Everyday Ebullience

crockpot cookin' - Mexican Style Chicken Tortilla Soup

2012-01-23T08:53:00.001-05:00

Delicious!

Last week, I followed this recipe for chicken tortilla soup in the crockpot and it was amazing. You throw all of the ingredients in the crockpot (think tomatoes/rotel, kidney beans, black beans, corn, onions, fresh cilantro, chicken, broth, water, cumin, chili powder and garlic powder) and just let it cook. I did use fresh cilantro instead of dried because in my experiences making homemade salsa with a lot of these same ingredients, the fresh cilantro is so tasty.

I let mine cook for almost 10 hours on low and when it was done, I took the pieces of chicken out and just pulled them apart with a fork. It was so tender and shredded without a problem.

I'd recommend topping it with Mexican style shredded cheese and dipping it out like chili with tortilla chips. That's the best way.

So, what's for dinner this week?
ps - how do like the photography? I'm practicing :)

Taqueria del Sol

2012-01-20T10:05:00.000-05:00

Last night John and I went to one of our favorite taco places (I've only been there twice but it's so good that I can already call it my favorite) Taqueira del Sol.

It's a busy popular place and they have heated outdoor seating with yellow chairs.

oh yea

the most delicious creamy queso

I've decided the briskett taco is my favorite. For sure.

and the view of the city off in the distance is so pretty

Come visit me and I'll take you to eat tacos :) You'll love them too, I just know it.

exactly

2012-01-18T12:48:00.000-05:00

take note, John ;)

via

I'm on Pinterest

2012-01-17T12:22:00.000-05:00

Yay! If you're not on Pinterest, let me tell you that it's awesome. It's basically a place to share images you like, things that inspire you, recipes you want to make, crafts you want to create. Right up my ally. And what were the first things I pinned?

these beautiful Valentine's cupcakes from Bakerella

and these heart shaped marshmallows from Katie's Pencil Box

it feels like winter

2012-01-16T13:49:00.000-05:00

I just love this photo that my friend on facebook posted today of her morning in Utah. Winter is officially here I suppose. Will Georgia get snow this year? I'm going to want to make snow cream, I just know it.

apple cinnamon pecan pancakes

2012-01-13T14:31:00.000-05:00

What are you up to this weekend? With the cold weather finally upon us, weekend mornings are for pancakes and hot chocolate. We cut up apples and mixed them in with the pancake mix, cinnamon, brown sugar and pecans. Delich!

After this fun birthday week, the big day is finally here! Can't wait to celebrate my birthday this weekend with some of my favorite people :)

it's birthday-ville at our place

2012-01-11T12:40:00.000-05:00

our apartment is now filled with streamers, birthday spirals, sparkly signs and visions of birthday cake dancing above our heads. it's delightful!

birthday cake

2012-01-10T09:32:00.001-05:00

John made me the best birthday cake!

it was apple cinnamon caramel cake

topped with...

homemade whipped cream cheese icing that melted down into the cake!

yummmmm

and a pink candle :)

it's my birthday week!

2012-01-09T12:31:00.000-05:00

It's my birthday week! Time to celebrate :)

Last night we kicked it off with an amazing birthday cake that John made, I'll post pictures later. But first I thought I'd share this fun balloon party that I spotted on Edyta Photography's website. how fun!

happy Friday!

2012-01-06T13:03:00.000-05:00

Since it's Friday, I thought I'd just share some funny things I've seen around Atlanta lately...

matching outfits for the horse and the driver :)

the Virginia marching band with giant feathers on their hats

this restaurant, haha

John being silly!

plus, we got a late Christmas package all the way from Australia!! Guess what was inside?

these beauties! thanks John!

happy Friday everyone! do you have big weekend plans? next week starts my birthday week - woohoo!

are those marshmallows?

2012-01-05T12:39:00.000-05:00

The answer is yes! and they are gorgeous! Who would've thought?

Spotted on the beautiful (new to me) blog Wednesday and on Creature Comforts' post about Wednesday.

3 pretty things

2012-01-03T09:39:00.001-05:00

calendar | cupcakes | clutch

Happy January!

2012-01-02T11:06:00.000-05:00

It's 2012! Happy New Year friends. How was your New Year's Eve? Did you watch Dick Clark or toast with champagne? We did watch the ball drop with some friends and they dropped the peach here in GA and aired it on TV next to the NYC ball. And then yesterday it was 65 degrees outside so we did a little hiking :) Today the high is 38. bummer.

My favorite thing about the fact that it's January though... my birthday! Yay!

Hope your 2012 has started off beautifully.

Year in Review: Adios 2011

2011-12-30T10:51:00.000-05:00

It's my last day on the blog before the new year and you know what that means... the 2011 year in review! And boy what a year it was! Full of wedding planning, lots of fun parties, getting married and moving! Here we go... get ready for lots of pretty pictures :)

It all started in January when our Christmas tree was turned into a birthday tree and we celebrated my 24th birthday with the Canes.

There were funny balloon hats

and so many good recipes like the delicious hodge podge cupcakes filled with all kinds of goodies

On Valentine's Day I asked my lovely bridesmaids to be in our wedding :)

We rolled out the red carpet for Lindsay at her Oscar's themed birthday party!

We registered for fun gifts (so exciting!)

saw Jimmy Buffet

and tie-dyed Easter eggs

At the Triangle Beach Music Festival we got right up to the stage to see the Chairmen of the Board

In the summer of 2011 we celebrated our engagement with family and friends

And took beautiful engagement photos

I had festive fingernails for the 4th of July

And we celebrated John's birthday at the beach with peanut butter pie

There were so many showers and parties!

We took a super fun surprise bachelorette trip to Savannah, GA!

And before we knew it, it was time for our wedding!

There was a whole weekend full of fun, including a bridal luncheon...

rehearsal dinner with a saxaphone cake...

and of course the wedding! (with a whole week dedicated to wedding photos on the blog)

We honeymooned in Grenada and had the most fantastic time!

came back home

celebrated Halloween with fabulous carved pumpkins

met Grace Bonney from Design*Sponge

visited the waterfalls on our engagement anniversary

and celebrated our first Christmas together!

Wow! I knew it was true, but looking back only confirms that 2011 has seriously been one amazing year full of so many adventures. Here's to 2011, a year full of love and excitement and cheers to 2012... I can't wait to see what the new year brings. Thanks so much for visiting me here at my blog and letting me share so many photos with you! Talk to you next year!!

ps- here's the 2010 year in review

xoxo

Christmas 2011

2011-12-29T14:28:00.000-05:00

Christmas 2011 was a lot of fun... delicious food, pretty decorations, and mine and John's first Christmas morning together! Also the dogs and cats were cute as can be.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas! Can you believe 2012 is right around the corner? Wow!

12 Days of Christmas!

2011-12-22T09:40:00.000-05:00

Beautiful Christmas lights from Stone Mountain. The partridge in a pear tree is actually the only one in the series that is from Callaway Gardens - another gorgeous light display, probably the most amazing I've ever seen. I'm hoping to share a video of those lights soon :)

Also, check out this awesome house I saw in Atlanta!

