have bags, will travel

leggings: Niki leggings found via WikiBuy

packing cubes: TravelWise packing cube system found via WikiBuy

All Photos | Walnut Street Photography

Tyler & I are thick in the middle of moving to our new house & while I am over the moon to celebrate every possible "holiday" (national cupcake day is a holiday, right?) in our first home, I am also looking forward to my first Thanksgiving shared with my in-laws in Oregon. 

For years, my Oregonian husband only took me to his home state during the Summer, when it was drop-dead gorgeous, with hopes that I would want to move there one day. And he was right, Oregon is a perfect place to be in the Summer - sunny vineyards, crisp coastal whale sightings, rolling hills, & hip Portland patios.

Last year, after 7 years together, Tyler was finally brave enough to invite me to Oregon for Christmas, & I absolutely loved it! Yes, it was rainy/cloudy the entire time, but the temperatures were mild & the landscape so lush! The rain makes everything a vivid green, I don't know why I imagine it before, I just assumed everything just died in the Winter like I grew up with in the South.

I am so thankful for all of the travel opportunities I have had, each one teaching me more about the world outside of my own selfish bubble. And it turns out, everywhere I have visited has had a beauty all its own - don't even get me started on my new found respect of the desert since moving West...

I also love that I have my travel routine down to an art, leaving behind the over-packing days of my youth, discovering that it isn't what I take with me, rather about what I discover along the way. My favorite travel outfit is my definition of comfort + style & always includes a tunic top & stretchy leggings. Coloradans style is much more legging friendly & I love using WikiBuy to find affordable leggings, especially fun printed ones!

When planning what I pack, I always use a carry-on size bag - bet I could do a month out of a carry on at this point! To maximize my carry-on space, I can't recommend my travel cubes any more. Whether you use them to pack by day, style of clothes (tops, pants, etc.), dirty vs. clean items, or outfit (my favorite), I always find more space in my bag when using them! My husband recently spotted my packing cubes & was so jealous, that I picked him up his own set using WikiBuy. Can you believe that all the cubes I'm holding in my hand, fit in that carry-on!? You betcha!

Haven't heard of WikiBuy? Part of the reason why I love to shop is the thrill of the hunt, finding the perfect piece for the perfect price, & WikiBuy offers me all the tools I need to feel like a shopping ninja! The WikiBuy webs offers a Chrome extension that finds lower prices from other sellers while I shop on Amazon & will also check to see where else the product is being sold (+ the price). I can also directly search the site for products, which will shows all the places the item is being sold & what the cost would be on that site. I am also super impressed with the extension that tests coupon codes automatically at checkout & will finds online discounts from other retailers, and the graph of the price of the item over time (just like I use for my airline tickets). Have you used these tools yet? Try it out & let me know what you think!

Road Trip: Dog Friendly in Austin

Happy Wednesday! Today I am continuing with the round-up of road trip tips, focusing on dog friendly events/locations we loved in Austin, Texas. Along the way we found cities that were all along the dog-friendly spectrum. Austin & San Diego were SUPER dog friendly, while Phoenix almost killed them with them, but mostly because of the 120 ˚F temps (they had to stay in the AC 100% of our time there!). Regardless of where we were, we always checked for dog friendly hotels & resturants on BringFido.com. It is a simple site that never let us down & they just came out with an app!

If you are just joining the road trip series, read about our initial itinerary, how to set road trip expectations & my top 5 tips for exploring National Parks.

Austin, TX is such a great place to visit (I've now been 3 times - to visit a friend, for my bachelorette & on our road trip) - not only is it a very dog friendly town, but they have the best murals (I used this guide to find some new favorites) & it has an overall retro mid-century vibe (Tyler loved all of the kitschy neon signs). 

Topping our favorite dog friendly spots in Austin are these 6 restaurants & parks. If you have your own dog friendly favorites in Austin, let me know in the comments - I'm sure we will be back with the pugs soon!

