Pineapple Passion with Tartan Lane

A decade of my life has been spent working in the wedding industry. For five years I worked as a bridal consultant at a locally-owned boutique, and for another five years I owned my own wedding planning business. The same as I enjoy helping women dress well without going broke, I loved helping couples create beautiful weddings without depleting their entire savings accounts.  

It was during my time as a wedding planner that I met lovely Jackie, the owner of Myrtle Beach-based Tartan Lane Boutique.  Jackie and her fiance enlisted my help to plan and manage their gorgeous wedding, which happened early in the trend of outdoor rustic nuptials, before mason jars and burlap became synonymous with southern weddings. Jackie comes from a family of women who all have great taste, and everything about her wedding was elegant yet comfortable from the moss-draped oaks of her parents' yard to the custom-designed monogrammed table runners with Jackie and Jim's new last name nestled among magnolia leaves. 

{Photo credits: A Charmed Life Photography}

When Jackie told me that she had made the move from her previous job to Lady Entrepreneur, I was excited to see what Tartan Lane Boutique had to offer. Jackie's style is a vibrant intersection of youthful charm and easy-to-wear trends (she does bohemian very well) mixed with timeless classics like monograms and preppy stripes. I knew her shop would be stocked with must-have goodies, and Jackie's selections didn't disappoint! One of the most fun items is the round beach towel, here, which will be great for Iris this summer. So much of what is available can be monogrammed and embroidered in a variety of ways and colors.  

After making a pretty lengthy wish list, I narrowed down my first Tartan Lane selections to two pineapple treasures: a canvas pineapple tote and a birchwood pineapple monogram for my front door, which has needed a little cheer since the Christmas wreath came down. 

When my goodies arrived (hand-delivered locally by Jackie herself!), I decided to make a pool day of it since Iris had not been to the pool yet. Both my toddler and my new pineapple tote set out on their maiden pool voyages with my best friend alongside to capture the fun of Iris's first splishing and splashing outside of the bathtub (not counting that one time in the toilet that we won't tell her dad about). 

By the way, I don't have a swimsuit that fits my post-pregnancy figure right now. And I may just take y'all through that shopping ordeal with me in a future post! So in lieu of a bathing suit, I put on my best vintage pool-mom fashion, which included a gingham shirt on sale from J Crew seen here paired with white capris (before Easter because I like the breeze of tongues wagging ;) ), and a floral scarf that I got from Target when I was a teenager, half my lifetime ago. It's *vintage!* 

Just look at us! Don't we look like a Lilly Pulitzer ad? ...Well, maybe Lilly for Target. Or Sale Rack Lilly. Or best of all, Resale Store Lilly! The gingham shirt fits great, and I may actually wear it as a bathing suit cover up over the swimsuit that you can help me pick out just as soon as I schedule time to shave my legs all the way up.    

We loaded up the pineapple tote with a few towels, snacks, and pool toys. As I unpacked our sundries, Iris crawled inside the bag and after a near stumble assumed a standing position. She's learning all about spaces and places these days including but not limited to the closet, pantry, dryer, and now on-trend tropical tote bags.   

 

    

Here we go. I knew I took a picture before Iris stole the show and my tote (she's begun stealing my lunch too but I'm not complaining; my scale is down 3 pounds--woo!). We easily packed two jumbo towels, a six pack of water, pool toys and sunscreen in the bag, plus had room for more on top of the water bottles. 

Also--if pineapples don't make your heart palpitate, I still love you. The tote comes in starfish and anchor versions too. They are all cute, can all be monogrammed, and are laminated inside for easy wiping.  

Iris was a little unsure of how one accomplishes playing at the pool, but here she's feeling it out. Or wondering whether I've brought the baby wash to the world's largest bathtub.  

You know the brochures for active senior communities where the silver-haired residents look trim, tan, and like they're living out their golden years at summer camp? This picture is the equivalent if there was ever a recruitment brochure for being a SAHM:

Be your own boss! Set your own hours! While away the day by the pool before your perfect angels willfully nap and your fairy godmother-in-law cooks the night's Hello Fresh meal!      

This pic is absolutely gratuitous. Look at Iris's adorable pink bow! Admire how precious this scene is, mother and daughter lovingly gazing into each other's eyes... as mom realizes she's positioned downwind of a dirty diaper. Sure hope fairy godmother-in-law tossed a pack of wipes into the great pineapple tote. This cute suit is from Old Navy and has UPF built in. Find it here. 

Iris made it into the pool! She didn't quite know what to make of it and spent most of the time being frustrated from trying to hold water in her hand (a poignant illustration of my relationship with my youth). She also kept wetting her hands and then sticking them in her mouth like she'd just spent 40 years in the desert. Hopefully she'll assimilate to pool life so we can ignore our chores and play Marco Polo all summer.     

Shout out to my best friend Tonya Wall for taking these fun pictures and making time to enjoy catching up over lunch! I love that this girl never holds it against me that I am a mom with limited opportunities to hang out and that most of our rare phone calls are punctuated with "No! Don't eat the houseplants!" That's love. :) 

Before we go, here's my Tartan Lane Boutique monogram pineapple. I LOVE it. It's made of birchwood and suitable for indoor or outdoor use. I was really impressed by how thick it was. I didn't take pictures, but from the side, it's about an inch thick, made of 5 or so layers of wood, and it's seemingly almost two feet tall. 

Other wooden shapes are available too. Check them out here: crab, bunny, anchor, sea turtle, antlers, whale. Each one comes unfinished so you can paint (or ask your fairy godmother-in-law to paint?) yours to coordinate with your home's color scheme. My front door is navy with white trim so I chose to use Martha Stewart Craft Paint in Pesto, because I already had it as well as this ribbon. Both were leftovers from previous weddings I planned because I tend to cling to things that may one day be useful. I don't hoard, but I am slow to part with things that have potential. (Just ask my ex-boyfriends...)

I can't wait to hang this on the front door. I still need to do some trim work around the edges and secure the ribbon. Which do you think I'm more likely to have time for first--finishing the trim work or shaving my legs all the way up? Don't answer that! 

So back to Jackie and Tartan Lane... she has some amazing new baubles coming available soon. I'll give you a sneak peek... Both of these will be finding their way into my closet soon. The oyster shell necklace can be customized with different color beads. Head on over to Tartan Lane Boutique on Etsy or Facebook and see what tickles your fancy.