Pinch Proof | All Things Green

Charleston Rice Beads Necklace & Bracelet | Gold Shamrock Studs | Gigi's of New York Green Clutch | Collyn Raye Top | Green Cashmere Poncho | Green Beaded Tassels

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It's the time of year where all things in Dublin, Ga., begin turning green! With green bows on mailboxes and shamrocks on doors, there's more than enough green to go around. I rounded up a quick list of a few of my favorite green {and gold!} St. Patrick's things to wear throughout the month of March and into spring.

Of course I love the Charleston Rice Beads green necklace and bracelet combo. These are two great pieces to add a touch of green to any outfit; I particularly like adding it over a black dress or a white top with navy pants. Dainty gold shamrock studs don't scream green, but are definitely festive, and would look so cute with the lime gingham Collyn Raye top with white jeans.

This jade monogrammed clutch is on major sale {50% off!}, and is another piece that can be added to a non-green outfit to make it St. Pats appropriate, just like the cashmere poncho. And finally, who doesn't need some green tassel earrings. These look just like the ones from Baublebar but are only $10 and come in so many colors.  Plus, Prime, so go get a pair or two!

Erin Go Bragh! 

Girlfriend Gift Guide

Shopping for the girls is probably one of my most favorite parts about the holiday season. They're all into different things, and I like to gift things that complement their interests, lives, or passions. Being in our mid-twenties {yikes, that sounds funny!}, a lot of the girls are traveling frequently for work, weddings, and getaways. A monogrammed travel jewelry case is absolutely the way to go. It keeps all of the chains and pieces separated so they don't get tangled, and helps keep earrings in their place and not lost at the bottom of a duffle bag. This can also be a great gift for a bride-to-be who will be heading out on her honeymoon soon!

Scarves are always a stylish gift, and I love this soft, gold fringe scarf from Gap. Kick it up a notch, and have it embroidered with their initials in a similar color for an elegant personalization. Speaking of gold and personalization, the Insta-famous gold stripe Kate Spade travel mug can be customized with a variety of monograms or colors when ordered through Swoozies, which is the absolute best one-stop gift shop!

I absolutely love Christmas time makeup gift sets. They're my favorite! There is so much excitement in getting a million lip glosses or eyeshadows to last the whole year long. Ulta always has a great selection of items and brands to meet a variety of price points.

Everyone has that friend that is always looking for their keys, or their phone, or both! Featured on Oprah's favorite things for 2016, the Orbit Keyfinder finds it all, and is only $30 and comes in a variety of colors, so it's the perfect gift for any girl or guy.

Winter is all about spending cozy time around the fire, and these multi-color glitter slippers are the perfect fireside accessory! They're also available in gold. Another favorite accessory is the Charleston Rice Bead bracelets. They come in so many different colors to mix, match, and stack! These bracelets are so unique, and can be paired with coordinating necklaces and earrings, too.

Girls love wine. There's no doubt about that! So give your best wine-o a Rewined wine scented candle! Pick their favorite "flavor" of wine, or surprise them with something new. These are the best smelling candles, ever! I love the moscato scent, of course!

I think I'm putting my Christmas decorations up next week, but for some reason I'm already feeling behind! So many people already have theirs done. At least all of my Christmas shopping is completed except for three!

Gift from my Groom

Christopher and I chose to exchange gifts prior to our wedding, but to do so separately as to not see each other before the ceremony. I'm so glad we ended up doing this, because it became my favorite part of our awesome wedding video! 

For my gift, Christopher gave me two things: a handwritten note and a bracelet. I love love letters, and I have every one he's ever written me stored away in a mason jar. This one was extra special, not just because it was on our wedding day, but because he wrote what I've been asking about forever which was what he said when we got engaged. That moment of the proposal was such a whirlwind, that I can't even remember what he said to me! I know that is so awful {this is why you should always take pictures/videos of everything, in my opinion!} but it's true. 

