2013 Folly Beach Vacation

Matt and I just got back from the most relaxing long weekend in Folly Beach, SC with his family. I think my favorite part about this year's family vacation is that we had no agenda, no alarm clocks, no bed times and no diets. It was wonderful and we were spoiled rotten as usual.

I had just come back from a hectic 3 days of travel when I landed in Charleston Wednesday afternoon. But once we pulled up to the beach house I immediately went into vacation mode. I mean...

wouldn't you?

{back of the house - right on the water}

Our first morning at the beach Matt and I woke up early and ran down to the Lighthouse Inlet to watch the sun rise. We even beat the fishermen to the beach so we had the whole thing to ourselves.

The rest of vacation looked a lot like this...

 {Bocce Ball tournaments}

 {Uno}

From homemade Belgium waffles for breakfast to dinners out on the town, we enjoyed lots and lots of delicious meals.

My blog friend Megan recommended we grab a dinner at Rita's Seaside Grille while we were in town and we are so glad we went!

 The Blackened Tuna Nachos with Watermelon Pico de Gallo lived up to their hype! So yummy!

 {family photo}

On our way out of town, Matt and I grabbed brunch at one of our favorite Charleston restaurants - Hominy Grill. We never leave Charleston without stopping here. It's one of our favorite traditions.

2013 family beach vacation - SUCCESS! You can also find our 2012 Folly Beach vacation recap {here}!

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Five on Friday: A Link-up!

So this week has been insane! Let me explain in airport codes: CLT > JAX > MCO > CHS! And all of that happened by Wednesday evening. Whew! Let's take a closer look into this crazy amazing week...

- ONE -  Since I've been living out of {multiple} suitcases I should fill you in on my new favorite travel accessory - the Morgan Paisley Pull Apart Cosmetic Bag from Target.

I am a cosmetic bag junkie. You can get me to purchase anything if it comes with a free bag. So it comes as no surprise that I have a large bin of bags in my closet. However, packing my suitcase was becoming ridiculous. I mean...

Yeah, I am slightly embarrassed. Thankfully my new all-in-one bag makes packing a breeze and going through airport security a lot less awkward.   - TWO - The first two days this week I took a quick business trip down to Florida. I don't have to travel often for work, but when I do I hate leaving Matt and Charlie back home. But you know what I don't hate? Not prepping, cooking and cleaning up dinner! Even better, having dinner delivered to my door after a hard workout at the gym.

{grilled grouper salad & veggies}
- THREE - For Grandpa's 82nd birthday I surprised him with a quick visit. In typical fashion we went out to his favorite {and only place he will go} restaurant, Grills Seafood Deck & Tiki Bar. In 18 hours we dined there twice and had drinks on the deck once. The staff there absolutely adore him and they fight over who gets to wait on him. It is so sweet and he feels like such a celebrity - so many hugs and kisses from the pretty little waitresses.

 Using some of my leftover fiesta decor I decorated Grandpa's condo after he went to bed so he would wake up to a little birthday surprise.

- FOUR - Wednesday night I flew into Charleston to spend the rest of the week with Matt's family for a relaxing vacation in Folly Beach. It has been so nice walking up without an alarm, soaking up the sun, pretending I'm not on a diet and relaxing by the ocean! Here's a little peek into our Folly Beach vacation...

{the back of the beach house}

{After an early morning run, Matt and I enjoyed a gorgeous sunrise from the Lighthouse Inlet}   - FIVE - My vacation pedi in new favorite OPI summer color - Cajun Shrimp!

{please disregard my weird toes}   Wanna join  Darci, April, Natasha and I on the Friday fun? You can link-up on any of our four blogs every Friday! All you have to do is... 1.)  Write  your post about five things you're lovin' this week (or any five things you want to share!). 2.)  Share the logo above on your blog and link back. 3.)  Link-up at the bottom of the post so some new readers can check out your five things and say hello!

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A Fiesta Engagement

Thursday evening one of my best friends, Mel, got engaged. Since I've known Mel she's always dreamed of getting engaged at Disney {yes, she knows this proposal isn't for everyone}. On the last day of her annual week long Disney vacation with her sister and a few friends she walked into Cinderella's Castle to find her Prince Charming down on one knee with a gorgeous rock in hand. Of course she said yes through a flood of happy tears! So when Mel's fiance, Travis, filled me in on is plan to propose 5 months ago I knew I wanted to do something really special for them when they returned from Orlando. Knowing Mel, I knew it would be absolutely impossible to keep the party a secret so I decided to tell her all about it. And since she loves party planning as much as I do she even agreed to help make the "small fiesta dinner party" with our friends happen. For weeks leading up to her trip we ran party errands together, sent each other pins from Pinterest, grocery shopped and were so excited for the fiesta. What Mel didn't know is that this dinner party would be her surprise engagement fiesta!!

To say she was surprised was a huge understatement.

I asked her a million times if she had it figured out and she said it never crossed her mind that this party could be for her, even after Travis proposed! She even said she thought it was such perfect timing that we had planned the dinner so she could show off her ring and fill us all in on the proposal details together - HA!

Mel was so overwhelmed to see 16 of her friends and family all in one room! Immediately after they arrived we popped some champagne and toasted to the happy couple.   {Banner designed by Tweet Events}

After several glasses of bubbly, it was time to snap some photos, snack on some delicious appetizers and chow down on tacos.

Remember my first sewing project I mentioned {here}? Well that was the fiesta garland for the party! Cutting hundreds of little squares out was truly a labor of love and I can't get over how adorable the garlands turned out!

Along the mantel I printed some of my favorite pictures of the couple including their proposal pictures from Disney.

The bar...

I found a cute fiesta banner printable {here} for the table, used a roll of {$1 Target Aisle} wrapping paper for the runner, picked up the flowers from the Farmer's Market, and had the water bottle labels and tent cards created by Tweet Events. 

Cherry Margarita recipe found {here}.

Salsa Station: Chips, Salsa, Guacamole & Queso

{Cake Table}

{Gift Table}

{the back deck}

Time for tacos!!

After dinner Mel and Travis cut the cake for some practice for their big day.

I knew the days leading up to the party would be too crazy so I decided against making the cake and had Harris Teeter custom bake this delicious raspberry filled vanilla cake.

Next up, pinata time!!!

Tailoring the pinata filling to the occasion the donkey was stuffed with mini bottles of liquor and ring pops!

The pinata smash was probably one of the funniest things I've ever watched. Using an old broom stick handle we made both Mel and Travis spin around 10 times then try and hit the pinata. Meanwhile everyone laughed as we pulled the string up each time they went to hit it. Finally after numerous misses Travis demolished the pinata. Thank goodness we used plastic mini bottles.

Since the proposal was caught on tape, we all gathered around and watched the video. Then Mel and Travis opened their gifts. 

 Mary gave Mel an adorable countdown until the wedding sign and Travis volunteered to fill in the number of days until their wedding. Clearly Mel was not amused.

Afterwards we took 247 pictures in the photo booth...

Photo Booth printables can be found {here}.

 {Mel's Family}

 Congratulations!! We are all so happy for you two!