My Blog Turns 1

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLOG!!

I should make a teal cake to celebrate, right??

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Today my blog is officially one year old!!! I have been slacking lately in this department but I have been so overwhelmed and excited about having Artie. I have a lot more good things in store for you if I can stop long enough to write them.

In honor of Designer in Teal turning one, I am going to share my top 5 reasons why I LOVE blogging!

1) The friendships- I have "met" so many amazing women through blogging and some I've even gotten to meet in real life! I even consider one of them one of my best friends. Veronica and I are planning our vacation together for next year. I can't wait to finally meet this amazing girl!

2) The creativity- Blogging makes me push my limits to find new design inspiration. Every time I create a design board, I want a fresh and exciting design that is unique so you will want to keep coming back. And I love when I have a "client" as it gives me some practice for work. Not only that, but learning how to design my own blog has taught me more about graphic design.

3) The motivation- Because I want to have awesome things to share with you, blogging makes me want to go out and DIY something or try a new recipe instead of sitting on my couch all day. (oh and take more pictures...even though I still fail at that one)

4) The journaling- This space allows me to look back to any date and see how my life has changed. It also allows my family and friends to keep up with me.

5) The love- It seriously makes my day every time I get a comment from one of you. I read EVERY single one and it overwhelms me how sweet you are and how much you care so thank you!


I hope that you have decided to stick around my little piece of the internet even though I have been absent. I appreciate each one of you sooo much. Get ready because I will be catching up soon :)

If you are new around here, check out my about me page and my most popular posts!

• Teal Chevron Curtains
• My Country Chic Wedding
• Mood Board Home Office
• Living Room Reveal
• Sara's Mood Board

I also have some bloggers to thank for helping me get to where I am now...love you ladies
{Sara, Kalyn, Veronica, Beth, Marquis, Kaitlyn, Lauren, Jackie, Darby, Logan, Tanika}

Birthdays, Weddings, Anniversaries...oh my!

Remember how I told you that June would be the biggest month of the year?? Well, it absolutely was!!!

Thought I'd give you a little recap in case you have been away on a vacation (in which case I am really jealous) and I have some exciting news at the end you won't want to miss!!!!

June 1: 

We surprised my best friend Denise with a ziplining bachelorette party! And I went to The Melting Pot for the 1st time!!

June 8-9: 

We celebrated our 1 YEAR anniversary by staying in Downtown Richmond at the Berkeley and dinner at The Tobacco Company. We went to Richmond's 1st annual Bacon Festival and ate our year old wedding cake!

I also celebrated on the blog by co-hosting our Marriage Series that the amazing Kalyn came up with :) I shared happy times, hard times and some unexpected moments from our 1st year!

credit to Veronica

June 16:

We weren't able to spend Father's Day with our dads but I did organize an awesome blogger dinner at Chuy's!

photo via Virginia Bloggers

June 20-23:

We headed to Strasburg for Logan and Denise's wedding!!

rehearsal dinner (photo by Nicole-MOH)

the stunning couple! (photo credit to Karla Collegeman Photography)

June 26:

I turned 23!!! and had my cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory :)

Was June a big month for you?? Did you get a long holiday weekend? How did you celebrate the 4th? I'll be sharing some fun times from that too!

Also, did you notice my Loft dress got A LOT of wear this month? Maybe I should give it a rest!

What's the news?? We are gonna be fur parents :) We are going to meet Gilligan today in hopes of adopting him!! Get ready for doggy overload!

1 YEAR Anniversary Celebration!!!

Well, this is it. This is the last of the Marriage Series- the Anniversary Recap. AND it's MY BIRTHDAY!!

As you know (if you've been reading) that our 1 year anniversary was on June 9th. Now I finally get to share our fun-filled weekend with you.

It had been pouring rain on Friday so we decided to grab pizza for dinner and then stay in and watch a movie (like most of our Friday nights). We watched Safe Haven which was amazing. I am a huge Nicholas Sparks fan so I always get excited when they turn one of his books into a movie. I had not read this book but I couldn't say no when Tim offered to watch it with me.

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Saturday afternoon we checked into The Berkeley Hotel and lounged around before our dinner reservations at The Tobacco Company. After dinner we walked around downtown and to the Capitol. It was a beautiful day...thank goodness all the rain had stopped. We stopped in a local bookstore and I ended finding an amazing book (National Geographic's Journey's Of a Lifetime: 500 of the world's greatest trips)

HOTEL

My sharp-dressed man!!

Sorry for the phone pic. Just wanted to show my dress :)

RESTAURANT

Do you see us??

 Butter Cake. IT WAS DELICIOUS!

WALK

If it were any other time, I would be ashamed to admit all of the junk we ate but since it was a special occasion, why not! Sunday we had Starbucks and donuts for breakfast. We lounged around in the hotel for a while longer and then headed to Richmond's 1st annual BACON festival!! Yes, you read that right BACON! We also met some cuties there....haha our little cousins :)

FESTIVAL

my bacon ICE CREAM sundae

Chocolate face ;)

Aren't they adorable?!

So why did we stay at a hotel so close to home? We saved a lot of money and time not having to travel a long distance and it was more romantic being out of apartment where there are chores to be done and technology to distract us.

Sunday evening I made quiche for dinner and we had our year old cake..yum? Actually, it was really good and we had some fresh strawberries to put on our strawberry cake (our favorite)!

TRADITION

Our champagne flute and engraved cake knife and server. I had also saved some dessert napkins. 

After dinner, we looked back through our wedding album that my mom made us, guest book, and wedding cards. I was overwhelmed with all of the love and wishes that everyone gave us throughout our engagement and on our wedding day.

Overall it was a FANTASTIC one year anniversary! I can't wait for many more :) It made me realize even more how lucky I am to have such a great guy.

Ashley @ It Is What You Make It // Kalyn @ Love.Laughter.HappilyEverAfter  // Mallory @ From California to Kansas // Karla @ Forever Newly Wedded // Maggie @ A Weaving of Grace 

Samantha @ Designer in Teal // Veronica @ Passion.Pink.Pearls // Kaitlyn @ Wifessionals // Emily @ Newlywed Moments // Callie @ My Something New With You