Thursday, October 31, 2013

Whew, October.

I cannot believe it's the last day of October, already! This month has been such a blur to me and I cannot believe it's almost November (and Thanksgiving..and Christmas)! I'm sure everyone is going to be blogging about Halloween today, but I've already done that and I'd rather touch base on my October goals!
October Goals Update!

one// Make some changes. This hasn't happened but I'm working SO hard on it. I'm hoping I'll have some good news about it in the next month or so. But do know, I'm trying!

two // Make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and apple cider. Neither of these happened but we did do other Fall things like carve pumpkins and drink a lot of pumpkin beer. I also have Fall candles that are constantly burning. 

three // Keep playing with my closet. This has definitely been happening! I'm sure if you follow me on Instagram, you've seen this! I'm trying really hard to use what I have!


four // Consider working out again. Nope. I think I'm going to cross this off my goals for now. I always said that if all else failed, I'd start working out when I was engaged. Now that I'm engaged, there's too much going on so I'm waiting until after the New Year and maybe I'll try again??

five // Explore Charlotte some more. Uhhh we did go to a new bar? 

After failing on all my October goals pretty much, I've decided that for November I just want to tell y'all about a few fun things we have to look forward to!

November Goals Fun!

one // App vs. UGA football game. Next weekend my App friends are headed down to my hometown to hang out with my high school/UGA friends for the game. I have been looking forward to this FOREVER and I'm so happy it's finally here!!


two // I'm going dress shopping! Twice, actually. I know how indecisive I am and I know where I want to go shopping, so we're taking two different days while I'm in Athens throughout the month to go to both! I also have to have my best friend there and she lives in IN so we'll be going over Thanksgiving week when she's home!

three // Um. Thanksgiving. Christmas is great, but I LOVE Thanksgiving. I mean.. a holiday that just focuses on eating awesome food with your favorite people. Yes, please. 


four // The weather. I want to wear more sweaters! We keep getting peeks of it and then it gets hot again. Yesterday, I wore jeans, boots and a button down with rolled up sleeves. I walked outside and started sweating.. Ridiculous!

I feel like I'm completely forgetting something but as of now, this is what I've got. I am SO excited for November to get started! 

Happy Halloween, friends!

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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Harry Potter Lovers! {A Link Up}

When I saw that a few fabulous girls were hosting a Harry Potter link-up, I immediately grabbed the button and save a post in my drafts. And then it just sat there. And sat there. Andddd sat there. And now it's the day of the link up and this little post is still blank. Well I guess by the time you read it, it'll be full ;)  I have so many thoughts and feelings about this series that I couldn't put it into words - and I still don't know if this will do it justice!

I've been reading Harry Potter since the very first book came out. I remember all the churches freaking out and telling parents not to let their children read these books because "they're so full of witchcraft and evil". But, I wanted to read it so  badly that my mom decided to read it first. After deeming it "appropriate" and actually liking the book, my mom handed it over and I was hooked. 

Ever since The Sorcerer's Stone, I pre-ordered every book and got them the day they came out. I saw every movie on opening day when I was a little bit younger and then at every midnight release once I hit middle school age. 

A memory that stands out the most is with The Goblet of Fire book. I couldn't drive yet and my mom had to be at work at 8 am, so I woke up at the butt crack of dawn in the middle of the summer to go to work with her so we could stop at the bookstore on the way. I sat in my dad's office chair from 8 am until we closed at 6 pm reading that book. I think I put it down for maybe 30 minutes to eat breakfast and then another 30 minutes for lunch and that was it. 

To me, Harry Potter is my childhood. I've re-read every book at least... 6 or 7 times. I've probably ready the first four even more than that. I still re-read these and I have the last two displayed on my bookshelf in our living room (the rest have been read so many times they're not really pretty anymore..)! Every time I read one, I find something new that I love and I'm transported back to summers at home. 

My Favorite Harry Potter Moments
These are movie gifs, but I almost always like the book version better!

one // Dumbledore. Just Dumbledore. His character is phenomenal. JK Rowling developed such a wonderful person - even if we did find some things out in his past that may not have been "perfect" - to me, the character was perfect. And had some of the best quotes, ever. He was also hysterical. 




two // When Harry learns that Sirius is his godfather and is in fact, innocent. He discovers his relationship earlier in the book and he breaks down. I liked that Rowling showed such real emotions that a 13 year old would really feel in this situation. Then, when he finds out that Sirius isn't guilty and is asked to live with him, I think my heart almost exploded the first time. And then, it almost exploded again when Sirius had to live on the run. More than anything, I wanted Harry to have a happy ending then!


