Getting Lost in a Map

Maps fascinate me. I admit, I sat here for the past hour {with a migraine and small green dots seeming to appear all over the screen} scrolling through Google Maps. I looked at the distance between where I am now and where I’d like to go, where I am now and where I used to be, and studied names of towns I’ve never heard of. What started off as me looking at the state of Vermont, later turned into me scrolling over the blue ocean, studying Cuba and its distance to islands I’ve been to.

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What is it that fascinates me so much?

Maybe it’s the fact that every little state above is SO different from the other and even more different than lands across the ocean.

Maybe it’s the fact that there are so many quaint towns that I’ve never even heard of before that each have their own culture and customs and stories.

Maybe it’s the memories I’ve made in so many of these places.

Maybe it’s the possibility of new memories being made in places where I’ve yet to set foot.

{A map of films. Shout out to my high school in Remember the Titans. Just sayin’}

I also admit that sometimes I will go on Google Maps and take that little orange guy {you know, the one who will take you to street view} and will randomly drop him anywhere in the U.S. In case you’re wondering, right now I’m in the middle-of-nowhere North Dakota. Although it’s not live, it kind of gives me the chance to “go” places and see what communities and landscapes are like in other parts of the country. I’ve even been to Canada via the orange guy!

Some may think it’s strange, but it’s my way of “exploring” when I can’t actually go and explore. There are times where I have spent an hour or two doing this. It usually ends with me looking up real estate in places I’ve come across but that’s a post for another day.

But, I just get completely enthralled. I wonder what the homes, terrain, and streets look like in these unknown cities. I wonder if the people have accents and how they spend their days.

You’re probably wondering what sparked all of this. Well, last night at dinner, Whitney and I were discussing travel/moving and it really got me excited and determined to see more of this country and more of this world. There are foods waiting to be tasted, sights waiting to be seen, fragrances waiting to be smelt, and many, many pictures waiting to be taken. Until then, I’ll have to explore these places from afar.

So, I invite you, when you get some free time, to get “lost” in a map for a while. Explore. Find somewhere new. Find beauty in the unknown.

Where have you found yourself looking on a map? What places fascinate you?

Low-Key Weekend

It was my first rather low-key weekend in a while {and it will probably be the only one for quite some time with plans/holidays coming up!}

This weekend, I found out about the show, DC Cupcakes {yes, I really DID live under a rock while living in Utah but seriously, who’s coming to Georgetown Cupcake with me?}, and watched girls drop $12,000 on their gowns on Say Yes to the Dress. For real? This clearly calls for a Wedding Wednesday post on wedding gowns for killer deals, yes?

Then, I tried out some new hairstyling techniques with lots of teasing {because I LOVE teasing to get that va-va-volume!} I also love curls.

Don’t you love how my hair color looks different in every picture? Who even knows what color it is anymore?!

I also got to babysit my niece, Aubrey! We danced, played, complained about eating our veggies, and said the word “bubble” over and over :) Oh, and we took pictures.

 

Later we celebrated Aubrey’s mama’s birthday and had some dee-licious ice cream cake! Fall colors and all!

This weekend, I finally saw the movie Limitless. It’s been between that movie and Lincoln Lawyer for some time now but I chose Bradley over Matthew. Well, let me just say – I’d watch Drive over Limitless any day. They had that same “someone’s following you” feel to them but Limitless kind of actually made me feel like someone was out to get me. Paranoia much? Luckily, the only dreams I had that night were about tornadoes and flying first class with a former President. I wasn’t kidding when I said I had recurring tornado dreams.

Speaking, of Drive… check out what I’m reading. I’m sure you’re not surprised.

That’s right – the book the film is based off of. The only bad thing about the book is I can’t see Ryan Gosling. And, speaking of my man, Ry… he turned 31 on Saturday :)

 

So, naturally… I wished for him. Just kidding. Because, if I told you my wish, it wouldn’t come true ;) I totally missed my second wish at 11:11PM, by the way.

Now, if you’ll pardon me. I’ll be spending the remainder of my week at the gym working off that ice cream cake and going on more blates epic adventures with my new BFF!

P.S. I think this was the first time I used Instagram since um, the beginning of the year. So, I figured I’d link up with a {little} dash of ash :)

Golden Girl

First of all, Happy 11.11.11! Crazy! I wish I had somewhere super fancy to wear this outfit this weekend. Who knows? Maybe something shall come up? I couldn’t pass up Friday’s Fancies this week when {av} over at {long distance loving} announced the golden theme! Gold is DEFINTELY one of my favorite colors! :) In fact, I’m a huge metallic girl – gold, bronze, copper – YES! Like, if you ever looked at my jewelry collection, you might be blown away.

