we then strolled through a gorgeous outdoor garden center, sipping sparkling lemonade & soaking in the sun!





we spent the rest of the afternoon throwing frisbees at the park & swinging on swings. i even edited together a little youtube video of our day, if you wanna check it out::


this coffee shop is such a favorite of mine for so many reasons. i mean, first & foremost, the name??? smelly cat!! yes you read that right, smelly cat. as in, smelly caaat, smeeellllyy cat, whaaat are they feeding youuu? from friends! what an epic concept.


the decor in this little coffee spot is unmatched. the coolest signs, eclectic furniture, little nooks & crannies created by old painted doors... it's just so fun. it's on the smaller side, so it's the perfect coffee shop for a quick stop in. or, if the weather is nice (aka the two weeks in november that it's bearable to be outside) they have the cutest outdoor seating. in fact, smelly cat is where you can find the super neat "drink coffee, be cool" mural! over the years, i've taken quite a few photos of that mural... but one of my favorites is the first ever taken ::


holy cow, we were such tiny babies back then!!! & after all these years, it was definitely time for a recreation...


we have changed so much since then... & yet, not much has really changed, cause here we are, still drinking coffee & being "cool" & being bestest friends who make each other laugh & get endless cups of coffee & go on endless adventures together. life is crazy... but just remember to drink coffee & be cool, & you should be fine. ;)

what a perfect spring weekend it was!
til next post,
meredith

well crepe, it's been over a month since i posted! whoops! (sub par pun, i know... but you just can't have crepes without making a million crepe-crap jokes!).

so how have you guys been doing lately?? enjoying spring? my husband & i took a little weekend getaway recently, & we had the best time! even though the weather was horrible & rainy, we made the best of it & managed to have some grand adventures. i thought i'd put together a little blog post to show ya what we got up to!


we drove to raleigh, north carolina to visit one of my favorite restaurants in the whole world, simply crepes. if you know me well, you know i love a good crepe. (i don't even think bad crepes exists, but still). crepes are probably my favorite food. speaking of, we actually catered crepes for our wedding reception, which was the best idea EVER. eating your favorite food in your wedding dress is kinda priceless.

but anyway, back to simply crepes! their entire menu is amaaaaaazing, but here's what i recommend::

happy international women's day, boss ladies!

today felt like the perfect day to sit down & write about the little galentine's party i threw last month. what's galentine's, you may ask? well, in the words of our lady queen, leslie knope... "oh, it's only the best day of the year! every february 13th, my lady friends & i leave our husbands & boyfriends at home, & we just come & kick-it, breakfast style. ladies celebrating ladies." 


what started with parks & rec has gone above & beyond the tv show & inspired women everywhere to really celebrate the female friendships in their life. i love this holiday, & was so thrilled to finally host my first official galentine's brunch with my bestest gal pals!

i may or may not have gone all out with the table settings... what can i say? if you're gonna have a galentine's party, you might as well make it vivacious. i got this adorable heart-covered tablecloth from target, & sprinkled some faux rose petals & mini-hearts down the center. & the plates, napkins, & adorable heart-covered goblets were from the dollar store & target as well.


i love being extra, so i made goody bags for everyone! i included ring pops, heart necklaces, & of course, miniature heart-shaped chocolate boxes with horrible puns on front, such as "you're a fine-apple". these super cute bags were from target, & i glued a little name tag on the front that i got from a wonderful company i used to work with, called so worth loving.



speaking of so worth loving, i made a little table full of stickers & temporary tattoos for the girls. so worth loving is a wonderful company that promotes the truth that every individual is worthy of love. as women, i think sometimes we forget our worth because of the lies society puts forth. we think our worth lies in our looks or our popularity, & we forget that we are worthy just because we are alive. i definitely wanted to remind my gal pals of their worth on this important day!


& as a reminder of how important female friendships are, i hung up this garland of lovely lady friends! i found the garland at target & immediately had the idea to print out a bunch of photos of my favorite gal pals from books, television, & movies. i tried my best to include all the greats!

guys, i just love the holiday of love. valentine's day is my favorite. as a total hopeless romantic trapped in a die-hard pessimists body, it was always my one day a year to let that out. then 5 years ago, i celebrated my first valentine's day with my now-husband... & he kinda changed the game for me. now i fully own my inner hopeless romantic, & trust me i go all out on valentine's day to show it.  for example, leaving silly, flirty messages for him on our letter board. we're classy & we know it ;)

here are some of the other ways i decorated our little apartment to surprise him for valentine's day!




this year, we decided to celebrate by taking a little valentine's vacation, & we ate at one of our favorite restaurants, bahama breeze! it's a chain restaurant in the east coast (although there's also one in vegas?) & they serve the most delicious caribbean inspired dishes & drinks. for being smack dab in the middle of winter, on the east coast, in freezing temperatures... it was soooo lovely to pretend for a moment that we were basking in the tropics!

we always love getting a bunch of appetizers & splitting everything, so here's what we ordered::








after dinner, we decided to take a drive through a spot in town that puts up the most gorgeous string lights, while listening to our favorite jazz tunes.