Vacation Bucket List

 I love to travel.  When I'm traveling, I am fully aware of how amazing each moment is.  So different from day to day routine, moments I experience while on vacation are cherished because I realize  they are moments I won't be getting again anytime soon. 
     Today I'm reminiscing about the road trip I took near the end of summer.  I (and two of my favorite people) traveled to San Diego, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas.  Though  these are all places I have been before, I loved visiting them again.  I am a planner, and of course, made sure I would make the best of every last moment.  While doing my research, I made a "travel bucket list" based on things I knew I wanted out of my road trip.  Vacations are overwhelming, with everything being so "in the moment," and I knew that if I made a vacation bucket list, I wouldn't miss out on things I really wanted to do simply because I forgot about them during vacation mayhem. 

Here's my list:

Now I'm going to share my vacation bucket list in pictures and in more detail. While I did do everything on the list above, I'm not going to share pictures of all of them because it's a pretty long list!

Random Roadside Stop:
This is a road trip must! I love road trips because you are not on an airline's time frame. If you see a place that sounds interesting along the way, you can stop! While on our way to San Diego we stopped at Bravo Farms in Traver, CA. It was the perfect place to stop for a break from driving. There we got to explore the inside of a seven story tree house and try delicious free cheese samples. It was a very good choice for our random roadside stop.

Night Time Hot-Tubbing:  This we did in San Diego. Of course it had to be at night, since the days are so hot in Southern California!

 

All Day Beach Day
This was probably the first thing on my list. My first trip to San Diego, I was there for a conference and didn't have time for a beach day, so I knew it was a must for next time. We spent the whole day at Ocean Beach lounging, snacking, reading, exploring the pier, and playing in the water. The weather was perfect, and I already want to go back!

Happy Hour
Vacations are great because you actually have time to go to happy hour in the middle of the day! During our all day beach day, we walked over to South Beach Bar & Grill in San Diego and got great deals on drinks and appetizers. After hearing great reviews on their fish tacos, I ordered the baja and it was delicious. Happy hour is always a good idea!



Shopping
Okay, this is a must for any vacation.

Sunset
We waited patiently for this beautiful San Diego sunset. So lovely!

Night Time Beach Exploration
I love going to the beach at night with a couple of flashlights. The tide has gone down, and you never know what you'll find washed up on the beach. While we were in San Diego, we visited Coronado Beach on Coronado Island. We had so much fun running down the beach, exploring, and writing in the sand.

Lifeguard Tower
I've always wanted to sit on a lifeguard tower! Maybe it's from when I used to watch The O.C. in high school, and it was Marissa's place to hide out from the world. Regardless, we couldn't resist climbing on top of this one and snapping a photo!

Find the Best View
Here I am at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. This was actually my third time at the observatory. It is simply the best view of LA! Plus the observatory building itself is so cool, I enjoy just walking around and taking it all in. The next time I go to LA, I'm sure I'll make a trip up to the observatory for a forth time!

 
Coffee at a Local Coffee Shop: I actually blogged about this coffee shop in a previous blog. We got our morning coffee at Cafe Audrey while we were in Hollywood.

Sushi in LA
I had to put "sushi in LA" on the list, because I'm from a smaller town where I don't get to have it very often. My restaurant of choice was (I have to admit) influenced by the Hills. I love the show, and saw the prices at this particular locale were very reasonable. I was super happy with the sushi there, it was delicious! I would definitely go back.

See the City Lights
I love being downtown at night, amidst the city lights. We went to the the rooftop bar at the Standard Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The view was phenomenal! I may blog more about this bar later in one of my Out & About posts, but for now know that the view was fabulous. And we went on a Tuesday so there was no cover charge!

Macarons: I love macarons! These delicious little treats are no where to be found within a 100 mile radius of where I live, so I knew I had to find at least one while on vacation!

Walk of Fame
This was my second time on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, but during this trip I had more time to see some of the newer stars. The Walk is such an iconic part of Hollywood, and I love that we were able to walk around at our own pace, snapping pictures of some of our favorite celebrity stars. Here we are with Cameron Diaz's star!

