Wedding Wednesday: Fourth of July Style.

Happy Fourth of July!

For today's Wedding Wednesday, I found some super stylish and fun Fourth of July inspired weddings. How fun would it be to have a wedding on America's birthday and end the celebration with fireworks?!?

1, 2, 3, 4

Tasty Tuesday: Grilled Cheesburger Wraps.

These were REALLY good! Sometimes I eat a hamburger without the bun because I don't want that bread to fill me up, so these are a nice alternative. You could use the wheat tortillas to healthify them, too!

Grilled Cheeseburger Wraps

Recipe and photo from Semi Homemade Mom

1 lb ground beef

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (I used a little more to taste)

1 tablespoon ketchup

1 teaspoon dried minced onion

pepper and salt to taste

5 flour tortillas (the larger ones)

shredded cheddar cheese

sliced tomatoes

yellow mustard

Brown ground beef in large skillet and drain. Add Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, dried onion, and salt and pepper to the beef and simmer for 5 minutes. Sprinkle shredded cheese down center of each tortilla. Add a few heaping tablespoons of the beef mixture on top of the cheese. Spread some mustard on top of the beef along with some slices of tomato. Roll up tortilla burrito-style and place wraps on preheated indoor grill (I used my George Foreman).

One Hot Weekend!

Let's just start out by stating the obvious: it was HOT this past weekend. Records breaking all over the US, including a new record in Columbia of 109*!!

As if it wasn't hot enough, after lunch at Continental Corner, a group us took my mom to see Magic Mike! Yowza, I was definitely blushing during some of the scenes.

Me, Aunt Cindy, Mom & Cousin Amanda

That evening, my family got together to celebrate the June birthday's! There are 5 in my family! Stephanie (sister), Mom, Grandaddy Smitty, Cameron & Stephanie's boyfriend, Dan. Dan & Cameron actually share the same birthday! Grandaddy Smitty wound up not being able to make it. :(

Saturday, we loaded up the boat with fried chicken & Bud Light and made our way out to Morris Island for the day. Lots of good times were had, but sadly, no pictures were taken. :( Must be a sign of a good time.

Yesterday we just lounged in the pool all day to escape the heat with Cameron's parents and Shelby! Then Shelby and Trey invited us over to their new house to grill some burgers. It was so fun hanging out with them and their house looks so good! And no, I'm not just saying that because Shelby is reading this right now. :)

Can't wait to do it all over again next weekend!



Loving

There are LOTS of things I'm loving today. Maybe because it's my Friday and I have a 3 day weekend. Or maybe it's just because good things have been happening to me lately. I don't know, but I'll take it!

-Gas prices!!

Picture taken last week. Today it was at $2.91!

-I got to see my sorority little sis on Monday while she was vacationing on Seabrook Island with her family! It had been so long since the last time I got to see her and it was so fun to catch up!

-Big thanks to ESPN for letting me watch what turned out to be the final the USC vs. Arizona game Monday night! Since we don't have cable, it usually doesn't allow me to watch live games, but I took my chances that night and voila! Got to watch the whole game! We lost, but we did an amazing job and I am so proud of the team!

-The beautiful Kate Spade necklace that I bought from Jill last Thursday. It arrived in the mail a few days later and it is SO pretty! It just screams bride to me. The necklace is in perfect condition and is so much prettier in person.

-MY DRESS IS IN! I randomly called the shop on Tuesday to find out how long dresses usually take to come in once they're shipped and they said it was actually received last Friday! I will probably schedule my first fitting for August since I'm wanting my bridal portraits done outside in the Fall. No winter portraits for this girl.

What are you loving today??

Wedding Wednesday: The Checklist.

Honestly, before I started typing this out, I didn't really think I had that much left to do for the wedding even though it's 9 months away. Um, yeah, I was way wrong. I've gotten all of the big things done and I feel like I'm at that weird time where I don't want to do the rest too early, in case I change my mind.

