Less than 8 months

Happy Wedding Wednesday!  Can you believe less than 8 months I'll be a Mrs.?  Time is flying. Joe and I have accomplished a lot of wedding planning to-do's over the past few months.  We have booked the following:

• Venue 
• Caterer
• Pastor
• Cake Designer
• Florist
• DJ
• Photograher
• Videographer
• Wedding dress purchased 

I have the type of personality where I cannot be faced with many different decisions so I really went with my first instinct on our vendors.  All of these people and places are FABULOUS!  I can't wait to see everything come together on April 23, 2016.

Our venue is gorgeous.  We will be saying our "I Do" (PS: Joe has been practicing how he is going to say I Do) at The Saratoga Springs.  Ya'll this place is absolutely a southern fairy tale/plantation setting location.  The marriage ceremony will take place outside underneath the gazebo area.  Our reception will be held outside on their premises.  The pictures don't even do this place justice.  Joe and I were at first torn between two locations; however, as soon as we met the coordinator and walked around the venue we absolutely fell in love.  Everything felt right and just perfect for both of us.  Now, the big thing is we need to pray for no rain since it is an outside wedding.   I can't wait to share our wedding website with you all in a few short weeks.

Joe and I are so excited about our upcoming Engagement Party my future-in-laws are throwing for us on their farm.  The farm is stunning with miniature horses and donkeys.  We can't wait to celebrate with family and friends!  Pictures to come in a few weeks :)  I am really looking forward to spending time with all my bridesmaids in a few weeks to go dress shopping.  It's going to be fun to sit back and watch all the girls try on different dresses.  So excited!!!!!

So far, wedding planning has been amazing and stress free,  I've enjoyed every moment of the planning process and just soaking all the excitement up with Joe.  Through the years, I have learned to become more present and enjoy the simple moments and I can tell you 100% I've loved every single moment.

Stay posted on more updates on Wedding Wednesday!

xoxo,
Shea

Fall 2015 Fashion Favorites

Fall 2015 Fashion Faves

1. Plaid Blanket Scarf- I'm so excited to say I purchased my first one yesterday and I can't wait to wear it.  The one pictured above is the exact scarf I purchased and it's called Khaki.  I love boutique shopping and I ordered it from White Plum.  These scarf's go with absolutely EVERYTHING for a dress down day to a dress up day. They are cozy, warm, and just perfect for the chilly fall weather on it's way! 

2. Piko Tops- I bought my first Piko top last year in black for Joe and I's Christmas pictures and I LOVE these tops.  They are so comfortable and so flowy.  When I paired them with leggings, I felt like I was in my pj's all day long.  They don't hug your body which I love and I enjoy pairing them with funky colored leggings.  You can wear piko tops dressed up or down depending on what shoes you pair them with.  These are a must have for FALL weather.  I plan on purchasing more this season in different colors.  

3. Sweater Vests- Sweater vests are so comfy.  I love wearing mine with flannel shirts or over a Piko Top to dress it up more.  I recently purchased a brown one from Mococreations in Winston-Salem NC.  I can't wait to wear it this fall and mix match it with Piko and flannel tops. You can follow Mococreations on instagram @mococreations or on Facebook- Mococreations.  I am also in love with this vest but currently out of my size at BohoBlu.

4. Flats- I love wearing boots, heels, but when I'm facilitating long training's, I would much rather be in the flats. Flats are the epitome of comfortable.  I love these at Target.  They are currently B1G1 50% off.  I also love these as well so be on the lookout of these ballet flats in my wardrobe soon. 

5. Michael Kors handbag- This was a tough decision picking handbags because I've really grown fond of my mint green Kate Spade purse over the past few months.  It's breaking my heart that I will have to part with the purse in a few weeks.  I picked Michael Kors because my boyfriend now fiance bought me a tan Michael Kors handbag for Christmas last year.  I'm looking forward to bringing it back out from it's safe place and using it again. 

6. Ankle Booties- I love cute little ankle boots paired with skinny jeans or leggings. Booties are just a fun way to dress up an outfit for your fall wardrobe.  Don't get me wrong, I love my riding boots but you can't go wrong with ankle booties.  You can buy them in an assortment of colors which I love.  They go great with Piko tops, sweater vests, cardigans, and blanket scarves!  I love this pair at Target but they are already out of my size.  I'm going too continue to stalk Targets page in case they make a new appearance. 

