Friday Favorites

It’s Friday – praise the Lord! And you know what, it’s the Friday of a three-day weekend! Juneteenth was made a Federal Holiday last year and so I have Monday off work. I also have next Friday off work, but I’ll get to that later on in this post, ha-ha. For now, I’m just glad it’s finally Friday.

One. The Three-Day Weekend Thing – I’ve managed to finagle my work schedule so that I have two three-day weekends in a row… then a full week of work before I have a third three-day weekend. How did I manage that you might ask? Planning, ha-ha! Okay, not really that much planning and more luck! My office is closed on Monday, June 20^th in celebration of the newly created Federal holiday of Juneteenth. So that gives me the first three-day weekend!

I’m off work on next Friday because I have to pick up my wedding dress from the seamstress and my future in-laws will be in town. So that secures me a second three-day weekend! And then, after a full work week it will be July and will also be the weekend of July Fourth! So – another three-day weekend. Hallelujah for holidays and patriotic celebrations!

Two. Ryan Zimmerman Weekend – I’m finally going to a Nationals game! Yahooooo! I haven’t been to a single game so far this year but when I found out there were retiring Ryan Zimmerman’s number in honor of his retirement on Saturday, June 18^th – I wanted to go for sure! I thought to check for tickets last week and there were some left in a perfect spot and so after chatting with Ryan about it, I snapped them up! Several of the former players will be in attendance and honestly – Zim is Mr. National – so I’m thrilled I get to attend this game!

Now – will the Nationals win? Who knows? This season has been one of their worst and definitely one of the worst they’ve had in the last few years… they’re at the bottom of the heap in the National League East and not climbing very fast, but you know what? A true fan sticks with a team through ups and downs. So – a Nationals fan I will always be!

Three. Chicken Bubble Biscuit Bake Casserole – Well, I tried a new recipe. Y’all know that any recipe that you find on Pinterest always has the potential to be a hit or miss and this one was: I guess a hit?

Ryan ate two helping of it and declared it one of the best things I've ever made - so that was promising. I still think I need to finesse it a little bit before I share the recipe. I want to make some tweaks to it, but then it should be good to!

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Man I'm glad the weekend is here - aren't you? Y'all have a good one!

Wedding Wednesday - Say Yes to the Dress

It’s Wednesday and I’ve got quite the post for you today! It’s the “big” post – finding the dress for the big day! So let’s get this one underway why don’t we?

I did quite a bit of dress research through The Knot which has honestly been a wealth of information. I found our first wedding dress boutique through The Knot – Ashley Grace Bridal, located in Lynchburg, VA. Our second wedding dress boutique – Church Street Bridal, also located in Lynchburg, VA was a shop we’d learned about when touring Rosemont as a potential wedding location. Church Street provides dresses at a reduced cost from places like Kleinfeld’s. The dresses are from previous “seasons” and so a dress that was originally $14,000 (that makes my eyes water & my throat go dry) sells for less than $800. We figured it was worth a peek.

The original plan was for my friends Meridith & Danielle to tag along with my Mom to the wedding dress boutiques for the day, but Danielle ended up having a COVID scare, so the group that went ended up being my parents and me. I’m sure that some people might have been upset by this but truly – there are so many people who have had much bigger things derailed due to COVID, so I wasn’t going to let this bring me down. We made the almost three-hour drive to Lynchburg and after a quick bathroom stop, we arrived at the first boutique: Ashley Grace Bridal!

I was so surprised to see my name on the sign outside the boutique and when we went in, everyone was so friendly. I think I was – internally – immediately overwhelmed in the best way possible. White and cream, lace, ribbons, sparkle, and sequins and stitching and so much more, all around me – it was amazing! This was a moment I had imagined for so long and it was actually happening – I tried to be mindful to take it all in. We were greeted and introduced to our consultant who escorted us to our gigantic fitting room and seated my parents and I on plush couches. We face-timed my sister Lindsey (my Maid of Honor) and my Mother-in-Law to be and set them up for the dress process… and we were off!

