Favorite Things Friday

I love some NYC food and am drooling over this list of the Best NYC Brunch locations!

I've always drooled over the idea of a salad in a jar but I've never made one... with these great breakdowns maybe it is time to give it a try.

This outdoor space designed by One Kings Lane is drool worthy!

This buffet made out of IKEA stock cabinets is amazing!!!

Genus No-Sew Zipper cases made from recycled plastic bottles

I'm not usually a huge fan of a stone fireplace... but for some reason this one is calling out to me!

Not to be morbid... BUT... I just read an article in The Washington Post about a wife who didn't know all of her hubbies passwords for various accounts when he passed away and the struggle that she went through to get access to things. So I've decided that we need to keep track of these things. I found this great Password Log and I want for us to log EVERYTHING, even personal items, and I plan to have it in the safe... just in case.  

My "home" away from home...

So I'm currently back on the road again for work but ONLY 6 days this time! How warped that I feel like 6 days is a short period of time and the fact that I was excited that we only had a 7.5 hour flight last Sunday... so short haha... I mean that is when you know that you spend too much time in this airplane!

And don't even get me started on my thoughts about this bag...

Even though I HATE packing and seeing my bag because it means that I'm leaving my family... I am becoming quite the proficient packer. In fact, I think that it only took me 15 minutes to pack for this trip! I'll have to do a packing post here soon!

I was also excited to see these smiling faces.

They are a small portion of our crew on the E4B and they are crazy talented whipping up some yummy dishes

in their SMALL kitchen. I mean they feed about 80 people from that thing!

I also love our little conference room... Cannot take a photo of that but it is literally a big conference table with nine chairs and a TON of computer equipment to make sure that we can all continue to work on the road.

The only down side to the conference rooms is that with all the computers and recycled airflow it sometimes gets so hot in that I'm literally sweating. The best part is that the conference room creates an environment where you bond with your team! I mean these co-workers are more like family and this plane becomes my home when I'm on the road. They/it are the only constants... For example last trip we were up in the air for a total of almost 48 hours... that is a long time people!!!

Where did the time go???

Last Friday my little girl graduated from the 5th grade!!!! How is this even possible? It seems like just yesterday I was sending her Emma off to Kindergarten!

 

I mean a bow, a dress, and ruffle umbrella! Those were the days! I had to beg to get her into a dress for her graduation this year

 

I mean time has just flown by!!!

(First and last day of 5th grade)

 

I loved being at her Graduation ceremony on Friday! She had some really great teachers this year and I am sad to leave our little Beech Tree community!



and she even received the Presidential Academic Excellence award... but I already knew that she was a smarty!

One thing I know for sure... no matter how fast time flies or how big she gets she will always be my little girl!!!

THE MERGE: Bedskirts and Organization

Last time I shared the progress in the Boy's shared bedroom the bed was missing some personality and the closet was a hot mess!

 

As an update, I'm happy to report that I completed the bedskirt and a big Euro size pillow for Hunter's Bed.

I still need to get a large photo of our silly man for above his bed. And I want to find a throw for the bottom of the bed.

And the closet which was a HOT MESS...

 

Happy to say that Matt knocked it out of the park with the ClosetMaid System from Home Depot.

Love the drawers on the bottom

and open shelves on the top

 

 And here it is with some cute clothes...

 

Now we just need some doors on here!!!

Happy Father's Day

To say that I have the best father ever is a HUGE understatement.

He is the kindest most patent man that I have ever met. He has always been here for me in the good, bad, hard, and disappointing times in life. Both he, and my awesome mom, supported me when I got pregnant as a teenager. He pushed me to continue my education and due to both their financial and emotional support I am the woman that I am today.

 

 

I'm currently reading a book and there was a quote in it which is so appropriate, "God put my child in my life to teach me tolerance." and boy has my Dad had to tolerate a lot but he has always done so with a smile on his face and a steadfast loving attitude.  