1. Banger's - this sausage house & beer garden has a dog park in the restaurant area... how much more dog friendly can you get than that!? When traveling with dogs it can be such a juggling game as one person always has to wait with the dogs outside while the other goes in to order, & then you switch to do it all over again. But at Banger's, the humans get to sit at long farm tables, while the doggies play with their friends in the dog pen. Doug made lots of friends (as seen above) & Scout drank A L L the water, while we stuffed our faces with sausages + crisp beers. Win. Freaking. Win.  

2. Redbud Isle - Austin has some great public parks, but Redbud Isle is my favorite for the doggies. It is an off leash dog park that is actually an island in the middle of the Colorado River. Dogs are allowed to swim in the river, & even our non-swimming pugs enjoyed taking a dip in the calm, cool water right off the walking paths - some are even paved with steps so that the humans enjoy getting in too (as seen above). Our dogs aren't super accustomed to being off leash, but this is a calm spot & everyone's dogs are so friendly that our two little piggies did just great!

3. Yellow Jacket Social Club - hipsters love dogs, & this hip spot features great sandwiches, yummy brunch & tasty drinks, all in a dog friendly spot on the East side of town. It is equally great for people & dog watching! You have to get creative with the parking situation in this part of town, but the ambiance is worth it! This neighborhood is also a hot spot for mural hunting!! Happy searching :)

4. South Congress Bat Bridge - if you want an event to take your dog to, the nightly bat viewing is low key & dog friendly. About an hour before sunset, bat enthusiasts gather below the South Congress bridge to watch the bats fly out (they emerge right when the sky gets dark). You can bring your kids, dogs, picnic blankets, food & I even saw a red solo cup or two filled with adult beverages! Check out this link to see what time the bats will fly out before you go.  

And if you are in the area during the day, South Congress is a freaking HOT BED for murals. We just about wore the brakes down in our car as I forced Tyler to break suddenly at every corner with my mural induced squealing!! I really wanted to get a shot of this lion one (we are both Leos, how precious would that be), but I got cut off from my mural photography before I spotted it! Next time lions, next time!

5. Jester King Brewery - Located a little out of town, but definitely worth the drive! We do much of our new town exploring by hitting up the local breweries & this spot was an oasis in the outskirts of the Texas hill country that we spent a large chunk of an afternoon enjoying. The beers are very creative (lots of sour beers if you are into that sort of thing), but the highlight for me was the farm table seating, & amazing pizzas available from Stanley's Farmhouse, also located on the property. 

6. Oyster Landing - after hitting up Barton Springs early one morning (dogs are not allowed so we went super early so that it was still cool enough to leave them in the car + it is free before 8 am!), we stopped at the Oyster Landing strip of restaurants/shops to enjoy coffee on the amazing patio of Mozart's. Located close to Redbud Isle & also right on the Colorado River, this dog friendly coffee shop has ample patio space, serving up a front row seat for turtle & duck watching. 

Another of my favorite Austin spots, for tex-mex Hula Hut, is also located at Oyster Landing, but I couldn't find it on my favorite app for researching dog friendly spots (BringFido), so if you want to bring your pup, call ahead!

Just down the road from Oyster Landing is Maudie's (tex-mex) & their patio is dog friendly & I highly recommend the migas! 

Thank you Austin for your bevy of murals & dog friendly spots! 

What are your tips for traveling with dogs? 

Anyone else want to know why people can bring their unruly kids everywhere they go, but my well mannered pugs have been shooed from many a patio?? 

Road Trip: National Park Tips

We have wrapped up our 5 week road trip, & are now living in Denver, CO, but I will be sharing some of the lessons we learned along the way over the next week or so. If you have any road trip related questions or tips from your own experiences, please leave them in the comments!

A rough outline of our route is found here & the first post in the road trip series focused on setting appropriate expectations before you set out on your trip.

Today, we are talking about how to get the most our of visiting National Parks along the way. Tyler & I set out to check out as many National Parks as we could while on our trip, spurred on by the fact that many were on our bucket lists & this is the 100th anniversary of the US National Parks System.

