A One-Stop Shop for all the Things
I know most are still a little hesitant about traveling right now and I was too until I took my first flight at the end of August. Airports aren’t as busy and most airplanes are cleaner now than ever before. Shoutout to Southwest Airlines for …
Once the pandemic started and we had to work from home, I made it a goal to try a bunch of different coffee shops in the Dallas area (once things safely opened, of course)! I’ve never been a huge coffee drinker but give me an …
As many of us have experienced this year, lots of things have been different – vacations, eating out, weddings, etc. We had to cancel vacations, haven’t seen our friends and family as much and have been cooped up in our houses for a good portion of 2020. Because our trip to Italy was cancelled, we decided to head to Seaside for a week to enjoy the beach and escape reality! We were lucky enough to use a family friend’s house just steps from the beach but there are so many rental options there – one recommendation was using 360 Blue.
Seaside, 30A, and Watercolor – they’re all picture perfect with the cutest beach houses, fun shops and restaurants and people walking or biking everywhere!
We were able to stay socially distant on the beach and enjoy the sand and the sun without worrying too much about germs. A hurricane had just rolled through the week before we got there so the water was a little murky the first few days but once it cleared up it was STUNNING. I’m talking picture perfect felt like I was in the Bahamas water! I highly recommend going if you’ve never been!
We tried to balanced eating out with eating at the house so we didn’t get to try too many places but I’ve listed some that we went to and a quick review of them!
Our first night in Watercolor we drove to Louis Louis for dinner. We sat out front under a tent they had set up and the tables were socially distant. I thought the food was excellent – the salmon was cooked to perfection, the mashed potatoes were delicious and the creme brulee for dessert was to die for!
Great Southern Cafe offers breakfast, lunch and dinner but we decided to go for dinner early on in our trip. Due to COVID they had a large tent set up in front of the restaurant for plenty of outdoor dining but that didn’t stop the food from being delicious and the service was great too! I highly recommend eating here while on your trip!
Fish Out of Water is located right by the Watercolor Inn and the pool. I have to be honest – I ordered the fried shrimp basket with fries and wasn’t too impressed. Everyone else in our party seemed to be fairly satisfied with their meal so I must have ordered the wrong thing! If you can, try to get a table outside that overlooks the Gulf while you enjoy your meal.
Meltdown on 30A is an airstream food truck located in the Seaside Circle with any kind of grilled cheese imaginable! I ordered a regular grilled cheese and added brisket and WOW it was delicious.
Centrally located in the Seaside Circle, this ice cream shop was a popular spot for tourist after dinner. They have flavors of ice cream, gelato and sorbet. We went probably three times during out stay and it got better each visit!
Donut Hole is one of those staple restaurants you have to try while you’re in the Seaside area! They have a normal menu with a variety of entrees but they also have a case of donuts – we ate a normal sit down meal and then got some donuts to go!
Order groceries for pick up or delivery
We ordered ahead of time on the Instacart app and had our groceries delivered the day after we got there as we arrived a day early thanks to the Hurricane! You can see what they have shopped and the shopped will communicate through the app if a certain item is out of stock and what you’d like to replace it with. It was nice having someone else do the physical shopping for us and getting it delivered so we didn’t have to run around the grocery store with 6-8 people getting food! If you’ve never used Instacart before, use code MBARRENTINE17416B for $10 off your first order!
Make sure to wear sunscreen
Being that I have very fair skin, I am usually pretty good about applying sunscreen often after my fair share of burns in my 27 years. The one thing I didn’t account for was getting sunburnt shins while it was extra cloudy out – note to self: put sunscreen on no matter the weather! Definitely apply it after getting back out of the ocean and drying off – my dad learned the hard way with that one.
Catch a beach sunset
Be sure to catch a sunset on the beach at least one night while you’re there! It’s picture perfect, the beach is usually fairly quite and the waves are very relaxing.
All in all, it was a great trip with friends and family and I cannot wait to go back!