 My second gift from him was a beautiful silver coordinates bracelet engraved on one side with Statesboro, where we met, and the other side with Myrtle Beach, where we got engaged. I love it! It's such a dainty little piece that I'll treasure forever. I wore it down the aisle with a bracelet that my grandmother made for me to match bracelets she made for all the little girls in our wedding party.

While we were on our honeymoon, Christopher said something in passing about having another gift for me. I remember looking at him, but not saying anything. I love presents, but don't like to think too much about them because I get really worked up and excited which can be a little distracting, and at that point we had like five more days on our cruise left! 

When we got home on Sunday to a cleaned house with rose petals on the bed, my dress displayed beautifully, and wedding memorabilia throughout the house, he presented me with another gift: a 14 karat gold coordinates necklace featuring our wedding venue. In his words, he "couldn't give it to me before the wedding, because we weren't married yet!" It was such a great surprise; I've been wanting a gold bar necklace for forever, and love that this one bears such great meaning. 

The necklace is beautiful. It compliments the bracelet perfectly! I love that I can wear them together, or wear one or the other if I'm doing more gold or silver on that day. The necklace is a shorter length which layers perfectly with some of my other necklaces for a really cool look. I think I'll plan on adding more coordinate bars of different lengths as we reach various milestones and memories.

Necklace and bracelet can be found here. Our beautiful monogrammed linen coasters, here, thanks to our lovely Matron of Honor!

Wedding Wednesday | Put a Ring on it

When Christopher and I began planning our wedding, one of the decisions we had to make was what wedding band he would like. My engagement ring came as a part of a set with a matching wedding band which made everything really easy. After looking at a couple of different styles at jewelry stores, Christopher decided he liked a few different elements: a hammered or distressed outside, the idea of a finger print or engraving on the inside, and a very narrow white gold band.

Like most brides, I spent way too much time and money on Etsy during the planning process, but actually stumbled upon a custom ring company called Brent & Jess. They had a wide variety of designs, sizes, and materials, but the number one thing that sold me was that they custom make each ring using a physical imprint of the fingerprint. It's not just an engraving; you can actually see and feel the textures of the fingerprint!

I was intrigued by the process, and decided that this was the best way to get all the details Christopher was looking for in a ring. So I made my selection, and waited on the kit to arrive. When it did, I was very impressed. The instructions were very straight forward, although I did have to have some MOH help with this process, the branding was very concise, and it all made me very excited to get started!

You can choose if you want the fingerprint included on the outside or inside of the band. Since I chose a hammered outside, my fingerprint went on the inside of his wedding band. I decided to do my left ring fingerprint, since that's where my wedding band will be. The basic gist of the process is you have to heat water to a certain degree, lay the flat molding piece on the hot water before pressing your finger into it to take on the fingerprint. After running the finger with the mold still on it under cold water, the strip is pulled off and the kit is returned to the manufacturers. They sent a couple of strips so you can do the process a few times which will hopefully ensure a clearly detailed mold that can be used to make the ring.

Ring Kit

Sample of the fingerprint

Lots of directions!!

Make sure to mash your print into the mold
cleanly and deeply

Running the impression under cold water
to help it set

The littlest helper!

My ring fingerprint

Six to eight weeks later, the ring arrived! It looked even better in person than I could have imagined. Christopher didn't want to see his ring until our wedding day which made the surprise even more fun for me. I did make him try it on a few times with his eyes closed to make sure that it fit! 

Brent & Jess make all different kinds of jewelry: rings, necklaces, and charm beads. They were a great Etsy company to work with: very quick to respond, ship, and stay in communication throughout the entire process. I appreciated the communication as this is a kind of long process, and it's such an important piece! I'm thrilled that Christopher has a one of a kind wedding band, and that he'll always be able to wear a little piece of me with him each day.  

Such wonderful packaging!

Christopher's unique wedding ring!
I can't wait to see professional pictures of it!

Winner, Winner, Oyster Dinner!