Start Each Day Pool Side:  Need I say more? Each hotel we stayed at had a pool that we graced with our presence each morning of vacation!

Adult Slushy
Okay, so we had to get one of these obnoxious large adult slushies while we were in Vegas. It was a great way to fight the heat, and they tasted delicious. The flavor possibilities are countless, but I stuck with one I knew I couldn't go wrong with: margarita!

 
 VIP Club/ Rooftop Party
 These two items on the list we did at the same time. We met a club promoter who got us on the list for Pure nightclub at Caesars Palace. The best part? It was on the rooftop with awesome views of the strip, and with our VIP bracelets we got free drinks until midnight!

 
Pop Pink Champagne: I made sure to bring a bottle of pink champagne (my favorite!) to pop in our hotel for our first night in Vegas.

Cosmos at the Cosmopolitan
YUM! This was actually my second time getting cosmos at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas, but my friend wanted to put in on the list and I couldn't turn down these delicious cocktails.

 
Eat Out at New Places: This one is a given. Eating out is a huge part of being on vacation. The point of this one is to make sure that we didn't waste any opportunities to try new things. No fast food or restaurants I can have any time I want.

Try a New Drink:

My first coconut margarita (from Cabo Wabo in Las Vegas) and my first time trying Sake (from Cafe Sushi in Hollywood.) I love trying new things!

 

 

Making a travel bucket list is now going to be a vacation-planning must for me. I really feel like it helped me get everything out of my vacation.  I can't wait to make another one!



 

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Let's Decorate: Simple Ideas for the Kitchen and Dining Room

Today I've decided to share a few decorating ideas that I've used for my own kitchen and dining room.  I'm all about decorating on a budget, especially using what I already have or what has been given to me.  I'm going to start with the main focus of my dining room wall.  (My dining room is open to the living room and the kitchen, so aside from a partial wall that has a door to the deck, there is one main wall.)  Here is a picture:

The shelves were given to me from my mom, meaning they were free for me.  She had them already and never used them!  The theme of my kitchen/ dining room is wine and coffee.  This wasn't a planned theme, it's just based on things I've accumulated/ things that were given to me.  I love it though!  Here's a breakdown of each shelf:

The wine glass is from a wine tasting event put on by a club I was in during my senior year of college.  The bottle of wine is a commemorative bottle of red wine from "The Last Taste," an event that I attended (and helped plan through another club I was in) on my graduation day.  The grapes I already had from a long time ago, and the coaster I found at Goodwill for 99 cents.

I hung this little "Tuscan Olive Oil" picture above the center shelf.  It was handed down to me from my mom.  Lucky for me, I have a mother who likes to update her kitchen from time to time; meaning I get to capitalize on the things she gets rid of!  On the shelf, I made a black and white canvas simply by purchasing a blank canvas from the Kraft Warehouse along with a small sheet of fabric I liked.  I then cut the piece of fabric down and stabled it to the back of the canvas.  Very easy and fast!  The wine glass was a gift from my best friend.  It's a Breakfast at Tiffany's wine glass, so I had to use it for decorating rather than its actual purpose (since I adore Breakfast at Tiffany's.)  I put leftover gems and fake diamonds from my bridal shower inside the glass, as well as a tea light. 

The smallest shelf is the simplest.  The small white vase was 99 cents from Ikea.  I had made a bunch of "flower pens" by taping a sunflower to a pen, and I just stuck one of the pens inside the vase.  So, the white flower shown can also be used for writing. :)  The glass vase was from the dollar tree, as well as the white stones inside of it.  I placed a tea light inside as well.  Very simple and very inexpensive. 

