Our Engagement Photos – Sneak Peak

| The Bee Life

Okay blogger-verse, you’re getting the first look at some of our engagement photos, I repeat… FIRST LOOK. I haven’t even posted on social media!!

We took pictures this past Saturday, and instead of doing the standard sunset photos, we opted for sunrise at the suggestion of our photographer.  Our photographer, Tim, is a friend at work who I talked into doing our engagement pictures, although a photographer, he doesn’t typically do engagement pictures. He is so talented, so I knew they would come out amazing.  We ended up going to three different locations with three different outfits over the course of 4-hours, it was exhausting, but also really fun!

Enjoy the sneak peak:

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Photo Credit: Timothy Logan Photography
IMG_1344_TLO_CCweb
Photo credit: Timothy Logan Photography
EBEng_Polaroid250_PolaroidChocolate_061316web
Photo credit: Timothy Logan Photography

The last photo was taken on Tim’s 250 Polaroid – a camera that is nearly extinct as far as finding or getting film.  This was the last one that we took with the Polaroid, and it was definitely the winner, third times the charm.

I can’t wait to see how the rest of the photos come out, but Tim said there are over 700 pictures for him to go through and edit/touch-up, so he will send them as they come. I absolutely love what I have seen so far (B does too!) !!

XO –

Gift Guide – Father’s Day

| The Bee Life

It’s less than a week away from Father’s Day! Here are some ideas in case you can’t think of something different or unique this year for your dad.Dad

  1. Booze – If you’re dad is like mine, he like’s a good scotch or whiskey.  Now is the time to indulge and buy something a little more expensive for him to enjoy! If you don’t live near your dad (but will be seeing him soon) you could also plan a sampler pack of local favorites near you. My dad is particularly fond of a whiskey made in Cleveland – so he wouldn’t be sad if I bought a few for his bar!
  2. Beer/Scotch Tasting – Part 2 of gift number one would, could be to plan a weekend trip to a favorite brewery and partake in the tasting festivities. Of course, you’ll pick up the check! It’s a fun way to enjoy one of Dad’s favs and create fun memories.
  3. Golf – Plan an outing or buy Dad lessons! To make this even more personal, make a golf gift basket filled with a new outfit, a sleeve of balls, new golf gloves, a new towel to get him looking snazzy this Father’s Day while he’s hitting the links.
  4. Manual Labor – Since my dad is always helping us around our house whenever he is in town, it’s time to offer up an opposite treat and give him a weekend pass to use our services to help get some projects done around his house! I am sure this would be a welcomed treat (not to mention, would make mom happy too!)
  5. Get Crafty – Think about something that your dad has been wanting or needing; and make it! Some ideas; a custom bottle opener (perfect for my Dad’s new garage), a decorative tie rack, or a fun piece for grill accessories!

Father’s day is this upcoming Sunday, June 19th – don’t forget to get Dad a card too!

Flirtini – The Recipe

| The Bee Life

To help get ready for the weekend, I’ve got another summery, fresh drink to share with all of you – so add this one to your roster of must-have’s.  Although, I can’t take the credit for this one either, Katie introduced this one to me over our girl’s weekend, it’s called the Flirtini. (Make sure you can flirt with a cutie while sipping on this, preferably your own cutie ;-))DSCN1956What You’ll Need:
– Champagne
– Vanilla Vodka
– Pineapple Juice (6-oz cans)
– Raspberries for Garnish
– Martini Shaker

Directions: First, mix one 6-oz can of the pineapple juice with a 2-shots of the vanilla vodka, over ice and shake well in your martini shaker.

Next pour your mixture to fill up half of your martini glass. Pop your champagne and pour champagne over top the mixture to fill the rest of the glass. Drop in some raspberries as garnish to enjoy! You can also freeze your raspberries to help keep your drink chilled.DSCN1959It’s pretty easy and delicious, and it has champagne. Win, win.

Enjoy!

 

Latest Obsession: For The Home

| The Bee Life

HERE’S WHAT, I have been absolutely obsessing over especially as the summer months are approaching and the store’s are switching out their inventory to be summery!!!

