Wedding: Part 2

I am one of those women who had dreamed of her wedding day from the time I was a little girl. I've always loved looking at wedding magazines, watching say yes to the dress and imagining my special day. And in those daydreams, finally getting to wear a wedding dress was always a big excitement. And in real-life? It did not disappoint. I want to wear it everyday. 

Photo credit: Chris Isham Photography

I loved the silhouette, the way it made me feel, the bit of bling on the belt and my simple ribbon edged veil. And the thing I loved the most? The back. 

Photo credit: Chris Isham Photography

The bow is actually detachable which was fun, and I love all the pictures where you can see the low  back of the dress. And while I'm here...can we just talk about how fun my earrings are?! Gotta have some sparkle obviously. 

Now y'all know I love my mom. I wrote a whole post about it a couple of days ago and let me just tell you that having her with me every step of the way through planning was the most special. And that includes having her with me in all the morning madness of getting ready. She zipped me up and hooked my bow (a much harder task than it sounds).

Photo credit: Chris Isham Photography

Photo credit: Chris Isham Photography

She made sure my veil was in place, my hair clip steady.

Photo credit: Chris Isham Photography

And had me feeling like cinderella helping me into my shoes. Although truly I don't think I could have gotten them on myself. 

Photo credit: Chris Isham Photography

Also...doesn't she look beautiful? 

I don't want to leave my husband out of all the fun! I don't think he spent his boyhood dreaming of the tux he'd wear on his wedding day, or getting his bow tie tied or cuff links hooked. But he sure looks handsome doesn't he? 

Photo credit: Chris Isham Photography

While I may not have always imagined what my groom would wear on our wedding day, or how his cufflinks would look. I did imagine what kind of man he would be. 

Patient, kind, thoughtful. 

Photo credit: Chris Isham Photography

Full of joy, makes me laugh, hardworking, the most loving and kind heart.

Photo credit: Chris Isham Photography

My husband is all of those things and more. The dapper tux was merely icing on the wedding cake. 

Facetime Is the Best Time

I'm taking a short break from wedding pictures today just to give myself time to get all the pictures I want to share organized and not be too rushed with everything. Plus I figured this way I could really savor the moments as I share them. 

For today I am sharing some nephew sweetness. I face-timed with my sister and her two boys yesterday evening and as always it was just the best. I love getting to talk to my sister and seeing my two favorite little guys puts so much joy in my heart. My oldest nephew...who I wrote about here and who we shall call T is at such a fun age because he is just talking up a storm. He wants to tell you all the things and he asks so many questions. When he hears someone say a word he's never heard, even if he's across the room playing, he'll pipe up with a "hey, what's ____ mean?". And because he is so full of words he is always telling me something adorable. So I never leave a conversation with him without a big smile. 

I haven't blogged about that cutie on the right yet, but I am fortunate enough to have 2 adorable nephews and both of them are already much bigger than when this photo was taken (stop growing!!) The littlest guy will get his own post one day though.

When we were talking yesterday, it was nighttime here but morning in the faraway place they live. Now this very large time difference can be confusing to a little one so when I began yawning he told me "Hey Aunt Maggie you're yawning! Don't yawn it's morning!".  His momma reminded him that even though it was morning there, it was nighttime where Aunt Maggie was. And then he melted my heart.

"Oh well Aunt Maggie's going to go to bed then, but not in a crib. And maybe sometime I can come sleep at her house. And Aunt Maggie could sing me a song before bed." (if you say this in a precious little 3 1/2 yr old voice it's even better).

Oh my heart, how I would love if he could stay at my house and I could sing him a bedtime song. Distance is so hard and while my sister's family hasn't ever lived particularly close to where I live they are currently extra far and that can be tough on everyone's hearts. But they'll be much closer soon and we just can't wait! I hope I'll be singing T a bedtime song and snuggling up for some bedtime cuddles. For now I will settle for heart melting facetime calls.

This month I am linking up with "Two Writing Teachers" for a slice of life, daily writing challenge.

Wedding: Part 1

I've been trying to decide the best way for me to capture all of the things I want to share and remember about our day. And I've broken it up into a few different chunks. And today, is details day! This is a picture heavy post but I couldn't narrow it down any more! So many things go into planning a wedding and I love all the little details that we got to include in our day, I don't want to forget any! Our planners were so helpful because I definitely don't have a "design eye" but they helped me think of all the things that I wouldn't have myself. If I were giving advice to brides wondering if a wedding planner is worth the cost? Yes. Absolutely. 100%. You want one. You need one. Do it.

