An "Island" Escape: P&P Tie the Knot

Last weekend, J and I had the privilege of attending the wedding of a former co-worker of mine, Priya. We met at our first jobs out of college, in public accounting. The friends I made during this time in my life are so dear to me. They saw the best and worst in me for sure. Passing my CPA & getting engaged and then married, as well as cracking after 80+ hour weeks, showing up a few Saturdays hungover after trying to enjoy life (a little too much), eating horrible takeout night after night at our desks, the list goes on. They were there. They were there for the late afternoon coffee sessions, the late nights, the end of busy season parties, and the everyday madness encountered working 6 days a week for about 20 weeks of the year.

It was so nice to see so many former co-workers in a non-work setting. Who said accountants can't have fun?! (Don't answer that.)

Priya and Pete got married at Ocean Edge Resort. I had never been there before and I'll tell you one thing, I cannot wait to go back. J and I decided to make the most of the day and get to the Cape early. The weather was perfect and we planned to grab drinks and an appetizer on the water somewhere once we got off the highway. We soon realized that our best bet was to visit the bar right at the resort, Ocean Terrace. We both kept saying how we didn't feel like we were in MA. Beyond the nearly perfect weather, the view and ambience felt more like the Caribbean.

I'll take another one of those drinks!

When it was time to check-in, we made our way into the mansion got our room keys and headed off to the Villages to check out our villa. I had no idea what I was booking way back when I booked under the wedding block so I was pleasantly surprised by the rooms! 

Love the oversized matted frames

The room was so comfortable. We've stayed in so many hotel rooms this summer with all of the weddings that all I expected was a standard king size bed, one big room. I would love to spend a weekend here in one of these villas.

Another sweet surprise, these welcome pails. Priya and Pete put so much thought into their wedding! There were little details everywhere. And I certainly appreciated having the water and Cape Cod chips later that night. :)

Once we were ready to go, we headed back to the main resort for the ceremony and reception. Although Ocean Edge hosts several weddings each weekend, Priya and Pete totally got the best the venue had to offer. Beach ceremony! This was our first beach ceremony, and it was picture perfect. 

An amazing ceremony detail: steel drums. Like I mentioned above, it was easy to forget we were in MA. The music was awesome. I just loved the island feel the steel drums gave the ceremony.

Like I said, picture perfect!

I have to admit, from here on out I was a really bad blogger. These are friends I hardly see these days and it was just so nice to relax and catch up. The cocktail hour was held on the outdoor terrace at Ocean Terrace. And the reception in the main ballroom. Like I said, these two seriously got the very best this venue has to offer! I loved everything about it.

So smart!

Some details I did capture

The beautiful bride! And my handsome date. ;)

 Congratulations Priya and Pete!

We had so much fun at your BEAUTIFUL wedding and couldn't be happier for you! 

xoxo, T

House Updates: A Sneak Peek

I owe you an overall house update but life has been too busy lately. And so therefore, I haven't taken any updated photos yet. Hopefully I can get my act together soon, but for now let's focus on some new details around here.

I have been doing my very best to only buy good deals. But not to buy something just because it's a good deal. It has to be something I love for one hell of a steal. With so many rooms to fill, I need to stretch our dollars as far as possible. Otherwise, we'll only have one finished room and a whole bunch of empty spaces for the next year or two while I save up.

After searching high and low for a shade option for our master bedroom, I went with these. We have 4 windows in our bedroom and they are 3 different sizes. So I had to find something that came in all 3 sizes because I didn't want to pay the higher prices for the cut to size ones. Like I said, deals only. So bamboo shades it was for us. (Plus, this post really swung my decision towards the look of bamboo).

Thank you Autumn for your amazing affordable finds series. I bought this steal of a mirror and also found great prices on curtains for our bedroom. I haven't decided where to hang the mirror yet but either way, Kirklands for the win!

I've given myself a [small] budget to finalize our family room. It's the room that's has been closest to "finished" so I've decided to get 'er done. I will definitely post a before & after and source list but let's just say that Target's Threshold and Nate Berkus lines are a godsend. Here are a few close-ups of the layers I've added to our family room.

I painted our dining room this weekend. And it feels so good to have another room cleanly painted. After many failed samples painted all over the walls I decided to just wing it. I knew the color I was going to go for, now just to find it and get it in the right hue. We have low ceilings here, so I realized when testing out paints that I needed to go lighter than I imagined, and to trust that it would look slightly darker in our space. Have you ever actually sat at the table you find within the paint section? That was me Saturday. I took my time, looked at many colors, reviewed them with a piece of white paper behind them, and eventually made a decision on the spot. Benjamin Moore Soft Fern for the win. Bye bye yellow!

Now I cannot wait to get the kitchen painted.

How was your weekend?

Even though we had no actual plans, we were insanely busy this weekend. And it felt really good. We got our long training run in, the dining room got painted, the lawn is raked clean of moss and seeded, the pool's closed, and some of the front beds are weeded. Our backs are now aching and we're exhausted but it feels great to have gotten so much done.

Happy Monday!

If you like this post please let me know by leaving a comment or liking my Facebook page. You can also follow along on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Let's stay in touch!

Fun Fact Friday 09.13.13

Happy Friday!

It's a rainy Friday here in Boston and honestly, I don't hate it. I've been craving a sweatpants and couch kind of night for a while now and I think Im finally going to get it this weekend. You don't know how happy this makes me. Our weekend currently contains zero plans. Zero. And we're pretty pumped about it. 

Here's 5 things I'm currently loving:

1. Happy Anniversary to my parents! They've been married for 32 years now. 32! And I couldn't be happier for them. 

2. I've been on an app downloading binge recently. I am loving the Cartwheel app for Target! Every store needs something like this. It allows you to save coupons to your phone to redeem by barcode at checkout. 25% off Threshold, 25% off Nate Berkus just to name a few...thanks for the tip Lauren!

3. After borrowing some from a friend at one of the recent weddings (same Lauren mentioned in #2, she's a lifesaver!), I've finally purchased a pressed powder. I've been using it all week and just love the soft, smooth finished look it gives my skin. I went with Revlon Nearly Naked. No real reason why other than looking for something lightweight (and I liked the packaging) but it has worked out great.

4. I ordered prints for our dining room from this Etsy dealer last week - Belle Botanica - and just love them! The quality is even better than I expected and the current buy 3 get 1 free deal totally worked in my favor. We're making progress over here. House updates to come next week.

5. Do you think Tucker's new dog beds a little too big? Whoops! We'll be exchanging it. But I do love the material and quality of this bed. (Don't mind the ugly power cords, we're working on it...)

How about you, any weekend plans? Any good apps I should download? 

Have fantastic weekend!

If you like this post please let me know by leaving a comment or liking my Facebook page. You can also follow along on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Let's stay in touch!

Linking up with H54F, Friday Favorites, That Friday Blog Hop