{Wedding Wednesday} Mirror, Mirror - Guest Post

This week for Wedding Wednesday, I'm pleased as punch to have Heather from Spunky Real Deals guest posting for me! Heather is the founder of The Virginia Bloggers Club which is how we got connected. If you're a fellow blogger in the fantastic four-season state of Virginia, don't hesitate to contact Heather to get involved. The Virginia Bloggers Club is a lovely group of bloggers who are all about helping one another grow! While you're at it, check out her blog! She's always got great giveaways going on (alliteration much?). 

Hello Happily Ever Crafter readers! My name is Heather Paulding. I am the author and blogger of Spunky Real Deals. I am also the founder of the Virginia Blogger's Club. When I heard about Catherine's Wedding Wednesdays I knew I had to put something special together for all of you!

Mirror, mirror on the wall who's the fairest of them all? You, of course! I am convinced that every wedding must-have large mirrors. The proof is in the photography.

AFTERWORD:}|

A Good Idea: Give your bridesmaids your single wear wedding shoes to doodle on and they turn into a precious keepsake.


Thanks, Heather! Mirrors look so cool! Wish I had one at my wedding! I'll keep it in mind if my husband and I ever do anniversary pictures (in our wedding attire) one day! And what a great idea to do something special with your wedding shoes. Mine were ivory glitter TOMS and I still wear them :)

Do you like the large mirror idea for wedding photographs? What kind of shoes did you or will you wear at your wedding?

Till next time,
Catherine

If you're a fellow blogger and are interested in guest posting for this series, shoot me an e-mail at CatherinePageWood@gmail.com! Or, even if you're not a blogger and would like to share your wedding story or advice, send me an e-mail! I would LOVE to share your stories!

If you liked this post, be sure to check out the other editions of Wedding Wednesday!

• Getting Started on Wedding Planning
• My Tips for Less Stressful Wedding Planning
• Choosing a Photographer
• How to Survive a Wedding Expo
• Mirror, Mirror - Why Big Mirrors Are a Must!

My first 5k - Rachael's Paws and Purrs

I did it! I did my very first 5k! 

Ok I definitely didn't run the whole thing, most people didn't...but I completed a 5k! 

Pre-race smile in the chilly morning. Still felt fairly confident at this point!

And we're off! Runners first, run/walker combos in the middle (that was us) and walkers in the back.

Speaking of walkers...who's excited for The Walking Dead to come back on in October?! This girl!

The course was on the Blackwater Creek Trail in downtown Lynchburg. It was a beautiful day with no humidity and cool temperatures on this gorgeous trail hiding just next to the busy downtown life.

"Quick, act like you're running hardcore!" 

The bridge over the water was so pretty! Here's another "action" shot. That's my husband and a friend of mine in the picture. 

We ran a handful of times but none of us were fully prepared to run the entire thing. We power walked the rest of the time. Most importantly we had a great time! It was so much fun and all the pups that came had a great time too. 

Most of the finishers waiting for the last walkers.

Giving out trophies and medals to human winners and dog winners! Not to mention they had great prizes for the raffle portion!

Here's us as we were leaving. I'd like to title this photo "We finished!" but I think "Look at this mondo bag of fruit we got!" fits better. They had tons of food leftover and just told us to take it...so we did! We've got enough bananas and apples to last a couple weeks! Runner up title: "Oh joy the sun is right in my eyes."

And I'll call this one "We did it! Now let's celebrate with some Chic-Fil-A."

Up next...the Ashland Berry Farm Pumpkin Run that benefits the Hanover Safe Place! Saturday, October 5th in Hanover, Virginia. Come join me!! 

I'm thinking to keep myself motivated and to have a new goal always ready, that signing up for one 5k a month might be a good idea. Or insane? I haven't decided yet. 

We're deciding on our November 5k now. It's between the Glowstick 5k on Sunday, November 3rd in Fredericksburg, Bottom to Tap 5k on Saturday, November 9th in Richmond or the Children of Our Hearts 5k on Saturday, November 9th in Lynchburg. 

I couldn't find any nearby 5ks for December, though. Too cold?

Tell me about your first 5k! If you've never done one, what's holding you back? If I can do it, so can you! Know of any good Richmond/central Virginia 5ks? What's the most fun 5k to do?

Till next time,

Catherine

Spontaneous Weekend Visits

Can you believe it's July 1st? How in the world did June slip by so fast? 

That's ok...bring on the fall weather!!

This past weekend my mother-in-law and brother-in-law decided to come down for a spontaneous trip! We love having friends and family visit so we were super excited that they decided to come over!

(via)

When we got official word they were on their way and after a trip to the grocery store, my husband and I went into a cleaning frenzy. He helped, though, really. Now I don't see this as a fault and I know my in-laws and friends won't think less of me if the house isn't spotless (who has time to keep a house 'spotless'?), but when people come over, it is a perfect excuse to clean the house in record time! Works like a charm. I'm a pretty organized and clean person, but the house always looks great seconds before guests arrive! 

They arrived late Friday evening and so we mostly talked and played games. I had to work Saturday morning so everyone else stayed up and hung out when I went to bed early like the old lady I am. Saturday afternoon we all went down to the Farmer's Market to sample and buy local, delicious goodies. We bought eggs and potatoes for a super late breakfast and even bought the most delicious goat cheese from Spring Mill Farm. Sun dried tomato goat cheese is my guilty pleasure...it is to die for!

