First Anniversary Gift Ideas

I am having the hardest time wrapping my mind around the fact that our first wedding anniversary is this weekend. It's come up so fast! And while I spent years, literally, planning this once in a lifetime event, I have to admit that April 2017 snuck on my kind of quick before I realized I needed to start thinking about an anniversary gift for my husband!

First anniversary gifts are traditionally paper, but the modern gift is a clock. The clock can seem to be much easier than finding the perfect paper gift, but there are so really unique ideas out there for both! First up, a classic wristwatch. Something simple, yet elegant, and timeless...like your love...*insert eye-rolling here.* But for reals! I classic watch is something that can be worn daily, can withstand the test of time and trends...like your love...  I'm really loving this gold one by Daniel Wellington. My husband loves his Daniel Wellington watches, and this one for the ladies is just a little bit fancier than the original ones, which I really like a lot.

A pocket watch might be a great gift for a traditionalist. It can be personalized and engraved, and eventually handed down to future generations. These could also be great groomsmen or Father's Day gifts, too.

For the paper, there is the classic and much beloved embossed stationary. This is a great gift for guys and girls; with a new last name, the bride's monogram has probably changed, and this is more than likely a gift your guy doesn't have. I think it's important for every man to have a set of stationary for the occasional thank you note or love letter!

A custom painted bridal bouquet portrait is probably my most favorite idea. Have an image or feature from your wedding day painted {on paper!} is a unique way to fulfill the paper 'requirements.' It's a one-of-a-kind way to remember one of the biggest days of your life.

And finally, custom paper coasters--how fun are these?! With different designs and logo options, these could be updated annually, seasonally, or during different walks of life. I love using our custom crested cups from our wedding around the house, and this just takes that personalization to another level.

Four Years a Blog

Surprise! The blog is four years old! Who knew the blog birthday would end up being at such an exciting week of wedding memories, too. To celebrate, I wanted to share a few things about myself that you may or may not know, as well as a few of the most popular blog posts for those who are new around here! 

The top four most popular blog pasts are: Invited to Party {a Pinterest success!}, I never thought I'd write this blog post, Bridal Portraits, and Being a Bride: Lauren. I love that these are the most popular because they were truly lifetime memory milestones for me. Invited to Party displayed the amazing bachelorette and bridal shower invites designed for me by my bestie. This shower and my bachelorette weekend were two of my favorite wedding memories. 

Sandwiched in the middle is the moving to Dublin announcement, and  the post previewing my bridal portraits. Big deals, and big days for me. Deciding to move was hard. Deciding to marry Christopher wasn't. Both were happy times that had special, unique challenges associated with them. One thing the blog does for me that I'm so thankful for is the chronicling of my life: the good, the bad, the scary, the exciting. Highs and lows, life is definitely a roller coaster {which is something I love...roller coasters that is. And life, too, of course!}

The fourth most popular post of all time is my bridal feature on sweet Lauren! Not only has she been a blessing to me as a sweet social media/blog friend, but she's been a warm smile for my own mother when I have been many hours away, and I'm so thankful for the fate that brought us together. If you'd like to share your own unique wedding or pre-wedding event, send me an email and I'll share the questionnaire! 

Now for a few things about me that you might not know....My dream concert would be Rod Stewart and Fleetwood Mac, followed by Hootie & the Blowfish. I love all things sweet, but will eat sour candy until my tongue hurts. I have really terrible print handwriting, and write almost exclusively in cursive. I dream of traveling to Greece someday {my people! Maybe...}. I love the smell of cold in the freezer section at the grocery store. I love roller coasters, but am terrified of heights. My biggest fear is definitely snakes, followed closely by pretty much anything else without legs. My hidden talent is making my eye squeak similarly to how people can squeak their arm pit. I also taught myself how to do that flower thing with my tongue. 

I love the Backstreet Boys, cake, gin, and hot dogs. I'm not really a shoe person. I collect clothes, deviled egg plates, tubes of lipstick. I bite my nails, and can fall asleep almost anywhere. I love trashy reality TV {have you seen Mama June?!}, hot fudge sundaes from Dairy Queen, and pictures. Instagram is my favorite social media platform, and Snapchat is probably my least favorite. I sleep with too many pillows according to my husband, and drink four cups of coffee each morning for breakfast. 

So to help me celebrate four years of sharing my little life with the world, would you do something for me? Would you help me grow the blog in one {or all!} of four ways?

1. Like Starting Out Southern on Facebook
2. Follow me on Instagram @piperellice
3. Follow me on Twitter @piperellice 
4. Subscribe to get email notifications of new posts and other updates {box to the right of this post!}

Your support not only encourages me, but also the awesome brands I've been so lucky to work with over the last year or so! I love hearing from you, and have been surprised so many times lately with new friends and acquaintances reaching out and letting me know how much they enjoy my content. Always feel free to leave a comment, share a post you enjoy, pin an idea, or chat me up!

Weekend Recap | Moving to the DUB

Amazing art by my bestie

Everything hurts...

my hands from carrying boxes, my legs from going up and down our stairs, and my back from the never-ending packing that happened all last week. But it's done, we've moved! I've still got a week left in Statesboro to finish up work and clean out the house, but we loaded up the biggest U-Haul I've ever seen on Saturday morning and drove to Dublin that afternoon.

Dublin's own Villa Blanca {RHOBH anyone?}

After unloading, eating the most delicious pizza ever {probably due to moving-induced starvation}, and taking by far the most amazing shower of my life, I slept in our new house! Sunday was filled with coffee on the back porch with the pups, picking out Round 2 of paint for the living room {who knew there were so many grays!}, and being blessed once again by the TJ Maxx gods with enough matching curtains and curtain rods that match our look!