three // When Hermione and Ron finally get together. Obviously, I like the book version of this so much better. It's more realistic in my opinion. I was never one who wanted Hermione and Harry together, it was always Ron in my opinion!


four // The deaths. Okay, this sounds weird. I didn't love the deaths. Not at all. But, I loved how JK Rowling had me to attached to fictional characters. I cried at every single death - Sirius, Dumbledore, Moody, Lupin, Tonks and don't even get me started on when we have to lose a Weasley. I had to put the book down and come back later. It takes a special author to rip my heart out like that. I also understand why she made those deaths happen.


five // Harry greeting Voldemort with every intention of sacrificing himself. His selflessness allowed him to survive and I definitely cried again when I thought he had died. I legitimately thought JK would have killed Harry - just to make it more realistic. I'm SO glad she didn't, though. That poor boy needed a happy ending!


I realize some of these moments are weird to put under my "favorite Harry Potter moments" but to me, my favorite moment is anything that solicited a huge emotional response form me and made me love the series even more than I already did. If you haven't read the books (like my fiance...) please go read them right. this. second. You will NOT regret your decision. 

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Tuesday, October 29, 2013

My First Wedding Wednesday... On a Tuesday!

Guys, guys, guys, guys, guys. 

WE HAVE A DATE. And a venue, of course. And I'm a little bit excited in case you can't tell. I also had every intention of writing this post tomorrow BUT I completely forgot about the Harry Potter link-up and I HAVE to participate in that tomorrow. 

So without further ado....

On October 19, 2014 at 4pm I will officially be a Mrs. 

I cannot even believe that this is real life! Now that we officially have a location, my planning gears are in full force. My brain is working overtime trying to decide what I really want out of it and how I want it to look.

Here's a couple shots of the property to give you a little idea of what our day may look like.

Ceremony Space
All venue pictures from their website!
I'll be coming down from the Bridal suite and walking down the brick path you see in the far right picture and meeting Christian at the gazebo. Here, it's not decorated, but we can do whatever we want with it. I'm picturing burlap, lights and wildflowers wrapped around it. And I'm also considering maybe some pumpkin or something else Fall-like on the ground around it. 


I'm also pretty positive that I want shepard's hooks coming down the aisle and probably with some sort of Fall flowers in it, as well. Or maybe candles. There's plenty of time to decide! I'm also loving the decor inside the gazebo in this picture!

Reception Space

The reception will be in this barn. Originally, I was against this venue because I really didn't want a reception in a barn because I don't picture myself as a typical "Southern bride". But, after touring the venue and seeing all the different possibilities (and falling in love with every other aspect of the venue), I was sold. I also love that the doors open and we can have and indoor/outdoor reception. To the right of this picture is a fire pit that I'm very excited to use! We'e also thinking of having corn-hole and/or Bocci ball in this space here. 



For dinner, we're going to have a lot of small round tables like these and classy, elegant centerpieces. There will be tons of Fall aspects but absolutely NO mason jars (sorry, blogland). I should also add here that there will be no cowboy boots, either. Not our style. 

I'm also loving the lights around the rafters and plan to add more decorations, like these, to them, as well. 
Source

The Property

This house was built in the early 1900s (I believe...) and I plan on doing some pictures on this beautiful wraparound porch - I'm obsessed with it!


There are two of these adorable bridges on the property and I love them! This one leads from the ceremony to the barn! I foresee some great pictures, here!


And what an adorable pond?! And their Fall decorations are already so cute and fit perfectly into our theme!

And to finish this ramble of wedding post off, our colors and countdown (thanks to The Knot!). 

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Monday, October 28, 2013

I wish...

...I had done something this weekend worthy of writing about today...but I didn't. Sweats, Say Yes to the Dress, dinner and a Redbox.. with 15 hours of work added in.

That's not over the top or anything.
...I could tell you our wedding date and all about the venue today... BUT I WILL ON WEDNESDAY.

...I had more self control when it comes to Victoria's Secret sales... but Christian usually has to physically restrain me when I get an e-mail about a sale. I'm surprised he hasn't cut up that credit card.

...My face would stop breaking out... but I think I officially have "adult acne". Help me, please! 


...Catching Fire was out already... but we still have to wait a month! I'm too excited!



...We had more time for a pup... but after having Emmy all week I'm exhausted and we're just too busy and this apartment is lacking a yard.

...I could have slept in this weekend... but I only slightly got to sleep Friday morning and this morning I'm off to the venue! Which I don't mind missing a little sleep more. 


...I wasn't so behind on my Bloglovin' feed... but it's over 400 and I'm overwhelmed! I want to catch up on everyone's posts and whats going on with them but it just might not happen!