Only 2 days until Christmas!

diy: glitter clothes pins

2011-12-20T15:29:00.000-05:00

Have you been getting lots of Christmas cards in the mail? We've received a few and it's so exciting (don't you love getting mail that's not a bill or an ad?). We just had them laying on the bar but I was dying to display them and thought about making some sort of card wreath but then I came up with this idea. Basically it's the easiest DIY of all time. We have a gold metal tree that is meant to hold plates of goodies, but since we eat all of our goodies instead of display them, it was empty. So I glittered some clothes pins and pinned our cards right on the tree.

It turned out great. Plus, John loves it when I get glitter all over the table, the floor and the kitchen counters :)

ps - there's our Christmas card! I just LOVE it! We ordered them from Shutterfly and they turned out great. Don't you like the snowflakes and the hints of red in my bouquet and John's tie? It makes me happy every time I look at it :)

Stone Mountain Christmas

2011-12-20T10:56:00.000-05:00

Here we are at Stone Mountain Christmas! We watched a fun 4-d movie with scenes from The Polar Express and then bundled up to watch the parade. As day turned to night, the entire park turned into a Christmasville with lights everywhere and Christmas characters performing in the streets.

Don't you just love those nutcrackers? And that red tree! All of the trees were beautiful...

There were all kinds of Christmas shows. Our favorite was the Holly Jolly Cabaret. It was so funny and they were wonderful singers. And the best part of all... in the beginning of the show, they played this game where she played a chord on the piano and then people in the audience stood up to guess what Christmas song it was and if you got it right you won a funnel cake. Guess what? I won! The song was Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree (although John swears I guessed a different song). And the funnel cake was amazing - topped with powdered sugar, strawberries and chocolate syrup! Also John met the robot from the other show - I love the picture of the 2 of them!

While we were waiting on the fireworks we decided to play some mini golf. Brrrrr!

The fireworks show started out with the Snow Angel flying high above the crowds encouraging us to scream Let it snow! Let it snow! and then all of sudden snow started falling from the sky :) She looked just beautiful flying through the lights and snow. Then we finished off our Christmasy day with a ride on the Christmas train where we saw lights representing the 12 days of Christmas. I'll share those with you later!

Only 4 days until Christmas!

Stone Mountain Christmas: on the mountain

2011-12-19T11:01:00.001-05:00

Happy Monday! Can you believe Christmas is in less than a week?! We're getting so excited!

This weekend we celebrated in style by checking out Stone Mountain Christmas. It was a ton of fun and super cold - probably the coldest day of the year here so far. The first thing we did when we got to the park was take the skylift up the mountain. 75 people fit in the skylift! It was crazy. And it went really fast! Once we got to the top, the views were incredible. We even saw Kennesaw Mountain where we love to hike. Remember when we saw the deer there?

brrrrr... so cold! but look at that view!

I can't wait to share the rest of our pictures with you. The park turned into Christmasville at night with bright lights in every tree!
Only 5 days until Christmas!

the Christmas house

2011-12-16T09:35:00.000-05:00

Not too long ago, John and I were driving down a curvy back road on our way to the mountains singing Christmas carols and sipping on cider (ok maybe a bit of an exaggeration... I was probably the one doing most of the singing) when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, appeared a beautiful Christmas house full of colorful lights and sparkling decorations. Of course we stopped. We had to get our picture with the giant nutcrackers!

It was like Santa's workshop inside. Even the reindeer had lights on his antlers :)

What are you up to this weekend? Can you believe we are only 1 week away from Christmas?? It's funny how you plan and prepare for at least a month and it still seems to sneak up on you. We are hoping to see some more pretty Christmas lights this weekend as we make the trek to Stone Mountain. See you Monday!

the reason for the season: live nativity

2011-12-15T10:00:00.002-05:00

We went to a live nativity! How cool is that? Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus were there in the manger surrounded by angels and the 3 kings and shepherds with awesome animals. Of the animals, the llama was by far our favorite. And of course afterwards we wanted to pet them!

It was toss-up between the bunny and the llama for softest fur but I think the llama won because his fur was so thick and fluffy. Have you ever been to a live nativity?

it's Christmas at our place!

2011-12-13T10:56:00.000-05:00

It's definitely Christmas at our place! the Nativity, little elves, snowflakes, snowmen and Santa are all hanging out around our apartment. We filled the balcony with bright lights and at night you can see our tree shining through the window ♥

Every year I always pull out the festive cookie jars. Do you have a wreath on your door? Or candles in your windows? What are your holiday decorating traditions?

Christmas trees + mariachi bands

2011-12-12T15:51:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday friends! How was your weekend? We went to John's company Christmas party dressed head to toe in red and green. There was a mashed potato bar there and it was delicious. And we got the DJ to play Carolina Girls so we did a little dancing :)

And on Friday night we went to the Mexican restaurant nearby that is super cool inside and heard the mariachi band! It was fun! They all circled around our table and serenaded us and I may or may not be singing along during parts of this video :) enjoy!

our first Christmas tree!

2011-12-09T11:36:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas! John and I put up our first beautiful Christmas tree (while wearing our Santa hats) and it was so exciting!

We put the little birds from our wedding reception tables in the tree. They look perfect sitting on the branches.

That little snowman right there is the first ornament John and I ever bought together. We got him at the fair in the pottery tent the day after our honeymoon. I just love snowmen. He's so cute and happy to be hanging on our tree.

Are you doing something fun this weekend? Something Christmasy and festive? John's company Christmas party is Saturday so I'm putting on my red dress and green shoes for the event!

recipe: Chocolate coconut walnut macaroons

2011-12-09T11:17:00.001-05:00

Katie and I did some baking on Wednesday! We made snickerdoodle cookies (perfect for Santa to dip in his milk), truffles, and amazing chocolate coconut walnut macaroons. They were my favorite so I'm sharing the recipe (from the Taste of Home Cookies cookbook)!

Also, while we were baking, this may or may not have happened with the mixer ;) haha

Here's how to make the amazing macaroons:

2 cups flaked coconut

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts (the recipe called for macadamia nuts but we traded. any will do!)

1/3 cup sugar

3 tbsp baking cocoa

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

pinch salt

2 egg whites, beaten

1 tbsp light corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla

4 squares semisweet chocolate (or any melted baking chocolate)

1. Combine coconut, nuts, sugar, cocoa, flour and salt. Add the egg whites, corn syrup and vanilla and mix well.

2. Drop by the spoonful on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 325 for 15-20 minutes or until set and dry to the touch.

3. Melt the chocolate. Dip the bottom of each cookie in chocolate and place on waxed paper (or tin foil) to dry. We stuck ours in the fridge so the chocolate would harden quickly.

Enjoy!

What are you baking this Christmas? I wish I could mail everyone some of my goodies!

how to: Christmas yarn pom-pom garland

2011-12-07T10:37:00.000-05:00

Hi there! I have a fun Christmas DIY to share with you today... but I don't get all of the credit. Ez from Creature Comforts posted a fabulous video tutorial on her blog showing you how to make yarn pom-poms. She suggested you could use them as present toppers (an excellent idea). I decided to make mine 3 colors in one and turn them into a Christmas garland. Here's how I did it and be sure to check out Ez's video too!

