our weekend away to Columbus

 this past Saturday night was our bridal shower and, while it couldn't have gone any better, I'm glad we are one step closer to life being back to normal. I broke into tears twice the day of our shower, absolutely terrified to walk into a crowd of people that were solely around to see myself and Andrew and I was scared to death. I was given a very firm hug by Andrew as he reminded me that everyone was coming only because they loved us. That was it. No other reason.. but it was still a lot to take in. I thought this whole "everyone's eyes on the bride" thing was really going to be right up my alley but it turned out that the pressure of wanting to make sure 40 people in my mom's house was comfy, fed, and feeling attended to was a lot to take. But, like most scary shit in my life, it wasn't a big deal once it got started. We walked in and it was almost instantaneously fine. I've never experienced anything like it and I would do it again every weekend. I made several laps around the house to talk to everyone I could, kept a full drink in my hand for the entire party, and we all ended the night by jumping. in. the. pool. (yes it's November and yes it was midnight) You can tell when my mom is having a good time at her parties because she'll be the one talking everyone into jumping in the pool in their clothes. but it was the best time we could have hoped for.  In the morning, we woke up early and cleaned their kitchen for 2 hours as a quick "thank you for hosting!" and then we took off on our trip up north! 

We've been saying for weeks that we wanted to take one last short and quick getaway before we were officially married and Columbus seemed like the perfect fit. it's only about an hour and a half north and, while it's been a while since I've been in the area, it was so nice to be back. So many good restaurants (we basically just ate our way through the streets. Thank god for Spanx.) great bars, and amazing shops. I picked up a bottle of Davines Oi Oil that I have smothered all over every inch of my body, a new ring to remember the trip, and most importantly ANDREW'S TUX!! It was a rainy, stormy, dreary and amazing couple of days and while trying to stay dry, we ventured into a Jos A. Bank and 10 minutes later we walked out with Andrew's wedding ensemble! I also picked up a new zip up hoodie but that failed in comparison. Our hotel suit was equipped with a full working kitchen and so our nights were spent in our big squishy hotel bed eating our carry out boxes from all of our restaurant adventures. Could life be any more glorious? We woke up bright and early this morning and drove back through the rainstorms and back to reality. 

thank you to everyone that came out to our shower. I can't wait to celebrate the wedding with guys! and an even bigger thank you to my future husband, who makes the simplest adventures an hour north of our house feel like we are the only two people in the world. Lucky for us, too. More donuts. 

and thank you to Staybridge Suites for giving us our weekend home! 

pickin' our own blackberries!

coming to you live with a few sweet nothings dedicated to the blackberry. can we take a minute? just one minute to discuss and appreciate the blackberry? oh man. i don't know where my love came from. as a kid, i couldn't tell you if i had ever even tried a blackberry and I'm nearly convinced they weren't invented until i was in my mid twenties. But somewhere in there, I met my first blackberry and ever since then, I eat them plain at work or covered in whipped cream or in smoothies or frozen. or or or .... I could go on forever. 

So Jon has been working on his family farm all summer and wouldn't you know it, they are covered in blackberry goodness. We drove deep down into Kentucky a few weekends back for his birthday and while sitting along the patio table, his dad set down a huge bowl of fresh blackberries straight from his farm. They tasted as good as they looked so when he invited Andrew and myself out to pick blackberries for ourselves, there was no way I wasn't going to take advantage. Those pick-your-own-food places aren't really my jam. Too much quiet and direct sunlight for my taste... so it was definitely more fun to partake in the activity with friends, a nine year old, and a precious pup running around. Plus, you gotta love my fiance that will take pictures of fruit with me. What did I learn in that hot hour under the sun? Let's see. Well, just remember that the darker the berry is, the sweeter they'll be. Blackberries grow faster than weeds. and... when you get home, the berries pair well with gin.   

