From Bouquet to Ornament: An After-Wedding Craft

Happy Halloween blog readers!! I hope everyone enjoyed their fair share of Halloween candy! Ryan and I actually got 7 trick-or-treaters in this apartment complex of us- so there was plenty of candy left over for us!

 

 

Anyways... in an effort to clean out some of the stuff that has accumulated over the past 8 months in our limited closet space, I finally got around to a wedding craft that has been waiting for me since we got back from our honeymoon back in December.

 

 

My wedding bouquet was one of my most favorite details from our big day. For 3 months, my mom hung the beautiful flowers upside down in my parents windowsill, letting the flowers dry out. Once they were sufficiently dried out, she carefully wrapped up the bouquet and mailed it up to Boston, along with a pack of clear glass ornaments. (Thanks for doing all that, mom!)



 

 

Last weekend, I finally unwrapped that sucker, and sadly tore it to shreds in the hopes that the final result would be worth the destruction!

 





Ryan's Boutonniere 10 months later!

 Each ornament received at least one ivory rose, a big pinecone, some baby pinecones, silver brunia, and some dusty miller. For one of the ornaments, I cut a square of the lace and burlap off from the bouquet handle and placed it inside. I finished them off with a strip of the crochet lace and burlap ribbon that was tied to the flower bunches that decorated the tables at our reception.

There are some many special touches in these ornaments from that day and I really think they turned out awesome! Ryan and I can't wait to hang them on our first Christmas tree together and further reminisce about the magic of December 15, 2012!!

 



 

 



Tailgate Meatballs

Happy Halloween Eve, ya'll! We have some fun things planned for this holiday.. hopefully starting off with a World Series win from the Red Sox!!

 

 

Last Sunday, Ryan and I spent some time with our friends Jenna, Trevor, and Caitlin watching the Patriots game. (Don't worry- I'm still a diehard Falcons fan... despite the season we're having!) Knowing that we were going to be watching the game together, I decided to try out a new recipe to bring over which turned out awesome! And it comes together super easy! It's really a win-win!

 

Here's what you'll need:

 

• 1 lb. Sausage (without the casing)
• 1 pkg. Cream Cheese
• 1 cup Cheddar Cheese
• 1 1/3 cups Bisquick mix

Directions:

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

 

 

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients until well incorporated. Roll mixture into 1-inch balls and place on a foil-lined baking sheet.

 

 

Bake 20-25 minutes or until browned.

I told you they were easy!! Enjoy!

Oh, and GO SOX!!

A Boston Tourist No Longer

While I will ALWAYS consider myself a southern girl, I think Ryan and I have settled in nicely to the New England lifestyle for now. Every time our friends and family come to visit us, we've gotten the opportunity to explore our new area a little further and I fall more in love with this city (especially this time of year- ask me in a couple months when I'm literally knee deep in snow and I might have a different answer.) Anyways, my in-laws, Brad and Susan, were in town last week and, once again, we got to show off Boston!

After playing tour guide a few times, I really think we have our itinerary down! We started our Boston tour with Brad and Susan on Wednesday night when we took them into Quincy Market. We walked around the area a bit before choosing to eat dinner at Bell in Hand- the oldest tavern in America! Believe it or not, this was a first for all four of us and it was absolutely delicious!

Saturday morning, we headed into the city bright and early to get our drink on. I promise we don't have a problem- just had a lot we wanted to fit into one day and the Sam Adams brewery just happened to come first!

 

From the brewery, we hopped on the trolley going to Doyle's to grab some lunch. Our trolley driver was the highlight of this experience and was HILARIOUS! He filled us in on the history of DOYLE'S and was so funny to listen to!

After lunch, we walked around Beacon Hill and Back Bay to kill some time before heading to Fenway to experience some playoff excitement! Saturday night was Game 6 of the Red Sox/Detroit series and the area was buzzing with excitement all night! We ended up getting extremely lucky and scoring a table on the rooftop deck at Jerry Remy's, directly across from the field!

We watched the game and ate dinner there before heading closer to our car to a different bar on Newbury to finish the game. As you all know, the Sox ended up winning and I'm so glad we decided to go into the area for the night. Ryan and I might be crazy, but when the world series comes back to Boston, we're going to head back into Fenway to be a part of the action again!

Sunday morning, we brought Brad and Susan to our church before going over to Marina Bay (another favorite spot) in Quincy for brunch. One of my favorite restaurants up here, Caption Fishbones, has an $11 all-you-can-eat buffet that we wanted to bring the in-laws to and once again, it definitely did not disappoint! Once we had sufficiently stuffed ourselves, we drove over to another part of Quincy to take a tour of the house John and Abigail Adams lived in and passed down to many other generations of Adamses! We did this tour with my parents back in July and it was just as awesome (and a little bit cooler) this time around!

