The other weekend we had Luke's cousin and her husband over for dinner.  They are very rarely in town so we were SO excited when they were actually available at the last minute for dinner.
All you need for a successful summer soirée is food, a fun cocktail, a bright tablecloth, and pretty flowers.

I made shrimp and grits, yummy blackberry spritzer cocktails and strawberry shortcake for dessert.  I got to use new bowls and glasses I found at thrift stores in Chicago.  I love having an occasion to use my dishes!

You won't find any peppers in my shrimp and grits.  You WILL find extra bacon, mushrooms, and cheesy grits though :)

 This flower arrangement is one of my favorites.  Luke brought me home these cute little flowers and I didn't want to just put them in a vase.  A. you wouldn't be able to talk to the person across the table from you and B. I wanted to do something more fun! So I took a Revere bowl (silver bowl) and put a grid of masking tape inside of it.  I then stuck 2 or three stems into each grid (they stood up that way) until the whole bowl was filled up.  No mess, no oasis needed.  It was awesome! They also lasted for a good week after I made it.

For the drinks, I made a blackberry simple syrup (about a cup), poured it in a pitcher with a bottle of processo then added fresh thyme.  It was very refreshing and summery! Also, look at my pretty glass!

We finished with classic strawberry shortcake.  A homemade biscuit, fresh whipped cream, and sweet strawberries.  Voila!

It was such a wonderful dinner with amazing friends.  We are so lucky to have family that we can also call friends.  I think that is a rare and special thing to have.  :)

Weekend Recap: Birthday Weekend

This long weekend was so wonderful! On Friday night we stayed in and watched an episode of Star Wars (Luke is trying to catch me up on them- I had never seen any of them and apparently that is not acceptable).  

On Saturday we took it easy again, did some errands, rested my hip and painted a bamboo sideboard we bought when we first moved here.  We initially had our TV on it but Luke has since hung it up so that it makes more space and I LOVE it! I decided to go bold because, why not?!  The thing cost like $40 and if the color was a total miss, I could repaint it!  

Here's how it turned out:

We woke up Sunday (my birthday) and Luke had decorated the house with "happy birthday" streamers, signs, and tulle my mom secretly sent him. It was the sweetest!  He then made me pancakes.  I may have talked him through every step but he really did everything himself and they were amazing!  I was very impressed. I am lucky to have such a kind, loving husband :)

Here are my decorations! :)  

After pancakes I decided I wanted to go out to the "country" (suburbs) for something different, because I love a road trip adventure, and I needed to breathe some fresh air!  We looked up where to go/ what to do and decided on a vineyard about an hour outside of the city.  We drove the hour to it, pulled up, and it wasn't even a vineyard! Yes, it was a very pretty building, but there were no grapes growing there, no pretty views, no fresh air!  We decided to drive around a bit more to see what we could find.  I pulled up the map and a riverboat casino showed up.  Luke and I looked at each other and shrugged, why not?  So we adventured our way to a riverboat casino in the middle of nowhere.  When we walked in we brought down the median age... but it was still well over 60 years old.  Still, we decided to go with it for a while- it was an adventure after all!  We got some cash, went to the craps table, and tried our luck.  An hour later we were up a good amount of money and pretty pleased with our decision!  After I rolled, we cashed out and called it a day but it was such a fabulous, ridiculous adventure and I am so happy we did it.

This is us after we cashed in our winnings.  Very happy..... :)

After our casino adventure, we headed home where we were so lucky to visit with one of Luke's good friends from high school who was in town.  They talked nerd, I tried to keep up and surprised myself at how much I have learned in the 3 years I've been with this guy.  Uh oh....

After our visit we got all fancy and went to dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant that happens to be 25 yards from our house.  We had a fabulous meal, amazing wine, and topped it all off with tiramisu and espresso.  It was a perfect dinner (and I didn't take a single picture!!!)

