Girls Get-Away

When you have a bond with someone that time and distance are no measure for, it feels just like coming home when you are finally together again! That's exactly how it is with my girls. A place where we are 100% ourselves. A place where we can literally tell each other anything. A place where there are no judgement no matter the topic religion, politics, no matter our size or our place in life...I always feel accepted by these women. It doesn't matter where we are, I love being with them. I love that no matter how busy we get we always make time for a girl's getaway because it is so needed for the soul.

The past few years several of us made the long drive to Florida for an entire week and it was glorious! We just couldn't quite make it happen this year because of work schedules, but that didn't stop us from a girls weekend. We booked a lake house is Hot Springs, loaded up the boat with our floaties and made some memories. The best part of the weekend was sharing it with friends that don't normally get to attend the whole week in Florida.

So what are the components that make up a perfect girl's weekend?

 flamingo straws and fruity drinks

 personalized cups and enough junk food to gain a few pounds each

 pretty braids and the best hair stylist in the world

strawberry pie, caprese salad and friends that make you your very own gluten free cookies

boat rides. swan floats, sunsets

old school rap music and dance parties on the boat

And the best friends a girl could ask for.

We swam. We sang. We enjoyed the sun. But most of we laughed and laughed and laughed some more. These girls are the best medicine.  Can't wait till our next one, ladies!

Father's Day Weekend in Rison

I'm trying to make more of an effort in this blogging thing so I can purposefully take pictures at events and write about it. This weekend B & I loaded up the spaniels, dropped off the bigger dogs with a pet sitter and make the short drive to Buie's hometown of Rison, Arkansas. I'm embarrassed to say this, but we hadn't seen my in-laws since Christmas! (I know, shameful, right?) Being right in the middle of wedding season, it's so hard to take off. We jumped on the opportunity to see them on our first free weekend and spent a good 48 hours of family time. 

Lady and Conner love their big backyard and spent most of their outside side chasing squirrels and making sure they had sniffed every corner of their yard. 

We slept in late on Saturday morning which was glorious. We sipped our coffee in our pjs and snuggled with the dogs, watched the news and relaxed. Saturday afternoon we hopped in the car and got the $5 tour from Buie's dad. Mr. Rufus has lived in Rison his whole life. Their family owned The Buie Funeral Home for many years until he retired. If you are not familiar with Rison, it is a town of about 1,300. I always thought I was from a small town...until I went to Rison. Mr. Rufus drove us around and showed us the home where he first lived as a young boy and the home where he and Mrs. Carole lived. He showed us the original funeral home where he and his family lived in a one bedroom apartment in the back for many years. 

We stopped by Rison High School and I begged them to take a photo in front of the football field where they both played football for the Rison Wildcats. I know these are the little things that one day we'll be so thankful we took the time to do. I cherish this time we get to spend with our parents. 

Saturday evening the boys cleaned off the grilled. Buie's brother picked up some steaks. I made some potatoes and B cooked the steaks. We filled our bellies and then piled in the living room and watched a movie. The Buies are movie experts. It's kind of a family tradition to watch movies when we're all together. That's where B gets his love of movies from. 

 Back in Louisiana, my parents went out to eat with my both of my brothers' families and their six kiddos. I called my dad on the phone to wish him a happy Father's Day. I'm sure their dinner was a bit more lively than ours since it's just the 5 of us, but it was a just the relaxing weekend we needed.

Sunday morning we put on our fancy clothes and drove the 200 yards down Main Street to Rison Methodist Church where we were introduced by the pastor and welcomed by the whole church. Nothing like a small town church, where literally everyone knows your name. ;)

Thanks for a great weekend in Rison! We love you guys! B & I are so blessed to have two amazing father's in our lives. They have taught us what real men are! We love y'all! 

The Scottish Tartan Festival

Since moving back to Louisiana we have discovered a little gem of an event called the Scottish Tartan Festival. Just a couple miles north of my hometown, this festival takes place in a beautiful pasture filled with bright green grass, wildflowers and these adorable hairy Scottish Highland cattle. These cutie cows are the highlight of this festival, for me. I love the way their shaggy mane hangs over their eyeballs. 

