5 on Friday - Confessional {6/26}

Its Friday!

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1. I confess that wedding planning is taking over my life

I love event planning, but with less than two months left, wedding planning is out of control. I am a terrible mix of stressed out and way excited. I pretty much want to cry 24/7. This week we finalized some details, and I spent almost two hours on the phone with the wedding coordinator. I seriously would die without her. 

2. I confess I am in a love/hate relationship with my new FitBit

Remember when I asked about the FitBit? I bought it and I LOVE it! It was really motivated me to take the stairs, take laps around my office, and generally move more. The only sad thing is how little steps I take. If I don't run, I confess that I barely hit 10k. Clearly my desk job is great for my health. 

3. I confess that I am spending my entire summer at a wedding. And not my own. 

I am off again this weekend to a wedding. This time in Texas! I am excited to see some family while I am in town, and to celebrate the wedding with friends :) 

4. I confess that I ate an apple, feta, and a slice of peanut butter toast for dinner last night. 

I really have reached no lows, y'all. AR is out at dinner and I can only make toast. This week, I shared all of my summer food bucket list items - what to make, what new resturants to try. Yet here I am, eating toast. 

5. I confess that I ordered these shorts on my phone during lunch this week. 

I have been wanting these shorts, but they were $75 (and I need more shorts like I need a hole in the head). I happened to be stalking the website check them yesterday and they were on sale for $22 - win!!! They look super cute, so lets hope I love them when they get here. 

x0x0, 

Hannah

Linking up with Leslie and April!

Summer Food Bucket List

Summer is in full swing, and AR and I have a ton of things we want to do. Despite traveling to a million weddings – and having our own – we want to take part in all the summer fun Atlanta has to offer.

Last summer, we joined the game too late and missed out on some awesome events. This summer, I’ve compiled a list of must-do and must-eat events for us to enjoy, and some things for us to try at home J

Atlanta Street Food Festival - July 11, 2015

This event is SO much fun. We stopped by at the end last summer and were blown away. If you love a good food truck, this has your name all over it. Grab some friends, pack some sunscreen, and explore Piedmont Park with lots of yummy eats.

Learn to Make Sangria

I LOVE sangria and want to finally make my own. I am going to try this recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction (her recipes never fail me!). 

Image Via

Atlanta Downtown Restaurant Week - July 18-26, 2015

AR and I LOVE restaurant weeks. We’ve participaited in Midtown Restaurant Week and Virginia Highlands Restaurant Week.

It’s a great way to try new places and get some awesome deals. Each restaurant that participates will have set menus for $15, $25, or $35, allowing for the perfect sampling of menu items.

On our list? Alma Cocina ($35 dinner) and Café 458 ($15 brunch for two!). I confess, we’ve been to Alma more times than I can count… but it is SO good!

Take a class at the Irwin Street Cooking School

Specifically, we want to do a Knife Skills class (I’ve been saying we will do that for years now. We need to). I also want to do a Couples Cooking Class. We did this for Valentine’s Day last year and totally loved it. It’s a different kind of date night, and we both learned some new skills.

Have our final menu tasting

So can't wait for this. I loved everything we selected for our wedding, so tasting the final items will be amazing. 

Atlanta Ice Cream Festival - July 25, 2015

So last year I missed this event – but I saw the leftover ice cream containers at the park and knew it had my name all over it. Ice Cream? In July? In Piedmont Park? I’m in.

Image and Recipe via

Taste of Atlanta - September 25-27, 2015

This is late in the summer, but Taste of Atlanta is right in Midtown and a fun event! We explored the event last year and plan to attend again this year.

What do you want to eat this summer? Share you summer food must-haves bellow! If you aren't in Atlanta, you can use Eventbrite to find events going on in your area (or snag tickets to the ones I listed above). They also allow their users to set up and sell tickets to their own events for free!

Share your favorite summer eating traditions bellow! 

Hannah 

Weekending {6/22}

Oh Monday. You come too soon.

This was the first weekend AR and I were both home in four weeks. It was also our 4 year anniversary, and the two month mark until our wedding! Cue excitement and stress!!

Friday started with office lunch at Krog Street Market. I ate falafel and veggies at Yalla with a group from my office. This place has been on my eating bucket list for several months now, and I was glad to try it finally.