Next I'm going to share a little project I used for my drop-down cupboards.  (Drop-down cupboards were a must, and I had a blast deciding how to decorate them.)  Here's one section of the cupboards:

 

This idea was not planned.  I was browsing at Goodwill with my mom, when we came across this four pack of silver cups that were still in the box.  We immediately thought they were adorable, and snatched them up for only $1.99.  We went to the Dollar Tree next to find some flowers to put inside.  I stuck to yellows and whites because it was summer at the time, but I am thinking about swapping them with red flowers for the holiday season.  I love how they turned out!

Here is my favorite part of my drop-down cupboards!  The two coffee "art-works" were hand-me-downs from my mom's kitchen.  The "cafe" lettering was a gift from my mom.  The wine glasses were left over from my bridal shower, and the little champagne buckets I will break down below. 

 

I love these little champagne buckets.  I found two of these little silver buckets at Goodwill for 99 cents each.  You can't tell very well from the picture, but they have grapes on them.  I knew they would be perfect for something, I just had to brainstorm!  From then I decided that I could put mini champagne bottles in them and make cute little champagne buckets!  How adorable.  The little grape hand towel was an awesome touch I found at the Dollar Tree.  They came in a two pack, which was perfect.  One for each bucket!  And finally, the mini bottles of champagne I was able to purchase in a four-pack.  I used an old hand-towel inside the bucket to position the bottles perfectly, and voila!  They are just the touch I wanted for my cupboards!

These are just a few home decorating ideas I've used in my own home that are very inexpensive.  Getting creative with things I've found at Goodwill and the Dollar Tree, plus using what I had already or what was given to me, I have been able to decorate on a budget.  More ideas to come!

 

Happy Saturday!

 

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Out & About: Cafe Audrey

On a recent trip to California, I visited Hollywood for a short time.  While doing my vacation research (looking up places to eat, see, etc) I stumbled across this adorable cafe called Cafe Audrey.  Since I wanted to veer away from the usual Starbucks, which I have all the time, I was excited to find a local cafe for my morning coffee.  After looking a little more into Cafe Audrey, I was very excited to find that it is a little cafe completely dedicated to Audrey Hepburn.  It was then that I knew I had to make this little cafe my morning coffee stop while I was in LA. 

The cafe is located on a side street that is right off of Hollywood Boulevard.  There is indoor and outdoor seating.  The decor of this cafe is really what makes it a worthwhile stop.  It is so adorable.  Here are some pictures I took while I was there:

The front of the cafe, and classic black and white decor.

This is the menu.  The prices were good- cheaper than Starbucks.

The reason I said the decor was what made this cafe visit worth it is because the coffee was just okay.  I ordered an iced vanilla latte, and I would have much rather had one from Starbucks.  It tasted good, I just don't think it was strong enough for my taste.  I probably could have asked for an extra shot of espresso and loved it just fine.  Oh well- next time I'm in the area! 

Here are our coffee drinks of choice!  Cheers! 

This wall, shown below, was my favorite part of the whole place.  What a great dedication to the classic icon!

I recommend this little coffee shop to any Audrey Hepburn fans that are in the LA area!    

  

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Wedding Details: Breakfast at Tiffany's Inspired Bridal Shower

For my second post in the "Wedding Details" series, I couldn't help but share my bridal shower.  Thanks to the advice of a creative bridesmaid, I made the decision to have a brunch inspired by one of my favorite movies, "Breakfast at Tiffany's."  With a lot of help from from friends and family, it came together perfectly.  In this post, I'm going to share all of the fun, inspired, and lovely details. 

Decorations

My bridal shower was held at my mom's house outside.  We used my parent's outdoor tent, tables borrowed from the office where I work, and chairs rented from a local party rental store.  My sister-in-law set the table beautifully, using china that she had purchased for me (my bridal shower gift!) In the center of the tent we hung a chandelier that I already had. (You, unfortunately, can't see it in the pictures.)

 

We, also, scattered fake pearls and diamonds over the table.  The centerpiece consisted of white carnations (from Safeway) in a clear vase adorned with a pink bow, and an adorable little chandelier borrowed from a coworker.  The Tiffany blue tablecloth with the white runners was a surprise from my mom and my sister-in-law, made to (of course) look like the signature Tiffany blue box.  It was perfect!

