When it comes to shoes, I have nearly as many as Liz. Ok, maybe not quite, but it is definitely close. Now that summer has officially drawn to a close, we thought it would be fun to share one of my favorite pairs of shoes from this past year. They definitely got a work out and probably don’t look quite as clean as the picture below anymore! :) I pretty much wore them everywhere.
Friday Favorites: Fashionably Chic – Blue Sperry Top-Siders
Since we moved to Baltimore, we have become spoiled living near the water. On nice nights during the summer and early fall, we LOVE to sit up on our roof and watch the sailing school race around the harbor. One day, if we don’t get a boat, at least maybe we will learn to sail! :) But first things first, if we are going to live near water and one day learn to sail, a guy has to have a pair or two of Sperry Top-Sider boat shoes. Plus, what other shoe can you wear without socks and still look dressed up! They are definitely the perfect summer shoe and the blue matches our new brand perfectly! Now we just need to start making friends with people that own boats! :) As summer slowly fades away, one thing is for sure, I will definitely be trying to incorporate my blue Sperrys into my wardrobe for at least a few more weeks. Blue Sperrys and Pumpkin Spice Lattes sounds like a perfect pair to me! :)
Congratulations to Sophie, the winner of last weeks contest!
As you may have read from this morning’s post, I had the honor of being Kaylene’s Maid of Honor for her wedding this past weekend! Being a Maid of Honor comes a lot of responsibility… planning a bridal shower was one of the responsibilities that I was super excited about! Fortunately, Kaylene has an amazing group of girls surrounding her, so her shower was certainly a group effort!
We were so excited about her Fun In the Sun backyard shower that we thought we would share some of the details and photos with you! Kaylene is not one who is a big fan of the traditional bridal shower games (Thank Goodness, because I can’t say that I am either! ;) ), so we decided to have just a few activities instead of the standard games! Mad libs, secret message popsicle making for Kaylene and Matt, and recipe sharing were all part of the fun! Our cousin Jenna made the most amazing cupcakes and cake balls to enjoy in the afternoon along with some fruit and popsicles before we opened up to the guys for an evening cookout! Dessert before dinner… why not, right?! ;) Our afternoon of fun in the sun was the perfect way to celebrate our sweet bride! Enjoy the details!
During Kaylene’s bachelorette party weekend, we took some time to craft! While enjoying wine from our DIY chalkboard glasses, we whipped up those cute Cupcake PomPom toppers and tied up the utensils. Everything you see here was DIY… and so easy and fun! Our inspirations came from Kaylene’s Bridal Shower Pinterest Board that we created for the shower! Most of the DIY projects can be found in there, but if you have specific questions about how we did anything- you let us know! We are more than happy to share!
When my cousin, Kaylene, called to ask me to be her Maid of Honor, I was blown away! I was so excited for Kaylene and Matt that happy tears streamed down my face and I could not wait to be a part of their special day! As I hung up the phone and cleared my eyes, the planner in me (and ok, maybe the Type A side of me) automatically had my head thinking about all of my responsibilities and how I could be the best Maid of Honor ever! ;) Believe me, we see a lot of bridal parties, and I know they can have a big impact on the atmosphere of the day! It was certainly my goal to bring nothing but happiness to Kaylene and Matt’s day.
Last Saturday was the big day! Kaylene and Matt’s wedding day was nothing short of beautiful… In fact, every moment was quite gorgeous! ;) Part of me was a little bit envious of Ryan and Brendon because they were photographing this gorgeous celebration and it just so happens that it was taking place in one of the most beautiful barns we have ever seen!!! (Ahhh, seriously, it was like a dream!) But I quickly remembered that the photography was in good hands and it was my job to focus on Kaylene. It could have been the fact that every time I saw Matt over the last few months he would remind me that I was the MOH and NOT the photographer! ;), or maybe it was the fact that I was really nervous to give my toast (mostly because I knew it was going to be hard to get through it without being a blubbery mess! ;) ), but I think the real reason it was so easy to just focus on Kaylene was that I would have done anything to make her day as special as can be and I knew that standing by her side was exactly where I needed to be.
