You Lookin' Kinda Cute, In That Polka Dot Bikini Girlllll - Miami '14

Hey everyone!

So this weekend I spent my time in Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach, Florida! I went with my mom, Madi's mom, my little sister-in-law Sondra, my best friend Kari, and my cousin Latoya. We left Bradenton around 4:30pm and stopped for dinner before Alligator Alley at this cute Italian restaurant, but unfortunately they were packed and had limited seating to begin with, so we ended up finding another more modern Italian restaurant that was delicious! When we arrived in Fort Lauderdale we stayed at a Marriot Vacation Club and it was awesome! We got a suite which could sleep up to eight and was the perfect size with a kitchen and bathroom and included a beautiful view of the marina where you could see all of the sailboats. The next morning we woke up and went to my bridal appointment at the White Dress Bridal, but the night before we had squeezed into the parking garage with a roof rack car carrier and couldn't get out! Thank goodness we left earlier than we needed to, because I had to block traffic so Madi's mom could turn the car around and go out the entrance of the parking garage! Needless to say it was an eventful morning. After trying on five dresses, I ended up going with the first one I tried on! So crazy how that can happen! I can't wait for everyone to see it for my big day, and I decided not to take any pictures while I was there to keep it an element of surprise.

After a relieving morning, we headed to a bridesmaid dress shop in Miami called Sasha's Bridal Boutique and ended up finding the bridesmaid dresses as well! Such a successful day and I got to check off so much from my to-do list! We spent the rest of the day in Miami Beach and went to the Kardashian's store DASH on Collins Ave. and the Lincoln Rd Mall. We decided to eat at a restaurant comparable to the Cheesecake Factory called the Nexxt Cafe, which was good but not quite as good as Cheescake Factory in my opinion ;). The whole weekend was so much fun and I am glad that I got to spend some extra time with just the girls because this semester of school is going to be crazy! I will be updating more with any exciting news or trips, although I don't foresee too much craziness happening because I am so busy with work, school, Nike, and volunteering that I don't have too much free time! I am however working on my wedding website and should be posting that link to Facebook as soon as we are finished!

Have a great long weekend,
-Olivia :)

Deep Creek Lake, MD 2013

Well huge news, Madi and I are engaged! I could not be happier! I wanted to do a post about our trip, and within a couple weeks I plan on starting a wedding website so you can all read the proposal story there when that's up and running :)

Our trip to Deep Creek, Maryland was amazing. We came to Deep Creek for New Years the first year we were dating, and we had such good memories of playing in the snow, snow tubing, riding the mountain coaster, and snowmobiling.  

This trip was a lot different than the last! For starters, Madi's best friend Jeremy and cousin Mitch came along with us, and their good family friends/relatives came to meet us as well! The cottage we rented the first time was at the bottom of the mountain on the lake, but this time we were almost at the very top of the mountain overlooking all of the scenery. 

(I wish I had more pictures from our first trip but sadly I only have one :( ). The crew got to Deep Creek a few days before I did (my family came from Ohio so I wanted to spend some time with them) and I flew in to Pittsburgh (another favorite place of ours). 

When I arrived there wasn't a lot of snow and the temperature was in the forties, but the next day, December 30th,  it snowed! I'll leave the details of that magical day for the wedding website, but that is when we got engaged :) 

That afternoon we went on the mountain coaster and went bowling. Then his family surprised us with a congratulations cake (my favorite thing of course ;) ). 

The rest of the trip was spent playing in the snow a little, going on the mountain coaster, playing air hockey, pool, and going to Swallow Falls Park, where I almost broke my butt twice from slipping on ice and lacking good hiking boots.  
If you have never been to Deep Creek: go. It is one of the most beautiful places in the winter and has such amazing views. I will always remember and cherish this trip and I can't wait to start wedding planning :)

Thanks for reading,

Olivia 

DIY Fall Baking

Hello bloggers,

Sorry it's been awhile I have been crazy busy with school! I wanted to share some fall treats that I baked in October and November for the holidays! 

Owl Cupcakes - Halloween

Ingredients:

- Frosted Cupcakes

- Oreos

- Reece's Pieces

First you take the Oreos and split them in half so the cream is all on one side. You take brown Reece's Pieces and put them onto the Oreos. Next you take the Oreos and put them on the top of the cupcake and squish the frosting towards the center. Take a orange Reece's Pieces and use that as the nose. Wallah! You have an adorable owl cupcake treat! These make for a great Halloween snack!

Mummy Cookies

Ingredients:

- Sugar Cookie Dough

- Gingerbread Cookie Cutter

- White Frosting

- Black Frosting or Edible Eyeballs

These are super simple. You take sugar cookie dough and cut out the gingerbread men before baking. After they come out you add the white frosting to look like the mummy garb. Next add two dots of frosting for the eyes, or you can buy edible eyeballs that look adorable!

Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

1 Can of Pumpkin

1 Can Evaporated Milk

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ginger 

Whipped Cream

Pie Crust

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

First mix all ingredients into a bowl except whipped cream and the pie crust and pour into the ready to bake pie crust. Bake the pie for 50 minutes. Cool to serve.

                       

Of course Madi took a bite of the pie before I could get a picture hah :)

Thanks for reading,

-Olivia :)