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Photo Credit: Chris Isham Photography 

My mom and sister are both people who love all the paper goods when it comes to weddings. I have never been as excited about that part but boy do I love the way all of our stationary came out! My favorite part is definitely the envelopes and the place cards, with that beautiful writing and colored ink. Perhaps I should learn calligraphy so I can do that myself sometime? 

Photo Credit: Chris Isham Photography 

Photo Credit: Chris Isham Photography 

I may not have always been excited about paper goods, but you know what did excite me? These shoes! I was so excited about my something blue shoes and while I definitely did not wear them all night (spoiler alert, most of the pictures you see of me after the ceremony I'm definitely barefoot), they were totally worth it! 

One fun part of seeing the reception space for the first time, that I mentioned in yesterday's post was seeing all the different individual spaces set up. Like this show stopper entrance table? 

Photo Credit: Chris Isham Photography 

And our fun cake table! The linens we chose for these tables were perhaps my favorite.

Photo Credit: Chris Isham Photography 

Or the soft seating we added for guests whose feet got too tired of dancing? 

Photo Credit: Chris Isham Photography 

Our planners helped us to make our dinner seating chart on glass which added such a fun modern element that I didn't know I wanted but couldn't have imagined not having! 

Photo Credit: Chris Isham Photography 

The table settings were to die for with fun chargers at the head table, and beautiful linens across the board. Several of the tables had this gorgeous velvet, yes I said velvet, linen which I am obsessed with! Best thing about getting married in the winter? Velvet is an acceptable fabric. 

Photo Credit: Chris Isham Photography 

Photo Credit: Chris Isham Photography 

And is it even details day if I don't mention the flowers?!? There are pictures of flowers in all the wedding posts that are coming your way but today I'm highlighting the most beautiful bouquet. 

Photo Credit: Chris Isham Photography 

I don't think there is such a thing as an ugly bouquet but this one was beyond phenomenal. Surprising fact of the day...wedding bouquets are surprisingly heavy. I gave our florist pretty little direction other than I knew I did not want anything to flowing, I wanted something more compact, and I wanted a ribbon and somewhere in there I wanted anemones (the flower with the dark center). And she worked her magic and gave me this. Bella Blooms, you're a flower queen! 

At the end of the evening our guests left with a delightfully sweet favor of honey. Honey that was made from my father-in-law's beehives. It was special for us to be able to incorporate that into our day! And can we talk about how awesome my wedding planner is for bringing honeycomb to the photographer's studio for this picture?

Photo Credit: Chris Isham Photography 

I've saved my favorite detail for last. My dress. I loved my dress from the moment I put it on in the store. I remembered being worried when it came time to actually wear it that maybe I wouldn't love it as much anymore but it was still everything I imagined and exactly what I wanted for this day. Seeing it hanging on my "new name" hanger makes me want to wear it everyday. Can we normalize wearing wedding dresses more than just once?

Photo Credit: Chris Isham Photography 

I'm not sure I could encapsulate all of the details of that day into 1 or even 5 posts. But what I can say is that each of those details was an added piece of confetti into a perfect day. 

This month I am linking up with "Two Writing Teachers" for a slice of life, daily writing challenge.

They're Here!!

Ok guys buckle up because....

Credit: Chris Isham Photography

My wedding pictures are here!! I have been eagerly anticipating their arrival and today happiness arrived in my email inbox in the form of my full wedding gallery. So I'm going to go ahead and let you know the next several slices of my life will be full on wedding. I want to preserve and remember the day and all the feelings and little details and I don't want to cram it all in one. I started to just say to myself " I'll just do a quick highlight of a few pictures and that will be good," But you know what? I started trying to choose which pictures would be included and it was impossible to narrow it down! So today will be a highlight, just a quick teaser while I sort out all my favorites. But rest assured, or brace yourself, I will post plenty more. 

Credit: Chris Isham Photography

Photos are all credit of Chris Isham and let me just say he is an absolute gem! Not only are his photos always stunning but he is so wonderful to work with too! He's so warm, and makes you feel at ease and not at all awkward. 

