Shopaholic in Alabama

TGIF, Shopaholics! Disclaimer: Please ignore my awful hair in the photo - I couldn't make it to the salon this week but not to worry, I'll be there next Wednesday. Phillip please don't die when you see this. I know....it's  Out.of.control .... Yesterday I was absolutely thrilled to meet one of my longtime blog readers, Wendy. She was visiting our little slice of paradise for spring break! Along for the ride: both of Wendy's children, her sister Melissa and Melissa's son. They live right up the road in Atlanta and come down to Gulf Shores several times a year. A few weeks ago, Wendy emailed me to say she would be in town and would love to get together. Talk about excited! I love to meet people who read my blog and that I already know I'll have a *ton* of stuff in common. True to my expectations - meeting Wendy and Melissa was like lunching with old friends. We dined at the world famous but casual Lulu's, which is one of the biggest tourist destina...

Happy Hump Day, Shopaholics! Question: how much Lilly can fit into a size 6 shoe box for mailing purposes? Answer: three pieces total - two dresses and one full length caftan! Are you wondering "what in the world"!?!?!? For the past two weeks, I've been hearing about Lilly sightings at TJ Maxx and Marshalls all over the place - CA, MI, SC, TX, etc.  Mind you, there isn't one piece in any of our TJ Maxx or Marshalls (I've been to four total stores around these parts). So when I was without internet at Gilligan's Dauphin Island and had my lip stuck out because I couldn't get my hands on any of my coveted Lilly in Fresh Catch Toile or Tisket Tasket prints (both from last summer's collection), my dear friend and fellow Lilly lover Hadley rescued me! Literally! Hadley had the scoop, and knew I "needed" those pieces. We texted back and forth several times and on a Saturday afternoon, my sweet friend went out in the snow (in St. Louis, wh...

Happy Tuesday, Shopaholics! Are you "shopped out" yet? Ready for Santa? Still not ready here... The past few days have been spent enjoying time with family and friends at various holiday gatherings. On Saturday we had our immediate family over for a low key holiday dinner. Last night I went to a "Girls Only" holiday party at my BFF Ashleigh's house. We had a great time - wine, food, Dirty Santa and one of our favorite holiday movies "The Holiday". I loved Ashleigh's tree and really wanted to take the pink Sock Monkey ornament home with me...instead, she sent me home with a new Christopher Radko ornament for my collection. :-) For blog reader "Amie" - Ashleigh and I wish you "Happy Holidays"! And to answer your question, we've been BFF's for --- hmmm --- about sixteen years now!  Have a Terrific Tuesday, and while running around trying to get it all done - take a moment to breathe and enjoy the season!

Happy Tuesday, Shopaholics! Hope you are doing great today and enjoying the holiday season - which is now in full swing! Ask me just how bummed out I was when I couldn't make the Lilly Pulitzer warehouse sale earlier this month. Generally, I attend the spring sale which is usually held the first week of June. To mix it up a bit, this year I was looking forward to making my first trip for the fall sale, which is always the week before Thanksgiving. I had my ticket booked, and arrangements made. I was staying with my buddy Caitlin, almost had my sister Amy talked into joining me, and planned to meet many of my blog/Facebook/Lilly friends while there. I was so excited! Then we started what is forever after going to be known as "The Remodel". We are doing most of the work ourselves - and it has turned into quite the project. Put it like this, I think I spent an entire week stripping paint off bathroom cabinets. I saw real quick like that there was NO way I could take of...