After I used up all of my yarn I decided I was done and tied each little pom-pom onto a red ribbon and strung it over the door to our balcony. In case you're wondering how much yarn you'll need, from the 3 skeins I have pictured above, I made 9 tri-colored pom-poms.

ta-dah! I hope you make one too! They are super easy and so very festive. It would be the perfect addition to your Christmas tree this year. And while I was crafting I was listening to Christmas tunes, of course! Here's a wonderful playlis t from Ever Ours that you might enjoy.

restaurants: Yeah Burger

2011-12-06T13:25:00.001-05:00

So one day last week we went to Yeah! Burger to see what all the hype is about. On our way down the street we saw mister Santa himself riding in a fire truck. What a holly jolly Santa :) A little young if you ask me but he was wearing a festive suit.

Ok back to the burgers.

There were so many options on the double sided menu that we didn't know where to start. Pick your meat, pick your bread, pick your cheese, pick your sauces, your toppings, your side and your drink. It was a little overwhelming. They have a lot of organic and gluten free options if that's your thing. I went for the regular beef burger, grass-fed might I add. John was more daring and tried the bison burger. I remember my mom ordering a bison burger in Massachusetts one time. That's about all I know about that. We both got the wheat bun and cheddar cheese with a side of hand cut fries (which were definitely the best part!) They also have sweet potato fries and onion rings and other greasy fried sides, you know, the usual burger additions. My burger was yummy, cooked medium and there were 2 thin patties on there. I couldn't even finish it because it was too big and I was too excited about eating all of the fries.

See what I mean about liking the fries :) We also ordered some delicious bevs. John got the margarita with the black salt on the rim. He said it was one of the best he's had which is a huge compliment because margs are our favorite. I got the mojito. It was amazing with just the right amount of mint.

Is that a Santa necklace around my neck you ask? Yes it is. Merry Christmas season :)

In other awesome Christmas news... I got some reindeer antlers for my car! I was so excited that I finally found out where they are selling those things (the answer is Walgreens). I'll take a picture and share it with you later.

Speaking of cars, I have more news. I am officially a Georgia driver! As of this morning I got my new drivers license. It was sad to hand over my under 21 slightly cracked NC license in exchange for the temporary paper license of GA with my weight and a super close up picture of my face right there on the front but I did it and I'm now a GA resident with a new last name. Woohoo! Don't worry though, I will always love NC!

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch!

2011-12-05T14:40:00.001-05:00

Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Ours was wonderful! It was basically a Christmas kick-off :) We put up our first Christmas tree, decorated the balcony, and went to the fabulous Fox Theatre to see Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical. It was so much fun! and the Fox Theatre is absolutely beautiful.

Look at those costumes! The Grinch was just hilarious and his costume and makeup was great!

And of course John and I dressed up in our green and red Christmas attire and John even wore his Grinch tie! Now, it definitely feels like Christmas.

our wedding: video

2011-12-02T11:52:00.000-05:00

It's the last day of wedding week! Thank you so much for wanting to enjoy these memories with us! Today I am sharing our wedding video with you. This video was shot on the flip cam (my wedding gift from John!) by myself and my Aunt Charlotte and it was edited together by yours truly using iMovie. I think it turned our great and I am so proud!

Music: Explosions in the Sky, "Your Hand in Mine"

our wedding: reception

2011-12-01T17:05:00.001-05:00

Time to party! Our reception was a party indeed. Everyone danced the night away and enjoyed delicious food from our favorite Raleigh restaurant Caffe Luna. And we had a guestbook family tree! It was awesome.

I love looking at these pictures all together like this. We have so few pictures of our decorations that we worked so hard on but these ones that we do have look lovely here together. There were little birds and nests and cages everywhere since our general decorating theme was lovebirds and we carried over the cranberry reds and shades of pink from the ceremony to the reception with the birds and flowers.
(ps - Ruthy, I love that photo of us!)

There was also a beautiful photo display of family wedding photos from years past that everyone enjoyed seeing. And we sent everyone home with Johns dad's delicious homemade blueberry jam. Our favorite reception item though was definitely the napkins! I scanned the original napkin John gave me on the day we met and with some help turned it into a vector file and had it printed directly onto napkins so everyone had a duplicate of the original. It was so fun to hear people commenting on them because I think almost everyone celebrating with us knew about the napkin story!

OMG that picture of John in my veil is hilarious!

And, in case you're wondering who created those beautiful Mr and Mrs wooden signs... it was John! He also made the wooden ceremony sign that I posted with the ceremony pictures yesterday. Excellent wood work Mr!

photos above by Courtney Potter for Cana Collective

From day 1 of planning, we weren't certain about many things but we knew we wanted lovebirds and a sparkler send-off. It was awesome!

photos in this last set taken by our friends and family Susan and Stephanie

And here are some more great pictures from the reception. Our cake was delicious! And yes we have some frozen to eat later. I made those little bird cake toppers. The bride's veil had rhinestones on it just like my veil. The banner above the cake read "Loving you is a piece of cake" which was John's clever wording but it is so true. And in those dancing pictures you can see our lantern ceiling centerpiece. The day we picked this place as our reception venue I imagined strings of lights and lanterns and we worked hard to make that dream come true.

What a wonderful way to celebrate our marriage! Everyone had a blast and I couldn't have asked for a more fun and exciting reception with people that we love.

Coming up tomorrow on the last day of Wedding Week: our wedding video!

our wedding: the ceremony

2011-11-30T14:27:00.001-05:00

Time to share pictures of our ceremony! The ceremony was so beautiful. It was my favorite part of the day because it felt so special and so sweet. Everyone looked amazing and as I started walking down the aisle with my mom, John was smiling at me and I was just so excited!

photo of our ring bearer and last photo in this set by Aunt Charlotte

Here comes the bride!

last photo in this set by Aunt Paula

The ceremony started with lovely readings from 1 Corinthians and from the lyrics of a song I sang in my cousin Robin's wedding. Then came the best part of the ceremony! John played his saxaphone! He and Rob (on the guitar) played Edwin McCain's "I Could Not Ask For More". It was the sweetest, happiest moment and there was not a dry eye in the house.

Our vows were great and the message from Pastor Horner was just wonderful. It included prayers that were prayed during my Grandparent's wedding many years ago.

We're married! It was such a wonderful ceremony, full of moments I will never forget.

Time to celebrate tomorrow with pictures from our reception!

photos except for the ones mentioned above by Courtney Potter for Cana Collective

our wedding: pre-ceremony

2011-11-29T11:38:00.000-05:00

Before our ceremony, the girls headed outside (avoiding the guys) and took some pictures beneath the trees. We had so much fun getting ready for the ceremony and I just love these girls. I couldn't have asked for a better group of bridesmaids! And aren't they just lovely in red and pink? Or should I say My colors were cranberry and rose petal?

We couldn't have asked for better weather or more blue skies for our outdoor ceremony. My great aunt Myrtle came to visit me before the ceremony, offering us best wishes for many happy years. And I took some pictures with our beautiful flower girl Katie (I was the flower girl in her mom's wedding years ago! How cool is that?) and our adorable ring bearer, my cousin Lachlan. How handsome is he in that vest and bow tie?

Right before the ceremony the girls were upstairs in the house and the guys were downstairs. I think the pictures of the Ruthy, Danielle and Tori peeking out the window to see the ceremony site are so sweet. And you can tell in those last 2 pictures that I am so excited to marry John! Yay!

