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Friday Faves: November 18, 2022

TGIF! It has been a while since I’ve written shared my list of weekly favorites, and now, it gets dark before 5 and it’s chilly. Welcome to New England in late fall. It is the week before Thanksgiving, and many stores are exploding with their Black Friday deals – which I know I’m taking advantage of this year. That said, I wanted to pop over on the blog to share some of my weekly favorites:

1. Mejuri Lotus Earrings: These have been on my wishlist from the brand for a while, and I finally snatched these up when I noticed that they were on the leaving soon portion of the website. They are 14k white gold and sapphire, and are very tiny. AKA, they are perfect for my second piercing. I have left these in for a few days, and I love that they go great with whatever other earring is in my first one. I love pairing it with hoops and or studs. I also love that these are different than the little silver ball studs or Diamonique ones that I’ve had for years. Sometimes, it’s good to shake things up, you know?

2. Catching Up On My Television Shows: This is such a general thing, so let me explain myself. When we first moved, I became further behind on my TV shows to the point where it became overwhelming to start them. Well, this week I decided that it was time to actually watch them, I officially finished How I Met Your Father, and will be moving on to either One Tree Hill or The Crown.

3. The Gal’s Guide: I always love sharing some new YouTubers that I watch, and I found a new one that I have been obsessing over. That is The Gal’s Guide, which discusses handbags, which y’all know I am obsessed with luxury bags. It’s ran by a girl named Alyssa, and she reviews and unboxes bags, from Louis Vuitton to Coach. Ever since I discovered her channel, I have been binge watching it.

4. LOLA Evil Eye Pendant: I am a huge fan of the brand LOLA (love one love all) and I think that I found my new favorite out of all my collection. That is the black evil eye one. I got it in the medium and it is the perfect neutral piece. And, of course, we can all use the extra protection.

The One Where We Took Two Sets of Family Photos

One of the things that I really wanted when we got engaged was a fall session. Fall is my favorite season and I love fall foliage more than anything. However, because of how my engagement photos happened, I didn’t end up getting to do so (you can read more about that here). Since we saved so much money using the photographer, we (okay fine I) decided to get some fall photos done as well.

I contacted Tara, a photographer who I was considering for our wedding, and she and I arranged a time. Unfortunately due to rain and being sick on my end, we ended up having to move things over.

I then was concerned that the first photo shoot wouldn’t happen (gee thanks anxiety), so I contacted my friend Leah to take some photos of us where I edited them using Lightroom. I then treated her to dinner as payment. I am going to be honest — I am still new at Lightroom. However, I do think I did a great job for my first try.

These are the ones my friend took/i edited:

And, a week later, we met Tara and took yet more photos. I am going to be honest. I am so happy that I went with her as a photographer. She was amazing with Lucy and worked with her to get the best shots you can for a Jack Russell Terrier with a short attention span. However, she was also just really great to talk to, and also got the photos back to us in the span of three days and they came out great. I definitely plan to use her again for any future photo shoots we may have. If you’re looking for an affordable and professional photographer in Connecticut, I highly recommend her.

To break things up a bit, we ended up doing one set with Lucy and another set without. When it came to clothing, it didn’t help that we had 70 degree weather so in one we were wearing sweaters and in the others, we were wearing nice short sleeved shirts. In both though, we wore jeans.

If you can, I honestly recommend taking extra photos with your significant other, engaged or married. I am so happy that I got these moments captured, and all of the fall photos that my heart desired. For me, it was worth every penny.

That said, as I demonstrated, if you or a friend have a nice camera, you could easily go that route.

All of these photos were taken by Photos by Taralynn.

Plaid Leggings: How to Style Them and Why They Are My New Staple This Fall

I have been on a plaid kick lately. I used to wear plaid tunics a lot, especially when I was in college, and it was something that I never could do just right.

So, when I found these plaid leggings from Loft (the leggings I personally am wearing are sold out, so here’s a similar pair), I decided to snag them up. And, unlike the tunics, it just worked.

