Perfect Holiday Treats

Let's face it, I've been cooking and baking a little less frequently lately since we've had some slight changes--understatement of the year. However, with the holidays in full swing, I can't help but want to get back in the kitchen with my apron on to whip up some tasty, festive treats...today, I am linking up with Natasha over at Schue Love for the Christmas Cheer Party:

Candy Cane Kiss Cookies via Recipe Girl

Peppermint Bark Rice Krispies via Our Best Bites

Pistachio Cupcakes via The Girl Who Ate Everything

Candy Cane Punch via Taste of Home

Reindeer Corn Cookie Bark via Your Home-Based Mom

Frozen Peppermint Cheesecake via Smuckers

Peppermint Crunch Milk Chocolate Cookies
from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

Can you tell I'm just a girl who loves anything and everything peppermint? I can't seen to get enough!

Fall Food Fun

When I think of fall, I think of anything you can throw in a crockpot, apples freshly picked from the orchard, soups and hot appetizer dips to keep you warm on chilly nights, and of course, anything and everything pumpkin! I browsed near and far to feature some of the best fall recipes out there. Some of these have already been "taste tested" recently, and I assure you they do not disappoint!

Jalapeno Popper Dip via My Baking Addiction {I made this for the party on Sunday...really tasty if you love spicy food--perfect to serve with french baguette slices}

Chili Cheese Dip via How To Simplify

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Frosting via The Girl Who Ate Everything

Caramel Apple Bread Pudding via Our Best Bites

Bobby's Lighter Tastes Like Lasagna Soup via Paula Deen

Pumpkin Pancakes via How To Simplify

Apple Coleslaw with Poppyseed Dressing via Tasty Kitchen

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken via Chef Mommy

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars via Mels Kitchen Cafe

Frito Corn Salad via Paula Deen {Taylor made it as a dip...AMAZING!}

What are your go-to recipes for fall? If you've got the recipe or know the ingredients, I am always looking for new things to try, so please send it my way.

Days 6 and 7...Five Foods and Four Books

Five Foods
As a lover of all different types of yummy eats and treats, this will come as no surprise that this list is an easy one to complete:
1. Watermelon--I crave watermelon all the time, most especially during the summer...my absolute favorite fruit!!
2. Steak...this girl loves her protein and we are constantly grilling steak at home, or ordering when we go out to dinner
3. Strawberry Cake--if I had to eat one sweet, it would be my grandmother's homemade strawberry cake with strawberry icing...it's what she always makes for me when I come to visit and I can never get enough!
4. Guacamole...a recent new love, but whenever I get it into my head that I want it, I have to have it. Lucky for us Nashville has great places to order the REAL stuff
5. Cinnamon Toast Crunch...not my daily cereal, but when I want a special bowl in the mornings, this is what I go for--not to mention it's the perfect topping for vanilla ice cream too ;)

Four Books

This girl has come to love reading a lot more now than when I was in school...quite possibly because reading about "Who Moved My Cheese?" or the War of 1812 isn't as juicy as some of what I consider to be "entertaining":

1. Bergdorf Blondes...will forever and always be my favorite book--hilariously funny and a perfect girly read

2. The Help--I'm sure this will top a lot of other ladies' lists as well--great book about the south to see just how far we've come in dealing with segregation

3. The Five People You Meet in Heaven...want a quick read that will grab you at page 1 and holds your attention the entire time? This is the book for you--really makes you stop and think about life and the people surrounding you

4. 30 Days to Live...Jeff and I started reading this book when we started dating and couldn't put it down--it's all about the "what if" scenario of what you would do with your life if you found out you only had 30 days to live...very thought provoking and makes you take nothing for granted

Food, Family, and Friends

The highlights of this weekend...simple pleasures with great friends, the best family, and endless amounts of food. That's what Independence Day is all about, right? This was the 1st  low key holiday weekend we've had in quite some time and it was so nice to be at home sweet home....alas I feel rested. Here's a short recap:

First of all, I got a sweet little drop-off at our house late last week! I finally said goodbye to my old Jeep and said hello to my first new car! A bit bittersweet, but Jeff and I knew it was time for a new addition because my car was starting to have major "issues"... I'm so thankful to now have a nice, reliable car...just have to watch my lead foot on the gas pedal ;).

bye bye old friend

and the new wheels...2012 Acura TL

Saturday, we spent the day running errands, stocking up on groceries, picking out new bedding for our master room {pictures below!}, and then went to Franklin for the afternoon to eat at one of our favorite places, Puckett's Grocery...this place is famous and you must go! That night, we grilled out seafood and rented Hall Pass--hilarious, but crude and perfect for a date night in.

Sunday we were up early to spend all day with the parent's at their neighborhood pool. Notice below what Jeff is stocking up on for "adult beverage" time...haha! Finally, I got some more sun--that honeymoon tan was starting to fade and now I feel bronzed again.

That night, we did the all American thing and cooked out simple, but delicious hot dogs and hamburgers--complete with potato salad, deviled eggs, baked beans, corn on the cob, and my homemade strawberry cake with ice cream... I am proud to be an American! We finished the night with our favorite thing...cards!! Poker and Hearts and the competitors in all of us came out--yes, we hate to lose at anything.

the cabana lady aka mom

 where's my beach ball??

For our last day of "staycation", Jeff played golf all day with Mr. Gray and Mom and I did the thing we love to do...shop. A new umbrella for our back deck and some new outdoor pillows for the side porch and we called it a successful day. Then I headed home to finish putting up the new bedding for our room and then had the Grays over for dinner...lots of laughter, fun, a few bottles of wine, and neighborhood fireworks with Ryan and Rachel--fabulous ending to the weekend!