Meanwhile, at the ceremony site, guests were pouring in, signing our guest book (a photo book I ordered from Shutterfly) and John and Rob were practicing their special music. The arch that we stood under during the ceremony was created by my mom and it looked unbelievably beautiful. She did such a wonderful job with the vine and flowers.

Coming up tomorrow: the ceremony!

all pictures above except for the one of Myrtle and I and the one of the arch are by Courtney Potter for Cana Collective

our wedding: guys getting ready

2011-11-28T18:15:00.000-05:00

Here are the photos of the guys getting ready. They looked so handsome in their tuxes with the cranberry red vests! Ray Charles even made a cameo appearance ;)

Coming up tomorrow: pre-ceremony photos

our wedding: girls getting ready

2011-11-28T12:39:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Wedding Week! I'm so excited to share photos from our wedding on my little blog. Our wedding was so fun and felt so special. It was such a blast to share such a big day with our closest family and friends and I think everyone had a really good time. We had absolutely perfect weather for an outdoor ceremony in October and it was so incredibly sweet. I'll share more details from the ceremony when I share those pictures, but today I thought I'd share pictures of us getting ready. Our ceremony was held in the gardens in front of the Borden Historical House in Raleigh, NC and we got ready in the beautiful home.

I was so excited to wear those red ruffly shoes.

Time to lace up my dress and all of my beautiful bridesmaids are watching!

I love this series of mom helping me put on the garter. There is a picture of my grandmother helping my mom put on her garter at her wedding and we tried to imitate the photo.

Later today I'll be sharing pictures of the guys getting ready. There are so many fun pictures from our big day that it's hard to choose which ones to share.

Thanks so much for enjoying these photos with us!

photos above by Courtney Potter for Cana Collective

Thanksgiving feast 2011

2011-11-28T10:17:00.000-05:00

Good morning! Welcome back from your long holiday weekend. I hope it was relaxing! Ours definitely was. We spent half of our first holiday as newlyweds in Blowing Rock, NC with John's family and the other half in Charlotte, NC with my family. In Charlotte we cooked up a feast and mom had out all of the fall and turkey decor!

On our Thanksgiving menu:

turkey and homemade stuffing, real mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, kale, cream corn, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, croissants, pumpkin souffle and spice cake. Ah-mazing, oh man it was so good! And lucky for us, mom sent us back with leftovers.

What did you eat this year?

I have great pictures from a hike with John's family on the Blue Ridge Parkway coming up next week but...

Wedding week starts today! Coming up first: Getting Ready

wedding week starts tomorrow!

2011-11-27T21:38:00.000-05:00

Happy Sunday night lovelies!

How was your Thanksgiving? Ours was wonderful - full of delicious food, beautiful weather and loving family and friends. I'll share some pictures of our feast tomorrow morning and then it's wedding week on the blog! All week long I'll be sharing pictures from our wedding... and I even have a video to share! I can't wait. I hope you'll come by and enjoy the photos and the memories with me.

xoxo

photos above by Courtney Potter for Cana Collective

give thanks with a grateful heart

2011-11-23T11:08:00.000-05:00

Today we are hitting the road for Thanksgiving weekend and heading to Blowing Rock and then to Charlotte, NC to visit our families and gobble up some delicious food. What are you thankful for and looking forward to this Thanksgiving?

Things I'm thankful for:

family

people that love me :)

our little apartment that is soon to be decorated for Christmas

our amazing comforter

acorn squash, green beans and cranberry sauce

time spent cooking and eating together

the mountains

the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

driving long distances in the car with John

wedding gifts

my camera to document all of these fun times

Happy Thanksgiving friends!

xoxo

pictures via here and here

flowers for your Thanksgiving table

2011-11-22T10:42:00.001-05:00

What a beautiful flower arrangement! This would be perfect for your Thanksgiving table. I just love dahlias. Design*Sponge tells you how to create it yourself here.

Santa paparazzi

2011-11-21T10:46:00.000-05:00

Hola amigos! How was your weekend? Our Saturday started with delicious french toast made by yours truly. Then we braved the crowds and headed to Lenox mall where we saw the man with the white beard and holly jolly spirit. I got his photo - paparazzi style. It was super exciting! And don't you love going out around town during the Christmas season and seeing all of the beautiful decorations?

Then we watched the Wolfpack beat the Tigers. Woohoo!! GO State!

Hope you had a happy weekend. This is a short week - Yay!

recipe: gingerbread spice rice krispies treats

2011-11-18T17:47:00.003-05:00

These are delicious! If you like peanut butter, pumpkin pie and rice krispy treats then this dessert is for you! Here's the recipe from the side of the cereal box... not a Nicole original this time :)

Gingerbread Spice Rice Krispies Treats

1 cup light colored corn syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 tsp cinnamon

(I used 1 tbsp by accident and it was still delich)

3/4 tsp ground ginger

3/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground allspice

6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

powdered sugar

(the recipe actually calls for you to top them with a layer of melted white chocolate but I don't love white chocolate so I sprinkled mine with powdered sugar and they were still a big hit!)

Line a 9x13 pan with tin foil and spray with non stick cooking spray

In a large saucepan, combine corn syrup and sugar. Cook over medium heat stirring frequently until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to boil.

Remove from the heat.

Stir in peanut butter and spices until smooth. Then add the cereal.

Once well coated, spread into the pan and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Enjoy! Hope you have a great weekend :)

engagement anniversary weekend: Upper and Lower Whitewater Falls

2011-11-16T11:23:00.001-05:00

John and I had such a good time going to Upper and Lower Whitewater Falls to celebrate our engagement anniversary! All of the trees were so unbelievably beautiful! I just love fall.

After seeing Upper Whitewater Falls we headed down the foothills trail to Lower Whitewater Falls.

On our way we retook some of the same pictures from the big day. It was exciting to be back there! No boy scouts this time though :)

Overall it was a wonderful weekend and the weather was perfect, it warmed up so much that we were wearing short sleeves!

And now I can't believe it's already Wednesday. I think I spent all day yesterday thinking it was Monday, haha. Hope your week is going well so far! I made a delicious dessert last night and I'll share the recipe with you a little later :)

engagement anniversary weekend: Ravens Cliff Falls

2011-11-15T11:50:00.001-05:00

This weekend John and I celebrated our engagement anniversary by traveling to upstate SC and hiking! On Saturday we went to Ravens Cliff Falls and on Sunday, our actual engagement anniversary we went back to the place where it all happened - Upper and Lower Whitewater Falls. It was a beautiful fall weekend and of course I have lots of pictures to share. On our way to Ravens Cliff Falls there was an overlook on the side of the highway, so we stopped to check it out (pictures above). The view was amazing!

There were 2 trails that led to views of Ravens Cliff Falls. One that went to a suspension bridge over the falls and one that went to an overlook. Each were on opposite sides of the mountain. We took the suspension bridge trail first since it was the longest and sounded the coolest :)

After checking out the bridge - which was awesome, we headed to the overlook. It was a few miles back towards the car and to the platform from the bridge but it was totally worth it because the falls looked huge from the platform!

It was a lovely day and a beautiful hike! But we were tired afterwards for sure!

Tomorrow I'll share pictures from Upper and Lower Whitewater Falls. Happy Tuesday :)

11.11.11 & happy Veteran's day

2011-11-11T14:32:00.000-05:00

Today is 11-11-11! Did you make a wish?

