Weekend Wanderings

Minus the weekend part.... 

Hello all and Happy Monday!! As some of y'all saw on my Instagram the first time J & I actually got to relax this weekend was about 5 o'clock yesterday. 

Our weekend was quite full. J never really gets a full weekend, he works 9-5 on Saturdays so it is usually my cleaning day. This weekend was so busy for the both of us. 

Saturday I woke up at 5am to head over and watch our 5 month old niece and {almost}9 year old nephew for about 12 hours. I was exhausted and coffee wasn't cutting it but I made it through. The day had its moments of good and bad.

 I love babies I do, and part of me wants one but right now I like being able to love one and hold them for a bit and give them back when I am done. 

Our nephew is so easy, he played his new Madden 2016 just about the whole day I wish I was able to do more with him that day but the baby is not a fan of being put down. 

Good thing she's cute! 

Sunday was an early morning again, not so early but 8am on a Sunday and then a hour and forty five min drive isn't fun. However it was for a good reason, we finally saw our wedding location in person!! 

Did it stress me out a bit sure, there is so much to do and organize all by myself its a bit overwhelming but my mother has reassured J that she's going to pump me with mimosas all day so I avoid stress at all costs...as much as possible at least. 

We were so busy looking at all the details and figure out all our decor we will use from their GIANT shed of stuff, my mom got a new pictures of some of the things we will use

candle & shells are our little touch

a little peak of our nerd side

Its going to be a Beachy Rustic kinda feel with a fire pit for s'mores and we are incorporating our little bit of nerdy side in there as well. IM SO EXCITED!!!!!

We finally got home about 4:30 and cleaned a bit and tried to relax before cooking dinner and prepping lunches and what not for this week. 

This is going to be a good week for me I am off all week and its my birthday week!! I start my new job on Monday March 7th so this week will be my time to clean and relax and get a lot of wedding stuff done and who knows maybe ill get crazy and write some blog post ahead of time!! 

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and has a fabulous week. 

Here is some more of our gorgeous engagement photos that I cannot stop going though every chance I get. I am so lucky to be marrying such a handsome man! These pictures make me fall more and more in love!

I love that Rob captured the love in that mans eyes

There is something about black and whites that I love! 

Fri{YAY} Favorites : Blogger Edition

So this week I am going to show y'all a few of my favorite bloggers and maybe even throw a Vlogger in there too
  * Vlogger- Video Blogger - One who records a video blog. Mostly via YouTube
   A vlog or video blog is a blog (short for weblog) which uses video as the primary content 

Alright lets get started, in no particular here are just a few of my favorite bloggers that I read on the daily (and then read some of the old stuff because its just great content)

The Daily Tay   - Oh my gosh is she funny! From her blog to her snap stories she produces great content every day! Everything from just life stories like her Holiday Mom post from this past December to all of her wedding planning details. Oh and Harlow her amazingly adorable Vizsla, a breed I have never heard of until I started reading her blog and OH EM GEE I want one!! 

Taylor also has her own line of t shirts which can be found here  or here  and I am dying to get my hands on a few of them... so mom if you are reading this here they are and my birthday is next week! 

my personal favorite and also proceeds of this shirt goes to help shelter dogs!!

Tay if you are reading this, which you probably are not since I haven't reached the level you have (not even close), keep doing what you are doing girl, if you are ever in Jacksonville I will show you around! 

Next on my top list of favorite bloggers is Sarah over at Venus Trapped in Mars. By day she has a 9-5 job and at night she becomes a total wino and blogger. She is a successful blogger with a full time job and tow adorable pups, basically what I'm trying to achieve. I've got the pups and I am working on the balance of the other two. 

Sarah's blog and snap story give me state side travel envy, just this month shes been to like 4 different places, some for work and some for play. Her blogs will be the ones I read over and over if I ever get to go to Nashville or Dallas to find out all the hot spots for the best food and local experiences. 

Also she is an avid lover of sports like my self, and sells some funny shirts to prove it. Shes also got some Holiday themed ones but these are my favorite

This shirt you can pick colors to closely match your team! 

She also does a lot of posts that help new bloggers like myself find out niche and gives some tips and trick here and there. Not to mention she sells beautiful blog templates here, which one day I will cave and buy so my blog looks and feel legit. 

