Babies, Biltmore & Business, Oh My!

Hola Chicas (& chicos)!! :)  I have got to stop this habit of not blogging for weeks and then overloading with one major long blog post!!! MAKE ME STOP!! ha
I swear, I have no clue where 2012 has gone...?  It has just flown by! I can not believe it is FALL already! (my favorite time of year by the way!)
I'll just go ahead and throw it all out there this post ... no beating around the bush ...  I moved to Keller Williams!  I am super excited about the new opportunities that I have been presented with in my real estate career! This past 2 weeks has been totally crazy and hectic because I decided to make a change in my life and switch from RE/MAX over to KW... it was a hard decision ... and I literally thought about it for a month. I loved my previous office and all the people there :( but just felt like I could grow my business more at my new office. With that said, I have started my own Real Estate Team! Woop Woop!! :) 
Take a look at this ... 

My new logo :) 
How do you feel about it?? I'm pretty pumped! 
This also took some thinking ... but when Chris and I get married next year, I didn't want to give up Gentry only because I have built my business around my name for the last 7 years!! So I decided I will hyphenate, and be Dana Gentry-Jackson. Which prompted my new team name! 
This week will be crazy switching everything over (think 30 signs, business cards, new website, marketing info, blah blah blah!) ... but I am excited! I already started with the bloggy, so take a look around at the "my business" and "about me" tabs, as they are slightly new ;)
A lot has happened since my last post so just to sum it up ...
You know my adorable Godson, Connor ... right ??

Well ... his BABY BROTHER is here!!! :) 

(Idk why those dang black lines are on there?!)

He is adorable ... that is a cute little collage his aunt Steph made from the day he was born.

PS. How good does my BFF Chrissy look in that pic? Eye makeup done and all! Ha! She's a trooper! <3

Carson Alexander :)

Is that the sweetest face you have ever seen in your life or what?

 I am obsessed. Purely obsessed. Love him so much. 

Last weekend we had a busy weekend ... 

On Friday night we attended the Art of Making Miracles Charity Event for the Makenna Foundation in the RE/MAX parking lot ... this was the 12th year and it was awesome! 

KY Wildcat Theme this year!  

Chris and I came home with some goodies ... 

One of which being this... that I won for Chris for his bday :) 

Thats right ... an autographed pic of Anthony Davis, #1 NBA draft pick and 2012 National Defensive Player of the year candidate ... not to mention a UK Wildcat legend! Ha! It was our trophy piece of the night ;) 

Chris was VERY excited! 

It was an awesome night raising money for a great cause!!

In case you're wondering where the picture is now .. Ohhhh in my hallway, where a really cute mirror WAS hanging ha ... pick your battles ;) that is what I am telling myself LOL 

The next morning, Chris, myself, my brother and my dad left out early to head to Ashville, NC to my cousins wedding at the Biltmore House.

It.was.spectacular.

We had sooo much fun!!

Her wedding was beautiful! She looked beautiful! It was perfect. 

How pretty were her flowers on the tables?

For favors they gave little personalized jars of honey ... it was adorable! 

Jessica & Me :) 

Chris & I <3

(Dress is from Bella Rose in Lexington)

My other Chris ... my brother... ha :) 

The next day while we were there we went to the Biltmore and toured it ... it was AMAZING!!

If you have never been I would highly suggest going ... it was so neat! Ashville is the cutest little place and the mountains were beautiful! 

Here are a few pics from the day ... 

So insane. Loved this place! 

The flower garden behind the Biltmore

My dad, me and my bro. 

I have a million pics ... but didn't have time to upload them all! 

We had a blast! 

We also visited Bravard College in NC, which is where Chris went to school ... it was fun to see! :) 

Next .... 

I didn't get to give a shout out on Grandparent's Day ... ;( 

But we had a great time celebrating with Chris's parents and the kids ... 

I ended the night talking to my Papaw on the phone ... and watching Frankie sleep like a spoiled baby ha!

Ok that is about all the major stuff over the last two weeks! 

This week I am working on our wedding website and app! Anyone have any tips? Would love to hear them!

XO!

New Artist Find & Fall Stuff

Happy Thursday friends :)

Let's talk about what my life consists of these days ...

