October Review

Well, it's midway through November, so it seems about right to finally recap October, right?!  Looking back, writing this review just makes me tired.  I have no idea how, over the course of 7 weekends through September and October, we were gone for 6 of them (the seventh being Hurricane Flo).  Needless to say, when we got back about halfway through the month of October, we did all of... nothing.  And it was magical.

My birthday started the month, and Mike definitely made the big 3-0 special.  We met up with friends for happy hour, then he drove me all around downtown Charleston in circles to surprise me for dinner.  Well, apparently he was giving time for our friends at the happy hour to get to dinner, and a whole bunch of additional friends were waiting for my favorite - hibachi!  He also made me a delicious cake, themed with my favorite movie: 13 Going On 30.  He's a good one :)

The next two weekends we were in Minneapolis and Cape Cod for our final two weddings of the year.  They were both absolutely beautiful, and Mike was a very handsome best man for the second time this year!  

Spending time in New England is always my favorite this time of year, but when we got back, I could not wait to relax (aka not leave my house for like 2 weeks straight - haha).  I made my favorite soup, and when we got stir-crazy enough, we walked around Charleston to see all of the pretty fall decor!

There's nothing better than fall treats, and October always gets me.  Halloween candy is still flowing at our house, Second State has the best candy corn latte, and I can never pass up a festive donut!  Plus, Kelley hosted a super fun cookie decorating class with Emy.  If you are in the area and looking for the most beautiful (and delicious) cookies - definitely look her up!

And now, we are already almost at Thanksgiving!  I can't wait for my family to get into town this weekend and to eat ALL of the delicious food!

May Adventure Round Up

Errr... well, I guess less than a week of June has gone by, so I'm still okay, right?  This month was an absolute whirlwind, so it makes sense that it took me a few extra days to get this up.  May has probably been my favorite of the year so far, from the adventures we went on to the weather in Charleston, I'm just in heaven! 

At the beginning of the month, I revealed our One Room Challenge space.  This screen porch has continued to be our favorite, and as I sit here typing, the living room door is open to the space outside where our cats are loving life.  Most miraculous, in my opinion, has been my ability to keep all of those plants alive!

Our next home project has been our golf cart.  As you may remember, we bought ourselves a golf cart last fall (lol to the third "leather anniversary"), and we had our share of fun in the South Carolina snow.  We decided to buy a lift kit, and Mike completed the project with massive wheels a couple weeks ago.  Yeah, it's awesome and goes even faster now!

Mike's dad visited us mid-month, and not only did we go to Beaufort and Hilton Head Island, we also went to some of our favorite breweries (Westbrook, Freehouse, and the Fermentory) AND a beef jerky-off.  OMG all-you-can-eat jerky.  I was in heaven!  Plus, it was at Lewis Barbecue, some of my favorite bbq in town!

We played in a charity kickball tournament this month (in addition to our 3 weekly games) and came in 4th!  Such a fun afternoon for a great cause.

One of our closest friends also hosted her annual Halfway to Halloween party.  We group costumed together as Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf, and Grandma. 

And, of course, our Memorial Day trip this year was to the Smoky Mountains where we hiked up 6500 feet!  Seriously, I want to do more hiking now!  Not only was it an awesome hike, but we became so much closer with our friends and have memories we definitely won't forget!

Week(end) Recap

Happy Monday, friends!  I hope everyone had a great first one of November.  We spent the weekend in Florida with family, but as I looked at my photos to write this post, I realized I had never posted anything from Halloween last week... soooo, instead, y'all get an end of October/beginning of December photo dump! 

First thing's first... this little dude has been keeping our hands full.  I shared about him in this post, but we still have not found his owners.  Pupdate: he is such a snuggler and plops right down next to me whenever I'm on the couch.  We might not have gotten him into costume like the rest of the fam, but I did buy him a Yoda toy to go with the theme.

Halloween: We were a little last minute on this one this year, but we did buy onesies at Target...so I can totally wear them again (aka all winter).  The cats wore their costumes from last year, and we paired up pretty well ;)  We spent the night at our neighbors' house (we put a sign on our house saying we were next door with double candy so we didn't get egged) with a chili bar then had a late kickball game.  Definitely one of the best!

On Saturday morning, we headed down to Jacksonville for the NAS JAX Air Show.  I haven't been to one since probably middle school, and on the way to see family on the Gulf Coast, we decided to check it out.  The military planes, especially the F-22 and The Blue Angels were amazing!  Despite the crazy traffic, I'm so glad we went. 

And, of course, on our way across the state, we had to stop at our favorite Mexican place ever.  We have like 4 favorite Mexican places across Charleston, but still, nothing beats Cantina Louie.  OBSESSED.

Then, it was onto my happy place.  Tierra Verde has some of my favorite views ever, and it was the best to spend some time with my aunt.  We visited the Don Cesar, played golf, brunched, tried out a new brewery at St. Pete Beach (Mastry's), and enjoyed the best sunsets. 

What a perfect weekend adventure - we love living driving distance from Florida!