As it is the 100th anniversary, many other people (literally thousands) have also made it a point to visit their favorite National Parks this year, so (as we learned the hard way), it is best to think ahead & be prepared!

added text to image found here.

1. National Parks Passport. To celebrate the 100th anniversary, National Parks are offering official cancellation stamps at the parks, & you can collect the stamps in a collector's passport. I am actually from a National Park (Hot Springs National Park), so at the beginning of the trip, we popped into the park headquarters in my home town & picked up an official passport. The passport is only $10 & we both felt that it was a great price for what would turn into our trip memento & all of the extra information that was packed inside. Having the passport made visiting as many parks as we could a fun road trip challenge. You can buy the passport at any National Park store or online here, & check out all the cancellation locations here.

2. National Parks App. To make finding National Parks around you even easier, there is also a free app that is a companion to the National Parks Passport (download it from iTunes or the Google app store). For being a free app, it is surprisingly useful. It has features that let you check off the parks that you have visited, find out information about each park (including any fees) & has a pretty snazzy GPS tool that shows you all of the parks in a 50, 100 or 250 mi radius.

3. America the Beautiful Pass. In my mind I figured that visiting National Parks was a free activity (visiting my hometown is free, so I guess that is where I got the connection). Turns out, that is wrong. It costs money to visit parks, & if you want to visit several of them, it can actually get pretty expensive... QUICK! Entrance to Grand Canyon was $30, Grand Tetons + Yellowstone was $50, Saguaro (one of my favorites) was $20... & we are already at $100 and you've only explored 3 parks. But there is another way! The parks service actually has an all access pass called the "America the Beautiful" Pass, & it is only $80 for a YEAR of park access. Oh, & it gets better! The $80 pass not only provides a YEAR of park access, but you can put two people's names on it, & each person on the pass is allowed to have up to 4 guests with them. Basically, this thing is a STEAL & if you are going to go to multiple parks, with multiple people, it is a must have. See all the crazy money saving details at the park pass page here.

4. Camping reservations. Another misconception that Tyler & I had about visiting National Parks was that we would simply show up & snag a camping spot. Boy were we WRONG, WRONG, SUPER WRONG. Camping reservations are now almost 100% online, & the spots are available 1 year before today's date, meaning that most are gone one year out. They go FAST people! As I said above, it is the 100th anniversary, & this is no secret, people are out at the parks in record numbers. However, Tyler & I did not learn of this crazy, way up front reservation situation & we still got to camp in all the parks we wanted, so there is hope.

The two websites we used for finding camping in the National Parks were recreation.gov and reserveamerica.com. Both of these only allow you to reserve in advance (AKA not day of), but they have pretty helpful search tools to get you just want you need. It was also super easy to check in at the ranger station with our online reservations, as these are sites that are fully integrated in with the National Parks services.

In addition, most National Parks are next to National Forests (not exactly the same thing, kind of along the lines of the square vs. rectangle argument...). While the National Parks have aggressive camping reservation situations, National Forests are slightly easier to get a reservation last minute. For example, camping in the Grand Canyon is pretty hard to snag (unless you are a one of those year in advance planners), but the Kaibab National Forest is basically attached to the Grand Canyon Park, & offers 7 campsites of its own (that seem to be lesser known, or at least don't go as fast!). If the Park you want to visit is completely out of campsites, look for nearby National Forests or State Parks.

If all else fails, ask the locals where they camp. We scored a $5 campsite in Idado because we asked a bartender where he stayed. We were the only ones in the campsite (besides the coyotes) & enjoyed the most gorgeous sunset of the trip, from our campsite right on the Snake River (it was this campsite for those interested - close to Yellowstone). The locals might have more information about the state & county campsites that can be harder to track down online.

