The Best of 2018

The Best Year Yet!

We Bought a House!

About three months before our wedding, Rob & I bought a house! I still can’t believe it. It was totally not our plan, but it was definitely meant to be. We might be a little crazy for making this decision while also planning a wedding, but we are so happy that we went through with everything! You can read more about why we bought, what the process was like, etc. in this blog post and this blog post.

Over the past six months, we’ve been making our house our home. We started by painting everything white and ripping out the floors in the hallways, living room, and kitchen. We installed a beautiful gray washed engineered hardwood that I am completely in love with! Our living room is about 90% complete. We have to finish the fireplace area, finish up some trim, and still decide on an area rug. The kitchen is coming along as well. After the new year we plan to paint the cabinets and install quartz counter tops! This is what I’m most excited for!! It is going to totally transform the kitchen and I can’t wait. After that is our master which needs a lotttt of work and is going to be a major process, especially the bathroom. As the rooms are completed I will be sharing before & after photos right here on the blog. I’m hoping to share a lot more home content during 2019 as different projects are completed so stay tuned!!

We Got Married!

We got married on October 5! It truly was the best day ever. Throughout the process we totally questioned if the time, money and stress would be worth it in the end and I am here to say that it was! We said more than once that we should have eloped, but after experiencing the actual day itself, we wouldn’t have had it any other way. I have an entire bridal category here on the blog, so if you’re a bride to be make sure you check it out for advice, tips, vendors, and all the inspo! I will be posting more photos from the day of as soon as we get them back!! For now, you can watch our highlight film here!

We Got a Puppy!

Shortly after we got married, we got a puppy! Again - not a part of the plan, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Piper is our newest addition and she is a red lab. Rob had been on the waiting list with a specific breeder for over six months! A couple weeks before the wedding, the breeder reached out saying his name was up and wanted to know if he was still interested. Although I was hesitant about the timing, there was no way I could tell Rob no. Literally it would have crushed his dreams lol. SO, off to Kansas we drove. We made it there and back in 48 hours. Again, call us crazy but it was a fun little road trip and we are so in love with our Piper girl. I did get asked for tips on training a puppy and I was going to include them here, but as I started typing it was getting to be super long. Instead, i’m going to dedicate an entire blog post to that within the next couple weeks!! Stay tuned!

With the Highs Comes the Lows

We haven't had any horrible lows this year (fortunately), but we were definitely challenged at times! As much as buying a house is high, it was so tough!! From the process itself, to the renovations, to really getting into a new routine together, our relationship was tested but we made it through. It’s all about remembering that the process of buying a home is temporary. Once you’re in the house, everything is worth it. There will always be a project and things will happen that you can’t predict (AKA your washer leaking water all over the floor the night of your rehearsal dinner 🤦🏻‍♀️) but you just have to go with the flow and give it time to get into a new routine.

When it came to the wedding, Rob and I definitely had our moments. In our moments, we had to remind ourselves that we are on the same team. Between the decisions, stress, money, time, appointments, etc; planning a wedding is HARD. And when shit gets hard we had to lean on each other instead of work against each other. Telling ourselves everything would go back to normal after the wedding was one of the best things we did. The constant reminder of life before wedding planning and knowing it would go back to that was what kept us strong. Because no one tells you wedding planning is tough. Everyone acts like it’s so fun, which it is, but not 100% of the time. Especially towards the end. The last month for us was crazy. We pushed through and now here we are. Back in our normal routine, married, and happier than we’ve ever been!

As I reflect on this year, it was super eventful. I am hoping that 2019 is a bit slower and allows more time for me to focus on the blog and really niche down. My blog is my baby and there’s nothing more that I want than for it to be a source of inspiration and place where you can come and feel like you aren’t alone. I appreciate each and every one of you who take the time to stop and read my posts. It truly means the world to me which is why I want this little corner of the internet to be all that it can be for you! But more on 2019 goals in next week’s blog post! For now, I hope you all have a safe.& happy new year! See ya in 2019 <3 xoxo

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Pine Barren Beauty Turns Three!

You guyssss. I can't believe it's been three years (and a week or so 🙃) since I've started my blog! Time just keeps going by quicker and quicker, especially the past few months. Today I'm sharing a life chat & a little bit of what I learned along the way because SO much has changed in the past three years! 

