New Web Address!

Hey everyone!

Quick update in the world of THE HIVE! There is now a brand new (and much more official) web address where this little blog will be displayed from now on! Please head on over to www.thehiveblog.com to check it out! Not a whole lot has changed, but hopefully there will be some great changes coming soon! (Don’t worry if you go to this old address – http://www.thelovelybee.wordpress.com! You’ll get re-directed to the new!) 🙂

Thanks so much for reading! Hope to hear from you on the new blog soon! 🙂

XOXO!

Apple Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Along with the rest of the country, I’ve been in pumpkin mode recently! A couple of nights ago, I was looking for healthy (well, healthier) pumpkin bread recipes and came across this one from Cooking Light!

I made several tweaks either (a) to make it healthier or (2) because I didn’t have the ingredient it called for. Here’s my revision, and I must tell ya… I was pretty excited with how it turned out! My subs are in maroon (go dawgs!) so you can see what all I changed!

>> WHAT YOU’LL NEED <<

Streusel Topping:
1/4 cup chopped almonds
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons chilled butter or stick margarine, cut into small pieces
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Bread:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup Stevia in the Raw
1/2 cup finely chopped apple
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup 0% Fage Greek Yogurt
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
Cooking spray

>> WHAT YOU’LL DO <<

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare topping, combine first 4 ingredients until crumbly. Set the mixture aside.

To prepare bread, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and the next 7 ingredients (flour through nutmeg) in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine the pumpkin and next 5 ingredients (pumpkin through eggs) in a bowl; add to flour mixture. Stir just until moist. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with topping. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

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Enjoy, and let me know what you think! I hope to get to make this again this week (since the first loaf has already disappeared!) 🙂

Have a great day!!

A Shower Shower!

Happy Wednesday, folks!

I’m SO EXCITED to bring you the latest in The Lovely Buzz, a collaboration with my gal pal Sara Beth from My Latest Buzz!

We started The Lovely Buzz a while back as a way for her and me to get creative together in the form of blogging– a passion of both of ours!

Today, we’re talking about a SUPER fun shower that we recently threw for my darling sis-in-law Katie (whose baby is due any second now!) It was a shower-themed shower (as in rain, clouds, umbrellas, etc.), which ended up being one of the most fun showers I’ve ever had the pleasure of helping host!

Sara Beth, our friend Megan (bakestress extrodinairre), Katie’s sister Emily (who can make a mean quiche!), and I were the hosts, so having a fun group of girls to idea bounce with was one of the best parts of the planning process! Sara Beth was in charge of the flowers and invitations (but actually did so much more!), so she let me pick her brain in a little interview about the shower shower! 🙂

1. Can you tell us a little about your thought process behind the invitation? The design was so perfectly “Katie!”

The inspiration for the design came from some photos on Pinterest that Katie had pinned for a baby “shower”. Laurel noticed the pins and we just loved it, so we started brainstorming. I really loved the idea of color and simplicity. Katie also loves hand-drawn type, so I thought this would be an appropriate time to work it in. Katie has a modern flair, so I wanted the invite to evoke that–cool, clean, breathable. I loved the combination of baby + chic. I also really liked the idea of an R.S.V.P. card to further the fancy brunch feel and to keep the actual invitation neat and tidy.

It was a lot of fun to work with Laurel on this one. I would design something, send to her, and we would discuss ideas until we felt that it was ready. Design is always more fun when you have another creative brain to bounce off of!

2. What were the types of flowers you used?

Oh, the flowers! These were SO much fun. We found an assortment of colored zinnias that were just perfect, ranunculus, anemones, hydrangea, scabiosa, wildflowers, seeded eucalyptus, and some gorgeous dusty miller for a soft touch.

3. Can you give us one little tip on arranging flowers in small groups like what you did for the tables?

Groupings can be a great way to add quick impact and create a tablescape that is a conversation piece. My advice: don’t be scared to play with what you have. Gather different vases or vessels that mesh well together, and create low pieces mixed with simple taller pieces and varying heights. Let your flower stems help determine height (ex. hydrangeas work well low, while wildflowers are great for height). Also, a natural filler like eucalyptus is a great way to add texture, and it will help hold your flowers in place, too.

