I Could Have Danced All Night

Before I begin the Friday dance, I want to announce my photo a day project. Those of you who follow this blog know that one of my goals for 2011 was to do another photo a day project. It took me a little while, but I've finally come up with it! Announcing...stripes every day for the month of May! Basically, I plan on wearing stripes of some sort every day for the entire month of May. I am going to try not to repeat outfits, but I make no promises. You can track my progress here beginning on Monday. Now, on to the dance!

I know I should probably be covering the Royal Wedding or something, but I figured there's enough people in the covering that. So instead, in honor of my coming around to Florida, I've decided on a Florida wedding this week. Take that, U.K.! Ruffled featured this adorable, vintage wedding recently, and, yes, it made me fall in love with Florida a bit more. Who knows, right? Maybe by the time I'm 80, I'll live in Florida!

So beautiful, right? And don't you love that cake topper?? And her vintage fur wrap???

Alright, enough gushing. Here are your dance moves for the week:

25 Things Every Woman Should Know

Adorable library card save the dates

I'm thinking about finally making some macarons this weekend. They're a difficult cookie to make, and I've failed a bunch in the past. I think I'll use these tips from this awesome new blog I discovered.

Have you heard of woading??

Check out this awesome use for your hubby's old ties. I bet you could DIY this!

I never did dare to make this cake, but I'm more tempted to give this beautiful rainbow cake a crack. It's pretty (and easy)!

Steal a pallet from behind a grocery store, and turn it into this!

Okay, okay, one reference to the Royal Wedding. Wouldn't it be cool if Kate Middleton had worn these shoes and had crowns like that for the kids at the reception?

Have a wonderful weekend!

(Dance Friday photo by Me; Florida Wedding Photos via Ruffled Blog)

Modern, Eco-Friendly Favors

Maybe it's because I have gardening on the brain, or maybe it's because I've been craving a modern wedding (I'm getting a bit sick of the sickly, sweet Carnival/Circus/Whatever weddings I've been seeing a lot of), but I'm in love with these adorable wall garden favors. I imagine they would look lovely at an ultra-modern wedding with succulent centerpieces.

(Photo via Ruffled Blog)

Flo-Ridah, Prt. 2

Here's the rest of our trip to Florida! Enjoy!

The morning after Disney World, before heading back, we checked out the rad pool the hotel had. Too bad that water was as cold as a motherlover!


Our last day, we headed to Bok Tower, America's Taj Mahal (we have no idea why they make this claim). The mosquitoes were eating me alive! I ended up with ten bites in half an hour!



That night, we finally went swimming. A.P.'s dad lives in a condo, and the association has a pool. We did some tricks, then headed back home to pack and get some rest.

All in all, it was a fun vacation. Maybe I don't hate Florida after all? Nah. I just hate it less when vacations go like this.

Flo-Ridah, Prt. 1

I have a confession to make. I kind of hate Florida. I know, I know. I'm supposed to love it. It's warm, and Chicago is cold. It's sunny, Chicago is gray. It's where A.P. is from. Still, I hate it. I loathe going there, and I hate spending the money traveling to the same place over and over again. Nevertheless, we go. We have to. All of A.P.'s family still lives there, and if we want to see them, then go to Florida we must.

This past trip was probably one of the best trips. For one thing, it wasn't over a holiday. So I didn't sit around thinking about my family and missing them. For another thing, we didn't bounce around between Jacksonville and Tampa. We were strictly in Tampa this time. And lastly, we did something on our own. We took an overnight trip to Orlando and went to Disneyworld. I'm a Disney virgin, so it was kind of neat to see the place. Still, I don't think I'll go back any time soon. It was crowded, hot, the lines were long, and the rides were kind of...lame. It felt outdated. Still, it was an experience I needed to have at least once.

Here are some photos from our trip! We started out walking around Centro Ybor, near downtown Tampa.


Our second day, we went on a picnic with family.


Our third day, we drove to Orlando for a quick overnight trip. We stayed at the Hyatt Grand Cypress, which was pretty nice. Then, we headed to the Magic Kingdom for a day of fun.


I've made an edit to this post, because it's a motherlover of a long one! I've split it into two parts. I'll post the second part tomorrow, along with another wedding inspiration post. See you tomorrow.