Through the Lens: St. Augustine

I forgot to share these photos I took while Alex & I were in St. Augustine. They are photos of a solitary church that felt out of place, nestled just behind Flagler College. Maybe it was its style or the fact that it had palm trees next to it. Either way, there was something about that church that made us want to explore. And the last photo.. well, that's what the moon looked like the night Alex proposed.

Our Engagement Photos

Alex & I knew we wanted something different for our engagement photos, something outside the typical brick wall, downtown background stuff that is, to quote Kramer, "so played". So after discussing our desires with my friend Laura, and awesome photographer, she came up with the perfect plan: golden hour, sand dunes, metal piping, graffiti tunnels and best of all, smoke bombs!

Everything managed to fall into place too. On Saturday, after two days of searching, I managed to find an incredible dress on sale for a ridiculously low price, a shirt with faux leather piping for Alex (which matched the faux leather straps on my dress). Once Monday rolled around, my sister came home thirty minutes before Alex & I had to leave so she was able to do my hair and makeup for me - which, turned out great!

I love the way the photos turned out. Because there was so much to work with at the park, it looks as though we went to a lot of different places to get the shots. I'm still over the moon in regards to all of the photos Laura took and I can't wait to see what magic she can create during our wedding day.

If you live in central Florida and need a photographer definitely check Laura out! I've known that girl since high school and it has been awe-inspiring to watch her talent blossom. Thank you again Laura - you created stunning images that Alex and I will cherish our entire lives.


All photos taken by Laura Davis of Laura Davis Photography.

The Planning Starts... NOW

I haven't written in here in what feels like ages, but I know I only feel that way cause life has been busy. Alex & I have been engaged for a week and we've already decided on a date and booked the perfect venue. It's been a beautiful, magical whirlwind and it makes me so happy to see Alex just as excited as I am. The ocd parts of me have come to the conclusion that the wedding planning begins now because we plan on decorating ourselves. It shouldn't come as a surprise if you know me... I'm the type of person that will see something and think, 'I can totally do that myself." So that's where we are at - a Pinterest board well stocked with DIY and heads chock full of ideas.

We will be having our engagement photos done soon and I've been on the hunt for the perfect dress for it and after countless searches I'm still empty handed. Of course I want a burgundy dress in spring. Le sigh.


Do any of you have some awesome wedding planning tips? Leave them in the comments - I'd really appreciate it!


P.S. check out all that bunny fur on those dried roses... thanks, Olive. ;)

Our Engagement Story

If you follow me on social media you saw this post from over the weekend:

"Today started off with awful traffic and once we arrived to St Augustine it started to turn around. Alex and I had the most amazing time exploring and he made it even more amazing when he got down on his knee in the middle of the historic district and made this day even more magical. If you know me well you know how happy this man has made me. He has shown me so much love, kindness and respect. He has brought light to this dark world of mine and illuminated it. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you, Alex. I love you so, so much."

I wanted to share our engagement story, because well, it was perfect for Alex & I and I'm still swooning over here. 

On Saturday March 12 Alex & I spent the afternoon in St. Augustine. When we arrived, it was after 4 grueling hours of traffic and me hating every moment of it. When we finally set foot on St. Augustine’s soil we sat by the fort on the steps in front of the bay, eating part of the picnic that we brought. We enjoyed the cool, bay breeze on our skin and the wind whipping our hair in our faces as we stretched our limbs. We explored that historic town together – places I had never been to before. We had delicious lattes, went to silly tourist shops, explored the Lightner Museum and Flagler College. We spent the afternoon with happy hearts.

As the sun started to go down we went searching for the walking tour’s headquarters that we had signed up for (history’s murder, mystery and mayhem – yes, please!). We turned down King St. off of St. George and I stopped to climb up onto the curb as one does, when they are almost a foot shorter than their boyfriend, and gave him a kiss. We stood there kissing and hugging. I was so happy in that moment – yet again he managed to make this day turn into something perfect after such an awful start. And he’s magical like that, a knack for turning awful situations into something beyond amazing. I started to tell him how much I loved him, gushing to him about how happy he has made me. The next thing I notice is him getting down on one knee, ring in hand and nervously asking “Will you spend the rest of your life with me?” I kept repeating "yes" over and over, surely my face flushed with the brightest shade of pink. When he put that ring on my finger I was overwhelmed with the sheer beauty of it and how accurately it represents our relationship: the black onyx center, a metaphor for how I feel about myself, surrounded by ten stunning diamonds representing the unfettered light that Alex has brought into my life.

And my favourite part, because surely this would happen to us, after I was done saying yes repetitively we stood there on King St. kissing and embracing one another in the middle of the sidewalk when some drunk fool thought it was a good idea to tell us that we should get a room, and Alex – in all his Marc Maron glory – told him, “Get the fuck out of here! I just proposed!”.

Afterwards, Alex & I celebrated with the most delicious sushi ever and enjoyed our walking tour with smiles plastered on our faces.

I seriously cannot wait to be his wife!

A Kaleidoscope of Blue Skies

You have sparked something within me that has given life to barren spaces, leaving me with a sea of words for me to create and the rekindled ability to breathe life into once lifeless beings.

Last night I stared into your eyes in amazement, in utter disbelief, that we were ever apart. The fact that we had lived seventeen years without one another settled into the bottom of my heart and brought along with it a dull ache. It's still magical to me that we even stumbled across one another again and each day that goes by the harder it is to imagine life without you. I can't even begin to fathom another seventeen years without you by my side, let alone a solitary day, because your mere existence has brought a kaleidoscope of blue skies to even the gloomiest of days.

Beehive Cakes & Life Lately

Life lately has been filled with a lot of baking on my own and with Megan (take note of the beehive cake above), day dreaming about this upcoming weekend that I get to spend with Alex out of town, taking photos, evening walks and reading.

I finally purchased The Girl In the Spider's Web after lusting after it for awhile. It has been nice to dive back into the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, even if it is written by another author. I'm almost halfway through and I love it so far.

As for photos, there are still some ones of Olive that I need to upload and some from last weekend. Hopefully I'll have even more from this upcoming weekend!

I've also started a Snapchat, again. If you're interested, my username is danirenosidda. Let's be friends!

That One Time We Walked Out of a Play

I was given tickets to a play earlier in the week and Alex and I spent a few days excited about going. Well actually, let me rephrase that, I was excited - Alex was skeptical because the name of the play was giving him a vibe that he didn’t like. So, last night we dressed up in our finery and headed to the local theatre. Alex vocalized his fears again in regards to the title, which I'm sure you're wondering what the name is, "The Rock and the Rabbi". The whole week I thought the play wouldn't have any religious undertones, whereas Alex - he knew from the start. I mean, is it weird that I envisioned a Larry David type character up on stage with a rock band behind him?

So there we were, sitting in the theatre five mintues into this whole thing when it clicks for me -we can't watch this. So I turn to Alex and ask if it would be rude to leave and we decide that it's better than sitting in that theatre hating the next 90 minutes of our life. So we left, we walked out of there as fast as we could (with our heads held high!), made it home, got into our PJs and worked on a puzzle we bought from Target the other day. Thankfully our night was salvaged and we have a pretty awesome (albeit ridiculous) story out of it.

Looking back on it now, I kind of wish the play was actually about Dwayne Johnson and a rabbi... that is definitely a play I would have watched...

I guess the moral of the story is don't ever let the fear of judgement from others effect your desires.