This weekend John and I are celebrating 1 year since we got engaged by hiking back up to the waterfall where he proposed! Let's just hope it's not freezing outside all weekend.

Here are a few other fun things for you to check out:

I think I'm going to start wearing a different scarf everyday for a month

Love this American flag decor - Happy Veteran's Day

She & Him has a Christmas CD

Next week I'm pulling out the felt and getting to work

We can't wait to see the Muppet movie :)

glittery leaves DIY

2011-11-10T16:54:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon! It feels just like fall here: temperatures in the 40's, colorful trees, the ground covered in leaves, and homemade chicken noodle soup and hot chocolate for dinner. Yum!

I saw this beautiful glittery leaf table runner over on The Sweetest Occasion and I thought I could make that! Once I started glittering, I decided it might be even more fun to make them in a round pattern, like a placemat. So that is just what I did. It was super easy, here's the little how to.

I collected some freshly fallen leaves from outside and then started to add the golden glitter. In the original tutorial, she used spray adhesive but I didn't have any, so a glue stick worked perfectly.

Then I found some little acorns and decided to paint them gold and give them a little glittery action too, just for fun.

Ta-da! How lovely. I only have silver napkin rings and they just didn't seem to go with this gold decor so I used a simple piece of brown ribbon, tied in a bow and then added the acorns.

How are you decorating your table this fall/Thanksgiving?

deer on the mountain

2011-11-09T15:18:00.000-05:00

Last night, since John got off work before the sun went down (darn daylight savings time) we headed to Kennesaw Mountain to hike and to celebrate our 1 month of being married! We've been to Kennesaw Mountain together before, but isn't it gorgeous in the fall?

As we were headed up to the top, we ran into some furry friends on the side of the trail... deer! and lots of them!

Aren't they beautiful? There were at least 6 of them. We saw 4 crossing the path in front of us and then we ran into 2 more right at the top of the mountain. Speaking of, here's the view from the top:

Ahhh, fall.

And on the way back down... 1 more deer :)

After we made it to the bottom, right as it got dark, we celebrated our 1 month in style with margaritas and empanadas. Delich. I can't believe we've been married a month already! xoxo

lovely hair

2011-11-09T10:56:00.004-05:00

How gorgeous is this braided updo?

via BHLDN

ps - speaking of lovely, Mara of M Loves M is giving away a beautiful Tacori ring today! Check it out!

fall table decor

2011-11-08T15:06:00.000-05:00

Here's a quick and easy fall decorating idea - sticky ball place holders. Who would have thought that those darn sticky balls that cover the driveway would ever be turned into something useful and pretty?

Also, I just saw the coolest stop motion video where each frame is made out of jelly beans! You can watch it here on Creature Comforts.

weekend schmeekend

2011-11-07T17:28:00.000-05:00

How was your weekend?

Ours was fun! we watched lots of football (Go Pack!), ate delicious pumpkin pie (my first one of the season), went to an arts festival at Chastain Park and ate incredible creme brulee popcorn while we were there - seriously, have you ever heard of creme brulee popcorn? it's incredible! and on Saturday night we went to a party that had a photo booth! Don't you love the props? John with the beard is hilarious to me!

meeting Grace Bonney (Design*Sponge book signing)

2011-11-04T14:34:00.000-04:00

Last night we went to the Design*Sponge At Home book tour in Atlanta, GA! Grace Bonney (author of the book and creator of Design*Sponge the blog, of course) was at West Elm in midtown teaching craft and signing books and I was so excited to get my own signed copy and to say hello! And of course the West Elm store always offers lots of inspiration and beautiful items for your home like this purple and white fall table setting above.

Grace taught a craft class before the signing but I didn't register in time. Fortunately the how-to is in the book! Here is a shot of the napkins they made:

waiting in line :)

Here we are! Grace, it was so nice to meet you! I can't wait to read through all the pages of your beautiful book :)

Oh yes, and there was one other amazing thing about the book tour, besides Grace... the smilebooth!!

Are those last 2 Christmas card worthy? ;)

So the Design*Sponge At Home book tour is almost over but if you still want to go, here's the schedule! If you are a fan of the Design*Sponge blog (if you're not, you should be!) then I definitely recommend you make it to the book tour, it was a lot of fun!

turkey vs santa

2011-11-04T11:17:00.001-04:00

For those of you who think Thanksgiving gets ignored :)

via a friends facebook wall

gameday in Atlanta

2011-11-02T11:45:00.000-04:00

On Saturday it was gameday in Atlanta but we were cheering for the other team :)

We bundled up and headed to the GA Tech stadium to watch undefeated Clemson. It was GA Tech's homecoming and there were some cool floats and signs. It was a ton of fun, but our Tigers lost :(

Don't you love John's orange shoes?

And now for Nicole's play by play...

Who are you cheering for this season?

We all know my #1 team is actually the Wolfpack :)

Also I have something exciting to tell you all... as of yesterday November 1st, I am the owner of the Michael Buble Christmas CD. It is amazing and I am officially ready for the Christmas season to begin. We celebrated Halloween and it was awesome but now I'm thinking that it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ;) (that's the first song on the CD... you should get it)

yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me

2011-11-01T13:48:00.002-04:00

How was your Halloween? As I write this I am munching on a Kit Kat and some Peanut M&M's. John and I put on our costumes and went trick or treating! I turned a "Venetian bird" mask into a parrots mask - a very colorful and fluffy looking parrot but a parrot nonetheless and John went as the pirate. Trick arrrrrrr treat mateys! (Yes that is what John said when the person opened their door.)

That's John's scary pirate face up there in the top left in case you're wondering :)

Also, side note that last picture of us together was taken by the neighbor that lives above us that John refers to as Goliath. And he is indeed a giant dude. and the best part of all... he has a giant dog (I think it's a pit bull). That we met last night. It is literally the biggest, most muscular dog I have ever seen. Which is why when Goliath and the muscle dog run around upstairs it sounds like a horse race. Out of control. At least he doesn't bark very loud... hahahahah.

Ok back to trick or treating.

If you want to know what it's like to trick or treat as a 24 or 25-year-old, just know that it's awesome. Imagine this. We are bouncing down the street in full costume, me with an orange jack-o-lantern candy bucket, John with a giant paper bag that could've held all the candy that was given out last night to everyone. In John's pocket is his cell phone playing Yo ho Yo ho A Pirate's Life For Me. And everyone else that is knocking on doors is no older than 6. In fact the people that look anywhere close to our age are standing on the curb holding their newborn or carrying their baby dressed as a lion or handing out candy. Did I mention that they were not dressed up? Lame-o. Needless to say it was a ton of fun, and only 3 or 4 people actually mentioned that we might be too old to trick or treat. Excuse me, is there an age limit in this neighborhood? Because the little vampire that's been following us around all night seems to think "the pirate and the parrot are awesome" :) and we scored a TON of candy including 4 full size Snickers bars... brownies with candy bars melted in the middle anyone?

Hope you had a happy Halloween too!

Happy Halloween!!

2011-10-31T11:12:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween everyone!! I hope you had a very spooky weekend and you get to trick or treat tonight... or at least eat some delicious candy! John and I picked out some of the biggest pumpkins in the patch and carved them yesterday.

That picture of the creepy looking Minni Mouse masked thing is John putting on a bunch of different Halloween costumes that we have and trying to scare me. Seriously, he looked terrifying!

ta-dah!
Happy Halloween!

happy birthday Mom!

