The Prettiest Rose Gold-Themed Bridal Shower!

I’ve been looking forward to sharing these photos with you for the last week and I finally am getting time to do it! June 22nd was my bridal shower back in my hometown in Maryland hosted by mom and sister (along with several other ladies who helped!) It was such a special day for me and I had been looking forward to it for months! My mom and sister put a ton of planning into it and everything was just gorgeous!

Can we talk about how adorable these bridal shower invites are?! My mom found them on Amazon and then had her friend (with nice handwriting) write in the information.

Knowing my love of rose gold, the tables were all decked out in sparkles, sequins, rose gold plates and silverware and even mason jars! It was absolutely fabulous! These were also Amazon finds. GO mom!

I thought this was super cute! My mom had everyone fill out a “wishes and advice for the bride” and it was so special all the advice I got. Some things were funny, other things were sweet and sentimental. It’s definitely something I’ll treasure!

My mom and sister also had this adorable balloon arch on the wall by the food table (they made my dad inflate all the balloons, poor man). There was a delightful fruit parfait bar set up with berries, granola, crushed up Oreos and vanilla wafers. My mom also got a tray full of my favorite Chick-Fil-A chicken minis! Oh my goodness I love those things! My sister also made these super cute mini cupcakes and she dusted them with rose gold edible glitter. Last but not lease, my mom had a cake made with David and I’s picture on it. My sister took great delight in eating the piece with David’s face on it to which she sent him a picture of. So glad he has a sense of humor!

Since David and I’s families are so spread out, this shower was more of my friends and family than his. McKenna, my bridesmaid and friend of 15-some years, was there and it was so awesome to see her after 6 months. She and I have been close for years and refer to each other as “twin.” Haha! There’s an embarrassing backstory to that I won’t be sharing!

Of course the fun part of a bridal shower (at least for the bride) is opening gifts. Well, I didn’t expect this to happen but it did! My friend’s mom got me lingerie! That’s always a fun gift to open in front of your mom and sister. Everyone got a good laugh out of it and frankly, so did I! Just glad my poor dad wasn’t there, we both would have died of embarrassment lol!

I’m so thankful for everyone who came to celebrate with me and my family! My parent’s church let us use their fellowship hall to host the shower and I was blown away by how kind everyone was there! Sunday morning the pastor recognized and congratulated my parents and I on my engagement, which I thought was really nice. It was such a great weekend with my family and I can’t wait to get married in  4 MONTHS!!

Saturdays in Fredericksburg

Happy Monday friends! I know the first day of the week is hard to get through but if you’re like me you’ve already had a few cups of coffee so it’s slowly getting better. Embrace the warm deliciousness of it! Check your email and Facebook feed while dipping that wonderful biscotti in your coffee. Isn’t it the best?

This past weekend my family and I took a little day trip to Fredericksburg, VA. It was really nice to get away from the ol’ hometown for a few hours and enjoy all the history that Fredericksburg has to offer. The reason we went in the first place was for my dad. There was a local gun expo in town and he loves that sort of thing. He’s an avid target shooter and enjoys talking about his hobby with other people that share the interest. While he was doing that, my mom, sister, and I went to get cupcakes and see the Civil War battlefield.

Afterwards, we shopped around in the downtown area of old Fredericksburg. We went in some antique shops, checked out an Irish shop where we bought candy for the road, and I went in a high-end thrift store looking for Lilly Pulitzer. No luck. I ended up not buying a thing, which is weird for me! I fell in love with all the quaint little stores and adorable old houses that lined the streets. I saw this one, “The Pinkadilly Tea” and just had to take a photo. Pink doors are my love!

The rest of our day was spent in a new love of mine- Hobby Lobby. I had never been to this store but had heard it had cool stuff. The whole family went in and marveled at the aisles of things we didn’t need but so desperately wanted. Even my dad, who’s no fan of shopping, spent a few minutes exploring the massive store.

Our weekend was lovely and I’d like to go back and raid a few more high-end thrift stores. Let me know what you did in a comment below!

Peek at My Weekend

Friday evening the family and I went to the River Concert, a local event, for some delicious food truck delicacies and to listen to a great orchestra play. It’s an annual event that goes on during the summer for about 6 weekends in a row. Each weekend is a new theme and style of music. Most people bring a picnic and a blanket to sit on and enjoy the summer weather.

