Welcoming Baby Ian!

I was so so excited to go home to Texas this past weekend to throw a baby shower for my sweet friend Megan. She and her husband, Kyle, will be welcoming baby boy Ian Scott in November! I'm not-so-secretly hoping he will come a little early so we can share a birthday. :)

It was so much fun to host a shower with one of my other besties, Leisha. Megan's baby bedding has a cute little alligator, so we decided to make that the theme and go with the colors of her nursery. We found a little inspiration from Pinterest (of course) and Leisha got busy with her Silhouette machine, and I love the way everything turned out! Please excuse the quality of photos- one of these days I will learn to use photoshop and take some pictures on manual...maybe.

The spread (punch, sausage balls, spinach artichoke dip, and fruit pizzas)!

Candy coated popcorn favors

The mommy-to-be!

All of Ian's goodies! Isn't the banner so cute?

This is the quilt I made for baby Ian! I used this tutorial from the Moda Bake Shop and I love the way it turned out. I think it will go great with the nursery colors and I hope Megan loves it as much as I do!

All of us!

It was so good to see old friends and celebrate Megan. I can't wait to meet you, baby Ian Scott!!

The Wonderful Delights of Moda Bake Shop

Hello again! It's been a while, but if you follow this blog, you've probably come to expect my unannounced absences. But I'm back this week for a couple of link ups that I'm so excited about!

When I first started sewing, I started looking at as many blogs as I could to see what others were doing and learn more about the art of quilting! I was so happy when I stumbled upon the Moda Bake Shop. Moda is an amazing fabric company that's constantly introducing beautiful collections from some of the best designers in the biz! But what I love about the Bake Shop is that they show you what you can make using their special pre-cuts. All of the tutorials are free and take you step-by-step through the process of a quilt.

I was so excited when my dear friend Stefanie gave me a Moda jelly roll for my birthday! I knew I had to head over to the Moda Bake Shop and find the perfect tutorial. I decided to use this one and hopefully I can finish it by Christmas! You've seen this picture before, but this is the last one I took.

The fabric is Jovial by basicgrey for Moda

The Moda Bake shop is full of other tutorials that I can't wait to try. I can't wait to show you the one I'm working on right now...but it must remain a secret until I give it away!

I pinned this one a while back, but I think I'll need some more practice before I can master it.

The bake shop isn't limited to quilts though! I am in love with these little coin purses! And they have the cutest projects for babies and kids! 

Even if you don't quilt or sew, there is enough eye candy to keep you coming back for more. Have you ever checked out the goodies at Moda Bake Shop? I hope you'll stop by for a visit!

Lunch Break Make: Pencil Skirt

Did you ever think you'd see a Lunch Break Make again? It's only been eight months since the last one! Honestly, I didn't even plan on this project being a part of this series, but I was pleasantly surprised that this came together so quickly! I found this tutorial on Pinterest and already had some fabric that my sister gave me so I ended up with a FREE skirt! Woohoo!

Easy and comfortable!

Like I said, I mostly used the tutorial on Pinterest, but modified it a bit so it was even easier. Be sure to use a fabric with a bit of stretch so you don't have to bother with a zipper or elastic thread. After measuring, I folded the top and bottom over two inches and made a hem and waistband. Then I sewed together the two ends, basically making a tube. I tried it on, and pinched the extra fabric in the back and pinned. Then I took it off, inverted the spots I pinned and sewed them to make darts (sorry there is not a picture of this). And you're done!

See through fabric is better with a slip under it!

I loved pairing it with my flats for work, but I first tried it on with some nude pumps and loved that look too. The possibilities are endless with this skirt! I hope you'll try it out, and if you do I'd love to see pictures!

Thank Goodness It's August 2nd

It has been so disheartening to see the multitude of posts from both sides of the Chick-Fil-A controversy in my Facebook feed this past week. I kept quiet for a long time for fear of not being able to articulate what I really felt about the whole issue, and then it came to me (as usual, in the form of song lyrics). What the world needs now is love, not chicken (addition mine). Let me elaborate.

1. Matthew 22:39- Love your neighbor as yourself. I am appalled at the things Christians have said. To put it plainly, some of us were just being bullies. I'm all for defending what you believe, but when it's done in such a hateful manner (and passive aggressive for that matter), what are we accomplishing? Why would anyone want to take our side, and quite frankly, how are they seeing Jesus in us?