2011-10-29T10:04:00.000-04:00

Today is my beautiful mom's birthday!

Happy Birthday Mom, I love you!

the NC State Fair 2011

2011-10-28T15:54:00.000-04:00

So happy Friday! It's taken all day to put this post together but the NC State Fair was awesome this year! It was the last thing John and I did before we moved and it was a ton of fun! Enjoy the pics! (we miss you Raleigh!)

Of course the food at the fair was the BEST part. It's always a tradition to list all the things we want to eat at the fair before we go. Here's the list of things we actually ate (amongst the 5 of us of course, not each haha)

corn on the cob, funnel cake, corn dogs, honey, cookies and cream ice cream, sweet tea, NCSU ice cream, apple sticks, ribbon fries, apple freezies, hushpuppies, pizza... did somebody eat a ham biscuit? Those are usually on my list! oh man... delich!

After holding the fluffy baby chicks and admiring all of the amazing cakes and baked goods we headed towards the rides. John and I ended up riding the Freak Out and the ferris wheel - so much fun!

And we ended up on top of the ferris wheel during the fireworks. The view was awesome!

Did y'all go to the fair in your state this year? What did you eat? What did you ride?

Friday eve ferris wheel

2011-10-27T17:41:00.000-04:00

How's your Thursday going? Here's a sneak peek of the NC State Fair 2011. More pics coming tomorrow!

our honeymoon in Grenada: the hat man

2011-10-26T13:04:00.000-04:00

There were a few people on the beach in Grenada that would try to sell you things that they made. One lady (above) was selling spices, since Grenada is the Spice Isle, that she grew in her yard - cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, curry. She was also selling sarongs and wraps and insisted that I try some on :)

We had heard that there was also a man that made things out of palm leaves and we were told that he would make you a hat right in front of you if you wanted one so when he came walking down the beach, John got so excited and we asked him to make a hat!

He was really cool and he wove the palm leaves right in front of us while offering us sweet marriage advice :)

The finished product is super cool and fits John to a T. He wore it in the airport on the way home and so many people asked us where he got it. He was the talk of the town I believe!

Then the man told us that he also makes baskets (with the beautiful woven pattern inside) and little birds. So we got one of those too. And now the basket is sitting on our counter with bananas in it :)

Can you believe it only took him 20 minutes to make the hat and even less time to make the basket? I was so impressed! And I just love the curly tail on the bird. Now we have a little piece of paradise with us at home :)

lost in the corn maze 2

2011-10-25T11:05:00.002-04:00

So this weekend we went to the Kernel Kob Corn Maze (clever name, right?). We decided to go at dusk since the one we went to last year had lights. But come to find out, Kernel Kob doesn't have lights. He just wants you to make it through the maze with a flashlight ... which we didn't have. To say we were lost in the corn maze (even though they gave us this 'easy to follow' map) is an understatement, haha :) But it was a ton of fun!

And there were lots of fun pumpkins there too that we got to see, once we made it to the exit by sneakily following other groups with flashlights. No big deal.

ps - do you know what you are going to be for Halloween this year? John and I picked out our costumes this weekend and we are super excited!

a fall weekend

2011-10-24T14:16:00.001-04:00

It was just a lovely fall weekend complete with waffles, homemade espresso (John's new favorite thing), Mexican food ... of course, and a trip to the corn maze and pumpkin patch!

How was your weekend?

it's Halloween at our place!

2011-10-21T12:49:00.001-04:00

Our apartment may still be full of boxes but it's also full of pumpkins and haunts.

Happy Friday everyone! What are you up to this weekend? John and I are going to the corn maze. We went to one last year and it was awesome. Let's just hope that the Georgia corn maze is as awesome as North Carolina's.

our honeymoon in Grenada: exploring the beach

2011-10-21T09:30:00.000-04:00

look at those giant leaves!

The beach was so beautiful. One day we walked down the shore a ways and discovered some really cool plants and rocks. The sand was so soft and your feet sunk down really deep into the sand. I have to warn you though ... those black rocks pictured below with the waves crashing on them are covered in black crabs. And they were terrifying. haha

our honeymoon in Grenada: hiking in the rainforest

2011-10-20T13:45:00.000-04:00

One afternoon, John and I went hiking in the rainforests of Grenada so we could see Seven Sisters Waterfall. The waterfalls (there were 2 that we could see, but 7 total, hence the name) were beautiful but the tropical flowers and fruits we saw along the way were even cooler! And our tour guide Eddie would just use his hiking stick to point out bananas and birds of paradise and then he would pull guavas and nutmeg out of the trees and hand them to us to eat and smell. It was pretty awesome! Honestly, he reminded me of Rafiki :)

When we first started the hike we asked Eddie if we were going to see any monkeys. He said probably. Of course John and I figured they'd be swinging in a tree or something and Eddie (aka Rafiki) would point them out to us with his stick. Boy were we wrong! The monkey was walking along side the railing on the way out of the rainforest and we walked right up to him and tried to feed him almonds! I put together a little video of him below.

Oh yea, and there were lots of goats too :)

our honeymoon in Grenada: the beach at the resort

2011-10-19T13:16:00.000-04:00

John and I traveled through Miami, FL to Grenada for our honeymoon. We stayed at a place called La Source and it was absolute paradise! From our balcony we could see the beach right in front of us and the ocean on the other side of the island far off in the distance. There were beautiful palm trees and bright tropical flowers everywhere, and on the beach we relaxed under palm huts and drank passion fruit juice and coconut cocktails. It was bliss.

The food there was amazing ... more details on that coming soon! And while we were in Grenada we took some adventures away from the resort and I can't wait to share pictures with you if you'd like to see... spoiler alert: we saw some awesome animals!

camels

2011-10-19T09:03:00.002-04:00

I saw this on facebook last night and I couldn't help but share it on the blog too...

"Look at the camels first and then read the message below.

This is a picture taken from directly above these camels in the desert at sunset. It is considered to be one of the best pictures of the year. When you look closely, you can see that the camels are the little white lines in the picture. The black images you see are just the shadows!"

How cool is that?

bridal luncheon beauties

2011-10-18T15:01:00.000-04:00

The Friday before our wedding, we had a bridal luncheon for all of my beautiful bridesmaids so we could eat together and I could give them their pretty beaded necklaces that they wore in the wedding! It was an absolutely beautiful day so we all ate outside and enjoyed the sunny weather. My Aunt Kim gave my mom, Aunt Charlotte and I a photo of my grandparents on their wedding day and it was really special. And the little cake topper that was on my great Aunt Myrtle's wedding cake was on display.

Rus, being the only man at the party, dress as the waiter and refilled our mimosas. :) It was a lot of fun!

Thank you to all of my beautiful friends and family that helped make our wedding weekend so very special!

I'm back! + we're married!!

2011-10-18T11:05:00.002-04:00

We're married!! Can you believe it?

Our wedding was amazing! So incredibly fun and sweet, it was perfect!

A few pictures were taken on my camera so I can share those now but I'll be waiting on Courtney's pictures before I share all of the wedding pics! (You know I just can't wait to see them!)