After work, AR and I went to Antico for pizza. Oh my gosh, it was so so good. We went at about 8pm and there was no line, which was shocking. Afterwards, we headed to Whole Foods to get grocery shopping done.

Don't laugh. We got drinks (wine for me, beer for him), and enjoyed the empty store and no lines. So much better than Saturday afternoon craziness.

Saturday
Crepes at the Farmers Market. Long Run. Manicure. We ordered Aaron's tuxedo for the wedding and finalized all the accessories for the groomsmen. I can't wait to see Aaron in his tux. I love a man all dressed up :)

We went out Saturday night for our 4 year anniversary and tried a new place in Decatur. We went electronics free, so no photos, but we sampled fried grit tater tots, brussel sprouts, braised kale, and grilled asparagus. AR has a pork chop, but I stuck will all the yummy veggies. For dessert? Peach pie. I would totally recommend the Pinewood. It is just simple, good food, and the cocktail list is exceptional.

This photo is from our first year dating.
It makes me laugh every time I look at it.

Sunday
Neither one of us was feeling good - which was made clear when I slept for over 10 hours on Saturday night. After homemade biscuits and turkey bacon, we headed to a coffee shop to work and read.

Do you still celebrate the day you and your significant other met?

x0x0, 

Hannah

Thanks for hosting the link-up, Biana and Meghan!

Our Engagement Photos

AR and I had an easy time choosing our wedding photographer... kind of. I went though a million Atlanta wedding photographers, scheduled meetings, and couldn't find my fit.

I had been following Jennifer Blair on instagram for a while (her work is incredible), and she was a friend of a friend. One day, she posted a photo of a wedding and I thought "thats is it, this is who I want to do our wedding." I caller her up, never imagining that she would agree to come to Atlanta for our wedding!

Needless to say, I am thrilled that we are working with her. We went to Savannah in May and spent the morning at Forsyth Park and Wormsloe Plantation. Here are a few of my favorites:

Photo Credit: Jennifer Blair Photography :: Website :: Blog ::

x0x0, 

Hannah

Five on Friday {7/19}

Happy to be linking on today for some weekend action. Does anyone else feel like summer is flying by? It is ridiculous!

1. Engagement Photos
Remember when I told you that AR and I were heading to Savannah to shoot our engagement photos? Well, the photographer has been teasing us with instagram snaps for the last two weeks. We finally saw the final photos this week and I die.

 I will share more of my favorites tomorrow, but these were a few I just couldn't wait for. You can see our photographer's favorites on her blog post here.
If you are planning a wedding, please reach out to Jennifer Blair. Y'all, this woman is the real deal. She is amazingly talented and the sweetest person. And she travels all over for weddings, just sayin' :)

2. FitBit Flex
I just ordered a FitBit Flex (they are $20 off at Target right now!). I pick mine up today. Any thoughts on these? I need a cute case, because the black rubber is not adorable. Ideas?

3. Miami Bachelorette
I went to Miami last weekend with 5 amazing girlfriends. We had such a great time! We stayed at the Biltmore, spent some time at the pool, had a spa day, and went out on South Beach.

4. This Recipe
AR and I tried this recipe for Lentil and Chickpea Stew this week. It cooked up perfectly in the crockpot (we did double the peppers - but we like spicy) and we enjoyed it with brown rice. Yum!

5. Weekend Plans
AR and I celebrate 4 years this weekend!! We met in a coffee shop in Houston, Texas on Father's Day 2011. Who would have thought we would be getting married 4 years later?
This is our first weekend together in three weeks, so we plan to celebrate with a trip to the farmers market, a long run, and a date night on Saturday :)

What are you doing this weekend? 

Do you use a fitness tracker? What are your thoughts?

x0x0, 

Hannah

Thanks for hosting the linkup ladies!

Countdown to the Wedding: June Goals

First of all, I want to confess that I did a terrible job on my wedding goals in May. Really terrible. But that is okay, June is here and I am going to be on top of it!

