Royal Wedding Inspiration

I love letterpress paper goods, and I especially love this letterpress map souvenir in honor of the Royal Wedding. It's so beautiful and dainty. It's one souvenir I've seen for the Royal Wedding that doesn't seem tacky or impractical. It could be framed {vintage frame anyone?} and serve as a beautiful souvenir, but also as home decor for years to come.



{Source: The House that Lars Built spotted on Merriment Events}

The map above also provides inspiration for brides to use for wedding invitations or programs. How neat would it be to have a hand drawn map of all the places the couple has travelled, or that are important to them, or have a map for the wedding guests to be directed from ceremony site to reception? So sweet and personal.

{Source: Kelli Anderson}

{Source: Rifle Design via Bklyn Bride}

Easter Sunday

This Easter was perfect. I woke up early to a beautiful sunny day, and my mom and I played with the puppies before Church. The whole family headed out for a beautiful Easter service at HOPE. It is truly rare that my brother and I are home at the same time, so it was great to spend Sunday with just the family. After Church we decided to head down to Monument Avenue for the Annual Easter Parade. It was a gorgeous day, so people were rolling in. We decided to bring the new puppy Cody to walk around a see the sights. The Easter Parade is a big deal for dogs because many people dress up their pups with big Easter hats and bonnets. So fun! {although I'm sure the people enjoy seeing them more than the dogs enjoy wearing them} I think Cody enjoyed being out and about, but I held him most of the time because he tired out quickly. If we did set him down to walk, he would just plop down in a shady spot until I picked him back up to continue on our way. Later, we came home and had a wonderful late lunch. My dad cooked salmon and steak on the grill and we also had deviled eggs, pasta salad, fresh green beans, and Boston Cream Pie for dessert. Yum. We ate on the patio, drank wine, and enjoyed each other's company before I had to head home. It was perfection. I hope you all had wonderful Easter celebrations. Here are some scenes from the day...

 

Sweet Virginia Wine

Happy Monday my loves! I am back from my blogging break (although later this week there may be another since I have a fabulous 3 day week!) This was a fantastic weekend! I find that all my favorite weekends tend to have a similar theme of wine, my best friends, good food, and my family...and this is exactly what my weekend included. Saturday was Britt's bachelorette party! No strippers, no sketchy bars, just a day of drinking wine in the Virginia countryside. Saturday morning we had a brunch at my parent's home and then we got picked up by the limo for a tour of three wineries. We went to the Cooper, Jefferson, and Blenheim vineyards. We brought champagne and snacks for the day, but also picked up a few bottles of wine for the rides to and from each vineyard. Let's just say we had our fair share of wine and champagne from 11:30 to about 5:00 that evening. Sorry, poor limo driver...

Here are some scenes from Saturday's celebration...

I'll be back, I promise...

Hi lovelies! Sorry for the slow blog, but this week has been very busy! I haven't been able to force myself to stay up late to prepare my blog posts for the next day. I'll be back soon though, I promise :)

Wedding season is officially in full swing...

This weekend I worked my first wedding as an intern with Ritzy Bee Events. It was so nice being back in wedding season and assisting my first event in 2011! Maria Cooke is the owner of Ritzy Bee (since 2007), and in 2010 Kelly Seizert joined the team. Soon after, they opened The Hive at 1511. Down in Old Town Alexandria, the Hive, is the office space of Kate Headley Photography (who was the photographer this past weekend and she is amazing!), Ritzy Bee Events, and Simplesong Design (she does boutique letterpress printed goods that are stunning and unique). Not only is The Hive their office space, they also occasionally hold creative workshops {like Photography 101 with Kate, or Introduction to Letterpress with Suann from Simplesong}.

Along with being an established, creative force in the Washington, DC area, Ritzy Bee is well-known in the wedding industry throughout the United States being featured in Wedding publications such as Martha Stewart Weddings, Southern Living Weddings, the NY Times, Southern Weddings, etc. They are a boutique event planning studio that specializes in creating customized expressions of the couples they work with. They strive for timeless events with lots of personal touches and details.

I know this is the industry I want to be in, so I am so thankful for the chance to intern with Ritzy Bee Events (along with my work with Merriment Events) to soak in all the knowledge and hands-on experience I can get.

Here are some of my favorite styling details from Ritzy Bee Events in the past:

{All above photo credits: Kate Headley}

The month of May will be full of weddings for me! I'm assisting a wedding with Courtney at Merriment Events, then the next weekend working a huge wedding in downtown DC with Ritzy Bee, and then the last weekend of May I am the MOH for my best friend's wedding in Richmond!! May is going to be one busy, but fun month :)

Water for Elephants

Water for Elephants comes out this Friday and I have been dying to see it since I first saw the previews months ago. I read the book and I'm really looking forward to seeing how they interpret the book on the big screen {I'm sincerely hoping it doesn't disappoint! Although with Reese and Rob Pattinson, it surely can't be that bad} I've always had a weird fascination with old circus life {which is why I decided to read the book in the first place.} I always envisioned it as a whimsical, yet creepy sort of lifestyle, with traveling "freakshows," people breathing fire and eating knives, big, exotic animals only contained in little metal cages, living out of trailors and trains. It doesn't seem so glamorous except for the beautiful costumes and fancy flips that the acrobats can do. In honor of Water for Elephants opening day on Friday, here are some images of beautiful, vintage weddings and engagement shoots inspired by the Old Big Top Traveling Circus.  