Side story: our first night in the house was supposed to be Valentine's Day, but we moved in a week early. My gift to CJM was this shiplap sign with our name and the house's coordinates on it, similar to how my wedding jewelry from him had important coordinates, too! I got it on Etsy, and it looks so good! 

Without any Internet or TV, and phone data in my case, CJM and I had sushi on the coffee table while watching a movie last night to celebrate a successful weekend. We are so grateful for all of our supportive friends and family who helped us move; it's truly a labor of love to help someone move. It's so nice to plan on not moving for a really long time.

Can't resist the fun holiday decor!

After I finish up work next week, I'll have a couple of weeks to unpack and get everything settled before starting my new job. I'm looking forward to getting to know the neighborhood and area much better, and relaxing while working on some fun projects throughout the house and on the blog--I can't wait to share!

January Recipe Review

How is it already the end of January?!

I really didn't set any New Year Resolutions this year because I knew we'd have a lot going on the first few months of 2017. And while I didn't succeed in keeping up my goal of trying new Pinterest recipes every month of my newlywed year, I have had a few wins and added some new favorites to my recipe box.

Follow me on Pinterest!

January saw us trying out two new healthy recipes that I found on Pinterest: Shrimp Fried Cauliflower Rice and One Pan Healthy Sausage and Veggies. 

image via

Cauliflower rice has become such a "thing" lately, but making it at home always seemed like such a mess. Now there are tons of flavors and varieties of it at the grocery store in the freezer aisle. I used this recipe, but made it easier by using the frozen cauliflower rice {unflavored} and a frozen bag of mixed vegetables. To add a little kick {you know we like it spicy in our house} I cooked the thawed, deveined shrimp in olive oil, garlic salt, and red pepper flakes. This was a super yummy, super quick meal that made a lot!

image via

I made this deliciousness in my wok one night, and let me tell you, it almost smelled like pizza. Not sure why, maybe it was the Italian seasonings, but it was so good. I left out the potatoes to make it lower in carbs, and just added whatever similar seasonings I had in my pantry {red pepper flakes for the win, again!}. I'm really not a fan of turkey anything, but this turkey sausage was really delicious! I'd definitely add more broccoli the next time around; it soaked up all the flavors and were the best bites of the bunch. This dish packs well for lunches throughout the week, and is so perfect with a sprinkle of parmesan on top! 

What I'm Reading

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image via Amazon

The forecast is calling for basically 100% rain and thunderstorms all weekend here in South Georgia. I'm looking forward to snuggling with the pups, and spending Saturday morning on the couch with a good book. Rainy days usually make me super sleepy, but after a little downtime, I have got to spend some time organizing my house! I'm trying to be thankful for the rain, which we need, and also being forced to stay inside and work on somethings.

I'm currently in the middle of The Hypnotist's Love Story, and read The Husband's Secret one beach weekend over the summer. I really love the author Liane Moriarty, and am planning on reading the super popular Truly Madly Guilty next! Her style of writing kind of reminds me of older Meg Cabot books that I loved in high school, so it brings back the "warm fuzzies" of reading that I've been looking for the last few years.

I'm personally working my way through Kingdom Woman in my Bible study, and will probably start the 90 day devotional once I'm done. It's been great so far: practical and applicable, while still pushing you to be your best {aka a "Woman of Excellence"}. It's a really easy read, and I like how it presents a lot of information, but then also encourages your own exploration of the topics within the Bible as well.

Next will be Grace Not Perfection: Embracing Simplicity, Celebrating Joy by Emily Ley. Besides being the most beautiful book ever {hot pink and pineapples anyone?!}, this book speaks to my desire to simplify, organize, and be less stressed! With a lot coming up in the next few weeks, and a huge desire to purge all the junk that has accumulated in my home over the last two years, I think this read will be very engaging.

What have you been reading lately? I love getting suggestions, especially for good young adult/romance series!

Prepare 2017

Well hello, 2017. Ten days later, and finally getting around to a "new year" blog post. Oops. No excuses other than an amazingly busy start to the year which is clearly going to be setting the tone for the months to come.

I spent a lot of time the week before January 1 thinking about this next year. It'll see us celebrating our first year of marriage, Christopher's first full year as a pharmacist, and many more milestones. In some ways I was worried that after the wedding, things would just become kind of blah. That's definitely not going to be the case!

Instead of setting resolutions for the new year, I know a lot of people focus on an all-encompassing word the focus their minds and actions, which seemed right up my ally. I'm very futuristic, and focus a lot of my time on planning...everything. From what I'm going to wear each day of the week, to when I'm taking my next trip, or going to work on the blog, it's a never ending calendar and checklist of things going through my head.

Sometimes that can seem negative, but I'm trying to focus that energy into something positive. That introduces my word for 2017: prepare. I love being prepared. I hate being caught off guard. As much as I enjoy surprises, I don't like to be surprised by a problem or a situation that I don't feel comfortable tackling immediately. This part of myself, this resistance or fear or whatever it is, can be refined through preparation.

I also want to prepare my heart and my family. Christopher and I don't see each other every day, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to prepare to be the best wife, housekeeper, cook, laundry person, etc. I want to prepare my home to be ready for guests, and to be enjoyable for us to spend time together. I want to prepare my heart to love my husband and my family in the most Christ-like way I can. I need to prepare time for friends and investing in relationships around me. I pray for a warmth and acceptance to flow from me to all those around me.

Yes, yes, this is probably the most "safe for a Type A person" word of the year. But it's practical and attainable. And is something that my heart craves. I'm so thankful for those of you coming on this ride of a lifetime with me in 2017!

"Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be brave and strong." -- 1 Corinthians 16:13