On Monday we met our friends from DC (originally Luke's friends from Wake Forest.)  We went to our first Cubs game and it was so much fun! I finally got some sun on my translucent self and just got to hang out and soak up the pretty weather.  It was such a perfect end to an amazing birthday weekend.

Updates and Housewarming Burger Bar

It's been a while since a blog post- super sorry!  A lot has happened in the last couple weeks.  Here's the quick version:

• I had my last day at my old job.  It was very bittersweet but I am very excited about new adventures!
• Luke got a big deal approved at work so he's been super busy
• I went to the ER May 2nd at 3am with excruciating hip pain.  Long story short- I have had X-Rays, CT Scans, MRIs, and blood work done and have finally gotten the pain under control.  Still waiting on what is actually wrong but they do know I'm not dying, so that's good news. 
• I started my new job yesterday and it was wonderful.  I am so excited about this new journey and can't wait to update you all more about it! 
• We finally bought Luke a dresser and we are both SO EXCITED about it.  Heres a picture:

• The most exciting part of the week was hosting our Chicago friends in our home!  We had planned to all go see a Cubs game and then come to our house for burgers afterwards.  Since we were at the ER until noon Sunday, Luke and I ended up not going to the game so we could finish getting everything together.  Here are pictures from the Burger Bar.  

Pound cake in my new bundt pan and tulips Luke bought me :)

The bar set up (and my crutch and me)

 "The Virginian" Burger: pimento cheese, bacon, and tomato

"The Chicagoan" Burger: Sautéed mushrooms, brie, and garlic aioli 

"The Texan" Burger: guacamole, jalapeños, salsa, and Monterey Jack cheese 

Yes, my platter has a burger charm.  

I also made potato salad and fruit salad

All our friends! In our home! Finally!

Also, notice the walls aren't a harassing red anymore! 

Wedding Weekend: Real Pictures!!!

I don't think these pictures even need any lead in but I feel like I should write something anyway. There are over 1000 pictures…. I've chosen my favorites that tell the best story of the day.  Y'all, I can't even get over how special and amazing these are.  It literally was the best day of my life and I am so thankful for every single moment that these pictures capture.  God has truly blessed Luke and me.

  

 

 

Officially husband and wife!!

 

Venue: Bolling Haxall House

Flowers: The Green Flamingo

Cake: The Buttercream Bee

Photography: Lauryn Galloway Photography

Band: Three Sheets to the Wind

Catering: A Sharper Palate

Rentals: Classic Party Rentals of VA

Easter Decorating for a Christ- Centered Easter

I have been scouring Pinterest for MONTHS trying to find inspiration for Christ-centered Easter décor.  It is super hard to find! Everything out there is about involving kids in Easter and how to teach them the real meaning. There was nothing that works before kids.  I think during Easter we do need a reminder (especially adults) of what this season is about. We can get caught up in the super cute plates, bunnies and Easter egg topiaries (me, that’s me) that we forget! 

So y’all, the other day when I was trying one more time before I really had to have my Easter décor up, I stumbled upon The Small Seed and a series they have called Traditions of Faith.  Basically they talk about real family traditions they have during each holiday that incorporate God and remind us of the real meaning.  For Easter, one of the writers wrote about an Easter Tree [click here to see the post].  It was absolutely perfect!  It is a tree that you decorate with ornaments, scripture and words that remind us of Christ. The words take us through his whole life, ending with his death and then resurrection. On the blog, they set it up to involve children. They have them hunt for an Easter egg containing an ornament with an accompanying scripture each day of the week leading up to Easter.  The kids find the egg and then the family sits down to talk about that part of His life. It is super cool and so easy!  Below are pictures of how I used their super precious idea and a couple other Easter decorations I put up. 

Here is the strip of paper with the bible verse on it.

The "He is Risen" sign from The Small Seed and and amazingly fragrant Easter Lilly  from a boutique flower shop a few doors down from our house.

Here's the whole set up. Sorry for the poor light (and the crooked lampshade)

 

This "Happy Easter" banner is from Target!  It was only around $7!!  Super cute and super easy!