 Lady, our King Charles Cavalier little rescue dog, found these guys extremely curious. But after a few tail wiggles and sniffs she let out her most vicious growl and bark and was then ready to move on. I think when she discovered she wasn't allowed to crawl under the fence and play with them, she was disappointed.

We met some of our best friends and their adorable little daughter at the festival. Their daughter shares my obsession with the hairy cows and we both practiced our best mooing.

We met some nice Scots who played us a little tune on their bagpipes and had a little fun with in the meantime. This picture cracks me up. He's lifting up his buddy's kilt without him knowing. hehe. ;)

 There were so many beautiful people in their outfits, kilts and Scottish dress including this woman. Doesn't her smile just radiate?

This year we brought our own little Highland dog. Lady had a blast getting belly rubs from all the children and even some soft hearted men in kilts took a second to scratch behind her ears. She was a stranger to no one. As silly as it sounds, I was a proud dog mom because of how well she was socializing with other dogs, big or small. As dog parents that has been our goal, to socialize her even beyond what is necessary and she passed the test with flying colors!

The festival hosted a little dog show, nothing big or anything, but we were approached and asked to sign up. Since Lady's breed is from England she is considered a Highland breed so she was entered in that category along with 2 other dogs, a Scotty dog (obviously a breed from Scotland) and a little Jack Russell Terrier (I think). She got 2nd place and even though there were only 3 dogs, I didn't care. She did so well and I was one proud dog mom. 

 Overall, this is such a great event and I hope it grows and grows each and every year. Buie's family origins can be traced back to Scotland. One day we hope to go there and experience their culture fully, but until that day, we will continue to attend Minden's Scottish Tartan Festival each year. It is honestly something we look forward to for weeks, if not months!

All images are copyright Cara Beth Studio. Please do not use anywhere without my permission. If you would like to use them for any reason, please send me an email at carabethstudio@gmail.com. Thank you for respecting my art work! :)

Weekend Review:: Birthdays and Best Friends

Another whirlwind weekend in Arkansas has come and gone and exhaustion doesn't begin to cover what I am feeling today. My Saturday was filled to the brim with my favorite clients and my fabulous friends. After shooting six family sessions on the most beautiful day of the year at Pinnacle Mtn. State Park, I jumped in the shower and spent the evening with my favorite ladies, including my little Lady dog. (Which I am realizing as I am writing this that I haven't even blogged about our newest member of The Buie's Zoo! Yup, that's right, we adopted another pup.) 

My best friend, Alicia, turned 30 yesterday and Saturday night we tried out the new restaurant South on Main and it was FABULOUS! Everyone raved about the food, simple and Southern and so scrumptious.  It's strange to think about all (or most) of us being 30 now. When I met most of these ladies we were at some weird self-searching stage in our lives. I met Jessica D. our Freshman year when we pledged together at college. Although we weren't the best of friends DURING college, I always thought she was fun & super sweet. Little did we know that post-college, we would be roommates and become so much closer! Jessica A. & I met when she pledged the class right under me. We have about a million memories together working at camp together, floating the river and being roommates during the summer in college. Alicia, Andrea & I didn't meet until the last semester my senior year and I always say that was the best semester of college. Not pictured is Christen who is Andrea's older sister. It's funny because for months and months I always just knew her as "Andrea's older sister," but now I consider her one of the girls. We bond over our love of photography, DIY projects and all things crafty. :) (By the way, Christen is the one who took our wedding pics and did an AMAZING job!)

Together we have been through a lot and I love that we are still friends. :) I have a few other best friends from college but they live in Texas and I don't see them as often. I'm lucky enough to have a few childhood friends who live in Shreveport and surrounding areas. My Arkansas ladies are only a short road trip away. They always lift my spirits and make me regret moving to Louisiana just 8 short months ago.

Cheers to the best friends in the world.  