Five on Friday: My Heart Is So Happy

This Friday is such a good one.  It has been the best week, and the weather is going to be perfect this weekend!  What are y'all up?  Here's my week:

1 ||| Halloween - My favorite holiday!  I hosted a Halloween party for my girls at work, like I do every year (I even wore the same costume as two years ago - whoops! Sidenote: apparently kids don't read Waldo books anymore, about half of them had no idea who I was...disappointing.).  Then, for real Halloween, Mike and I hung out on our porch, played cribbage, listened to Halloween Pandora, and passed out candy.  Since we didn't dress up last year, we decided to give it a run this year and came up with the BEST last-minute costume.  Can anyone guess it?  Here's your clue.  Any questions?

David Pumpkins! ...and the skeleton who's PART OF IT!

2 ||| CUBS - Even people who live under rocks probably know about this by now: the Cubs WON THE WORLD SERIES.  It had been 108 years, and they did it in probably the best Game 7 of a World Series ever.  Of course, it was the most stressful Game 7 ever, and boy, did Cleveland hang in there.  As I've said before, I've been a Cubs fan my whole life.  Mike is one now, too, and we've totally rocked Cubs gear all the way in San Fran!  You know I'll be ordering some World Series Champions gear tonight!

my shirt ||| Mike's (similar)

3 ||| Influenster & VIB - It's been forever since I reviewed anything from Influenster, but I was pretty excited to receive the Real Techniques VoxBox with the "Your Picks" brush set, a makeup sponge, and this setting brush.  While the sponge and setter have been around for a while, the brush set is pretty new.  It's a combination of all the favorite brushes voted on by fans.  As silly as it sounds, I love the weight of these brushes.  They are a little on the heavier side, and I feel like that really helps me control where my makeup is going.  While I have yet to try the setting brush (don't wear a lot of setting powder), I do like the sponge for both makeup blending and covering blemishes.  It's versatile and my makeup stays on evenly.  It'll be even more fun with some goodies from next weekend's VIB sale shopping (I have my eye on this and this).  I'll live vicariously through all the VIB Rouge members this weekend!

4 ||| Vote - THIS TUESDAY!  This election is so important, not just for the presidency but also those down ballot races for control of Congress.  I don't talk politics at all typically on this blog, but this election is different: progress is on the ballot.  You can find your polling place by clicking here.

5 ||| The Mac Off - My favorite event of the year is this weekend, and I am so excited to be partnering with them and to judge on the Critic's Choice panel.  This year, not only has it been expanded to two year, but they're even going to have a test kitchen - I cannot wait to sample the cheese and beer pairings!  You'll definitely find me snapchatting (megatronnn27) about this one all day tomorrow with their new snapchat filter!  If you're in the Charleston area, you should definitely add this to your weekend plans!  You can purchase tickets by clicking here.

Linking up for Oh hey, Friday, Five on Friday, High Five for Friday, and two doses of Friday Favorites

Five Last-Minute Halloween Costume Ideas

Alright, y'all - Halloween is in four days.  Did anyone else wait until the last minute to choose a costume, like me?

Since we're in a house, not an apartment, this will be the first year we get to pass out candy to a whole mess of kids.  Even when we lived in a house in Connecticut, I swear, there was always something crazy that prevented us from having a real Halloween (like this freak snowstorm).  We bought 200 pieces of candy and will be sitting on our porch to give it out - so excited to see all the little kids in their costumes!  Needless to say, we need to dress up.  Mike's always been the best at coming up with couple's costumes.  Our first year together, when my college roommates and I were the Ninja Turtles, he was Splinter, and a couple years ago, he even made our Mario and Luigi costumes.  Well, we don't have that much time left, but I have started brainstorming some easy costumes that we'll be able to put together in a day or two:

1. Character onesie: Target has the best collection of union suits right now.  You can be a Power Ranger, Minion, Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, or even do Big Bird and Cookie Monster as a couples' costume.  I bought this one last year, and am seriously thinking about wearing it.  Bonus - it's one of the warmest costumes ever, and you can wear these comfy pjs all winter!

2. Crazy Cat Lady: Here's another costume where you can buy something comfortable and wear it again.  Get yourself a bathrobe and some fuzzy slippers, and find that collection of old stuffed animals.  Carry around a couple of cats, and even put some in your pockets!

3. Snapchat filter: There are sooo many good ones for this costume category: the puppy dog, deer, rainbow tongue, and my personal favorite, the flower crown.  I made this one for my Halloween party at work!  I just took a photo of myself in the filter, removed the background, and printed it out on card stock.  I taped the crown to a headband and did a full face of makeup as light and bright as possible!  If you'd like me to email you this printable, just leave me a comment!

4. Superman: Going to a party after work?  Put a Superman or Superwoman tee shirt on under your clothes (make sure you wear a button-up shirt) before you leave.  Then, when you get to the party, unbutton the shirt to reveal your costume!

5. Beanie Baby: This last one is for your pet.  Take a piece of red card stock, write "TY" on it with white paint, and attach it to your pet's leash.  For extra points, put his/her name and birthday inside the tag!  Check out this tutorial to see how to make it in more detail.

Are you dressing up for Halloween this year?  Any fun weekend festivities planned?