We stayed for awhile until the clouds started to roll in and a downpour was inevitable We left just in time. I got back to my apartment and it was a raging storm. Hopefully next week will be better! I made a little list of things I’m taking next Friday to include sparkling cider, cheese, wheat crackers, turkey and spicy mustard on sourdough bread, and lots of strawberries. Sounds good, right?

Anyway, here’s a peek at the event!

 

My shorts are from JCrew and my top is from Ann Taylor! They don’t make these particular shorts anymore but here are similar ones.

This adorable necklace is from Kate Spade! It was a gift from someone really special and looks really classy with a cute blouse and a matching bag.

My mom and I! We both love this event!

Part of the orchestra. Some of the musicians were really young!

The St. Mary’s River, perfect for kayaking and sailing. When Maryland was first founded, the settlers sailed up this river and landed at what is now St. Mary’s City, only a few miles from where the annual concert takes place.

My wonderful little sister and photographer, Rebecca.

Tell me what you did over the weekend in a comment below!

Why the Dinner Table is Important

One of the most important rooms in the home is the kitchen. The second most important is the dining room. In kitchens, we prepare our meals and enjoy chatting with members of the household who buzz through the area. It’s a meeting place. When our food is ready to be eaten, we (should) take it to our dining areas so we can peacefully enjoy our meal. The piece of furniture we use is the dining room table and it’s the single most important thing we have in our homes and too often it goes unused.

Baltimore Rioting

With recent rioting in Baltimore, I noticed that those who are being violent don’t go home for dinner. Why? It isn’t because they aren’t hungry; it’s because no one is waiting for them to come home and share a meal. I’m a firm believer that cultural change begins at the dinner table. If we expect people to behave like good citizens, then we need to encourage the activities that produce good citizens. Families who gather together over dinner are likely to have conversations that include moral elements and create a sense of belonging for each family member. The food they eat doesn’t matter, only the bonds they develop.

Many of these young rioters come from broken or even absent families. I think it’s likely that they’re out on the streets causing chaos because they want to feel like they’re apart of something. Humans have a deep need to be apart of a group. Does the Baltimore rioting create a group identity for young people to cling to? We certainly cannot assume that anyone who came from a broken family will cause problems. However, we should be aware that young people like those rioting who (likely) don’t have a stable home environment are at risk for being drug into such groups because they want to have an identity.

As a nation who wants to see peace and love prevail in the face of anger, we need to encourage families of all types to spend a few nights a week at the dinner table. Our world is shaped by the people in it. We must be the change we want to see.

Birthday Festivities

The past two days have been full of celebration at my house! My sister turned 15 on Wednesday and my mom turned 35 (again) yesterday! Cake and ice cream were sitting around the kitchen all day with us nibbling at them frequently. I brought home a few balloons to tie on my sister’s bed post and also got her the last four Harry Potter movies for a movie watching marathon. She plans to have a big sleepover party with her 10 best friends in two weeks, hopefully this will keep them entertained.

For my mom, I took her to Annapolis for a day of eating and shopping. We ate at one of America’s oldest taverns right in the harbor. It’s been continuously operated since 1752 and people like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson frequented the establishment back in the day. Before leaving the tavern, I asked the hostess a bit about the place and to my dismay she knew literally nothing about it. She handed me a pamphlet about the historical significance of the tavern, which is where I’m getting this information!

After lunch, mom and I went to the mall near by for a little shopping. I scored some serious deals! I’ll be posting tomorrow a haul of a few things I’ve bought lately. My mom isn’t much of a shopper like I am so I felt bad I was dragging her through the mall! She does enjoy her people watching though and she sat equipped with her iPhone and water bottle. Don’t worry, I tried to make her feel special though! Throughout the day (every hour to be exact) I let her open a little gift I had wrapped up the day before and put in my bag. A few of the things I bought her were Target ankle socks with panda bears and penguins, Yankee candles, nail polish, notebook, and chocolate bars. I love to open gifts so I thought this would be fun for her. Turns out I was right!

We ended the day with some ice cream and Auntie Anne’s pretzels. I love my mom and sister so much. They’re both a very important part of my life and I hope they had happy birthdays!