Set a date

Book venue

Book photographer

Book band

Ask bridal party to be in wedding

Book caterer & bar

Create wedding website

Register

Book florist

Shop for wedding dress

Book ceremony musician

Book rentals

Take engagement pictures

Select bridesmaid dresses

Select groom & groomsmen attire

Find veil

Book cake baker
Hire coordinator

Buy cake knife & server

Order save the dates

Send save the dates

Book officiant

Pre-marital counseling

Order guest book

Finalize guest list

Find a reasonably priced videographer

Hotel room blocks
Calligraphy - pay or learn?

Engagement announcement in Post & Courier

MOB & MOG dress shopping

Find wedding shoes

Find wedding jewelry

Find garter

Book makeup artist & hair stylist

Menu tasting

Take bridal portraits / hair & make up trial

1st dress fitting

2nd (final?) dress fitting

Make ceremony programs

Buy bud vases!

Buy a "M" and "C" and paint gold

Figure out where we want to do first look

Figure out where I'm getting ready & where Cameron is getting ready

Who will set up ceremony chairs?

Order invitations

Address invitations

Mail invitations

Book rehearsal dinner venue

Book RD caterer

Book RD rentals

Book RD music

Buy RD dress

Order pom poms for send off

Order koozies

Buy bridal party gifts

Bachelorette party

Buy gifts for parents
Bridal shower

Purchase wedding bands

Create wedding day timeline

Put together picture list for photographer

DIY drink stirrers

DIY signs for River Rd and venue

DIY signs for reserved seating & seat yourself

Hankies for ceremony?

DIY moss letters for bar?

Get marriage license

Book transportation from reception to hotel

Book honeymoon

RD invitations

RD groom's cake

Final vendor payments

Music selections to band and ceremony artist

Book wedding night hotel room

Order thank you notes

Wedding announcement in Post & Courier

Walk down the aisle & say I do!

Am I missing anything??

Tasty Tuesday: Zuppa Toscana

Last night I made this soup for the second time and it has definitely become one of my favorites. I received collards and potatoes in my CSA two weeks ago, so that's what made me crave this soup.

Zuppa Toscana

Photo and recipe from Annie's Eats.

1 lb. Italian sausage (or half regular, half turkey sausage)  I used chorizo

1 large onion, chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup white wine to deglaze the pan

½ tsp. red pepper flakes

2 russett potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch chunks

2 cups fresh kale, chopped  If you don't like/have kale, use collards

3 cups chicken broth

2.5 cups water

1 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper

Place a large stockpot or Dutch oven on the stove over medium heat. 

Crumble the sausage into the pan and cook until well browned. 

Remove the cooked sausage from the pot with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl; set aside. 

Add the chopped onion to the pan and sauté until tender, about 5-7 minutes. 

Add the garlic and red pepper flakes to the pan and cook for a minute more, just until fragrant. 

Add the wine to the pot and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits.

Add the potatoes, kale, chicken broth and water to the pot. 

Return the sausage to the pot. Increase the heat to medium-high, bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer on medium-low.

Cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork-tender and cooked through. 

Stir in the heavy cream and season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Serve immediately.

Fun in the Sun!

In between working Friday & Sunday night, I got to have some fun in the sun on Saturday!

Emily, Caroline and I, with our men, took the dogs out to the Kiawah dog beach. The hauling of the coolers, chairs, bags, dogs and tent was not so fun, but after we finally got to our spot, we all had a blast!

Megan & Brady, Emily & Gracie, Caroline & Birdie

Our little family..with Bennett in the background. :)

he would only drink water out of the cooler.

that's one sleepy pup.

As if that wasn't enough sun, after the beach we went back to Cameron's parent's house to swim in their pool. Then we still weren't sick of one another so we went back to our house, ordered pizza (didn't fall asleep this time) and played some drinking games.

What a fun (and exhausting) day!