happy international women's day, boss ladies!

today felt like the perfect day to sit down & write about the little galentine's party i threw last month. what's galentine's, you may ask? well, in the words of our lady queen, leslie knope... "oh, it's only the best day of the year! every february 13th, my lady friends & i leave our husbands & boyfriends at home, & we just come & kick-it, breakfast style. ladies celebrating ladies." 


what started with parks & rec has gone above & beyond the tv show & inspired women everywhere to really celebrate the female friendships in their life. i love this holiday, & was so thrilled to finally host my first official galentine's brunch with my bestest gal pals!

i may or may not have gone all out with the table settings... what can i say? if you're gonna have a galentine's party, you might as well make it vivacious. i got this adorable heart-covered tablecloth from target, & sprinkled some faux rose petals & mini-hearts down the center. & the plates, napkins, & adorable heart-covered goblets were from the dollar store & target as well.


i love being extra, so i made goody bags for everyone! i included ring pops, heart necklaces, & of course, miniature heart-shaped chocolate boxes with horrible puns on front, such as "you're a fine-apple". these super cute bags were from target, & i glued a little name tag on the front that i got from a wonderful company i used to work with, called so worth loving.



speaking of so worth loving, i made a little table full of stickers & temporary tattoos for the girls. so worth loving is a wonderful company that promotes the truth that every individual is worthy of love. as women, i think sometimes we forget our worth because of the lies society puts forth. we think our worth lies in our looks or our popularity, & we forget that we are worthy just because we are alive. i definitely wanted to remind my gal pals of their worth on this important day!


& as a reminder of how important female friendships are, i hung up this garland of lovely lady friends! i found the garland at target & immediately had the idea to print out a bunch of photos of my favorite gal pals from books, television, & movies. i tried my best to include all the greats!

guys, i just love the holiday of love. valentine's day is my favorite. as a total hopeless romantic trapped in a die-hard pessimists body, it was always my one day a year to let that out. then 5 years ago, i celebrated my first valentine's day with my now-husband... & he kinda changed the game for me. now i fully own my inner hopeless romantic, & trust me i go all out on valentine's day to show it.  for example, leaving silly, flirty messages for him on our letter board. we're classy & we know it ;)

here are some of the other ways i decorated our little apartment to surprise him for valentine's day!




this year, we decided to celebrate by taking a little valentine's vacation, & we ate at one of our favorite restaurants, bahama breeze! it's a chain restaurant in the east coast (although there's also one in vegas?) & they serve the most delicious caribbean inspired dishes & drinks. for being smack dab in the middle of winter, on the east coast, in freezing temperatures... it was soooo lovely to pretend for a moment that we were basking in the tropics!

we always love getting a bunch of appetizers & splitting everything, so here's what we ordered::








after dinner, we decided to take a drive through a spot in town that puts up the most gorgeous string lights, while listening to our favorite jazz tunes.

cheers to a happy new years, loves!

i adore this time of year, a time i dedicate to introspection & reflection. i love looking back at the year past & seeing how much can change in 365 days. this year, quite a lot changed for me. & not just my transition from fiancé to wifey! all in all, this year was a tough one, but it held some of my favorite memories, & those are the memories i'd like to share with you today.

here are my best moments of 2018 ::

january : wedding dress shopping 


in january of 2018, i had my first experience wedding dress shopping! & what a crazy experience that was. the first wedding dress boutique i visited is called gilded bridal, & is the most beautiful, absolutely perfect dress shop i've ever seen. if you live in north carolina, & have a more unique taste, i highly suggest going here.


their dress selection is truly one of a kind. i was looking for something different, something unique. & they delivered. the amount of rose gold dresses i tried on was amazing!



on top of their incredible selection of dresses, the ambiance in the boutique is just to die for. the decor is gorgeous, the rooms are amazing, & the service is unparalleled. i had the best experience here!




neither of us had ever visited disneyland in it's halloween season, & it lived up to our every expectation. my pumpkin loving heart was soaring. enjoy these photos of our flawless time...










i hosted my very first friendsgiving in my very first home this past november! it was so much fun. thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, but this was my first thanksgiving apart from my family. it was a difficult time, but celebrating with my dearest friends who are basically my family was absolutely splendid. we watched anne of green gables, played board games, & talked about what we were grateful for. it was a lovely night & a tradition i hope to continue!