I figured since it’s gold, you either have to go big or go home. So, you guessed it, I went BIG! Lots of golden sparkle and glitter all over with some big, flashy jewelry. Nothing but gold, my friends! I was originally going to go with some nude pumps but, nah! Glitter it is! :)

So, if I find my lucky pot o’gold soon, I just might be wearing this outfit to a Holiday Party or perhaps even for New Year’s!

In other news, I recently mentioned how my dear friend Robyn from the 90’s pop music days is BACK! Well, I cannot stop listening to a few of her songs. Does anyone else just listen to the same song or two on repeat for days weeks on end? I can’t help it. So, for those of you who can listen right now, I’m leaving you with one of my favorite new songs by her called “Hang with Me.” It’s got a fun, light-hearted feel and I guarantee you I will be jamming out to it ALL weekend! You can listen to it here.

After watching the video and piecing together this outfit, I’ve realized a few things:

1. I wish I had an endless closet full of everything in my size that looked good on me. Too much to ask?
2. Music makes everything better.
3. How amazing would it be to be standing on stage, dancing around to your own song, looking out at an audience where everyone is singing the lyrics?
4. Dancing like no one is watching really is one of the most liberating things to do :)
5. I love city life.
6. I would give a lot to be thirteen and only a few rows back at one of *NSync’s first concerts again.

That’s all. I hope your weekends are marvelous :)

10 Day You Challenge – Day Three

I started this whole “getting to know you” thing, ohhh… a couple months ago and of course, knowing me, I never finished it. Since I’ve gotten some new followers recently, I figured this might be a good way for you to learn a bit more about me! If you haven’t already, feel free to read Day One and Day Two of the Challenge!

8. Mirrors – I’m sure this is due to all of the scary movies I’ve watched in my life but nothing good comes from mirrors {except in Alice in Wonderland!} If I see a mirror on TV, I look away. I don’t like the idea of having a mirror in my room either because, well, that freaks me out! I do like them for decorative purposes though so that’s a toughie!

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7. Heights – I thought I conquered this one when I went up the Eiffel Tower, but that was only a temporary thing. I think it’s more vertigo than fear, but heights will probably always make me uncomfortable and ridiculously dizzy. I’m sure you can only imagine how terrified I was while taking the picture below in Zion National Park. That little brown strip on the bottom left is the road!

6. Ghosts – The thought of being trapped in an old state penitentiary overnight to investigate the paranormal pretty much puts me into a panic. I used a lot of necessary P’s in that sentence. Oh, I will also add fake “haunted houses” into this as well as Michael Myers from Halloween.

Yet, somehow I set foot in the Whaley House in San Diego – what some people claim is THE most haunted house in America. The whole time I was there, I felt like I was dragging my feet through water. They felt so heavy. Creepy!

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5. Spiders – it doesn’t even matter how big or small they are. I have legit arachnophobia. No picture needed for this!

4. Lightning – I can’t do it. I know, I know you probably think it’s SO cool to look at! Not this girl. I remember one year when I was at the beach, the lifeguards cleared the sand because of lightning so everyone had to hurry back to their beach houses. Of course I’m like running/sweating/crying with a towel over my head while my friends take pictures of me.

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3. Tornadoes – Apparently Mother Nature terrifies me. I’ve mentioned it before but tornadoes literally haunt my dreams. I have recurring dreams about multiple tornadoes all the time. I don’t know how you Oklahoma/Kansas people do it. The other week when we had a tornado touch down nearby, they showed a clip on the news of people stuck in bumper to bumper rush hour traffic, unable to move, and there is a TORNADO that crosses over the freeway. I’m pretty sure I would have had a heart attack. Not even exaggerating.

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2. Take-off – So, this is the fear that I’ve encountered the most and it just progressively gets worse. I am TERRIFIED of take-off in a plane. Full-on hyperventilating, pulse-racing, head-spinning PANIC occurs as soon as I hear those entirely too loud engines start up. Those seconds of stillness just moments before take-off send me into a complete panic attack.

Me before take-off in a friggin’ PROPELLER plane!!! Who does that to me?!

1. Loss – I think this one is pretty self-explanatory. I’m scared of losing love, friendship, family, dreams. I know losing those things is part of life and part of living, but the fear will always be there.

