Thursday, April 23, 2015

our wedding website.

so i finally finished our wedding website! and without being too redundant here in this blog post, i'll just copy and past the link below. click below to see how we met, how lee proposed (which is a fab story!!), meeting the wedding party, and tell me what you think!! and feel free to leave us some website love.

amanda & lee's wedding - #walkertothealtar


another funny story to show you how imperfect i am. so this whole time i have loved our wedding hashtag since day one. but recently after launching our website and including #walkertothealter as the hashtag - one our lee's friends texted him and was like "do you know that it's supposed to be #walkertothealtar?" you know. like how the word altar when referencing a wedding should be spelled?! 

talk about embarrassing. i texted a few people and they were like hey! we didn't catch it either, but it's still kind of embarassing. i guess i needed to alter my altar! excuse me as i go through and edit every instagram photo i have posted to reflect the correct hashtag. 

speaking of owning up to my mistakes, i'm actually being featured on christina's blog next week on other topics i'm owning up to. check back to her site for some things i'm confessing & owning at the same time. it's something personal, and some a little sam hunt.


and we all know women love some sam hunt. i mean look at that face.
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Wednesday, April 22, 2015

and the best photographer award goes to...


see that up there? that's why we have the best photographer. i opened up my front door the other day to go for a run and found a package on my doorstep - a rather large one at that. i stepped back, thought to myself when was the last time i online shopped for something that big and couldn't recall. so i opened up the package and there sat this engagement picture on canvas with a sweet note of gratitude from our wedding photographer, garrett price from carolina portrait designs

since i enjoy blogging, garrett had asked me to write a post for his blog to help some brides on picking out engagement outfits - what works, what doesn't, things to keep mind per season, etc. peep the post here

short and sweet today, since work has me crazy, but i had to share this amazing moment with you all. i can't wait to hang this in our house!
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linking up with:
 because shanna said so for random wednesday 
midweek muse
Making melissa for confessions

Monday, April 20, 2015

i found my favorite brewery.

i got hit with one of those 24 hour stomach bugs on thursday night. i attempted to go into work friday, but by the afternoon i felt awful. so bad that i had to come home from work. there is seriously nothing worse than being sick and being at your office at the same time. i don't know where it came from, but i'm sure glad it didn't last long. so my friday night looks something like this.


i kid you not, if you want to know what lee and i do on friday nights, it consists of the food network. we are obsessed with all these cooking shows, to put it mildly. netflix has seasons of cutthroat kitchen, which seems to be our favorite show. so my friday night consisted of barely eating, watching a cooking show, my favorite blanket, and a date with knock off pepto. don't judge my bookshelves, y'all. it's a work in progress. with all this down time, i also caught up on a little bit of wedding reading.


dear all future and current brides. you need this book. it's the wedding book by mindy weiss and is seriously the best one. it talks all things wedding etiquette, do's and don't's, beauty prep, workouts, decor, dresses, suits... i mean the list is endless. it's really helped me a lot with this process so i highly recommend! i think my favorite part is in the back of the book, it gives you a one year countdown of what needs to be done time wise leading up to the wedding. things such as when to have your veil ordered or when to book a videographer. it breaks down each month, and even each week as you get closer to your date, telling you how to stay on track. since we got engaged on august 6th and are getting married august 29th, it was perfect for my crazy planning self.


saturday morning i finally felt a little better so i decided to experiment in the kitchen. i've actively been trying to eat better and eat "cleaner" so this was fun. don't mind the chicken wings i ate yesterday; those don't count. i'm a big believer in splurging occasionally though. but for those moments for when i'm not, i bring you spinach pancakes.


i know what you're thinking. ew. because that's the one word that came out of lee's mouth when he saw my green batter. i was pleasantly surprised with these actually. flour-less, milk-less spinach pancakes. so how on earth do you make these weird things?

i throw it all into my ninja blender. i promise you i am not a walking advertisement for this thing, but it's so easy to use. combine together 1 ripe banana, two eggs, dash of cinnamon, 2 scoops of your preferred protein powder (i used chocolate flavored), 1 and a half cups of spinach and blend. i ended up adding in a bit more spinach and honestly could've added more to thicken up the batter. you want it nice and thick like normal pancake batter.


and voila! spinach pancakes. as jenn said, if i start turning green, we know where it came from. i go through one or two huge bins of spinach a week! after brunch, lee, drew and i decided to go check out sycamore brewing after hearing how much chesson loves it. it was my first time visiting and i'm pretty sure i'm making my way back every saturday from now on.


