Can you believe July is basically over? Summer is already coming to an end! *tears* I suppose I can’t complain about it flying by since I’ve had one helluva time. A girlfriend texted me the other day “are you on perma vacation?” and it made me laugh because that’s what it’s seemed like! But truthfully we’ve been really thrifty about our travels and it hasn’t broken the bank or set us back. One of these days we’ll do a bigger trip out of the country but for now it’s family vacation homes and keeping in the US. Here are some photos Dustin snapped as we were sweating and getting eaten by mosquitoes in Edisto, SC two weekends ago. I’m wearing a new Madewell dress that I scored for under $40!
Outfit details: Dress & Bag // Madewell, Shoes // Target, Shades // TOMS
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Beach
This past weekend Dustin and I went on a inpromptu trip with my brother and his wife down to Edisto, SC. We got in late Friday night and went to the beach all day Saturday — playing in the waves, throwing frisbees and super bouncy ocean toys and sipping island drinks. On Sunday we did a quick run through of Charleston as Dustin and I hadn’t been there before–I know, I know..HOW have we not been there?! Unsure because it’s absolutely adorable! We walked along The Battery and Rainbow Row taking in the sights. I quickly took notice to the amazing windows and the mini gardens hanging outside of them. The shutters were also super neat–even found one with crescent moons! Before it was too late and we were no longer passing along said windows, I snapped some of my favorites:
As I’m typing this Dustin is waiting in the car for me as we are leaving for yet another trip! This one has been planned for some time now. We are heading to FL to meet up with my parents and then driving down to Key Largo for a week of deep sea fishing! Have a good rest of the week!
Next up: I’ll be sharing more photos from Charleston!
How it happened…
A few weeks leading up to the 4th of July weekend Dustin put on our shared calendar “surprise fun” and told me not to worry he’s got something planned. I was immediately excited because while he’s daily sweet I knew something extra special was planned and hoped it was an engagement! As the weekend approached he informed me that it was a weekend trip and not just an overnight and then gave me a packing list. The list wasn’t a dead giveaway of our trip because it was so well-rounded and included things like hiking boots and swim suits, so I was extra curious! He told me that we’d be getting picked up the morning of the July 4th at 8:00am. Picked up? Talk about crazy levels of curiosity!
The morning of we got up, gathered our things and went downstairs and were greeted by Dustin’s best friend Matt and his wife Aleah. “I knew it!” I yelled and then gave them hugs. I looked at them and asked where we were going and they looked at Dustin and said the same. They didn’t know either! Dustin then pulled out two envelopes labeled “1” and “2” and said “Jess gets to pick where we’re going!” The pressure was on! Before I picked he told us that there was a catch, the catch was that whatever envelope I chose I could never know the other envelopes contents. Crazy right?! So, instead of making a tough choice I closed my eyes and grabbed for an envelope choosing number 1! I opened it and it read “We’re going to Daufuskie Island!” HELL YA! I’ve been wanting to go ever since I met Dustin because he has so many great stories from the island as does Matt and Aleah hadn’t been either so we were both very excited. After regrouping our emotions we settled into the car and went to priority number two, coffee, and then it was the open road all the way to Hilton Head.
Dustin’s parents own a home on Daufuskie but it was booked for the Forth so for the first night we stayed in Bluffton, SC which is pretty much Hilton Head. Once we got there we checked into our Air B&B spot and went to the neighborhood pool. Matt and Aleah opted out claiming they were napping but I later found out they were up to additional surprises. After getting cleaned up we took the ferry to Daufuskie Island for dinner. Once we arrived at the island we grabbed the family golf cart and Dustin gave us a tour. We had time to kill before our reservation so we parked and went to take a stroll on the beach and that’s when he paused, said really sweet things and asked if I’d marry him!!!!
Matt had rented a really great lens and put it on Dustin’s Nikon and was snapping photos as it all went down. They all went above and beyond to make this a special day that I will never forget! After Dustin and I hugged, cried and both stared at the gorgeous ring we ran over and had a group hug. We hung out on the beach for around and hour or so, looking at shells, horseshoe crabs and washed up jelly fish before heading to dinner. I can’t thank Matt and Aleah enough for all the effort they put in to the surprise. Later that night we discovered what they were up to when we were swimming. They had decorated the room at the b&b with strung lights, daisies, gifts, wine and chocolate!
Dustin and I are over the moon with excitement! It was nice being away and having privacy to enjoy the first couple of days as an engaged couple. We did a lot of staring at the ring which is super special as it was originally my grandmothers and given to us from my mom. We were given the option of keeping it as is or making changes and opted to make it our own. Dustin worked with a jeweler and did just that and together made it very much “us.” He upgraded the largest stone to a bigger more clear estate diamond, added two baguette diamonds, kept two small ones from the original and added two sapphire triangles to the underneath, side area for a total of 7 stones which is a lucky number to us. The touch of blue represents Dustin and the triangles were a little something for me. We wanted it to remain two-tone, yellow gold and white gold to be able to go with whatever I want to wear with it and It’s perfect!
