Life

Latest Obsessions 06.17

| The Bee Life

Happy Friday!  Here are my latest obsessions for the month of June, a hodgepodge of personal and some new music faves for you to try!

Latest Obsessions 06.17 - the bee life

Our Patio.  Full disclosure, this was a project that B wanted done 10x more than I did (full reveal to be posted next week!), but I am so glad we did it. It’s like night and day, and we spend so much time out there. I can’t wait for more summer nights with friends, grilling out, plenty of laughs and drinks to go around! Not to mention, Moz loves it too.

Working Out. Yes. I’m finally there, pushing myself and making myself get out of bed when I really wanted to sleep in (like this morning) and on those hot summer days after work.  It’s that making that decision to say yes, and do it versus saying no and regretting. Our wedding countdown is getting shorter and shorter, and I still have big goals to hit – so I need to keep conquering them all!

Witness. Katy Perry’s newest CD officially hit the stores 2-weeks ago, and since I got concert tickets for her upcoming tour, Katy sent CD’s straight to my door!  This has been my new jam in the car, my favorite songs are Hey Hey Hey, Roulette and Swish Swish.   Also if you’re looking for some good music my two go-to playlists on Spotify are “Today’s Top Hits” and “Cardio”

Share what you’ve been obsessing over in the comments below! I want to know!!

Weddings: Creating Your Sweetheart Table

| The Bee Life

One trend that seems to be increasingly popular is the idea of a sweetheart table for the bride and groom. I’ve read a few articles about the pros and cons of having a sweetheart table, and I am sure each bride and groom have their own reasons. For us, it’s simple. We have a small bridal party, and I think it would silly to make them sit without their sig-o’s at a table! Plus I love the idea of B and I having our own intimate spot to sit together and watch the magic of our wedding unfold.

And since we’re doing a sweetheart table, I wanted to do it right, which means pulling in the key elements to really make a statement with our table. Those key pieces to help make your sweetheart table standout are; the chair(s), floral accents, pop of personalization, and placement. Creating Sweetheart Table - the bee lifeThe Chair: Consider a furniture rental vendor that has awesome vintage chairs or a bold settee, these will stand out from the rest of your chairs in the venue signifying these are for the bride and groom.

Floral Accents: My personal favorite for a sweetheart table is a garland floral arrangement. This adds texture and depth to your table, while also calling it to be different from the rest of the tables.  Also consider bold arrangements that could be placed along side the tables or back flanking the space.

Pop of Personalization: The go-to seems to be adding Mr. & Mrs. on top of the table or a sign hanging from the back of the chairs. But consider other meaning full words that might be used or even using the initial of your new last name to make a bold pop.

Placement: When considering all of these elements for your sweetheart table, think about where this will be – if you’re going to have signs on the back of your chairs, will your chairs be in a place that others will be able to view and admire? Is a floral arch behind your table going to flow with the space or look out of place?  You can also work to make your sweetheart table to be the focal point of the venue if it’s lack luster our outdoors.

Pulling these key elements together will create a special place for you and your groom to dine to enjoy your first meal as husband and wife! Happy planning!

Image Source Inspiration: Top Left | Top Right | Bottom Left | Bottom Right

Weekend Recap – Now This Is Summer.

| The Bee Life

The weather this past weekend was quintessential summer; sunshine, cloudless skies with a mix of patio drinks, a summer festival and friends. Friday night was a late one, celebrating a much needed Cavs win in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. But we will leave it at that.

Saturday was spent doing things around the house, and then dinner and drinks on the impressively large patio at Collision Bend Brewery – the latest hot spot in CLE.  With a well known chef, like Zack Bruell behind the business, this place was bumping. We had a great spot outside, but under the awning, perfect views of the river and the warm night.  We ordered a mixture of food to share with the table, but the standouts were the roasted brussels sprouts, oven roasted mixed olives, and the salami and green olive pizza. They had a great selection of beers and cocktails, although I opted for some Rose.  We will definitely be going back to soak in more drinks and the fabulous patio.

Sunday we enjoyed some more local food at the Taste of Lakewood, an annual event that has transformed over the years, and is now a free event to the public offering tasty snacks at affordable prices to sample. We had VIP tickets, which for a toasty sunny day was the perfect way to enjoy the festival feel, without fighting the lines, sore feet and the glaring sun. With VIP we were in a private tent, with plenty of tables and able to order 2-different food vendors, that volunteers would run and cut the lines to collect! Not to mention, 2-drink tickets with our own private bar. Our neighbors joined us, so it was a nice little outing to break up our Sunday afternoon.

Beyond the summer cold, I’ve been fighting off it was a pretty great weekend with lots of sunshine, friends/family, and just enough nap time in between all of that!