5. Visitor Center. Finally, unless you are a veteran visitor at a given park it can be overwhelming to know what to do in the park. As I explained in the setting expectations post, were decided that we would be on a "sightseeing" type of trip. Given that we had two dogs & not enough room in our car to pack all of the equipment that would have been necessary for long term camping or backcountry explorations, we were looking for day trips that let us see most of the action from our car.  The National Park Visitor Centers are not only where you will have to go if you are looking for passport stamps, but they are also an excellent source of information. Maybe, that previous sentence was a no duh kind of statement, but I think many people skip the Visitor Center thinking they are tourist traps or a waste of time. We found that each park had its own newspaper that you could pick up at the Visitor Center, with current information about events/conditions/maps, but also suggested things to do based on whether you were looking to spend 1-3 hours, half a day, a full day, or more. We also checked in with the rangers about the best driving loops through the park, & marked on our maps where dogs were & were not allowed to roam. I think we saved so much time that could have been wasted by aimless wandering, just by spending a few minutes in the Visitor Center.

Ok, I hope that helps answer any questions you might have about visiting the National Parks! If there are any additional question you can think of, please let me know in the comments. Coming up soon, I will be posting my favorite parks in each state, & giving more details about what we did & what are landmarks that cannot be missed!

Off to explore some more of Denver now!

Road Trip: Setting Expectations

And we made it! At the beginning of June, Tyler & I set out on a 5 week road trip from Nashville, TN to Denver, CO & while it definitely felt like a marriage trial of 40 days & 40 nights at times, the trip was truly an experience that we will never forget, & I am going to dedicate the next few blog posts to our road trip experiences & tips we learned along the way. We did our road trip on a pretty tight budget, with 2 pugs, in a Prius & while everyone's trip is different (as it should be!), I hope that sharing our experiences will be helpful for any of you planning future trips. 

If you have any of your own road trip related questions or tips, please leave them in the comments & I will try to incorporate them into future posts. I posted a rough outline of our road trip itinerary here & will be doing a post on the final route we took soon. If you missed out on our road trip Snaps (username: jesshereandnow) or Instagrams you can catch up on the posts here: #hereandnowtravels.

Today's post is about setting appropriate road trip expectations. Before we set out on our cross-country move, both of us independently made lists of things we wanted to see/do, & then set about combining our lists so that that we would get a good mix of each person's top must do items! Below are 5 topics that should definitely be included in the discussion with your group before setting out. 

Having similar expectations means that no one gets their dreams crushed when it isn't possible to do everything or gets exhausted by a never ending roadside attraction photoshoot that they didn't sign up for.

1. What to eat. Tyler & I wanted to enjoy the regional flavors of each state/area we visited, but because we were traveling with our 2 pugs, we knew that dining out at 5 star restaurants every night would not be logistically or financially feasible. Instead we made a plan to try out Mexican food & burger joints, focusing on locally owned businesses that had great patios (& a decent beer list for Ty). Our plan to try out specific foods made it a fun challenge, & narrowed down the options when we were overwhelmed with possibilities in each new city.

2. Where to stay. Thankfully, there are a growing number of options when it comes to your lodging, including hotels, AirBnB, camping, VRBO, etc. In order to make our trip as budget friendly as possibly, we mostly planned our trip around visiting family & friends. In the cities where we did not have a free place to stay, we had to decide if that was going to be a splurge or save city. Our splurge cities were Austin, TX (stayed in a failed AirBnb experience that ended up being free), Marfa, TX (El Cosmico),  & Palm Springs, CA (The Saguaro). When looking to save on lodging, we first tried to camp (going to dedicate another post to that endeavor), or booked a dog friendly hotel that was cheap, but close to the action (Days Inn, Motel 6 & La Quinta were the most consistently dog friendly & not terrible). When it comes to where to stay, make sure that your group agrees on whether you are going to prioritize posh digs, or saving money to spend on things like eating out/shopping/seeing the sights. 