My day in the life of a MOH was pretty magical! Kaylene and I started the day with a good cry… ;). All of the lovely ladies in Kaylene’s bridal party got ourselves all done up and made our way to the Barn where Kaylene was putting on her dress. We had ourselves another good cry as we sat in the car and the moments became very real! We walked into the barn and saw Kaylene’s beautiful dress hanging next to her daughter, Audree’s, beautiful dress and we cried some more. Once we got ourselves together (I know I was supposed to be the supportive one- but it is in our genes to cry, so I am pretty sure Kaylene was expecting it! ;) ), we helped Kaylene into her dress and added the lucky penny she found earlier that day to her shoe. We took a moment to soak in Kaylene’s gorgeousness… and then it was time for the First Look.
Matt had arrived and was in place. All of a sudden it became very real for me. It was at that moment that I knew I was handing Kaylene off into incredible hands. I knew from that moment on that Matt was there to dry those tears and bring that smile to her face! As we shared a few words (more tears of course), I told Kaylene how proud I am of her because I knew I was just not going to be able to get those words out later in my toast. It was the time. We made our way outside of the barn and took a moment to soak in the fact that PopPop was definitely shining down on us because it was amazingly sunny with bright white puffy clouds and the forecast the day before called for rain showers all day. We were in good hands! ;)
I grabbed my camera (for the only time on Saturday!) and observed these magical moments of their First Look from afar. Kaylene was now in amazing hands and all I could do was capture it so that they can always be reminded of those moments and their amazing love that they share.
The day continued with some time for just Kaylene and Matt together, formal photos, and then the ceremony in such a beautiful location that was SO PERFECT for Kaylene and Matt! (Can’t wait for you all to see it in the photos soon!) I thought I was going to cry the entire time, but I found myself feeling incredibly relaxed and just excited! ;) There was one point in the ceremony, as Kaylene and Matt exchanged vows and Matt’s brother Eric and I stood next to them that I realized I kind of had an important job. Lol. As the witness of their love and commitment, we have a role that extends much further beyond that ceremony! (Yes, I was realizing this in the middle of the ceremony and of course the tears started flowing again! ;) ). The ceremony was perfect and it was finally official, Kaylene and Matt are married!
Although I was still a bit nervous about not being a bubbery mess during my toast, I felt a sense of confidence as we danced our way into the reception that everything I was going to say was going to come from my heart and whatever came out was going to be exactly what needed to be said. Of course the tears still flowed, but as I pictured Ryan behind the camera sticking his tongue out at me, I held it together! ;) I did not say everything I had planned to say, but I knew Kaylene and Matt heard every single word that was in my heart. That was all that mattered.
And the rest of the night, we danced! ;)
Whew… what an amazing day!!! My day in the life of a MOH was certainly emotional, but at the end of the day, I feel nothing but excitement for Kaylene and Matt and honor to have been by their side!
One of our absolute favorite things, well at least category of favorite things, are sweet treats! We love pretty much anything with caramel, peanut butter, or chocolate. Cupcakes are definitely one of our all time favorites, but they are definitely fighting a tight battle with this week’s Friday Favorite: Ladurée Macaroons.
Friday Favorites: Sweet Treat – Ladurée Macaroons
Our obsession with these little puff like cookie pastries, started earlier this year. We were hosting a super fun wine and cheese night with some of our friends. Wine and Cheese nights are definitely a topic for another post. :) We were sampling wine and cheese to get us ready for our trip to Paris that was coming up later in the year and our AMAZING friends Lindsley and Jeff stopped by with macaroons! They explained to us that in Paris, there was the best macaroon patisserie called Ladurée.
Fast forward two months to this past May to us standing in line outside the door of Ladurée in the rain. We huddled tight under our single person umbrella and tried to dodge the sideways rain drops. Each time a person in front of us was lucky enough to make it inside, the sweet smell of freshly baked macaroons would linger outside for a fleeting moment just long enough to convince us to stay in line just a little longer. Finally, after 5 minutes, we swear it definitely felt much more like 5 hours :), we made it inside.
The display case was a Crayola Crayon box of colors. From chocolate milk, to cherry blossom, to pistachio, to Liz’s favorite, salted caramel, there was an endless variety. We bought half a dozen and by the time we had paid and made it out the door, we only had two left! We shared the last two later that evening and were instantly hooked. So the next time your in Paris, be sure to pick us up a dozen! And if they don’t make it off the plane back, we understand.
Although we can’t share Ladurée Macaroons with you, we will be giving away one dozen macaroons from the FABULOUS Patisserie Poupon, which is located right nearby us! They are definitely a very close second to Ladurée. Just be sure to like our page on Facebook, and leave us a comment below for your chance to win!