 

My love for my Dad only grows with each passing year! I love the relationship that he has with my children and seeing how much they love and admire their PopPop!

 

Sad that I am not able to be with my Dad this Father's Day, I'm on a work trip, but I hope that he knows how much he is loved by his little girl!!!

Home Office/Craft Room: Thoughts

As we are finally wrapping things up in the boy's room (I'll share some updated pics tomorrow) I'm shifting my focus to the craft room/home office.

Right now the room is truly a bit of a blank slate... the only piece of furniture that I would like to keep is the dresser that I had previously purchased from craigslist and I gave it a YELLOW makeover!

it is time for another makeover... I'm thinking a lighter Chalk-Paint Base color and more modern hardware. The top will stay the stained wood however.

With that being the only piece that I'm sold on keeping here are my thoughts on bookcases...

 

In the world of lighting....

I kind of feel like Emma would love to make The DIY light from a One Kings Lane tutorial She is my little engineer and this would be right in her wheelhouse!

for actual workspace I'm SUPER on the fence!

Would love to know your thoughts/recommendations.

Summer 2015 Bucket List

I cannot believe that the official start of summer is this Sunday, 21 June.

Here are a few items on our bucket list!

Emma is also looking forward to another year at Camp Winshape in GA!

Father's Day Gift Ideas

1. How interesting are these great Shywood wood-frame sunglasses. you can even get polarized lenses!
2. Love a tool that will help with that Honey-do-list! I think that my hubby might need this Kreg Jig Pocket Hole System.
3. How cute is this fishy keychain from etsy! Love that you can get all of your kiddos names on it. I'm a sucker for a personalized gift!
4. Speaking of a personalized gift... I'm a HUGE fan of Shutterfly Coffee Mugs that you can personalize with family photos. I get these all the time for family members and Matt has two!
5. This year my hubby started shaving with a razor again... This razor set is SUPER nice
6. if you hubby or Dad does shave how neat to make a Rosemary Mint Shaving Cream!
7. And for technology... I like this DIY iPad stand
8. If you are really looking to DIY a gift this is a cute Father's Day clock!!!

Additionally I'm a huge fan of he Bespoke men's Subscription boxes! The best part is though that you do not have to get a full subscription... if there is a certain box that catches your eye you are able to make a stand alone purchase!

Throwback Thursday... June Edition

One of the great things about a blog is that I can look back and see where we were in this crazy journey that is life.... So here is a little (actually big) Throwback Thursday from the month of June over the last few years!

June 2009... June was actually the month of my very first blog post! the blog started as a cooking experiment but has grown to so much more.

June 2010...
Emma was in Kindergarten had just finished her first full year of soccer... I'm so happy to report that here in 2015 she is finishing 5th grade and still playing with many of these same girls (all in the photo below). They are great friends and as her mom I couldn't ask for a better group of girls and their amazing parents!

We were also just embarking on our journey to purchase a home... we even had a contract in for this short sale house... man am I glad that the contract didn't go through because I love the house that we have now.

June 2011...
Didn't do any blogging this month but I was a newlywed (married Jan 2011) and we actually went on our HONEYMOON in June 2011. We had a blast in Mexico!

June 2012...
We were preggers with Hunter... Just entering the third trimester (photo below is from Father's Day)

We were getting Hunter's room ready

AND had committed to getting our Sophie ...here she is at 3 Weeks old

June 2013...
Hunter Celebrated his Daddy and had a cute photo shoot for his first Father's Day, outside of my belly.

and I ran my first 5K with Emma. we did Run or Dye

June 2014...
Gibson was 3 months old

and I was just returning back to work from Maternity leave! BUT before heading back completely we had to make a trip to Great- Grandma's house so that she could meet Gibson

At this time I was working in Joint Staff protocol...

And now we are here in 2015!!!! So crazy and fun to look back at the last few years. So much change and growth for the Park Family! Maybe I will need to do this every month for the next year!