After the Market and a delicious homemade breakfast (at 2pm?!) we relaxed for a bit but then decided we should go out and enjoy the day. The hot, hot day. We drove down to Peaks View Park and walked the trails and got some sun. It was really nice, but quite hot. We were ready for some AC after a few miles!

Even Kito got to come along! He had a blast!

Don't tell but we even stopped by DQ on the way back for smore's blizzards! 

Sunday we made poppyseed chicken (delicious...recipe post in the works!) and butter! Yes, we made our own butter! It's incredibly easy but I won't give it all away now. I'll try and have that in a post for you all this week! 

All in all in was a wonderful weekend. Can't wait to have them out again!

And to top it off, now that it's July...it's officially my birthday month! This is the first birthday in about 5 years now that the camp we always work isn't happening during my birthday! Not that we don't love working camp, but I'm so excited to actually get to celebrate my birthday this year! It's also my "quarter of a century" birthday as my husband likes to remind me, so we're thinking an awesome celebration is in order! I can hardly wait!

How was your weekend? Do anything fun or productive? What are some awesome birthday ideas? I'm up for cliche´ or unique ideas! 

Till next time,

Catherine

Virginia Renaissance Faire-Spotsylvania, Virginia

This past Memorial Day weekend we were able to be back in Richmond with our families. Among the rest of the fantastic weekend (the most perfect weather weekend ever!), we also went to the Virginia Renaissance Faire at Lake Anna Winery in Spotsylvania, Virginia! 

It was a new experience for us but it was a lot of fun! Plus free tickets don't hurt! My sister- and brother-in-law were both volunteer performers so we scored free tickets through them!

Clear blue sky! The weather was absolutely amazing and the cicadas were loud!

My lovely sister-in-law playing her part well as Margaret Emmerson. I don't know how they're all so good at staying in character! My favorite was when they called an iPhone a "pixie box."

Brian and I waiting anxiously for the mini circus show to start! 

Circus Stella was phenomenal! Dextre (pictured above) and Jana (pictured below) are a beautiful young couple who perform together. They also have 5 rescue dogs, 3 of which have a part in the show! 

It's hard to see but that's Jana up on a static trapeze. I know I wouldn't be brave enough to be up on one of those!

She is incredibly flexible and has balance like a cat!

Dextre stood on a ladder with no support! Then he had this kid climb up the ladder, again with no support, and give him his hat!

Shouldn't this be the other way around? Haha. 

Clearly the circus was my favorite part of the faire. I took way too many pictures! She also did an aerial silks routine which was amazing. 

Balancing on a chair on a tight rope!

Did I mention dogs?! Here's their newest rescue puppy named Mabel. 

Stella, the circus' namesake!

Stella jumping over Louise.

Adrian walking on poles. 

Parrot dog! She looked comfy up there!

 Dancing at the May Pole.

The minstrels playing music for the dancers. 

Shh...don't tell my husband I have evidence of him participating! He's such a good sport!

There were even alpacas!

And a falcon! Apparently there are only about 2,000 falconers left in the United States and there's a very strict hierarchy that you have to make your way up.

Jousting!! We walked over in time to see this final joust but that's all we got to see. The winner was a woman! 

The Lady's Court of Love. This was a fun interactive bit where anyone could come up and bring up a love matter than needed help solving. It could be anything from, "My friends said they would come here today at 2pm but they were late!" or "My husband won't admit I'm right!" And then the ladies of the court will banter and make a decision. It was pretty entertaining!

And here's a crummy shot of one of the vineyards. 

The faire is going on from now unti June 9th on Saturdays and Sundays. It's $9 to get in but children 5 and under are free. It's a great place to visit for fun but also is a great learning experience for kids (and adults too!). Definitely more fun than reading a textbook!

Lake Anna Winery is also a great place to visit! They're open Wednesday-Saturday 11:00am-5:00pm and Sunday 1:00pm-5:00pm. Ask for a tour and bring a group with you! 

How'd you spend your Memorial Day weekend? Have you been to a renaissance faire before? 

Till next time,

Catherine

The Walking Dead Workout-Season 2

Better late than never, here's my recap of Season 2 of The Walking Dead Workout! We're about halfway through Season 3, I know...I know. The season is over, but we don't have TV so we just watch the episodes online after they've aired. This show is so intense! 

If you haven't been following this workout, here are the rules for when you're watching the show:

You can also find my intro to The Walking Dead Workout HERE and the complete Season 1 HERE. 

Just to clarify, the numbers are the TOTAL numbers of what exercise you should be doing, not how many of each thing happened. For example, in Season 2-Episode 1, you will do 25 crunches, meaning only 5 walkers were killed. Don't worry, you won't always have it so easy! 

Here's another quick breakdown if you're looking for more targeted workouts.

Season 2:

Episode 1-Easy

Episode 2-Easy

Episode 3-Abs

Episode 4-Easy

Episode 5-Easy

Episode 6-Abs

Episode 7-Abs

Episode 8-Legs

Episode 9-Moderate/Abs

Episode 10-Abs

Episode 11-Moderate/Abs

Episode 12-Hard/Abs

I also explained more details and particulars in this post HERE about Season 1. 

What do you think about The Walking Dead Workout? Is it something you'd try? 

Till next time,

Catherine