My Summer Internship

Time to do some shameless promotion of The Winfield Inn! This is where I did my internship this summer as a wedding coordinator intern.

Check out the website and the blog :) (I worked on the blog some)

If you're needing a fabulous outdoor venue in the Austin area with AMAZING food and even better staff, then you should definitely look into The Winfield. I have enjoyed working there this summer and would recommend it to any bride! 

The Winfield Inn takes care of the details that you would never think of. Things like, making a to-go plate of food for the bride and groom to have at their hotel, helping you stay on top of your itinerary by communicating with the DJ, saving the bride and groom a piece of cake, or lining up the guests for the exit! The staff are so helpful and wonderful people to be around on your big day!

Here's a picture of the stunning ballroom where receptions and occasionally ceremony's are held.

Source

This is the gazebo where most ceremonies take place.

This photo is from a wedding that was featured on the wedding blog Style Me Pretty! Check it out here. (Notice the succulents in the bouquets. Gorgeous!)

Here are some inspiration boards that one of the head coordinators, Robyn made with pictures from previous weddings using Two Bright Lights (Thank you Studio 563 for utilizing the source!)

I finished up my internship on August 19th. It was bittersweet as I am glad to be back home but already miss my Winfield family dearly.

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my summer.
Bye, friends! 

DIY Etsy Inspired Necklace

Little kids always have their quirks and odd obsessions. One of my many was oven-bake clay. I loved working with my hands and I loved being creative. I made everything from jewelry for my teachers to a nativity set for my parents to an entire menus worth of sushi -- all from oven-bake clay.

As I was wandering around pinterest one day I found a picture of a cute, fun necklace that was being sold on Etsy for $40. This inspired me to take a stroll down memory lane and try to make one myself.

My favorite brand of clay is Sculpey. It is what I worked with when I was a little girl and it is what I wanted to work with on this project! I am really into neutrals right now so I chose Beige, Tan and Brown.

The execution was extremely simple. I rolled the clay into a little ball, flattened it out and poked a hole in the center. The great thing about this particular oven-bake clay is that it doesn't shrink or expand in the oven so you don't have to worry about the holes shrinking and not fitting your string.

I made 5 beads in each color (odds are more interesting than evens) and once they were molded appropriately I put them in the oven at 275 for about 14 minutes. (No, I didn't make that up, I read the instructions.)

Once they were done baking I let them cool and then strung them immediately. I just used a neutral colored cord and it worked nicely. Depending on what look you are going for their are lots of options for what you string your beads on.

Here was my initial final result..

I later decided to make smaller beads and add them to the necklace in order to add more dimension, and here is the final, final result.. (sorry that the colors look so different. the picture below is more accurate)

I really like the neckalce and would like to make more in different colors. I think it looks like something you could find at the jewelry section in an antique store!

The cost of this project was less than $6 and I had lots of clay left over for more projects.

Some ways to reinterpret this idea:
1. A small number of larger beads (3 or 5) on a longer string
2. Add pops of bright, interesting colors
3. Put the beads on a chain and see if you can make it work with an interesting outfit
4. Fill half a string with all small beads
5. Same beads with a longer string

If you make something similar to what I made or any of the interpretations I would love to post them. So feel free to send pictures my way with descriptions of how and why you did it the way you did!

Thanks for reading.
Bye, friends!

Wedding Trends

If you know me, you know I love all things wedding. I am interning at a wedding venue this summer and have been faithfully keeping track of wedding trends as much as possible with the help of blogs and of course, pinterest.

So I decided to do a post about some of my current favorite wedding trends!

1. Succulents

Photo Source: Style Me Pretty

I have become very interested in the floral aspect of weddings and really love succulents. They are starting to show up not only in bouquets but center pieces, boutonnieres and ceremony decor as well.

In my opinion, succulents are extremely versatile and can be used for any season and according to my research they do well growing in all types of weather. I think they are so unique! And apparently, they aren't much of a new trend and were used often by the victorians.

