Photo by Inspiring the Everyday

Happy fall, friends! We spent the first official full day of the new season doing a decidedly un-fall-like activity: swimming in the Eno River. While I savored one of our perhaps last outings with a summer feel, I’m looking forward to squeezing as many cozy activities into the next two months as possible!* Here are a few on our to do list:

-– go on a trip to the mountains
-– make pumpkin chocolate chip muffins (SO good. Even if you don’t like pumpkin.)
-– catch the goat showmanship competition at the NC State Fair (yes, watching the goats and their child handlers is our very favorite activity at the Fair)
— also at the Fair: volunteer in our church’s ham biscuit booth (nope, it doesn’t get much more Southern than that!)
— buy some baby boos for the house
— make a fall crafty project
— cheer at another high school football game (we’ve already been to one!)
-– join in the sweet potato harvest at our church
— send out some secret surprises to friends
-– drink hot apple cider (my favorite)

What’s on your fall to do list?

*Why two months? I pretty much consider fall over by the time December rolls around, even though it officially lasts for most of the month!

Time for a new column! Can’t promise how long this one will last, but I’m liking the sound of it. The idea is that I’ll post five things in one category. I’ll try to keep the category very narrow, so we can keep this going for awhile. I have a feeling the categories will usually be from home design, but I could also see MM posts falling under fashion, weddings, parties, or holidays. Today: my top five favorite built-in bunk beds for four. There were a surprising amount of contenders.

Top to bottom: Elle Decor (photo by Miguel Flores-Vianna) | Domino Mag via Flickr | Urban Grace Interiors | Platt Byard Dovell White via Handmade Charlotte | Traditional Home

These bunks make me so happy, especially the small details: the privacy curtains, the individual reading lights, the clever ladders, the little knick knacks in each space. Now I just need an expansive vacation home to build a set in! Which one is your favorite?

Hello, beautiful friends! Guess what? I GOT MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whew! Now that that’s out of the way, I want to backtrack quickly and relate a few things I didn’t have a chance to get to pre-wedding. Turns out my schedule was a bit busier than I had anticipated, but I knew you all would prefer I spend time doing things like playing cornhole, going to the beach, and running errands with my Mom, even if it meant I didn’t get to write a sign off post.

BUT, if I had had time to write a final post, there are a few things I would have said.

I would have thanked you all for your excitement. From genuinely sharing in our enthusiasm from day one; to being thrilled for us at every step of the way, even if our steps were at times more like shuffles; to loving our engagement photos almost as much as we did. Even though I didn’t share too many of our projects in advance, you were delightfully enthusiastic over the ones I did share, like our marriage certificate, our wedding website, and our invitations.

I would have thanked you for your honest feedback. You helped me choose save the dates, shoes, and a rehearsal dinner dress, among other things. You offered kind opinions and tips when we were looking for a dress for my mom, when I shared our preparations for our wedding morning, and when we were struggling with whether we could afford videography.

I would have thanked you simply for reading, for showing up and listening to my thoughts and plans, and sometimes, when I got lucky, for commenting. Sharing the experience with you all made it twice as sweet!

I also would have thanked a few of you individually, though I would have been worried about leaving someone special out! I’ve loved growing closer to online friends throughout the last year, including longtime readers Charity, Kelly, Lisa, Paloma, and Laura F., as well as newer readers Madi, Madelynne, Elizabeth, and Amanda. Of course, lots of my “real life” friends have followed our planning via EFM, too, and I always love hearing from them! Alyssa, Molly, Jackie, and Laura B. form my most ardent fan club, with Emily, Anna, Caity, Meredith, Nancy, Megan, Cassie, Meghan, and Jesse also popping in frequently. Lastly, even though I chatted with them about plans often offline, I always loved seeing all FOUR of my sisters’ AND my Mom’s names pop up in the comment box.

So that’s what I would have said. And even though I didn’t get to say it beforehand, I still mean every word. Thank you, thank you, thank you! So much love to you all.

One final note: While chatting with the official EFM fan club at our post-wedding brunch, the gals mentioned their impending withdrawal from monthly planning to do lists. (I don’t think I’ll miss them quite as much!) There seemed to be some concern that I would have nothing to write about post wedding, but lest anyone else have the same fear, let me assure y’all that I wrote this blog for three years before I ever had a ring on my finger, and I will happily keep going now that my third finger sports two rings. There are always new adventures around the corner, after all.

P.S. Our wedding was perfect, from the weather to the emotion. In fact, we couldn’t wipe the smiles off our faces, as evidenced below. Can’t wait to share it all with you soon. xo

Thank you for the photo, Laurie!

…and other recent adventures :)

On Friday evening we packed up both of our cars and hit the road. Yahoo!!

Three suitcases, three large cardboard boxes, two Rubbermaid tubs, ten cake stands, four tote bags, three oversize frames, and about eight billion other unnamed wedding supplies. Oh yes, and two cats. And one bride, and one groom. This was my car – John’s held the cats and his golf clubs :)

We spent the night in Virginia, then set off for New England the next morning with my Dad joining our party. The cats were angels! Nary a peep from the backseat, and smooth sailing all through DC, NYC, and CT. This was us crossing from Delaware into New Jersey.

My Mom’s birthday was on Sunday, so my Dad and I made dinner + dessert to celebrate. I also set to unpacking in earnest, and this was the result midway through. Yikes!

We packed up all the silver and drove it over to our florist this morning. I snapped this little beauty next to her shop. I’ve grown to love the South, but it’s good to be back in picturesque New England :)

More soon!