2. There are a lot of hungry people in this world. In fact, 25,000 people died yesterday from hunger. I wonder how many of them would have lived if everyone who was at Chick-Fil-A stayed home and sent $12 to an organization that is combatting world hunger.

3. No one is perfect. Despite his position on marriage, Chick-Fil-A's founder has done a lot of good things, providing scholarships for less fortunate students and remaining closed on Sundays so employees can attend worship or rest with their families. If that makes you want to support the company, by all means, please do. If you don't agree with the company's position on other issues, then by all means, go eat your chicken somewhere else.

Whatever you choose, do it in love. And feel free to NOT post about it on Facebook.

Happy Birthday, Stister!

My "stister" hit the big 3-0 last week! It was so much fun to gather with our whole family and a lot of her friends to celebrate this milestone birthday...and she was definitely surprised!

The whole family!

My brother-in-law's cousin had a condo in Jersey City that he let us use with an amazing view of the New York skyline and the Statue of Liberty. There was lots of food, friends, and good times.

Party time!

When I asked Kyleen what she wanted for her birthday, she said she would love to have something I made. I knew she also wanted some placemats and napkins, so that's exactly what I made! I wanted something to go with her Fiestaware dishes in Peacock and Scarlet and I LOVE the Amy Butler fabric I found for the placemats! It had both the teal and red and a pop of yellow, Kyleen's favorite.

The finished product!

I love the way they turned out! It was the first time I've ever used piping, and it really wasn't too difficult! I used a different color of piping for each placemat. I also made some coordinating napkins and I really love the fabrics I used for them too! I had a lot of fun creating a table setting using the linens, dishes, and some other decorative items she had around the house! Kyleen folded the napkins and I think it's just so cute and colorful! It helps that these are some of my favorite colors. :)

Love the pewter pieces and yellow candles!

Yellow napkin! 

Red napkin!

If you know my sister, you know that this is so fitting for her bold personality! I'm so glad she loved the linens and that I've been able to make so many fun and special gifts lately. Happy Birthday, Kyleen! I love you!

Wish You Were Here: New York City

We had so much fun in the Big Apple last week! I'll never forget the first time I traveled to New York City. I was eight years old and it was my first time on an airplane! My uncle lived (and still does) in Greenwich Village and my grandparents took me to visit. I still vividly remember the night we arrived and I went to my first Broadway musical, CATS! We visited the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, the World Trade Centers, and much much more. Since then, my sister has gone to NYU and made her home there, so we've been really lucky to be able to make several trips there over the years.

This trip, however, was a first for Marcus! I was so excited to be able to make the trip with him and for him to see all the really touristy places. It was also a special trip because all of my family was there and we celebrated my sister's 30th birthday! Kyleen was so shocked when we arrived at her house and the entire long weekend was just so much fun.

We started off with a visit to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Both places are full of history and such a neat experience for all ages!

Isn't she a beaut?

After lunch we went to the 9/11 Memorial. I guess I wasn't really sure what to expect, but it was a really neat experience. The fountains are beautiful and they pay important tribute to those who lost their lives while symbolizing hope for our country's future.

One of the fountains at the memorial.

Freedom Tower, still a work in progress.

We finished a day of sightseeing at the Top of the Rock. I was really excited about this because it was new for me! We opted for the observation deck at Rockefeller Center over the Empire State Building because the wait was much shorter and the view was just as amazing.

Hello from the top of New York City!

For dinner, we went to the iconic Grand Central Station for dinner at the long-established Oyster Bar. One of the fun things about Grand Central Station is that you can stand in a corner and talk to someone standing in the opposite corner, kind of like a tin can telephone!

My dad in timeout!

The next day, we took a lovely stroll through Central Park. In my opinion, no trip to NYC is complete without a good old-fashioned New York hot dog. So this was our first stop at the park. Second to a hot dog, my favorite spot in New York is the Literary Walk. It's just so picturesque and peaceful in the city that never sleeps! We also visited the boatyard and turtle pond as well as the fountain that's seen in many films, including One Fine Day!

Next stop was the Metropolitan Museum of Art. My uncle calls it his Number 1 Must for anyone with refinement and artistic sensibilities! :) Marcus enjoyed all of the modern art, and I just loved the new Schiaparelli & Prada exhibit. If you love clothes and fashion, it's just incredible.