3. How much to see. The great thing about a road trip is that you get to decide how much you are going to explore & the amount of time you want to spend in each spot. Are you doing a road trip so that you can take a deep dive into a few special spots, or looking more for road side sightseeing? On our driving days, we never planned more than 6 hours of travel so that we could stop to eat, check out a few road side attractions, & walk the dogs a couple of times without having to drive sun-up to sun-down. For us, this felt like a great balance of pace + leisure. 

4. On the road jobs. After 5 weeks on the road, we had our in car situation figured out to a fine detail, but it wasn't like that from the start. Before getting into our groove, we first tested out who was going to do each of the on-the-road-jobs. I'm talking about the driver, navigator, entertainment manager & even packer/unpacker. You learn a LOT about each other while in the close quarters of a vehicle for any extended period of time, & it is necessary to let each person do what they feel most comfortable doing, while making sure that everyone is contributing to the cause of getting to where you are going & having a fun time doing it. My husband is great at finding podcasts & new songs to listen to (+ having the patience to hook everything up in the sound system), while I discovered that I was skilled at efficiently packing the car. We found that it was better to have a set person for each job, that way we always knew who was doing what.

5. Be flexible! Most of all, set out with the expectation that you are going to be flexible. Understand that plans change, & road side signs should be respected. After all, a road trip is all about enjoying the journey & being open to adjustments!

That is all for now! The next road trip post will be about our experiences with the National Parks system. The National Parks are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year & we had so much fun checking off some must see places from our list! If you have any National Parks/camping related questions, please leave them in the comments!

Here&Now Road Trip

Tyler & I are officially moved out of Nashville! We managed to fit most of our Earthy belongings into a 300 cubic feet moving container (after donating/selling/passing off many, many, many items), & everything else we own is with us in our car. We are technically in the process of moving to Denver, but for the next 5-ish weeks we will be taking a road trip through the western United States. Just us, the two pugs, & our Prius. We have a rough plan of where we will be stopping along the way, & I am excited to see many of these places for the first time, + re-visit some spots that I definitely didn't appreciate enough the first time I saw them (the last trip out West was when I was 8). As we will be on the road with spotty connections for the next month, this spot on the internet is going to be pretty quiet, but make sure you are following along on Instagram & Snapchat (jesshereandnow) for all the up to the second action!

Below are 10 of the cities we will be visiting this Summer. We already have lodging planned out (a mix of camping, staying with friends/family, & splurging for hotels), but if you have any restaurant, adventure, or must-do suggestions in the cities below, please let us know in the comments!

1. Hot Springs, AR :: This is my hometown & I am pumped to kick off our road trip with some time on the lake with family. Also on the itinerary - a day trip to Fayetteville (in Northwest Arkansas), eating BBQ (McClard's is one of our favorite local joints) & seeing my parents, sisters, aunt, nieces, & grandparents. 

2. Houston, TX :: My best friend is giving birth to her first child, & we will be rushing down from Arkansas to Houston to meet the little guy! We will be staying down by Galveston (on Tiki Island), & driving into the city for a couple of days. While we plan to spend most of our time visiting with the new parents, I am hoping to squeeze in some Torchy's Tacos & seafood too!

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3. Austin, TX :: I haven't been to Austin since my bachelorette party 2 years ago, & am certainly looking forward to exploring more of this funky city with Tyler! We will be staying at an AirBnB on South Congress & am planning on checking out the bat bridge at sunset, Barton Springs, Rainey Street for food & drinks, & taking the pugs to the dog park on the riverfront.

4. Marfa, TX :: The first new spot we are traveling to is Marfa. I mostly planned our itinerary based around the super chill girls trip that Bri from DesignLoveFest took last Winter (this post). We do have our own adorable trailer at El Cosmico reserved, & a picture in front of Prada Marfa is totes happening (thanks Instagram husband!)

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5. Phoenix, AZ :: From Marfa we will be continuing across West Texas, hoping to camp somewhere around El Paso (Las Cruces maybe) before heading on to Phoenix. Tyler has family in Phoenix that I've never met, & we are thinking a day trip to Sedona/Flagstaff might be in order too! After leaving Phoenix, we are driving up to Las Vegas & planning to camp around Lake Havasu. 

