Wedding Weekend Is Here...!

Via

It's here!!! Hopey's wedding weekend has officially begun. Holy moly. I'm going to be a wreck [of happy, joyful, overflowing-in-tears emotions] this weekend. I couldn't be prouder of my sister, my heart, my best friend, my hope.

We kicked off festivities last night with family at my Mimi and Papaw's farm in Waxhaw, NC. Be sure to follow along on Instagram for the latest this weekend!

P.S. In typical Davis sista form, this will be my weekend in Emoji:

And repeat times 3589015801.

P.P.S Don't forget to enter in the Vestique giveaway! Such a presh necklace [that goes with everything!]

Cheers to the almost Mr. and Mrs. Skouras!

 

Frankly, my dear...you should pop over here to visit my sweet sponsor, Jenni!

Frankly, my dear...you should pop over here to visit my sweet sponsor, Jenni!

Fiesta Crockpot Chicken [Guest Post]

Hello again, Cheers Y'all friends!

 I am so excited to be back with you today! If you missed me last month, I am Jenni and I blog over at Frankly My Dear. I am a lover of all things vintage, homemade, & southern! If you've never dropped by my neck of the woods, I would love to get to know you better.

But enough about me...on to the good stuff! Today I am excited to bring you one of my favorite new crockpot meals. Easy & Delicious...what could be better?

What You'll Need:
Frozen Chicken Breast - 2.5-3 lbs.
8 oz. Cream Cheese
1 Can of Black Beans, rinsed & drained
1 Can of Corn, drained
1 Can of Rotel
1 Reynolds Crockpot Liner

Your first step is to spray your crockpot with nonstick spray or use Reynolds Crockpot Liners. Y'all have to check these out if you don't already use them. They save marriages...trust me! I raved about them here & there's even a coupon for them here. Try them...you WON'T be sorry!

Next, place your frozen chicken in the bottom of the crockpot.

Dice up your cream cheese & place on top of chicken.

Add your drained & rinsed black beans on top of your cream cheese.

Dump in drained corn & rotel on top of that.

Cover with lid & cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
If you are around you can stir the ingredients every hour or so but is definitely not necessary.

Turn your crockpot off 30 minutes before you are ready to serve so that it will thicken up. You may shred the chicken or serve the breast as is.

I served mine over Spanish Rice with tortilla chips & salsa. It was perfect!

Although it was not in the original recipe, the next time I make it, I will add a half packet of taco seasoning. The spanish rice really added flavor to the meal & I think it would be extra delicious if those seasonings were cooked in from the beginning. My hubby also mentioned that he thought a dash or two of hot sauce & some onions would be good. The possibilities are endless!

Well, what do you think?! I told you it was easy & delicious!

Thank you so much for joining me today & a huge shout out to the lovely Elise for allowing me to share on her blogity blog today! I so enjoy meeting y'all & hope you drop over sometime soon!

Frankly my dear...get cookin'! 

Funfetti Cheesecake

Could a cheesecake get more fun than this?!

Since Mark and I are skipping gifts this year, I decided to bake him a special cake instead. His request? Cheesecake. I scoured my Pinterest "Desserts" board and found this lovely recipe from Wine & Glue.

Any day that I actually attempt one of the hundreds of Pinterest recipes I have saved is a good day. Any day that they turn out well?! Winning. A fabulous day.

 

Ingredients
2 12oz containers of cream cheese
3 eggs
1 14oz can sweetned condensed milk
1.5 tbsp vanilla
2 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles
Optional: Whipped cream and additional sprinkles
...And don't forget your springform pan! 

Recipe
Source Credit: Wine & Glue

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. With mixer on low, beat together the cream cheese, eggs, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and almond extract for five minutes.  (Not completely smooth after 5 minutes? Don't fret. It's okay!!)
3. Slowly mix in all the sprinkles with a spoon.
4. Pour the batter into a springform pan and bake for 45 minutes. Let cool completely, at least four hours in the refrigerator.
5. Optional: Adorn with whipped cream and extra sprinkles. (Because who doesn't love extra sprinkles?)

 The cake after cooling. Not too shabby [if I do say so myself]!

 Confession: those are matches holding up the sign. No toothpicks or skewers are currently in our home. ;)

Voila!

All in all, I give it a B. That's pretty good considering an A+ would be from the Cheesecake Factory...and this is my first ever solo cheesecake attempt. Pinterest for the win!

P.S. If you missed it yesterday, be sure to check out the Vestique Boutique giveaway that's up and running right now!!

Cheers to fancy birthday desserts!

Vestique Boutique Giveaway! (+ Giveaway Winners)

Today's final installment of this giveaway series is a necklace from one of my most favorite boutiques in Charlotte, Vestique!  (They also have locations in Raleigh and Cary, NC, as well as Greenville and Columbia, SC...and a Charleston location coming soon!) I love me some Vestique. Cute, trendy clothes and reasonable prices. My jam. :)

 I've been eyeing tassel necklaces for a while now. Obsessed! And this one goes with everything...!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

  Finally...The winner of the His Name Fame giveaway is Lauren D.!The winner of The Burlap Bungalow giveaway is Cayte!Yay, girlies! I'll be emailing y'all so soon! xx  

Cheers to Vestique!

Per my sponsorship policy, I was given one product to review and keep and one to giveaway. All opinions expressed are strictly my own. 

  

Happy Day, Tea, + Last Chance

Morning, y'all! 

Happy Memorial Day weekend Monday!