The last thing that I couldn't add to my Style Board are coozies for those football tailgates, and backwoods bonfires.  A long time friend of mine, Maghon Taylor is the "she" behind "All She Wrote Notes"  She is a fabulous calligrapher and created the coozie below.  The koozie pairs nicely with my fall fashion wardrobe and I can't wait to purchase one of these coozies and support her in her future endeavor of being a full time calligraphist.  You can also follow "All She Wrote Notes" on Facebook or on instagram at +allshewrotenotes Maghon Walker 

Looking forward to my upcoming fall purchases and I promise you all of these items will be found in my closet or in my hand VERY SOON!

Sweaters, Boots, Bonfires, Fall, Leaves, Scarves, Hot chocolate, Cuddling, Jeans, Pumpkins, Leggings, Tea, Hoodies, Crisp air, Late Nights- whose ready for FALL?

What are some of your fall fashion favorites? 

PLOTT HOUSE RENO PART II

Joe has been living in a bachelor pad for over 7 years now.  He purchased a home in Richfield, NC that was built in the 1940's. I love the character and charm this house has to offer. however, for this  home to livable for both of us when we get married we are in major renovating mode. Now please keep in mind we still have a long ways to go but I can see a huge transformation with all the baby steps we are taking.

Several months ago I posted a blog about the kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room remodeling projects.  I absolutely love how everything has turned out and I can't wait to show you the start of the living room and dining room on today's post.  Over the past few months, we have an electrician in the home fixing all the electrical work, adding new light fixtures, and hanging new fans along with painters who painted the whole house in Dolphin Fin and all the trim work in Promenade.

I first have to say, my mom missed her calling in life.  She reminds me of Johanna Gaines by looking at any room, seeing a vision and just going with it.  So without further adieu here are some more pictures of our fixer upper projects.

Dining Room with new light fixture minus shelves

The shelves above were purchased at Architechetural Salvage in Greensboro and stripped to the original wood.  They were then stained and waxed with a vintage red color.  My mom drilled a rack to the bottom shelf to be able to hang wine glasses.  The shelf brackets were purchased at Hobby Lobby.  The other items on the shelf were dollar finds at Michaels, Dollar Store, and Target.  The plate at the top came from my future in-laws as a Christmas gift.

The Living Room with carpet, and red fireplace (ignore the brown blinds they will be changed to white)

Unlike most homes that are built today with sheet rock, Joe's walls were built with plaster.  When trying to hang things on plaster walls, you can't hang things very heavy or the wall will begin to crack.  I really wanted a real window frame to hang but we knew it would be too heavy so we built our own.  We removed the inside of the frames we found at Michaels, found here window frame and glued two frames together to make something that looks like an old window.  We distressed the wood with Annie Sloane Chalk Paint to give it a rustic vintage feel.  The deer came from the Christmas Tree Store and the candle holders from Old Time Pottery.  Now see below what can happen when you add some paint to brick.

White distressed fire place with decorations

We are currently working on ripping up all the carpet throughout the whole house.  There are some beautiful hardwood floors with some stains but our hope is to get the floors sanded down and re-stained to color we like.  Keeping the real hardwood floors by salvaging them will be a strong resale factor in the future. We still have a lot of ripping up foam, nails, and staples from the floor.  Let the back aches begin....

Bye Bye Carpet

I can't wait to share with you guys in the upcoming weeks some more posts on the Plott House Reno's.  I'm getting more and more excited about getting married and moving in with Joe.  We are so excited about all the new changes and can't wait to see the final product.  Baby steps make a huge difference.

xoxo,

Shea

Staycation

Have you ever done a staycation before?  Wikipedia defines a staycation as a period in which an individual or family stays home and participates in leisure activities within driving distance, sleeping in their own beds at night. For some unplanned reasons, our plans changed and we embarked on a staycation but first, let me tell you what our original plans were....

Joe and I had been wanting to take an end-of-summer trip since June after we got back from the beach.  We thought one more trip would be good for us both.  Our original plan was to go back to the beach but after 2 Bachelorette Weekends and our own trip to the beach, I was a bit burned out on the beach and looking for something different.  So, on a spur moment, I cancelled our beach trip and we began to look at different locations for a vacation away.  We thought about Atlanta, Charleston, and Asheville to name a few places.  I posted a Facebook question if anyone had any recommendations for trips and someone mentioned Natural Bridge Caverns and the Drive-Thru Safari.  I haven't been to the Natural Bridge in years and I thought what a perfect trip for us.  Outdoors, hiking, animals.  All our favorite things.  After doing some research I came across a lot of tours in the area about Stonewall Jackson and Robert E Lee.  First, let me say, Joe loves anything Stonewall Jackson and Robert E Lee, then I saw ghost tours and he is a major history buff.  I found a hotel called Robert E. Lee and booked us a stay for 2 nights.  We were both really excited about the getaway.  And then, Joe calls and says, "I feel like I'm getting sick."  His throat was hurting and his body was achy.  I was so bummed to say the least but I felt bad for him as well.  So, we decided to cancel our reservations and ALL our Lexington, VA plans to enjoy our first-ever staycation.