Menu 

Since my bridal shower was a brunch, the menu was important.  I wanted simple and elegant menu items.  Here is what we had:

• Fruit Tarts
• Mini Pancake Skewers
• Petit Fours (mini cakes)
• Fresh strawberries and blueberries
• Bacon, Egg, and Toast Cups
• Cake Donuts

The cake donuts below were purchased from a local bakery.  They came plain, so we bought frosting (turned pink with red food coloring.)  Pink sprinkles were the final touch!  Yum!

The donut tower was an adorable idea I coldn't resist.  I found it from a blog that is full of wonderful ideas for hosting a Breakfast at Tiffany's themed bridal shower.  Here is the link: Eat Drink Pretty Breakfast at Tiffany's bridal shower.  The bacon, egg, and toast cups were an idea I found on Pinterest.  They were simple, delicious, and provided us with something to eat that wasn't sweet.  Our menu was simple, but very tasty.  You can never go wrong with brunch!

                                                                                

 



Next, beverages. One of my favorite parts of the bridal shower was probably the mimosa bar. It was so adorable. And what is brunch without mimosas?   Our mimosa bar was made up of three options to have with champagne:  orange juice, V8 Splash tropical (makes such a yummy mimosa!) and peach juice (for bellinis.)  We also had strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries for garnishing our mimosas.  We decorated the mimosa bar with my Breakfast at Tiffanys wine glass (with fake diamonds and a tealight) and my Breakfast at Tiffany's poster.  The labels I made by simply printing directly onto pretty scrapbook paper I already had.  The other beverage options we had were sparkling pink lemonade, bottles of water, and coffee. 

 

 



Games

Games are a very important aspect to a successful bridal shower.  After all, who wants their guests to get bored?  The good news is that there are tons of great games out there that are easy and fun.  We stuck to four basic games.  The first game was an ongoing game that lasted throughout the brunch.  Upon their arrival, each guest was given a pink ribbon necklace and informed of three words that they could not say throughout the shower, or they would lose their necklace.  The three words were my groom's name, wedding, and marry (in any form.)  If someone was caught saying any of these words, the person who caught them got to take their necklace.  At the end, whoever had the most necklaces won a prize. 

The next game was the purse game, one of my favorites.  One of my bridesmaids had compiled a list of things that she read off, and we had to look in our purses to see how many of the random objects we had.  It was similar to a scavenger hunt.  It was so entertaining to see the random things that we all had in our purses.  At the end the pair that had the most items in their purse got to pick a prize. 

 

 

We also played the classic "How well do you know the bride and groom" game.  This one is self-explanatory.  The last game we played was the "toilet paper wedding gown" game!  This was too much fun.  The guests broke up into three teams and had rolls of toilet paper to design an award-winning bridal gown on their appointed team model.  The best part?  Since I was the bride, I got to be the judge!  After the teams had five minutes to create their dresses, the models had to strut their stuff for all of us as I decided which team won.  This game is a bridal shower must!
 

Details

I love details.  They really can make something good, great.  Here are just a few details from here and there that helped make my bridal shower special. 

These champagne flutes were favors for the guests at my shower.  My maid of honor and I used chalkboard spray paint to spray paint the bottom of the glasses so that we could use them as place cards as well.  We put a small bag filled with after dinner mints inside the glass as well.  They were adorable and very simple favors!  Champagne flutes were a neccessity as well because we had champagne, and since I didn't want to buy a lot of champagne flutes for myself, it made sense to turn them into favors and let the guests take them home.

 

Another favor (which was also a dessert item) were rose and salted caramel flavored macarons in adorable Tiffany inspired gift boxes. This was such a special detail that was absolutely perfect for the shower. I love macarons! And these boxes were fabulous. My mom found and ordered them online. They were a great find!