1. Work
2. Work.
3. More work
4. Wedding Planning (fun!)
5. Getting on Pinterest and obsessing over wedding stuff and new fall clothes every night before bed ha!

That pretty much sums it up :) No but really, I have been having a busy week as usual ... doing big things with my real estate business right now and have been spending some time getting a new logo made, doing some research on getting more in tune with the SEO search engine stuff, blah blah blah haha not super exciting things, but things that are a necessity in the crazy world of real estate!

I am ready to take my business to the next level so I have been kicking it high gear!
Can't wait to share my logo and new stuff once it get's finished!

In the meantime, I am making a BIG change and ordered a Mac yesterday ...

I know, I know ... you're thinking how in the world have I not gotten one thus far in life? 

Honestly I was so afraid to switch from PC that I have procrastinated. 

BUT, with the iPhone, my iPad that I use every day, and the fact that I am so sick of cleaning viruses off of my computers... I figured it was time to switch!  

Anyone have any tips or suggestions? Please pass them along ha I will be in training for a while once this beast gets here ;)

Couple things I have discussed on Fbook but not gotten to blog about yet... 

A few weeks ago Chris, myself and Frankie (field trip day for him ha!) went to the Woodland Art Fair downtown Lex and scooped up one of my favorite paintings by the most awesome artist EVER!

Chris Hartsfield 
Watercolor Realisms 
He is amazzzzzzzing ... I was midly obsessed with him.

This is my favorite one we bought ...
(**We did not buy his originals, they are super pricey and out of my budget ha, these are copies but look so good and exactly like the originals!**)

"Kentucky Faves" 

My picture on my phone honestly does not do it justice, but it's pretty awesome right? 

I love how custom he makes them to your hometown. I thought they looked kind of rustic so picked up this frame at Hobby Lobby and then Chris actually stained it a few days ago and it looks better now that it is darker! :) 

I hung it right in the kitchen, next to my newly painted kitchen and chalk board painted pantry door! :)
Everyone has commented on it and thought the painting was awesome!

I got two smaller ones for the bathroom but am waiting until those dang frames go 50% off at Hobby Lobby!
But they are pretty cute too ...

 Can't find the name of the mint julep one :( 

"Old Fashion Aristocrats"

I loved both of these too. Very Kentucky-like ;) and Southern. Chris nor myself even drink bourbon lol but I  still think they are just super cute!

He has other states that he does stuff for as well ... check out his website at
www.ChrisHartsfield.com

Let's see... what else ... oh speaking of Kentucky ... 

While showing houses last week look what I opened the back door to see in one backyard ...

Yes, your vision is correct ... a real life UK shrub hahahahaha

If that is not a KY Wildcat Fan then I don't know what is! 

How funny is that? Love it! 

The kids are doing good ... 

They had picture day last week, so of course I made them do a small photo-op before heading to school ... 

 
They looked so cute! :)

And of course someone had to be involved too in the model session ... 

He's home-schooled 

hahahahaha ;) 

So we had pretend picture day!

Lastly, some Pinterest ... 

I am soooo ready for Fall clothes ... anyone else? 

I am obsessing over the following: 

This mayan tribal chunky cardigan ... love it! 

love her leather pants, short jacket and super cute scarf! 

I love a black dress with boots ... and the tweed jacket is a total fave! 

Big chunky sweaters that are comfy of any kind are my absolute favorite! 

love a little bit of cheetah print somewhere ha 

I am obsessing over this chevron hammered knuckle ring!

Ok gotta go show houses! 

Can't wait for the weekend ... Saturday I might get to relax and not work for a day! yayy! 

Wednesday Randoms

I know what you're thinking ...

3 days in a row of new blog posts ...? Yes that's correct ... I am totally back on track :)

First things first ...
If you have NOT watched Pretty Little Liars from last night  STOP READING RIGHT NOW!!
I don't want to spoil it for anyone haha!

WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED?

I am still in shock!