Cheers to the first real summer weekend!

The Truth: Weddings & Registries

| The Bee Life

It’s that time of the year again, wedding season! And with every wedding season, comes the cycle of bridal showers, multiple registries to review, and the actual wedding gift…  As a bride-to-be this upcoming fall, and a guest to four-weddings before then, I feel your pain! But here are answers that will help ease some of those questions and help you conquer all your gifts with success this wedding season!
Weddings & Registries Guide - the bee life
The Gift. If you’re like me, you’re often conflicted with wanting to give the couple something unique and not on the registry.  But I’ve also heard from many past brides/friends say; “I just want the stuff off my registry!” I always thought buying off the registry was boring! But, news flash, it’s not about you or me!

Ultimately it comes down to knowing the bride/couple.  Will they like something specific and personalized if you stray from the registry? Or are they picky and have a specific style, so it’s best to just buy off the registry?  When in doubt, buy off the registry.

Money. Yes, it is tacky to talk about money, but it’s a topic many people struggle with, myself included! How much is enough? Especially if you’re attending four or more weddings in one year!  So I did a little research, and asked my friends and fellow brides-to-be. The consensus for a bridal shower gift was around $50. Although, there is an exception if you’re in the wedding party/close family friend.

Okay, so now how much for the wedding? The going response was basically covering the cost per person/per plate. As you can imagine, this could vary depending on the city, venue, type of food, but a low, but safe baseline is about $50 per person. So between you and your hot date, grand total/minimum of $100. But again, this all depends if you’re in the wedding party, family, or simply just a guest!

The Wedding. So back to that $100 for the wedding gift.  Do you just write a fat check? Or do you head back to that registry for more goodies?  Well consider this; a box of envelopes is much easier to transport after the wedding for whoever gets stuck with gift duty vs. 50+ different sized presents. Also, logistically as the guest, lugging around a gift during the ceremony and cocktail hour might not be the most enjoyable! The couple will most likely buy items they didn’t get off their registry (with a discount) with that cash anyways. So when it comes to the wedding, stick with cash/check.

Before I dived into all my registries, I jokingly talked about creating an online fund for our kitchen remodel! But I found something better, Zola Registry! Zola is a one stop shop for planning the big day, registering for your standard gifts from a number of known/unique brands, but also allowing couples to register for experiences, trips, and personalized cash funds for a kitchen remodel or honeymoon!

As a bride-to-be that has spent many hours searching for the perfect pieces, I’m learning a new found respect for gifting off registries and knowing when it’s okay to just gift with cash.

Happy Wedding Season!

Weekend Recap – College Showers

| The Bee Life

This past weekend was a good mix of work and fun.

We started yet another house project Friday afternoon, even though we’re working with contractors, so we aren’t doing too much of the heavy lifting, just heavily babysitting. *winks*  But that should be finished up by tomorrow, so fingers crossed we got all the snafu’s worked out.  Don’t worry I’ll share the full project at a later date! Friday night we attended a watch party to watch the Cavs murder the Celtics in game two of the Eastern Conference finals, only to watch them loose at a buzzer beater last night. *grrrr*

Saturday after some of the babysitting stress subsided, we made it out of the house, over to our friend’s to celebrate her 30th! The theme of the night was “party like you’re in college” so there was plenty of drinking games and even a keg of beer.  In order to keep on theme for the night, we gifted the birthday girl with a t-shirt that read; “I Can’t Adult Today” it was perfect! We of course partook in some of the “college party” fun and ran the beer pong table for a few games before we retired and became spectators, mainly because we lost to a few cheaters (you know who you are.) It was a lot of fun, although B and I definitely didn’t party like we were in college. #adulting

Love & Mimosas
Happy 30th Lauren!
Work in Progress
Presents!
Besties with Baby Ash

Sunday was one of my bestie’s bridal showers.  It was fun catching up with friends and meeting a lot of her family! It was a beautiful shower with mimosas and lots of sweets, so it was extra perfect. A was spoiled with all of her beautiful gifts, because she has amazing taste. I can’t wait for her wedding in July!

On a side note, I can’t believe this next weekend is Memorial Day – where did May go?! What are your favorite May memorials of 2017?

XO

TBT – #CoakleyEverAfter

| The Bee Life

This Throwback Thursday is all about my bestie, and the day she married Travis.  As their first anniversary quickly approaches (this Sunday!) I wanted to take a walk down memory lane and share some pictures that weren’t shared last year on #CoakleyEverAfter – Part 1 and #CoakleyEverAfter – Part 2! All the events leading up to the big day, were amazing from the bridal shower to the bachelorette party, to weekends planning and prepping centerpieces.  And then the wedding, it was so beautiful and perfect, because it was my best friend’s wedding.  I’m so lucky to have been so involved and closely by Katie’s side the whole day! I can’t wait for her to do the same on my wedding.
tbt - coakleyeverafter - the bee life
Happy first Anniversary Katie & Travis!