Ohh Pinterest, sometimes you just make my heart sing! ;) While browsing through Pinterest, I came across a few herb gardens that just jumped out at me. You all know our love for cooking… so having fresh ingredients in our home is something we have been trying to accomplish for awhile now, but we aren’t the best at keeping plants alive! This herb garden seemed to make it look easy…. So I figured why not try it!?! At least it would be cute even if it ended up not being functional! ;) We could always buy new plants right?! ;)
Our fabulous Intern Caitlin joined us on this project! And I must say- it was definitely a team effort! ;) As much as I would like to say we did this all on my own (I probably could have, because it is honestly not that hard) but we enjoyed having Ryan around! I must give him credit for troubleshooting when we couldn’t get the screw through the metal, keeping us on track when we found ourselves just chatting and watching him do the work, and of course taking all of these beautiful photos to document the process! Gotta love him! ;)
We had an old barn floorboard in our basement that was left over from a previous project (we might just have to share photos of that too, because we are pretty pumped with that project too). It just so happens that the floorboard was cracked anyway- so it just made sense to split it down the natural crack to create two bases.
We purchased the herbs from one of our favorite local nurseries (Valley View Farms). The rest of the supplies we picked up at our local ACE Hardware store.
SUPPLIES WE USED:
Barn Floor Board (any piece of old rustic wood will work)
Herbs (Cilantro, Basil, Parsley, and Oregano)
12 oz. Mason Jars
Metal Pipe Clamps (large enough to fit the width of the Mason Jars
1 Small bag of Small Rocks
Organic Soil
Key Hole Fasteners
Wood Screws
TOOLS WE USED:
Drill
Flathead Screw Driver
Sharpie
Tape Measure
Hammer and Nail
Once we had everything together, we were ready to rock n’ roll!
PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS: Step 1: First We split the wood.
Step 2: Next we started off with the power tools and screwed the keyhole fasteners to the back of the wood for easy hanging when we were done. (Special Tips: Make sure the drill battery is charged. ;) And make sure the drill is not set in reverse when you are trying to drill into the wood. ;) Yes, after about 2 minutes of thinking I was just super weak and didn’t know how to use a power tool, we figured it out! ;) ).
Step 3: Once the hanger was secured, we turned the board over so it was right side up and we could begin spacing everything out. At this point, we had tightened the metal pipe clamps around the mason jars so we knew where we needed to drill them. After just guessing on where to place the jars for mine, Caitlin was smart enough to get a tape measure out and space the jars 7 inches apart. The tape measure also served as a straight line to make sure everything lined up perfectly!
Step 4: Once we knew where we wanted to place the jars, we used a sharpie to make a mark on the wood where we needed to secure the pipe clamp. It was easier for us to drill into the clamp with the clamp unfastened. Since the slits in the clamp are so slim, the drill struggled to get the screw through the metal. Thanks to Ryan, we decided to use a hammer and nail to make a hole in the clamp that we could screw into.
Step 5: When the holes were all made, we were ready to screw them into the floorboard where we had already made our marks. The drill made it easy and within minutes the clamps were all in place.
We tightened the clamps around the mason jars making them just tight enough to slide the jar in and out.
Step 6: Now it was time to plant! I had read a post about indoor herb gardens in Mason Jars not working because of mold growing on the roots because there is nowhere for the Mason Jar to drain. They recommended adding rocks to the bottom of the jar to give the roots some room to breathe. So that is what we did. We started with about 1 inch of rocks in the jars. Then we added about 2 inches of fresh Organic dirt. The last step was placing the herbs right into the Mason Jars. And- they are adorable! ;)
Step 7: Once all of the Mason Jars were planted, we placed them back into the tightened pipe clamps and tightened them just a bit more.
Viola… we made ourselves a pretty awesome looking Rustic Chic Herb Garden! So much fun!
What a fun project! Power tools (once you figure out why they aren’t working) make any DIY project more fun! ;)
We actually completed this project a few months ago and sadly I was not very good about giving the plants the sunlight that they needed and we have since lost our herbs! Lol. However, as promised earlier, it still makes a super cute decoration for our wall! ;) We have plans to plant new plants and try this again for the fall! We will keep you posted on my plant care progress! ;) It is certainly a work in progress! ;)
Let me know if you have any questions or want more info on the project! Or, if you decide to make one yourself… please share pics! We love to see your projects too!
