Baby Malone at 9 weeks

Thanks everyone for their sweet words. I am actually 11 weeks today. I am attaching the picture from our 9 week ultrasound so you can see sweet baby Malone : ) Our due date is June 20, 2010! More pictures and info to come soon!

Chocolate Milk Boutique

Several posts back I explained that my friend Bekah and I have been working on our new website for custom baby and children's items. Well my friends, we have finally completed the website (thanks entirely to Mindy- THANKS SO MUCH MINDY!). So, without further ado, I would like to present to you our new business- Chocolate Milk!

http://www.chocolatemilkboutique.blogspot.com/

The site is still a work in progress as there are several more projects I am currently working on and some pictures I have yet to upload (monogrammed burp cloths, a custom birthday shirt with a # 2, hand made Halloween shirts, new shots of some of our tutus, etc).... so please check back periodically for new items!

The concept behind the business is simple- decide what it is you are looking for, ask us for it, and we will make it happen! Don't know what you are looking for? We can help there too. We simply want to create custom items for your children, nieces, friends children, etc. To order, click on the email button on the right hand side of the chocolate milk site and let us know what you are looking for.

Ok- let the fun begin : )

Taylor Swift

I have lived in Nashville now for over 4 years and have yet to see any stars except at a concert or award show... until Saturday that is. I finally had my first encounter with a star- and I couldn't have picked a better one to meet!

Walt and I were both in a wedding this weekend (pictures and a post to come soon on that) at the Factory in Franklin. We were in the middle of having pictures taken with the bride and groom when someone came running around the corner announcing that Taylor swift was in the building. That's all I needed to hear. The moment our shots were done, I lept up and sprinted over to the store she had been spotted in and snuck to the back of the store where she was trying on some cute and expensive coats.

Before I could get the nerve to approach her (yes, I am apparently 12 years old), one of the other bridesmaids beat me to the punch and asked her for a picture. She very sweetly obliged. As soon as they were done, I knew it was now or never. So I politely asked her with a shaky voice if she would mind one more picture. She of course agreed with a big smile, and just like that I had my picture made with Taylor Swift!

I must say that she is BEAUTIFUL in person. I have become more and more of a Taylor Swift fan lately. I have always loved her music, but I saw her when I was at the CMT awards this year and just fell in love with how genuine, sweet, humble, and hilarious she can be! And the fact that she is just as pretty on a rainy Saturday afternoon as she is on TV just makes her the total package.

And before anyone asks, yes, Walt happened to be the one to bring up the Kanye thing to her. He proceeded to tell her that she made Nashville very proud in the classy way that she reacted to Kanye's RIDICULOUS outburst. She smiled back at him, thanked him, and her words were: "I know, right? It was so crazy. I was standing up on stage like.....ooookkkkk...." Even after everything, she still didn't really have a negative thing to say about the guy. She truly is a class act.

So that's my story. Thanks to Heather for choosing such a cool venue for her wedding day. As soon as I have pictures back from that, I will be sure to post them!

Black Tie Affair

I got a call up at work yesterday at 11:15 am, and this is what my husband said: "So you know how we are supposed to go to that ribbon cutting ceremony tonight for Martin Methodist? Well, I just found out it is a black tie event."

My reaction... WHAT????? I frantically say there trying to go through my closet in my mind to see if there was anything out of the 14 bridesmaid dresses that I have (okay maybe just 8 dresses) that I could pull off without looking like I was about to walk down an aisle. Lucky for Walt, we are both in a wedding THIS WEEKEND and his tux was available for him to pick up yesterday.

I left a little early and rushed home to shave my legs as quickly as possible and started the quickest process ever of trying on all of my bridesmaid dresses to see first off if I could still fit in any of them, and secondly out of the ones that did still fit, which one looked the less obvious. I decided on a sleek black dress that was floor length with a simple sash around the waist (thanks Ashley B. for picking out a dress that I literally could and did wear again : ). So one pair of spanx and a tux later and we were ready to hit the road!

Now to fill you in on what this evening was about, one of Walt's clients is Martin Methodist College in Pulaski. They just completely gutted out one of their oldest buildings, an unused gym, on campus and re-did it to be their new Fine Arts cetner. I must say, the building is absolutely beautiful! They did such an amazing job of keeping memorable parts of the old building and blending it with the new. They decided to keep the gym floor and just re-arranged it which made for the COOLEST looking hard wood floors ever! They also kept the exposed beams on the ceiling giving it such an urban, cool feel. Throw in a quaint art gallery, a concert hall, and a VERY cool custom made (by Advent may I just throw in) piano key piece that hung on the wall to show that the school is an official Steinway Accredited School, and you have the new Fine Arts Center. 

