Simple Joys of Life
Joining this writing community
Wow! I am so excited for this! I started dreaming up the idea of writing my own Substack and here we are. As I began brainstorming about what I will share on this slice of the internet I got a bit stuck. Did I want it to be recipes, helpful organizational tidbits, book recommendations, stories to share, wedding planning ideas…? My thoughts were rampant and I couldn’t choose just one category. Then, “Joy of my Life” by Chris Stapleton came on and I just knew I had to write about it all, all the joys of my life!
So here we go! To start I thought I’d made a little love list of what is bringing me joy at the moment:
A weekend away
Jordan (my wonderful fiance) and I joined some couple friends at the Rapahhanock River this past weekend and goodness was it good for the soul! With such a busy summer career wise it was our only little getaway and boy did we need it. Not only did we get to spend time with sweet friends but we also got to enjoy nature and explore someplace new together. Let me tell you all… this girl loves a boat ride. To make it even better about half way through we cut the engine to enjoy the beauty of dolphins all around our boat. It was like our own little dolphin show and boy was it magical! We then ate delicious fresh oysters, sipped summery rose and swam our hearts out in the river. It was so much fun! We did have one little downside when Jordan dived so spectacularly that his watch came right off and sunk to the bottom of the bay. Just to give a little insight on the goodness of this man I am lucky enough to marry, he shrugged it off, and reminded us all that its just a thing and something for that matter that is replaceable. Gracious I want to be more like him! We continued boating and enjoying the sunshine for the rest of the weekend. Between the sunsets and sweetness of summertime sea air it was perfect. But best of all, we both agreed was spending some quality time together! Our favorite of that time waking up next to each other and talking all morning before going out to join our friends for coffee on the river.
Peep the scrunchy nose smile and sunsets galore! A new yummy recipe - Brown Sugar Cinnamon Ham Biscuits
SO SO GOOD! I had a version of these at a Fourth of July Event we hosted and I am not kidding when I say I ate way too many of them and decided I needed to give them a try of my own! My only regret is that I didn’t take a picture of their yumminess until we dove in. But regardless… the recipe follows:
Ingredients:
· One pack of Sister Schubert Parker Yeast Rolls
· 1/4 lb. Country Ham (shaved thinly from the deli)
· 1/2 cup butter softened (1 stick)
· 1/8 cup powdered sugar
· 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
· 1 tablespoon honey
· 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
· 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
· pinch of sea salt
Directions:
· Preheat oven to 350 degrees
· Cover roll in aluminum foil and bake for 15 min
· While the rolls are baking, chop the ham into small bits (set aside)
· Make the cinnamon butter by combining butter, sugars, honey, vanilla, cinnamon and sea salt
· Pull buns out (they should be defrosted at this point) and slice the tops off. Spread a good sized amount of cinnamon butter on the bottoms.
·Crumble the ham and disperse across the buttered bottom rolls.
· Place the top rolls back on and return to the oven for 5-8 more minutes.
· Pull out and enjoy
For a sweeter bun, brush the top of the buns with cinnamon butter before putting back in the oven.
Save the dates are ordered
The amount of time I spent on these is insane. I poured over our beautiful photos from Kristen Camielle photography for hours, days. To say I am smitten would be an understatement. She captured our love so sweetly and I absolutely want to hang every single picture in our home… all 164 of them! Once I settled on two pictures then came the tasks of adjusting the wording and fonts, making the invite list, gathering addresses… but, it just made me all the more excited for our special day! How lucky we are to celebrate our love with all our dearest family and friends. June 8, 2024 can’t come soon enough!
Reading Happy Place by Emily Henry
I absolutely love those seasons of life where you fall in love with reading and can’t stop. I am in one of those very seasons right now so expect lots of book reviews and recommendations coming your way. This book is the perfect summer read! You immediately fall in love with the characters and are dying for the love story to unfold. I appreciate the author’s descriptive writing and she paints a beautiful picture of this sweet Maine town and the gift of a long standing friendship… the kind that feels like a treasure. This is by far my favorite Emily Henry book!
Rent the Runway Dresses
Y’all… I was skeptical, but I can’t lie I love it. The dresses are so gorgeous and clean and it is a nice way to rotate in some fun new closet items. I am not sure if I would do it every month but it is such a fun treat to wear something fancy and fabulous. I found some gorgeous dresses for everyday wear (I am a dress girl for sure) and some great ones for work. My absolute favorite though was the gorgeous detailed white lace dress I wore for my engagement shoot. OBSESSED!
Thank you for reading! I’ll be back with some more joy soon!