I styled these with a pair of black flats and a black Aerie sweater. With these, I wanted to keep everything else simple just to let these shine.

Overall, I love this leggings for work, and I am so glad to have them in my fall and winter wardrobe.

Ugg Taisman Slipper

I have been an Uggs girly back in 2008 when the boots were all the rage. In fact, I have been wearing them even when they weren’t that cool because they are so comfy.

So, when one of my favorite influencers, Alexa LeConche, debuted these slippers on her page, it was an add to cart moment for me. I have seen these around quite a bit, but seeing her style them made me pull the trigger. Thankfully, I had a ton of Nordstrom notes, so I ended up purchasing them for $21.

Now, I get the hype and hope the chestnut ones come back in stock soon because I want them soo badly. They are so comfortable, it feels like I am wearing my house slippers on the go. And, yes I do wear Ugg Slippers. If you can get your hands on them, definitely do so.

The one thing that I did notice was that these do run on the small size. Case in point, I am a size 9 and a half, and I ended up getting the ten for a perfect fit. I am typically a ten in either Ugg or Bearpaw shoes, and these fit okay.

The Ways I Wore Them:

The ways to wear these shoes/slippers are endless. When I wore them to work, I paired them with a pair of Spanx skinny pants and a long Aerie sweater.

I also paired them with a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt to be comfy while running errands.

In addition, I can see this going so great with a pair of jeans and a cozy shirt.

The limit does not exist with these Uggs.

Tips to Include Your Pet In Your Engagement Photos

If you ask anyone, they will tell you that the true love of my life is my dog Lucy. Apologies to my fiancé. So, when it came time for us to do our engagement photos, the most important thing was including Lucy in the photos.

However, it can be tricky to get the most important member in the family to cooperate. Or in Lucy’s case, to look at the camera. So, here are some tips to have the process go semi-smoothly.

1. Bring a person with you. We had my mother in law with us to handle Lucy. She held her when we took photos by ourselves, or even helped get her attention when we needed Lucy to look at the camera. Which is a challenge.

2. Bring treats. Lots of treats. Having someone look at the camera, especially a dog who does their own thing, is a struggle. That said, treats help get their attention so that they can at least look interested in what’s going on.

3. Hope that they don’t find a squirrel. This one is self explanatory.

4. Take action shots. Whether it’s walking with them, playing with them, or more, the action shots are definitely something that helps a lot when it comes to capture more of the “real and raw” shots. Those are always fun to have and always look authentic to me.

5. Positive reinforcement. This one is easy, but basically this just means praising your dog more than usual.

6. Get a fun bandana for them — if they allow it that is. Last but not least, try to get them a fun bandana that says something cute like my humans are getting married or dog of honor. Of course, this last one is entirely dependent on whether or not your dog will actually wear or let you put something on, so for this, proceed with caution.

Friday Faves: October 28, 2022

TGIF everyone! I am in the home stretch of Blogtober, which is exciting and a huge relief. I am looking forward to getting back to a more regulated and relaxed schedule when it comes to blogging, because your girl is burnt out.

This week’s favorites are a bit all over the place, which are my favorite favorites to talk about! So, without further a due, let’s get right into them:

1. It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover: I am a huge fan of Colleen Hoover. Call me basic, but I just love her books. I am aware of the issues with her son, and I am not a fan of her as a person. But, I really enjoyed this book. It continues right where It Ends With Us ended. If you enjoyed It Ends With Us, then you would enjoy this one too.

2. Ello Covered Mug: I love this mug. I was in the market for a larger travel mug that would fit into my cup holder, and I found this one at Target. So far, it’s been great to drink coffee and tea in, and I love that it looks so sleek.

3. Iliza Shlesinger Netflix Specials: TikTok made me watch the latest one, Iliza Shlesinger: Hot Forever, and now I’m watching her backlog. And, I’m really enjoying them. They are hilarious and something to check out if you’re looking for something to pick you up after a rough day.

