Maryland

Celebrating 2 Years and the Most Beautiful Day

18 Sep By Briana

This past Saturday was the Anniversary of our wedding day {the 3rd Saturday in September, the actual date is today!}. If you live in the mid-Atlantic then you know it was the most glorious day – bright sun, cool morning, cloudless sky, and a warm, humidity-free afternoon. The weather was just like it was two years ago for our big day. Goodness, were we blessed with the best weather to get married!

Coincidentally, we had plans to go to my parents house for dinner and drinks. Since it was the sight of our beautiful nuptials, it was extra special to make the short trip across the Bay Bridge to Momma and Poppa McFadden’s. We soaked up the nostalgia and reminisced about what a special day it was. How can the time have gone so quickly?

If you have been reading this blog, you probably know that my parents dock is one of the most special places to me. It’s the sight of many childhood memories, it’s where B proposed, and it provided part of the backdrop for our I Do’s.

On Saturday, the view from the dock, was phenomenal. It really made me stop and appreciate all of the wonderful things in my life. I’m so lucky to have so much to celebrate - another wedding milestone, time spent with my parents, and breathtaking-renews-your-faith-in-the-world-weather.

{Dad’s Mai Thai’s are a staple of any weekend evening spent with my parents}

{Shhh, don’t tell B, but my favorite kisses of the evening came from little, baby Bitsy!}

What do you have to celebrate?

Filed Under: Fabulousness Tagged With: anniversary, celebration, Eastern Shore, gratitude, Maryland, nostalgia, wedding

12 Comments

Life Lately

9 Jul By Briana

It’s no secret that my life recently has been consumed with healthy-living. It’s also not a surprise that this blog has reflected that (see examples here, here oh, and here). I have, however, found the time for activities that don’t involve counting calories, planning and doing intense circuit workouts, and measuring my body fat (more on that to come later this week!). Other things have been happening…

A crazy storm rolled through Maryland and left a giant branch only inches from one of our cars…

I bought a new pair of Ray-Ban sunnies after leaving my other Ray-Ban’s in a Target dressing room (that’s what I get for unnecessary shopping, lesson learned)…

I painted my nails with some new shades from Deborah Lippmann (Daytripper) and Essie (To Buy or Not To Buy)…

With temps past 100, I tried a sock bun to stay stylishly cool…

Penny earned some street cred and let her gangsta side out…

We spent a lovely (and bleepin’ hot) 4th of July at my parents’ house…

Mom and Dad showed off just a little bit of their patriotism (this was only a few of the flags they had flying)…

Like any good Maryland family, we had crabs to celebrate America’s birthday (note the flag pitcher)…

Well, there you have it, an inside look at my recent happenings (and by inside look I mean what everyone can see on my public Instagram)! Follow me here!

Filed Under: Beauty, Fabulousness Tagged With: 4th of july, beauty, Deborah Lippmann, Essie, life, Maryland, nail polish, Penny, Ray-Ban, Ray-Ban Emma, sock bun

15 Comments

May Day

1 May By Briana

Dance round the maypole, dance round the maypole
Over the green field and down to the hay
Lift up your hearts and dance round the maypole
Run to your true love and dance all the day

It’s May Day! In Annapolis it is tradition to put out May Day baskets full of beautiful flowers to welcome in the month. The Garden club of Annapolis judges the displays and selects a winner. It’s kind of a big deal and there are even strict rules to participating!

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Dried and artificial flowers are strickly forbidden (artificial flowers?? The shame!).
Baskets have to be on display by 10 a.m. so the ladies in hats can see them (pull an all nighter if you must!).
Businesses can arrange the flowers in containers that reflect their business, but homeowners must use baskets (Baskets people! Baskets!) .
Garden flowers and handmade baskets are given special consideration (start your basket weaving classes well in advance!).
Children under 12 can enter their own baskets and receive a pink ribbon and a lollipop (adorable!).
The judging takes place between 10:00 a.m. and noon.
The adult winners will be invited to the annual May Day Tea (a hot ticket in Naptown!).
Anybody in Annapolis can participate, but the judging is limited to the Historic District and parts of the Murray Hill neighborhood.

