Turks & Caicos for our Anniversary Trip

We wanted to go somewhere really special for our second wedding anniversary and I love where we went!! After MUCH research, we decided to go to Turks & Caicos for a long weekend, last weekend, and it was gorgeous! The water is just unbelievable and the weather was great.

Here are some pictures in a little video I made on the plane ride back.

Song in the background is from our First Dance at our wedding, God Gave Me You by Dave Barnes.

We took a direct flight from Atlanta to Providenciales on Delta and stayed at the West Bay Club, about a 10 minute taxi ride from the airport. We went to other hotels for dinners two of the nights - Parallel23 at The Palms and Infiniti at Grace Bay Club which were both delicious. 

We spent most of our time soaking up the sun on the beach and we also went snorkeling our last morning there. We had a great time and would love to go back someday! We loved how easy it was to get to from Atlanta.

And here are some more pictures...

Flying into Providenciales (Caicos Islands)

Enjoying our welcome drinks and fruit on our back porch

Ready to hit the beach!

Gorgeous sunset our first night

Day 2

Dinner at The Palms hotel

Day 3 - We woke up and went for a 3 mile walk on the beach

Sunset at dinner at Grace Bay Club, the "sister hotel" of where we stayed

We split a yummy steak for two and they surprised us with a lava cake for dessert for our anniversary

Day 4 - Our last day, we did not want to leave!

Until next time :)

Okay work, it's been fun this week and all, but I'm ready to go back to Turks! We are already wanting to plan our 3rd anniversary trip - any suggestions?? 

xox, A

My Sister's Bachelorette Weekend in Charleston

I can't believe it but we just passed the 10,000th pageview for the blog! Thank you for those who have read along. It's been quite a while, so this post is about a fun bachelorette weekend we had for my sister back in August.

I had so much fun at my sister's bachelorette weekend several weeks ago and there were 11 of us that got to be there to celebrate. Half of us got in late Thursday night to the house on VRBO we rented (which was a great location and could accommodate our large group). I was able to get there a little early to get the place set up and put out some decorations for my sister before she arrived!

Friday
Friday morning we went to the airport to pick up the girls that had flown in (all the way from California!), grabbed breakfast and headed to the beach to Isle of Palms. The weather was great and after soaking up the sun we went to such a yummy and eclectic place for lunch called The Obstinate Daughter. And we had to go downstairs after for an ice cream/cookie sandwich at Beardcat's Sweet Shop, I highly recommend the chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream!

Friday night we stayed in to make tacos, drinks and a little bridal shower for my sister. The night may or may not have ended in a dance party!

Saturday
We woke up Saturday and had good intentions of going for a run/walk along the Battery, but only 2 in the group had enough willpower to go. We went for a delicious brunch at Hominy Grill. I ordered the Blackberry Collins to drink while we waited for our big group to get a table. I ordered the Grilled Vegetable Omelette for brunch, so yummy. Then we had to do a historic carriage ride which was really beautiful, even after we got caught in a downpour in downtown Charleston.

We went back to the house to get ready for dinner and had an early 5:30 reservation at Barsa Tapas Lounge & Bar. It was the perfect place for our large party and oh.my.gosh. the food was amazing!! We ordered a hodge podge of tapas and 2 paellas to share. Some of my favorite tapas were the stuffed peppers, dates and roasted beet salad. The food was amazing and the service was great too. One of Betsy's bridesmaids sent us pink champagne to celebrate - thanks Kelly!!! 

After dinner we went to a few bars that were a lot of fun and perfect for our group. First we went to The Gin Joint, my personal favorite. It's a great place to get craft cocktails. On their menu they have a list of adjectives - fruity, tart, herbal, unique, spicy, etc. - that you can choose two from and their bartender will make a drink for you. Betsy's fiancé Michael bought us a round of drinks, so thoughtful! Then we went to a rooftop bar, with a beautiful view of the city. Lastly we went to a place to do a little dancing before calling it a night.

Sunday
Before heading home, we grabbed a delicious brunch at Poogan's Porch (I'm a brunch person if you haven't noticed!). Trust me, you won't forget those biscuits! We went for a quick stroll around the Battery and saw Rainbow Row before hitting the road.

It was such a great weekend celebrating my sister and I can't wait for her to marry the love of her life in just a few weeks!