#CapturingVegas

I realized a few minutes ago while clearing out my closet (yay spring cleaning) that it has been nearly three months since my hunk and I got back from our trip to Las Vegas. I took a pair of heels there that I'll never wear again but I'm an old softy when it comes to holding onto things with sentimental value. What a glorious trip that was and I think about it often. I'll tell my kids one day "just find someone that you can have fun doing anything with" and it really is the truth for Andrew and myself. He makes a trip to the grocery store fun so thinking back to our first big vacation away as a couple always makes my little heart pitter patter. How annoying am I right now? I know. but it's true.

I had never really had a huge desire to go to somewhere like Vegas because... well... I'm a lady on a budget and gambling just aint really my game and I figured if you don't like to gamble, what else is there to do out there? But after getting home and thinking back to my top 10 favorite Vegas moments, I knew that I had been converted to the Vegas love. It's right up my alley of being a perfect blend of old architecture, yummy food, and people watching for hours. We saw shows and ate at countless delicious restaurants and saw nothing but smiling faces down the strip. Older couples, babies, newlyweds, and screaming groups of women wearing pink boas were all accounted for and marching alongside us on every sidewalk. There really is something for everyone there and with the right internet tools, you can find deals all over the place. If a quick weekend away sounds like a dream to you too, check out Vegas Deals to find your own budget friendly trip! Here are just a few of my favorite photos from our trip!! is it time to go back yet?

^ the strip on our last morning ^ 

^ me and my gumdrop at the Neon Museum. probably my favorite thing we did while out there ^

^ and finally, the strip on our last night. I took this picture while running across the street and it's a blurry mess, but I still am glad I caught one last photo of the Las Vegas lights at night ^

check out Vegas.com if you're inspired to plan your own trip!! 

a night away at hotel covington

once upon a time, Jamie Dawn liked to party. I would stay up all night and sleep all day and accomplished next to nothing. And then I found Andrew, a fellow nocturnal creature, and don't ask me how it happened but fast forward to now- we are usually in bed by 10 pm at the latest and are up before the sun. We have a pretty good little routine in our day to day life and nothing makes me happier than crawling into our bed every night. But... even the most content of humans in the happiest of homes need to shake things up a bit every once in a while, right? So this past week, we did something crazy- we. went. out. Actually, not only did we go out- we stayed out. After a quick "ya know what would be fun? we should get a hotel room." type of conversation, we packed an overnight bag, took a twenty-minute road trip south of our apartment, and found ourselves in the lobby of Hotel Covington. 

and so, like a couple of friggin' rockstars, we got ourselves a hotel room... on a Wednesday night... who are we!? we headed up the elevator, unpacked our bag, and checked out every knick knack and amenity that made up our room. we must have yelled back and forth to each other "oh babe! did you see this?!" a few times, but hey whatever, we were excited. I mean, there was a magic 8 ball in our room. I don't know why it was there but it did its job by making me smile so there ya go. and yes, the robes are squishy and comfy. and no, Andrew would not let me wear it down to the bar for drinks :) 

I think I said with a smile "I feel like we're on vacation!" five times throughout our first few hours of our stay, but can you blame me? This place was absolutely gorgeous and like nowhere else I've been around in the city. Everything, down to the napkins, was totally my taste (tutorial coming soon on how to make HC-style napkins because I figured shoving 20 of them into my purse would be frowned upon) The front of the hotel is even dedicated to a small gift shop, filled with products from all kinds of local businesses. We aren't talking t-shirts and key chains, people. We're talking local candies, candles, and bottles of liquor- helloooooo. I had to basically be pulled out of the gift shop by my hair before I bought a deck of "Cards Against Covington" cards because how hilarious is that?

i spy my favorite bar buddy in the pic above, studying that drink menu.

the "miss daisy" and "tropical void" cocktails. double yum. 

after a cocktail or 4, we headed into the restaurant of the hotel, Coppin's. we had eaten here once before with friends and it was just as perfect as I remember. Like I said, down to the plates and dinnerware, the designer of this place knew what they were doing. Oh, and the corn fritters and cheese board will be in my heart forever. if you take nothing else away from this post, please don't forget about the corn fritters.