Lanterns. OBSESSED. I want them everywhere, but especially for outdoor spaces like our front porch. I love them as decor for your entry way and even lightening for your seating area. I also love lanterns for decoration inside, around a fireplace or hearth area, especially the really big lanterns. Not to mention you can find them in almost any finish from silver, to gold, wooden, ceramic, or bronze to fit into your current decor or switch to something new. You can get hanging lanterns or keep them on the ground or table. Plus you can use them season round by mixing up colors and styles with different fillers for the insides… I could go on for dayzzz!  On a lantern kick like me? Check out craft stores, as a lot of them have sever price cuts on summer and outdoor decor (like 60-70%!) you can’t beat it.

http://www.stylemepretty.com/2011/11/15/rehearsal-dinner-inspiration-by-elyse-jennings-weddings/
http://www.beneathmyheart.net/2010/08/back-patio-reveal-and-5-giveaway-winners/
http://www.digsdigs.com/30-adorable-fireplace-candle-displays-for-any-interior/

Greenery. I am loving me some greens, the fake kind. I first saw some moss like letters at Michael’s and really wanted to impulsively buy them, but one didn’t know what to spell or letters to get, and two thought they would look way out of place in my house, but I can’t help but pine over them. I also really love boxwood wreaths, but refuse to spend the money online and will most likely DIY one, one of these days. And as much as I truly don’t like fake plants, because I’d rather just have a few real ones – I really like the fake greenery balls… yes I just described them as such, okay they’re technically “boxwood vase fillers” (according to Target). Anyways, I like the idea of having some greens around the house to add to the real greens, it brings some added life to your living space.

http://www.abowlfulloflemons.net/2011/05/one-project-at-time-link-party.html
http://www.save-on-crafts.com/boxwoodwreaths.html
http://www.target.com/p/boxwood-vase-filler-smith-hawken/-/A-16205611#prodSlot=_1_7

So those are my two latest obsessions right now, I’ve had my eyes on the lookout for these whenever I hit the stores.  I recently grabbed two silver lanterns for some added decoration up in our master suite, and I love how they compliment the space, we have a mixture of metals, but somehow it’s all working.

What’re your summer favorites?

Weekend Recap – Family Wedding

| The Bee Life

This past weekend was full of family as we celebrated my cousin Tim’s wedding to his long time girlfriend, Morgan! So here is a quick recap of the weekends events.

Friday, we both took a half day in hopes that we could head out mid-afternoon and get down to Columbus early evening… but I had a little too much on my to-do list before that happened. Running around making stops, getting an oil change in, and then forgetting about our call with a wedding planner that I was expecting to have while we were already in the car, pushed back our leave time by about 2-hours, oops! We dropped Moz over to our neighbors, and then finally hit the road and got into Columbus a little after 7pm.

Dinner reservations were at 8:30pm, whenever my family has a weekend of any sort together (especially weddings) it is ALWAYS jammed packed with family dinners, activities, workouts, you name it. So we headed to Bravo! Cucina Italian – my first time there, andddd I know it’s a chain, but I wasn’t impressed at all. Service was slow and the food wasn’t that great. Which only led me to snack on Doritos later in the evening. *smiles* After dinner was over, some people went to the casino and others headed back to the hotel.  We stopped and grabbed some adult beverages to hang out at the hotel with my parents, Nate and Kiera.

Saturday morning we slept in until 9:30!! We haven’t slept in, in so long, it was so amazing! We got up and headed to Starbucks and then came back to workout and hang with the family. The hotel had a basketball court so everyone was hanging out between there and the pool while I sweated through a 45-minute boot camp workout, luckily my cousin Niki joined halfway through! From there we headed to lunch at First Watch, yum! (Avocado toast for days, please and thanks.) By the time we got back after lunch it wasn’t long before we had to start getting ready for the wedding.

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The ceremony; was so nice and the vows were beyond sweet. Tim and Morgan have been together for nearly 11-years, not to mention living long distance, so this has been a long time coming. My cousin Tim is a bit more reserved than the rest of us, so it was so awesome seeing him pull out his handmade scroll with his vows and reading them with so much love and truth in what he was saying.  After they said their vows, and kissed the rest of the night was about celebrating!

Tim & his adorable Mom
Morgan coming down the aisle
The kiss!
The send off – big smiles.

The reception was at La Scala Restaurant, which had a back room for the reception area and was the perfect size to accommodate everyone. The staff was great catering to everyone and we had our own private bar in the back which worked out perfectly too! Although it took some tweaking for the mixed drinks, since I’d like to say my family is a bunch of alcohol snobs, it would’ve been easier if we could just get behind the bar, ha! The dinner was served family style, which I really liked. It was a mix of lasagna, two types of chicken, green beans, and mashed potatoes, with salad and bread as the starter. Yum!

