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

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?

#Adulting

We bought a couch!!!!!!!!

& chair & coffee table & side tables & a lamp(not pictured)... Basically a whole living room set, except the entertainment stand but it will come in time. (but we are looking at an Ikea one.. damn that store and all their awesomeness!) 

Close up of the couch

Coffee Table 

Side Table 

  

We got it at Rooms To Go over the weekend and it will be delivered the weekend we move in. Everything is slowly coming together and my anxiety/stress levels are nowhere near as high as they were. 

I have had a couple minor panic attacks over the last few weeks about other "adutling" stuff, bills, health insurance; nothing major but all things that will cause me to over think and stress and then possibly have a little attack. 

So one major decor purchase is done, we will actually have a a place to sit and enjoy our new living room when we move in!

I can not wait to see it all in place! Im just hoping it will all fit.

We were taking measurements the other night, and for not having alot of stuff we though 'oh we will be fine it will all fit'... well now im worried its going to look like giant cluster f**k.

But, at least it will be cozy...
I know I'v said it already but this month needs to be over already!

Happy Monday! 

TWO WEEKS!!!

In just two short weeks J & I will be signing our lease and getting the keys to our first real place together. 

& I am starting to feel very very overwhelmed. 

The perfect display of how I feel. 

I cant even think straight because I know there is so much to be done, okay well it might not be a lot but I feel like it is. 

We have our walk though Wednesday which will hopefully ease my mind bit. 

*side note it go pushed back from this Sunday which caused me to have a mini freak out and get slightly angry at them but we will make it work*

I'm getting boxes from work this week ( yay office supply delivery)

BUT we are also watching his brothers apartment dog this weekend and our current living situation doesn't like dogs living in her home. Which I should have said no too seeing as there is so many more productive thinks I could be doing! 

Things will come together in the end and it not like we have that much to move right now anyway. Most of the big things are taken care of. 

We've got the living room suite, electricity is being turned on the day before we get there, we will hopefully get internet set up this weekend. 

*fingers crosses*

I fell like there is so much to do, so much to buy, and so much to pack. Its been a very stressful/rough week. I'm a planner and hes much more laid back, but we've been trying to compromise.

I'm just read for this month to be over so we can be done with the move and stress about something else. 

Any tips to east stress, decorate a small apartment and make moving easier would be greatly appreciated. 

*not us*

Two-Thousand and Sixteen!

Happy New Year!

Well congratulations on making it though another year! Did it seem to go by quickly for everyone or is that just me? 

2015 brought my first full year out of college and in the real world, a new car (and car payment yuck), it brought 2 new members into J's side of the family; a new future sister in law and a new niece, it also brought some sad news, his dad had to find a new job which is relocating his parents to Virginia Beach

2016 is going to be a doozy, one crazy roller coaster filled with lots of trials and excitement and wonderful new adventures. 

This year J & I move into our first apartment together, which is an adventure we are both absolutely thrilled about. We know it will brings challenges and  a much tighter budget but we just keep reminding each other " We Got This" 

This year will also be the first year he has ever lived more than an hour from his parents. We a both big on family so this will be a hard one for the both of us. 

J will also get his first dog this year! He has never had a dog of his own, growing up the only pet he ever had was a hamster- who lived like 5 years which is unheard of!

As for the stupid resolutions people make, I made some too...

1. Lose at least 15lbs 

2. Stay on budget!! No excess spending on things I don't need

3. Be Happy and Stress Less- This will be a difficult one for me. With the new job among other things,  I've developed a lot of stress and have had a fair share of panic attacks. 

4. Relax more - again this goes along with trying to lower the anxiety and stress and how I handle it. 

5. Read more. 

Maybe we will finally get married this year too, who knows but I cant wait to see what 2016 throw our way while we try and learn life together! 

What are your 2016 Resolutions?  Any good book recommendations? Share them, Id love to hear it all!

Its not going to be perfect yet

But it will feel so perfect it hurts!

J and I are very excited about the start of our first big adventure together. This is the first time we will really live together just us. We will finally have a place to call our own and have cute little fur babies  baby running around everywhere. 

I have sat in my little cube everyday since we put money down to hold our spot planning the inside of our humble abode. 

Iv got champagne taste on a club soda budget! I'v mindlessly browsed Ikea, Target, Wayfair and many more deciding what colors we want to go with, what matches what  and wonder where Im going to fit all of my clothes. 

But I know we wont be able to afford all the new matching furniture yet. The TV stand will be to dark, the  kitchen table with creak with old age ( J's grandfather hand built it), the one nightstand, the hope chest, and the big dresser don't match. It all drives my little OCD, ridiculously organized, wannabe interior designer mind wack but I will push through and we will slow have the coziest, most stylish 707 sqft apartment ever. 

Photos will come in January when we actually get to tour our unit... But we are really keeping fingers crossed for a 3rd floor. 

But here is the basic layout for now (sorry its so tiny)