6. Joshua Tree :: From the famous cactus plants to the pristine star gazing, Joshua Tree has long been on my bucket list, & I am excited that we have 2 nights of camping scheduled here. I am a little worried about the water situation with the pugs in the desert, but day trips to Indio Valley & Salvation Mountain are on the agenda, & I plan to do lots of free spirited running through the desert sands. After camping for two days in the desert, we are treating ourselves to a night at the Saguaro in Palm Springs. I was pleasantly surprised by how dog friendly the Saguaro is & am dying to get myself to that colorful pool! 

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7. Los Angelos, CA :: While my family has vacationed in Disneyworld more times than I can count (seriously, we went every year growing up), but I have never been to Disneyland, & my West coast husband can't wait to treat me to how the other half of the US lives. We are driving from Palm Springs to LA just to spend the day at Disneyland, & are hoping that the Disneyland kennels are as nice as they sound for the pugs to enjoy!

8. San Francisco :: From L.A. we are driving straight up the California coast along Highway 101/1, planning to stop somewhere around San Luis Obispo to camp, before ending up in San Francisco for a few days. Two of our friends from grad school got married out in San Francisco a few years back, & now they just had their first child who we have yet to meet! We are going to hang with them in San Francisco (getting a burrito in the Mission is high on my list), before continuing on up the California coast to the Redwood National Forest where we will be camping on the beach & totally driving Petey the Prius through some giant trees.

9. Portland, OR :: Tyler's parents live south of Portland, with many of his friends currently residing in the city. We should be here around 4th of July weekend, and plan to grill out everyday, + squeeze in a camping/fishing trip too!

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10. Yellowstone :: After Portland, we haven't planned the rest of the trip as we can't decide if we will want to continue on, or be ready to just get to Denver after 5 weeks of being in the car with 2 humans, 2 dogs & lots of stuff! However, I would really really really like to at least stop at Yellowstone on the way between Portland & Denver. Besides seeing the natural wonders that the park has to offer, I am also really excited about all of the wildlife!

So that is our Summer travels plans! I am so thankful for Tyler & his willingness to engage my wild & crazy ideas! I can't wait to experience these things with him & truly unwind as we transition from our life in Nashville to our life in Denver.

Any road trip veterans with tips for us? Any thing we have to know about traveling with dogs!? We are totally winging this, & while that is slightly exhilarating, the over-planner in me is starting to have some doubts!

long weekend ready

Like any proper Southern Belle, I received a matching set of Vera Bradley luggage & accessories upon High School graduation. The hot pink motif was my signature look & it covered all of my luggage (weekend bag, flat iron cover, make-up box, school books tote, & hang-up bag), & went with me from my dorm room, to class, to holiday trips. I still have every piece, hoping to one day pass it on to my daughter. Even after almost 10 years post High School graduation, I am impressed with the pristine condition in which it has remained.

As I enter this new chapter of my life, I am excited to have a new set of Vera luggage coming with me. I am obsessed with this black & white print (love the pop of neon yellow!), & as always Vera blows me away with her attention to details. I can't be the only one who's love language is pockets! With inside & outside pockets for EVERYTHING, each piece that this brand puts out clearly has had extreme thought & consideration. 

{ What I Wore from work to travel: J.Crew Panama Hat // J.Crew Factory chambray shirt & black pants // Vera Bradley travel bag and make-up case ℅ }

all photos | Kate Davis Photo 

My travel bag is ready to go for a long weekend trip to see my bestie in Texas this weekend, & I might be even more excited about my high level of organization than the outfits I have planned.