the coolest part? there were dogs everywhere. i am on board with any place that lets you bring your dog. i ran into a great dane and about melted into a pool of mush after falling in love with her pretty puppy eyes. they had live music, and an outdoor beer garden area that is insanely cool. i plan on bringing danielle, and her big boy knox, here when we visit each other in a few weeks so i'll try to snag more pictures of the place next time. 


if you're looking for somewhere cool, this is it. and their carolina yacht club beer is definitely a new favorite. it's their seasonal one so i plan on checking this place out all summer.


it started to sprinkle so we decided to head over to selwyn pub for some early dinner plans. i love selwyn because of their outdoor seating with the big tree in the middle, but those stupid green inchworms kept falling on my table! i would have squirmed if one those things fell in my hair, or beer, or food! so we took it inside. we headed home later for a nice night in with a deck of cards. aren't those the greatest?

and now for something fun! since we're approaching bathing suit season (for some of us it's already here),i teamed up with some of these great girls below to giveaway at $200 gift card to lululemon. we all know their clothes are not cheap, so the lucky winner can go on a shopping spree on us to get a jump start on their workout wardrobe for the warmer months. good luck!



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linking up with:
B Loved Boston and Champagne and Suburbs for weekending
Bella and the City for weekend  recap
A Cute Angle for monday madness

Thursday, April 16, 2015

a post about a salad.

ugh.

that describes my mood for this week. charlotte has been getting dumped with rain ever since monday. i'm not usually one of those people who get affected by that, but it got me in a rut today. usually i'm all blogging about how good of a mood i'm in, but life, ya know?  life. i'll just blame it on the rain for now. these next two weekends are our last weekends of freedom until late october. 

yes, october.

does that stress you out as much as it does me? because it stresses me out a lot. all of our activities are fun so it's definitely something to look forward to, but sheesh, october! anyway, i'll step off my rant box and talk about a silly salad instead.


so freakin good. i've also came to terms with the fact that i use the word freakin' frequently when typing. even though my mood has been, for the lack of a better word, blahhhh, this week, my dinners haven't. look at this pretty plate! it blows my mind just how many extra calories dressing adds to a salad. so for this one - i just did lettuce, tomato, black beans, corn, and roasted asparagus. and clearly baked some salmon with paprika, salt & pepper on top. squeezed a bit of fresh lemon juice and BAM - we have dinner. and it was really, really good. 

what's your favorite summer salads? and yes, i'm aware it's spring yet i'm referencing summer. whatever. 

also - if you have checked out lisa loves john's recipe for these zucchini/sweet potato patties that i made last night below - you are missing out. i've made these twice this week and they are sooooo good. 


well now that you've read about me complaining about the weather and a cool salad, i'll let you go. here's to hoping this rain peaces out asap!
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Monday, April 13, 2015

i need a margarita.


ahhh friday evenings how i already miss you. i love going out with friends and dressing up, but here lately friday nights have been spent with just lee and i - grilling for dinner and sippin' on a corona. and apparently staring at the weeping willow in our backyard. we go crazy i tell ya. and yes, i'm wearing my fitbit while drinking a beer. everything in moderation right? speaking of fitbit, have you guys seen the tory burch covers? i am lusting over this one, but am having a hard time justifying that price.

saturday we got up and started looking at suits for the men to wear at the wedding. as i talked about last week, i am envisioning the lightest gray ever. we checked out two different men's warehouse locations and i can't lie - it was really annoying. for one, you can't rent certain suits so the groomsmen would have to buy. which fine - you can always reuse a suit. then there's the whole suit versus tux debate. i found a tux i loved, but i felt like it dressed up the wedding more than i wanted. plus our groomsmen won't be wearing jackets so that's pointless. we left both locations empty handed because the customer service was awful too! at least we found a color suit that i loved. what do you think?


so naturally after all that tension, this happened on snapchat (follow me: agcrute!). we were up near huntersville, which is where our friends, jj & amanda, recently bought a home so we swung by to check it out. and of course lee couldn't pass up a jungle gym and i had to document my outfit. am i an official blogger now because of that?

dress // lace wrap - old; similar here // lips

later that night, we went to bakersfield for that margarita i was talking about & tacos for allyson's birthday. celebrations continued at  tyber creek from then on out. i love that irish pub! & here is a sneak from her and chris's engagement session. isn't it gorgeous? i can't wait to stand beside her when they tie the knot on october 17th.