XO,
Morgan
When we moved into our house last November I knew right away I wanted to get my hands on the guest bathroom. The trim was old and didn’t match the rest of the house that had been updated, the cabinets and doors were caked in …
I wish I had a before picture from when we first moved in of our backyard – the grass looked awful and needed some serious help! We went back and forth with the pros and cons of keeping real grass and trying to maintain it …
As we come up on our second wedding anniversary I wanted to write about the engagement, our planning process, vendors and everything in between. We had the best vendors that made everything run so smoothly and I can’t thank them enough!
My best friend was in town for the weekend and we were going to what I thought was my future mother in-law’s work anniversary party at the Omni in downtown Dallas. We had gotten our nails done that day (well played!) and got ready while my then-boyfriend went to the hotel early to ‘help get things ready’ and even took our overnight bags with him. We showed up to the hotel for the ‘party’ and went up to the balcony to check things out. Tyler had previously been talking about the Pegasus horse downtown and the meaning of it so he showed it to me from the balcony. Apparently I needed to be in a certain spot for the hidden photographer so he kept telling me to move towards him because it was a better view – I was so confused but moved anyway. All of a sudden my friend had disappeared and my then-boyfriend was behind me telling me we weren’t there for a party and got down on one knee and proposed! Long story short, he also invited my family down so they were able to share in the celebration and our friends showed up after, too!
After all the excitement set in, it was time to get down to business. I’m a very organized, schedule-oriented person so my goal was to lock in as much as we could as early as possible. The most important things we wanted were a good DJ, a great photographer and simple decorations.
In my opinion, photography is one place you want to spend money because at the end of the day your pictures are all you will have from your big day! We met with two photographers – the first one I knew was a no go after we met her. I just had a gut feeling it wasn’t the right choice for us. We then met with Michele from Michele Shore Photography and I was sold. She was so kind and I loved all her work. Michele was great from start to finish – her and her assistant captured everything on the day of our wedding and most of the time it was like they weren’t even there! If you’re in the DFW area and are looking for a quality photographer, I highly recommend her.
From the get go we knew we wanted to spend part of our budget for a wedding planner to keep my anxiety in check. Lucky for us, she had already done a couple other weddings in our family so we knew what she could do. She also did our florals which was super convenient. We used Pam from Twigs and Twine Events and we were so pleased with everything she did. Her florals were simple and beautiful, which is what I asked for, and I didn’t have to worry about a single thing on the big day! I will never be able to thank Pam enough for all her hard work.
All Things Elegant Entertainment is who we used as our DJ. DJ Hutch was awesome from start to finish – he even got out on the dance floor with our guests at one point! We gave him the specific songs we needed for walking down the aisle, first dances, etc. and some songs that we didn’t want played and he did the rest and it was the most fun I’ve had! We did a combo package by adding some uplights and a photobooth but they also offer limo services, photography, monogram lighting and more!
There are so many vendors for hair and makeup so I used website reviews from The Knot and WeddingWire to try to narrow it down and found Hair by Abby Hartsell and Candace Marshall from Three Zero Six Salon for our makeup. I did a trail with Abby and showed her a couple up-dos that I liked and she took each into consideration and created exactly what I was envisioning and then seamlessly recreated it on our wedding day! She also styled my bridesmaids with loose curls to keep it simple. Candace used to be in Colleyville but relocated her salon to Dallas! I was so please with the natural look she gave me and my bridesmaids and very impressed that we all still has makeup on at the end of the night after the outdoor ceremony and dancing the night away!
We went to about 4-5 different venues and ultimately decided on TPC Craig Ranch because of the location and the pricing we got for being family of some members there. The guys were able to golf the morning of the wedding and we used both locker rooms to get ready. The dividers between the two main rooms were opened up so we had enough room for the bridal party table, ten guest tables, a dance floor, a photobooth and the DJ set up. The ceremony was outside on a covered patio with a golf course view – we tried to keep it short and sweet since we were getting married on an August afternoon in Texas – oops! When we did the food tasting we thought it would just be little samples of each dish we requested but the chef went above and beyond and had cooked full meals for us to eat family style. let me just say it was some of the best Italian food I’ve ever had! Their staff was great throughout the entire process and I’d highly recommend checking them out!