Below is the gift table.  We decorated it with white and pink balloons, pink peonies, and white carnations.  We also placed a couple heart candles by the vases as well.

 

 I found these beautiful pink peonies at Coscto.  They were very inexpensive and absolutely ideal as they are my favorite flower.  They are stunning.  These lovelies were decorations for the buffet table.



 

Here, two of my lovely bridesmaids are making my "bouquet" out of all of the tissue, bows, and ribbons from the bridal shower.  The bouquet is for me to use at my rehearsal dinner.

 

And then, finally, below is a picture of my maid of honor and myself.  The last details are fun details for the bride.  My maid of honor got this adorable bride to be sash for me which I was to wear at my bachelorette party.  Below I am also wearing a giant diamond ring pin, and a cute tiara that says bride to be, both gifts from my mom.

 

  

For me, planning an event is just as fun as attending one.  I love all of the details and possibilities.  Needless to say, I had such a great time at my Breakfast at Tiffany's inspired bridal shower!



 

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Happy Saturday!

I just love Saturday mornings.  They are perfect, knowing you have two whole days off to enjoy.  I adore getting up early and actually enjoying my morning, rather than rushing to get ready for work.  My favorite Saturday mornings consist of coffee and Friends [my absolute favorite TV show.]  Today I have a relaxing Saturday planned.  Here is my to do list for the day:

 

Sounds like a pretty good day, right?  I wish all days could be this relaxing!  Happy Saturday all! 

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Wedding Details: Invitations and Bouquet

Today is the 1st of November, and I am starting a series of posts here and there about my wedding that was in June.  The details of the day were so overwhelming, but so exciting and fun to plan.  There were things that didn't turn out like I thought they would, and things that turned out better than I could have ever hoped.  For this post I am going to share my invitations and my bouquet, two vital details of the big day. 

The invitations were very hard to pick out, mainly because they are so expensive.  Or at least they can be.  $6.99 per invite, when ultimately they are going to be thrown away by the person invited?  No thank you.  I browsed a lot of great websites and found a lot of beautiful invitations, many of which were thoughtfully designed and would go perfectly with my vintage and antique inspired wedding.  But none of them fit the budget.  Invitations were just not something I wanted to spend the extra money on.  The invites I ended up choosing were Brides Ivory Invitations.  It was a little scary purchasing them since I had never seen them in person, but thankfully it worked out.  They were beautiful and very inexpensive.  They are print-yourself, but the huge plus for us was that the company we work for offered for us to use the work printer for our printing, meaning we didn't have to pay for ink for the 125 invitations!  Here are a couple pictures of our printed invites:

 Photography by Stephanie Fry Photography

 

My bouquet was exactly what I wanted.  I had always dreamed of a bouquet of all peonies, but due to the seasonality of the beautiful flower, I didn't think I would ever actually get one.  Two nights before the wedding, one of my bridesmaids and I were at Safeway to pick up a few things.  We happened to walk past the floral department when I saw beautiful pink peonies!  I was shocked. I never knew that Safeway carried them.  On top of it, they were inexpensive, at around $9.99 for six stems. 

     I was very lucky to have crafty bridesmaids to help me make my bouquet.  (And when I say help, I mean I told them what I wanted and they made it for me.  I'm a lucky girl!)  I knew that I wanted the stems to be wrapped in lace, something I had thought about long before the big day.  I had a solid lace shirt that I had purchased a long time ago and hardly wore.  I ended up setting it aside months before the wedding, knowing that I wouldn't mind cutting it up for my bouquet.  It worked perfectly.

     The last touch I really wanted was a vintage looking brooch to pin to the lace.  This ended up being just as much a "miracle find" as the peonies at Safeway.  On a visit to a local antique shop, I was looking through all of the jewelery cases, knowing I had a specific look in mind.  I ended up finding the perfect one for right around $5.00.  So, all in all, my bouquet was no more than $25.00, and it was my dream bouquet.  Perfection.

 

 Photography by Stephanie Fry Photography

More wedding details to come! 



 



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