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{Flashback Friday} Top Pins

After switching to my new domain this week {www.piperellice.com | yay!}, I had a lot of updating to do. Instagram profile, Facebook profile, Pinterest profile...oh, wait. All of those pins from the old URL won't forward to the new site. Unacceptable! But I also don't have time right now to update every. single. pin. 

So I pulled up every Pinterest pin from the old startingsouthern.blogspot.com {be sure to update your bookmarks with the new URL, or follow by email/Google+!} and looked for the most popular pins to edit and update with the new links. It was pretty easy to spot the top pins from my blog, but also really interesting! It seems there's definitely a theme of popular Christmas pins, followed by home decor and fashion. 

Here are the top pins from my blog over the last three years: 

 

15 Pins Grinch Cookies. Just peanut butter sandwiched between Ritz crackers, dipped in green candy melts, topped with sprinkles, but oh so delicious! I love the sweet and salty combo of this Christmas treat. I also am addicted to candy melts. If they're in the house, I will eat them. Weird, I know. Obviously, these don't have to be dipped in green, that's just all I had on hand at the time and it seemed fun. This year, I just used white almond bark. 

16 Pins Still one of my most popular posts, these earrings from my Christmas list two years ago were pretty popular. I still want them! The classic pearl circled by delicate diamonds is a truly timeless piece of jewelry. 

54 Pins My shabby chic dining room in my first apartment! I'm no longer using that table in my dining room, but have moved it out to my sun room now that I have more space. I recently purchased a beautiful hand painted dining room table that I'm using with those same chairs. The chest behind the table still serves as my wet bar/china hutch until I get my china cabinet down here from South Carolina. And the wall art: once a ceiling fan medallion, painted and hung, is something I still use! It's now in the living room. 

381 Pins Fabulous work wear inspiration from a post about thrifting for Pinterest inspired outfits. I'm glad that so many others found this picture to be as stylish as I did! This reminds me that I need some tweed...

Do you follow me on Pinterest? Follow me, so I can follow you back! I'm always looking for new inspiration!

V-Day Her Way

I'm in major countdown mode right now. 95 days until I get married. 144 days until Christopher graduates from pharmacy school. And 18 days until Valentine's Day!

So what to give those girls in your life? The Hotty First Impressions Lilly Pulitzer pattern is one of the most popular patterns in recent years. Why not a floral scarf that is truly better than a bouquet? If your sweetie is obsessed with all things Breakfast at Tiffany's and Audrey Hepburn, this inspired eye mask along with some Lisi Lerch tassel earrings will do just the trick. I just got my earrings in a few days ago, and I can't wait to wear them this spring and summer!

Continuing with the gold trend...Lucite gold and sparkly Kendra Scott bangles. I think I would wear these every. single. day. I love them! I'm also loving all of the marble looking covers coming out right now for iPhones, Macs, etc. I really like this case because it's got protective edges and I'm forever dropping my phone.

Lilly Scarf--First Impressions | Breakfast at Tiffany's Eye Mask
Kendra Scott Bangles | Lisi Lerch Tassel Earrings | Marble iPhone Case

Hugs and kisses from the soon to be Mrs.!

Wedding Wednesday: Monogram Me

One of the things I look forward to most about getting married, besides seeing each other everyday and creating a life together, is FINALLY being able to monogram something. Anything! I have not purchased a monogrammed item in over four years. I guess I could have been monogramming contentedly throughout the years, but I knew he was the one from like a month in, and it just seemed like a waste of money to monogram things that would be "old" after getting married.

My wonderful bridesmaids have been on the lookout for all the marvelous "M" things they can find, so we can decorate the wedding and our home with the main initial. But I can't wait to monogram things for just me, with my new monogram: pMd! I of course adhere to the "no married monograms prior to marriage" rule to a T {or an M}, so I can't wait to go all out starting in May. My sweet beau did buy me my first monogrammed piece of jewelry for our 'date-iversary,' a perfectly petite 'M' Kate Spade necklace! Luckily it says "one in a million" on the back, so I just wear it reversed for now, with the 'M' close to my heart until April 30.