lee's beer came in a boot mug. and it was $2. i was so tempted to just as for a boot to put my margarita in. why do drinks taste better out of an oddly shaped container? and why do they taste even better at $2? (even if it is a PBR!)



sad to see this weekend end, but it was a great one. i am very thankful for the man in this picture. i couldn't imagine spending this life with anybody else!
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Friday, April 10, 2015

it's a give & take.


this week was busy one. i've been working out almost every day, but on wednesday we took a break to celebrate laurie's birthday at cajun queen. and while we were parking the car, we realized this was the very first time lee and i had been back to independence park - where he proposed back in august. i was excited - clearly.


speaking of cajun queen, this is the outdoors of it. it's also where our rehearsal dinner will be at. it's a little house converted to a restaurant and they have a cajun chicken pasta that is life changing. i'm pretty sure i worked out almost everyday this week just so i could get the pasta. i was my first time having pasta in forever!


so you have heard about my birdcage idea with fake flowers - see it here - and i'm happy that my lace dollies finally came! i got 75 of these for $9 including shipping off of etsy. what a freakin steal! i now plan to spray paint the dollies our light blush color and start figuring out how on earth to do the flowers in the center. i'm winging this whole wedding thing i swear. anyone out there have any good tips on arranging fake flowers? 


also this week, we got our family portrait sneak peaks! brett carver, out of roxboro, did these at a local farm and i'm excited to see the rest. 


i have became a juicing fanatic. i drink a juice for breakfast, another for mid morning snack and another with my lunch which is usually pretty small. i swear the green color freaks people out, but this juice (made with spinach, orange, almond milk, & vanilla) tastes like a orange creamsicle. this has aided in my workout regimen and my diet. i also may do this so i can eat that pasta i was telling you about. it's always a give and take. happy friday!

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linking up with:
Meet @ The Barre: Friday Favorites
The Diary of a Real Housewife: Friday Favorites
A Liz AdventuresHello HappinessCarolina Charm and The Good Life: Five on Friday
xoxo Rebecca: That Friday Blog Hop
September F A R M and The Farmer's Wife: Oh hey, Friday

Thursday, April 9, 2015

why west elm stole my heart.

for the longest time, i kept pushing back on registering at west elm. not for any other reason other than it didn't fit into my schedule to take the time. recently the other day, i realized that you could create your registry online and just add items to the registry. well duh! so i found some amazing, drool worthy pieces for the home.

registering is like pinterest for weddings! it's like you pin it and it magically shows up at your doorstep from the kindness of a wedding guest. lee and i are beyond thrilled (and extremely thankful) for our upcoming showers in may & june so peek below at some west elm goodies.


who says brass can't make a comeback? okay, i actually i totally agree because i hate brass. but for some reason this just works with this cart. i'll just pretend it's gold. i need this in my dining room asap. 


we've been looking for some cool lamps for our nightstands in the bedroom and this just screams perfect. i've always been a fan of a funky shade, but i really like the cool base of this lamp with the rustic shade. this comes in yellow as well. 


these things are just cool. our living room has tons of royal blue so having these puppies sit on our end tables would be perfect. sometimes i forget how simple little quirky touches of decor - something as simple as coasters - can add to a room. and i love how they don't match! 


i have died and gone to heaven with these. i love the different look gold flatware brings to the table. haha get it? i'm lame. i think it's important to have a good silver set as well which is why we registered for them at crate & barrel (which i'm also in love with), but these gold ones just make me happy as well. what do you think about this new trend? i haven't seen it much until here recently. 


we have been using inexpensive measuring spoons since we moved in. and not that there is anything wrong with inexpensive! they get the job done. but lee and i love to cook and these copper ones are so cute. can measuring spoons be cute? i don't know for sure, but i want these babies in my kitchen.


i love these! they come in different prints, colors, and patterns too and are just so festive! how cute would this be at our stock the bar party serving up some dip with chips on the side? the blue pattern is also a favorite of mine too. 


you can't go wrong with these. we have one on our breakfast nook table right now and love it. i love the more rustic look to this one as we would probably display it on a coffee table with flowers, books, etc as decor. west elm also has these beautiful color lacquer trays i have on the registry list too. the coral is the one i'm lusting over. 

