Monday, September 9, 2013

Planty Projects: DIY Succulents in Mini Lace Terra Cotta Pots

I finally got around to my latest planty project - succulents in mini lace terra cotta pots. 
Although I tried to give most of the succulents away as party favors at the Fiesta, I still have a handful hanging around the house in obnoxiously bright yellow cans. Over the weekend I finally transferred a few to mini terra cotta pots {.77 at Home Depot} and wrapped them up in lace ribbon.
I wish I came up with this idea myself. Truth be told, I was totally inspired by Honey We're Home's Mini Lace Potted Plant. She sure is clever.
Wouldn't these make for the cutest housewarming, thank you, welcome, etc. gifts? Succulents require little to no maintenance since they thrive off of neglect. We water our succulents maybe once a month, and even then, we only sprinkle a few drops of water onto the plant.
 Check out my other planty projects {here} and {here}! 
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Friday, September 6, 2013

Five on Friday!

Sorry I've been MIA this week. I am still trying to catch up from vacation and we are leaving in just a few hours for a wedding weekend in Worcester, Massachusetts. So let's get right down to it!

- ONE - I've been loving this little reminder in our house. However, I am getting antsy to switch it over to my fall design. Any cute fall chalk art recommendations?
- TWO - I was recently contacted by the coolest company ever to review a product - Good Day Dog, a monthly dog collar subscription where each month customers receive a new collar based on a trend or time of year. This is probably one of the coolest ideas I've heard in a long time so I immediately said YES, please!! I was so excited when Charlie's collar arrived {and so was he}! In addition to the adorable packaging, we received a pirate themed collar for summertime! How cute is that!? If you want to learn more about how the collar subscription works {CLICK HERE}.
- THREE - Our fridge is officially stocked with pumpkin beer! I am so giddy about all fall that I am totally embracing it already, even if it's 80 degrees out still.
- FOUR - I finished The Glass Castle on vacation! Although it wasn't my typical read and I've never really been interested in memoirs, I decided to go out on a limb and try it! So glad I did. It was so interesting and I finished it in two days! I give it 3.5 stars!
And now I am racing to finish Beautiful Creatures so I can hurry up and rent it on Redbox! I am obsessed and although I have 100 pages left, I give it 4 stars! I am hoping to finish it on the plane today. If you like Harry Potter or Twilight, this book is for you!!

 - FIVE - The Skimm. Okay, I stole this one from April's last five. But what she {and Two Delighted} said is SO true and everyone should sign up. The Skimm is a daily newsletter that hilariously summarizes all of the big headlines for the day in just a few sentences. I love the writing style so much that I actually enjoy reading about headline news that otherwise I'd never click on. You can sign up {here}.
Happy Weekend!
 
 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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Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Mexico!

5 days of sunshine, bottomless guacamole and frozen drinks, private king size bali beds on the beach and more, our vacation was nothing short of perfect! It was so nice to escape to paradise and forget about emails, alarm clocks, calories, etc. For this trip, we asked our good friends to come along and I am so glad they did! It was so nice to share such an amazing experience with another couple. I already want to start planning our next vacation back to this resort!
 Wednesday morning we took an early flight out to Mexico so we could be in our bikinis, daiquiris in hand by 1 pm. The flight was practically empty and so was the resort {definitely going to remember to vacation in August again}! We decided to carry on all of our bags so we wouldn't have the hassle of waiting at baggage claim at the airport once we landed. This was another huge time saver!
Upon arrival at our resort, El Dorado Royale, we were greeted with cold towels and champagne. Immediately we were off to a great start.
{welcome champagne}
 During our check-in we decided to splurge on an upgrade from our Jr. Suite to the private Casitas side of the resort. The extra ammenities {private bali beds on the beach, private pool, upgraded room, etc.} totally sold us. Within minutes after checking in we were whisked off to our rooms in a golf cart.We couldn't believe how beautiful the property was!
 {view from the lobby}
When we arrived to the Casita section we knew we had made the right choice. It was absolutely stunning and we having our own pool just steps away from our room was one of our favorite parts of the trip. The main pool may have been a bit livelier, but we brought our own party so we were happy to have our own quiet swim up bar.
It was challenging trying to take a photo that really captured the awesomeness of the Casita Royale side so I stole this picture {below} from the website. Gorgeous, right?!
Our room was also stunning.
We had TWO showers {indoor & outdoor}, a jacuzzi tub in the corner of our room, a bali bed on our porch and more. And I have to give a shout out about the amazing room service. Our room was cleaned several times a day so every time we walked in it was immaculate, smelled heavenly and everything was straightened up. We were so impressed with how hard our cleaning ladies worked each day and thanked them generously before we left.
{the outdoor shower}
Matt and I spent so much time relaxing in the mornings with coffee and in the evenings with champagne in our bali bed on our porch.
Each morning we had room service deliver a feast to our porch. I can't get over how amazing the food was. The resort definitely lived up to it's "gourmet inclusive" hype. The presentation of all the food was gorgeous and everything tasted delicious! Even the room service {we used for very late night food and snacks} was excellent!!
We never had to fight for a bali bed on the beach which was a lot different than our honeymoon experience. At our last resort, Matt had to get up and throw our towels on a bed by 6 am just to make sure we got one, and even then it was usually one of the last ones available.
 
 During this entire trip we never even saw anyone occupy any of the beds even near us. It was so quiet and relaxing. 
 We spent a lot of time on the bar swings enjoying cocktails. In fact, when I was researching all of the resort options in Mexico a big part of me picked this resort because of all the fun bar swings!
We spent most of each day on the beach. The weather was perfect so we got great tans and our beach butler made sure we were always taken care of.
{the hubs}
After lunch each day we usually went back and forth from the pool and the beach.
McKinsey and I decided to pack some floats for the trip and we definitely got lots of use out of them at the pool and beach!
 The crystal clear water was so warm and there were tons of fish everywhere.
Although the resort had lots of little games and activities throughout the resort, we packed some card games to play on the beach. It was so fun!
 {beach necessities}
{beachfront massage area}
 Oh! And the wildlife at the resort was SO cool. Everywhere you went you ran into some exotic animal just hanging out. Iguanas lounged on chairs, huge frogs greeted you home on your doorstep and there were lots of sea turtles at night!
 Dinner each night was phenomenal. And since the resort was all-inclusive, we got to try tons of different items on the menu.
It was so hard to leave after 5 days. Our biggest regret was not booking the trip for longer!
Our final group shot of the trip. Sigh.
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