These are few of the personal monogram items I cannot wait to get once I'm an old married woman:

Gigi New York leather purse with gold embossed initials
like this  one

Gold Monogram Filigree Necklace

Monogram Stackable Ring Set from Marley Lilly

I'm obsessed with this large acrylic monogram
necklace from Baublebar that looks like marble. Like,
must have immediately. 

A classic pinky signet ring

A new monogram decal for my car like this Georgia Southern one!

Birthday Recap: CJM is 24!

Happy birthday, Christopher {yesterday.}! Although we didn't get to see too much of each other yesterday, I'm forever thankful that you're only an hour away and we can have a late night El Som/birthday marg run on your day off. Also sorry that we're the same age again, which I know makes you sad {#cougar}.

Grown up birthdays, especially those that fall in the middle of the week, are kind of weird. I love birthdays, so I want it to be a big deal regardless, but the rest of the world seems to not feel the same. I tried to stretch it out just a little bit by bringing Christopher's birthday gift and goodies to him on Sunday when I went to visit his family. 

His favorite cookies are white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. Coincidentally, I also needed to do some baking for the Statesboro Jaycee's bake sale last Friday. So I whipped out the Kitchen Aid {which is never an easy task with the industrial one that I have} and made a double batch of this cookie recipe. Yum. So good, and very easy--my only suggestion is to bump up the temp to 350 degrees. I'm much more of a baker than I am a cooker and I find baking to be something of a stress reliever, too. 

Bake Sale-ers. 

For weeks I've been teasing Christopher about his birthday gift, saying that it was something I wanted him to have and not necessarily something he wants. Because I found it and thought it was awesome! His family is very into their Scottish heritage {he even plays the bagpipes, although I've never actually seen this happen}, and we are planning on incorporating the family crest into some of our wedding details. So when I stumbled upon this ring on Etsy, I thought it would be something he would really enjoy or could at least become a family heirloom of sorts.

How cool? I think he and his whole family were really excited about it. I know it's been a transition for him, getting used to wearing a ring, but it's good practice for that wedding band! Oh, and those truffles from the first picture? Major yummies. Birthday cake truffles--tastes just like birthday cake batter and they're made from golden Oreos and cream cheese. I found the recipe here, and I'm definitely going to try this out at Christmas with the mint oreos. Wouldn't they be pretty dipped in white chocolate with crushed candy canes sprinkled on top?  

Off the Cuff

My favorite accessory has got to be a good stack of bracelets. I won't leave the house without earrings on, but when getting ready every day I am rarely seen without multiple bangles stacked up behind my watch. I've gotten questions about why I only wear bracelets on my left arm--if I don't, they get banged up and are noisy when I'm writing with my right!

When I think of cuff bracelets, I think of huge costume jewelry not suitable for every day. But lately, I've stumbled across a couple of beauties worn by my favorite Instagram-ers, or on Pinterest.

 The Coordinates Collection is so cool. There are rings, bracelets, and necklaces that come in a variety of metals, with tons of different finishing options. I'd love to have one with the location of a very special place on it, like where Christopher and I met or got engaged. With the many different design options, this line could easily become your go-to for special events like weddings, amazing vacations, births, etc.

Kendra Scott is so trendy right now. I love how you can customize the stones to your liking. My favorite is the Andy Bracelet in Ivory Pearl. The unique shape is eye-catching, and I like the "mother of pearl" light reflecting and color changing qualities the stones give off.

 KJP and Sarah Vickers, need I say more? Of course this is the perfect bracelet. Part of the KJP Atlantic Pearl Collection, this Classy Girl bracelet is a little reminiscent of the David Yurman look, but way more gold and way more pearls--always a good thing. Need more reason to snag this pretty? One of my favorite classic prep blogs can give you plenty: Classy Girls Wear Pearls.

I've been telling everyone that my birthday/Christmas list is my wedding registry this year, but these could be great non-wedding related gifts, right?