The Little Things: The Sparkly Stuff!

It has been SO long since I talked about my wedding details - I know our wedding was over a year ago.  But there are still so many pretty things to talk about!! 

Once the dress and the veil were chosen, the next step was getting the right accessories.  I've already told you about my long and exhausting hunt for my glacier beauties!  With the shoes and my belt chosen, all I needed was jewelry to match, so my mom, my MOH Melissa and I went to TWD for an accessory appointment!  I knew I was looking for bigger earrings, that would coordinate with my belt.  I tried on a few {gorgeous} pairs from Haute Bride - but they weren't quite right.  Then my mom actually pointed out a pair from Maria Elena Headpieces.  I put them on, and they were perfect!  They were big and blingy, but I liked how they had so many intricate details.    The picture quality isn't great, but I took this photo so you could see that they sparkled just as much from the back as they did from the front!  

My mom had commented before the appointment that something for my hair might be nice - so I asked the stylist to suggest a hair piece that would go with the look.  When I put this one on, Melissa and my mom fell in love and insisted I get it as well!  It was just enough extra sparkle to add some detail to my hair, which was otherwise going to be very simple, just curled with a little bit pulled back.  Here's all my sparkle together, minus the belt:

The day I picked everything up from TWD it was like a better version of Christmas.  I had my hairpiece and earrings, PLUS the 7 pairs of earrings for my bridesmaids!  That is a LOT of sparkle in one little bag :)

I loved the way all of my accessories helped tie my look together, and made me feel absolutely amazing on our wedding day.  

Originally, I wasn't sure that the hair piece was necessary... I didn't know how much you would see it and if it would really make a huge difference....but my mom had loved it so much I'd agreed to wear it.  Looking back - mom really does know best!!!  It was the perfect simple and beautiful addition to my look, and made a huge difference in some of my favorite pictures of us that day! 

How did you decide what accessories to add to your bridal look?  Did you pick them yourself, or bring friends shopping with you??  For someone who usually keeps my accessories to a minimum, I had SO much fun choosing these details for our wedding day!

xoxo

Franklins World: TJMaxx

This is not where I thought this post was going to go today, but hey!  I had all day today off with nugget - we have had unseasonably warm weather for the start of fall and so we spent the morning taking advantage of it with a nice walk around the lake {see photo below of my pup - part cavapom part mountain goat}.  I had a few errands to run, including a return at TJMaxx, so I called them once they opened and asked if they were dog friendly.  Now - I only bothered to call because they DID show up on a list of "dog friendly" stores I had looked up, but I don't alwayssss trust the internet.  Anyway!  The woman checked with her manager and told me that yes dogs were allowed!  So, Franklin and I headed off.

My observations: TJMaxx IS definitely pet friendly.  Every associate was nothing but friendly to us - but you could definitely tell that customers aren't used to people actually taking advantage of the policy in this particular store.  I had a couple people give me funny looks, but Franklin and I went about our business.  He was pretty adorable - he likes the bark at his own reflection and they had mirrors at the checkout that caused a little bit of an episode.  What are ya gonna do?

In other related news, TJMaxx had some absolutely amazing seasonal items they were just putting out!  I am not always great at actually doing it, but I love getting the house ready for the various holidays - so we picked up a few things and surprised Ant when he came home to a home ready for fall!

Pictured below:  table runner & pumpkin salt & pepper shakers just purchased today!  Rewind candle was a gift & mercury pumpkin was from Target last year.

I also completely couldn't help myself with these adorable gargoyles.  They've been added to our staircase frames - along with a pumpkin vanilla diffuser shaped like a bottle of poison {sadly not pictured}.  That was the first thing my husband noticed - the smell of the diffuser!!  It is amazingggg.

Also - did you know you can shop online at TJMaxx???  Sorry if I'm behind the curve, but I just discovered this a few weeks ago when I was looking for frames for our gallery wall.  When you order online you can return to the store for free - nice and easy.  They usually have a deal that's free shipping if you spend at least $89, which is scarily simple.  Here are a few of my holiday favorites currently available online...three things I've become a complete sucker for: pillows, candles, & table runners.

Have you already gotten your home ready for fall??  Where do you find your decor?? I'd love to know!!

xoxo

#Wifey Diaries: Gallery Wall Update

Last year, Ant & I put up a gallery wall above our fireplace.  We decided it would primarily be photos of places, rather than people.  This was the original wall:

After our vacation this past spring, we had so many new pictures of amazing places - we decided it was time to update the wall!  We chose a number of photos, and I went a little crazy online shopping at TJMaxx {who knew you could buy online @ TJMaxx?? I didn't! Talk about dangerous.} One afternoon after work we popped a bottle of bubbly, took the whole wall down, and redid it.  I had "the vision" for layout, and Ant did all the measuring to ensure it actually came together okay! 