It’s rainy and gloomy today, but these pictures of past baskets brighten up the day!

All photos courtesy of Susan Reimer.

Have a Happy May Day!

Filed Under: Fabulousness, Gettin' Crafty Tagged With: Annapolis, flowers, Garden Club, Maryland, May Day, May Day Baskets, Naptown, nautical, preppy

7 Comments

Pink, Mai Thais, Croquet, Dogs, and Family

10 Apr By Briana

The best thing about still living in Maryland is being near family. I am so blessed to have a wonderful immediate family and they have embraced B as a bona fide McFadden. We really enjoy spending time with my parents, so there was no question where we would be heading to spend our Easter Sunday.

We got up bright and early to get ready and head over for brunch. My Dad is the ultimate breakfast chef. His omelets, French toast, and other yumminess did not disappoint.

The brunch table, the Easter Bunny brought us beautiful potted flowers for our yard instead of candy (my waist line thanks you EB)!

After eating and drinking mimosas to out hearts’ content, we went for a 4-mile walk with all our dogs in tow (my parents have 2, my sister has 1, and of course we have Penny). The pups all got to take a dip in the bay and the humans got to get a little exercise to make room for more eating later in the day. It was an absolutely gorgeous day to be outside!

The gorgeous cherry tree in my parents front yard, the sun in their backyard

Next up was a little post-walk relaxation, then it was time for Dad’s Mai Thais and a friendly game of croquet (a family spring/summer tradition!).

Our Mai Thais in the clever lawn drink holders, Sophie and Peaches lounging on the croquet course, I'm ready to play!

B, who is usually not the best croquet player (and that’s putting it gently) kicked all our butts. We tried to find any reason to disqualify him, but unfortunately there was none. I blame the cute, furry dogs and my delicious cocktail for distracting me and throwing me off my game!

Me and B wearing our Easter colors, Sophie, the dog, photoboming a pic of my sister and I!

My mom made a fantastic dinner to end the day! I’m pretty sure I can live off the fat stores from this one day of food for the next few weeks, but what’s a holiday without a little overeating?

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Filed Under: Fabulousness Tagged With: brunch, cocktails, croquet, dogs, Easter, family, food, Maryland

4 Comments

Get Me Out of Here

9 Apr By Briana

I have been lucky enough to travel to many places. I’ve been all over the US including San Diego, Miami, Chicago, Boston, and NYC (just to name some of the big ones). I’ve seen the ancient ruins of the Acropolis in Athens, the Globe Theater in London, and the canals of Venice. I studied abroad in Rome and soaked up every second of living in Italy.

I love to travel and experience new places, but I’ve also always loved coming home to good ol’ Maryland afterwards. That is, until I went to New Orleans. I know, I know, I’ve talked endlessly about that trip, but I can’t help it, the excitement to go was so great and the trip itself didn’t disappoint. Something changed during that trip, something I haven’t ever really felt before. I dreaded coming home and suddenly felt confined by my all-too familiar surroundings. I want to get out! I want to not just travel somewhere new, but move somewhere new. It’s time and I know Maryland will be waiting for me when I am ready to settle and re-grow my roots.

Yup, I've got it...

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It also doesn’t help that some of the blogs I read, especially the ones written by other military spouses living overseas, have given me the expat bug. I dream of living in another country! Shouldn’t we do it while we can, while the Navy will pay for our move and guarantee at least one of us a job? Shouldn’t we do it before we have kids and want to be near family? Shouldn’t we do it for the adventure and so we can look back on our lives, when we’re 80, and say “remember that time we lived in Italy/England/Germany/Japan? That was awesome!”

It's a wide open world out there

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It doesn’t necessarily have to be a foreign country, I think I could be happy going across the country to San Diego, Hawaii or Washington State. We still have two years left in the DC-area, and available job’s in B’s field will play a huge part in where we end up, but a girl can dream, plan, and over-analyze, right?