 

Once we had our fill of history for the day, we headed back to the apartment to relax, watch football, and spend our last bit of time together for this trip. Monday morning the Smith's headed back to Georgia and we miss them already! Thanks for coming up to explore our new neck of the woods! See you in December!

I'll be back later this weekend with a couple new recipes and a craft I just completed!

A Beautiful Trip to Maine With the In-Laws!

I seem to constantly be a week behind on this blog, but life gets in the way sometimes and I've happily been M.I.A. spending time with my husband and in-laws, Brad and Susan! 

It's been an awesome (BUSY) visit and Ryan and I are sad that Brad and Susan are leaving tomorrow, but man, we did A LOT! Our time together started last weekend when we trekked it up to Bangor, Maine to visit with Lauren, Eliot, & the Potvin's! 

Since I had to work Friday, we couldn't get on the road before 4:30 or so, putting us into Boston in prime traffic time and arriving at our destination late at night. We spent a little time hanging out before we all crashed for the night. Saturday, we drove around Maine, stopping in Belfast, Camden, and Lincolnville. 

Camden was an ADORABLE town so we decided to drive up one of the nearby mountains and have a picnic overlooking the town. 

After lunch, we drove to Lincolnville and went to the Cellardoor winery for a wine tasting. The wine was really good and we walked away with a bottle of their dessert wine, Treasure. The best part of the winery though was the GORGEOUS view off the back deck! I'm pretty sure we spent more time out there taking pictures than actually sampling their wine selection.

Saturday night, we finally got to spend some time with Eliot and Lauren (They weren't around during the day since they were driving home from the trail for the weekend!) The Potvin's made a feast for a dinner and we spent the rest of the night playing foozball and watching the Red Sox.

After breakfast Sunday morning, the men decided to go play a couple tennis matches together, so the girls went for a run and did some shopping in downtown Hampden! Once the men were done, we went back to the house to shower before heading out to do some apple picking!

Can I please tell you that the apples we picked at this little farm in Maine were THE BEST apples I've ever had. It also didn't hurt that 20 lbs. of apples only cost $10! Maine apples for the win! Once we stocked up on apples, we decided to stop for a drink at the Sea Dog brewery in downtown Bangor. 

At the Brewery getting attacked from all sides! 

To finish off our trip, the group partook in a lobster boil (which was delicious), watched some Boston sports dominate, and really just enjoyed the company. Thank you Potvin family for hosting the Smith's all weekend and thank you Eliot and Lauren from taking a break in your hike to hang out with you buddies! We had a blast and can't wait for the next trip! 

From Miss to Mrs.: Lisa and Andy

Well hello there! I can't believe it's been two weeks since my last post! Work and school have been quite the adjustment but I'm back and we have so much to catch up on! 

First things first, I have to talk about the beautiful wedding Ryan and I attended last week for one of my best friends from college, Lisa, and her fiancé (now husband) Andy! 

Our vacation starter Friday night, when Ryan and Oscar picked me up from the ATL airport (he flew in Thursday morning). Our first night was spent lounging around and catching up with Brad and Susan before heading to bed.

Love this stinker! 

Saturday was the big day for Mr. and Mrs. Miller! Ryan and I spent the morning with Brad and Susan, grabbed lunch at Jimmy Johns, and once we were ready, we headed to meet up with Vida and Joe at their new house (which is GORGEOUS by the way!)

On the way to Vida and Joe's

The venue was at Big Canoe in North Georgia and it stunning! We got there about an hour early to take some pictures and hang out by the bar before the main event. 

At 5:30, Lisa came walking down the aisle as a Pucci and about 25 minutes later walked back up as a Miller! She looked so beautiful and their ceremony was just perfect for them! 

Immediately following the ceremony, everyone piled inside to get drinks and appetizers. The decor inside was awesome! There were homemade candles and sunflowers everywhere! 

Before we knew it, Lisa and Andy were being introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Miller and it was time for the reception to begin! 

GT Swammers! 

After dinner, we played corn hole, signed the guest puzzle (such a cute idea!), ate some cake, listened to some hilarious toasts, and participated in some photo booth shenanigans. The wedding was so fun and I'm so glad we got to celebrate Lisa and Andy all weekend! 

At the end of the night, Ryan and I headed back to Atlanta with Vida and Joe, where we ended up going out to a bar and rounding the night out with some quality Waffle House food. We spent the rest of our trip catching up on some family quality time before we had to head back to New England on Monday night. 

Lisa, you were an absolutely stunning bride and I'm so lucky to call you my friend! I hope you had a fantastic time and thank you for including Ryan and I in this special time in your life! 

I'll be back soon with a recap of our amazing trip to Maine with Brad and Susan last weekend! For now, we're off to Life Group! Have a great Tuesday night, ya'll!