Once Upon A Time...

You can find me over on Natalie's blog today! I'm doing a guest post about how Drew and I met...here's an amazing picture to entice you. Haha.

simple & sweet

Drew and I have now shared 10 consecutive Valentine's days together. Our first ever Valentine's day was complete with a 3 course meal cooked by my then 17 year old boyfriend. He was sweet enough to include my mom (the pastery chef of the evening) my brother (the waiter) and my sister (our server). We have had every kind of Valentine's day together, but my favorites are the simple and thoughtful ones. Last night was my favorite. We went out to dinner at an adorable Italian restaurant where we enjoyed a violinist, chicken alfredo pizza and delicious wine. Then we headed home to try a dessert I found on Pinterest. Click here for the best cupcakes ever! We worked together in the kitchen making the frosting and filling cupcake liners and while the cupcakes were baking we opened our jars where we had each written 25 things we love about each other. We took turns reading them aloud as we cuddled on the couch. We didn't buy each other expensive gifts or spend hundreds of dollars on a fancy dinner we did life together as we always do and it was perfect. I'm so thankful to have such an amazing husband and best friend to do life with.

Night Circus themed book club

Remember how I told you my book club was reading The Night Circus? Well we went all out for this month's book club meeting. In this book there are a group of people that follow the circus around everywhere and they are known as the "Reveurs." They wear black and white with a splash of red so that they will recognize one another and guess what? Yes, we all dressed in black and white with a splash of red. We are total book nerds and I love it.

We also brought black and white food to go with the theme with the exception of homemade caramel popcorn because it was a circus themed book after all. I'm hoping to get the recipe soon because it was the best popcorn I have ever had. I promise I'll share the recipe when I get it!

I pretty much love my book club. Our next book is Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet if you want to read along. What are you reading?

Scavenger Hunt Sunday!

Time for another Scavenger Hunt Sunday over at Ramblings and Photos!



Here are this week's topics: facial feature, shadow, spicy, gold and fabric. And here is my take on it...

Facial feature-I can't go long without taking pictures of my cats. Bear was my model for this shot.

Shadow- It hasn't been very sunny in Ohio the past few days so I had to find some shadows to play with inside. I love the shadow the Mason Jars cast.

Spicy-My first thought when seeing the word spicy...

Gold-We have an old Crosley radio in our house and I just love the way it looks.

Fabric- It helped that I had these fabrics including my favorite (burlap) lying around for future projects.

Happy Sunday!

A Friday Night Art Show feat. my sister in law!

Last night was the opening night for my sister in law's art show. She was one of 3 art students from her college to be selected to participate so obviously she's a talented gal. I really do have a love and appreciation for art so I was excited to go. Carly's pieces were my favorite...I'm not biased or anything.

We went out to Carabba's to celebrate after the show...what's art without a little wine?

And that was my Friday night. Wine, family & friends, and a little art.

Oh How Pinteresting...Valentine Edition

Today I'm linking up with Michelle over at The Vintage Apple for Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday!

This week all my pins have to do with Valentine's day! I have always, always adored Valentine's day. I will give my parents credit for this because growing up they always made me feel extra loved and special on Valentine's day just because they could. I never felt like I needed a boyfriend to make me feel loved and I am so thankful for that. Now I feel weird if I don't wear pink or red and pass out Valentine's to people. I love love and not just the romantic kind. So in honor of my love for Valentine's day here are some of my favorite Valentine themed pins.

Source: cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com via Allison on Pinterest

S

Source: moorea-seal.com via Allison on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Allison on Pinterest

Source: tonyajoy.com via Allison on Pinterest

Source: love.designxmag.com via Allison on Pinterest

Source: greenweddingshoes.com via Allison on Pinterest

Source: cookiesandcups.com via Allison on Pinterest

Source: 27.media.tumblr.com via Allison on Pinterest

What are your thoughts on Valentine's day? Do you think it is overrated or do you use it as an excuse to spread the love? Either way...I hope you feel loved this Valentine's day.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday!

I'm so excited to be participating in my first Scavenger Hunt Sunday. I loved being on the hunt for ways to capture these five things this week: Strike a pose, footwear, hobby, shiny and color me green. Here's what I came up with....



Strike a Pose-This is my parents newest dog, Bailey. They got him right after Christmas because his family could no longer take care of him. I've been stopping in frequently to get acquainted with this adorable face and I had to snap a few pictures of him. This is my favorite...he poses quite nicely.

Footwear: A pair of some of my favorite shoes that my friend Bekah bought for me. When I was younger I went through a cheetah print phase and my room was decked out in cheetah. I still have a secret love for it.

Hobby-I had a tough time deciding which hobby I should snap a picture of. Friday night I was working on some banners for my shop and found my opportunity.

Shiny-I loved taking pictures of my new watch necklace from Shabby Apple! I won it recently from Ashley over at Adventures of Newlyweds. I've already gotten so many compliments on it.

Color Me Green- This picture I pulled from my archive because there's not too much green around here this time of year. This is a picture I snapped this summer of a peacock at Drew's cousin's house. It just screams green! I love that I captured Drew's cousin and his horse in the field behind it.