looking back

2011 has been a whirlwind of greatness and newness and heartbreak and beauty and change - and I've loved every second of it. And I am so thankful for the lives that I got to share it with. I've learned so much about myself and life and love over the past year. I went on adventures, I laughed, I made new friends, I lost loved ones, I fought, I cried, I dreamed big and I found love.

Here's to hoping 2012 is even better.

a little gift wrapping

i am so glad to be done with all my Christmas shopping! I was done a week early and it has been stress free since then. this year i chose to wrap my gifts in brown craft paper tied up with twine,  green and cream felt ribbon, and white yarn. i added a few sprigs of red berries to add a splash of color; and stamped each gift receiver's name for a little personalization

making gifts pretty makes giving them more fun :)

(the antlers are one of my favorite gifts so far, given to me by my sister's boyfriend. i am so excited to mount them, or figure out where to put them!)

Merry Christmas , ya'll!

Christmas Crafts

I LOVE CRAFTS.

and Christmas time is the absolute best time for them. 

Christmas decorations can be pretty pricey decorations to only have up for about a month out of the year (or longer if you're lazy and/or me) in your home. Especially when you like to change your look from year to year. Plus, its the perfect activity for a girls' get together when the cold weather forces you indoors!

A few weeks before Thanksgiving, my friend Whitney hosted an ornament making party and I've tackled some other crafts here and there when I had some free time on my own. Here is what I've made so far!

book/music page ornaments
i got the inspiration from here.

glass ornaments from Michael's 6 for $2.50; old book $1.21; old hymnal (sorry Lord) $1.21; modpoge; glitter; and twine


I have really loved the look of mercury glass for this season (probably because of this and this..) You can find some pretty inexpensive faux mercury glass candle holders and votives at Michael's and TJMaxx, but what is wayy more fun? Making your own!!
Before: glass christmas tree + 2 candle holders = less than $3 at Value Village; krylon looking glass spray paint $7 hobbylobby
After:

I got inspired to make these mason jar snow globes from my friend Charis, because she made such cute ones!
mason jar $1.21 at Value Villiage, snow and trees from Michael's
And this has nothing to do with crafts, but its not Christmas without some cozy lights strung around :)

Give Thanks

I am a tad bit late on posting this, since it is already a week into December.. but I wanted to make a quick post about Thanksgiving anyways! Thanksgiving was different this year and I got my first taste of sharing the holiday, but it was by far my most favorite Thanksgiving yet. Kevin was so sweet to be willing to sacrifice spending Thanksgiving day with his family to spend it with mine.

We feasted on all kinds of really southern, delicious dishes like giblet gravy, collards, and watergate salad (yum!) at my dad's house for lunch, and then headed over to my aunt and uncle's to spend the rest of the afternoon with my mom's side of the family. There were around 30 people there, it was a full house! We finished the day with a nap and A Christmas Carol and then went for coffee and split a Grand Slam at Denny's (Wilson doesn't have much to work with when it comes to late night eateries...) before we spent a few hours with all the crazies at Target at midnight for Black Friday.

The next day we ate lunch at Cracker Barrell with my Mom before we headed back early to spend the last bit of the holiday weekend with his parents. Here is a collection of a few photos from our weekend:

Even though it is wayyy past Thanksgiving, I still have plenty of reasons to give thanks!
mcm

raleigh

whew, i've been a travelin' girl! 

weekend trips are one of my favorite things, especially when i get to see good friends and family.

besides heading east for thanksgiving (blog post coming soon) i went to visit my best friend (since 8th grade, what?!) in Rals. 

we brunched at cute places, went to the christmas parade, shopped, made a homemade apple pie, drank coffee and went to a huge thanksgiving feast! 

it was my kind of weekend :)

 
 (i died for this coat - how amazing is it?!)  

happy autumn!!

m

song of the day

this song pulls at my heart strings in every way.

i like to play the story out in my head about a girl before delilah. she loved him when he had it all and she loved him when he had nothing. what they had was simple, but it was honest and real and beautiful.

hope you like it too.

xo

meagancarlie

boone

this past weekend, i took a trip up to boone to visit my sister for the day on saturday. it was such a nice little drive there - just me, a caramel mocha coffee, some good tunes, and the highway. riding into boone was gorgeous, and boone was so cute and quaint. we had such a sweet day together. we walked up and down the streets and window shopped at all the cute little consignment shops in downtown boone.

 

                     then we drove down the blueridge parkway just in time to catch the sunset over the mountains.

we finished up the day making a pot of mom's infamous turkey & cabbage soup (tastes more delicious that it sounds) and watching 'new moon'. although I don't see her as often as I'd like, i am so thankful to have such a good friendship with my sister.
xo

for the love of thrift!

I have this little obsession called Value Village, which I had never heard of until I moved to Charlotte. Its basically a department store sized Goodwill. But better. Wayyy better. I have a serious love affair for all things old, vintage, & antique. And I LOVE a good deal. 

Since I go there so often (and to the dismay of my roommate who says we already have enough junk in our apt, always come home with something brilliant) I decided I would start posting my finds! 

this vintage floral plate, print, clock & lantern cost less than $10 total

I also recently bought a set of  aqua sure seal clamp jars for only $9:

They may seem like junk, but one person's trash is another person's treasure, right?

heart,

meagan carlie

sweet love

So who would've thought November would be wedding season?? Well it is for me at least. I have been going to shower, after shower and now finally the days have come! This past weekend I got to witness the marriage of my sweet friend Kaitlin to the love of her life, Adam. They married outside on a small farm in Monroe, NC. Of course I teared up a little (I seriously cry at every wedding.. haha), but it was such a beautiful ceremony and you could just feel the love they have for each other all over the place!

They had really sweet details of pretty flowers, pom poms, twinkling lights, and their silhouettes.

Snapping pictures with my table-mates while we wait for dinner.

Bouquet toss (unfortunately I didn't catch it...)

..but I pretended I did :)




And this one is my favorite. SO happy for them!

This will probably seem like a wedding blog these next few weeks! But I am excited to see all of my friends so happy and share that happiness with you :)

xo.

m.