After some classic New York style pizza at John's, we headed to the Broadway Theater to see Sister Act: the Musical. I have to admit, there were other shows higher on my list, but it was a really fun show. We laughed out loud and had a good time!

Best pizza in the city!

As always, trips to New York are too short and it's just impossible to see everything. After our time in the city, we spent a couple of days visiting family. Stay tuned for a post about my sister's surprise party and my special birthday gift!

Nieces in Nashville!

We just spent a wonderful long weekend in New York seeing the sights, visiting family, and celebrating my sister turning 30! I'll post about that in the next few days, but first I wanted to share some photos of a fun weekend in June when Marcus' parents, his brother and sister-in-law, and our nieces all came to visit us here in Nashville. We had such a good time and I loved having our family in town.

After Marcus got done with his mission trip, we headed to downtown Franklin to explore the shops.

Matt and Marcus with Lucy, Clare, and Abby

Of course, you can't go to Franklin without stopping in at Puckett's!

Abby loves her Uncle Marcus!

We finished off the day with swimming at the hotel pool. We all had a good time...until it was time to get out of the water...

It was freezing!!

On Saturday, we took a trip to the Nashville Zoo! I was so excited to mark another thing off my bucket list, and who better to do it with but three cute little girls?!

Meerkats!

Abby loved the "falingos"! :)

Abby is in love with the cartoon Dinosaur Train, and sang the theme song to us all weekend long! We thought she'd love the DinoTrek exhibit at the zoo, but it was just a little too real.

Abby and Lucy digging up dino bones.

The carousel was much more fun and Clare got to join in too! :)

We love our nieces!!

Cutie patooties!

There was a lot of good food mixed in with all the fun activities, and we even managed to squeeze in a few nights at CMA Fest (an unlisted bucket list item!). We had such a wonderful time and I'm so glad they were able to make the trip to visit us. I know they probably won't remember it when they're older, but it will be fun to show them these pictures of the time they came to see Uncle Marcus and Aunt Alyssa!

I'm Back.....for now!

I have been itching to finally start posting again in the past couple of weeks, but Marcus has been away on mission trips with the youth group, so I just now have the computer back!

Because of your sweet comments on my last post, I was reminded of why I started this blog in the first place. The whole point of Wish You Were Here is for our friends and family to stay in the loop on what's going on at the Womack house. So, this post is just a big ole recap of what's been happening for the past couple of months. I don't really remember as far back as April (except for Easter and finally getting to watch TV again!) so I'll just start with May and catch up to today. Get ready for lots of iPhone pictures ahead!

In May:

• I started working on a Christmas quilt! This is the one I kept promising to show you my progress. Here is the only picture I have. And I haven't worked on it again since then! :) But I'm excited to see it start coming together.

• I visited the Main Downtown branch of the Nashville Public Library! This was on my bucket list, so I was really excited to finally go and mark something off my list!
• I joined a book club! For May, we read Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick. It was absolutely fascinating. I highly recommend it! This month and next, we're reading Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. It is one ginormous book!

• We spent Memorial Day weekend floating on the river in Knoxville! One of my best friends Laura, and her hubby Rob recently moved there, so we spent the weekend on the houseboat they were renting until they could move in to their house. Lots of fun!

• We came home to an escaped dog who had found some Tylenol (no bueno) and made our first visit to the emergency vet clinic. I don't wish this on anyone. Ever.

• We celebrated TWO wonderful years of wedding bliss. Marcus took me to a fancy restaurant and I made him watch our wedding video. :) For the second anniversary gift of cotton, I gave Marcus a monogrammed handkerchief and a Longhorn cap, and he gave me a beautiful canvas photograph that I want to hang above our piano (when we live in a house big enough to have the piano!).

Who forgot to ask someone to take our picture at the restaurant? Yep, us.

I can't believe how quickly the past two years have flown by. Marriage has been such a wonderful adventure and we love our life here in Nashville.

Stay tuned for some of our June adventures (I promise I won't wait a month to post about it).

Blahg

No, that's not a typo. That is how I feel about blogging right now. Blah.

I'm going through one of those inevitable phases that I think everyone goes through. Why do I blog?