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Speaking of fear and loss, today I am guest posting over at Meg’s Craft Creations about how I found strength during one of my most difficult times. Meg is such a thoughtful, genuine girl {who has such amazing talent for crafting!} and I’d just love for you to head on over there to keep me some company and to check out her fun blog :)

 

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”
-FDR

Wedding Wednesday | Fall for You

I am SO excited to be bringing back my favorite feature on Life is a Sunset! Wedding Wednesday! I started doing WW back on my older blog on Wordpress and continued it for a couple weeks here then got carried away with Pinteresting Wednesday! However, my love for event planning and weddings will be taking over my blog each Wednesday for a while now. I’m excited to be featuring something new each week whether it’s about wedding fashion, venues, rental ideas, etc. After all, I planned a destination wedding in just FIVE months so I’d like to think I know what it takes to create a beautiful wedding ;)

Today, I’ll be talking about festive Fall Weddings. I think every season is the perfect season for weddings, and for couples who want to get super seasonal, Fall is perfect! I believe every couple should design a wedding that is “them” and not let seasonal colors or trends restrict them. However, for those who do want a beautiful Autumn-themed wedding, I’ve picked out some fabulous options!

Fall Color Palette Ideas

Deep purple and orange

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Chocolate and yellow

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Burnt orange, brown, and mustard

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Florals

For brides wanting to stick with the seasonal flowers {lower cost}, here are some ideas:

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This bouquet features succulents, ranunculus, and roses with berries, foliage, and mini clementines

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Hydrangeas are always a great choice since they add lots of fullness to the bouquet and I LOVE the leaves that have been added in throughout!

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While I’m not the biggest fan of calla lilies, they are hugely popular in the Fall and this rich variety of Autumn colors looks beautiful!

You can also have a lot of fun with the boutonnieres!

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Bridesmaids Dresses

Whether you mix and match colors for your bridesmaids or keep them all in the same color, there is a lot you can do to incorporate pretty Autumn colors into the wedding party!

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Place Cards

You can be pretty creative with your place cards/escort cards. Pumpkins, leaves, and pine cones are great ideas!

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Wedding Decor

Another great way to incorporate Fall is through your decor and venue set-up

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The rustic textures and natural colors really play up the Fall theme!

Wedding Cakes & Food

I’m obsessed with the design of wedding cakes and I’m pretty picky when it comes to the style. I found a lot of Fall-themed wedding cakes that were a little tacky in my opinion so here are two that made the cut:

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And then we move on to some other Fall-themed food options:

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Caramel Apples are a perfect, festive touch!

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Bags of hand-picked cherries. These are actually being used in the picture as name cards but I think these would always be great for favors!

Of course there are SO many more details to a wedding that you could incorporate the Fall theme into – invitations, signage, bridal accessories, etc.

If you had a wedding in the Fall, would you want to incorporate the festive season into all of your wedding elements or do you think you’d keep all your options open? While I adore the idea of using pumpkins, leaves, acorns, and the beautiful Autumn color palette, I’m personally the kind of girl who doesn’t like to restrict herself :)
What other ideas do you have for Fall-themed weddings? I’d love to hear them!

I’m SO excited for next week’s Wedding Wednesday already! I put a lot of energy into coming up with good ideas and I so enjoy sharing them with all of you!

Bump in the Night

I can’t be the only one who has been watching TLC’s Long Island Medium recently. The season finale was this past Sunday and I already can’t wait for the next season to start. {Waiting for new seasons is so painful! I can’t even believe how far away the next season of The Bachelor STILL seems!} Anyway, back to the Medium. If you haven’t seen the show, it’s about this lady, Theresa Caputo:

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She’s a medium, not a psychic. So, while she can’t read your palms and tell you the future, she can talk to people who have crossed over. I know there are tons of skeptics in this world, and many even on the show, but I’ll tell you right now, I’m not one of them. Do I believe everyone who might say they’re a medium? Absolutely not. But, I definitely believe that it’s possible and that a very small percentage of people here have that gift to communicate with our loved ones on the other side.

Theresa’s got the long finger nails, the thick Long Island accent, and she’s definitely not afraid to walk up to a stranger in public and “read” them. She’ll pass along sweet messages that often times help people heal and let go of their departed loved ones. She says she could be anywhere and the spirits will get so loud that she can’t even concentrate! Can you imagine?

