Most Popular Posts of 2016

2016: what a year! I know the world is ready to see it go, but I really liked 2016 for the most part! Christopher and I really had a lot of great things happen to us and our families this year, and it was such a year of growth. For us, 2016 was a great foundation for good things to come in 2017. I love that feeling of something huge coming up over the horizon.

Here's a quick look back on my 2016, through the lens of my most popular blog posts! Thanks as always to my faithful friends, followers, and readers, you really helped this blog make some huge strides this year! I set a lot of personal goals for myself and Starting Out Southern this year, and without you, they wouldn't have been reached. I'd love to hear some feedback in the comments about what you'd like to to see more of in 2017 or any questions you have about me/the blog/the life!

January: Being a Bride | Megan     My first "Being a Bride" post featured Megan, one of my Phi Mu sisters. The popularity of her post in January immediately helped me land more posts on the topic, and solidified the wedding theme for this year on the blog.
February: Being a Bride | Emily     Emily's post was another popular "Being a Bride" feature. I think it speaks to the fact that people come to blogs to get to know other people! It's a social setting, so don't hesitate to comment, email, reach out on social media, etc. If you'd like to be the next bride, click the connect tab at the top of the page to email me today!
March: Invited to Party     By March, the wedding festivities were in full swing. This post featured the best friend designed invitations to one of my showers and my bachelorette weekend. I have been blown away all year at the popularity of this post. It's literally been pinned over 100 times--that's amazingly high for a personal pin from my blog!
April: Prom 2k16     I'm not surprised this was the most popular post in April; with a prom dress like that, of course it would be!
May: Bridal Portraits     My first true peak into our wonderful wedding was my bridal portraits post. Shared just after our honeymoon recap, this popular post in May set the tone for the chronicling of our wedding weekend as a faithful summer post.
June: Wedding Video     I'm so glad our wedding video was so well received because I LOVED it. I sometimes go back and watch it randomly just to get some lovey-dovey feels for the day.
July: Our First Look     We did a non-traditional first look at our wedding, which I think aided in the high readership of this post. It was a truly unique moment! If you missed out, here's your chance to find out what it was all about!
August: Black Transitional Dress     This was one of my first true styled outfit posts. How scary! As much of myself as I put out there on the Internet, doing a self-styled post was truly nerve wracking. But the positive response encouraged a few more throughout the year, and I look forward to including more looks in 2017's post line-up.
September: Christmas List     I would have been sad if this one hadn't been a hit, as one of my top five posts of all time is a Christmas list! I guess I know how to pick good gifts!
October: Hurricane Matthew     A "real-life" blog post, Hurricane Matthew was a hot topic for a few weeks. I'm thankful we didn't sustain any structural damage to our home, and that all of our friends and family were safe through the storm.
November: Being a Bride | Lauren     One of my favorite "Being a Bride" posts was my sweet friend Lauren's. Isn't she stunning?!
December: Trimming the Tree with Walker Boutique     This post is one that I'm probably the most proud of from 2016. It had been my goal this year to develop relationships with some of my favorite businesses and to work with them to bring their awesomeness to the blog. I'm so grateful Walker Boutique was excited to work with me too, and I can't wait to do more posts like this in the future.

And again, thank you to my full time life photographers {the hubs and the bff}, the consistent Facebook promoters {you know who you are!}, and those newbies who have just started stopping by. I appreciate every page click, Facebook like, or post share--they really do make a difference in helping this grow!

Ornament Review Round One

Keeping with tradition, I wanted to share with you a few of the new ornaments I've collected over the past year. Since I have two trees, and lots of ornaments, I'm going to break it up into two posts. Also, be on the lookout for an upcoming Christmas cocktail post with Infinity Jars, and check their site for any last minute gift needs!

 On our honeymoon, we picked up this beautiful pink and blue handpainted ornament from St. Thomas while we were shopping. I think that will have to be our "thing," purchasing ornaments from all of the different trips we take as a couple! Pink and blue {and glitter!} are two of my favorite colors, and this ornament represents the best week ever, so it's a new favorite for sure.

 I found this heart ornament at TJ Maxx last year and had to grab it because it's my family's china pattern. My Nana began collecting Old Country Roses years ago, and when I saw this ornament I had to grab one for her too!

My mom brought back this pharmacist ornament for Christopher for his birthday last month. It's so cute, and is the perfect reminder of the exciting year he's had!

