillet. Cook, stirring constantly, 1 to 2 minutes or until flour is golden brown. Add wine, stirring to loosen particles from bottom of skillet; cook 1 minute or until almost completely reduced.
3. Add chicken broth, and cook 2 to 3 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken. Whisk in pepper jelly until melted and smooth. Cook 3 to 4 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining 2 Tbsp. butter. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Return pork to skillet; turn to coat. Serve pork with sauce.

Friday 5

Happy Friday ya'll! Does anyone else think the week flew by? (and that October is flying by in general?) This week we took Miss A to her first pumpkin patch and apple orchard, went into Lynchburg to see my beautiful niece cheer and had lots of family time! The weather was fabulous but I must admit I'm looking forward to the cooler temps. This weekend, depending on hubby's schedule, we are trying to catch the HSC football game with friends on Saturday (hubby went to college there and I used to work there before Miss A, woot woot!) and then on Sunday I am going into NC to finally meet baby Apollo! Hope ya'll have a fabulous weekend and here are 5 snapshots from this week...ok ok more like 6...

Linking up today with April from A. Liz Adventures, Amanda over at Meet @ the Barre and Karli with September Farm. for Friday 5 and Friday Favorites. Join in!

 

What's Hap-"pinning" Wednesday

Happy hump day! This week is flying by in my opinion and today we are FINALLY headed to the pumpkin patch/apple orchard (and will be getting Miss A's obligatory pumpkin pic if it kills me!) I'm so excited to be heading up to the mountains with hubs and the weather today is gorgeous! Stay tuned for pictures. Now, on to what's hap-pinning. I LOVE that the temps are dropping finally so that my wardrobe can be expanded. I'm always all about neutrals this time of year and I'm obsessed with beiges in the sweater department. I've been pinning simple Fall looks like crazy and then looking for all the pieces to make them complete in my own closet. Gap, Old Navy and Ebay are my go-to's!

Below are some of my current favs. If you've never joined in before, grab the button below and join in here or with my lovely partner Jenn for today's edition of What's Hap-"Pinning" Wednesday and let us know what you're digging or what you've been up to!

 

Ok and I have to admit, nap time during the day for us means binge watching Gossip Girl (how did I never watch this addictive show?) - and can we all agree that Serena and Blair's style is seriously still on point all these years later?? I drool over their clothes and would give anything for access to those closets! Here are some of my favs for inspiration today. Anyone want in on a NYC girls trip? Anyone? Please!

Weekending + Lately

Hey ya'll! Long time no talk huh? I have been so busy that I am literally happy to see Monday - weird huh? Today I am enjoying some DVR catching up, blogging, watching little A nap on the monitor and we're all still in our PJ's...true story! If you read my post last week, you know that my bestie Radford came in from Atlanta for a few days and then we went up to Hollins to ramble around. She is 23 weeks preggo and it was definitely time for her to get in my life. She is having a little boy and I cannot wait to meet that little guy! Andi bonded with her right away so the time together was perfect. I miss my close girlfriends so much and wish we were all in the same city. Her baby shower is in December so Miss A and I will be taking a roadtrip!

Hollins was fabulous, as usual, and its safe to say that I'm already hoping for a little legacy in the making. I bought her the cutest Hollins baby bloomers and of course got myself a new long-sleeved tee. We ate at our old favorite restaurant, drove the loop around campus and took some great pictures! It's so hard to believe that 6 years have passed since we all roamed that campus together and 10 years since we first stepped foot on it. Best decision of my life - choosing an all women's college like Hollins! On Saturday after Radford left, we had our last wedding of the season. Despite the cold, it was an absolute blast! More girl time for me and the bride and groom are our neighbors which made the wedding less than a mile away! (Can we say no driving needed so bring on the wine?!)

Miss A slept 7 hours straight for some reason that night, making me hopeful that this so-called sleep regression is ending. We had her check-up as well and she apparently "isn't where she needs to be" with her weight so the pediatrician recommended we start solids 3 times a day now instead of once. She is 13.4 pounds and in the 5th percentile but to me she looks totally normal. She's just petite! I'm not too worried! We bought the baby brezza though to make our own baby food and I am LOVING it! Post to come soon I promise. Also, any advice on practicing sitting up? She wants nothing to do with it! Mama's help! Oh and last night was a huge milestone for us and Andi. She slept upstairs in her own crib! She did fabulous! I only had to go up there once to soothe her and then of course I cheated and brought her down to our bed at around 6am (haha)

Needless to say there is a lot going on in our household so thanks for reading this ramble of a post. Linking up today with Biana and Meghan for a little update weekending

 

What's Hap-"Pinning"

And just like that, it's hump day again & almost mid October. Do ya'll know what that means? DUH - It's time to entertain ourselves with checking out what's going on in everyone's lives. Link up with Jenn and me (link up with me right? correct use of me? ha) today for another edition of what's hap-'pinning'. Today I want to share some of my favorite snaps from the week. Add me if you haven't already (jessicamc313) because I love checking out snaps each day from ya'll. Why didn't I invent something like that?

Andi has her 6 month check up this morning and more shots unfortunately so we have to get going. Oh! And Radford's flight lands around 3pm so I need to go clean up and get the guest room ready! Sorry for such a short post this week. (Can we say GIRL TIME on the brain?!) I do want to say thanks to yall for making this link up so much each week! I seriously look forward to reading each post so grab the button below and join in!