{Getaway} Weekend in Asheville

A couple of weeks months ago (where did the fall go?!), I surprised Bryan with a getaway to Asheville, North Carolina for his 30th birthday. One of my best friends lives in Charlotte and has been telling me what a great little city Asheville is for years, but I always figured I'd just go whenever we end up planning a girls weekend down there. I hadn't thought about it as a possibility for this birthday getaway until I stumbled across the fact that Asheville is known for its breweries. Charming, laid back city + mountains + driving distance + dog friendly + BEER = perfect spot to take the hubs!

{DIY} Etched Glass Dog Treat Jar

I just got a Silhouette Portrait. It's my new toy. I've been seeing discount packages offered on various blogs for a while now and have been tempted every time I see a new offer, so I finally pulled the trigger and got one. The deal this time was a glass etching bundle. The deal is over now, unfortunately, but if you're interested in getting one in the future, just keep your eyes open for the packages offered on a lot of craft/DIY blogs (not mine - I'm not an affiliate; I just think the discount blogger packages are the best deal!).

{DIY} Gold & Chalkboard Flower Pots

Back in May when we went to the UK, we had a cookout at our friends' flat. We used some fresh herbs they had growing out back, and I decided I finally needed to get around to planting my own. On my first shopping trip after we got home, I saw some herbs for sale in the grocery store and snatched up every single kind they had. The only problem: I didn't have confidence that I'd actually be able to keep them alive for more than, like, two weeks (plant serial killer - guilty!), so I bought the cheapest little terra cotta planters I could find. Shockingly, my herbs have actually lasted! Since it seems the herbs are here for the long term, I decided to give my basic pots an upgrade with chalkboard paint and gold Rub 'n Buff.

{Recipe} Beignets

Phew, it's been one of those weeks! Since I haven't been posting lately, I thought I'd give you this quick recipe post. And by 'recipe' I mean link to someone else's recipe, along with a rather ugly photo I took since I hadn't originally planned on blogging about these. But even if the photo is ugly, these suckers are tasty!!

{Recipe} White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake (with Greek yogurt!)

I finally got bit by the fall bug last weekend. I usually get really excited about each new season, but I'm a summer girl at heart, and as September rolled around this year, I was feeling kind of bummed that I didn't make the most of my summer. No beach trips. Only a handful of days at the pool. A lack of tanned skin and sun-kissed hair. I kind of wanted to rewind to July. But last weekend as the weather started feeling cooler, I finally accepted the inevitable, and suddenly felt like I desperately needed pumpkins and mums on the patio and some sort of pumpkin baked goods in the oven. A few hours after that feeling initially stuck, and I was chowing down (at an embarrassing rate) on this cheesecake. Although the quantity I ate was a bit excessive, the use of Greek yogurt in this recipe helps to make it a healthier dessert (at least compared to regular cheesecake!).

FMS Photo-A-Day Summer Wrap-up

Guess who hasn't done a monthly photo-a-day wrap-up since May?!? Oops.  In an effort to get fully caught up and avoid doing several of these in a row, today I'm presenting you with this post that is chock full o' photo vomit. 92 pictures, 3 lists of prompts. A jumble of far more photos that anyone could wish to process.  But I like having these as a record and it keeps me accountable - and believe me, I need it, since I'm not staying on top of this so well!!

June photo-a-day pictures (in order from #1-30)

{Recipe} Evil Jungle Prince: A Thai Coconut Curry

I love Thai food. And I love Hawaii. This is a Thai dish that brings back memories of Hawaii, so it's a pretty perfect combination in my eyes. Plus, who can resist a name like Evil Jungle Prince?

{Fashion} Stitch Fix #1

Guys - there's a new love in my life. And his name is Stitch. Or Stitch Fix, if you're feeling formal. Have you heard about it yet? I think I may have been slow on the uptake here, since I just learned about it in the last couple of weeks but it seems to be all over the place.

If it's new to you too, the concept is this: you create a style profile - your preferred style, your sizes, your preferred mix of business/casual/dressy, even a link to your Pinterest style board... anything that helps indicate what you like to wear. You pay a $20 styling fee, then your 'stylist' (doesn't that make you feel fancy?) sends you a box of five hand-picked items. Keep what you like, send back what you don't in the pre-paid envelope. If you keep anything, the $20 fee goes toward your items, and if you keep all 5 things, you get 25% off everything.

Here's what I got in my first Fix, courtesy of my stylist, Miranda...

A Visible Backyard

One of the most exciting things about moving to a house from a condo is that we'll have a yard. Although I'm excited to have a space for outdoor entertaining and that kind of thing, my immediate focus is on having a yard for Smokey to run around in. We take him out for walks several times a day and on various "adventures" (he knows that word - don't say it around him unless you want to activate the puppy cyclone!), but it's so rare that he actually just gets to chill outside. On his lazier walks, the poor little guy always tries to plop down in the grass to sunbathe and avoid coming back in, but I'm always in a rush get back to work or whatever I'm doing. No question, he's going to LOVE having a yard and not being so leash-dependent.

But before we can Smokey let loose on his own, we need a fence. And before we can get a fence, we need to make way for the fence. You might remember that our backyard was previously in jungle status - as in, not possible to see more than a few feet into it. This past weekend, we started trying to fix that (which you may have known already if you follow me on facebook or Instagram).

Homepolish Interior Design {10% off coupon code!}

Have you ever used an Interior Designer? I haven't. They're so expensive, right? And if you can find a good deal, well, there might be a reason for it. I've seen interior design consultations on deal sites before - but the portfolios of the ones I've seen are always SO traditional (like maybe I'd use them if I was designing a country club? I'm guessing design school may have been a few decades back?). But now there's a site that puts those problems to rest.

Enter Homepolish: offering accessible, affordable, quality interior designers - starting at only $50 for an initial one-hour, in-home consultation. Check out some of their gorgeous work, and scroll to the bottom for a coupon code!

In L-O-V-E with this light fixture