Walt did all the branding and pretty elements in the whole building.....wood print, signage etc. A few shots of just the front entrance lobby is above. Gives you a small taste of what Walt does!

It was pretty snazzy, to say the least. We ate some yummy hors d'oeuvres, listened to some talented people sing and play the piano, and met some really interesting and important people! All in all I would say it was a very fun night. After all, it's not every day that you get to dress up to the nines, wonder around a new, beautiful building FULL of amazing history, eat expensive food, meet rich and important people, and hear some great entertainment!

Thanks for letting me be your date last night, Walt! I'm looking forward to our next black tie affair : )

Disney's FastPass

So as a "PS" to my first Disney post on the Magic Kingdom, I thought I would write a few quick tips on Disney's FastPass (Bethany- this one's for you).

So what is a fastpass, you may ask? The ticket you use to enter in to the park is actually what you use to get a fastpass. Simply stick your ticket (whether paper or plastic) in to the fastpass machine at the ride of your choice, and out pops a paper FastPass ticket with a scheduled time on it! I found a great write up on the details of how to use it, so instead of re-inventing the wheel, here is a quick summary of how to get and use a fastpass:

Disney's FASTPASS allows guests to make 'reservations' for a popular ride to avoid waiting in long lines.

As you approach the attraction that uses the FASTPASS system, you will see three lines. One is the FASTPASS distribution line (where you get your FASTPASS ticket ), the second is the FASTPASS entrance (when you're returning to ride after making your FASTPASS reservation), and the third is the Standby entrance for guests not using FASTPASS.

The FASTPASS distribution line features a clock showing what times the tickets are being issued for. A clock with the current time is displayed outside the FASTPASS attraction entrance. The Standby line will have the current wait time posted.

Let's see how this all works. It's 11:00am and you want to go on Kali River Rapids but there's a 60 minutes wait posted outside the Standby line. You take a look at the FASTPASS distribution and see that passes are being issued with a return time of 1:00 - 2:00pm. You get your FASTPASS and instead of waiting on a one hour line, you have two free hours before coming back, bypassing the standby line and getting on Kali with little or no wait.

For the attractions, the assigned time will give you a 1 hour window to return, so you don't have to run back to be there the minute it goes into effect. With the theater attractions, you'll have a FASTPASS for a specific performance.

One thing to keep in mind, there are restrictions as to how many passes you can have at once. Your FASTPASS will have the time that you can get your next FASTPASS printed on it. (Usually this is when your current FASTPASS can be used or after two hours have elapsed.) Don't plan on going from one FASTPASS attraction to another gathering up slips. These machines are smart and won't issue another until your current pass allows it.

Every one in your party will be expected to turn in a FASTPASS at the attraction. And please don't return before your scheduled time because you will not be allowed to enter.

I think that pretty much sums up what a fastpass is and how to use it for your advantage. There are definately certain rides that I would recommend getting a fastpass to every time. In Magic Kingdom, the ones that jump out to me the most are Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Peter Pan's Flight, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.

Now I'm not saying to NOT get a fastpass for any other rides at the Magic Kingdom as I know that lines can get lengthy at various attractions. What I am saying is that these rides almost ALWAYS have a long line, and the line usually takes as long as the wait time says. Other rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean tend to move pretty quickly and you are waiting inside in an air conditioned and themed hallway. Just FYI.

Also, this past time that we were there, a cast member told us that you can get an additional fastpass to another ride 2 hours after you got your existing fastpass. In other words, if you walk up to Space Mountain at 9:00AM and get a fastpass and your pass time is for 1:00-3:00 that afternoon (and that happens), you don't have to wait until 1:00 to get another fastpass to a different ride. In this instance, you could get a new fastpass at 11:00am. I believe the tickets now have the time a new pass is available at the bottom of them.

WHEW! Ok, so that was a bit more complicated to explain than I thought. I'm pretty sure I just said the word fastpass 50 times. The passes are not really that hard to do once you get the hang of it. I hope this has been helpful instead of confusing and lengthy. And Bethany, just email me if I have managed to scare you with this post : )

You might have the swine flu if....

you wake up looking like this:

ok sorry... I thought this was too funny not to post : )