You can see the rest of our pictures on Instagram with the hashtag #BBoydTakesTheBattery.

xoxo,
A

Spring Break Cruisin'

It is hard to believe that I haven't posted in a month! I guess life gets busy senior year and the whole "trying to find a job" (and a place to live) has temporarily distracted me...

But, I just got back from one of my greatest weeks of college and senior memories I've experienced. I had the privilege of going on my first cruise ever, with a group of friends for my senior spring break! We took the 7-day Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Sea ship to Cozumel, the Grand Cayman Islands and Jamaica and it was so much fun and relaxing!

We even had a list of things we weren't allowed to talk about, including: school, graduating, homework, plans after graduation, jobs and basically anything that could potentially stress us out! So wonderful to just relax and shut our phones off for 7 days! (Although thankfully I could get a few texts and FaceTimes in with Houston and my family via wifi!)

I wanted to share a few pictures with you from this week and give some tips for traveling!

The photo below was us girls before Formal Night in the dining room.

Our first stop on our cruise was to Cozumel, Mexico. We found this awesome excursion to Nachi Cocom, a private beach that cost us $50 for the entire day with a beach chair, umbrella, lunch and beverages included. I would highly recommend it to anyone traveling to Cozumel!

Here is one of my only group photos with all of us - Whitney, me, Kristin, Courtney, Maddie, Kate, Juliann, Jaime, Scott, Cam, Daniel and Austin

Adios Cozumel!

 After dinner one night, missing Maddie!

Juliann, Daniel and I took an excursion in Grand Cayman to swim with stingrays, pet dolphins and a private Tiki Beach for $109. Definitely worth it for a once in a lifetime experience! They also took care of your transportation to and from the ship and the 3 different locations of activities.

I got to kiss Galileo, our dolphin!

 Fancy night with my girls:)

 Had such a fun week with this group! Thank you for the unforgettable memories and putting up with my 600 pictures I took:)

Being my first cruise, I didn't know what to expect but I loved it and thought it was such a fun way to travel! Royal Caribbean was a wonderful cruise line and the rooms were great and food was delicious! 

A few things I forgot and would be sure to bring/not bring next time would be:

-We only needed 1 blow dryer for the 4 of us girls, I could have left mine at home
-1 straighter was plenty
-I don't need to bring my own beach towels, they have plenty on the ship (thankfully Juliann gave me a heads up on that one!)
-I would have brought another pair of cute shoes for dinners, probably wedges
-I also would have brought tennis shoes and workout clothes, with all of that constant eating I would have enjoyed a few workouts at the gym!
-The excursions can be pricey but really worth it! Just be sure to budget money for them when planning your trip!


Have you taken a cruise before? What would be some advice you would give to someone who is a new cruiser?

My Love Languages

So I thought I would help my readers get to know me a little bit by listing just a few of the many things and people I love:

I LOVE...

my Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ

my parents, and siblings Betsy and Michael

my boyfriend, Houston

my incredible friends God has blessed me with throughout my 21 years

creating things - whether it is my newest entrepreneurial idea, crafts or food, I love to create!

the sunshine (with that also comes laying out)

long talks with my best friend and roommate, Juliann and discussing our newest life plans

the beach and the lake (still undecided as to which I prefer)

traveling (I hope to go abroad again soon!!)

watching college football

Paris

polka dots

Lilly Pulitzer

sparklers

walks on the beach

cooking & baking

Penguins, only second to my favorite animal... Dogs!

tomato and mozzarella salads

green smoothies - my Aunt Lori just got me hooked! I'll write you the recipe soon!

New York City

@CuteEmergency - if you don't follow them on Twitter, you need to! It can brighten ANY day!

Taylor Swift's music (my INCREDIBLE boyfriend is taking me to see her in ATL in April!!!! Best boyfriend ever... YES!)

my mom's chocolate cake

the color yellow

driving with the windows down and blaring music (preferably with friends in the car with me)

monograms

Pintrest
seersucker

J.Crew

Atlanta (my future home --- EEEK!)

What are some of your favorite things?? Your favorite city? Food? Place to shop? Or thing to do?

And if you like any of these things too and want me to elaborate, let me know and I can dedicate a post to some of the things listed above!

xoxo,

A