...I had something better for your guys today...but I asked Christian for a topic and he was no help at all. Typical boy. 

...I could keep the apartment in pristine condition all the time... but it's not possible. I also promise some pictures very, very soon (and I mean it this time)!

...I could get massages every week...but apparently you need money for those. Who knew?!

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Friday, October 25, 2013

High Five for Friday!

I am SO thankful it's Friday and I'm sitting on the couch watch Four Weddings right now. This week was a ball of stress trying to figure out everything with a date and venue plus that job I'm not really in love with right now. PLUS we've had Christian's family's dog here and all week and Zuko is really not okay with that. Neither animals have really been around other cats/dogs so it's been an adventures.

So without further ado...

one // We've had a pup all week! She's so precious. But, she is quite a handful. As exhausting as she can be, it's been nice to have another sweet animal to love on and gave Zuko some experience with a dog for when we finally get to get one of our own!

Excuse the mess, but Zukes has been stalking her.
two // We will hopefully have picked and secured a venue and date today.  I hope. Send us good vibes on this front. We're just waiting on the go ahead from my parents so we can put down the deposit!

three // The weather this week has been absolutely phenomenal. Everyone at work the last few nights has been talking about how cold it is and how they need jackets and I'm just walking around in my cardigans loving every second of it! I even wore a dress yesterday and it felt perfect to me!


four // I love having a DVR. This might seem so random, but I've been recording Four Weddings since we got engaged and I love getting ideas from it. Some of it is obviously way over the top and nothing we'd do, but some is realistic and would be really pretty for our venue!

five // I'm doing some crafting for the wedding already and I think I know when I'm going dress shopping. I'm WAY more excited about dress shopping than anything else in my entire wedding, I'm pretty sure. Years of Say Yes to the Dress will do that to you, I'm pretty sure!

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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

College + Halloween

My last year in college, I didn't get to experience Halloween because I had the lovely pleasure of working, plus there was over a foot of snow on the ground thanks to a hurricane. But, the first 3 years were awesome.

So of course, I had to link up with Helene and Sarah to share!

Freshman Year

I went to a teeny, tiny Methodist college but that didn't stop us from having an awesome Halloween. I originally wasn't planning to dress up, but last minute, I decided to be a hippie because my friend happened to have a dress that would work for it.



To be completely honest, I don't remember much of this evening but I remember having an absolute blast. Most of this being because of this group of people: 


Sophomore Year 

Christian and I has just started dating and he was out of town for the weekend, but that didn't stop us from going to the party hosted by his rugby team and having an absolutely blast. It was a typical college Halloween party - slutty outfits, kegs, packed dance floor and a naked girl.

A pirate and two trolls.
Oh. Is that not normal? Halfway through the party some girl walks in butt-naked. No one knows who she is or how she got there. Let me add that it was October in Boone.. It was honestly like 30 degrees - maybe colder and this poor girl has no idea she's not wearing clothes. Luckily, the guys who lived at the house found her something to wear and she was covered by the time the party was broken up.



Junior Year

I convinced Christian to do a couple costume with me. Mainly because he neither of us could think of anything so we went as Bonnie and Clyde. We also went out with the rugby club again, but to avoid cops and naked girls we stuck to the bars.


We were also supposed to get a ride home, but somehow four of us ended up walking home with barely any clothing in less than 20 degrees. It's about a 20 minute walk but when you're already tired, your feet hurt from heels and it's freezing it took a lot longer. And of course we complained the whole time and I even made Christian carry me piggy-back style for while because my feet were so cold.

This year was by far my favorite Halloween, though, because we had our whole group together and nothing too crazy happened. It was just a blast.

Take note of the Uggs behind me. It was COLD out there.


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Helene in Between

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Weekend-ing on a Tuesday

This weekend was a blur and I spent yesterday getting my sleep and running errands after such a busy weekend so you're getting a weekend recap on a Tuesday. And I don't even feel bad about it ;) 

Friday 

We were up bright and early touring venues for the wedding!! We saw two places and I fell in love with the second one. Neither of us really liked it when we pulled up because it's not in the best location of Charlotte, but as soon as we came through the gates and started walking around, I loved it. We were there a little over an hour and I never once thought about what it looked like outside the gates. I just kept picturing marrying Christian there. 


After the tour, we took a nap. And by "we", I mean Zuko and Christian napped while I watched cheesy chick flicks and obsessed over the locations and decor. 

Friday night, we got pumpkins and Chipotle with our friends Sam and Jeremy. After dinner, we came back to our apartment to have a few pumpkin beers and carve our pumpkins. After seeing Erin's pumpkin, I desperately wanted a minion pumpkin... our didn't turn out as perfectly as hers did, but hey, we love him!