Here are a few other blogs I have just recently come across and am loving as well 

Helene In Between  - want to learn how to make you blog better go no future she is your girl!

Hello Alley  - A fellow Jax local and giver of major closet envy, Alley posts are full of beautiful clothes, shoes, make up, and her adorable dog sneaks in here and there too. 

Now to the Vloggers! 

These ladies and gents help me pass the time on my lunch break at work or while im torturing myself on some cardio machine in the gym   

Marissa Lace one of the most beautiful people inside and out has been though hell and back but she never ceases to amaze and inspire me with her happiness. I have found my love for make-up, podcasts and crystals through her videos. She is on just about every other social media outlet as well and has some of the best content. Her apartment is basically Pinterest IRL which she does cooking videos from Pinterest too and inspired me to cook some yummy little treats. 

If I am having a bad day I re-watch Marissa and pretend I am hanging out with my best-friend.  

 

Sarah Belle  another beautiful girl with great hair and makeup always! Her videos will give you major closet goals. Her style is great and she seems like she would be a big ball of fun. A fellow sorority girl like myself shes bubbly and up beat and will turn your frown upside down with her hilarious drunk Q & A's and tell it like it is videos. 

Nikki Blacketter - Where do I start. She is how I found Marissa videos and inspired me to always work on myself and go for what I want. This chick is bad-ass, shes sponsored by a few different fitness brands and a bikini competitor. Her workouts are simple but intense. She hysterical and has a life a dream of, getting paid to work out... YES PLEASE. Im a mini gym rat and J is too so seeing Nikki balance it all lets me know I can get fit and get the body I want but still enjoy pancakes and nachos every now and then. Oh and her lululemon collection is a girls dream!!

So with the weekend right around the corner take some time for yourself and check out some of these Vloggers and Bloggers I promise you wont be disappointed, I am sorry a head of time for the lack of productiveness to follow after discovering these gems. 

I will leave you with a preview of J and I's engagement session by Rob Futrell in St. Augustine 

Weekend Wanderings

Happy Monday Y'all! 

Well we are going to pretend its a happy Monday.. Mondays are never happy, Mondays suck if I am being totally honest. I just want to crawl back in bed and sleep till about noon, even after 2 cups of coffee before 8am! 

This weekend was another wedding adventure/preparation filled weekend -well minus Saturday that was full of usual weekend chores BLAH. 

BUT... I did start off this weekend with my new obsession, fried egg (over easy) on top of avocado toast. I know I am late to the whole avocado toast bandwagon but holy-moly I highly regret not buying avocados all the time and making this every morning. Not to mention it is so aesthetically pleasing when you cut into that runny egg... UGH making myself hungry 

               

I also finally discovered a cute restaurant up here called  European Street. Apparently I am late to that one too. They have everything from a 100+ selection of beers and quite a few entrees from around the whole of Europe. If you ever make your way to Jacksonville it is worth a stop for lunch or dinner! 

They also have a massive bakery case filled with so many scrumptious looking cakes and cookies and sweet treats from all over, I picked up two little macrons to satisfy my sweet tooth and because they were pretty 

Chocolate & Cafe Latte Macrons

Sunday was the day we FINALLY got "engagement" photos done... J & I have been engaged for 5 years and we get married in less than two months. So while I was slowly preparing for that all morning, trying to decide what I wanted to wear and watching the weather to make sure it wasn't going to rain J and his brother went and got fitted for their suites for the wedding. 

I also got lots of cuddles from my littlest girl this weekend, usually on weekends we have been so go go go all the time there isn't much time to just sit and relax so I actually did that a bit this weekend and she joined me in my lap for most of it. 