And here is the new bedding updates for our master bedroom...

New duvet, coverlet, shams, and accent pillows via West Elm

 Love the new pop of the hot melon pantone color

Happy Tuesday bloggy friends...back tomorrow with another wedding recap, too:
this week's destination THE HONEYMOON!!

The Best Day Ever...Out of Town Gift Bags

Finally, right? Another wedding recap...I'm hoping I can get through at least one of these a week or until I receive all of my fabulous wedding pictures!! I'm hoping I can swoon my photogs with some baked goodies or something of that nature ;).
When I started thinking about OOT gift bags, I knew I wanted something that screamed Nashville...also known as Music City USA. I had very specific items I wanted to include, and started off on my quest to purchase fun items to make these unique for guests that were sweet enough to travel to TN for our big day. Without further adieu, here they are:

The finished products...all lined up and ready to be delivered to the hotels

Now backing up to the assembly and what items were in each takeaway tote:

Goo Goo Clusters--a Tennessee staple

Mini Jack Daniels bottles--no explanation needed

Goody's Headache Powder Packets--for the day after ;)

Music City Mix CD made by Dad--check out the CD label

Bottled Water with personalized labels

 Homemade Late Night Munchies Mix--popcorn, M&Ms, peanuts, and coated with melted almond bark...so addictive

Homemade Mini TN Jam Cakes--made by Mom and the perfect sweet treat!

Trident White Gum

Spirit of Nashville Postcards

Custom Wedding Itinerary--complete with a listing of our favorite places to eat, shop, and visit as well as detailed directions to the church

The weekend before the wedding, Meg/Aaron, Mom/Dad, and  Jeff and Igot to work on baking/mixing, and getting the items ready to be packaged and then Mom and I made ourselves a small assembly line Wednesday night...we were a machine making sure everything was just perfect and I just loved how they turned out!

For the custom water bottle labels, munchie tags, stickers, and itineraries, I worked with the fabulous Mekala from Tie That Binds.

She helped me achieve the exact look I was going for to tie these small details into the overall color scheme and look of our invitations. Ladies, she is WONDERFUL to work with and you can see more of her designs on her blog here.  {P.S. I'll have more to show you from her when I recap the rehearsal dinner, too!}

As for the other items, I found these all around Nashville and online:

Kraft tote shopping bags: Michael's

Bright yellow tissue paper: Hobby Lobby

Cello bags for munchie mix/mini jam cakes: Nashville Wraps--available to purchase online

Raffia ribbon for mix: Nashville Wraps/Hobby Lobby

Retro Nashville postcards--Spirit of Nashville

Goo Goo Clusters: Cracker Barrel

The Best Day Ever...Bridal Brunch Recap

Here it is friends...my very first wedding weekend review. Pardon me for all of the photo-heavy posts to come, though, I wanted to make sure we captured every little bit so that one day I can hopefully accomplish the task of making my own wedding scrapbook to pass on for future generations. Cheesy, I know ;).
Some posts will have to wait, i.e. the rehearsal dinner, getting ready with my girls, the actual wedding, and reception, as those were left up to the professionals we hired, but here is a little sneak peak into how the beautiful weekend began.

Mom and I wanted to celebrate the morning before the craziness with a homestyle Bridal Brunch for my wonderful bridesmaids, friends, and family with a simple brunch at my parent's house. We started off with the invitations which screamed southern and feminine sophistication  and then carried the moss green and white color scheme throughout.
Here is the invitation we chose via Minted:

Then we decided to take matters into our own hands and work with one of our favorite places here in Nashville for our light, but yummy morning treats and tastings, Puffy Muffin. We ordered quiche, their infamous poppyseed bread, fruit salad, pastries and danish, chicken salad and pimiento cheese sandwiches, salad, and gourmet carrot cake...all incredible! We then created a bar packed with pomegranate, pineapple, and orange juice for a do-it-yourself champagne cocktail treat complete with berries and fruit. Here is the finished product:

For the tablescape, we ventured to Import Flowers of Nashville to select the flowers and then lucky for me I had my 2 best friends over the Thursday night before to arrange each and every stem...so much fun! Here is the finished table complete with personalized place cards and my Mom's formal china for my girls to dine in style.

After we ate, I surprised the girls with their gifts...for each of my bridesmaids, I bought them monogrammed natural burlap beach totes, flip flops to use at the reception, matching custom earrings I designed with a vendor on Etsy, custom patterned clutches/jewelry rolls, and monogrammed waffle wraps. I think they loved their gifts and I was so happy to be able to shower them for all they had done for me prior to and during the wedding weekend.

In addition, I also had Mom a little something as a big thank you for 1) being the most spectacular wedding planning partner, and 2) to let her know just how much I love her. This is when the tears started to flow, as I surprised her with a 14K gold wedding bell charm to add to her most prized possession-- her charm bracelet in which she adds one charm for each major vacation she goes on and big life events such as this. She was over the moon happy and said it was the perfect gift to remind her of such a joyous occasion and then she opened the personalized handmade handkerchef I bought for her, my new mother-in-law Kaye, and my grandmother, which were big hits as well. Happy times for important women in my life.

Then the photoshoot started...gorgeous weather, gorgeous friends, and it made me realize the fun was really about to start and that the wedding weekend had officially kicked off!!

Hope you enjoyed! This is so much fun looking back on such a joyous occasion that my heart just melts...and the really good stuff is yet to come! Next up, one of my favorite tasks--the out of town bag gifts for all of our travelling guests.

As always, happy to answer any questions you have--I worked with some great businesses for gifts and such, and would love to help other brides-to-be with any and all wedding planning.

Happy Thursday!!