we ate and drank and laughed and had the best of times. And after one of the best nights of sleep ever (those mattresses. I have got to figure out where they get their mattresses. I usually wake up looking like a crooked old witch from our springy mattress at home, but that morning I sprung out of bed feeling amazing) we headed down to Coppin's for breakfast. Most people know how annoying I am and I'll take photos of everything from pretty buildings to a funny looking dog so when you're having breakfast at 6:30 in the morning, it's easy to have a photo shoot with your omelet and feel no judgment because hey! you'll likely be the only ones around! and I wasn't about to let that stack of pancakes be devoured without a photo first, obviously. It's also my dream come true that I'm dating someone that knows when pretty food hits the table, I'm going to want a photo of it before anything is eaten! haha! So after my pancakes were gone, my coffee cup was empty, and the sun began to rise, it was time to cross the river back to reality and head into work. 

it was a long and dreary day, knowing that we had left a big, squishy hotel bed with hotel sheets only to head back into the work week, but it was good. It was so so good to enjoy a night away and feel like we were in our own little world for the night. I hope it's a habit we carry on for years, to make plans out of nowhere and find adventures along the way. I hope we're always able to disappear and no one knows where we are (until they see my facebook check in, haha) and I hope we are never bored. New restaurants, attractions, and shops are constantly popping up around this city and I'm glad I'm dating someone that equally wants to embark on all of it with me, or at least smiles along the way. If you're in the area of Cincinnati for a quick stay or you're local and just want to experience a place that is truly exceptional, treat yourself to a night at  Hotel Covington. It really is on another level and just what this city needed!

this post was sponsored by Hotel Covington. as always, thank you to my readers for supporting. 

a birthday trip to las vegas

 it has to be getting annoying to the world at large, but i talk about how amazing Andrew is from sun up to sun down and this year, for my birthday, that guy did not disappoint. he surprised me a few months back and told that he booked us a trip out to Las freaking Vegas for my birthday and it's been the longest couple of months ever in anticipation. i'm lucky enough to be dating someone that makes a trip to the grocery store a fun experience, but I knew that a four day getaway to Vegas would be a chart topping experience and yes, I was right.

We left for the airport on my actual birthday, the 31st, after a full day at work and had dinner in the airport. We spent the flight sipping our staple vodka & tonics and while I wish I could say that once we arrived, we went out that night and got crazy in Vegas, we most definitely did not. the evening was spent in our room at about 10:30 at night (cut us some slack, there's a 3 hour time difference AND we had worked that day!) to change into sweatpants and watch Friends in bed unit we passed out! I never did get used to the time change, as I was up at 6 am every morning and tried my damnedest to stay quiet while Andrew slept. BUT! the trip was amazing. Wednesday, we got up and went on the Neon Museum Tour which I highly recommend. (Remember when cousin Vicky and Audrey dance on signs in Vegas Vacation? Yeah, we were there!) and ended the afternoon with a walk thru "Old Vegas" which is totally my style. Picture Roseanne and when she went to Vegas. The good kind of people watching. You know what I'm talkin' about. And then Thursday, Andrew's friend gifted us with tickets to Cirque Du Soleil Beatles Love show and it was absolutely incredible. Obviously, we stayed on the edge of our seats, praying none of these crazy acrobats fell but the show was jaw dropping. Soooo bummed that I couldn't take pictures in there! And on Friday, we went to the Daniel Tosh stand up show and I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. My cheeks actually hurt when we walked out of the theater.

Each day was spent with afternoon naps, cleaning up the hotel room (does anyone else love straightening up their hotel room? putting the shoes in rows against the wall? laying their makeup brushes out on the counter in size order?? maybe it's just me) We ate soooo much food  in so many neat restaurants and drank plenty of booze but I gotta say, we were in bed every night by midnight and spent maybe 15 minutes in the casino. I pull down the slot machine knobs like a boss, let me tell you. It's a crazy world out there in Vegas and while I can't imaging heading back any time soon (it's a little more of an MTV scene while I"m sort of an HGTV kind of gal) I'm so lucky that Andrew took the time to make my birthday weekend so special and fun and different. 29 is already off to a pretty damn good start, I gotta say!!

^ my first time to sprinkles. i hate to say they were the best cupcakes i've ever had.