Saturday

In order to tour venues on Sunday, I had to split my Sunday shift and I left work an hour and a hlaf early Thursday to get some extra sleep before venues, so I worked 10a - 5p. As much as I did not like being at work on my normal day off, it was a pretty decent work day. 

Once I got home, Christian had plans to be lazy and we carried those out perfectly. This is how much of the evening looked: 

I love my boys. 
Sunday 

Our tour wasn't until 12:30p so we tried to sleep in a little. I'm so used to being up and at work on Sunday that I couldn't sleep so I watched Say Yes to the Dress for a couple hours before we headed out. 

The venue was in a great location and we really liked it. Christian loved it and all I could see when thinking about it was all the extra work and money that would be necessary there versus the first place we loved -- which sent my stress level through the roof. I spent the rest of my day (including the 5 ours at work) stressing about what to pick because he loves it so much. 

Monday 

After not really sleeping in all weekend, I slept in Monday morning and it was glorioussssss. Once I got up, I considered blogging but I was too stressed about picking a venue so that didn't happen. I then ran a ton of errands and managed to fit in a nail appointment. My nails were so rough I didn't even want people looking at my ring, so of course I had to fix that ;) 



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Thursday, October 17, 2013

Things that Rock

Last time I showed up around these parts, I was a little bit of a debbie-downer and after thinking about things the last couple days, I kept reminding myself about all the wonderful things I have in life and the little things that can make my whole day. And I thought I would share these with you. 

1. I mean.. I'm ENGAGED to the most wonderful man in the world. And I do remind myself of this at least 10 times an hour when I look down at my hand!


2. On that note, we will probably have a venue and date chosen by Monday! We have two appointments on Friday and one on Sunday and depending on what days are available at the one we like will determine our date!

3. It is finally starting to feel like Fall on most days here in Charlotte. I so desperately want to wear boots every day and chunky sweaters but I can't quite yet. So someone send us some cold weather, please and thanks! 

I've shared this before - but basically my go to outfit right now: skinnies, cardigan and booties!
4. I have the best friends in the entire world. Everyone has been so supportive and excited for us that I'm so excited these are the people I choose to have in my life. 

5. My blog friends are pretty cool, too ;) You guys have been so sweet and so supportive both with my engagement and then with my work frustrations. I'm so glad I decided to start blogging! 

6. I love where I live. I love coming home, walking in the door and just feeling so happy and content here. I'm just at peace when I'm here. 

7. Fall TV shows are back. It's sad how often this makes my lists on things I'm waiting for or excited about. But Scandal, Agents of Shield, New Girl, The Mindy Project and of course all the TLC wedding shows are back and I'm just as addicted as I was before. 



8. Christian's family came over for dinner Monday night and brought us pizza, champagne and pumpkin pie. They know us so well. I'm excited about the family I get to marry into!

What's going on in your life that makes it rock?!

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Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Struggling.

If you follow me on Twitter or have noticed a couple of comments I've made in a few posts, you may be noticing that I'm unhappy with my job. I know I started out loving it... but that just isn't the case anymore. The very first sentence in that post has now been confirmed. 

I'm just plain exhausted and I don't love the actual job I'm doing. I still love the people around me and getting to wear whatever I want to work. But, with the hours I work I don't get to take advantage of the other perks the business has to offer (like that food!). 

The hours are also completely wearing me down. I'm working Tuesday-Thursday 1 pm to midnight and Sunday 10am-9pm. This means that on a normal week I see Christian Monday night and then not again until Friday morning. Yes, I'm off Friday, Saturday and Sunday and that somewhat makes up for it, but I'm at the point where I'd rather have a Monday-Friday 8a-5p position so that I can see Christian every day. 


The only way I could get a "normal" M-F schedule is if I worked 4p-1am and I'd see Christian even less in that case. And that schedule sounds absolutely awful to me. I also know that with all the planning I have on my plate now, that I need something more stable and less exhausting. 

I understand that every single job on the face of the planet is going to be tiring in its own way. I'm not asking for an easy, mindless job. In fact, I want the opposite. I want to be doing something less mindless than what I have now. I want to be doing something in my field. I would rather be doing these hours or dealing with this stress in a position that I feel will get me somewhere I want to be. I also want to feel challenged and like I'm making a difference everyday and that's just not how I'm feeling. 


And this still may be the place for me, and I'm just feeling the pressure of everything going on in my life. But, if something doesn't give, my poor little nerves may lose it. Maybe I sound crazy and like I'm rambling for no reason (which I may be... ) but I really needed to just get this off my chest and hopefully I'm not the only one feeling this way or who has felt this way at some point in life..? Bueller? 
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