Luckily we had some family members get married before us so Colleen’s Cakes came highly recommended. We test tested all her flavors in the form of cupcakes and decided on a three-tiered cake, each layer with a different flavor. Tyler got his own groom’s cake with all his favorite sports teams on it. There was plenty of cake to go around and she’ll help you navigate what size cake you need based on your guest list count. She even re-made the top tier for our one year anniversary!
My biggest advice for brides is to have a plan. The most important thing is to decide on your budget and what that looks like. From there, decide how much of your budget is going to the categories above. For us, photography was the most important and we knew we wanted a planner to help us along the way. The rest we weren’t as picky on but the budget can really help you narrows down your vendors. Your date may depend on the venue you want or how big your guest list is. If I could go back and tell myself one thing it would be to take it all in – the good, the bad and everything in between becuase the planning is for about 4-5 hours of your life and then your new journey begins!
XO,
Morgan
All I really knew about Aruba was that the Beach Boys sang about it and they had an island with flamingos that just hung out while you sunbathed and swam in the ocean – SIGN ME UP! My husband and I decided to book our …
I know when our office had us start working from home on March 16th due to the Coronavirus I didn’t plan to still be in that same situation almost five months later. Working in the NBA has definitely presented its challenges with curious season ticket …
We were lucky enough to go to the Island of Mo’orea in the French Polynesia for our honeymoon in 2018. It was the dreamiest vacation – one that I always saw on Pinterest but never thought I’d get to. I put together a list of some of the activities we did to explore the island!
1. Have breakfast delivered by canoe if you’re staying at the Hilton
When we booked our reservation at the Hilton Mo’orea Lagoon And Spa, our breakfast was included every day at the main restaurant but one day we decided to splurge and have it delivered by canoe! It came with all the carbs you could imagine (muffins, croissants, rolls), sausage, eggs, a huge bowl of fruit, breakfast potatoes, bacon and juice.
2. Swim with sharks and sting rays
I never thought I’d be able to say I swam with sharks but here we are! We booked a private jet ski tour through Top Jet. They picked us up from our hotel and took us to their shop. We had an instructor that took us around the island and gave us a little history lesson in certain area. Then we got to the REAL fun – sharks and stingrays! I’ll be honest, I was terrified to get in the water at first but realized they were harmless. The instructor has food with him so the stingrays are more responsive but the sharks mind their own business most of the time.
3. Rent a car or roadster to explore the island
We rented a roadster through Mo’orea Fun Roadster after the ATV tour so we had more of an idea where to go. They also have a Buggy Cruise to rent but neither of us know how to drive a stick-shift, oops. There is one main road that goes in a circle around the island so it’s hard to get lost unless you go off on side roads! You can rent the roadster for half a day or a full day – we did a half day and had plenty of time to get lunch, go to the Lycee Agricola Opunohu to get some ice cream (to. die. for.) and to stop at the Rotui Juice Factory and Distillery to bring home some pineapple wine!
4. Watch the sunset
We caught the sunset one of the first nights we were at the Hilton. There was a spot near some other bungalows that gave you the PERFECT view of the sun setting. Of course when we tried to go back multiple times, we were unlucky and clouds ended up getting in our way. I highly recommend grabbing a beverage of your choice, your camera, and heading to watch the sunset!
5. Take advantage of the free water activities offered by your resort
The Hilton was great about having free water activities for their guests to use. They had snorkeling gear that you could rent, kayaks and paddle boards. We tried to kayak and I kept splashing my husband in the face because I wasn’t moving my paddle correctly – oops! We also tried so hard to avoid the coral near the bungalows which proved to be a challenge because some of them are so close to the surface!
6. Do a guided ATV tour
Personally, the ATV tour was one of my top favorite things we did while we were there! There was a group of probably 6-8 ATVs and an instructor. We went through pineapple fields, creeks, up to Belvedere which had AMAZING views and stopped at the Agricultural College of Opunohu to check out some local products.
If you choose to do some activities or just relax, this will definitely be the trip of a lifetime so enjoy it and soak it all in!
XO, Morgan
Who doesn’t love a good find on Amazon? There can be duds but it’s always fun to find those products that you never thought you needed and now can’t live without! These are some of my top purchases from Amazon this year.