Day 1
I could tell Joe wasn't feeling too good.  Coughing, sneezing, runny nose just typical summer cold symptoms.  He was feeling so bad that we both took the time off from work and didn't want our vacation days to go to a waste.  So, after going back and forth of where we could go that was close by but yet we still could sleep in our own bed, we decided a day trip to Boone would be perfect.  From my house it normally takes me 1.5 hours to get to Boone, it took us almost 2.5 hours, so I wasn't used to the longer version of driving to Boone.  I was getting ancy at about 2 hours especially when you start going up the mountain.  On the way there, I asked Joe if he had ever been to Howard's Knob and he said "no."  So, first stop was taking Joe up to Howards Knob.  We rode all the curves up there with our ears popping but the view was gorgeous.  The temperature was a bit "chilly" that day for Boone so I had a jacket on.  After we enjoyed the scenery we headed to downtown Boone.  I've always loved all the shops there, even when I was a student at App State so you know I had to some shopping.  We enjoyed lunch at Macado's and made our way out 105 towards Banner Elk.  Joe wanted to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway some, so we hopped on the parkway near Banner Elk and came across Linville Falls.  Neither of us had even seen those falls before, so he hiked to see the falls and took some pictures.  God's beauty is absolutely breath-taking.  After the hike, which I could tell did Joe did in.  The elevation was not helping his breathing and head congestion.  We decided to head off the mountain towards Hickory, both our old stomping grounds.  Both of us were in a Mexican mood, so we decided to go to "El Tap" but much to our dismay, they changed the name.  The food was still delicious.  We headed home after dinner and Nyquil put us both out for the night.

Howards Knob

Selfie at Howards Knob

Macado's





Linville Falls

 Day 2
Another day of Joe not feeling well yet he trooped through and we decided to enjoy our 2nd staycation in Charlotte.  I live a little over 1.5 hours from Charlotte and Joe lives about 30-45; however, both of rarely go or visit because it's so congested and we despise the traffic.  We were hoping most people would be at work and traffic wouldn't be so bad.  We started off eating at a deli place and I hate I can't remember the name of it because it was delicious.  After the deli place I had been talking about going to Discovery Place.  I haven't been to Discovery Place since I was a child, so I thought it would be something fun for us to do.  I just knew Joe wouldn't be up to walking around that place for hours upon hours so we opted to seeing a documentary at the IMAX theatre.  We watched a documentary about "The Great White Shark."  Great story and very interesting.  We bought really enjoyed ourselves during the 45 minute clip.  After the IMAX show, we walked around downtown Charlotte a bit and came to this corner where this guy was filming a music video.  I kept telling Joe, that's Thomas Rhett, I just know he is.  Take a picture of him so I don't look like a creeper.  Well, we never got the picture because Joe didn't believe me and was googling his name to see what he looked like.  After we pulled up the picture, he's like yea, that's him.  Bummer, we don't have a picture to prove it.  We left downtown and Joe was like, how about I take you to SouthPark.  I was like yea, I can window shop, we have no money because we are planning a wedding and doing house renovations.  We held hands and walked around SouthPark for a bit and then decided to walk into Brookstone and sit in the massage chairs.  We both about fell asleep.  So relaxing! Steaks followed at Texas Roadhouse to finish up our summer vacations.


Downtown Charlotte

IMAX Theatre

Thomas Rhett





Massage Chair

I highly recommend a staycation to anyone who wants to get away yet sleep in their own bed when they get home!  We had an amazing time and I loved spending every moment with my sick handsome fella.

Until Next Time,

Shea





July Shenanigans

Hello to all my blog readers.  It's been awhile since my last post.  July has been a busy month with July 4th Weekend, Tim McGraw concert, Wedding Planning, my Best Friends Wedding, and our one year anniversay. My last blog was about our July 4th weekend so I'll be sharing the rest of July with you all.  Can you believe we are halfway to Christmas?  Time needs to slow down.

Tim McGraw Concert

Several months ago Joe and I bought tickets to the Tim McGraw concert at PNC in Charlotte.  After we bought them we got to thinking, this would be a fun group outing.  We texted our friends Jonathan, Lindsey, Hurd, and Courtney to see if they would be interested in going.  They said YES!  Come to find out several more friends had tickets so it was great to see them and all of us be able to tailgate.  What we didn't know was that we would end up with upgraded lawn seats to seats under the pavillion area..how awesome.  Check out some of the pictures below.