WEDDING

If you've been following along for the past year, you'll know that Rob proposed last August (read about it here) and we are getting married this October. This has been by far one of the biggest life events that happened since starting my blog, so it's only been natural for me to let you gals know how planning is going and share what I've been learning! If you're a bride to be, check out my bridal category for a ton of fun posts, and more to come after the wedding! 

About a month ago, I shared a life update blog post and wrote about how wedding plans were going pretty smooth and crazy Megan didn't have to come out. Well I spoke too soon 😝 this past month has been nuts in terms of wedding planning. It's funny how the planning process goes. In the beginning you feel the stress of finding your venue, booking your date, and securing the rest of your vendors. Then there's a long period of time where you really don't have anything to do. Then, you wake up one morning and your wedding is three months away and you're like shit, I have SO much that needs to get done! 

Now that our wedding is just four weeks away - literally can't believe I just typed that - I've had my fair share of mental breakdowns over the past few weeks and I'm sure there are more to come. At this point, one of the biggest things I regret not doing is using some type of planner or app to keep me on track along the way. I'm almost positive that The Knot and Zola both offer some type of planner/app to help you manage everything and let you know what you should be doing and when.

One thing that affected my ability to stay on track was the purchase of our home (another major life event that has helped Pine Barren Beauty evolve). If you've read my previous blog posts, you know we were definitely not house hunting, but the perfect opportunity came along and we had to take it. Talk about a major distraction. We began to pour all of our time & energy and heart & soul into our home and as a result, wedding planning was put on the back burner. And I mean rightfully so. This home is our forever, and our wedding is just one day. It's so crazy to say, but if we knew that we were going to purchase a home when we did, we most likely would have eloped. BUT, more on that after our wedding day! I don't want to speak too soon haha. 

At this point, our wedding bands are ordered & hopefully will be here in time, if not we'll be exchanging silicone ones lmao. I DON'T recommend waiting until 6 weeks before to get yours; definitely go like three months in advance :) The guys also got fitted this week for their suits! Also don't recommend waiting as long as we did for that either. We were going to use The Black Tux because it's convenient and has great reviews, but there's only one option for a tan suit and I was super disappointed in the color, quality, and fit, SO we had to go with a second option. 

As far as things that we are enjoying - have your RSVP's addressed to your house. It's so fun to get a handful in the mail every day and open them together! One major tip I have is to number your rsvps. We got a handful returned with NO names. Having them numbered was such a help in determining who sent theirs back blank! I also have been stalking my registries like crazy because my shower is this weekend and I'm so excited. Another fun task has been picking out bridal party gifts! I also can't wait until I have my final meeting with my florist because I am beyonddd excited for our flowers. Everything is coming together and I just keep telling myself everything will get done ... because it has to :) hahah. 

HOME

Needless to say, wedding planning has taken over! We still have a couple house things we want to finish before the wedding, including getting the rest of the trim up in the main hallway, framing out the shiplap wall in the living room, and completing the fireplace/mantle area (happening this weekend yay!). Besides that, finishing the kitchen and starting the master are going to wait until after the wedding. 

The living room will most likely be the first room that is entirely complete. We really just have to get a rug, coffee table, and some fun decor items. I have been sharing updates on my instastories and have a highlight saved on my profile in case you missed anything! You can also shop our furniture and decor here (access this page at any time under "shop - my home" in the main navigation bar at the top of my blog). I can't wait to post room reveals here on the blog and share the before photos! Every room is such a transformation - I know you guys are going to love it!

LIFE

I think it goes without saying, but life has been pretty crazy lately. I'm out of routine and my head is in the clouds most of the time. If there's anything I've learned so far it's that self care is so important. Even when you feel like you don't have a second to spare, you have to make time to nourish your soul. There are SO many ways to practice self care, and this is a topic I plan to really expand upon in the coming months. Once the wedding is done and I finally have time to plan and get things in order, you can expect more content in the areas of self care, beauty, home content, and life chats. Of course, if you have any specific requests, let me know what you want to see! As my life changes and evolves, so will my blog. I'm beyond excited for what's to come and I hope you babes are too! 

As always, thanks so much for reading!

Have a happy weekend!

xoxo

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Real Talk No. 4: All The Feels + Life Update

Update!