I walked the store with my consultant (and y’all – I do not remember her name, but she was THE BEST, absolutely the most incredible). We discussed what I was interested in, and she selected dresses similar to the style I’d mentioned and also selected some dresses she thought would look great on me. I cannot say enough about what an amazing experience it was – everyone was so kind, truly complimentary and so very helpful. We ended up taking about ten dresses into the gigantic dressing room and we disappeared behind the curtains to begin trying on dresses!

It was the most fascinating experience! My consultant deduced that I didn’t have any children because I was a bit shyer about getting undressed behind the curtains – she said women with children were much “freer” and that cracked me up! As I tried on dresses, she had me tell her all about my fiancé Ryan, how long we’d been dating and our proposal. Some of the dresses were immediately a big “NO” and some were a maybe… and what I’d been told by so many people rang true: the dress I imagined I’d get wasn’t what I ended up with. Our wedding is in November, and I thought a dress with sleeves would amazing… and then I tried one on and hated it, ha-ha!

I tried on one dress – and this one dress, was “the one”… it’s quite true; or at least it was for me, when I put it on I just felt different somehow. I think everyone could tell that I was feeling a certain way about this dress, and everyone was feeling the same way about it. It was definitely special and since I was thinking it could be the one, they placed a veil on me, placed my headpiece on with it and had me go up front to look at myself in the three-way mirror. I’d done this in some of the other dresses – the mirror that is – but with everything put together, I was 99.99% sure that this was “MY” dress. I knew we had an additional appointment at Church Street Bridal, so we agreed that if I was sure it was the one – I could come back at 3:00 to “say yes” to the dress.

We popped into Church Street Bridal after having lunch in downtown Lynchburg and the feeling was immediately very different. They had very few dresses to choose from and we quickly discovered that while an $8,000 dress might be on sale for $500, it was sold as is – and that meant that if the entire back was ripped out (like one I tried on) then you bought it that way and it was up to you to fix it. Everyone was friendly and I’m sure they’ve helped plenty people find their dream dress, but I just wasn’t impressed and the memory of “my dress” was still in my head – so I thanked them and told my parents I knew my dress and it was back at Ashley Grace Bridal. We called them back and told them we’d be returning at 3:00 – and then we perused Hobby Lobby until it was time to go say “YES”.

When we arrived back at Ashley Grace, they escorted us to our dressing room where my dress was displayed in front of the mirror and there were glasses of sparkling cider and a t-shirt that said, “I’m an Ashley Grace Bride”. I put the dress back on – yep, definitely the one! Everyone in the store cheered and we toasted and then it was down to business – taking my measurements so they could order my dress! I got to take a picture with the sign that says, “I Said Yes” and it was just the most wonderful, supportive experience! I can’t say enough about how kind and wonderful everyone at Ashley Grace Bridal was during my appointment (and when we returned to pick up the dress).

The whole experience was so wonderful! I laughed because I went to two shops and ended up finding my dress at the very first shop – so I definitely didn’t try on hundreds of dresses – but I suppose (much like when I met my fiancé) – when you know, you know! I’m so glad I stumbled upon Ashley Grace Bridal on The Knot and was able to find my dress at their shop! Everything about the experience was wonderful and it’s a memory I’ll hold in my heart forever!

Weekend Catch-Up

Another weekend come and gone in a blink – goodness but time is flying! Can you believe we are already to mid-June? I know I can’t! I have been here and there with the blog lately, but here I am - ha-ha! Life has been fun lately - but then again, I usually can't complain too much about my life in general. I'm blessed. 

 

While not weekend related, I had to share the gorgeous cookies that my friend & Bible study group member Jillian made for our get together on Wednesday night! Aren’t they beautiful?!? And you know what else? She’s making cookies for Ryan and I’s wedding – I can’t wait to see them! I know they’ll be beautiful and they’ll taste amazing!