Here is a shot of me & Buie at the restaurant. This is officially my new favorite iPhone pic of me & the hubs. He's pretty darn cute, is he not? ;)

I hope you had an equally amazing weekend and even if your friends aren't as cool as mine, it's okay... there is someone out there who needs YOU as a friend. So go out there and make a new friend this week. :)

Weekend Review: Girls Luncheon & The GridIron

I guess it's time to post my weekend review post since it IS Wednesday night, huh. This past weekend was a full weekend with well rounded activities including a Mother/Daughter Luncheon and the first LA Tech home football game.  Friday night I headed to Minden to help mom set the table up and surprise, surprise, she had already done it all! Didn't she do a great job!? Each hostess was responsible for setting up and decorating their own table. It was so fun seeing all of the different tables. There were LSU themed, Back to School themed and so many elegant looking tables all decked out in the finest china. My mom used my grandmothers china and it looked spectacular. 

Friday evening mom, dad and I went out to dinner with a few friends and came back to my parent's house for a visit. We had the best time chatting on their back patio telling stories and listening to my dad sing silly songs (Yes, my dad was singing. He was in rare form!) I love nights like that. 

THEN...Saturday night came. We had all been waiting for this night for a while! Even Makaylan was so excited and had been practicing all of her Bulldog cheers & chants. She sat in my lap for a good portion of the game and we clapped for the touchdowns and the tackles! I taught her that our team was the BLUE team and I taught her how to do the "Move the Chains" chant. She's such a good little Bulldog. :) Landon had a great time too. His daddy got him a HUGE bag of popcorn so he was a happy boy. hehe.

This was Buie's first game as an official Bulldog. 

And guess what! There's another Tech game TOMORROW night! I could get used to this. ;)

Surprise!

Today is my 30th birthday and actually I'm 100% okay with it. I've heard different people saying they had a hard time "dealing with" turning 30 so honestly I was curious about how I'd feel once the day arrived. I knew I wanted to celebrate with close friends and family but that was all I really cared about. Little did I know that my wonderful husband had been planning a wonderful surprise party for months! 

Buie sent out Facebook messages back in April and then worked closely with two of my best friends to iron out all the details. The night went off without a hitch thanks to my husband, Alicia, Melissa, my two brothers and many other of my closest friends who showed up to make my birthday surprise the best ever! 

So B TOLD me we were just going to dinner to celebrate our anniversary that we didn't go out for the weekend before...just the two of us. But when I arrived at the restaurant, there were about 25 of my closest friends waiting on me. I was totally caught of guard, like completely flabbergasted! I kept saying over and over again, "I had NO IDEA!" The fact that it was actually a week before my actual birthday made me even less suspicious. This surprise dinner took place last Friday. 

That was just the first surprise of the night. Buie, along with a few of our close friends, booked rooms in downtown Shreveport. We went out downtown and stayed in Shreveport. It was just a fun night! 

And the fun continues! My best friends that came down from Arkansas stayed through the weekend. We had a big slumber party at our house. It was so fun! We had big plans to do a big meal but kept it simple with frozen pizzas, candy and a movie night for the kiddos and they loved it!

Thanks to everyone who helped make my 30th birthday the best yet!

 Today, on my actual birthday, I enjoyed relaxing at home with Buie and our animals. I'm looking forward to the next 30.

Enjoy Life Now.

There are the kind of friends who see you through anything. You know the kind, they still love you no matter what you've done or haven't done. The kind of friends who know you are a pack rat and come over to help clean out my room with heavy duty trash bags in hand. (Yes, this really happened) They stand by you on your wedding day, hold your hand during bad break ups, buy the champagne when life calls for celebration. Lauren and I once had a fight over whether we were first cousins or best friends. Well, in our case, we are both. 

This is her beautiful son, Trey, who just turned six. Lauren, Wayne and their two kids came over last night to brake our newly painted house. Buie grilled burgers. Trey played hard like a six year old does. 

Baby Elle was the perfect guest. Isn't she beautiful? 

The burgers were perfect, babe. 

Trey left us a chalk drawing that I will be enjoying for days to come. 

Hopefully it all washed off okay. ;)

 Fresh flowers on the today.

Even the dogs had a splendid evening. 

 We ate, listened to Buie tell his many stories like he so often does and wished this night would never end. Great friends are so few and far between so when you find them, cling tight and never let them go!

 I hope you are enjoying this Memorial Day weekend with the ones you love enjoying life's simple freedoms.

Enjoy life now.