4. James Avery Rings: I got a few new rings in my rotation from James Avery. The first is an anniversary gift from my fiancé, which is the ring that says “love is patient, love is kind.” The second is the angel wing one that is about to be retired, which is sad, because I am obsessed with it. Both of these rings are engraved. The love is patient, love is kind one is engraved with my wedding date, and the other is engraved with my mom’s initials. I love these rings because James Avery rings have amazing quality.

5. James Avery Necklaces: Yes, I am sharing more James Avery pieces, because I am obsessed with these as well. The other gift that I got for my anniversary is a little heart necklace with my fiancé and I’s initials engraved on it. I also recently purchased the cross necklace as well, and I am obsessed with layering it with this piece. If you have any questions about James Avery, the only thing that I would like to add is that they are some of the best jewelry pieces that I’ve purchased to date.

6. Midnights by Taylor Swift: I am a Swiftie and I can not stop listening to this album. My favorites are Anti-Hero, Lavender Haze and Vigliante Shit.

Our Engagement Photos

I was going back and forth on whether or not I wanted engagement photos, simply because back in 2021, my fiancé had won a contest where we won a free photo shoot. Plus, it was a struggle even booking a photographer, because you had to book a session the minute you got engaged. Needless to say, I procrastinated a lot about wedding planning because I both moved and switched jobs within the span of three months, so these went to the bottom of the to-do list. Oops.

However, one day while scrolling on Facebook, a friend mentioned that her daughter was home for the summer and was taking some photos. I asked her if she could take our engagement photos, and she said yes.

We took them in Edgerton Park in New Haven, which was a great location. We did have Lucy, which was something really important to me, because she was such a huge part of our lives and relationship. Eric’s mom thankfully also came with us so that we can get some shots by ourselves, which is something that I recommend as well.

What We Wore:

I picked the brains of so many brides about what to wear and what to have him wear. None of them felt right to me, because I’m a very casual person, and we’re casual people. We ended up going with a simple sundress from Old Navy that I previously wore for a bridal shower, and he wore shorts and a blue shirt. It was more important for me to have photos that represented who we truly were, versus a more formal version of ourselves. I also wore a bangle bracelet, a family heirloom ring, small hoop earrings, along with a necklace that my fiancé purchased for me as a Valentine’s Day gift. Lucy even wore a bandana from Amazon that said my humans are getting married.

The Photos:

All of the photos here were taken by Sonia Agli Photography. She did an amazing job, honestly. I also wanted to note that inspiration for this post came from Moriah Robinson.

Tips and Tricks:

I will share a ton of tips about having your dog be a part of the engagement photo shoot in a later post. But, I have some more, should you be interested and/or be like me and have no idea what you’re doing:

1. Figure out what kind of wedding you want. I knew that when I was taking my engagement photos, I was not going to have a black tie wedding. Therefore, I wanted my engagement photos to reflect that I’m going to have an outside of the box wedding. Therefore, I wore a sundress and he wore shorts.

2. Be yourselves. I offered during our engagement photo shoot for my fiancé to have a Red Sox hat on in a few photos simply because he’s a Sox fan. I think that’s way more important than just the stiff casual photos where every hair is in place. Now, Eric did not end up doing that. But, I wanted the photos to reflect who we really were, versus who we’re supposed to be.

3. Bring the dog. The dog is a part of the family, so I think it’s important for them to be included in the photos, especially if you’re not planning to have the dog be a part of the ceremony.

4. Use them as gifts. Christmas is coming and these photos make great gifts for parents, and grandparents. Sorry if you’re one of our parents or grandparents reading this. . .

Are Mejuri Jewelry Pieces Worth It?

Mejuri jewelry is one of those brands that every influencer seems to wear and talk about at length. And, while the pieces do look stunning, one can’t help but wonder if they are actually worth the price.

That said, let’s get some things out of the way first. I am sharing my honest opinions on the brand. This means Mejuri is not sponsoring this post in any way, shape or form (but if Mejuri were to want to sponsor me, I wouldn’t oppose to it). Now that’s out of the way, let’s talk about the jewelry.