4. What was your favorite aspect of working on this shower? 

I loved working with this group of hostesses. We just worked well together, and everyone had solid ideas to contribute. I think one of my very favorite things was setting up late Friday night. The weather was perfect, we had as much time as we needed, and we were just able to be creative together. I was most impressed with the group’s ability to make those parasols hang so beautifully. That was no easy task, people! 😉

Huge shoutout to Laurel, Mr. Lee Miller, and Megan Fly for making it happen so seamlessly! And thanks to Mary Miller for the delicious mint tea that kept us going.

5. Any other shower thoughts you want to share?! 🙂

It’s really fun to plan a shower for someone that you know so well, because you can incorporate details based on that person’s preferences and on things you know will be special for them. Katie is like family, so it was fun to think about her design preferences, what she would enjoy, and how to make this time special for her and baby.

I also loved the seated brunch element of this party. It was intimate and completely enjoyable to watch her open gifts while sipping on hot tea. The mixing was another favorite element. From the chairs to the plates to the vases, color and texture were the stars. I think those details really made it memorable… aside from Katie’s adorable bump, of course! 🙂

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Thank you SO MUCH Sara Beth! Great job with EVERYTHING!! Such a beautiful and fun day celebrating Katie and Baby Miller! Loved every second! 🙂

Changing Seasons

It’s time for another dose of Elish style to get us in the fall frame of mind! I’ll let her tell ya a little more about this lovely look… 🙂

“The first day of fall has come and gone, and my thoughts are already straying to all recipes pumpkin, seasonal coffee flavors, family gatherings, and football games.”

“Although the weather hasn’t quite caught up to the changing season, filtering a few autumn colors into my wardrobe is enough for now.”

Necklace: Anthropologie
Blouse: Zara
Pants: H&M
Heels: Saks

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Thanks, Elish! 🙂 I love every detail!

Thanks for stopping by today… XOXO!

Those Who Speak, Installment 3

It’s almost the weekend! HOORAY!!

I wanted to let y’all know about the next Those Who Speak! It’s coming up on November 2 (which is a Sunday… switching it up this time!) and anyone who has experienced trouble or heartache in the areas of infertility, miscarriage, or infant loss, please consider joining us!

(It’ll be at 6 p.m. at a new location in Flowood! The address is on the flyer below!)

This group has been such a blessing, not just to me, but to a handful of girls. Wonderful new friendships have been formed. Amazing advice has been shared. Growth has been experienced. (Lots of food has been consumed…)

Even if you have come through difficulties and are experiencing a healthy pregnancy or have a healthy new baby, please consider coming to serve as encouragement, and to share what you experienced before your little blessing! I can’t tell you how encouraged I’ve been by the “success” stories (for lack of a better term) I’ve heard at Those Who Speak, and now I feel that I have a new little facet to my own personal story as well! (If you do have a new baby, though, please consider leaving him or her home with your husband/sitter!) 🙂

Below is a little more information– please feel free to share with your friends who might could benefit from this group even if this is not something that you personally could relate to! You can also read a little more about the origin of the group here!

Also, please be in prayer about November 2. Please pray that it goes well and that it is a blessing for everyone who attends. Your prayers are much appreciated! Please feel free to email me or comment if you have any questions or thoughts!

Thanks so much for stopping by! 🙂

A Wonderful Wednesday

Happy Wednesday!

I hope all of you are having a great week. This beautiful weather we’re experiencing in Mississippi sure does help things run more smoothly down here! 🙂

I haven’t been as good at blogging lately, but once things slow down in the next few days, I plan to get fully caught up! 🙂 And even though I’ve been super busy this week, I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on things that I’m thankful for… And wanted to share a few!

I’m thankful for this healthy pregnancy I’m experiencing and for the excitement I get every single time I feel our baby move!

I’m thankful to have a wonderful husband who I can’t help but fall more in love with every single day. (Pardon the bad English. The proper way sounded stupid.)

I’m thankful for half caff coffee.

I’m thankful for the incredible life group of which we have been blessed to be a part.

I’m thankful for laughter and goofiness.

I’m thankful to get to spend time with my family in the mornings digging into the Word. I know not everyone has the flexible mornings that we have.

I’m thankful for my iPhone. (Even though there are times when I wish I could throw it off the side of a bridge!)

I’m thankful for my family. And my friends. And all of the love that I feel from them all. the. time!

I’m thankful for the little stirrings I’ve felt in my heart recently for people I wouldn’t have paid much attention to normally.

I’m thankful for a closet full of clothes (even though you’ll still hear me complain about having “nothing to wear…” #imagirl)

I’m thankful for the dogs that make me so mad sometimes, but bring me so much joy most of the time! (I guess they’re just practice for when the baby gets here!)

I’m thankful for jobs that I love.

I’m thankful for FOOD. And drink for that matter. 😉

I’m thankful for wisdom that others share with me.

I’m thankful for a sister-in-law who can order XXL shoes for the skis that are my feet.

I’m thankful for answered prayers.

I’m thankful for a million other things that aren’t jumping to mind right now…

And I’m also thankful for running across this little nugget of gold while doing some reading this week. Thank you Priscilla Shirer (author of Discerning The Voice of God – the book our life group Bible study is reading right now) for putting this into such understandable terms!

Love that! It’s such a neat thought, right?!

What are you thankful for this week? 🙂

 

It’s Fall For Your Coffee!

Since the beginning of this month, it seems like Pumpkin Spice Lattes have taken over the world! On a regular basis, I am more a fan of simple (translate: black) coffee, probably because I’m semi-lazy and don’t want the calories. But sometimes something a little more exciting does sound appealing! Because I do love fall flavors, but I don’t love a cup filled with a bunch of extra empty calories, I came up with a fall-spiced creamer to add to my regular cup of black when I’m in the mood for an autumn pick-me-up!

This concentrated little mixture adds lots of flavor without adding too much sweetness to your morning routine, and it is just enough to make me feel like I’m indulging without having to pay the high-calorie price!

Here’s what I’ve been mixing up about once a week to add to my coffee when I’m in the pumpkin spice mood!

LOW-CAL PUMPKIN SPICE COFFEE CREAMER

3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
(you can also use skim milk, but I personally prefer almond!)
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 1/2 tablespoons stevia
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

I combine all of these ingredients in a mason jar, shake things up real well, then add just a smidge to my hot coffee!

(This recipe can easily be doubled if you think you’ll want more than just a little bit in each cup! It’s still low calorie!)

The extra can be stored in the fridge 🙂

Cheers to – fingers crossed – a pretty fall weekend!

Progress Report

Wow, it is Wednesday already?! This week has flown by! I’ve been a good bit busier than I like to be these past couple of weeks, so I haven’t been as consistent with blogging, but with all we’ve gotten done in the nursery the past few days, I just HAD to share a mini little progress report!

I’m loving how things are taking shape!

The painter finished slapping a new coat of paint on the walls over the weekend and the wallpaper got hung on our accent wall yesterday, which made the BIGGEST difference!!

And my handy hubby got the light fixture up, which I am just in love with!

Our frames came in for our little woodland creature prints, so I got those all framed and ready to be hung!

The drapery (DIY by me… So don’t look too closely!), the hardware (gilded by me, so again… don’t look too hard!), and the roman shade (installed by the hubs) are all up now, which add a nice softness to things!

Yesterday, I got a box from Serena and Lily containing some of our bedding!! AHHH!! I’m sort of hodge-podging the bedding from several different places– it will all be white and gray– so once we get more of it, I’ll do a post on it! 🙂 Super excited about it!

 And that’s about all I’ve got to report so far! Stay tuned for more in (hopefully) the near future! 🙂

Thanks for stopping in!!! Have a great rest of the week! xo!

My Fall Faves

When I walked outside last night, and then again this morning, I felt a lovely hint of fall crispness in the air and it got me SUPER excited about the changing seasons! The cooler temp got me thinking about some of my favorite aspects of autumn…!

WHITE PUMPKINS

Last year, I was at a farmer’s market and came across a grand supply of mini white pumpkins, so I bought a bunch to use in decorating our dining room table. I loved how they looked, so I plan to do the exact same this year! 🙂

FALLISH CRAFT BEER

Some of my favorite craft beers are the fall flavored ones… And there is one brewery in particular that I have really come to love over the past couple of years: O’Fallon Brewery. They make amazing tasting refreshments such as Pumpkin Ale, Wheach (which is wheat/peach flavored and oh-so-delicious!), and Smoked Porter (which tastes like a fall evening in a bottle.) My fall go-to for several years now has been Bayou Teche’s Boucanee. Price and I describe it as football season in a bottle. It has a wonderful smoky flavor!! Even though I can’t personally enjoy any of these brews this year because of our little one on the way, just seeing them in the stores and buying them for others to enjoy makes me so happy! If you’re a craft beer lover, I bet you’ve already tried some of these! But if you haven’t, I highly recommend all four! 🙂

FIRES

There are few things in life I love more than letting Price build a fire then enjoying a great conversation or a good movie while sitting by that fire. When it gets a little bit cooler, you’ll probably find a fire going at our home almost every night of the week! We like to switch it up between indoor and outdoor. No discrimination here! This photo is a future dream of mine… How gorgeous are those firewood-filled shelves?!

(original source for this photo plus a bunch of other cool fire photos can be found on my pin board, domestic pyro)

When it’s daytime but I’m still craving the wonderful smell of a fire burning, I usually turn to one of these delicious fireside-scented candles… They are all incredible!!

FOOTBALL

Football is a staple of fall in the south. If we’re not at a Mississippi State football game on a fall Saturday, we’re watching college football on TV. And on Sundays and Mondays, Price is trying to keep up with what all is going on in the NFL (and trying to keep his fantasy football lineup up to date!) I’ll admit that I’m not the most avid sports fan, but I sure do love college football season and the fun festivities that go alongside football season!!

BOOTS

Boots are probably my favorite type of shoe ever. I love shooties, little booties, mid-calf boots, and tall boots! They all tickle my fancy! Once that temp gets just a few degrees lower, I’m pulling out the taller boots! And boy, does that get me excited! 🙂 During fall, I’m extra thankful for my sister-in-law’s shoe store, Arco Avenue! 😉 These babies I’m particularly excited about wearing…

HOT TEA

Although I love hot tea all year round, fall and winter seem to be the times of year I most enjoy it! And, surprisingly, the tea shelf in our kitchen is still pretty well organized (which you may remember reading about in this old post!) Organization makes things like tea fixing way more enjoyable 🙂

DRESSING UP

Ah, Halloween… That means costumes! Ever since I met Price, my costume game has been taken up a notch. Never have I ever met someone who loves dressing up as much as he does! (Back in college, he would go ALL. OUT. for any sort of party or swap where he got to dress like something ridiculous or crazy! And that’s one of the million reasons why I love him!) 😉

Last year, we were Bert and Mary Poppins for Halloween… It was such a blast!

And since last Halloween, we’ve been brainstorming about what we can be this year! Still haven’t landed on anything though… But I’ll keep y’all posted!

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What are YOUR favorite things about fall? I would love to hear! Hope all of you are having a wonderful week, and thanks so much for stopping by!! XO!

Get On Up

Back in July, I got the immense pleasure of getting to cover the Get On Up screening in Madison and writing a story about it for Social South Magazine! Get On Up is a movie about musical legend James Brown that was filmed largely in Mississippi, so it was VERY exciting to get to see how well Mississippi did in representing places all over the world!

Not only did we (my wonderful hubs/sidekick for the day, Price, and I) get to see the movie a week before it came out in theaters, but we got to interview Chadwick Boseman, the actor who did a KILLER job of playing James Brown, and Tate Taylor, the director! (Tate is from MS, and also directed The Help!)

As you can see, we felt super official with our MEDIA passes! There was even a picture of us interviewing Chad tweeted by the Clarion Ledger! And of course I had to take a selfie, which turned out horribly, with ol’ Chad in the background! He was extremely nice, by the way!

After learning so much about James Brown and the film itself that warm afternoon at the Madison theatre, writing the story was a blast. You can check it out in the latest issue of Social South!!

You can read the full story more easily HERE! You can also see a few more pics from the big day! I hope you enjoy learning a little more about James Brown and Mississippi’s growing film industry as much as I did! 🙂

Have a wonderful week and I’ll talk to y’all soon!