Stuck where you are? Live vicariously through these ladies:

Amanda is a Marine wife, who lives in Okinawa, Japan

Ashley is a Navy wife, who lives is Sicily

Jessica is an Air Force wife who lives in Italy

I know it won’t be easy and at times I may think “why the hell are we here??” But I know I want to give it a shot.

Do you dream of moving somewhere?

Filed Under: Fabulousness Tagged With: adventure, living overseas, Maryland, military family, military wife, moving, PCS move, travel, vacation

14 Comments

Opening Day

6 Apr By Briana

I’ll be spending my afternoon at Camden Yards, beer in hand, cheering on my O’s!

Have a fabulous Friday!

Filed Under: Fabulousness Tagged With: Baltimore, baseball, Maryland, Opening Day, Orioles

25 Things You Don’t Know About Me

5 Apr By Briana

I have a real addiction to trashy celeb gossip magazines. They help me get through long outings on the elliptical or stairmaster. My absolute favorite is US Weekly, and I especially love the feature “25 Things You Don’t Know About Me.” Who doesn’t want to learn that your favorite celeb crush can’t live without gummy worms?

Since I’m an over-sharer my “about” page is a little light, I thought I’d share my own 25 facts.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know me a little bit more! I certainly enjoyed the chance to over-share random information about myself. What’s something I don’t know about you?

Filed Under: Fabulousness Tagged With: about me, Annapolis, Baltimore, baseball, goldfish, ice cream, Jerry Maguire, Karma, marathon, Maryland, superstition, The Wire

14 Comments

Hump Day Happiness

7 Mar By Briana

How is it March 7 already???

Here’s a few things bringing me happiness on this Wednesday. Hope they bring you some too!

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I’ve seen this top floating around the blogosphere and loved it. I finally decided it was time to purchase when Old Navy had 30% off yesterday. This is the perfect top for a summer in Maryland.

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The weather today and tomorrow is going to be perfect. I couldn’t be more ready for Spring. I got spoiled in New Orleans and was rudely awakened when I returned north to temps in the 40′s (you mean it didn’t magically turn to Spring in Maryland while I was gone?!) . The weekend looks mediocre, but I’ll take the great days I can get.

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I have a scarf obsession. When I put one on, I instantly feel chic. Right now my go-to is this one the hubby brought home from Afghanistan for me. This beauty, and the rugs he purchased, almost made the time apart worth it!

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I’ll be the first to admit I have a problem with patience or more specifically lack there of. This made me laugh and feel like maybe I am not alone. (sorry for the bad word, but if you’ve ever commuted through DC traffic, you know it has a way of making it into your vocabulary!)

Filed Under: Fabulousness Tagged With: deployment, happiness, hump day, inspiration, Maryland, Old Navy, sailboat top, scarves, Spring, style, weather, Wednesday

6 Comments

Put a Little Prep in Your Step

8 Jan By Briana

I have lived the vast majority of my life in Maryland, specifically in the Annapolis area. For those of you not familiar with this amazing part of the country, let me enlighten you. Annapolis is a quaint, historical city situated on the Chesapeake Bay and there is water everywhere (rivers, creeks, bays). Fittingly, Annapolis has a big boating and seafood culture and it’s even called the sailing capital of the world. In the summer, people in topsiders and polo shirts run rampant around the Downtown waterfront, drinking Dark and Stormies and eating oysters. You can’t swing a skipper bag without hitting a woman in a J. Crew, or Lilly Pulitzer, dress. Annapolis really optimizes the coastal living, preppy lifestyle that you find all up and down the East Coast.

Annapolis!

It makes sense that my own personal style would be heavily influenced by my surroundings and experiences. I like to think my style is not the over-the-top-pop-your-collar preppy, but is slightly more sophisticated and well-rounded (at least that’s what I’m shooting for).