I also adore the new makeup case - with special pockets for brushes, make-up & larger skin care products. Check out my 3 must have travel products below:

Travel essentials: Murad spot corrector // Bigelow & Co rose salve // Living Proof "perfect hair day"

While the quilted cotton bags from Vera will always be a classic in my book, I am also enamored with their new line of leather goods. Shop my favorites here: leopard wallet, drawstring backpack, accordion clutch, shoulder satchel.   

What are you long weekend plans? Packing bags for a trip? Or staying close to home?

This post is sponsored by Vera Bradley, through a partnership with Adorn Media Group, but all thoughts & reviews are my own.

Wedding Wednesday: Honeymoon Packing + a Giveaway

Wedding Wednesday is back, this time with tips on keeping sane while packing for the honeymoon.

Tyler & I were very blessed to have a 2 week honeymoon. 1 week spent in Antigua, a night in NYC, & then another week in Oregon. Because my idea of a good time is lugging around non-rolling bags through the cobblestone streets of SoHo, I opted to take ALL THE THINGS for the 2 weeks with me… packing light was the idea, but I definitely had both successes & failures in that front...

Successes:

- Only 4 pairs of shoes for 2 weeks! And I loved all of my choices. Metallic sandals for the pool, wedges for the beach, nude heels for nice dinners, & peep toe booties for NYC/Oregon.

- Do pack things that make you feel bridal… milk that shiz while you still can! A white bathing suit, things that say WIFE, white dresses, & all the frilly things your girlfriends gifted you on the bachelorette weekend!

- Remember the little things. You just got a gel mani for the big day, keep it looking fresh with some top coat. If you are like me, embracing the bridal look with lots of white is just an accident waiting to happen, be sure to pack mini stain remover/delicate laundry soap too!

- Being very conscientious about repurposing things. A scarf can also be a belt. A beach bag transforms to a carry one. You can wear your beach towel as a wrap. And with the right shoes/accessories, only pack dresses that can transition easily from day to night.

- Sticking to a color palette. By packing lots of baby blue, white, and gray with pops of red I was able to really maximize my mixing and matching potential.

Failures:

- Too many dresses. In my defense, I really didn't know what to expect in terms of dress code at our resort, so I packed everything from super casual sundresses to more formal maxi gowns for evenings. I really could have gotten away with only packing three dresses… this, this & this.

- Too many accessories. I packed SO many options, and wore barely anything. When you have a new blingy diamond ring on your finger from your HUSBAND, not much else matters.

- Packing 2 bags. I should have gotten my act together and whittled it down to only fit in 1 checked bag + carry on. Luckily I had my big strong hubby to tote those bags around, & dang did he look good doing it!

- Not staring early. At the last minute I realized that I really, actually, probably needed to pack. So the whole process was much less intentional than I original intended. And I definitely suffered from the 12th hour, cram as much as you can into the bag-itis!

Check out all my Honeymoon Style posts (so far) on the blog here. 

And now, what I packed & actually wore (not listing all the other non-essential dresses/accessories):

1 blue sundress // 2 Panama hat // 3 scarf, I wear it on my head to blog forehead burn // 4 Jack Rogers sandals, the platinum color goes with everything! // 5 Everlane tanks (white & gray) // 6 white swim suit // 7 romper // 8 black wedges // 9 tortoise sunglasses // 10 Fujifilm Instax mini 8 polaroid camera // 11 maxi skirt // 12 Michael Kors cross body bag, hands down my most complimented item the whole time, and such an easy way to keep everything organized while traveling (it even has a padded iPad mini/Kindle pocket) // 13 Levi's denim shorts // 14 floppy hat (I stuffed this one with swimsuits and put it in my checked bag, it arrived just fine!) // 15 white dress // 16 beach tote (works great as a carry-on bag too!) // 17 MiH watermelon top // 18 white crop top // 19 beach towel, also works as a post beach wrap! // 20 snorkel (because who wants to pay to borrow a used one… ew!) // 21 nude heels

Also threw in a leather jacket & denim jacket for the cool nights in NYC and Oregon.