Friday afternoon I got off work early – which was such a nice surprise – and I headed to Ryan and I’s house to just chill for a couple hours until Ryan came home from work. We had dinner at our local Italian restaurant and while the salad left something to be desired, the rest of the food was pretty tasty. I especially enjoyed my Baked Ziti! Then we perused Lowe’s looking for and calculating fence costs and bought a white board calendar (or two) from Wal-Mart to get our lives together, ha-ha!

Saturday morning, I was up by eight – but man I could have kept sleeping – but Watson had a vet appointment and I had things to do before I left the house to take him! Watson raced around like a wild man all morning while I was getting ready and having my coffee – but once he was in the car and knew he was going to the vet, his whole attitude changed! Silly pup!

Blessedly, besides a weight loss of two pounds and a raging bladder infection, he was given a clean bill of health! They told me his heart sounded strong and besides old age, he was a healthy little fella! So we headed home to begin taking antibiotics and have a little lunch before running to Target with my Mom.

 

After the Target run, I met up with Ryan to go to a graduation party that some family friends hosted for their son and then we headed to my parents to chill a little bit and then – the Family Drive-In! This was my second time at a drive-in movie, and I feel like this experience was a little better than the first. The drive-in movies have a nostalgic feeling to it, but the sound isn’t always the best. We saw Jurassic World: Dominion and while it was entertaining – it was not my favorite of the Jurassic series. It was fun to sit in the bed of the truck and watch the movie unfold under the stars though!

Sunday after church, Ryan and I headed to Crabby Maggie’s to have some seafood for lunch and then drove through the country back home. The weather was really nice and so we sat outside to work on our calendars and planning boards and then my parents joined us for a trip to Lowe’s to look at fencing options yet again. Can you tell we have plans to fence something? It’s the backyard – we are planning to fence the backyard, ha-ha! I treated everyone to some Starbucks afterwards (because I have gift cards for days – lest you think I’m too kind) and we headed back to my parents' house.

Ryan and I were getting ready to watch The Chosen and he noticed a teeny bunny trapped in the windowsill of the basement, so we all ended up outside for rabbit rescue! The little guy (or gal) scampered away and ended finding his brother (or sister) under my parent’s rose bush – and I couldn’t resist snapping a picture before we left them in peace. They’re cute – but they will eat up all your plants! 

My parents decided to grab some sausage and hot dogs to grill for dinner and so we all sat around on the back deck, eating fruit and grilled dogs and chips, chatting about life in general and then Ryan helped my Dad with some yard projects for a bit. All too soon I found myself watching “how-to” videos on fencing and then it was time for bed. How did the weekend pass so quickly?

At least I've secured myself two three day weekends over the next two weeks... and the Fourth of July is right around the corner! Y'all have a good week!

Wedding Wednesday - Cater to Me!

It's Wednesday and you know what that means - I'm back with another post all about planning our wedding! This one is a good one y'all, because it's all about the delicious foods!  

As with so many wedding related things - we asked our friend Brooke Lull (also our photographer) if she had any recommendations and I also perused The Knot. We'd looked into two options: Love at First Bite Catering and Classic Catering - and while discussions were ongoing with both, we were able to attend a tasting at Classic Catering in September and we were absolutely blown away! 

We arrived to a very unsuspecting block of warehouses and went in - to be greeted with a beautifully laid out table and champagne! We met with the owner Deborah and she was so warm, inviting and able to answer every question we had for her - and then she started bringing out dishes based on the potential menu we'd discussed and I was again floored at how wonderful everything was!

 

We started with a beautiful charcuterie board and crudité display - everything was fresh, yummy and flavorful and it was all beautifully presented. The hors d'ouevre that will be passed while final wedding pictures were amazing: chicken and waffles bites, stuffed mushrooms and my personal favorite, tomato bisque in teeny mason jars with a miniature grilled cheese skewered on the top! I'm not much for mushrooms but Ryan loves them - so I tasted them - and they were actually quite delicious! 