Mejuri is a brand that makes having finer quality jewelry accessible. They have Sterling silver, gold vermeil and solid gold pieces. In terms of pricing, it all comes down to the metal and the gemstones used. Sterling silver/gold vermeil pieces are usually priced between $38-$148, while gold and diamond prices vary. I have mostly silver pieces, with one gold vermeil and a few solid gold rings.

Personally, one of the things I truly like about the brand is all of the Sterling silver options. I am a silver girl. Many of the other trendier brands often only have gold pieces, but Mejuri has several Sterling silver options that allow me to have the same look, but in silver. Because things shouldn’t be that complicated, you know?

I have not had any problems with most of my Mejuri pieces. I say most, because I had a problem with one of the pairs of hoop earrings that didn’t close all the way. Mejuri sent me a replacement pair and then a full refund when those didn’t work. I will also say that during that entire process, they were responsive and helpful with the issue. This was a breath of fresh air. For me, having that level of customer service makes me even more comfortable with purchasing pieces from them because I know they back up their quality.

What I also love about Mejuri is their quality. Your girl takes care of her things but doesn’t baby them and Mejuri jewelry held up. I have several pairs of hoops, as well as their rings, and they all have done well with my daily activities. Other than my gold vermeil piece, none of my jewelry has tarnished as well.

That said, depending on where you’re at with jewelry, I think it’s priced fairly for something that is such high quality because even the Sterling silver pieces will last you a long time. And they are comfortable to wear.

As I mentioned earlier, my collection has grown over time, but before I left, I wanted to share my favorite pieces, which include: the croissant earrings and ring, the editor earrings, the dome ring, the sphere bracelet and the double curb chain bracelet. All of these pieces are in sterling silver. These are pieces I consistently reach for and recommend to all.

Overall, out of all of the influencer jewelry brands, Mejuri is hands down one of my favorites. Therefore, if you’re looking for a cost effective piece that will last you for a while, I highly recommend that you check them and splurge.

Scarecrows Return to the Downtown Milford CT Area

Scarecrows have returned to the Downtown Milford area during this year’s spooky season. I wrote a post about the scarecrows appearing in the downtown area last year, and now they are back once again for the second year in a row. Like last year’s event, this event was put on by the Downtown Milford Business Association.

The scarecrows, as stated in last year’s post, are created by local citizens and businesses. Citizens had the opportunity to purchase kits where they can personalize the scarecrow to whatever they wish. Businesses got to participate as well. Some of the participants include Stacy Blake Realty and Monarch Law — just to name a few!

And, there are some pretty unique ones — including a Stranger Things and Wizard of Oz themed ones, just to name a few. I highly recommend taking a walk through the downtown area if you have a chance, because they are worth it!

The scarecrows appeared on Oct. 15, and will be a part of the Milford community until Oct. 31. You can view the event on the Downtown Milford Business Association’s website for further information about this and other events.

I hope that this continues to be a Milford tradition because these are such a fun and unique way to get into the Halloween spirit!

Be sure to keep reading to check out some photos of the scarecrows themselves!

Photo Diary of My Trip to the Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze

Halloween week is here, and I am ready for all of the spooky celebrations and the treats. To kick off my Halloween week, my fiancé and I headed to the Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze: New York’s Original Halloween Spectacular on Long Island. And, it was spectacular.

There are two locations for this event: Long Island and Hudson Valley. Tickets must be purchased in advance, and are $44. The event is put on by the Historic Hudson Valley, which a nonprofit organization. Proceeds from the event, according to the website, benefit that organization. The event has been a New York speciality since 2005, and I can see why.

I will let my photos from the event do all of the talking, but I will say this: it was worth every penny of the ticket price to see this, as well as the drive. Thankfully, there are some tickets available for the next few weeks, so be sure to check it out if you’re interested.

So, be sure to scroll below for my photos from the event: