playing catch up!

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8

With packing, moving, working, monogramming, wedding planning and preparing for the renovation, I've gotten quite behind on my blog! I'm so glad that I started it when I did, because I was lucky enough to capture our house being moved, our engagement and now, our wedding planning. Of course Charlie rolls his eyes when he needs me to do something and I tell him I'm busy updating my blog, but I think it will be great to look back over all that we've done at these important milestones we've recently met and those soon to come.

Over the summer, we were lucky enough to make a trip to Nashville for Charlie's cousin Courtney's wedding. It was absolutely fabulous! She's a fab blogger, author and creative guru so you can imagine how fantastic her wedding was! Guests were asked not to snap any pics at the wedding so I don't have any to share, but there were lots of other fun things we got to do during our long weekend away.

 First, we met up with our sweet friend Rachel! She and her husband, Doug, moved to Nashville after college so I don't get to see her near as much as I'd like. It was great to connect with her while we were in her neck of the woods. We ate at Whiskey Kitchen and the food was good, but the basil berry lemonade that was fan.tast.ic! It was so great to see you, Ray!

 For breakfast the next morning, we are at the Pancake Pantry. I wish I could tell you how delicious the food was! We are so spoiled living in Charleston... with many, many great restaurants, I'm hard to impress when traveling. The Pancake Pantry did not disappoint! The line was out the door, but it moved quickly and the service was great (and fast) once we were inside. We'll definitely be going back during our next trip to Music City!

d-lish!

Full belly = happy Charlie!

Of course, Courtney had a huge goodie basket waiting for us at the hotel. One of the boxes inside had homemade puppy chow. It was a much needed snack after touring the city all day!

Rehearsal dinner!

groom's cake

 Recognize these from Pinterest? Courtney started yet another fad... Groomsmen baskets with a personalized steak branding iron! 

 Saturday before the wedding we found out about a food truck rodeo happening in town. We love food trucks so we just had to go and we were very happy that we did! Charlie opted for the loaded burger...

and sweet potato fries...

 I went with the pork pot roast. Excellent decision! When you entered the park, each person was given a ticket to vote for their fave food truck. This pot roast got my vote!!

Gorgeous day in the shade at the food truck rodeo!

Wedding time! Congrats Courtney and Chris!!

I had to include this picture of Charlie while we were waiting to board our plane. He has a tendency to hoard save gift cards so when I actually got him to use a two year old gift card to Best Buy to buy these headphones, it was cause for celebration! Love you Cha :)

Be sure to check out Courtney's website, blog and books! She is such a sweetheart and Charlie just loves her to pieces!

http://pizzazzerie.com/

we're engaged (finally)!!

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart! Psalm 37:4

WE'RE ENGAGED!

I can barely believe it, but after nearly five years Charlie and I made it official... we are going to be getting married!! The details of our engagement are sweet and wonderful, and I still can't believe that I am so beyond blessed to have such a hunk of a fiancé and a gorgeous engagement ring! This post is quite late (read on for more), but I was proposed to by the man of my dreams four months ago looking disgusting a little less fab than I would've liked (reason number one why there are zero pictures) but I am the happiest girl in the world and cannot wait to marry my sweet Charlie June 22, 2013!

First picture as an engaged couple!

Mere moments after we got engaged, we packed our cars and left our precious home in Byrnes Down for the last time. We'd been packing for days and the time finally came for us to leave, but not before Charlie proposed! We got engaged in the back yard so that little house will always have a special place in our hearts. It was quite sad to go, but renovating (and painting, and landscaping, and decorating, oh my!) our own home will be a fantastic new adventure for us to tackle together as an engaged couple. We literally could not be happier! Unless you ask Charlie after he's been working in the yard all day on the weekends, then he probably could be happier... 

Bye bye Byrnes Down! And no, I don't ever ride by when I'm in Charleston to make sure the new tenants don't have it as cute as we did, why would you ask that?! 

After leaving our sweet little house, we made the 40 minute drive to Mom and Dad's house in Lebanon. We've been staying here for the past four months and anticipate being here at least another three. During the next three months, we'll begin to make preparations for the massive reno to take place in our  first house as a married couple! 

A couple of my most recent inspiration photos...

 Wouldn't this be so great to hide all those utensils off the counter? This sure beats a horizontal drawer packed full and jammed shut!

built in vanity 

 recessed sinks

 horizontal stripes

 farm sink and glass cabinet fronts

 sconces surrounding his and hers mirrors

 lantern fixture with upholstered chairs

 backsplash!

 wainscoting in the bathroom

 rustic and cozy

 warm hardwoods with trendy accents

bathroom storage

My our goal is to have wedding planning done by the end of the month so that we can focus solely on the renovations we'll be doing on the house. Today I suggested to Charlie that we spend the day shopping, going to see the lights at James Island County Park and then have a dinner date night to celebrate our wedding date being exactly 6 months away. Charlie's response, 'I thought we were getting married June 23rd.' Perhaps I should let him be more involved in the wedding planning?! We are very close to having our plans for the big day finalized and I owe a big thank you to our wedding planner for that. Ashley at WED Charleston is THE BEST in town! Not only do I love love love her, but each vendor I meet with says the best things about her. I couldn't imagine planning with anyone else!

Here's a teensy tiny sneak peak of plans for our big day!

Bethel UMC

Legare Waring at Charles Towne Landing

my love

outdoors

navy

seersucker

oh happy day!

The next six months will be busy for sure, but I am so happy knowing that all of the stress that goes along with all of the planning will be so worth it in the end! 

saying goodbye

Jesus said to his disciples, "Don't be worried! Have faith in God and have faith in me. There are many rooms in my Father's house. I wouldn't tell you this, unless it was true. I am going there to prepare a place for each of you. After I have done this, I will come back and take you with me. Then we will be together. You know the way to where I am going."

John 14: 1 - 6

I must say that as I was searching for the perfect Bible verse for my post tonight, I definitely found humor in John 14. After all, at the end of the month, my wonderful parents will welcome Charlie and me into their home until our new house is ready to move in. How long that will take exactly, we aren't sure... But in two short weeks we'll be leaving our cozy little house in Byrnes Down and make our move. We'll be downsizing and getting rid of everything that we don't absolutely love and want to put in the new house. Even better, we'll have an awesome opportunity to save money to put toward renovations for the new house! How lucky I am to have been blessed with such an amazing family who will welcome home their 25 year old daughter! 

These past few months my brain has been fogged with ideas of how to create the perfect home. Will I have the best storage? Will I have the best ways to hide all of our clutter organize? Will it be decorated well enough? Will I have picked the best landscaping for the yard? And not in the sense of best, better than everyone else, but best, best suited for our needs and likes. Unlike many guys, Charlie definitely has an opinion as to the decor and functionality there of. This, indeed, makes my job much more difficult. Will we both be happy with the choices we make? These thoughts race through my mind and after hours of scouring the web, give me heart palpitations, until I can no longer subject myself to the torture and close my laptop. But I can't complain... this time in limbo will give me the time to choose those things that are best for us. At the end of the day, we are creating a home. Our first home together! Hint Hint, I'd like to find something pretty and sparkly on my finger before then :)

A few of my favorite things that are certain to make the cut and be featured in H4

All of these can be found, here.

I love bronze, can you tell? For now, my efforts are concentrated on semi-permanent fixtures. Just thinking of decorating is too much for my head to handle! 

back to the basics

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

Over the past few months, as we've begun to prepare for our move to the new house, I've been thinking a lot about the direction of The Possum Shoppe. What originally started as a monogramming business, slowly morphed itself into a small business that dabbled in all things cutesy and handmade.  The main problem with this is that all things cutesy and handmade come with A LOT of materials that need to be kept in stock. A lot of materials kept in stock = lots of junk and not a lot of room for storage. This got me thinking... why did I start my little business almost two years ago? Was it to sew handmade dresses? Or to make one of a kind burp cloths? Or to sell mugs and sippy cups? I realized I was losing sight of why I started doing what I was only kind of still doing. Regardless, I love to monogram!

Bottom line, craft supplies are hard to store neatly and they take up a lot of room. So I'm getting rid of all of the fluff! Effective immediately, The Possum Shoppe is getting back to the basics and will offer only applique and monogramming to all of its fab-u-lous clients.
That means all of the fluff has got to go... a sale is in order!

Everything must go. Prices are valid while supplies last.

Bloomers $10 

(including traditional 3 letter monogram, in the color of your choice)

Size 1 (0 - 6 months) up to 18 lbs

Size 2 (6 - 12 months) up to 22 lbs

Size 3 (12 - 18 months) up to 26 lbs

Size 4 (18 - 24 months) up to 29 lbs

Size 5 (3T) up to 34 lbs

Size 6 (4T) up to 38 lbs

All pre-made bows as advertised on www.thepossumshoppe.com $5

All travel coffee mugs $10 + 1 additional free monogrammed insert

Price includes {one} travel mug and {two} monogrammed inserts

Fabric of your choice with one or 3 letter monogram

Despite the business overhaul, we will continue to offer our most popular ready-made item, monogrammed badge clips!

Valid now through Saturday June 30th at midnight

Badge clips, Two for $15

(Buy one get one 50% off!)

Fabric of your choice with one or 3 letter monogram

Prices will return to $10 per clip after sale ends July 1st

No delivery options available with clearance items. Customer must arrange for local pick up or opt to add $4 to order total, flat rate shipping cost. 

To claim these prices, you must send me a message through my personal Facebook page. Any orders placed through alternative outlets will not be processed. 

With all of these exciting changes, www.thepossumshoppe.com will be debuting a new look!

New thread colors and new monogram fonts coming soon! 

As we redirect our focus, you can expect to see more of this...

The monogrammed possibilities are endless!

All of the above products were monogrammed onto items supplied by clients. 

None of these items nor any other items will be available for purchase from The Possum Shoppe.