My brother and I have always been pretty intrigued by all those paranormal shows, you know, like Ghost Hunters. So, it’s not uncommon that when he and I get together, we mention one of those shows or something we saw. I admit, when I started living alone out in Utah, I couldn’t watch those shows anymore, otherwise, I never would have been able to sleep. Even with the lights on. Believe me. I tried.

However, this past weekend I mentioned to my brother how the Long Island Medium makes those spirits so much more personable and not scary at all. Somehow we got from that nice, pleasant topic to him telling me the story of the shadows they have seen in his apartment and me recalling how I had felt someone tap my back earlier that night… when NO ONE was behind me, only a staircase.

Now, when conversations like this take place or, say, I went and saw one of those Paranormal Activity movies {which I will never, EVER watch} this is what happens to me:
Rewind to this past weekend
I sit there in bed with the lights off and with my eyes shut {duh, because why would I want to SEE what lurks in the night?}
My mind can’t help but to replay the scary topics of conversation, mainly the mention of those supposed shadows.
My heart starts racing.
I suddenly hear the sound of a cartoon dog barking from the other room {it was my niece’s toy}
But, at the time, this was my reaction:

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I will never understand why that dang toy starts going off in the middle of the night. This wasn’t the first time…

That said, the Long Island Medium is about as much “spirit” as this scaredy-cat can handle! Does anyone else watch it? What are your thoughts on mediums, or are you perhaps one yourself? ;)

Not only am I blogging here today, but I’m also guest posting over at Life is aMAYESing! Head on over there to keep me some company while I talk about {and share pictures of} some of my favorite vacation locations :) Be sure to go leave Lia Joy some love while she’s vacationing in Las Vegas!

A Blate Kind of Weekend

This weekend was an awesome one and I’m sure you want to know why. Well, ever since Whitney {a fellow DC area blogger} and I found each other’s blogs, we’d been chatting and trying to figure out a time that we could meet up {aka go on a blate}. If you’re not familiar with the blogging community, this whole “blate” thing probably sounds ridiculous and slightly crazy. But, c’mon… if you’ve been reading someone’s blog and chatting on a fairly regular basis, it’s pretty much the coolest idea ever.

So, on Friday we decided to meet for a late dinner at this fun place called Circa. After hearing that the wait would be an hour to an hour and a half, we decided to go elsewhere – American Tap Room to be exact. The wait was identical there. Go figure! We put our name on the list anyway and Whitney was sure to tell the host, “Just put ‘starving’ next to our name!” I already knew the girl was a genius.

We hung out on the back porch where there was a huge fire pit and chatted away until, BAM… our pager went off and our table was ready. Twenty minutes later. Clearly the host moved our names up on the list per Whitney’s request. It was going to be a good night!

Now, get this. The menus LIT UP! Has anyone seen this before? Because we surely hadn’t.

While Whitney munched on her Surf & Turf and I munched on my Margherita Pizza, we gabbed about everything – our career paths, blogging {duh}, the fact that I’ve never been snowboarding before, and everything in between. Instant connection, no joke. So, we took the party across the street where a live band was playing. We made some new friends, I ran into someone from high school {because that always happens in this area}, and we tried our best to get a decent picture of the two of us.

Oh, and we also declared that we’re pretty much best friends.

 

I wish I had gotten more pictures but we were just having too much fun and also completely lost track of the time because, um, I kind of forgot that the Metro system here stops running at a certain time. Oops. The night is full of inside jokes that I’m sure Whitney and I are going to laugh about for a long time!

Oh, BUT WAIT! The stories don’t end there because we hung out Saturday night, too! We met up with some of Whit’s friends in DC where we had another riot of a night. {Should I even mention the LSU/Alabama game?} Whitney had a little Florida Gators fan club going on and I had a guy incessantly tapping me on the shoulder to the point where I almost lost it. Seriously?

The Metro ride back into VA was probably the cherry on top of the night, though. So, it’s apparently Movember, right? Which I guess means you either grow your mustache out {if you’re a guy} orrrrrr… go out wearing fake mustaches? We ran into a group of people that were wearing some. It was actually kind of creepy. The best part was overhearing the conversation that was taking place between them. It went a little something like this:

Mustache #1: We’re like the Mustachios
Mustache #2: Mustache-hoes
Mustache #3: Or the… Three Mustache-eers {Musketeers?}

Yes, that really happened. Great end to the night, ha.

Moral of the story: If you have the chance to go on a blate, DO IT! They might just end up being your BFF :) Whitney is hilarious and gorgeous and if you’re not already following her blog, you probably should go do so here! Can’t wait until next time!