Forever Wedding Date ❤
Our Table!
Kiera & Nate
Their cake!
Most of the Fruit Loops!

Once the dancing finally started, the rest of the night was toast (unless a country song came on, then the dance floor was nearly cleared out, yet the DJ still insisted on playing his set-list).  Everyone tore up the dance floor and definitely got a second workout in. I think B danced the most out of all the weddings we’ve been too together, it was so much fun! Of course, there were a few breaks for shots – although we had to order them in the main restaurant, so it was funny to see the bartender mix up 25-lemon drops and a rowdy crowd come into the main area demanding shots.

B and Tim
The First Dance
Jordan and I cutting a rug
Me and Niki
Hampel Ladies
With the beautiful bride
Final Dance!

It was a great time,  and family drama was at a fair minimum, minus a few situations which I am currently ignoring for the time being. *smiles* You could tell how happy Tim and Morgan were and how excited they were for their big day and commitment to each other. They’re truly just a sweet couple. It’s always a great party when we are welcoming another person into our family, needless to say everyone was hurting the next day.

We had a family brunch Sunday morning so everyone could see each other one last time before we all went our separate ways, a family tradition for wedding weekends. B and I were back home by 12:30 and got our little pune baby back (Moz). She was exhausted from her weekend with her friend Maybel! We were exhausted too, so it was a lazy afternoon.

Cheers to another beautiful wedding and fun weekend!

Fitness Friday no. 14

| The Bee Life

Fitness Friday is back after a little vacay! Speaking of vacay, that’s the perfect segue into today’s Fitness Friday – workouts on the go.  With summer quickly here, especially now that Memorial Day has come and went, weekends are filling up with vacations, weddings, house work… you name it, and getting workouts in on the weekends, now becomes harder than workouts during the week! So I wanted to share some workouts that can be done pretty much anywhere, with little-to-no equipment needed.  Fitness Friday no 14 - the bee lifeRun – You can run anywhere if you have sneaks and the right clothing. Packing some extra clothes and your running shoes can help you get some key sweat sessions in when you have a moment in the morning or afternoon. When in doubt get your workout done earlier in the day,  waiting might close the window of getting one in!

The Bee’s On-The-Go Workout:

  1. Jumping Jacks/Jump Rope = 3 minutes
    • Again, no equipment needed, even for jumping rope, jumping in place and do the motion with your arms will tire you out not to mention will get your heart rate up
  2. Push-Ups = 5-sets of 10
  3. Squats = 5-sets of 25
    • You can do a variation of squats to jump squats, side squats, wide stance squats or normal squats.
  4. Side Leg Lifts = 3-sets of 15 each leg
  5. Donkey Kick = 5-sets of 25 each leg

You can do this set of exercises 5-times through or stagger them however you like. This will be enough to get your heart rate going, some muscles aching, and the feeling of accomplishment to enjoy your busy weekend of planned festivities!

Suggestion: If you’re on an extended stay or week long vacation and with friends/family, make working out a group activity so that everyone can get involved and help hold each other accountable.  If other’s are involved it’ll also help when planning activities, because everyone will be on the same page!

If you’re staying at a hotel, take advantage of the gym or even the pool and swim some laps before the crowds show up.  Swimming is a full body workout that can be accomplished in between long laying out sessions while you’re working on your tan!

What’re your go-to workouts when you’re on the go?

Wedding Plans – An Update

| The Bee Life

Now that it’s officially June – I figured I would start sharing and writing a little more about our wedding planning (or lack thereof).  If you remember, I wanted to wait awhile before we started planning since I feel like a lot of couples rush into it, and don’t actually enjoy being engaged or take advantage of it! (I might be taking a little too much advantage of it :])

Venue
Source: Style Me Pretty

So here is the thing I’ve learned with the tiny bit of “planning” aka research I’ve done so far… EVERYTHING IS SO MUCH MONEY.

Period, end of story, done.

Source: Wedding Chicks http://static.weddingchicks.com/2015/11/18/red-fall-winery-wedding/
Source: Tessa Barton http://tessa-barton.blogspot.com/search/label/Wedding

But seriously, I truly can’t believe or fathom spending that kind of serious cash on ONE DAY. Granted it’s a day of celebration and the start of a new journey, but it’s just crazy to me, there are SO MANY OTHER THINGS, I would much rather spend that money on. Don’t even ask what, because the list will be endless. I don’t even want my parents to spend that much money on our wedding either – it’s crazy! Unless Donald Trump wants to pay for our wedding, it’s hard to reason it all.

