Holiday Weekend Fun

Saturday morning I went to my power yoga class. Earlier in the year, I was really good about going to yoga and I was going at least three times a week. Lately however, I've really fallen off the bandwagon. Rather than going all out (as I usually do) I decided to start out small and just commit to going every Saturday. I've been pretty consistent except for the weekends that we're out of town (or have guests). I love starting my weekend off with a good yoga class - it puts me in the best mood and gets rid of any lingering work-week stress. When I got home, Cary was hard at work raking leaves so I got to work cleaning up our house and vacuuming up puppy hair. The fun of owning a home... ;)

Saturday afternoon, our good friends, the Murphys came over for our second annual holiday dinner along with their adorable baby C. We had a great time talking and catching up, the guys watched football and we were all endlessly entertained by C who is just the sweetest, happiest baby. They stayed the night since they live almost an hour away from us. Sunday morning we decided to try the brunch at Atkins Park. No of us had ever eaten there as it's mostly known as a bar. The food was pretty good - not as good as Murphy's but a MUCH shorter wait, which means a lot when you're standing outside with a baby and it's 40-degrees and windy!


Cary and I spent the rest of Sunday finishing up Christmas shopping. We're pretty much finished now, just waiting on a few packages to arrive. I try to do most of my shopping online as I don't deal very well with the crowded craziness of the mall this time of year! Just four more days of work and then a much-needed week off! Despite the 8 hour drive, I'm really looking forward to being home in Richmond for the holidays and spending time with family and friends. Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday!

I would like to wish my beautiful, smart and sweet little sister a very happy birthday today!! I hope you have a wonderful day and I can't wait to see you in a few weeks!

Holiday Discounts

I'm sure your in box is full of discount codes and sales but I thought I'd pass these along in case anyone needs another excuse to shop ;) Happy holiday shopping!

Sara Langley Designs is offering free shipping now through December 19. Enter code FREESHIP at checkout.

Get 20% off any Bliss or Remede product through December 3 at Bliss Spa. Enter code 128911 at checkout.

Also at Bliss through December 2, get free shipping and 2 free tubes of body butter with the code 118915.

A. Tierney is offering free shipping and free gift wrap on all orders until December 25th.

Today only World Market is taking 20% off all online orders and has free shipping on orders over $50. There is no code so I assume that the discount applies when you checkout.

Polo Factory Outlets is giving $25 off every $150 you spend now though December 24.

Today only Pottery Barn has free shipping and free monogramming on selected items.

Owning a home is a lot of work!

There's been a lot of work going on around the Politics to Peaches house. Much of it is not very exciting, ie ordering a new mattress, organizing (my favorite!) and preparing for Thanksgiving. We are hosting both of our immediate families for Thanksgiving this year so it was crucial that we do something with our empty dining room, which is what we've been up to the last few weeks. We just finished up the painting last week and put the room back together and hung pictures this past weekend. I know everyone is just dying to see pictures so here goes....

The pictures came out a little dark, but the walls are a deep navy blue. We're thinking of adding chair rail and/or some sort of paneling or wainscoting to the bottom half of the walls - any suggestions? This is a whole new world for me!
Here's a better shot of the table and the rug we bought. I just love the furniture - thanks to my wonderful grandparents for so generously giving it to us! I still need to find curtains for this room but that will probably wait until after Thanksgiving.

Shop for a Cause

I really like A. Tierney for their cute, fun accessories and frequent sales! I wanted to share a few cute items they have now. First in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, A. Tierney is donating 20% of the sales from all "Think Pink" products to the Komen Foundation. This 'Boat and Tote' style bag is perfect for running errands or just heading out for a day of fun at the park. Besides, everyone can always use another tote bag, right? They also have pendants. I'm not sure I would wear this around my neck but it would be cute as key chain or hanging off of your bag with a cute, preppy ribbon. Unrelated to breast cancer awareness, but in the spirit of the season - more political wear! Again, not sure I'd wear this as a necklace but I think they are cute.

Happy Weekend!

Rockumentary

A friend sent me a link to the rockumentary 'Call and Response' today. (http://www.callandresponse.com/)
This documentary was made entirely through donations of time and money and 100% of the ticket sales go to organizations working to end the slave trade around the world. After looking at the website and reading a bit about the project, I'm definitely interested in going one night next week. The film opens today in Atlanta (Landmark Theatre in Midtown and LeFont in Sandy Springs) and nationally tomorrow. My friend has already seen it and highly recommends it. In her words:
"This film is an eye opening picture of how slavery still exists in our world and how we can do something about it. You can buy your tickets online even if the film is not out in your city yet."

I wanted to pass this along as I did not realize the extent of human trafficking worldwide and I think this is an important cause.

Our trip to the Carribean

Here are a few pictures from our recent vacation. We went on a cruise with Cary's family - parents, siblings, and husband/wife ( I hate the word 'spouse' so I avoid using it at all costs. It's just a quirk I have. Anyhoo...)

Carved watermelon greeting us the first day. I'd love to learn how to sculpt fruits and vegetables like the staff did - imagine how much fun that would be for parties!

The beach in Haiti. Unfortunately we got rained out of the exciting zip line excursion we had planned but we had a great time exploring the beaches and swimming.

Our next stop was Ocho Rios, Jamaica where we spent the day kayaking and climbing Dunn's River Falls. We all assumed that climbing a waterfall meant hiking alongside a waterfall, but no. We climbed up the rocks in the rushing water. A little scary, especially for someone like me who is not that coordinated and is afraid of heights, but it was really fun and we all agreed it was the best excursion of the trip. Alas, I don't have pictures of this because I was not about to try climbing over slippery rocks with my camera in tow.

Our third stop was Grand Cayman where Cary and I spent the morning boating, playing with stingrays on a sandbar, and snorkeling. The pictures from this day are on a waterproof disposable camera so I will post if I can - and if any are decent. Our guides gave us a mini lesson on stingrays, their habits, where to touch them, and where to avoid! Once I got over my fear, They were amazing - they are very friendly animals and we were able to touch them and feed them. I hope the pictures of this are decent - how did we live before the instant gratification of digital cameras??

The men, looking quite polished.

Us on one of the formal nights. Ignore my ghost-white face. I think the flash was a little close. I actually did mange to get a tiny bit of a tan during the week ;)

And finally, on the last night of the cruise, we celebrated the twins' big 3-0!

This is everyone, with our fantastic servers, just after they presented Cary and Peyton with birthday desserts and sang to them. All in all, a very fun trip and a fantastic opportunity to get to know my new family even better!