Are you kidding me? Whoa! Never saw that one coming! I am still telling myself someone made Toby put that black hoodie on at the end. Surely he can't be A .. surely he didn't take Spencer's V-card and then be a psycho path A!? I knew Nate was a crazy the whole time ... called it from the get-go. But Toby? No way. He was one of my favorites! :( So sad.
I feel so betrAyed ... hahaahha 
sorry couldn't help myself lol 

Ok let's do a little wedding update ... 
Last night we had a tasting at our caterer for the wedding and let me tell you what, I almost had to have Chris pull over on the way home so I could vom on the side of the road because I ate SOO much! The food was amazzzing! It was everything we wanted and I was so excited. We got to taste every single thing! :)

From the best southern sides you've ever tasted like sweet potato casserole with marshmellows on it, to green beans and mac n cheese ... to country ham biscuits, chicken, three salads, 4 cheese dips and veggies, ... I mean literally it was way more than I expected! We were blown away. I can not wait for everyone to get to eat all the yummies at the wedding!! :) No one will go home hungry that is for sure. 

That was my biggest fear about the food .. I have been to many a weddings where Chris and I have left at midnight and driven through the good ol' White Castle because we were starving ha. I do not want ANYONE driving through Whitey's after our wedding ;) Everyone will be full and stuffed ha. 

The best part of the tasting ... we got to take the left overs home ... take a peak at this ... 

Yea .. ha .. that is in my fridge right now!
So much for the diet this week. It was long gone yesterday!!

Next on the wedding train ... 
How do you feel about "RESTROOM TRAILORS?"

The beautiful farm we are having our wedding and reception at does not have bathrooms. GASP! I know.
However, I have found little things called restroom trailers .. and they seem to be nicer than my own bathrooms at home ha.

Check out these bad boys from PortaKleen

Don't they look nice??

I feel like they will be ok .. they use them at Derby parties for pete sake.
How do yall feel about them? Be Honest.
Oh and let me mention they are air conditioned! Which makes a huge difference. I do not like to be hot in a small area while trying to pee lol

Ok, who else knew about Very Jane and didn't share?

 

This sweet girl, Kristin,
over at Keep up with Kristin blogged about this website and I am so glad I saw it!  It is awesome!  There are so many good deals ... and all the stuff is super cute!  Go check out her post to see the good deals and cute jewelry she has already gotten!  I can't wait to see what I can find on there ... this could be bad ha! ;) 
Well that's it for today ... I've gotta run to an appointment and then to church tonight.  Happy Hump Day!

Party Central! WoopWoop!

Hello Friends!

Thanks for all the sweet comments and emails from yesterdays post :) I am so happy to be back!!

Now I am in the process of catching up on everyone else's blogs too!!

Before we get to the recent parties I have announcements:

Today is a BIG day for two reasons ...

#1 We have a tasting for our wedding food this afternoon! 
I have been starving myself all day and am SO ready to go eat some yummy food :) Will update how that went tomorrow! I am little nervous about it, picking food for several people to like is kind of a lot of pressure?!?!

#2 Tonight is the season finale of PRETTY LITTLE LIARS .. who will betrAy them?

Who is your pick?
The last episode showed two black hoodie people .. hmmm... ??

I really am feeling like its Paige, I've never liked her ... but my friend Cory thinks differently ... see below, he is a PLL expert to by the way ha!

So if not Paige... who could it be?? We shall see tonight!!!!

Ok next order of business ... PARTY TIME!

I have pics from a few of the parties I have been able to partake in these last few months.

Let's start with a "Construction Party" for Chris's nephew Jack :)

How cute is he? His hair is adorable and cracks me up! This cake she MADE and it looked awesome!!

(PS. Yes she has painted her laundry door with chalkboard paint!)

She had the table decorated with black cloths and then yellow duct tape for the "road" effect ... the silverwear were the "tool" and then she did orange plates and yellow napkins!
With little construction toys sitting around also :) It was so cute!

He was most excited about that cake I think lol

And it's safe to say our present was a hit ... I got a text from her a few days later with a pictures of a million balls all over her house that said "Thanks for the bday present!" hahaha. At least Jack loved it though ;) That's what Aunt's and Uncles are for right? The fun toys your parents won't buy!

Next up ... "Thomas the Train" Birthday party for my Godson, Connor

I did get a few ideas from Pinterest ... and wouldn't you know it that at the party I barely took any pictures the whole time! :(

I did make some train theme things ... like these wooden signs ... SO easy, got the really thin pieces of wood from Hobby Lobby for like .99cents each! Then painted them white ...

Then painted black stencil letters on the signs, hot glued them together and then used red and black cardstock paper to make the lights for underneath!

