Medicine & Manicures

Wedding Tour Part 4: Buffalo & Niagara Falls

Hi friends and happy Tuesday! I meant to have this post ready yesterday butttt… I was exhausted after almost 12 hours of traveling and a 30 minute battle with a cockroach, so I crashed super early. But more on that later. This weekend, Ryan & I made out 4th stop out of 5 on this year’s wedding tour and flew up to Buffalo for the nuptials of our friends Beth & Nate (also one of Ryan’s groomsmen). 

On Saturday morning, Ryan & I took a little impromptu trip to Niagara Falls. Well, it wasn’t that impromptu because he got there a day earlier and told me to pack a rain jacket & tennis shoes. You know, just in case it got super misty, but luckily the weather was fine! Since I was unprepared, I didn’t have my passport so we couldn’t walk across to the Canadian side but the falls were still amazing to see! Next time we come, we are definitely doing Maid of the Mist- a boat that goes along the bottom of the waterfalls and everyone aboard is wearing a poncho (and getting soaked, I assume)!

The wedding was held at St. Joseph’s Cathedral and it has got to be one of the most beautiful churches that I’ve ever seen! This was my very first Catholic ceremony and while it’s a little longer than the 20-minute ceremonies I’m used to, it was so special and meaningful. Not to mention, Beth’s dress was absolutely stunning- she looked like a princess!

Side note: This was my first Rent the Runway experience and I was very pleased! I picked out this little Shoshanna number and got so many compliments on it. Lace, super comfortable, AND pockets… what’s not to love?!?
I met back up with everyone for cocktail hour/reception which was held at the Hotel Lafayette. The food was delicious (chicken and steak… extra points for variety!) and after that we pretty much stayed on the dance floor all night. Ryan even had his very own birthday surprise waiting for him at the table!
Buffalo and the wedding were great and it was so good to see Nate & Beth. Traveling, however, was quite the opposite. First of all, my flight from Raleigh was cancelled due to lack of flight crew but I ended up landing in Buffalo 30 minutes earlier so I didn’t complain too much. It would be my luck right before the reception to get an email saying that my returning flight was delayed… messing up my connection, of course. That resulted in me taking not two, but three flights to get home on Sunday. I could have seriously been to Asia by the time I spent traveling/sitting in the airport that day. Ugh!! I partially blame it on United and the fact that I was flying into Raleigh- there just aren’t enough flights in/out of there plus they’re more expensive. Once again, I can’t wait to be back in Charlotte where we have direct flights galore! 
I’m so glad to have this entire week off to relax and catch up on life. Of course, I have something planned just about every day so we’ll see how relaxing it really is. Hope y’all have a fabulous day!
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Endless Eyewear + Boyfriend Shorts

You may recall this post from the other week where I talked about my favorite monthly subscription boxes. Naturally, I discovered another one to add to the list a few days later. Enter Ditto. Monthly designer sunglasses, or “endless eyewear” as they like to call it, for $19/month. I got a free month for entering the Ditto/Rocks Box contest and was super excited to get my package.

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Kiawah Bachelorette Weekend


Good morning, y’all! Is it Monday again?? I’m so sad that this weekend is over but on the bright side, this is the last week of my psych rotation! Four. More. Days. Anyways, this weekend I had a super fun time at my friend Whitney’s bachelorette party so let’s get right into the recap!



It was a long ride to Kiawah on Friday, but the end of the drive was so beautiful. Before you get to the island, you drive through what feels like a tunnel of Spanish moss trees that capture that true look of the south… love it!! Our house was the bomb- really big, great furniture, and I got my own bed (it’s the small things!). However, it was very “woodsy” so that equaled quite a few mosquito bites for most of us.


We headed to the beach for a few hours then headed back for dinner at the house. I always love getting the chance to hang out with a new group of girls and we all got along so well! We had Whitney’s lingerie shower that night and I have to say, my favorite gift had to be the gigantic granny panties. Too funny!! 




On Saturday, we all got up pretty early, enjoyed some bagels and coffee, and went out for a bike ride/run. The property on the island is absolutely beautiful, everything is so lush and well-manicured. I can tell why Chesson loves it so much!! After that, we packed up and headed out for a beach day… which was unfortunately short lived. 45 minutes after we got there, the clouds started rolling in and we went back and forth about staying for a while, until the sky opened up and we got absolutely soaked. 





That night we got all dolled up and ready to celebrate the bachelorette. Since our place was about an hour away from Charleston (yes… one hour!), we decided to travel in style and get a sprinter bus to take us there. I swear, party buses are half the fun- the tunes were going and the champagne was flowing! 


Our first stop was The Vendue rooftop then we went to Blossom for dinner. Charleston has some of the most amazing food so I always love to discover new restaurants (and revisit old ones). This place was delicious, our server was amazing, and I highly recommend the oysters! 












Of course we had to make a stop by the Market Pavilion rooftop bar but it got to be quite toasty up there as you can imagine, so we finished the night at some of the upper King Street bars. Charleston is one of my top favorite cities to visit and I will go any chance I get! A few of us squeezed in a little more beach time yesterday (which also ended with dark clouds, ugh!) and then headed home. Another fun bachelorette party in the books and I’m looking forward to celebrating Whitney’s big day in October! 