I don't have a business to promote, although I love my new sewing hobby and love sharing little crafts when I get around to them. I'm not a fabulous chef, although I do love to eat and try new recipes. I'm not on a mission trip, although I'm very passionate about the work I do every day. I'm not a fashionista, although clothes are my third love (Jesus and the hubs are first and second).

So, there is a multitude of things I could blog about, but it is such a hodge-podge of subjects and I often wonder, "Who cares?" Those of you who do read this blog have always been so complementary and nice, so please don't read this as me fishing for your complements. I'm simply asking myself what I get out of blogging and if/why I feel the need (or desire) to continue doing it.

So this is what I'm working through in my head. If you were wondering where I've been, now you know. If you're expecting more posts from me in the near future, don't hold your breath. :) I may be back soon, or it may be a little while longer.

I would love to hear your feedback, though! How do you deal with a blog funk? What do you do when you have zero motivation to blog or you find yourself wondering why you even blog in the first place? Looking forward to your thoughts!

Happy Birthday, Hubs!

Marcus is 25 today! In the words of his favorite band, the Beatles:

They say it's your birthday!
We're gonna have a good time!
I'm glad it's your birthday!
Happy birthday to you!

Marcus, I'm so glad it's your birthday and that I get to celebrate with you! You are the love of my life and I can't believe I'm so blessed to be your wife. I love you more today than I ever thought I possibly could. You have filled my life with so much joy. I am so proud of the man you are and the man you are becoming. You are my best friend. I love you!

Tour of the distillery this weekend!

Wish You Were Here: Colorado

One of the perks of Marcus still being in school is that he still has a week off every spring semester. Around this time last year, I knew this would most likely be one of his last spring breaks and with the busy schedules of my family, I knew we would need to start planning far in advance if we wanted to go somewhere.  So I emailed my parents, my sister, and my brother-in-law (and Marcus, too!), we all marked it on our calendars, and I've basically been counting down the days since!

My family has been going skiing during spring break nearly every year since I can remember.  When I was five, I got to go for the first time and with the exception of a few years (including the college mission trip where Marcus and I met), I haven't missed a one. We are fortunate that my grandparents have a condo in Silverthorne that's really close to several resorts, so we've always stayed in the same place every year, and we pick where we ski based on our mood that year. :)

Before I get to our trip, though, I have to mention that the weekend we left was also a very special weekend because one of my best friends, Laura, got married! I was so honored to be a part of her wedding and we had an absolute blast!

The lovely Laura Lawrence!

The Lawrences and the Womacks

After the wedding, it was off to the Rockies! It was so great to spend a whole week with my family. There were NO lines, the weather was beautiful, and we had so much fun skiing, playing games, and catching up on life.

Unfortunately, I failed to take a single picture the whole time we were on the mountain. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?! See, here's the deal. Skiing is a lot of work. I'm extremely cold-natured so it takes a lot of time and energy to get bundled up and play in the snow all day.  I had my camera with me, but by the time we were off the ski lift and stopped long enough to take a picture, it wasn't worth the effort to take off my mittens (yes, I wear mittens because they're warmer than gloves), pull out the camera, get everyone together, ask someone to take our picture, put the camera back in my pocket, and put my mittens back on.  I just wanted to get down the mountain, ok? My dad did snap a picture on his phone though, so here's proof that I was there and I skied:

After three days of skiing, we were pretty exhausted, so we decided to spend our last day shopping around the little village at Breckenridge.  If you've ever been, you know what a cute little town it is, full of little shops and restaurants!  First, we had a little lunch at a neat little crepe cart, Crepes a la Cart.

Super yummy!

We shopped around for a bit, visited a little ski museum, and then stumbled upon a wine shop, where my mom, my sister, and I did a fun wine tasting.

We shopped around a little more and then headed back to Silverthorne for dinner.  We had been told about a place called the Mint, where you cook your own steak. I still don't understand why people think it's cool to pay money to cook your own food, but I totally bought in to it and we had a great time.

Hard at work grilling my steak.

The real grill master (I had no idea what I was doing).

Deeeeeelicious!

The whole family!

Spring Break 2012 despite what the Christmas lights might indicate :)

I'm so thankful I was able to take a whole week of work and spend Spring Break with my family. Hopefully this is a tradition that will continue with our kids (many, many years from now)!