Happy Tuesday, Shopaholics! Didn't I tell you that I celebrated my birthday the entire month of August? :-) After today, the month is changing and my mind will slowly begin to turn to late summer (known as Fall everywhere else) and football season. Let me thank my lovely friend Kristina over at Lotus and Lilly for a thoughtful and generous birthday gift. Kristina's work is absolutely gorgeous. I was thrilled and surprised when she sent me a clutch and matching headband for my birthday! They are both made from vintage Lilly Pulitzer fabric, named Familia de Gato. The clutch is available to view on the website HERE . Thanks again Kristina, I love them both. Shopaholic tip: Be sure to join the Lotus and Lilly Facebook page, for special deals and promotions. :-) Another surprise came to me from The Preppy Ladybug . Shannon sent me a set of the Pink Coral Notecards, which I had mentioned here on Shopaholic as one of my favorite items from her store. I've already used sever...

Happy Monday, everyone! Finally - the birthday celebrations are over! My "official" 40th party was Saturday night. Photos to come later, above is my real birthday cake. The photo isn't that great, but at least you can see it! Today I wanted to show you some of the lovely and generous gifts birthday gifts I received. First let me say I am blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. I KNOW I am a very lucky girl! From my friend over at Caroline Grace Jewelry ...a cuff bracelet in gold leather with an embellished seahorse. This cuff is stunning in person - I've worn it several times already. The gold goes with everything and is a perfect late summer wardrobe addition. You can view on CGJ's Etsy site HERE . Thank you, Caroline Grace! From my lovely friend Heather, a silver seashell platter. I was so surprised when I received Heather's gift, what a sweet friend she is! We used it at my birthday party to display the pink and green M and M's and it...

Happy Saturday everyone! The weekend is finally here - and I plan to spend today resting up for ..... drum roll please ..... the Jimmy Buffett concert on Sunday! I am thrilled to report I have tickets in hand, and will be watching Jimmy perform live from the beach here in Gulf Shores, AL. Several weeks ago, over a million people logged onto Ticketmaster in an attempt to score free tickets to the "Jimmy Buffett & Friends" concert, which was originally scheduled for July 1. The concert is Jimmy's gift back to this coast, where he grew up and lived a significant portion of his early years. His sister, Lucy Buffett, has a huge restaurant/bar "Lulu's" in Gulf Shores and he visits occasionally. The intent of the concert was to bring tourism back to the beach, which has suffered significantly in the wake of the oil spill. Enter Hurricane Alex, and the concert had to be rescheduled for July 11. When the tickets went on "sale" - they were gone in ...

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you had a nice weekend, the weather on Sunday was fantastic around these parts! I finally made it to the beach for about 3 hours and it was nirvana. I got a little bit of "color" on my winter skin. My motto is "tan fat always looks better than white fat". :-) I'm so excited about this week - it's going to be fun! My cousin Tom and his family are down from Northern VA/DC area. I haven't seen them in about 5 years and have never met their youngest son. Crazy! I'm hoping they will have time to spend a day at the beach. Tom's younger brother, Steve, is driving in today from Oklahoma. Get this - Tom and Steve haven't seen each other in almost 10 years and they are brothers!!! So the visit is quickly becoming a small family reunion! Another exciting visitor is making her way down to the beach this week - my favorite jewelry designer and Twitter BFF, Caroline Grace. Can't wait to finally meet her and beach, shop a...

Happy Thursday everyone! One more day until Friday - and Super Bowl weekend! :-) Earlier this week, I attended a Haiti Relief Benefit Open House. This event was hosted by my BFF Amy. I've known her longer than DH - how about that? The event featured products from Southern Living At Home, Tastefully Simple and Thirty-One; and 13.5-15% of all sales from the event were donated to the Red Cross For Haiti relief fund. Shopping? Yes! And for a cause? Oh yes! Amy, you had me at the invite. :-) One more fun thing about the evening (other than the socializing and the wine, natch)......I brought Amy her first LILLY PULITZER DRESS! I'm proud to say she is the new owner of the Jacqueline dress in pink, which was one of the best-selling Lilly dresses of ALL time. Isn't Amy going to look FAB at The Knights of Revelry (that's KOR to locals) mardi gras ball? At KOR, ladies wear cocktail length dresses and hats, almost a Kentucky-derby type theme. So much fun! Hope you're al...