Long story short, there has been no wedding planning, just a lot of chats to try and figure out what sort of direction we want to go in (small, large, or half-half).  We were set on one direction, but the more I started researching and vetting out options, the less interested I’ve become, mainly because it doesn’t seem like it’ll save any money, and would be more involved from planning. So I truly just don’t know what to do. B and I have a few more chats that need to happen, I am thinking an evening or afternoon with some continuous beers will help make some decision, and then of course sticking to it.

One of these days, I’ll actually have something solid to report back on. The only thing we have planned right now is our engagement pictures… so stay tuned for a first look at those in the next few weeks!

 

Backyard Patio – DIY Project

| The Bee Life

After much deliberation and back and forth, B and I have finally figured out what we’re going to do to create a backyard-patio living space. There was a few different options discussed, but I think we’ve come up with a solution that will work for the space, long term, and won’t break the bank (hopefully).

Inspiration:

We did the measurements last night and the biggest part of adding in a completely flat patio (without a deck or floating deck) that I was having an issue is, was the weird space it would be next to the house, being low without a direct door leading out to it. But I think having larger greenery in pots surrounding the area in the corners closer to the house, will help solve that problem I was having.  I also think adding in some lights above the one patio area leading up to our sun room on the second floor will add an intimate feel. We will also have a separate dining area from the lounge area, which I think it’s crucial, since I want both spaces to feel spacious.

Our plan is to get 20×20″ square concrete pavers and river pebbles to place in between the pavers. I’m still determining all the spacing between each of the pavers, I was originally thinking 1-inch, but most of the projects I’ve seen are about 3-inch gaps are larger, so we will see where we net out with ours.

Needless to say, B and I are both itching to get this project complete, although it’s not going to be as inexpensive as I had hoped from the initial figures, but I will be sure to follow-up with the finished product and details in the next month or so!

 

 

#CoakleyEverAfter – Part 2

| The Bee Life

Ready for Part 2?!

Katie was one of the most beautiful brides. Her dress was perfection and she was glowing. We made our way to the venue after everyone got ready at the hotel, the rain was starting to pick up on and off as we got to the venue, so came the decision of keeping the ceremony outside or setting up inside just in case. It was touch and go for awhile, and it got set-up inside just in case. About 15-minutes before the start of the ceremony, Katie decided to make it happen outside. The venue was beyond accommodating and made it happen, sprinting to clean off the wet chairs and getting everyone from inside to the outside location.  After all, her vision for the last year+ was having an outdoor wedding, and it was going to happen, rain or shine!

Bathroom Mirror Shot
Almost ready!
Ready to go!
The Ceremony

Katie and Travis wrote their own vows, which were very sweet and touching, in fact that was one of my favorite parts – it was truly personal and unique to them and their relationship. And the rain held off! Woo!!

From the ceremony we went and took pictures while the rest of the guests enjoyed a cocktail hour before the festivities got started around 7.  We were announced and quickly got into the speeches, Katie’s dad spoke, then the best man, and then myself. I was surprisingly so nervous, like shaking nervous! I think it was the setting, and I wanted everything to be perfect. I was told it sounded great! Phew.

After dinner, was the cake cutting, first dances, and then real dancing! It was such a fun night, and like I mentioned before completely surreal to see Katie and Travis married, yet so awesome because they’re completely meant to be. My family was at the wedding too, so it was great to hang out with them, and B once all my official duties were finished (although they never seemed to be, we had to get Katie ready with a new up-do after all the key moments).  There was also a photo-booth, which is always fun to take a few photos with everyone. Enjoy some of my favorite pictures from the night!

Cake Cutting
First Dance
B + Me
Nate, Kiera + Mom
Dad, Me + B
Me, Travis, B + Katie
Katie and I with Lori, her mom
Genesee Light, in cans.
Katie & Her Dad dancing
Best Friends.

The night was just perfect mainly because it was Katie’s wedding. I can’t wait to see her professional photos from the day, not to mention her photographers were awesome. We helped shut the place down and clean up. By the time we got back to my parents it was probably 2AM. It was strange saying bye to Katie with no future plans in hand like we’ve had for the last few months, which I’ve truly enjoyed. But I know we will be seeing each other soon. Hopefully they’ve landed safely for their honeymoon!

Cheers to the bride + groom!