One part of the day that was really special was getting to get a "first look" at our reception space. So much goes into planning and making a space and my planners at Beckon were beyond phenomenal. I feel like they made everything I asked for and all the things I didn't even know I wanted happen. So before our ceremony started, before the space would be filled with guests, they brought us up for a sneak peek. 

Credit: Chris Isham Photography

So up we went, hands held and eyes closed, ready for the big reveal.

Credit: Chris Isham Photography

And we were utterly blown away. I love that we're all still holding hands in this picture, I told my mom I think it looks like we might be ready to play a game of "red rover". And can we just talk about how my sweet husband's first response was to watch for my reaction? He knew how much had gone into planning and even though all those little details weren't as important to him, he knew they were to me. 

Credit: Chris Isham Photography

I think this moment was particularly special for my mom and me because it was everything we had done over the last 7 months via zoom and phone calls and marathon vendor meeting weekends finally come to life, in front of us, for real, ready to celebrate.  When we were all planning this day, there were a lot of times we didn't know what it would look like, if it could be everything I had hoped for. 

But let me just tell you. It was even more.

Credit: Chris Isham Photography

Calling All True Crime Fans

I've always loved mystery and crime shows on TV. In fact, my family often jokes about the amount of CSI we all watched when living in England because it always seemed that it was the only thing on in the evenings. I swear various seasons and episodes would be on at least 6 channels every night. And besides all three of the CSI series, I also enjoy Law and Order: SVU, Criminal Minds, Dateline, 48 Hours, you get the picture. So when true crime podcasting started to gain some popularity I was on board. 

Now I will pause here and let you know I can be a huge chicken and the fact that I enjoy these podcasts is at odds with the fact that when I'm home alone I triple check the garage door, be sure the locks on all doors are locked including my bedroom and will often sleep with the bedside light on. But nevertheless I am always drawn in to true crime stories. I always enjoyed psychology, I took several classes in both high school and college so perhaps I'm so intrigued because of all the questions it raises about the human mind. But whatever the reason, I'm hooked. They are the best for long car rides because they hold your interest, kind of like a book on tape, and make the hours fly by! So over the years, I have listened to a lot and thought I'd compile some of my favorites into a list for any other true crime fans that are reading here today. 

Excellent True Crime Podcasts (in no particular order):

The first 3 suggestions are the ones I listen to that cover 1 case per 1 episode (with the occasional 2 part episode in there) rather than a whole season about one big case.

1. True Crime Garage: The two guys that host the show are hilarious and do a lot of research so the shows are thorough and enjoyable with some humor mixed in. 

2. Crime Junkies: Another one I frequent because the episodes are pretty short (usually no more than 45 minutes). 

3. Sword and Scale: Similar to the other two but I feel like they cover a lot of cases that you don't hear on other shows. Often, if you listen to true crime you're going to hear the same case covered by different shows. But most cases covered on this show aren't ones I've heard covered elsewhere.

Now for some that are seasonal cases- so they take a whole season of a show (average about 12 episodes) to cover one case. 

4. Serial: If you haven't listened to season 1 a.k.a. you've been living under a rock I highly recommend you do. They have other seasons as well that focus on other crimes but trust me, season 1 is prime listening material. And as a follow up you could listen to "Undisclosed" that covers the same case but the hosts hold a different perspective. 

5. Someone Knows Something: There are 6 seasons of this, I have listened to 2 of them and haven't been disappointed yet!

6. To Live and Die in L.A.: Just one season about one particular L.A. based crime - super interesting with a lot of twists and turns. I actually listened to it twice if that says anything- once on a drive by myself and once on that same drive but with my husband this time.

7. In the Dark: I don't want to say too much about this one and give away what is so good about it but it's definitely a worthwhile listen.

8. Up and Vanished: I've only listened to season 1 but it was a great listen and the podcast actually helped solve the case which is super cool! 

Rest assured I also fill my mind with plenty of positivity as well- sunshine, romantic comedies and HGTV. But if you feel like playing detective for an hour, these 8 suggestions are a good place to start. 

This month I am linking up with "Two Writing Teachers" for a slice of life, daily writing challenge.

No bacon? No problem!

Weekend breakfast time is one of my favorites because while I am typically the one that handles dinners and lunches during the week, my husband almost always cooks breakfast for us on the weekends. I love the relaxed start to the day and a delicious home-cooked breakfast that I didn't make. But today when we were checking out the contents of the fridge, we discovered we were a little short on breakfast items. So today was extra special because we went out for breakfast! 

