mark your calendars outtakes

Happy Sunday!!

Sunday is usually a day of rest for me, but today I am just on a roll and can't stop going. Cleaned the house, washed clothes, even cleaned my CAR..

Anyways, I wanted to share a few of the outtakes from our Save the Date session. Kevin and I are REALLY on a budget with our wedding and are trying to save as much $$ as possible without sacrificing too much of what we want. For our save the dates, I knew I wanted to send postcards so I scourged the internet and found Vistaprint.com (which im sure every one else has heard of but me). If you ignore the actual 'save the date' section you can get 100 postcards for $24.99! What a deal, right?! Even more so that they took an extra 30% off my final order! It also allowed you to upload your own image, so I got my roommate to take pictures of us in a park across the street from our house one Friday evening. Basically the whole shoot was accidental since she was trying to figure out how to work my camera and catch the light just right the whole time, ha! She isn't a photographer but I think she did pretty dang good! So here are some unedited outtakes. I can't wait to show you the finished product!!!

love, m

picnic-ing

For easter, I received the perfect easter basket from my future mother-in-law: a picnic basket!

I had been dying to use it, and this past Saturday the weather held out for us to have a picnic lunch at Freedom park. It actually turned out to be a really beautiful day.


We went to the farmer's market beforehand and picked up a bunch of fruits and veggies for our lunch!
We made turkey avocado wraps with curry mayonaise (soooo goood!), a fresh asian inspired salad of cukes, tomatoes, and red onion drizzled with mirin and rice vinegar, fresh peaches, and lemonade!
It was perfect :)
m.

hey, i'm still here

I know it hasn't seemed that way since I haven't really posted in what seems like forever, but I'm still here!

and I've missed my tiny space on the interwebs.

(ok, for the next few lines I'm going to talk about wedding stuff. so you were forewarned.)

We have found a place AND set a date!

OCTOBER 27, 2012

ahhhh!! I can barely believe I am going to be a married woman in 6 months! And to get to marry such a handsome stud, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world :)

We've also got all of the catering, venue rentals, etc. - and a dress. I am so excited!!

It has all come together so quickly and seamlessly so far. And my family and friends have been so willing to give their time and talents, I am truly a blessed girl. 

I still have a loooong way to go, a lot of projects to tackle, a lot of loose ends to tie - but I am still trying to have fun in the process. Kevin and I still make sure we have date nights where we don't talk about the wedding and just focus on us, which is a nice breather!

It is nice to see everything begin to come together, but we are still on the hunt for a photographer and a cake, so if you know of any good (and reasonably priced) bakers and/or photographers let me know!

I'll keep ya posted, 

m.

Seastation Giveaway!

My friend Charis, over at Seastation, is currently having a Birthday-Giveaway! Click the image below to visit her blog and enter for a chance to win some really neat things!

HERE'S HOW TO GET ENTRIES:

1. follow her blog

2. leave a comment, and tell her your birthday

3. tweet about the giveaway

4. facebook about the giveaway

5. blog about the giveaway

6. leave a comment with your favorite item from either shop 

7. follow their blogs here and here

xo

M.

fauxtoes

I'm really getting behind on posting, but it's been pretty busy for me lately!
K and I are oh-so-close to deciding on a venue.
I am getting excited/nervous/joyful about all the plans that will be in the making soon.
I have been gathering all sorts of ideas and inspiration and thoughts, I can't wait to see them all come to life in (hopefully) only 7 months!
with that said, I leave you with a random assortment of photos from here and there:

1. my riiiiiiing :) 2. Trader Joes trips 3. collars 4. healthy lunches

(and ya know, just playing n64)

xo

m

colorful sunday

hope you all had a colorful weekend :)

 

our story

Our story is nothing monumental. It’s not a storybook romance, and it definitely would never make it to the big screen. Our story may be lost through the years and our love may be easily forgotten by others, but it changed my life: and the boy I fell in love with turned my whole world upside down.

I first met Kevin shortly after I moved to Charlotte in 2009 on a Tuesday night at CharlotteOne. I went with my friend, Whitney, and her younger brother and his friend drove up from Asheboro to see Donald Miller speak that evening. It definitely wasn’t love at first sight, but I immediately felt a strange connection to this boy in a plaid shirt and skinny jeans, who I barely said a word to that whole night.

Over the next coming months, I became really good friends with Whitney. Her brother would come up every now and then to visit for the night or for the weekend, so I occasionally saw him. The funny thing is that we really never said much to each other at all, but I was always so aware of his presence. I remember eating dinner one night with a ton of friends while he was in town, and the whole time all I could think about was how he was at the other end of the table and how I could capture his attention! I hardly knew him, but he had made such an impression on me. He was funny, and confident and absolutely adorable.

One of my favorite memories of those in between stages was once when we were leaving downtown and I was heading the other direction on the opposite side of the street, I jokingly yelled to him that he needed to hug me goodbye; so we both ran into the middle of the road and he lifted me up in a hug. He said, “You’re really cute” – and I was hooked.