2. Hanging jar backdrop

Photo Source: Wedding Bee

This is stunning. You can fill the jars with candles, flowers, rocks, beads or really anything you can think of that would match your decor. I love the look and think it can add layers and dimensions to any ceremony style.

3. Dessert Tables

Photo Source: Jesi Haack Design

It is so easy to get caught up in the wedding cake when planning a wedding. But, I am really loving the idea of including all types of desserts in the reception. Not everyone likes cake but including some cookies, brownies, & lemon bars in your menu could really appeal to and impress your guests. (Not to mention it gives room to show off more of your wedding style)

This is something that I would enjoy incorporating this in my own wedding someday but would like to still include a 2 layer cake as to keep with tradition and to have some to celebrate with on our 1 year anniversary.

-- I can't wait to see other trends that show up for the fall wedding season!

That's all for now. Bye, friends!

The Funniest Thing

I already shared this on my twitter (and through my group text) but I simply could not resist doing a mini blog post about it..

Photo from The Chive

I rrreeally hope you are laughing hysterically right now. If not, give it a second.

Yup. It's hillarious. You will be laughing about it for the next week. You're welcome. 

Bye, friends. 

Something Homemade and an Iced Coffee Follow Up

My parents, sister & boyfriend are all in town this week! So, naturally, I decided to let the domestic goddess within me shine, and I made some homemade cinnamon rolls.

I love love love cinnamon rolls. They are easily one of my favorite sweet treats! And making them from complete scratch is a huge accomplishment for me. I'll be honest, I had to throw away my first batch of dough. But the second batch was perfect! And luckily, the dough is easy to make.

They ended up being delicious. The icing was amazing and so simply made from butter, cream cheese, confectioners sugar and vanilla.

To learn how exactly to cut the cinnamon rolls, I watched a video from Paula Deen. She's not my favorite (mainly because she reminds me of my high school geometry teacher) but the video helped a lot.

Most importantly my dad, who is quite the foody, said that they were some of the best he had ever had. Not only because they were made by his daughter, but because they weren't too dry and weren't too doughy. They were just right.

I found the recipe on Pinterest (ob. sessed.) and you can find it here!

And now for a follow up! I made the iced coffee from my Desperate blog post, and so did my lovely friend Caitlin (or Caima, as some know her).

Hayley's!

Caima's!

We both love with how it turned out! I enjoy having a pitcher in the fridge to use whenever I like. It's very convenient and you can personalize it by adding your own amount of cream, milk, sugar, cinnamon etc.

At one point during the process I thought I had added too much water, but I just let it all sit for a bit longer than eight hours and it turned out just fine! It's basically fool proof. I definitely recommend it for any iced coffee lovers.

That's all for now. Bye, friends!

Another Goodwill Find

I think it's time to share another Goodwill find don't you? yes? good.

This is my pink teapot!

I adore it. It's just perfect. It has some character to it and all I had to do to it was clean it up a bit once it got to its new home! It cost me right around $4.00.

I could make tea in it...sure...but, I'd rather do this..

Teapot turned flower pot! Can't go wrong with that :) Thanks to my internship for the lovely flowers! One of the many benefits of being a wedding coordinator.

Desperate

Here's the deal..

Around 11 o'clock this morning, I didn't want to get out of bed. Now, 11am is actually sleeping in pretty late for me. But, today..I just wanted a big ol' mason jar full of creamy iced coffee.

Doesn't that sound so wonderful?

But..I no longer have a coffee maker as mine broke after 1 brew. Awesome. And I am not really feeling a run to a coffee shop..(although I have been loving McDonald's iced sugar-free vanilla lattes!)

Then I remembered an AMAZING little tutorial from The Pioneer Woman for the perfect homemade iced coffee.

Click the pic for the tutorial! 

It is so unique in that it addresses how simply pouring hot coffee over ice does not make good iced coffee! I wasn't able to enjoy it this morning because it has an 8 hour prep but, I will certainly be making some tomorrow morning before heading to The Winfield Inn for a day full of wedding preparation!

Check out the tutorial and let me know how excited you are about trying it sometime!