Wedding Weekend

This past weekend was such a fun one because I went to Georgia for my cousin's wedding! I absolutely love everything about weddings, so I was happy I was able to go.

My family left early Friday morning to drive down there. Of course, no road trip is complete without breakfast at Cracker Barrel!

I read some magazines and books and listened to some music while we were driving. It was actually really relaxing.

We also had to stop at the Rita's in Chattanooga because why not? We were driving through anyway..... ;)

We got to Pine Mountain around 5:30 that evening. My cousin was getting married at the Pine Mountain Chalets. Basically this place had a bunch of little cabins around a lake. So they got married in a gazebo by the lake and everyone who was there for the wedding rented cabins. It was super convenient to be able to walk to the wedding and reception since everything was right there!

Once we got there, we checked out our cabin that we were sharing with my aunt and uncle.

There was a restaurant right outside the chalet complex, so we walked to dinner that night. I snapped this picture of the lake while we were heading to eat.

After dinner we went to a little party to see everyone else. My aunt (whose son was the one getting married) rented a huge lodge, so they invited all of us to stop over after the rehearsal dinner.

The next morning we got up and headed to FDR's Little White House since the wedding wasn't until later in the afternoon. During FDR's presidency, he owned a house down in Georgia that he visited so often it came to be known as his Little White House. It was kind of neat to see it.

This was his car that was redesigned with hand controls so he could drive it since he was paralyzed due to polio.

This was the house! It was pretty small, but I thought it was cute.

The sitting area:

My mom and I were being silly from one of the other rooms. Ha!

They had an area outside the house where they had a stone from each of the 50 states. I actually thought that was really neat. There was also a little plaque at each state saying their motto, and it was interesting to read those. I never knew that Ohio's was "With God, all things are possible," but I really liked that. In fact, that was one of my favorites! We had to get a picture in front of the Ohio stone of course.

And Alaska - AKA my new favorite state.

All of the grounds were so pretty!

This was a painting that was started of FDR the day he died. The artist obviously never finished it since FDR passed away, but I thought it was kind of interesting.

We went into the little town afterwards. When I say little, it was little. Just a handful of shops and restaurants. We ate a cute old fashioned sandwich/ice cream parlor that was really good. We popped in some of the shops, and I ended up getting these Paris napkins. Do I have any need for Paris napkins? Absolutely not. But this is what happens when you have a crazy obsession with Paris - you buy things you don't need just because they have the Eiffel Tower and some macarons on it :)

This town was small and didn't have a whole lot to it, but they had a bakery. I was so ecstatic to hear that! So we HAD to stop in and pick up a few cupcakes. I got my usual Red Velvet (it's my standard that I use to compare at all bakeries), and my parents got Key Lime and Cookies & Cream. I thought the Red Velvet was definitely a good one!

Then it was time to head back to our cabin and get ready for the wedding!

The weather was absolutely perfect, and it was so pretty how they got married overlooking the lake. As I've gotten older, weddings have become one of my favorite things ever. If you really think about the vows exchanged, it's just so powerful. To truly love someone enough that you promise to stay with them even if they get a horrible illness, lose their job, or go through something horrible is just beautiful to me. It's also the reason that I cannot stop myself from tearing up at every single wedding I attend :)

Next it was time for the fun - the reception! The reception was in a building right behind where the ceremony took place, so we didn't have to travel far. That was the nicest thing about the wedding!

Of course I had to check out their wedding cake. I definitely lean more towards the simple but classic designs, so I loved the cake. I thought their cake topper was super cute as well.

The center pieces were gorgeous too! The wedding was small, but everything was simple and classic, and I loved that.

My dad and I eating dinner....

They passed out these super fun glow sticks while we were dancing. They were SO much fun. It was just a piece of styrofoam that lit up and said their names on it, but we all had a blast waving them around while we were dancing. Such a fun and unique idea!