Lets review May:

May Goals

• Book the rehearsal dinner location - done! We are heading to a favorite local spot :)
• Schedule venue walkthrough with the planner and florist.
• Take engagement photos in Savannah - ahh! Read about that here. 
• Buy tickets for Miami bachelorette. Heading out on Friday night and I can't wait!!!
• Attend first marriage preparation session with our pastor. - scheduled! but not done. 
• Plan farewell brunch for the Saturday after the wedding. 
• Continue 5-6 workouts a week with 3 strength training and 3 cardio sessions a week. Class Pass has been amazing for this and I can really feel the results!
• Amp up skincare routine, including deep cleanses and exfoliating. 
• Book mini-moon hotel. - we picked the hotels (we are doing two), but haven't confirmed yet. Oops. 
• Finish our wedding registry.

So I didn't get everything done.... But I did complete some things that were not on the list, like getting my wedding dress in (AHHHHHHH), and getting our invitations ordered and delivered. 

For June, I need to check off the last few bigger details so I cam focus on finalizing decor and little details in July. June is a really hectic month for AR and I - we are traveling 3 weekends during the month. I want to make sure July is a time to relax and enjoy each other. 

June Goals:

• Schedule venue walkthrough with the planner and the florist
• Attend marriage preparation session with our pastor
• Plan farewell brunch for Saturday after the wedding
• Take invitations to calligrapher for envelope addresses 
• Mail invitations
• Order the cake(s)
• Choose AR's tux 
• Schedule dress fittings with alterations
• Finalize reservations for our mini-moon 
• Finalize hair & make-up and schedule trial run 
• Have an amazing time in Miami with my girls! 
• Pick out my wedding shoes to take with me to alterations 
• Send out checks for 60-days before wedding payments 
• Check with hotel on reservations and remind guests to book their rooms!
• Pick out wedding bands for AR and I! 
• Plan signage with the calligrapher and planner 
• Continue working out 6-days a week and eat healthy. Limit sweets to weekends only. 

Whew, that is quite a list! I am a little overwhelmed by how many things I have left to do, honestly. Wedding planning has so many little details, I swear. 

x0x0, 

Hannah 

--Image via

Weekending... lately {6/8}

Happy Monday gang! I've missed posting my weekend for like THREE weeks in a row - fail - so this is more of a "weekends of late" post than one weekend.

I should start by saying that this weekend was gloriously boring. AR went on his bachelor party to New Orleans and I had a wonderful time staying home alone.
I ordered hummus and soup from my fav takeout place on Friday night, opened a bottle of wine, and had some excellent RHWNY binge watching. I did an early morning long run on Saturday all by myself. I finalized wedding details. I went to lots of yoga classes. It was great.

But on to more exciting weekends...

{5/22-5/24} Savannah 
AR and I went to Savannah two weeks ago for our engagement photos. We absolutely LOVE our wedding photographer and can't wait to get the photos back (check out her work - is is amazing!).

We stayed on the river front, which was absolutely perfect.
AR organized dinner on Friday night, and we enjoyed
an amazingly decadent meal at Vic's 

One of the locations we shot at on Saturday morning
{Wormsloe Plantaiton}

Another gorgeous location shooting location
{Forsyth Park}

Exploring on our own after the photo shoot. First stop? brunch!

Day trip to Tybee Island for some beach time.
It was absolutely gorgeous weather. 

Story behind the trip: We were scheduled to take photos on either Friday night or Saturday morning. I was hoping for Friday night because of lighting, so AR left work early and we headed for Savannah around 1pm. Normally, this ride takes us 3.5 hours. But, traffic and construction were a MESS and we drove for almost 7 hours. It was honestly so terrible.

I called Jennifer almost in tears and she was so sweet to reschedule with us for the next morning. Bless her heart! We started at 8am on Saturday to get some good lighting, and it still turned out great, thankfully :)

{5/29-5/31} Chicago & Cake Tasting

I started a new job at the end of May. I am summering at an awesome firm and it is a dream come true to work there. I started my training in Chicago on Memorial Day:

Chicago River on my first night in the city

This view is everything

Then of course, when I got back, we did some cake tasting... I will be blogging about our cake selection process this week!

Starting from the top: strawberry, Kentucky bourbon, red velvet, champagne.

AR always likes cream cheese frosting :)

Too many flavors to name!
Highlights: almond, cream cheese cake, chocolate chip, lemon, and marble.

What was the best wedding cake you have ever tasted? Flavor? Icing? Filling?

Where did are/are you taking your engagement photos?

x0x0, 

Hannah