we're also registered at crate and barrel, like i mentioned, and target. i wanted to give our wedding guests many options to pick. of course we registered for normal things like towels, bedding, and other kitchen stuff as well. those are necessities for any registry and these are just ones that caught my eye. which are your favs?
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linking up with:
Hodges Podges for Stuff & Things
Home of Malones and East Coast Chic for Thoughts for Thursday
Knit By God's Hand for Thankful Thursday

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

wedding wednesday: dressing the men


i think it's going to be really fun to come back to these posts after the wedding to see what i thought i wanted, what i really ended up selecting, and how it all comes together. lee had more of a say in the groom's and groomsmen attire that i thought he would. his original attitude was "i don't care, you pick" like every other engaged man in the country, but once i starting throwing him funky ideas, he decided he wanted a say. the funky ideas were just a joke, by the way. 

i'm glad he wants a say. if anything i probably ask him for his opinion too much. let me tell you - blush tones that are 2 color shades lighter or darker don't mean anything to guys. it's like they're programmed to see it all the same. i have went back and forth on gray suits or tan suits... gray suits... tan suits. gray. tan. i've done this in my sleep and until the cows come home, but i think i've landed on gray. and the lightest gray i can find that is. something along these lines.


what do you guys think? and now that i'm looking at these side by side, the one on the right is so light gray it's almost tan! seriously, #bridebrain has kicked in and is a real thing. as far as jackets go - we decided in not dressing the groomsmen in jackets. after all it will be late august, so we're thinking hot weather. but we all know nc likes to throw us curve-balls with weather so we're keeping our fingers crossed for just no rain during the ceremony, which is outdoors, at least. lee, my dad, and his dad will be wearing jackets so the groomsmen will look something like this.


except in much lighter gray suit. have i emphasized gray enough to you yet? the bridesmaid dresses i chose will look nicely with these lighter colors. i'm crossing my fingers at least!! what do you think? am i missing something that i need to know about dressing my groomsmen? do they all wear the same shoes? can i do a funky flower thing that they pin? i forgot what that's even called....i told you i'm losing it. help me out - i'm talking to you bride's to be & current wives. 
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linking up with:
 because shanna said so for random wednesday 
midweek muse
Making melissa for confessions

Monday, April 6, 2015

easter weekend.


why yes, we had an adult easter egg hunt like we were 5. and it was a blast. mom & dad hid about 80 eggs with candy inside around their front yard & 4 big golden eggs that had either $1, $5, $10 or $20 inside. we could only get one of those and i ended up finding the $10. score. 

mom also made these purple and blue cupcakes below and they were the most moist cupcakes i've ever had in my life. her secret was applesauce! don't ask me how or why - i'm a cauliflower expert, not a baking one. 


my parents have transformed where our pool used to be into this gorgeous gazebo area. my bridal shower in june will be hosted here and i'm so excited! we spent a ton of time just sitting under the gazebo listening to some tom petty.

target wedges (flat options here) // floral shorts (in love!) // chambray top

we took family pictures early saturday morning (more to come on that later) & even though i didn't wear this outfit, it sure was nice to come home and change into. these shorts are my favorite shorts in all of ever because of how they fit me.  & chambray never goes out of style. 


however, the girly outfit came off later that day as we decided to break out some of my dad's, brother's and lee's guns to go shoot. this was my second time ever shooting a gun, if you can't tell from my snapchat above (agcrute on snapchat). i shot a 22, a 45, and a 40 - which is lee's. and let's just say... i suck. i was closing the wrong eye when trying to aim for about halfway during the time we were shooting. once i figured out i needed to open my right eye to align with the target, i was much better. 

and lee was like a kid at a candy store.


we ended the night with some michelob ultras around the firepit. it was a wonderful easter weekend with my family! already counting down to when my mom comes down here for her dress shopping for the wedding! 


after sunday service, we arrived back at home and found that the easter bunny brought us some blooms. being the first spring in the house, we weren't sure what would bloom back and what wouldn't. having fresh fruit and fresh flowers = some kinda heaven. we then headed over to the walkers for a late easter meal.

nails // shoes

we spent most of the time talking about the wedding. i can't believe it's coming up so soon y'all! next on the list is to finalize the groomsmen's suits which we will be doing this weekend hopefully. we're ready for the championship game tonight! i guess i'll go all "be an acc fan" & pull for duke. not so sure the boys will say the same.
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linking up with:
B Loved Boston and Champagne and Suburbs for weekending
Bella and the City for weekend  recap
A Cute Angle for monday madness