Linking with Biana & Meghan.







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Weekending: Beach Wedding


Hi, friends!! It’s that dreaded day of the week again but with a positive attitude- and a big cup of coffee– I know we can all get through it. This past weekend, Ryan & I packed our bags, beach chairs, and cooler and headed to Wrightsville Beach. Even though I went a ton last year, this was my first trip down this summer because most of my weekends this year have been jam packed. The reason for this trip was for our 3rd wedding of the year and I was super excited to see my childhood friend Nikki tie the knot!






Similar dress here


Ryan and I woke up and left early (but not as early as I wanted) to get in some beach time before the wedding. We scoured the parking places for like 20 minutes and were about to give up and pay the $20 parking, until we saw someone who was leaving from the most amazing spot. Success!! It was a b-e-a-utiful day at the beach but those waves were rough. I went in waist deep and got thrown under the water 2 or 3 times but hey, it was good for all the surfers out there!
















We met my friend Kelly for lunch and then checked in to our hotel to get ready. The ceremony was on the beach towards the north side of Wrightsville and Nikki looked stunning- I absolutely loved her dress! After the couple said their “I do’s”, we walked a few blocks down the street to the reception house mansion. This place was huge and was a great place for an event (the house is even made of seashells… crazy!). 























There was a huge buffet so we stuffed ourselves pretty quickly. One of my favorite parts of the reception was when Nikki and her dad did a dance in honor of their favorite sports team, the Detroit Redwings. She has been a huge fan of them since I can remember so this was totally them! And of course, we were all doing the whip & nae nae on the dance floor. Yet another song that doesn’t really make sense, but it’s so dang catchy! 























It was so great to be there for Nikki & Derek’s big day and to catch up with my high school girls. It’s so crazy to think that we are all grown up now- getting married, buying houses, and having babies. I’m so excited to see them all again in Charlotte next May! I hope y’all had a great weekend as well. Hopefully this week will go by quickly because I’m off to the beach again this coming weekend… except this time I’ll be heading to Kiawah!! 





Linking with Biana & Meghan.





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Honeymoons, Wedding Dresses, & Bee Stings


Happy Monday, friends!! I hope everyone had a nice weekend- I spent mine in Charlotte with my main squeeze and as always, I didn’t want to leave. I have a lot going on in the next few weeks and won’t be back in Charlotte until August 10th… but at least I’ll be on my week-long break!! I’m linking with Biana & Meghan so let’s jump right into the recap!





First and foremost, we booked our honeymoon!!! I know, we’re super early but we knew where we wanted to go and there was a good deal with miles so we went for it. Ryan & I will be traveling to Saint Lucia next May and I cannot wait!! It’s a pretty popular honeymoon destination and I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about the island. We are still researching resorts but have some ideas of where we want to stay. Any recommendations about things to do (or to avoid) are welcome, I’d love to hear from y’all!




Friday was a good day. I met my MOH Logan at my bridal salon to pick up my… wedding dress!! It felt so good to try it on and I fell in love with it all over again. Now the hard part is going to be keeping it tucked away in storage for 9 months. I also had this fear that it wouldn’t zip but luckily it did… it’s just a little snug in the stomach area (eeek!). But I guess I have plenty of time to work on my abs. Now I just need to start shopping for my veil, shoes, and jewelry! 








This weekend was the start of Charlotte Restaurant Week, so Ryan and I went to one of our favorite places, Fleming’s. You can never go wrong with a nice juicy steak paired with some red wine. Oh, and their white chocolate bread pudding was ahhh-mazing. 




On Saturday, Ryan and I were supposed to go cake tasting but we had to reschedule. While Ryan was out golfing, he got stung by a bee/yellow jacket. Within 10 minutes he was itching all over his body and started developing hives. I told him to get Benadryl ASAP and when he got home, I took one look at him and said we were going straight to urgent care. He was itching all over his body and had horrible welts everywhere! He got his steroid shot and then spent most of the day sleeping (poor thing!) and I watched a marathon of Lifetime movies about men meeting crazy women online. 





Sunday was a lazy day, we didn’t get out of bed until 10! We spent the afternoon lounging at the pool and I got in some light reading (love Carolina Bride!). We spontaneously decided to go see Jurassic World in the afternoon and oh.my.gosh– it’s one of the best movies I’ve seen in a while. If you haven’t already seen it- go now!! It was amazing! 




Last but not least, of course I headed to Nordstrom this weekend to take advantage of the sale. I was lucky and snagged the very last one of this sweater!! I also came to terms with the fact that big sales like this can be overwhelming. I was also on a bit of a time crunch so I ordered the rest of my goodies online- I cannot wait to get these pumps… they are so stinking cute AND comfortable! Don’t forget, the sale is open to the public now and you can’t beat some of these deals. Last week I shared some of my picks under $100 and here are some more items on my wish list… round 2! Ps. You can click on any item below to shop!


I hope y’all have a great Monday! This morning I’ll be traveling to Durham for work since I don’t have to be in until 12. So thankful for an extra night in Charlotte!!





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