Franklin discovered he could get a better view from the stairs.

This shot includes two of my favorite pieces - the custom home watercolor I gifted Ant on our anniversary, and a painting his cousin did for us based on a photo Ant took while we were in San Fran.  

I love that the updated wall makes better use of the space, and includes a more interesting mix of colors and detailing on the frames!  It helps bring together the space, and is a great reminder of some of the travel we've been lucky to do.  What house projects have you been working on?? 

xoxo

Franklins World: Chester's BBQ

I am REALLY excited about this blog post - I am not going to lie to you.  I totally understand why many businesses are not pet friendly, but Ant and I work crazy hours and when we get home we don't want to leave Franklin alone for even more time, so we like to include him in whatever plans we have for the evening!  While there are tons of things we can do at home, it is fun to get out sometimes!  So we are CONSTANTLY on the look out for new pet friendly places around us to go to.  Luckily, we've found quite a few!  So I thought I'd review them here for you, so you have all the best information...

For the sake of ensuring you have all the facts, I'll include some of the nitty gritty details from Yelp, etc so you know what the rest of the world thinks, as well as my honest opinion as the mother of a sometimes bratty, but always sweet puppy!

First up, and the one that really motivated me to do this...is Chester's BBQ - the new Clinton location!

Chesters and I go wayyyyy back.  Their original location is in Groton, right near my dad's work.  I'm very familiar with Chesters and their delicious barbecue.  I introduced Ant to Chesters, and he instantly became a big fan.  Chester's actually catered our rehearsal dinner!  We had delicious BBQ on the deck at Project O.  It was casual and summery and perfect.

A couple of weeks ago, Ant and I were lamenting the fact that there was no good BBQ near us - and when we went on Yelp to do some research we were SO excited to find out that Chesters had opened up a new location in Clinton, just 15 minutes from us.  A couple days ago, I called them on my way home to find out if their outdoor seating was dog friendly.  "Sure!" said the guy who answered the phone - "as long as it's not a pound of dogs....that might be tough, but we can handle a dog!  They will just have to stay outside"  I laughed and assured him my 16 pounds of dog would be okay.  So Ant and I headed to Chesters for dinner.

When we got there I parked myself at a table with nugget on their outdoor patio - there are only about 7 tables, but they are large and comfortable and there is plenty of space.  We set up at one near the fence, so I could hook Franklin's leash to the fence and let him wander a bit.  When Ant came back outside after ordering he told me that the guys inside had been super helpful - they have "Bowzers Bones" - free bones (one per dog per visit) - that they served on it's own plate on our tray of food.  While Franklin was fine on his leash attached to the fence on the patio, they also offered up the side yard of the building - another entirely fenced in area, where they told us we could let him run around off leash if we wanted.  Talk about pet friendly!  Dinner was served and Franklin was pretty much in heaven.  If he could talk, he'd be asking us why we don't go back there every night.  The bone they served him was roughly the size of his head, times two.  He was in puppy heaven.

Overall, I could not speak more highly of the service at Chesters - not only for Franklin but for us as well.  and the food.........speaks for itself.  Just go get some.  You're welcome in advance!

But don't take my word for it....here's the Yelp rating (including mine BEFORE our Franklin visit):

and TripAdvisor - although for this one I'm showing you reviews for Groton - Clinton doesn't have many in yet.

Now....here comes the most important part - I need your help!! Are there any amazing pet friendly spots we should be checking out in CT/RI??  Specifically, 16{ish} pound Cavalier Mix puppy friendly??  Send me your suggestions!!  We would love to check them out.

xoxo

#Wifey Diaries: First Anniversary Gift Guide

Okay - Ant & I are not necessarily traditional gift givers.....a majority of the time our gifts to each other are things we can do together.  This started VERY early on in our relationship - our first Christmas presents to each other were a trip to NYC and tickets to see Chris Brown in concert.  We're not usually "stuff" people.  Not that we haven't gotten each other very nice "stuff" gifts - (I LOVE a new purse just as much as the next girl) - but they're less common.  Anyway, the point being....we decided that for our anniversary gifts, we were going to stick to the traditional anniversary gifts as a loose guide.  So I hit the internet and started brainstorming....and had a VERY hard time deciding what I was going to do for our paper anniversary.

I did come across some good ideas along the way!  So I thought I'd put them all in one place - maybe it will help you as you start shopping for your first anniversary gift.

For reference: here is Hallmark's official list of anniversary gifts by year - there are two versions, traditional & modern.