And Grenada was incredible!! I have so many pictures and videos from our honeymoon adventures that I can't wait to share. It was the most beautiful place I've ever been and John and I had an incredible time!! We swam below a waterfall, saw a monkey in the rain forest, went kayaking, snorkeling, drank lots of passion fruit juice and pina coladas, and relaxed in the sand. It was paradise!

And now we're back in the US ... in Atlanta, GA! Our new city! I can't believe I, or shall I say we officially live here now. We got home last night and John carried me into the apartment and I was greeted with the sweetest welcome home sign and balloons. It was the best welcome home!

How has everyone been? I have lots of fabulous blogs to read and catch up on :)

Glad to be back to blogging!

we're honeymooning in...

2011-09-26T10:42:00.001-04:00

Grenada!!

OMG, I cannot tell you how excited I am! It looks like the most beautiful place on the planet! And John was the sweetest, because he created this little game for me to play and by the end I had spelled out Grenada. So cool! Now we can't wait to go explore and relax! We are going to hike to that waterfall above ~ how awesome is that?

Hope you had a fabulous weekend! Mine was jam packed and I had my bridal portrait taken on Sunday... thank goodness the rain held off!

image 1 | image 2 | image 3 | image 4 | image 5

happy 1st day of fall!

2011-09-23T09:56:00.000-04:00

Can you believe that today is the first day of fall? Today got here so quickly!

This weekend is a big weekend - lots going on.

And ... I think John is revealing the location of our honeymoon tonight! (he's been keeping it a surprise for months and months) Any guesses? I can't wait to find out!

xoxo

image 1 | image 2

this pom installation is amazing

2011-09-21T09:38:00.001-04:00

Don't you think so? Holy cow.

spotted first on 100 Layer Cake via Confetti System

weekend fun times = it's fall!

2011-09-20T11:52:00.000-04:00

Fall is upon us friends.

Halloween cupcakes = fall.

I'm telling ya, once our wedding is over I am going to be in full Halloween mode.

I love Halloween!

And it's football season! Which means more tailgates and more cornhole :)

and fall = 18 days until these 2 lovebirds tie the knot ;)

How was your weekend? Did you enjoy the fall weather or was it raining where you are? It rained here a lot and it's significantly cooler all of a sudden. But it didn't stop us from hanging out outside, tailgating, and hitting the streets downtown.

happy weekend + little John and Nicole :)

2011-09-16T11:37:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday!

I'm so excited that it is the weekend! There are so many fun things happening. John is flying in to be here for the weekend, our friends Caitlin and Victor are celebrating their upcoming vows in the states with us this weekend, a fun girl's night out is planned, and of course there are wedding crafts on my to-do list! What are your weekend plans?

picture of me holding this egg plate

Also, I've been working on a fun project for the wedding that involves looking through old pictures. I thought y'all might enjoy going down memory lane with us...

Happy weekend!

treehouse

2011-09-14T11:28:00.000-04:00

look at this gorgeous treehouse! wow!

there's an entire collection of treehouse images on Hello, Friend... but this one is my favorite!

image originally via

bridal shower!

2011-09-13T12:07:00.000-04:00

This weekend was full of celebrations! On Saturday we had BBQ and birthday cake in honor of Melissa and Charlotte's birthdays. Delich. And then on Sunday John and I had a bridal shower with my family. It was lovely and we got some beautiful things! Thanks everyone for coming. See you again in 25 days!

after we opened the beautiful gifts! there is a before picture somewhere but not on my camera!

cousins!

with my mom, Aunt Kim and Aunt Charlotte

Welcome to the family John!

(don't you love that John and I match? haha)

Thanks everyone for coming and to Kim for hosting. It was wonderful!

weekend instagrams

2011-09-12T12:05:00.000-04:00

Kennesaw mountain

2011-09-09T22:58:00.001-04:00

Just a few pictures from our (almost rainy) hike up Kennesaw mountain ... just a guess but I'm thinking we will hike up this mountain many more times in the future. And the view at the top was beautiful.

Happy Friday friends! Enjoy your weekends.

xoxo

Great on the 8th: 1 month!

2011-09-08T18:41:00.001-04:00

I can't believe it! Only 1 month until John and I are married! YAY!!

Lindsay, my fabulous MOH who's been giving me gifts every month on the 8th (I feel so lucky!) gave me this awesome stationary with my new last name on it today. I unwrapped the present and it revealed that bright orange box from Shutterfly and I knew it was going to be awesome. Thanks Linds! I can't wait to use it. xoxo

happy birthday Ricky Martin

2011-09-08T10:25:00.000-04:00

Last night was Ricky Martin (the bunny's) birthday! We celebrated by eating chocolate hodge podge cupcakes, drinking peach sangria (Savannah inspired) and making Ricky wear a striped birthday hat :)

things I'm loving: Wednesday edition

2011-09-07T15:12:00.000-04:00

a paper garland tutorial from Oh Happy Day

pretty envelopes from Poppies for Grace

faux zinc letter how-to. pretty cool if you ask me, from Head Above Water

beautiful packaging from Hello Friend

lovely heels from Snippet & Ink

what are you having for dinner?

2011-09-07T13:51:00.000-04:00

this looks delicious.

dessert

2011-09-06T16:05:00.000-04:00

this cake display is lovely. is that cheesecake too?

strike a pose

2011-09-05T10:34:00.001-04:00

Love these shots of us in the funky hats! I almost wore that headband right out of the store :)

Have a super sweet weekend!

2011-09-02T22:34:00.000-04:00

I hope your long weekend is super sweet!

Peach sangria and pralines again this weekend? I wish!

Savannah: The Paris Market

2011-09-01T15:16:00.001-04:00

While we were in Savannah, we did some shopping (and some dancing and some eating) and while we were out shopping, we found The Paris Market, which I would describe as a blog in a store. This place had everything you love and more. I could have hung out in there half the day.

They had these wooden letters and boxes of metal letters and I left with a metal J and N. Awe.

ps - their candles smelled delicious and they have an online store!

Savannah at night :)

2011-08-31T22:43:00.000-04:00

So this post is comin' atcha at almost 11pm eastern because I had my second wedding dress fitting today! Y'all, it's so beautiful. I'm so excited!

Of course a bachelorette weekend wouldn't be a bachelorette weekend without going out for a night on the town, amirite? (How do people feel about the phrase amirite? It's being used more and more frequently and I think I like it ... I'm testing it out to decide. Just so you know.) Friday night we headed out to the Olde Pink House which was an insanely delicious fine dining southern restaurant. I'm telling you ... each meal in Savannah was better than the last.

PS - I had a sash and a crown and giant blinking ring and a button. It was basically the most fun thing ever.

So we're sitting at dinner at the Old Pink House and this lady walks over and is asking us about the wedding and she's all "Oh I heard someone was getting marrriieeed" and I'm all "Me!" and then ... she busts in to the most beautiful gospel style rendition of Goin' to the Chapel. It was amazing!

this is just a little picture that is proof that we went to Savannah Smiles, a dueling piano bar, and they pulled me and another bride or 2 up on the stage to sit on the pianos while these guys danced around us to "It's Raining Men". Yep, that's what happened.

and then we did some dancing and it was fun ;)

and lastly this is what happened on Saturday night .... it was this guy's bachelor party and his groomsmen dressed him up like a bride! literally he was wearing a strapless gown that laced up the back ... or at least tried to, haha. This picture was taken at a karaoke bar where he and his friend sang "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman". niiiice.

dining with Paula

2011-08-30T11:03:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, we headed to Savannah's famous lady Paula Deen's restaurant: Lady and Son's. And let me tell you something ... the food was incredible. If you don't have a reservation, it is worth waiting in line for.