You guys. These past few weeks, (months actually) my head has legit been in the clouds. Between wedding planning, unexpectedly purchasing and beginning renovations on our home, and just everything else that comes along with life, I have been flying by the seat of my pants for weeks. It's such a weird thing too, because up until all the things started happening, I was pretty diligent with planning my days and being organized. But I guess when you have too much on your plate, you're bound to lose your routine at some point 🤷🏻‍♀️ and for me, losing my routine also means feeling all the emotions, all at once. 

Buying and Renovating a Home

In this blog post, I shared my thoughts on our experience buying our first and forever home. You can check that out for more info on why we ended up buying now instead of building later, etc. One thing I didn't mention, because we hadn't yet started, was the renovation process. O M G. We have so many plans for our home and we came in wanting to do everything right away. Well, reality check, not everything is going to get done right away. And you know what? That's totally fine. It's always going to be a work in progress. 

Even though everything is going to take time, we have been moving at a pretty solid pace. We started by ripping out the floors. Once that was done, we painted the living room, kitchen, and hallways all white (shade Pure White from Sherwin Williams). Then, we put down hardwood floor in the kitchen, living room, and hallways, that way the floor was the same throughout the main parts of the house. We finished up the flooring last weekend and it's so gorgeous! It also feels good to actually have a finished floor instead of plywood 😝

Next up is trim, painting the kitchen cabinets and choosing a new kitchen counter top! Our living room furniture should be here within the next two weeks, and I have my eye on a dining table that I think will go with our space perfectly! Everything else will come together as far as the details go, but we also have plans for the master bedroom & bathroom after the wedding!

Needless to say, I have been a bit distracted from wedding planning! All I want to do is focus on the house and get things done; I even told rob we should have just eloped at this point 😂 (we really did talk about that as a serious option at first). But I know once our wedding day is here it's all going to be worth it for the #bestdayever! 

Wedding Planning

Speaking of wedding planning - in a couple weeks, it will be one year since Rob & I got engaged, and two months until wedding day. LITERALLY WHERE DID THE TIME GO? If someone has an answer or knows how to go back in time, please share in the comments lol. But really, time flies. It's such a cliché but it's so true.

Luckily, I got a lot of things done and all of my vendors secured right away. Now it's just finalizing invites & mailing them out, meeting with our dj to go over our playlist, figuring out the set up of the tables so we have a definite game plan for flowers, getting the guys suits picked out, and choosing our wedding bands. Now, I say that's it but it's a pretty long list once it's written out, huh? I know it's all going to get done but I better get to work 😝

More than all of that, here's what I have learned: even though I'm a perfectionist and details absolutely matter, what matters most is what you feel in your heart. It's your day and everything should be how you want it to be. Don't be afraid of what others might say or think. If you want to allow a ton of money in your budget for flowers because you LOVE them, then do it even though you're well aware they will die. The last thing you want to do is regret not doing this or that because you felt like you were being judged. Reality check - no one has the right to judge the decisions you make for YOUR wedding. I'm sure you have always envisioned how your wedding would be and you should do everything you can to make that vision come to life. 

On the flip side, that does not mean to be a bridezilla! You still need to take into account the feelings of your fiancé, parents, wedding party, etc. because they are a part of this process and want to see everything go smoothly for you! I feel like I've been pretty chill for the most part. Naturally, I've had moments of stress & tears, but who doesn't feel overwhelmed at some point when planning a wedding?  I'm just lucky that everyone involved in our wedding day has been on my good side so far hahah. But really, everyone has been great and I can't wait to see everything come together over the next couple months!! After all, it is going to be the best day ever! 

Blog Life

Between the house & the wedding planning, I've been slacking a bit as far as the blog goes. This little corner of the internet requires so much time & attention. There's nothing else I would rather be doing, but I'm also not going to post just to post. I don't want to get in that habit because then I feel like I'm not being true to you guys. With that said, I've also been thinking about rebranding and taking my blog in a new direction - but more on that later - it still needs time to come together! 

I've also cut back as far as buying clothes goes because let's be real, I'm on a budget til our wedding is over! I have my bachelorette party & shower (which means outfits outfits outfits), three other weddings before ours & one after that is a destination wedding so that requires more outfits, and makeup & hair appointments 🙃 I'm not mad about it, but my priorities are a little different right now compared to a few months ago which I'm sure you can understand and relate to. Isn't it crazy how life just happens and our priorities change according to what's going on? Just some food for thought! 

As always, thanks for reading! If you have any thoughts you want to share, leave a comment!

xo

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