some more ideas

1 2 3 4 5

1. Bare Minerals Customizable Get Started Kit: I have been using this makeup for 2 years now. I've never been one to put on liquid foundation because I love my freckles. I also don't like the feeling of a lot of makeup. When I tried Bare Minerals, I fell in love! It was the perfect makeup for me, because it could give me coverage on things I don't like (my dark undereye- thanks allergies!) and let me still show what I do like. I prefer the customizable starter kit over their other starter kit. In their other kit, I think they give you 4 small samples of foundation so you can find your best shade. But if you buy it at ulta or another store, they can help you decide what color you need and then you can get 1 big foundation. So you aren't left with makeup that you can't use!

2. Clarisonic Mia 2- Sea Breeze: Now this is on my wishlist this year. I don't have one, nor have I ever used one. But I know a ton of people who do and I have heard nothing but good reviews! I have never had a problem with acne, but I do find that I could use a bit more exfoliating and help with blackheads so I want to give this a shot!

3. Herstyler Grande Curling Wand: This is probably my favorite beauty item! I bought this wand in the mall about 3 or 4 years ago and I had no idea that it would turn out to be such an amazing product. If I curl my hair with a traditional metal curling iron, it doesn't hold at all. Even with hairspray. With this wand, I don't have to use hairspray and the curls last for days. I don't know their secret, but it could have something to do with how hot this thing gets! They include a glove to wear while you use it, which is necessary in the beginning. But once you get the hang of it, you don't need the glove.

4. OPI You're Such A Budapest: This is just a really sweet color that I found this summer. Love it!

5. Moroccan Oil- Light: Everyone knows about this, but I wanted to include it because it's such a great item to get as a gift. It can be somewhat expensive, so it's nice when you don't have to pay for it! This product is so amazing. I have been using it for about 3 years now. My hair has grown so much with the help of this. Normally my hair starts to look very rough after I grow it to a certain length. Moroccan Oil keeps my hair hydrated and healthy. I use the light version since I have fine, blonde hair and I only use it from the neck down- not for your roots!

cheers to 5 years!

How we've made it five years without killing each other is beyond me! See, Bradley and I have that relationship where we can banter back and forth, giving each other a hard time, but we know deep down that we are obsessed with each other. I swear this is the only man who can put up with me. Honestly, we have a good understanding for each other and really know each other's faults. Like I know when he's had a long, hard day at work, I shouldn't nag him even more about the trash not being taken out. I know that will only lead to a bigger argument when it wasn't that important to begin with. And he knows to not make a big deal when our house is a complete wreck. He knows that I know it and don't want it to be, so complaining about it would do nothing but upset me. Ok, sorry for the tangent. This post is supposed to be happy, so let's move on!

We had plans to make a nice dinner at home that night and decorate our tree, but the universe had other plans. Bradley had asked me to pull the steaks out of the freezer early in the day so they could thaw. I did it (shocker that I actually remembered, I know) and put them in the sink. After a few hours they had thawed and I noticed that they had a strange smell. Like possibly they had gone bad. But what do I know? So I left them there for Bradley to inspect when he got home. And no surprise, he agreed that they had spoiled. So now do we go buy some new steaks or go out to eat? We decided to splurge since it was our anniversary and we went out to our favorite Japanese steakhouse. Ohhh and it was so worth it! Here is Bradley stealing picking me a rose from the parking lot of the restaurant! I swear this boy doesn't understand consequences. But I love his spontaneity.

We then made it home and started to decorate our tree! This is my absolute most favorite part of the holidays. Bradley thought it would be sweet to make it a tradition to decorate our tree every year on our anniversary. I love the idea for sentimental reasons, but I don't know if I want to wait until Decmeber 5th each year! The only reason it didn't feel late this year was because thanksgiving was a week later, but next year it might be back to the 3rd week in November. I guess we'll gap that bridge when we get to it.

Bradley always gives me a hard time for how many lights and decorations I like on my tree. I want it to look overdecorated. And I don't know that I've ever been completely satisfied with the number of ornaments! More is more in this case. But obviously that can rack up a rather large charge, so I just keep growing our collection each year!

Thank you babe for five wonderful years! You have truly made me the happiest girl.

shelby + kellan

Alright! They are officially married! It actually happened like two weeks ago, but I have been forgetting to write on here! I thought their wedding would make for one beautiful post.

Shelby is one of the sweetest people you will ever meet. No, really. She is. She genuinely cares. If she asks you how you are doing, she really wants to know. And if she hears of good news in your life, she is so happy for you, not jealous at all. And she is absolutely beautiful, inside and out. I mean, look at her! Kellan is definitely a lucky man.

I am so happy that I was there for their wedding. I'm glad that I was able to witness this great love. To watch them promise to love each other, no matter what. I know that they mean it. 50 years from now, we'll be celebrating their anniversary. They are definitely in it for the long haul.

Congrats, you two! Thank you for letting Bradley and I both be a part of your special day. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends.

bella's bed

Last quarter I was in a class called "Studio Production." I gave you a little info on the class and told you that I would do a post on the dog bed that I made. Well, I lied. Sorry about that. Here is the post, oh only 5 months later! :)

With the project, I was assigned a word. There were 3 words: eating, sleeping, and relaxing. I got "sleeping." I had brainstormed many ideas, such as, a sleeping bag or some curtains that would block out the light. But, I know when my idea is not quite right. It doesn't click. A few days and some heavy thinking later, I decided to make a dog bed. And not just any dog bed. This would be a dog bed for poor Bella, my mom's almost completely blind dog. She was having a lot of trouble finding her bed because the colors closely resembled the color of the floor. She needed her bed to have contrast so that what little vision she had left could find it easily. I chose to do a chevron pattern because it also helped give contrast.