Personalized wedding venue portrait - Letterfest.com
I think these are just the sweetest!  You send in a picture of the place you got married - if you had a church ceremony you can include the reception location as well - and they create a custom sketch of it for you!  I absolutely love this.

Concert Tickets:
Is there a concert coming up your hubby would just LOVE to go to??  Concert tickets are printed on paper - and you've created another newlywed date night! Win win :)

Photo Book:
Ant & I LOVE my publisher for photo books.  Last year we used them to make wedding albums for our parents, and we're in the process of making one for our last vacation.  Make a book to remember your first year of marriage!!! They are SO easy to use and the quality is amazing.  They always have great deals too, if you sign up for their emails!!

Coffee table book:  Does your husband/wife have a particular passion?  Do you love travel, or art?  Find a coffee table book that could become a conversation starter with guests in your home!  When I was looking through this list - this one jumped out at me.  We love travel and are always talking about what our next adventure is going to be!

Customized Travel Map:  My roommate from college has a scratch off travel map, and I love it!  This version I found through mapyourtravels.com is absolutely perfect!  You can customize the plaque on it to say "Mascia family adventures" or anything else you'd like.  It includes four different colored markers to distinguish where you've been and where you dream to go.  

So what did Mr. and Mrs. Mascia give each other for our paper anniversary?

Overnight trip!!
Ant presented me with printed out reservations for a night at the Christopher Dodge House in Providence RI with a copy of the schedule for waterfire!  We have been talking about going to waterfire together for years and never made it - and after our B&B stay in Victoria he wanted to give us a chance to do that again!  So he booked a night in Providence so we can enjoy waterfire without worrying about driving all the way back to CT afterwards.  See?  Technically paper, but oh so much more.  His timing is perfect too - it's in early November, right before I give up my life to the holiday season in retail!

Anniversary Card:  This one sounds oh so obvious - but it fits the criteria!  In this case - my anniversary card to Ant included a surprise that we were going to get massages together that afternoon ;)

Personalized House sketch: - Ant & I have talked about getting a drawing/sketch/painting of our house done to add to our gallery wall above the fireplace, but never actually made any real progress.  When I saw the personalized wedding venue portraits it motivated me to get our house done to surprise Ant.  I found Rita Marie Weddings on Etsy and they were absolutely wonderful in getting me the portrait on time.  The final product was absolutely beautiful!!!  We've been in our house almost two years now, and I thought it was a fitting way to celebrate our first year as an official family.

What did you give your hubs for your first anniversary??  I'd love to add new inspiration to this list!!

xoxo

One Year as Mrs. Mascia

Ahh!  Longest hiatus ever.  Ant and I just celebrated our first anniversary this weekend.  We had THE best weekend - it was exactly what we needed after such a busy couple of weeks!

I have so much to update you on, but I thought now would be the perfect time to share our anniversary photos with you!  We took them a little early....back in June while we were out in Oregon on our PNW road trip.  I thought it would be the perfect way to remember the trip and remember this exciting time in our lives - as newlyweds.  I found Jessi from Echo Photography via instagram!  {see?? sometimes my excessive interest in scrolling for wedding photos comes in handy} I originally reached out to her to see if we could meet up in Seattle, but when we realized ours schedules wouldn't match, she offered to come down in meet us in Oregon!!!  Her photos stood out to me immediately - besides being stunning and capturing special moments with her couples, she does an abolutely incredible job of taking in the scenery around her.  I was officially sold once I saw her bucket list - her love for travel rivals ours.

On our last day on the Oregon coast, Ant and I met Jessi at Cape Kiwanda.  Ant & I had been traveling along the coast all day - so we stopped at some nearby outlets and used the restrooms to put ourselves together.  Then we met Jessi for a cup of coffee before we walked out to the cape, and spent some time chatting about travel and the PNW and how amazing the light was that day - we got the luckiest!!!  

The Oregon coast is STUNNING.  There is no other word for it.  It is so unique and absolutely beautiful Ant and I could not get over it.  Cape Kiwanda is a perfect example of this - you walk along a beach and up this big giant hill of sand and find yourself at a fence that says "do not cross."  So what do you do?  Immediately, and without hesitation, crawl under it and work your way out to the tip.  There's beach, there's rock, there's a mini forest, and its all on the edge of the ocean.  It is unbelievable.  We were so excited to explore every inch of the area - and Jessi was amazing company for all of it!

Anyway, enough gushing about the Oregon coast and Jessi for now - just check out some of the pictures for yourself!  We love that we look back at these and are immediately brought back to this crazy trip we went on.  

xoxo