After a visit through the gift shop, we ran in to Paula Deen herself! Just hanging out in the hallway...

She looked great. I got to link arms with her ;)

Just chattin' with Paula. Basically this is how this went down...

Danielle: Hey Paula, I love your biscuits.

Paula: Thanks darlin'! I just put 3 sticks of butter in 'em.

self portrait! Paula was so happy to meet me and wished John and I lots of luck :)

speaking of biscuits, to start your meal you get a cheese biscuit and a piece of corn bread that looked like a pancake.

fried green tomatoes ... hello delicious.

a very pretty chicken pot pie

and this is what's on the buffet ... minus the meat. the sides looked so good I just skipped the fried chicken and meatloaf. And I realize that this looks like an insane amount of food... and it was impossible for me to join the clean plate club but I tried everything and it was amazing!

6 years ago today...

2011-08-29T14:42:00.000-04:00

On this day, 6 years ago, John gave me a napkin with his phone number on it.

And in 40 days we are getting married!

I love you John ♥

we went to...

2011-08-29T10:05:00.000-04:00

Savannah, Georgia!

It was amazing!! I have so many pictures to share and stories to tell that I don't even know where to start. These pictures are from the beautiful historic trolley tour of the city that we took on Saturday afternoon. All of the trees are draped with spanish moss and the green squares and lovely architecture were everywhere. The trip was the best because everything was within walking distance so the only time we were not walking somewhere was when we rode this trolley! And thankfully Miss Irene stayed away from Savannah for the most part. Friday was windy and overcast with a little rain but Saturday was hot and sunny! I hope you weren't badly affected by the hurricane.

ps ... this is where we stayed.

It was quite possibly the best place I've ever stayed on a trip. Seriously, these girls know how to plan a trip!

How was your weekend friendys?

bachelorette weekend?

2011-08-25T16:26:00.001-04:00

^ this just happened at work. seriously. that is a delicious Garye-style oatmeal raisin cookie. and I'm not a girl who loves raisins until Garye puts 'em in his oatmeal cookie batter and bakes them to perfection. ah-mazing.

In other news...

Holy cow!

In 2 hours I am headed out of town (I think!) to my bachelorette weekend. That's right, Hurricane Irene isn't going to ruin our fun! A surprise trip has been in the works for weeks ... maybe months ... Honestly I would say we've all been excited about a fun bridesmaids weekend since I got engaged (amirite?) and the only one who doesn't know any details about it is yours truly. That's right. I'm completely in the dark. Actually I think Ruthy wants me to literally be in the dark and be blindfolded all the way there ... for who knows how long! Needless to say ... I am SO excited!!!

Danielle suggested yesterday that I put together a list of places I might think we are going ... based on clues I've been given that may or may not have all been lies - we'll see. Either way, here are my guesses and on Monday I'll have all kinds of fun details to share!

Savannah, GA

image 1 | image 2

Charleston, SC

image 1 | image 2

Williamsburg, VA

images

(this is going to be us - frolicking in the waves ... that are probably going to be insanely rough and dangerous - thank you Irene.)

Wrightsville Beach, NC

image 1 | image 2

Honestly no matter where we end up, it is going to be a fun fun weekend!

Hope your weekend is a blast too :)

xoxo, Nicole

magical

2011-08-19T12:29:00.000-04:00

don't these candles make this table look magical?

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

which is scarier?

2011-08-18T10:03:00.002-04:00

Today Tori suggested we play a game. It's called Which is Scarier?

To me, the answer is obvious (the second one, duh) but in order to fully understand you should go here and read the story behind picture #1, and then go here to read the follow-up story...

and now that you've read both the first story and the follow-up story I will inform you that the below picture of John and myself is completely real... just sayin'.

so friends ... what do you think?

flowers & hairstyles

2011-08-17T16:07:00.001-04:00

these are things I'm thinking about today.

image 1updo | image 2 zooey | image 3 flowers | image 4 more flowers

recipe: ice cream cone cupcakes

2011-08-16T15:11:00.001-04:00

Last week I made a delicious birthday treat! Ice cream cone cupcakes!

In order for the cones to stand up while baking, I put tinfoil over a muffin pan and punched holes to put the cones in.

note: this is what they look like if you fill them way too full. for future batches, I will only fill each cone about half full...

then each cone full of batter was topped off with peanut butter chips

they baked up quite nicely...

except for the fact that they overflowed!! like whoa!

because it was so full, the cone wouldn't stand up so I ended up resting it on its side and serving it with ice cream :) You could also top each of them off with icing like a cupcake if you'd like. guaranteed goodness all around.

Happy baking!

sweets

2011-08-15T16:18:00.001-04:00

this picture of homemade gumdrops from Bakerella is inspiring me today for some reason.

a birthday dinner of appetizers + a paper chain chandelier! + a video of Tori that she is going to be thrilled about :)

2011-08-12T15:43:00.001-04:00

this is what an awesome paper chain made from every color of construction paper in the book looks like when hung around your dining room table light like a chandelier :) I was so proud.

Last night we had a super fun birthday dinner for Tori and Brooklyn! On the menu: appetizers.

BBQ chicken bites

tomato and cucumber salad

sausage balls

mexican dip

pineapple

and a fabulous dessert ~ I'll share that recipe later!

Brooklyn and her presents!

Tori got some Mike and Ike's and movies. She was really excited about eating the Mike and Ikes...

told ya.

and now for super fun pictures with friends ... ready, set, go

say what? do I have cleavage??

birthday girls!

Happy Birthday Brooklyn and Tori! Love you both!

the drive home

2011-08-11T12:29:00.000-04:00

driving down the interstate on a Tuesday evening couldn't be more beautiful than this.

my weekend in instagram

2011-08-08T17:00:00.001-04:00

finally Friday margaritas with Tori!

We ended Friday night at Krispy Kreme since the hot now sign was on (how could we resist?) and there was a rickshaw in the drive thru line in front of us! with a dog riding along!

Saturday we went to the Beer, Bourbon and BBQ festival and ate delicious bbq and fried okra.

And I promise I did other things this weekend besides eat but apparently the only things I was interested in photographing were food :)

How was your weekend?

Friday Friday!

2011-08-05T18:04:00.002-04:00

It's Friday people! thank goodness. this week has been super cra-zay. too much work, not enough play, cooking, crafting or tv watching (although Project Runway last night was good - if you can make clothes out of pet store supplies, you are talented). I'm just sayin'.

I love all the details at this pretty wedding on The Knotty Bride (Dear Knotty Bride, I'm going to miss your Bachelorette commentary now that the season is over).

Poms and lanterns are a good thing. Watch out October 8th.

Happy Weekend friends!

the happiest whale

2011-08-04T14:37:00.002-04:00

there's no way you're not smiling while you watch this video. :)

a pretty little dishtowel

2011-08-04T14:27:00.000-04:00

I think you could frame this tea towel like a watercolor print.

etsy favorites: blue

2011-08-03T15:30:00.000-04:00

image 1 print | image 2 rings | image 3 yarn | image 4 cups