I’m not sure if I ever really thought something would happen between us. He lived in another town, we dated other people, and he was my best friend’s younger brother. Plus, I had no idea if he was at all interested! But, secretly, I was. Sometimes I would even joke to Whitney, “I’m going to marry Kevin some day.”

Fast forward to December 2010; Kevin had just auditioned and received an offer to play guitar at my church here in Charlotte. Whitney and I’s office Christmas party happened to be on the weekend he was in town playing so he ended up coming with us. Out of the middle of nowhere standing with me and Whitney and another friend from work, he blurts out “Meagan, I would like to take you out sometime.” And the rest was history. Well there was obviously more to it than that, but that was the beginning.

In a Reader’s Digest version of the highlights: we started dating; we became “official” in March, had our first kiss, went on a trip to Hartsville, SC in the summer where I fell head over heels for him; and then a year later on March 6^th, he asked me a question that would forever change everything. And I said yes.

I don’t think I could imagine my life without Kevin. It feels like I have known him forever, but it still feels so new at the same time. I have learned so much from him about myself, about life, about relationships, about God, about love.  

He taught me that love was not just a feeling, that it was a choice. A choice to wake up every morning and choose to love that person every day no matter what challenges, what heartaches, what tests we are put through. I choose that.

I know choosing that won’t be easy. It will be flawed, and we will falter, and we will struggle sometimes. But I can't wait to spend the rest of my life choosing that with Kevin.

Our love and our story may be simple and nowhere close to perfect, but it is mad and it is deep, and it is true.

to grow

I grew up in a small tobacco farming town in eastern North Carolina.  I lived two houses down from my grandparents who were gardeners. My backyard was full of fields and fields of vegetables and growth all year long. I grew up picking and shucking corn, digging up potatoes, shelling peas, and selling bags full of collards out of my Papa's garage. 

Maybe it's for that reason I love growing things. 
Maybe its because it is so relaxing and therapeutic tilling the earth with your hands.
Either way, I get so excited when I see the first sprout after days and days of carefully watching and watering and patiently waiting. I can't wait until I have my own home with a backyard where I can create my own small garden eat the vegetables I harvest. 
But for now, I will just have to settle for this balcony :)

 

 

Diy: Chalkboard Tray

Source: gypsyfleamarket.blogspot.com via meagan on Pinterest

I first saw this idea on Pinterest (of course) and it seemed easy enough so had to give it a shot myself. I got lucky and found a tray at Value Village for only $3.13. It was seriously tarnished, but it was going to be painted anyways, so I snagged it! I thought about keeping it gold around the edges but the tarnishing was all over it, so I just gave the whole thing a fresh coat of paint! I already had the chalkboard and white spray paint on hand, so my total cost for this DIY was $3.13! (I did try to make it a giant magnet board by adding a bunch of magnetic strips to the back, but apparently trays are really heavy and I ended up having to just hang it up on the wall).

Step 3 is to find a cute assistant to help dry (this step is kind of necessary).

Ok, so really there are only 2 really easy steps, but who doesn't want a cute assistant?! 

When you're finished hang wherever and write cute things on it!

/\/\/\/\meagancarlie

black, white, color

i'll be honest, when i go into a store, I am drawn to all things "sweet" like crocheted/lace tops, cap sleeves, creams, bows, all of that. unfortunately, i am not very good at wearing all black, but I absolutely loooove the sleek and edgy, and "not so sweet" look of it. today i was in a black type of monday mood, so here is myblack, white, color
<3m

fauxtoes

just a few photos from a saturday afternoon backyard cookout

m.

ride in a hot air balloon

own my own shop

see a movie at a real drive-in

learn a trade i can make money from

learn to fly a plane

write a book

get a tattoo

become a mother

learn a new language

create something unique and beautiful

 this list only scratches the surface of my real list. there are so many things on my bucket list: so many places to go, things to do. i plan on adding to this list just as much as I plan on crossing things off! i never want to stop learning and growing and changing and becoming and dreaming. always dreaming.

this is just the beginning!

heart.

m

what's in my bag?

1. leather bag recycled from a friend's closet2. wallet: urban outfitters3. phone (don't judge me because i don't have an iphone!)4. hairbows: forever xxi5. essie nail color in vanity fairest6. satin lip balm by MK7. stud earring snagged at a clothing swap party8. floriography hand cream9. sunnies: ray ban
m.

oh, what a day!

this past weekend, I went back home to spend time with my family since it was my dad's birthday. 

we ate a ton.

and laughed just about as much as we ate!

on saturday I went with my mom to all sorts of antique malls/stores around greenville, nc

i am on the hunt for pretty teacups :)

this one place we went to was a HUGE barn filled with rows and rows of all kinds of stuff. it was mostly junk, so it was fun searching through all the things to find the real gems. 

i love treasure hunting :)

i spotted this beauty here and i would have died to have it!!

she is a dream come true color and just gorgeous.

m.