Some photos included are by: Iburi Photography

Six.

| The Bee Life

Today mark’s six years with B and about 6-months until we’re married (!!!) and although we will have a new anniversary, this will always be our first.

As we’ve been prepping for our wedding with vendors, meetings, and security deposits, we’ve also been prepping for our wedding through the church with a series of quizzes and even an all day ‘prep course’.  I can hear some of you asking, a quiz? A course? Who is the church to decide if you’re able to get married? Valid, yes. But it’s our faith and how we grew up and a part of our wedding that is important to us, that it’s recognized in the church.  So during our all day course, we had to separate and write down where we saw ourselves in 5 and 10 years (among other things). And as we read these back to each other we laughed because they were nearly identical.  And although we talk about the future, our hopes and wants, it was nice to sit down and write these things down and discuss them with each other. Our “marriage prep” with the church has allowed us to talk about a few more things proactively vs. in the moment of life.

Every year together we grow a little more, we challenge each other, we become stronger, we love a little harder, we laugh, we try new things, we go new places, we support and encourage each other.

I can’t wait to walk down the aisle to this man and keep tallying up the years and memories together.

I love you, B! ❤

Weekend Recap – Dresses & Cake

| The Bee Life

This past weekend was a whirlwind, but boy was it fun.

Friday started with an early AM workout, even though I took the day off.  It was good to get the day kick started on the right track.  From there, made a quick Starbucks run and then home to take Moz for a walk with the neighbors.  It was 50’s and sunny, so it was perfect to get Moz out and tired before we hit the road! Just before one, we were on the road headed to Mom & Dad’s house for the weekend.  We arrived just in time for dinner!

Saturday, Mom and I got an early start to meet up with Kates to go dress shopping! We had three places lined up, so we had a full day ahead of us.  The first shop ended up being a dud. The second place, was a dud.  And finally the third place, I felt like we were getting somewhere, but still no real luck. But it was good to see what was out there and start figuring out what looked good as far as color and style.  My mom also got a feel for what style she might like. It wasn’t as successful as we had all hoped, but we definitely made progress! So after all the appointments were finished, we stopped for a drink and some snacks to detox from all the dresses.

That night, we had a little birthday party at my parents! Kates & Travis came over, along with my brother and sister-in-law.  We had pizza and salad, plenty of Moscato D’Asti and Champagne and of course homemade spice cake wit’s cream cheese frosting, YUM! We played some games and caught up with everyone, it was fun having my favorite people in one place.

I think it’s safe to say, that the birthday celebrating is officially over, but it was nice to do it with the family.  I can’t believe that was the last full weekend in March, this month has flown by. Here’s to another fun weekend full of friends and family!

XO –

Weekend Recap – First of March

| The Bee Life

Happy March! For avid Bee readers, you know it’s my favorite month *smiles* and the first weekend of March was a busy but good one.

It started out Friday afternoon, volunteering with my company at a local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. If you’ve never been or heard of one of these, see if you have one near by and check it out. As they explained it, it’s like a Home Depot meets Goodwill store. They offer way more than your typical thrift store; it’s a DIYers dream or perfect for furnishing your first apartment. Not to mention you help the greater cause shopping in these stores! It was a nice way to kick off the weekend.

Momma Bee came into town, so she was at the house by the time I got done volunteering! We were in the mood for meatless tacos for the first Friday of Lent, so we ended up at a nearby spot and ordered a tray full of tacos and a few mojitos. It hit the spot!

Tacos!
At our wedding venue
Saturday dinner & drinks!

Saturday morning we got a jump start on some wedding activities. First and foremost on our agenda was seeing our finished venue.  We first saw it in September, under construction, dusty with no walls or electric and we fell in love. Seeing it again brought back all the feels. It’s so stunning, I can’t imagine a place more perfect! From there we headed to see the hotel and met with a DJ! It was a very productive morning.  After church we headed to one of our favorite spots for all night happy hour, yup, all night. We enjoyed cosmos, dirty martinis, and more delicious food.

Sunday’s highlight was celebrating a dear friend’s baby shower! It was a beautiful afternoon celebrating with her family and friends, and seeing all the adorable little boy outfits and stuffed animals. I can’t wait to meet her little boy.

Celebrating Bekah!
Great friends<3

It’s always hard when these fantastic weekends come to an end, but it’s these fantastic weekends that get me through the work week for more!