 

 

We sampled turkey sandwiches and ham sandwiches and other wee sandwiches that I can't even remember, ha-ha - they were all so tasty! We also sampled mini sliders, shrimp skewers, steak skewers and chicken skewers and in short - we were stuffed when all was said and done. We were even more impressed when they told us they offered a military discount and floored when we were told that they owned not just the one warehouse we were sitting in but the three behind it - holy cannoli! 

And how can I forget - the macaroni and cheese in martini glasses that will be served as part of a macaron and cheese bar? It was so good my Dad even ate a glass of it, and I don't know that I've ever seen him eat macaroni and cheese in his life! I even made sure to get photographic evidence. 

 

I think one thing that stood out to me was that since Ryan was unable to attend the tasting (due to work) they boxed up an entire bag full of the goodies for me to take to him - that truly was so kind of them and I loved knowing Ryan would get to sample every thing. Ryan ate his bag full of goodies for two or three days and once he was finished, he agreed that everything was delicious. 

The stunning presentation, the delicious food and the wonderful owner made it easy for us to go with Classic Catering for our wedding and I absolutely cannot wait to see everything arranged and displayed for the wedding in just a few months! It's going to be spectacularly delicious! 

Tuesday Tails/Tales

Almost every one of these photos feature Watson - so I figured it was alright to recap my weekend and my pup all in the same post! The weekend passed - as usual - much too quickly. *sigh* Watson came to the office with me on Friday as he's been having some bladder issues and so I felt it was best to have him with me for the day. He was a champ and did an excellent job hanging at the office for the day.

 

We were able to leave work on Friday at 3 as opposed to our usual closing time of 5 and I suppose working hard all day had really worn Watson out. He snuggled onto his blanket in the car and slowly slid down the seat until he was fully stretched out and snoozing - sleepy little guy! I almost said we had a lazy Friday night but I was overcome with a desire to clean and ended up sweeping, mopping, cleaning the bathrooms and just doing an overall general straightening of the whole house. I was worn out when I finished, so Watson and I spent the rest of the night taking short walks, eating some macaroni and cheese and finishing the first half of season four of Stranger Things.

 

Saturday the latest I could sleep was about 8 - between needing to take the puppy out and just not being able to sleep that late anymore. #oldpeopleproblems, I suppose. Ryan and I had breakfast and chilled a little bit before running to Wal-Mart to grab groceries for the upcoming week and some new planters for our bonsai trees. My Mom and our friend Joyce stopped by the house around lunchtime to visit for a bit and around 2:00 we headed into town to peruse the mall and see Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Let me tell y'all - that was an ODD movie. I think Ryan and I made it about an hour into it before we were poking fun at it, whoops! It was just a little bit too much and honestly will end up falling near the bottom of my Marvel movies list. *sigh* The rest of our Saturday was spent cooking a pizza and being chill!

Sunday morning we went to Brookside Church and really enjoyed the sermon and church experience. We joined my Mom and our friend Joyce for lunch at West Oaks Farm Market - one of my favorite spots in the area! The food is delicious and the market has so many wonderful things to shop for: produce, meat, cheese, fresh-baked desserts, unique drinks and much more. They also have pick your own strawberries/apples when they are in season - it's a great little spot! 

Ryan and I popped by an animal shelter to peek at the puppies and then headed home to do some meal planning, cooking for the week ahead and just getting everything together for the work week. Ryan cooked some delicious drumsticks for dinner and my Mom came over to eat with us. After dinner, she treated us to ice cream at Sugar Creek Snowy & Sweet - some of the best ice cream ever and located right in Ryan and I's new home town! It was a nice cap to the weekend and the ice cream flight (that I split with my Mom) is always so yummy!

I can't believe the weekend is already over - I am counting down the days to the next one, ha-ha!