Not numbered/listed:

Ily Couture "wifey tee"// white bow top (as seen in this Instagram) // Palazzo pants (worn here) // Maxi wrap dress (perfect for traveling!!) // Chevron dress 

If you are looking for how I actually put everything into my bags, my friend recently posted her packing tips & it was exactly what I wanted to say, but better… check it out here.

If you are planning Summer travels, you won't want to miss today's giveaway for a $100 Target gift card… I was just there this week & their Summer style section is amaze!

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Here&Now Travels: Austin, TX

This past weekend I was in Austin, Texas tearing it up with 7 of my very best friends for my Bachelorette Party. I have to say that I think we did Austin up pretty right, so if you are looking to spend a weekend there, jot down some notes (just for the record, I take zero credit, my amazing ladies planned everything for me!)

We all got in Friday afternoon & headed straight to the Hula Hut. Out on Lake Austin, this place is gorgeous & the margaritas are banging. The party house we had for the weekend was near-by in an adorable 60's style neighborhood. My MOH found it on Turnkey & we all ran around oohing & ahhhhing. After sprucing up from a day of travel, we headed out for a chill night on Rainey Street. This part of town is so cute, lined with unique bars. We started the night in a bar made of shipping containers (aptly named Container Bar, duh), & then hopped from place to place on our own little pub crawl. Highlights were dancing to Mo-town music at The Blackheart (thanks DJ Gross Y'all) & dinner at Banger's (amazing sausages, over 100 beers on tap & the place had its own dog park!!)

drinking the "Jessica" at Icehauer // bringing sexy back // that is called the "skinny arm" my friends

Saturday started with a Tex-Mex hangover cure at Maudie's (um, YUM!) & continued with shopping along South Congress (so many shops!) & a tour of the city's murals (OB.SESSED). I could have stayed all day in Uncommon Objects (couldn't take pictures inside, dagnabit!), but couldn't complain that we moved on to refresh with margaritas and music at the Guero's Taco Bar outdoor concert area. I might have also drank lemonade while dressed as a lemon (@ Austin City Lemons) & then topped it off with Amy's Ice Cream (again, YUM!).

We tracked down the Austin postcard mural & the Bread + Butter mural & then moseyed back home for some girl time. My ladies threw me a sweet (& sassy!) lingerie shower & tossed in a total surprise too. They had video-taped Tyler answering questions about me & I had to try to answer them, Newlywed Game style! I learned some things (AKA he hates this vest) & laughed a lot! 

fancy dinner // ma ladies at Bourbon Girls // hanging out with a fun Bachelor party at Maggie Mae's

We went all out for dinner, sushi at Uchiko. Let me just say, go straight for the 10 course chef's tasting menu… you will spend $80 a person either way (YOLO right?). After such a classy dinner, the only option was going down to East 6th Street to get our dirty on with the masses. Let's just say there was a time when I was dancing on a bar with a champagne bottle… & it was awesome! Oh & at the end of the night we couldn't find a cab, so we rode home in an old school (80s?) white stretch limo… yup, that happened!

a snap from my time with Shanna // my name on the sign at Yellow Jacket

Sunday morning I sprung out of bed, excited to meet my long time blogger bud, Shanna. We got to finally hug each other's necks, chat face to face & do what bloggers do best - take pictures. Shanna was so sweet to navigate me out to East Austin (hipster-ville) to meet up with my gals for brunch at Yellow Jacket Social Club. This place is definitely a diamond in the rough - great ambience & I would drive back to Austin this second to have "The Mister" breakfast panini again. None of us wanted to say good-bye to Austin quite yet, so we headed to Kung Fu for one last round (or 3) of mimosas & sucked at giant Jenga (it was HARD y'all!). 

do you Kung Fu? // mimosas + Instax pictures // ending the weekend with Pickle shots!

And then my honey picked me up from the airport with red roses (awww, I got a good one!) Whew, so that was my weekend. And now my old lady body is paying for it, but I don't regret a thing! Only 18 days till we say I DO!!!