That is to say when she wasn't to busy watching all the other dogs walk by the porch or the birds fighting for the best piece of birdseed in our feeder hanging right outside.

my little watch dog

We should get some of our proofs back with in the next few days & I am so excited to see how they turn out. We were down in St Augustine for about an hour and a half, but it seemed to go by so fast! We shot in a few different locations around downtown St. Augustine, from the bay to the school and all the cute little side streets in between. We has a blast with Rob and his buddy Brian, they talked to us the whole time and we didn't even realize he took nearly 500 shots! If you are looking for a great photographer in the Jacksonville/St.Augustine area we recommend him 210% 

Well that was our weekend in a nutshell post, oh and I did my makeup similar to how it will be done for our wedding yesterday using the It Cosmetics CC+ Cream... it still looks flawless this morning (i was to lazy to take it off last night to busy binge watching season 1 of Walking Dead)

We hope you had a wonderful and relaxing fun filled weekend, I'd love to hear about your adventures too!! Post the link to your blog in the comment section, I am always looking for new reads

Fri[YAY} Favorites!

Happy Aloha Friday Everyone!!! 

Not to make things have changed on the favorites front this week, but there are a few!

1. I am loving my new CC+ Cream that I bought over the weekend. You can find information about that here. Any-who it is still amazing, I just have to use it sparingly so I have plenty for my Wedding make up in 50 days!!

2. Being less than two months away from marrying J, my bestfriend, my lover, my person

3. We have an engagement shoot coming up on Sunday, after being engaged for 5 years we are finally doing one. One of the photographers J used to work with when he was in the event industry is doing it for free!! He is one of the best photographers in North Florida and J loves his work, we are both very excited to be able to do this with him you can check out some of his stuff here

Not us obviously, we aren't married yet but this is one of the locations we will be at.

4. This lotion is a current favorite. With our engagement shoot coming up and the 40 hr work week mixed with cold weekends I need something to make sure I have a nice tan year round and this stuff does the trick without making me orange!

5. I will be leaving the insurance world! One week from today is my last day sitting at my cubical on a computer all day. J and I both have great opportunities coming our way so keep us in your prayers that it all works out for us and keeps us going on this awesome adventure of ours 

We are both loving our little life together. Its all falling into place, two adorable pups, 50 days till we are finally husband and wife after 5 years of being engaged and our own little place to call home. 

What are some of your favorites this week??

WANDERLUST WEDNESDAY: A Week in London England.

I have the travel bug and a bad case of Wanderlust.

There has always been a time I wanted to see so many different places but only a few that made the bucket list.

The top one was England, specifically London.

I have always been fascinated everything about it, the history, the monarchy, the architecture, Harry Potter, and that is where my moms side of the family is from.

Well almost two years ago my Nana took me, my sister, my cousin and aunt over for 8 days. It was the experience of a life time and even though we did so much while we were there, I still find a new market, a new tour or colorful neighborhood I want to go back and explore.

Here are just some pictures from my trip a few years back

This was our view every day crossing the bridge to get to the nearest tube station

My favorite picture from our after dinner River Thames cruise.

Just my summer house, I'd welcome you in for a spot of tea but I am having the carpets cleaned

Tiny Tea Sammies 

Traditional Pint 

Best Food Ever!!! The green stuff is mushy peas.. sounds gross tastes heavely 

Because even though I am almost 26 years old I am still obsessed with Harry Potter

I would move to London if I could, I love the tube during the morning rush and walking down the street from my flat to the local pub for a good pint and beef stew or some of my favorite mushy peas with a scotch egg. One day I will live somewhere other than the states, preferably the UK.

I day dream about this trip on the regs. We were lucky enough to book through a tour group but make our own itinerary, which we did for the most part. We saw all the famous highlights even though I feel like we missed some or didn't get enough time on the stops we did make.

We only took 3 "guided" tours the entire time we were there, the rest was self guided and we may or may not have gotten lost a few times but it was so worth it!

The first day was a relaxing river cruise down the River Thames to Greenwhich where we got off and explored a few of the little markets and shops, here we could have seen The Royal Observatory which is the home to the time zone named Greenwich Mean Time or longitude zero.. but we we all too tired/jet lagged to adventure that far yet. 
**Jet lag from Florida to London felt like the worlds worst hangover with zero of the fun the night before. I even slept on the plane but it was useless! 

Day two we got to take a chartered bus tour though the streets of London, which help us figure out how to get to and from places the rest of the week. This tour we made stops at St Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. I could have spent an entire day at each location but sadly there was not enough days in our trip for that. 