Ta-Da!! 
How cute did these look hanging up at the shelter the party was at?

She did a cupcake cake and it turned out so cute, he loved it! And the cupcakes were amazing!!

How cute is that sweet boy? Love him to pieces, he had such a good party! Can't believe he is 3 years old! And he will have a baby brother in about 3 weeks ... ahh!! ... which leads me to my next party ...

Chrissy's Baby "Sprinkle"
This past weekend I had a "Sprinkle" for Chrissy at our house ... now before you ask ... let me give you my definitions:
Baby Shower: A party thrown for someone when they are about to have their FIRST child where you go crazy and celebrate with a million friends and family!
Baby Sprinkle: A party thrown for someone when they are about to have their SECOND child where you invite close friends and family, don't register, just kind of get some necessities, and celebrate :)

I had so many people ask me what the H a sprinkle was hahaha it was hysterical!
While setting up the night before I had all the decor out and Ella and Ava (the party planning assistants!) were helping put everything together, Ella said "Umm I don't think this is a sprinkle, this is more like a hurricane!" LOL I died laughing.

Chris got so sick of me saying the word "sprinkle" that about three weeks ago he banned me from saying it around him hahaha
And then Chrissy's dad had to throw in a few jokes as well ... calling and telling her next week he was having her a "drip" and the week after that they might have a "mist" lol ... nice one Steve. ;)

Anywho ... the important thing is, it turned out awesome! :)

I printed this cute free printable and put on the polka dot paper and framed it :)
(Email me if you want the free printable I can't find the link anymore but I have it saved, it only came in red though :(

I'll just be honest, the cups were my favorite thing about the entire Sprinkle!

I ordered the pdf for the stickers for the cups from this Etsy seller ... then had them printed on label paper at Kinkos for really cheap, then cut out and put on clear cups!

The straws and flags I ordered from Etsy HERE ... they came on time and were the talk of the party! Adorable!

These cute water bottle labels came in PDF from HERE then I printed on label paper also!

After food and presents we did ice cream last and I had a variety of "sprinkles" and little blue plastic ice cream cups and spoons from Walmart (yes Walmart ha!) .99cents each ... were absolutely perfect too!

The mom to be with myself and her sis!

My second favorite part of the party ... the Party Favors!!
I went to Bath and Body Works and got the little mini hand sanitizers that were blue in color ... then printed out a cute little saying and hole punched then tied on the bottles with some jute. They were presh!
And I thought of the saying all on my own ... which I was quite proud of ;)

Now everyone will be ready to hold the baby when he gets here!! ;)

I also did the Hershey Bars for the kids to all take home ... with a paint pen just colored blue the HE and they were perfect! 

I bought the book "On the Night You Were Born" and had everyone write a little note in it for Chrissy and the baby as a guest book, then gave it to her to take home and read on the night he arrives :) 

Chrissy's sister made amazing and super cute cake pops! They were awesome! Thanks Steph! 

We played my favorite Baby Shower game I've ever played!

Here are the rules:

Buy balloons and size 2 diapers for however many guests you are having ... (we had about 30 so one pack of diapers was all I needed)... 

You give everyone a balloon and a diaper and then at the same time .. everyone starts to blow up their balloon. once blown up they have to fit the diaper on the balloon without it falling off and hold it up. The first 5 people to do this move on to the next round .. 

Our top 5 are pictured above ha! :) 

The next step is to give those 5 people a marker and they have to draw their best "baby face" on the balloon.
The Mom to Be then chooses her best baby :)

This was our winner! :) So cute! And we had a second place winner as well ... their prizes...

Blue Essie Nail Polish ... some nail goodies, and some blue Extra gum :) A fun little goodie for a boy shower!

Whitney and Kim .. having fun with the game :) 

PS. These two pretty ladies are two of my bridesmaids <3

Opening her presents!

Baby Boy Cookies brought by one of Chrissy's friends :) They were so good and looked perfect!

Chrissy enjoying some sprinkled ice cream :) 

Last Picture. Love this! So cute!! :) Would be perfect to frame with a thank you card or something :)

How cute was that? It was a great day!
Love you Chrissy! Can't wait to meet baby boy #2 <3

Ok I gotta run, tasty food is calling my name!
Have a great day!