My blogging and PR friend LeAnn who lives in Germany brought me this handcarved ornament from a German Christmas market, along with a good luck charm: a pink, gold polka dotted porcelain pig for my desk which is another German tradition!

 My mom brought this "Just Married" ornament back for us from a Christmas show in Charlotte, NC, just a few weeks ago. It's so cute! It reminds me of the ones we had growing up with my name and my brothers' names on it.

 This intricate Georgia Southern ornament is the one I gifted Christopher last year. Growing up, my brothers and I exchanged ornaments instead of gifts, which is how I have developed such an eclectic collection. I wanted to carry that tradition on to my family, and have been giving Christopher ornaments in his stocking ever since!

 The local Phi Mu alumni chapter does an ornament exchange every year, and I am always so lucky to bring home a beauty. I love this red and green plaid one!

I am transitioning our main tree this year--usually it's a lot more pink--but am waiting to do a major overhaul until next year. We really want to get a flocked tree, but since we might move houses in the next year, we wanted to wait to buy a tree not knowing what size we would need. As a happy medium, I rounded up a bunch of gold picks from Hobby Lobby to start my topper, and stuck a gold tiara from a bachelorette party last year up at the top! I love including little trinkets from the years in my trees; I've even included my bachelorette sombrero in this tree's branches!

Monday Memories: Halloween

Happy Reformation Day! Or as some say, Happy Halloween!!

While Halloween may not be my favorite holiday {come on, Christmas!}, I have had some cutesy and quick Halloween costumes in the past that I thought I'd share.

By far, my best Halloween costume to date. Pig in a blanket! Wear lots of pink, make a pig nose and ears {glued onto a plastic headband} out of a styrofoam egg carton, wrap yourself in a blanket, and get ready to "oink!"

A witch is one of the easiest costumes. I had the black dress and pink cardigan on hand, and just picked up a feather boa and matching pink witches hat from the party store! 

I don't like to invest too much in these costumes, so I re-wore a formal dress, and bought a plastic crown and princess gloves from Wal-mart for this beauty queen get up! 

This year, I'm going as Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast at Tiffany's, a.k.a. it's Monday and I have to work and it's going to be 86 degrees today so I wore a black shift dress and pearls. 

Happy Halloween! 

Marrying McAfee | Let's Party!

Oh the wedding reception...one of the most fun parts of the day. After dinner, the music cranked up, and everyone hit the dance floor. We had a friend from college {DJ Hurricane Herman, what what!} DJ our reception, which allowed for a lot of personal touches and requests. He definitely played to the crowd and got a lot of people moving, which was important to us. 

We took one break from the party to do the traditional bouquet toss, or throw in our case, and the garter toss. I surprised my maid of honor Kirstie by throwing the bouquet directly at her as a surprise. It was so funny. And Christopher surprised me by having hands full of ice when he went to retrieve the garter! I was so hot that I didn't even feel it for a few seconds...it just felt wonderful and cool on my legs, but it got icy, fast. 

Both my maid and matron of honor gave heartfelt and memorable speeches. Christopher's best man Elijah was deployed on our wedding day, but he had two great men step in to fill that place. A few weeks before the wedding, I had messaged Elijah to kind of put the idea out there of a surprise speech if it was at all possible. He was able to record his thoughts and our DJ played it for everyone to hear, much to Christopher's surprise. I'm so glad we were able to do that, and include Elijah in our special day from afar.

My Phi Mu sisters also did the traditional wedding cheer, and I was so proud of myself for remembering to bring my candle from the candle-light ceremony announcing our engagement in the Phi Mu house three years prior, almost to the day! I'm so thankful we were able to get a picture with our fabulous photographer, a Phi Mu herself.

 

Throughout the reception, I could tell that our friends were getting feisty and were creating quite the getaway car. We were scheduled to leave through a tunnel of sparklers at 10:30 p.m., but about 10:15 p.m., I hit my limit. I was exhausted, hot, and just ready to be alone with my husband! So I headed back to the getting ready space, and literally laid on the couch for five minutes while the sparklers were handed out to the remaining guests. When Christopher finally made it back to the room, he asked, "How's my little introvert doing?" He knows me so well, and knew my "socializing limit" had been met!