I hope this post finds you enjoying the long weekend!!! Truth be told, Mark and I both are both taking this entire week off for a staycation/Hope's wedding festivities. We aren't taking any big trips this summer (we took care of that last summer...), Mark's parents are visiting Wilmington for the first time, aaaand since we live at the beach now, we consider ourselves residents of a permanent vacation spot. Life is good. :)

Via Instagram | From our English Wedding Blessing

I am so looking forward to showing these two around Wilmy and WB for the rest of the week. I know I hit the jackpot in the marriage department, but I also hit the jackpot in the in-laws department too.

Cheers to the next few days full of tea and treasured time with our English family!

Via

Last thing...just a few more hours left of the birthday giveaways. Enter away! I'll announce the winners tomorrow morning!!!

His Name Fame

Burlap Bungalow

The FINAL May Birthday Giveaway will be up and running tomorrow! It's from one of my most favorite boutiques in Charlotte. You don't want to miss it! :)

OH HAPPY DAY!

Frankly, my dear...you should pop over here to visit my sweet sponsor, Jenni!

Birthday Paddleboarding

I just want to remember yesterday. In pictures. So here's to documenting Marky's 28th birthday on the blog! :)  It couldn't have been more beautiful. Our heads still spin thinking that all of this is nearly in our backyard! Both Mark and I are about to embark on our best year yet -- we're sure of it!

 Morning paddleboarding thanks to Wrightsville SUP -- highly recommend them! They're awesome guys! :)

 We spent about an hour and a half paddling around. It was super fun.

 Sigh. We live here.

 Mark thought it would be humorous to leash our paddleboards together and pull me.

 Taking a little break to live the dream.

 Post-paddleboarding

 Then we headed to SurfBerry (one of my faves) for some breakfast. This is an acai bowl. I'm hooked and wish I could eat this every summer morning (and spinach and kale are even blended into this goodness!!!).

 From SurfBerry breakfast to the beach. Couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day!

 Crazy beach hair.

TINA! ...I cannot finish this post without noting how we woke up.Tina poked her head between our sleeping selves and ruffed some happy puppy birthdays to Marky.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend to all! My in-laws are on a flight from Heathrow to the USA as I type!!! SO EXCITED!

 Cheers to a fabulous birthday for Marky!  

Frankly, my dear...you should pop over here to visit my sweet sponsor, Jenni!

 

Marky

 Happenings of Year 27 via Instagram

(Top): June 2013 on our mission trip with Forest Hill Church to Bujumbura, Burundi. I cannot imagine having experienced something as majestic as this trip without Mark by my side. 

(Middle Left): Messina, Sicily 

(Middle Right): Ephesus, Turkey [The Grand Theater where Paul preached to the Ephesians!]

(Bottom Left): Our new stomping grounds

(Bottom Right): Big milestone...we bought a house!...within minutes of the beach!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my hottie of a hubby! 

What a fun whirlwind this past year has been. There's no one I'd rather adventure through life with. 

I love you so much. 

Via

This month just keeps getting better and better. Mark's parents fly in from England to Charlotte tomorrow (YAY!!!! We haven't seen them since August!), and they'll make their first ever visit to Wilmington on Sunday. I cannot wait! I just know how much they are going to love our new town, our home, and the beach life. They'll stay with us until we all head back to Charlotte together later in the week for my sister's wedding! What a beautiful blessing to be surrounded by family so much this month. So much to celebrate!!! Praise the Lord for the gift of family!

Check y'all later...Marky and I have a birthday paddleboarding date at 10! Then we're beachin'. You know this picture queen will be updating via Insta! ;)

P.S. The final installment of the May Birthday Giveaway series will be up next week! It's from one of my favorite Charlotte boutiques...eee!
 

Frankly, my dear...you should pop over here to visit my sweet sponsor, Jenni!

Birthday Reflections [She Designed A Life She Loved]

Via

I spent the morning of my birthday in quiet reflection. I couldn't help but smile and feel a huge sense of God's peace.

When we lived in Charlotte for our first year of marriage...I just didn't feel like that's where we were supposed to be. Don't get me wrong, I adore Charlotte, and I miss our family and friends who are family there every single day. But Charlotte is my comfort zone. I didn't want to live my whole life in my comfort zone.

You see, I've spent the majority of my life in Charlotte. My hometown.
When I went to Chapel Hill, I attended with about 20ish people from my high school class.

When I went to camp, I always had friends from home there too (as a camper and a counselor). 

Never had I ever been anywhere where I didn't know someone or have a piece of home with me.

And then there was Mark. He left his home, his family, his best friends, his entire country to pursue and make a life with me! With me! That is an adventure. A grand, selfless, admirable adventure. And he fit so seamlessly and sweetly into the life I always knew in Charlotte.

My neighborhood became our neighborhood.
My favorite restaurants became our favorite restaurants.

My church became our church.

And so on.

But we had nothing that was originally our own.
And that bothered me.
Mark didn't resent me for that. But, in a way, I resented myself for it.

Elizabeth Scott Photography

But now.

Here we are at the beach.
We moved here knowing 0 friends.
Earlier this year I struggled with surrender.
Now [much to our surprise!] we own a home. 

I am able to serve and nurture my little family more than I ever have before.

We've made fabulous friends.
Gotten to know the area.
Discovered our new favorite places here and there.
And we are loving it. Together. 

There is something so romantic about making a life together. Creating our own story from scratch.

All that to say.
Here I am...here we are.
I couldn't feel more content or at peace.
I couldn't feel more thankful.
I so look forward to seeing how God continues to write our story.

Cheers to the beginning of year 27!

Frankly, my dear...you should pop over here to visit my sweet sponsor, Jenni!