$100 to Madewell!

oh hello friend!

One of my favorite bloggers, Danni of oh, hello friend!, is hosting a reader appreciation week. Today, the prize is $100 to Madewell! I am absolutely in love with that store and always want to purchase every little thing I see there.

So, you should stop by oh, hello friend not just for the giveaway, but also because Danni always posts the cutest crafts, most fashionable paper goods and sweetest stories. Check her out!

Love, Alli

Rules for a Happy Marriage

Southern Weddings

These rules by Southern Weddings have been floating around Pinterest for a while now. I just came upon them and thought they were very interesting and helpful! Numbers 8 and 10 are my favorites.

What do you think about this list? Is there anything you would add?

Love, Alli 

It's the Small Things

Design*Sponge

A list of tiny engagement happinesses:

• I can read wedding magazines and blogs without feeling slightly silly
• I can eat ungodly amounts of cake with the excuse that I'm tasting it for the reception
• I can stare at my glinting engagement ring and only garner one or two odd looks
• I can use a register gun at my favorite stores and feel like a secret agent roaming through the aisles
• I can collect images for my wedding board on Pinterest without feeling slightly silly
• I can finally wear a white dress to a wedding
• I can randomly dance with my fiance with the excuse that we're practicing for our first song
• I can contemplate small party things that have big impacts, like color schemes
• I can finally make myself do those diy projects I've been saving up

What small things did you enjoy or are currently enjoying about being engaged?

Love, Alli

I'm a FI-AN-CEE!

{frolic!}

A couple weeks ago, I wrote a post about the unexpecteds of engagement. Yes, being engaged is hard. It's almost as if I've been stuck in a waiting room that's filled with only bridal magazines for the past few months. I am no longer a single woman, but, at the same time, I am not yet one with my husband-to-be. It's a tricky place to be. However, being engaged is clearly not all bad!

There are the obvious big picture things that are amazingly wonderful about being engaged. Mainly that an engagement ends in marriage and the two people who love one another more than anyone else start their new lives together as man and wife. Believe me, I cannot wait for this to come. 74 days from now I will be in my white dress, making the men in my life cry.

There are, also, many small things that I have enjoyed while being engaged. Though what I look forward to most is being married to Cameron, these details have also made engagement a time I will always treasure.

Though women oogling over my ring, and attending wedding showers are fun, I'd say my favorite memory, so far, is when my mom, dad, Cameron and I went to the reception site to taste the food that will be served on the big day. Aside from us, the restaurant was empty. We sat in front of the roaring fire, and started off the night with a wine tasting. Following this, the chef brought out more food than I could have dreamed of. Melon wrapped prosciutto balls, salmon bruschetta,  and soft shell crab was just the beginning of the delicacies he had prepared for us.

Though I enjoyed devouring this delicious food, it wasn't really what made the night special. Spending time with my parents and fiance and talking about what the months to come would bring, sharing our excitement with one another, and swapping stories about the past and the things that got us to where we are - that's what made the night unforgettable.

What are some of your favorite small memories of being engaged?

Love, Alli

Red Fingernail Polish

opi fingernail polish

When I was younger, I thought red fingernail polish was for adults. My great Aunt Bonnie, whom I admired greatly, was never seen without it. In middle school, I tried it one or two times, but I'd immediately take it off. They just didn't feel like my hands! I simply didn't feel mature enough to wear it yet.

Well, the other day, I thought it was time to try again. At first it was a little strange. Once again, I didn't feel like I was looking at my hands. However, I stuck it out for a day and I love it. Every time I look down at my hands I feel so elegant and sophisticated. I know it's a little silly, but I finally feel old enough to have red nails!

What about you? Is there something you wouldn't wear or do when you were younger because you didn't think you were old enough yet? Do you do it now?

Love, Alli

Happy Weekend

cooperative

I don't know about the rest of the country, but Raleigh is experiencing some unseasonably warm weather, and I love it! (Though, it does make me a little nervous wondering how hot August will be.) Cameron's sister is coming to visit and I can't wait to spend time with her, showing her all the great things of this city, and relaxing in the warm sun!

What are some of your weekend plans? How will you enjoy some of this warm weather?

I also write for Love It? Promote It! Check out some of my posts from this week:
Who doesn't want to reenact that scene from Lady & the Tramp?
Finding cute stationary is important when you have a mountain of thank-you notes to write!
What are your plans for Easter weekend this year?
Warm weather not only changes our wardrobes, but also our tastebuds.

On Having Nothing to Say

Alicia Bock Photography

Do you ever feel like you don't have anything important to say? Do you ever feel like every word that falls out of your mouth or scribbled across a page is just noise? I've felt that. I'm currently feeling it, a little bit.

I just feel like we're surrounded by meaningless chatter and hurtful prose. I don't want to be a part of that. I want to lift others up with my words. Not only do I wish to entertain people and make them smile a bit, I also want to encourage and strengthen and love with my vocabulary. I want to inform people of injustices being performed and promote causes that I love. Is that too much to ask of myself?

Sometimes it feels that way.

What are your thoughts? What do you think the role of the modern writer, blogger, journalist, newscaster should play? I am so interested to know your opinion!