This is how I laid out my stripes. I first grouped colors and then sewed the squares into half square triangles.

All of the half square triangles leaves you with a lot of dogears, but I think it's a beautiful mess. 

     

At this point, I realized that half of the stripes were going to be on the front and half on the back, and this is not what I wanted. So I split the colors and put some on the front and some on the back. Problem solved. Next both the top and bottom were quilted and then sewn together with a side panel and an invisible zipper. I wanted to make this washable, so the zipper was a must.

And here it is! All finished! The best part is that it actually works. Bella can find her bed so easily now. No more wandering aimlessly around the room hoping to stumble upon the bed for this girl.

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

Oh, here it comes! It won't be long now, before we are ripping open beautifully wrapped gifts and sipping hot cocoa. And we plan on watching Elf everyday in December. We even got a head start in November, decorating our first tree! I'm still slowly acquiring ornaments, though. My perfect tree looks overdecorated. You know, too many lights, ornaments, everything. So I've still got a ways to go. Good thing it's not even December yet!

And this is a real tree, by the way. Honestly, I don't how you fake tree lovers do it? Where's the magic? They come pre-lit, they don't smell, and they are all identical, which leaves no room for those quirky personalities that we fall in love with! Like my tree has a few awkward, long branches that could probably be trimmed, but that's what I love about him. So they are staying. And you know the other day, I saw christmas tree scented "ornaments" that you hang on your fake tree and you can still have the same smell. But see, that's not real. Seriously, who comes up with this stuff? Alright, my rant is over.

Oh and hey! Check back tomorrow for my amahzing (you have to say that like Penny from Happy Endings. Don't know who that is? Google it.) holiday wishlist! You don't want to miss it :)

thankful

Clearly, after reading this menu, you know we had one amazing Thanksgiving! There was absolutely too much food. My mom, Bailey and I made all of our traditions, with a few newbies. It was amazing to be with family and friends while we completely stuffed our faces. But that's what Thanksgiving is all about right?

make a wish!

This post is so unbelievably late, but I couldn't forget about it! November 7th was my dad's birthday! I was in the middle of finals, so I wasn't able to go see him on the actual day, but Rob and I went the first weekend after school got out. He is one lucky birthday boy to get that 13 Layer Cake! And I'm impressed that it made it safely through a 4 hour car ride. My heart completely stopped when Rob told me he had accidentally smooshed it while he was sleeping. Let me tell you, don't pretend to ruin a cake that takes 2 hours to make after the maker of said cake drove you to North Carolina, and it's 6 am and she's exhausted. Yeah, it didn't end well for him.

So, Happy Birthday Daddy! I hope it was one of the best! All my love♥

roadtrip

For the last 10 days, Bradley and I have been all over North Carolina seeing beautiful friends and family. Since the spring, I had planned to visit Mallory in Elon. Then, about a month ago, Shelby called and graciously offered us tickets to the UNC vs Elon game at Chapel Hill. Of course we took her up on that offer. And then she had extra tickets so Mallory and her friend Sarah came, too! It was a hot, hot, hot game so we didn't last long, but don't worry, Top of the Hill took us right in. Shelby's weekend fell on the weekend before I was supposed to visit Mal. So instead of driving 6 hours back to Savannah in between trips, I thought it would be a great time to see my dad! And since Bradley wasn't going to come to Elon with me, I thought he could visit his dad, too.

          Chapel Hill

• A ridiculously hot football game. One where no pictures were taken because we were all drenched in sweat. Lovely.
• Finding the hole in the wall restaurants in Chapel Hill and Durham. We loved Dain's Place.
• Meeting up with Shelby's family. Her little sister, Anneliese is 4 years old. I died when I heard what will happen if she ate a booger. With the most serious face, she said, "If you eat a booger, Santa breaks a toy, and Satan will kill a puppy."
• THE SCRAP EXCHANGE! This is where I found those weird fabric covered mattress springs. I am definitely making them into something, I'm just not sure what it is yet. I have thoughts of them becoming a headboard, after being dyed various berry colors, of course. 
• Sno-Balls. These are not snowcones. They are shaved ice. And they are spectacular. And there needs to be one in Savannah. If you've got one, try peach + mango. ohhh so good.
• Making our own Bang Bang Shrimp + Pesto Olive Oil from Bonefish. We spent way more time and money making it ourselves, but we were determined.
• Getting Kellan from the airport and taking him to Elizabethtown, so he can finally try Front Porch. Shelby already decided that she wants my dad to cater their wedding, so we all thought he should probably try it before the big day!

        

 

 

 

          Elon 

• Printworks. Easily one of my favorite restaurants. Mallory has bragged about it for months so I was hoping it wasn't all hype. Go there. Get the Lemon Chicken Paillard. And then get the profiteroles. Don't forget to chow down on the bread. It's why we went there.
• Speaking of, we chose all our dinner meals by the bread selection. Meaning, if they don't have bread, we're not going.
  
• Shopping at the outlets. I found nothing, but the good news is, Mallory found some socks. Win.
• Fabric shopping at a local shop. Mallory managed to pick the worst fabric they had. Realistic bunnies.
  
• Touring Elon in the rain.
• Going throught the CruzThru. I had never heard of this. But I must say, it was pretty cool.
  
• Getting kinky... see above :) 
• Having ocd moments where you decide to clean the cobwebs off the ceiling.  
• Getting all dolled up for dinner each night. Any chance to wear heels, we take it.
  
• Watching jenna marbles videos in bed with Cheez-Its, till 3 am. Every night.

We had such a great time on our roadtrip around NC. It's a perfect way to end the summer. These lovely ladies are so sweet to open their homes to us. And I'm all for returning the favor :) Everything worked out beautifully and we were able to see so many people that we don't see enough. It was a great 10 days with people we love.