Life Lately: Easter Weekend
Last weekend felt more like a true Easter than any I can remember in a long time. I'm one of those people who likes the major holidays to look and feel like the quintessential versions of them we see in children's books and feel-good movies. Last year I was deeep in the mom fog with a three-month-old who wasn't sleeping, so it could've been just as gorgeous, and it was special since it was our first Easter with Harlow. But this year, we have a house with a yard that, for all its shortcomings and overgrowth, has lots of beautiful native plants with the most unreal blooms. Azaleas, dogwoods, lilac, periwinkle, daffodils, cherry trees, and crepe myrtles. SO SPRINGY!!!
On Friday we planted rhododendron, knockout roses, arborvitaes, and hydrangeas in our front garden beds -- yippee! We consulted with the pros at Jessie Israels before we made our decisions and it's good to feel like we're not shooting in the dark just hoping the pretty plants we like will work. Whatever the polar opposite of green thumbs are, I have two of them so I need all the help I can get. Next we want to add lime mound spirea and purple diamond loropetalum to our garden. Yeah, that's all gibberish to me, too, but I found this picture and said "this is what I want, just do that." LOL!
Another reason this Easter felt extra extra: we got to go wild with her Easter basket! I mean, we didn't fill it with iPads and jewelry or anything but I included lots of snuggly friends, new outfits, a board book, and hair bows! (This seersucker hair bow is my fave.)
My mom treated her to a forever Easter basket from Pottery Barn Kids. We got the small white wicker basket (with collapsible handle, sooo nice for storage) with the bunny lining and had her name embroidered on the ear in white thread. The lining is removable which I like because we can reuse the basket for other things throughout the year. The small size is plenty big and honestly I don't remember my baskets being that much bigger than it regardless of what age I was. Anyways, if you like buying holiday merch after the holiday has passed her basket is on sale for under $20 right now.
More exciting than her Easter basket? A big box from Amazon. I think the episode where Daniel Tiger pretends a cardboard box is all sorts of fun things really sunk in with this one.
She thought it was hilarious to make a mustache out of my necklace :D
On Saturday we ventured downtown to Asheville Pizza & Brewing for an outdoor lunch. Mike and I agree that Asheville Brewing is our favorite local brewery and since the one near our house is carry-out only, we don't get the chance to sample a lot of their beers other than the ones they can. If anybody from ABC is reading this -- or if you're connected to their powers-that-be -- please tell them that South Asheville is waiting for their dine-in restaurant/brewery! They've got Asheville's best pizza and beer, and if there's anything families love to go out for, it's pizza and beer!
We had the best time people watching outside, watching the pub cycle go by and enjoying the perfect weather. The cutest thing was how Harlow would bark at all the dogs she saw OR heard! She's never been so quick to respond to them before and we were eating it up with a spoon.
Sippin' on that session IPA...
BAHAHAHAHA! Girl tried to steal my slice! Look at that face -- all business!
OKAY. Here's where the day got really interesting. I was feeling SO excited about my outfit because A) I love this gingham jumpsuit (which they just restocked, PS), and B) I got so many compliments on it! And there I was hanging out in Green Man and the back zipper breaks! Like broke broke, beyond repair. A mile away from our car! Uggghhhh! It was split open all the way down the back so I had to hold it together and walk all the way to our car like a granny with a back problem. I still really like the jumpsuit and will just have a new, better zipper put in but MAN, I could've done without the wardrobe malfunction!
Thankfully we were going to my parent's house for dinner and I had some older clothes in my closet. I did a quick change and we headed over to the Dogwood Designs Bakery pop-up shop at Engaged to check out their DIY cupcake bar. What whaaaat! I'll be honest, I didn't let Harlow get too hands on because they had legit icing bags and huge tubs of toppings and I saw that going really badly with a toddler on the loose. But me? Oh I got on it! I actually had to try not to decorate every single cupcake with marshmallow frosting and rainbow sprinkles. Say what you will, but that combo is basically unbeatable.
Such a cute idea to put mini cupcakes in egg cartons! Thanks for the fun time, Heidi!
I was so excited to get up on Easter morning and go to church! And guess what: I left Harlow in the nursery for the first time ever. Not just at church, but anywhere! A big personal step for this mama, let it be known. I really wanted to absorb the spirit of the service and it's hard to do that when you don't know how your toddler is going to behave. We LOVE the minister at our church. His sermons are the best I've ever heard; I always learn something about the Bible and about life, and I always leave feeling uplifted and optimistic! He led us through an Amen Corner which is basically when the congregation gets so inspired they can't help but shout "amen!" in response to a preacher's impassioned speech. I'd seen and heard of them before, but never participated in one and it was so much fun! I often find myself so moved during one of Reverend Blackburn's sermons that I tear up, so I was grateful to have a way to release my emotions in a fun, communal way. But if I'm being honest, when he first used the term 'Amen Corner' the only thing I could think of was The Masters.
I'm also going to be honest about my dress: this was the dress I wore seven months pregnant to my baby shower. I got it from ASOS's maternity line and only wore it the one time. It really could be taken in a bit but all-in-all it still fits fairly well! Somehow it has amazing stretch but you can't really tell.
I just didn't want to spend the money on an Easter dress for me this year. My shopping wish list could reach from here to San Francisco and I would rather save my pennies for something I'll wear over and over instead of on Easter and maybe another random Sunday sometime in the future. All of this is to say that if you're expecting you should definitely check out the ASOS maternity line -- it's the best I've seen for fashionable, on-trend styles for preggy mamas!
MY DRESS (old, similar here, here, and here) | HARLOW'S DRESS | BOW
Southern Sunday dinner staples: pot roast and squash casserole :D
Harlow's Dee Dee got her a tutu Easter basket full of goodies, but the winning gift was definitely Elmo and he is one super soft monster!
We all took turns with the bunny ears. Even Lily.
We ended the day with an Easter egg hunt in my grandmother's front yard. For a 16-month-old who's still not walking full time, Harlow did so good! She successfully retrieved three eggs and put them in her basket. Not to sound like a grinch but we didn't want to put candy in her eggs and she really wouldn't care for some small trinket at this stage so we just left them empty. I'm sure next year will be a completely different story though!
This girl sure loves her Dee Dee! I might as well be chopped liver when she's around LOL! I honestly love it. I'm so close with my grandmother that I know and appreciate a close bond with your grandparents and I'm so happy Harlow has that with hers!
That's it for weekend scenes but I had to end with this hilarious meme I found on Betches Instagram. You feel me?
xxBrooke