We spent a few more minutes by ourselves with our photographer and videographer soaking in the last seconds of the day before heading out through the front door through a beautiful tunnel of sparkles. After pulling Saran wrap {and condoms...boys...!} off the car, pushing out dozens of balloons out of the seats, and stuffing my giant dress into the car, we were off! We rode back to our house to change and grab our luggage before heading to Savannah for the night. I think we both couldn't stop smiling all the way home, and kept saying how it was truly the best wedding ever.

Thank you for following along while I chronicled these memories! But no worries, the wedding features will continue, as I have the honor of featuring a few friends and blogging buddies and their wedding days. If you're interested in your wedding being featured, shoot me an email at piperellice at gmail dot com.

Also a huge thank you to all of our family and friends, near and far, who made this day the best day of our lives. We love you all!

a note to my readers...

Thank you. Thank you for faithfully pausing your mindless scrolling through your various social media accounts to click on a link to a post on my blog. Thank you for checking back each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to read up on me and my life. Thank you for pinning, or sharing, or commenting on my posts.

I've had this blog, Starting Out Southern, for just over three years. It was a way for me to begin documenting my adult life as I graduated from college. It's been a place for me to document my DIYs, my date nights, my heartaches, and my celebrations. There are some of you that have been here since the very first post {hi, mom!}, and some that have just discovered me in the last few months.

In January, a few of my very close friends and now husband encouraged me to really begin to focus on the blog and invest in a future with it. It's been hard at times, coming up with consistent content and learning the ins and outs of a DSLR camera during my spare time, but it's been one of the most rewarding things I've done in a really long time. My readership has tripled in the seven or so months, and I've begun making a few dollars here and there which is surprising added bonus! I couldn't have done it without the constant support of my close friends and family, and the random "Oh, I love your blog!" comments and posts from those I don't see every day. 

So in return, I ask that you keep reading and checking in. If you are a regular reader, but haven't commented before, please do! I love keeping in touch with friends {new and old}. Subscribe with your email in the box to the upper right side of the page to get posts delivered to your inbox. Follow me on Twitter, Instagram Pinterest {all social media accounts are @piperellice} so that I can follow back and keep up with your life and see what inspires you! You're an active part in helping me grow this hobby into something bigger, and I appreciate it!

Happy weekend, everyone!

4 fourth of july memories

My family moved around a lot throughout my childhood, which meant I got to experience holidays in many different places with different traditions and events. I've always loved Independence Day due to my emotional obsession to fireworks and all things sparkly. Also, hotdogs, cotton candy, funnel cake, watermelon, boiled peanuts, etc.

This year, Christopher and I will be hanging close to home after have a couple really busy weeks apart and I'm looking forward to attending my first ever Firecracker Fest with friends. Some of my favorite memories surround the fourth of July, in some way or another!

1. When we lived in New York, we went to watch the fireworks shot off over the Hudson River. The weather is so very different there: much cooler, and no humidity compared to Georgia. I distinctly remember being told to bring a light jacket as it would get chilly once the sun went down {I also remember the atrocious silver wire glasses I wore at that time, but that's another story}. Over the next year, we moved back south, and when the fourth rolled around and it was time to go see fireworks, I ran to get a jacket much to the amusement of my parents. Needless to say, it took me a while to assimilate back into the warmer weather.

2. The summer after I graduated high school, we moved from north of Atlanta to Florence, SC, where I was born. My mom, who at the time had a very popular blog, invited the daughter of one of her bloggy buddies to come stay with us the week of the fourth. Brooke and I were close in age, and both of us were starting college in the fall. We spent the week together exploring Florence and we all went to Myrtle Beach on the fourth of July. We beached at the Myrtle Beach State Park, which is a great place to go for the day, and then watched fireworks that evening while eating dinner which was so much fun. Brooke also has a blog, and it's been a great way for us to stay in touch...check her out, here!

We had bought the same dress in different colors for Easter
and wore them together--weren't we the cutest?!

3. Two or three years ago, I went with my mom and brothers to the Darlington race track for the fourth. They have a huge event with turkey legs, race cars, and amazing fireworks. It was quite the people watching event, that's for sure!

4. Last year, Christopher and I spent the day on Hilton Head with some of his pharmacy school friends. We had a great time at one of the hotel's private beaches, and a lovely dinner at the Westin. But truly the best part was when we were coming back into Savannah over the bridge, just as the fireworks began over the Savannah River. We were higher up than the entire town, and could see sparkling explosions from every square, too. It was absolutely beautiful, and I so wish I had pictures from that night!

Happy fourth of July to you, and yours; here's to making new memories!