I don’t think I could begin to put into words how thrilled I am that I have found my forever partner in love, crime, silliness and all things that life brings us. One last thank you to Matt, Aleah and my future husband Dustin for making this new chapter off to the best possible start!
aka ADULT SPRING BREAK
yes, we created our own hashtag on Instagram and yes, it was #ladiezbeachtimez!
since my Memorial Day weekend plans had changed due to the breakup I immediately jumped on board with a crew of girls going down to Panama City Beach. it wasn’t till last minute that it turned out we would be boarding a private plane and Ashley’s dad was going to FLY us down there saving 5.5/6 hours of travel time, gas money, multiple pit stops and the headache of holiday weekend traffic. what a pleasant surprise all of it was! here’s a lil recap of our experience in PCB-
the crew (L to R) Flashy, Mal, J Step, Ashley & Roberta
such a celeb, even getting photo-bombed!
jet attire:
Alex + Alex dress, Gap denim jacket, Oakley shades, vintage Saks Fifth Ave bag, Frye sandals
the ride was a lil bumpy while we reached our cruising altitude and then smoothed out, we toasted the trip with Prosecco and then before we knew we were landing! easy breezy. travel time was around 1hr vs 6, now that’s the life!
on to beach timez:
brought the same swim suits I bought in Hawaii but mixed them up with different accessories and cover-ups. like this Piko “dress” I got at the Mart, never have worn it as a dress, but works great as a cover up from condo to beach!
we kept getting asked if we were responsible for these massive sand castles that were built near us, we joked that we should just start taking credit. word of advice lil kiddos: don’t leave your castle unattended, for late 20 somethings will still your thunder!
i spy: many’a folks that shouldn’t be wearing barely-there-swimwear #PCB
since Eliz had a TOMS event in ATL on the Friday we flew out, she had to meet us there Saturday but with her rented Dodge Charger complete with a HEMI she was there in no time to join the fun!
last day we went to St. Andrews State Park, where we floated and splashed around before heading back and packing up.
my beachware- Target tank, Free People shorts and Havaianas I picked up in Hawaii and a SWEET AIRBRUSH LF HAT I got a Alvin’s Island!
do I look like I’m getting stung by jelly fish? no. cool.. cause I sure as hell was!
pretty excited about my new hat, minus the guy doing the “lady” way small and sorta too high on the hat but hey, it’s from PCB and its airbrush and has a pineapple on it, I’m satisfied!
make’n it rainnnn!!!
sorta like I did with the dollar bills we paid to get into the state park with…now that I think about it, I’m sure Elizabeth loved having me as a car buddy… yelling HEMI every so often, dancing and playing air keyboard on the dash and making it rain. ya, I’m POSITIVE she loved it :P
“adult” Spring Break, pshhh.
rando kid I asked to take the above pic did a good job, right? haha.
playing around with layering, really like how this turned out! also love Eliz’s swimsuit, it’s by DKNY.
trip was exactly what I needed and included a little bit of everything: beach/pool/porch time including Corona’s and salted limes, hitting up a farmers & fish market then cooking in and playing silly games, eating a swanky dinner and a tad bit of beach party times including guys vs girls flip cup that we dominated! solid trip with my ladies!
thanks to my hospitable friends, love youuuu
next up: street style around Summerfest + Artlantis from this past weekend. gotta catch uppppp!
-F L A S H Y-
here’s the last of my Hawaii recap from my FAVORITE DAY of the whole trip!
we spent a whole day being adventurous on Kailua Beach kayaking to the Mokulua Islands, commonly known as “Moks” or “Twin Islands.” we paddled out to the big one, about 2.5 miles from land and had some lunch, snapped photos, did some light hiking and jumped in the tidal pool called the “queens bath.” can’t express how amazing this day was, but I can share some of my fav photos.
HawaiianForever 21 bathing suit #2, was really drawn to the mismatching look and seriously couldn’t beat the price! also wearing some inexpensive shades I bought for the trip from Clothing Warehouse in Little Five Points. love me some deals!
the colors, textures and plant life on the island were breathtaking!!
absolutely adore this photo of Steph with salty hair and her tribal print rash-guard which I was totally jealous of and wanted to swipe when she wasn’t looking!
don’t worry, I’m wearing SPF 70. seriously.
so, after our kayak and snorkeling adventure we grabbed some island snow aka shaved ice and then set out on a hike of the Kaiwa Ridge Trail to check out the old WWII era “pillbox” bunkers. these were used for observation of the coastline front during a possible Japanese invasion (knowledge we gained from some fellow hikers since it’s not super touristy and had ZERO signage.)
this was number one of two that we hiked to, as you can see it’s pretty fierce terrain!
dangerzone!
“PARTY TIME.”
these aren’t our dogs but they were hilarious! walked right past us, didn’t want or need to be petted just wanted to check out the amazing view. who could blame them?!
view from the pillbox!
close up of the bunker and though it’s eroding and has been painted over throughout the decades, you can still see it’s original structure. we thought these were too cool and climbed all over them, even sat on the roof with some other folks and looked out over the coastline. one thing we didn’t do was climb in, sorta freaked us out.
though I don’t usually heavily edit my photos, I really didn’t touch up these photos at all, just some minor lightening to bring out colors but really wanted to let the natural beauty do all the talking.
recapping my trip has been really nice, it’s like visiting all over again minus the sunscreen and convertible. would love to go back and have more days like the above, truly a highlight!
thanks for taking the time to look at my trip.
next up: Coachella Street Style from weekend one + two!
-Flashy