The rest of the trip was very self guided, each night the 5 of us would all go out to dinner at one of the many local pubs talk about our favorite part of the day and she delicious British fare. Then we would go back to the hotel, change into comfy pjs and go to each other rooms to plan the next days adventure and how were getting around. 

This post could be a long longer but I don't want to bore you. Come back week to ready about the top places I want to visit in London when I go back :)

If you could go anywhere in the world for a week where would you go & why?

Weekend Wanderings

Wedding makeup and other details

Say Hi to our new baby girl Zoey

Hello all! 

This was the best weekend we have had in a very long time, well at least it was for me. 

We got a good amount of wedding stuff done this weekend and a good thing too because we are 54 short days away from "I Do"

Saturday I ventured down to our little outdoor mall here in Jacksonville to get some last minute Valentines gifts for J and brave the makeup lovers paradise Ulta to get some good makeup for my wedding. My usual e.l.f products from target just aren't going to cut it for the big day. 

I follow a couple of makeup/beauty Vloggers on Youtube so before I went in I watched a few of their "get ready" videos and a popular brand among them all was ItCosmetics and Urban Decay (which I have already loved for a while now). My favorite beauty/lifestyle vlogger Marissa Lace swears by the stuff and although we have never met, I trust her like I trust my best friend. 

Now I am not one to splurge on make up often, if ever, but I do ask for some of the more pricey products for Christmas.. like my Urban Decay Smoked pallet from this year or my Naked original from last. But its my wedding and I want to look perfect so this weekend for the first time ever I SPLURGED on makeup and I am so happy I did. 

Here is a list of the things that I bought and a link so you can add them to your makeup bag if they aren't already there:

1. ItCosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ cream  - it really does look so natural and #flawless 

2. ItCosmetics travel brushes - I have make up brushes that I use and love but they have needed replacing for a while now. 

3. ItCosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye - with these late nights of wedding planning and the constant worry of forgetting something on the big day my under eye bags/circles are darker than ever.   

4. Urban Decay De-slick Setting Spray for Oily skin

5. Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Eye Pencil  - in black

6. Urban Decay Cannonball waterproof mascara 

I know you are thinking "Ashlynn that's only 6 things how did you 'Splurge'?", well my friends those six things didn't come cheap and there is a reason because they are BOMB and make you look On Fleek as the kids say. 

This morning before work I decided I would actually do my makeup, more than just some powder and eyeliner, and I am loving the way my skin looks today! The difference from my old makeup is so drastic and the color works perfect, I might need darker for my wedding but I will just add a bit of tinted moisturizer to it when the time comes. 

Anyway back to my awesome skin and new love of CC+ Cream. I put a small pea size amount on my fingers rubbed them together and dabbed on my fave to blend with my brushes. Wow a little bit of this goes a looonngg way, that tiny pea size amount covered my entire face and neck!  

Then I went in with an even tinier amount of the under eye concealer, we're talking just a dot the size of a pen tip, and it looks like I have gotten nothing but a perfect nights sleep for a week, I look awake and refreshed which is needed on a Monday morning.

Also it being Valentines weekend I had lots of delicious adventures planned for J and I. Saturday night I cooked individual Beef Wellingtons, you can find that recipe here, I am sorry for the lack of pictures they were so delicious and got devoured before I even remembered.  

Sunday morning I made breakfast with mimosas and then we went for our cake tasting at a local bakery... 

We got our cake & cupcakes for the wedding and an amazing price from Sweet by Holly, yep the same one from Food Networks Cupcake Wars! We picked two of our favorite flavors and let me tell you that was very very hard to do but we narrowed it down to Plain Jane and Chocolate Mousse. I am so excited!!! 

J also bought me my wedding band on Sunday and it is simple and elegant and beautiful I do not want to wait 54 days to wear it! There is a local jewelry store up here called Beards, best costumer service I have ever had at a jewelry store. They pulled every gold band in the store for us me to try on and I of course picked one of the first bands I tried on. 

But mine is Yellow Gold 

As you can see we had a busy fun filled Valentines weekend, I hope yours was just as wonderful! 

If anyone has any more makeup I should try let me know in the comments! 

Also this little blog is on Instgram now you can find us here @Learning_Life_