We drove downtown which was delightfully empty. We live in a college town so I'm thinking it doesn't get busy downtown till after 10 when the college kids are up and moving. We tried a spot that we love for lunch but hadn't experienced their breakfast year. And because we're early birds we were the first ones there and didn't have to wait at all for a table. We treated ourselves to mimosas and a giant breakfast with some great people watching from the windows by our booth. 

Then with full bellies we were ready to tackle our day which mostly includes errands, house projects, laundry and hopefully a relaxing evening by our new firepit! 

Happy Saturday friends!

This month I am linking up with "Two Writing Teachers" for a slice of life, daily writing challenge.

Shepherd's Pie

In another life I would have liked to be a chef. Or a food blogger. And while I  consider myself a pretty capable chef...a food blogger I am not. But I'll be pretending I am anyways. Yesterday I made a shepherd's pie which is one of my favorite comfort foods. I don't make it a lot because we try not to eat mashed potatoes every week but I certainly could. Now before I get into this, I'd just like to say for any traditionalists out there that I know that technically what I'm about to share is actually a cottage pie and that I used several non-traditional ingredients. But nevertheless I'm calling it shepherd's pie because that's what I've always called it. 

When I was growing up, my mom would make shepherd's pie using leftover roast. Which is how I would recommend if if you have leftover roast sitting around. I typically do not so I have adapted it to be a ground beef recipe which is great because it's quick and inexpensive! And still delicious, don't worry. First things first, get out all your ingredients. Now if you're like me, you'll start getting things out only to realize you don't have everything you want. 

Food blogger tip- when photographing ingredients it's best to put the labels the other way so your readers can see them. That mystery bottle with the label facing backwards is worcestershire sauce. 

And this is where I start to go a bit rogue with the recipe. I didn't have tomato paste. So I grabbed some ketchup. But decided it was going to be too sweet so I used some ketchup mixed with A1 sauce. I put A1 in my meatloaf so I figured it would be good here too. Spoiler alert...it was.  Also, lest you be thinking i'm always this organized when cooking, rest assured I usually grab things as I go rather than lay them all out neatly before I start. 

Now to get cooking. Onions chopped up and into the pan. Is there a better smell than onions cooking in some butter and oil? I think not. 

As the onions softened up I added my ground beef and the spices. I used a tablespoon of italian seasoning (which yes, goes very well in a traditional English dish) and 2 teaspoons of dried parsley as well. I added my flour to thicken it up and its at this point I would typically want  to add worcestershire sauce and tomato paste, but on this occasion is where I added in a tablespoon of ketchup/A1. 

Now many recipes will tell you to use just a peas and carrots mixture and then to add in some corn. I however, find it so much simpler to just buy the frozen mixed veggies. These have all 3 of those plus green beans. The green beans only make it better! So those get tossed in to heat up and soak in the flavors. And while they're doing that, I added a cup of beef broth and an optional splash of red wine. 

After this mixture has boiled and cooked for a few minutes, I take it off the heat and let it cool down some. This isn't required but I like it to cool a bit before I pour it into the casserole pan. It also gives me time to work on the best part of the dish- mashed potatoes! 

I boil my potatoes and mash them with some butter, sour cream, milk and a splash of heavy cream. I do not measure this...I eyeball it until it looks delicious and is the consistency I'm looking for. I feel like everybody has their opinions about the right consistency of mashed potatoes so I won't tell you what the right consistency is. On this occasion, I used thin skinned baby dutch potatoes so I actually left the skin on when I mashed them. Saves some prep work and is very tasty. 

Then it's time to layer. I think if you cook something in a pretty dish it tastes better so instead of a usual casserole dish I use one of my pretty pie dishes. Meat mixture on the bottom and potatoes spread evenly on the top. 

     

And now for my last unconventional ingredient of the dish...I added some cheese to the top. Not a lot, just enough. Certainly not necessary but doesn't cheese just make everything better? 

When it comes out of the oven you are rewarded with a crispy on the top, rich stewy goodness underneath delight. 

I will say my food blogging skills need some work but my chef skills were on point with this recipe. It was devoured by my husband and I with seconds for lunch today. Full of all the warmth and comfort that shepherd's pie should have. 

This month I am linking up with "Two Writing Teachers" for a slice of life, daily writing challenge.