MATT & NAT

When Matt and I first started dating, my mom gave me a purse that she thought was hilariously appropriate. It was a red clutch and the designer was "Matt & Nat." My mom knew we were meant to be if there was a purse line named after us. I have never bought another Matt and Nat purse, but now I have found one I need in my life. I think this tote is fabulous. Love the color, the size, the Ikat print. I think this needs to be my new beach tote for the summer! It is pretty much meant to be, right?

Purse can be found HERE

Art Work by Yours Truly

I finally did it. I completed one of my New Year's Resolutions and I painted an abstract painting. I had so much fun painting I might make this a regular occurrence. I already have requests from my mom and sister for paintings for their homes. I present to you the first original piece of artwork by NDM.



This photo was my inspiration. It was from Joel McHale's (the Talk Soup Guy) House that was featured in InStyle. I loved everything about this room in his house, but the artwork especially caught my eye. I think mine comes pretty close, right?

Sneaky Potatoes

I confess I have never made twice baked potatoes before. This was my first attempt and I must say they turned out quite scrumptious. This was my sneaky way of getting the men in my life to eat more veggies. I thought if I mixed the veggies in with potatoes and cheese they would eat them- and I was right, my disguise worked. They both scarfed down spinach, mushrooms and potatoes- score! In order to get Matt to consider this a real meal, I added a few slices of bacon to the top. He doesn't consider things a meal unless meat is involved. The bacon is totally optional but it does add a nice salty flavor to the potatoes. These potatoes were so decadent and tasty! The veggies meshed perfectly with the creamy potatoes. I totally just made this recipe up with things I had on hand so feel free to adjust to your liking. You can add more or less of anything.







TWICE BAKED POTATOES WITH VEGGIES
-2-4 RUSSET POTATOES
-SOUR CREAM
-MILK
-SHREDDED CHEDDAR CHEESE
-FRESH SPINACH
-ONION DICED
-MUSHROOMS SLICED
-SLICED PRE-COOKED BACON

WRAP THE POTATOES IN FOIL AND POKE HOLES THRU WITH A FORK TO HELP VENTILATE. BAKE AT 350 DEGREES FOR ABOUT AN HOUR. LET POTATOES COOL. CUT IN HALF AND SCOOP OUT THE MIDDLE.

MEANWHILE ADD A SMALL AMOUNT OF OLIVE OIL TO PAN AND SAUTE ONION AND MUSHROOMS. ONCE THE ONION HAS BROWNED SLIGHTLY ADD IN THE SPINACH. COOK UNTIL JUST WILTED.

MIX THE INSIDES OF THE POTATOES WITH A FEW SPOONFULS OF SOUR CREAM, A FEW SPLASHES OF MILK AND CHEESE. BLEND UNTIL CREAMY LIKE MASHED POTATOES. ADD SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE. LASTLY MIX IN THE SAUTEED VEGGIES.

SCOOP THIS MIXTURE INTO THE HOLLOWED SHELLS. PLACE TWO SLICES OF BACON OVER EACH POTATO HALF. BAKE ABOUT 20 MINUTES. PULL OUT AND SPRINKLE TOPS WITH CHEESE AND BAKE ANOTHER 5 MINUTES UNTIL CHEESE MELTS.
BON APPETIT!

Tibi Love Affair

Tibi is by far one of my all time favorite lines of clothing. I love the use of pattern and color in the designs. I still love and wear Tibi dresses I bought years ago. That is saying alot for me because I frequently like to buy new clothes and get rid of old ones. I just recently found out there is Tibi outlet in St. Simmons, GA. About 3 hours from here, I am so taking a road trip there soon. Anyone want to join me? Has anyone been? Here are a few of my favorite pieces from the Spring 2011 line. I would be happy to have any of these babies hanging in my closet!

Bianca Shift Dress via

Angle Drapped Dress via

Ruffle Dress via

Brooke Drapped Dress via

Brooke Easy Ruffle Dress via

Tibi Racerback Maxi via

Obsessions- Stilettos and Diaper Bags

I am so excited to have Lisa from Stilettos and Diaper Bags guest blogging today. As soon as I saw the tittle of her blog, I knew I would love it! Lisa is one truly stylish mommy with a beautiful family! Check out her BLOG if you never have, its a fabulous read! Thanks Lisa, I am so happy to have you guest post today! and Happy Birthday! xoxo

Hi everyone, my name is Lisa and I have a blog called Stilettos and Diaper Bags. I am so happy to be doing a guest post over here on Natalie's blog! I'm a big fan of hers and find myself over here reading her posts daily!

I always find myself OBSESSED with things. I have to have it!! Have to! ;) Right now I have a few obsessions that I'd like to share with you. First up, Moroccan Oil Shampoo and Conditioner.

I started using the Moroccan oil in the fall and fell in love! Then I started using their hydrating hair mask. Now I use the oil, shampoo, and the conditioner! They are amazing! My hair always looks so shinny and healthy now and I even like how it looks when I air dry it (which is NOT normal)! I do alternate shampoos though. I fell like you get the best hair results when you switch it up. Having said that, I will always come back to this great find. My hair looks too good right now not to!

Another current obsession of mine right now is flowy dresses. The longer and flowier the better!


These two are from Shopbop and cost $828 each. Obviously dream items, but good examples of the type of dresses that I am loving at the moment. So great for spring and summer and also for mom's on the go! Any fellow moms out there with toddlers who like to hide and lift up shorter dresses?! Welcome to my world! lol


My third and final obsession right now is face serums. I am a firm believer of taking vitamins. So why wouldn't you also apply vitamins directly to your face so you are helping your skin from the outside in?! Skincuticales vitamin B serum is not just a current obsession, it is a LOVE. But adding more serums to my daily routine is an obsession! Vitamin B serum is great for hydration! A refining serum is great for those spots that have breakouts, love me some eye firming serum, and also a vitamin A & C serum would do all types of skin some good! To each his own, but I am not the type of gal to get anything done to my face. Not even botox. But face creams, serums, and facials? YES PLEASE!


Want to know what else I'm obsessed with? Check out my blog post today over on my page! Thanks again Natalie for having me!


xoxo
Lisa Fergus

Vanity Chair After

Let me start by saying I am an idiot. By accident when I cleaned the pictures off my camera this weekend for Sterling's birthday I accidentally erased all the before pictures of this chair. I feel so stupid because who really cares about a project if they can't see the before and after pictures. Well, I am going to share the after pictures anyways because this chair turned out so darn cute.

Just use your imagination to picture the chair before. It was brown and had a crusty goldish cushion. It looked like it had been sitting in a storage unit for years.

This project cost less than $15. All I had to buy was white gloss spray paint and half a yard of fabric. I found the fabric here in Charleston at GDC Home. They have a fabulous fabric selection if you live local and ever need fabric. This vanity chair is actually my sisters ( I know, I am such a nice sister to makeover her chair), but I love the fabric so much, I am thinking of re-covering my dining room chairs in it. Thoughts? Good fabric for a dining room?

Here are the After Shots:



I did have a little help stapling the fabric to the chair. Not that I couldn't have done it myself but when Dad is in town you gotta put him to work right??

They Say it's Your Birthday

On Saturday we celebrated Sterling's First Birthday with a party at our house with family and friends. Everything was perfect. We could not have asked for better weather, 70 degrees and bright and sunny. I think Sterling had a fabulous time! I know we did as some of our close friends stayed til almost midnight! I just wanted to share a few pictures with ya'll! And by a few pictures, I mean far too many! Sorry if you get bored, but I couldn't resist sharing all these.