We got up super early the next morning to made the drive back home. It ended up being such a fun wedding, and I'm happy I was able to go. Now I just need someone else to get engaged so I can have another wedding to attend....... ;)

4th of July

I'm taking a break today from my Alaska posts to write about last week and the 4th of July!

Getting back into the groove of things after coming back from such a long trip took a little while to get used to, and I had a busy week on top of it.

Last Tuesday I went swimming with my cousins. I definitely feel like the older I get the less time I have to swim in the summer. I can remember years where I went swimming at least once a week, but I had only gone swimming once prior to Tuesday. So crazy!

On Wednesday night I went to dinner with some friends. We've kind of started this Wednesday night after work dinner/hang out thing. It always makes the work day go a little faster when you know you have a night with some friends ahead of you. We stopped at Yagoot last week, which was even better ;)

I snapped this picture of a deer out my front window at home. I walked by the window, saw something out of the corner of my eye, and when I did a double take, I saw a deer just staring right back at me. I thought deer were supposed to be afraid of people?!

I decided kind of last minute to make some 4th of July cake pops for a party we were going to. I figured I had a bunch of red, white, and blue sprinkles that I might as well take the opportunity to use them. I worked on the cake pops Thursday afternoon, and I thought they were very patriotic!

That night, we went to a local fireworks display that we go to every year with family friends. There is just something about fireworks that makes it feel like summer.

Coco was my patriotic puppy on the 4th with her bandanna!

I had such a great 4th of July. My family and I went over our friends' house and relaxed by their pool all day. We were the only ones over there, so I spent a lot of time getting a tan and cooling off in the pool. We grilled out and had a ton of yummy food. In the evening, we had our annual Uno competition, sat around a bonfire, shot off Roman Candles, and did sparklers. It was absolute perfection!

On Saturday my family took a last minute trip down to Findlay Market. I love going down there because they sell the best stuff! We shared a waffle down there and just walked around. Such a fun thing to do in Cincinnati during the summer.

I also picked up a cookie that I enjoyed later. I'm a sucker for sweets ;)

I spent pretty much all day Sunday at home getting a lot of stuff done. One of the things I finally accomplished was transferring a bunch of dates to my new 2014-2015 life planner!! The nerdy/organizational side of me was so happy about that. Ha!

Such a fun summer weekend back at home!

Spa Day + The Weekend

This has been such a fun weekend! Every summer my mom and I go and get pedicures. We've probably been doing it for about 5 years, and it's always one of my favorite summer things.

This year we decided to splurge and get manicures too. And not just any manicures....shellac manicures! This is the first time I've ever done a shellac, so I'm really hoping it lasts a long time. I love how shiny the gel polish makes your nails though. This picture doesn't do my French manicure any justice - it looks way better in real life!

The lighting is a little off on this picture as well, but I went for OPI's Senorita Rosalita on my toes.

We also swung by a local shop that sells sorority stuff. I was obsessed with this Kappa Delta phone case, but then after I bought it and got to the car, I went to put it on my phone and realized it was an iPhone 4 case and I have an iPhone 5S. Fail. So I had to take it back - I'm so bummed!

We ate lunch at Piada (one of my favorites!) before we stopped at BonBonerie to pick up some sweets. We got a couple chocolate caramel macarons because they are simply the best.

We also got some Father's Day sugar cookies. Yum!

My mom and I walked around an outdoor shopping area, and I finally found some cute white shoes! I've been needing a pair for sorority events, and I just loved these. Plus, they made my legs actually look a little tan, which is a miracle considering my skin is super pale......

And no shopping trip is complete without a stop at Yagoot!

On Saturday I mostly just got some things done around the house, went to church, and had dinner with my family. While I was getting some things done, Coco was laying on my bed and decided to go ahead and use my pillow. What a diva....

Yesterday my mom's side of the family met down at one of my favorite restaurants on the river for lunch to celebrate Father's Day. It was a gorgeous afternoon surrounded by my family, and it was just perfect!

I love perfect summer weekends like this!