Kappa Delta represent!

 

My handsome date

New friends!

Mollie Ollie and I

 

Wedding Planning

 

 

I've been quite busy planning our upcoming wedding which makes me giddy every time I think about it.  I've had so much fun during this planning process.  All our big items minus our food menu are secured.  I can't wait to share in the upcoming blogs about all our vendors.  We have an awesome photographer and videographer.  Love our florist and oh my, the cake is going to be delicious.  I absolutely love my dress and I can't wait to walk down the aisle to Joe in it. I'm so excited about all the upcoming pre-wedding events (Engagement party, Bridesmaid dress shopping, bridal showers, and Bachelorette party).   We still need to add more things to our registry and I seriously need to get busy designing our wedding website. More blogs to come in the upcoming months on all the wedding festivities.

 

 

My Best Friend's Wedding

 

So excited for Mr. and Mrs. Manuel.  Let me tell you, being the Maid of Honor is quite the duty.  My hat goes off to anyone who has been in that role before.  From helping decorate, to running errands, to assisting in anyway I can, I will say it was completely worth it to see my best friend happy on her wedding day.  Friday, July 24th was the rehearsal practice and dinner.  Dinner was on point.  They did a taco bar which couldn't have been more appropriate for their rehearsal dinner, as they both eat Mexican about two times a week if not more.  Rehearsal dinner was at The Long House in Stokesdale which is a gorgeous venue for anyone looking for a wedding location or reception.  After dinner, Joe and I headed home to get some sleep for the big wedding day.  The wedding was held in Holly's hometown and the reception was at WinMock at Kinderton, another gorgeous location for a wedding or reception.  The bridesmaids arrived at WinMock at 9 am to get ready for the big day.  We gave the Bride-to-Be gifts, got our hair/makeup done, enjoyed a great brunch, and even got to watch Holly and Jason during their first look.  Around 2 pm we headed to the wedding location in a limo, which was fun to just hangout with the wedding party before the ceremony.  After the ceremony, we danced and ate and celebrated Mr. and Mrs. Manuel.

 

My handsome date at the Rehearsal Dinner

Joe and I with the Manuels

All the bridesmaids in the limo





Our 1 Year Anniversary 

 

Honestly, all we did was relax.  July was a busy month and we just wanted to have some quality time with one another.  We had dinner in and just watched tv together.  Completely perfect for me.  We went hard the month of July.  I will say that we did somewhat celebrate our one year a weekend earlier because we went to Sullivans Steakhouse in Charlotte during Restaurant Week.  Let me tell you, the best filet mignon and I have ever put in my mouth.  We can't wait to go back again! 

 

As you can see, July was a busy month and I can't wait to see what the upcoming months bring about!

 

xoxo,

Shea



 

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The Weekender: July 2-5

I had been looking forward to the 4th of July weekend back since like April.  I love watching fireworks, hanging out with friends, and eating a lot of junk food since I took the weekend off my diet! There is no doubt this has been the best 4th of July hands down, I've had in a long time. Check out all our exciting adventures.

Thursday
I left work around 2 pm on Thursday to finish up some house cleaning before Buddy and I hit the road to Joe's house.  Joe and I had been talking all week about fixing dinner in and riding over to the Southeast Old Thresher's Reunion.  Our dinner menu item was spaghetti.  Needless to say, it wasn't good.  Joe bought some 69 cent noodles and they almost looked like dough after cooking.  I wasn't going to let dinner ruin our evening plans, much more things to stress about than bad noodles.  We laughed it off, told Joe now I'm not the only one with a cooking fail and headed to Denton. 

The Southeast Old Thresher's Reunion is held at the Denton Farm Park each year.  It is the largest steam, gas and antique farm machinery show in the Southeastern US!  Joe and I walked around for about an hour looking at the antique tractors, and equipment, listened to some bluegrass music, and ended our evening watching the Tractor Pull.  To check out more information about Denton Farm Park here is the link Denton Farm Park.  In November and December they have the Country Christmas Train.  Joe and I looking forward to attending this event and starting new traditions Country Christmas Train.

