Hough Home: July Journal

I can't believe it's already the last day of July! This summer is flying by, but we've been able to do a lot of fun things with family and friends this month. So I thought I'd share a little journal of all the things we've been up to this month and of course some pictures.

4th of July Weekend in Highlands, NC

We drove up to Highlands, North Carolina for the 4th of July weekend to meet up with my family who came from Orlando. The first night, we got dinner at one of my all time favorite restaurants Canyon Kitchen in Lonesome Valley. The view is breathtaking (especially in the fall when the leaves change!) and the food is amazing and creative.
A lot of the food coming straight from their garden out back.

High Hampton Inn is an adorable place to stay that we like to visit while we're there. We went for lunch the next day and the guys played golf while the girls went shopping in Cashiers, the nearby town to Highlands.

High Hampton has llamas that golfers can use to carry their golf bags!!
I'm not kidding. How cute are they?!

The next morning we went hiking at Whiteside Mountain. I think it's a nice level of challenging but not overly exhausting - my kind of hiking! It was a little foggy when we got to the top, but still beautiful!

One night we went to this precious church for a hymnal sing, it can't seat more than 40-50 people. It was a wonderful and much needed vacation with family and nice to get away for a few days. And the drive from Atlanta is so easy - I highly recommend it! The main street in Highlands is so cute and I love that there is hardly any cell phone reception in the town. The perfect getaway!

Wine Tasting at Savi

We went to a fun Pinot Noir wine tasting with our friends Kristin, Colin and Jules at the beginning of the month for a little "Wine Down Wednesday," hosted by Georgia's only Master Sommelier, Michael McNeil. We got to taste 6 amazing pinots and they had fruit, meats, cheeses and crackers to compliment the wine as well.

This is the list of delicious Pinot Noir wines we tasted. My favorite was the second on the list,
2008 Domaine Serene "Evenstad" Reserve from Willamette Valley, Oregon.

Savi Provisions in Buckhead hosts several events a week in their wine tasting room. Some are free and others have a cost. If you're in the area, I'd highly recommend giving them a try. We've enjoyed trying a few so far, and have learned a lot more about wine from the ones we've gone to. Savi does a really impressive job! Great balance of education and great wine! Here is a link to their upcoming events calendar.

Wedding Weekend in Naperville, IL

Houston and I flew up for a fun weekend with friends to Naperville, outside of Chicago, earlier this month. Houston was a groomsman in the wedding, one of his best friends from college married the love of his life and the wedding was stunning. One of the most fun weddings I've ever been to!

Several of our friends from college were there - the boys were in the wedding so us girls had a mini girls weekend and we enjoyed exploring around! Ashley and I tried Bar Method to sneak in a barre workout one morning and met up with the other girls to get our nails done afterwards. I liked trying a new barre workout, lots of similarities but always interesting to see how different studios work.

Then we got ready for the rehearsal.

On Saturday, us girls got some breakfast while the boys got ready for the wedding. We laid out by the pool to get some sun before the wedding and headed to the church. The reception was stunning. There were so many little things throughout that night that were extra special - the father of the bride, best man and MOH speeches were all so heartfelt (and tear-jerking!), the first dance was super sweet, the food and music were amazing and the evening was complete with a flash mob!
We loved celebrating our sweet friends!

Hillsong United Concert

I surprised Houston and took him to a Hillsong United concert at Lakewood Amphitheatre. Hillsong is a Christian band that has written countless of the popular contemporary songs we sing at church so it was really cool to get to see them sing live. They are so talented and it was an inexplainable feeling to get to worship with nearly 20,000 other believers.
Absolutely amazing and I hope we get to see them perform again someday!

Tybee Island Weekend

Last weekend, I went to Tybee Island with the girls in my Bible study. I had never been to Tybee Island so I enjoyed visiting after hearing about Tybee for so long. I loved getting to know the girls in my group better and always love a beach weekend. I'm so thankful for these new friends of mine and growing in our relationships with the Lord through our friendships.

We stopped in Savannah on our way home for brunch at Huey's. Has anyone had those beignets before?? I hadn't been back to Savannah since my bachelorette 2 1/2 years ago, so it was fun to be back even for a few hours. Would love to spend a weekend with Houston there soon!

#PowerCoupleWedding2016

Wrapping up the month of July, we had a blast at a wedding last night for some great friends of ours here in Atlanta. Great friends, great food, great music, it was an absolutely honor to be included this weekend to celebrate such sweet friends!

It was a formal wedding and I wasn't sure what to wear so I rented a dress from Rent the Runway, which was a great experience. I've rented from them twice before and I think it's the best business idea. Get $30 off your first order and I'll get $30 off my next one if you use my link here.

I went with some of my closest friends to get our hair done at DryBar beforehand for an updo. After getting all dolled up we headed to The Georgian Terrace Hotel for the ceremony and reception. It was absolutely stunning! We are so thankful for our special friends we've made in Atlanta.