{Source for photos above: Gabriel Ryan Photographers via 100 Layer Cake}

{Source for photos above: Brandon Kidd via Green Wedding Shoes}

Who else is dying to see this movie? I bet the costumes are going to be fantastic!

Confessions

1. I have good intentions of reading most nights before bed, but I always get wrapped up in highly educational reality shows like Bethenny Ever After, Real Housewives, or Top Chef, etc. and never get to the reading.

2. I have a hard time hiding my facial expressions, so I've been told by almost all of my friends.

3. I'm extremely nosy. I can't help it, I just like to be in the loop! If ever I'm close enough to eavesdrop on a conversation, I will. No doubt.

4. I love having my own apartment and living by myself and I'm totally okay with not having a roommate, but sometimes I miss the days when my brother and I both lived at home and the family was together all the time.

5. Sometimes when I buy clothes, I leave them in my closet, with the tags on, for several weeks or even a month before wearing them.

6. I wish my diet could be bagels, swedish fish, and mexican food and that I wouldn't gain weight.

7. I get my news headlines for the day from The Today Show every morning.

8. I have big plans for my future career and they don't involve a desk job.

9. When I'm in an uncomfortable situation, I awkwardly laugh it off.

10. I hate wearing heels, I only wear them if I have to.

11. I go to the tanning bed sometimes, and I know the risks. It's superficial, but I like being tan.

12. I have an addiction...

Easter is the perfect Holiday for a candy-addict. These mini-Cadbury eggs are especially deadly.

When life gives you lemons...

My blog is back to normal!! Yay :)...not sure what was going on with photobucket, but I'm glad I'm back to being up and running without that obnoxious background. I had this post planned for a few days ago but I figured people would not be checking this while I was having technical difficulties. I wanted to share the Lemon Poppy Seed Scone recipe that I used this weekend while Kara was in town. They were super easy to make and turned out great! The cool thing about scones is you can really use the same recipe and switch it up depending on what flavor you'd like. Instead of Lemon Poppy Seed, nix the lemon zest and poppy seeds and instead mix in mini chocolate chips. Maybe add in dried cranberries and orange zest? Try some fresh blueberries. The list of possibilities is endless!

Lemon Poppy Seed Scones: Recipe found here

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup chilled butter

1 beaten egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest (I added a bit more here for a more "lemon-y" flavor

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Egg Wash

1 beaten egg

1 tablespoon heavy cream

1. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the butter pieces are smaller than the size of peas. Stir in the lemon zest and poppy seeds.

2. In a small bowl, stir together the cream, egg, and vanilla. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Don't overmix the mixture. Once the liquid is absorbed and the dough is coming together, then stop.

3. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead until it holds together. Pat the dough in to a 7″ circle that is 1 1/2″ thick. Cut into 8 triangles. Place scones onto a greased cookie sheet. Brush tops and sides with egg wash.

4. Bake at 375F for 15 minutes.

We made these Saturday morning and Kara and I had them straight from the oven. They were warm, with a soft, moist, and light texture. Yum! I highly recommend these for breakfast, brunch, or make them mini versions as a little snack to have around the house.

Scenes from the Weekend

This weekend, my friend Kara and her hubby Sean came to visit! Whenever I'm in Richmond I get to see these two, but it was nice having them up in DC to do a little weekend exploring. They came Friday night and our friend Dan (Sean's best friend) lives in Old Town Alexandria, so I met them there and we just hung around for a few hours before the boys headed out to go to a bar. Kara and I headed back to my apartment with Pete (her puppy) to rest up for Saturday.

Saturday I made homemade Lemon Poppyseed Scones for breakfast. They turned out delicious!

After taking the pups for a walk, lounging around a bit, and getting ready, we headed to the Capitol Hill area of DC to walk around, see the sites, and grab lunch. It's such a cute area and we had lunch at this retro hot dog place I'd been wanting to try called DC-3. We had old-fashioned soda, NY Coney hot dogs, and fried pickles. Yum! After lunch we headed over to Georgetown to do some shopping.

Georgetown is an awesome area, and is especially great for shopping, but it is quite a pain when it's a crowded weekend. Despite the crazy crowds, we shopped around all afternoon, and both had some good finds! We also stopped in at Sprinkles for an afternoon treat. They originally started in California, but they just opened their first shop in DC. The cupcakes were ah-mazing {better than Georgetown Cupcake in my opinion}. We got a couple to try: Red Velvet, Banana, and Coconut. All delish. We also picked up a few doggie cupcakes as a treat for the pups. Of course, Henry gulped his down in one bite.

After Georgetown we took it easy for awhile before meeting the boys in Old Town for dinner. We went to Red Rocks and had delicious, brick-oven pizza. After dinner we decided to stay in Old Town for drinks, so we went to Murphy's pub. We've been there before and I always have a great time. They have an Irish singer on Saturday nights so we had a great time doing Irish drinking games and sing-alongs. Sunday we met up with the boys and some friends and headed to brunch at this awesome restaurant called Southside 815. I think I fell in love. They serve authentic Southern cuisine and my meal consisted of fried green tomatoes, cheddar grits, eggs benedict, and bloody marys. We spent the early afternoon lounging on the patio there before Kara and Sean headed home. Overall - fantastic weekend! We had so much fun, and so did the puppies. Can't wait until we can do it all again :)

Hope y'all had a great weekend too and are ready for the week ahead!