Friday
I woke up early and left for Indian Trail to meet a potential hair and makeup stylist for the wedding.  I loved her work and she comes on-site to our wedding.  Can't wait to work with The Beauty Fairy.  After my meeting, I wasn't quite sure where I was so put in my GPS Charlotte with no specific address.  I ended up on Independence Blvd and I was so excited when I saw a sign for Old Time Pottery. I really really miss the one in Greensboro.  I hate they closed.  At least I know I'm not to far from one when I get married, YAY!!!!  I found some cute things for Joe's house including candlestick holders for the mantle, candles, decorative sign for the bathroom, and boxes for a cute gift for my bridal party.  After leaving Old Time Pottery, I saw another Value City Furniture store.  Joe and I had visited another one a few weeks back looking for a new couch; however, they did not have this particular couch. I need to take a few more measurements but I'm thinking it might work.  Let me know your thoughts. I'm thinking yellow, red, blue, and green accent pieces would look great!  I love bright colors, makes a space look so lively!

 

I met Joe and his work colleague Jake at Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch and then we headed home.  On our way home, it started raining like cats and dogs so I wasn't sure whether I wanted to go in the rain and watch fireworks.  Joe talked me into it and we ended up having a great time.  We drove down to Harrisburg, NC and watched The Catalina's and Darryl Harwood perform.  Never rained one drop while we were outside.  To beat out traffic, we ended up watching fireworks from the truck.

 

Saturday
Joe and I slept in, met the electrician, and headed to Lake Norman.  We were celebrating the 4th with Catherine, Sara, Courtney, and Mike on the lake along with their family and friends.  When we arrived, it started raining but the weather cleared at the perfect time and it ended up being an amazing day on the lake.  We grilled out and enjoyed hamburgers and hotdogs before the evening fireworks began.  I loved watching the fireworks sitting on the dock, what a neat experience.  They were going off all around us so the show was unbelievable. 

 

 

 

 

Sunday
Not to long ago, Joe and I went to the Great Outdoors Company in Greensboro and Joe purchased a map of the Uwharrie National Forest.  He had been talking about us going hiking so we ventured out to the Uwharrie National Forest for our hiking adventure.  Let me just say, the hiking wasn't what Joe expected at all.  The trails were barely marked and we almost got lost.  We finally found a hiking trail marked down near Badin Lake so we took off on it even though it was less than a mile trail.  Even though Joe wasn't pleased with our adventure haha, we still had fun spending time with one another. After we finished hiking, we hit the trail home, enjoyed Zaxby's for dinner and back home we went.

The Weekender: June 19-21

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Friday after a meeting and leaving a few minutes early from work, I headed home to pick up Buddy and to pack.  We were off to Joe's for the weekend.  Buddy and I were so excited to spend the weekend with Joe. Joe wanted to grill out and cook me dinner, and boy did he do a good job.  We had sirloin steak, salad, baked potatoes, and texas toast bread, YUMMY!!!!

After dinner and cleaning up, Joe asked me "What I wanted to do?"  I said, let's just drive to Albemarle and see where the road takes us.  The road took us to this old timey putt-putt course in Albemarle called "Good-O/Putt-O."  Joe and I decided to play a round of putt-putt even though the course was very soggy from all the rain.  We still had fun.

He beat me by 6 strokes

Saturday morning I woke up and met our electrician who is re-doing some electrical work at Joe's.  We are installing new lights, new fans, new outlets, and new switch plates.  I am in love with this LED Light that I bought at Lowes and I'm getting ready to switch the over the sink light with the Project Source round light. I'm loving all our renovations.

After I met with the electrician, I met mom to head to Charlotte to start the bridesmaid dress hunt.  We went to New York Bride and Groom in Charlotte and I said YES TO THE DRESS!!!!  I couldn't be more excited about my dress and I can't wait to walk down the aisle in it.  I dropped mom back off to meet up with her boyfriend Greg and headed back to Joes.  Tonight was date night, and guess where date night normally is, you guessed it, BOWMAN GRAY STADIUM!  We left the house around 5:45 to meet my friend Amy at the Dairo-o for hot-dogs and ice cream before the race.  Joe is like a kid at Christmas when we get to Bowman Gray.  We have loved turning this into our Saturday night date routine.

Sunday morning we woke up and surprised Joe's dad at church for Father's Day.  We enjoyed church with him and then headed to lunch with his parents at Buddy's in Mount Pleasant.  After lunch, Joe and I went furniture shopping.  We have been on the hunt for either a red or gray sofa.  Our hunt started off at Value City Furniture followed by Rooms to Go and La-z-y boy.  We still haven't found what we are looking for but I'm not giving up. Once we finished up furniture shopping we headed to Joe's parents to grab Buddy and hangout with them on the deck before it got to hot.  Since we had so much success grilling Friday night, Joe put some burgers on the grill Sunday evening and we enjoyed burgers for dinner.