Blue Moon in St. Augustine

Somehow my week got thrown off. I woke up this morning thinking it was Saturday (on a Thursday).  :( Don't you hate that? Everything is going fine, it's not like I have some extravagant weekend plans either... just an odd feeling. Then I thought, maybe it's something in relation to the full moon we are having tomorrow night.

Do you have any big plans for tomorrow night's blue moon, or this weekend in general? I'm really looking forward to the Full Moon Sales on San Marco here in St. Augustine. I still haven't had a chance to stop by my friend Bri's shop Magnolia Supply and I'm excited to check it out.

I know I've been pretty quiet on the blog lately, but here's to changing that. I'm finishing up an online writing course over the next couple weeks and finally starting to settle into my new job. While my blogging slowed down over the last few months I established a solid yoga routine, worked on my writing, and was able to whip through some books I had on my summer reading list.

Sometimes you just need to take a break from blogging and refresh. Do you agree?

Grandma Love

Many people don't believe in writer's block, I do. If I have something I need to get off my chest I won't be able to freely write about anything else until I cover the thing that is upsetting me. This is that post. A lot has been going on in my life lately I need to write about, but this is most recent and most dear to my heart.

My Grandmother recently passed away. I'm not writing this for your pity, she was just such an amazing lady and I want to talk about her memory here. Her laugh, silly antics, and the love she emanated to everyone she knew, and even those she met in the grocery store line, will be missed. My Grandmother was the closest thing to a role model that I really looked up to in my life. She may have been a stay at home wife, but she was a busy lady with a heart of gold.

I have never seen one person with so much patience. She taught my sister and I how to cross stitch at a very young age. She was the cleaning fairy when my Mom was a single mother, and a miracle worker with anything broken. If you had a broken ornament in hundreds of pieces,  no problem, she would take her crazy glue and her crazy self and put that thing back together.

Oh you had a bad day? A good day? An okay day? You should go shopping. That was her answer to everything-- well that and dessert. As her first Grandchild we had a special connection (not to discredit my cousins). I hope I am like her and able to keep the great memories of her clear in my mind for years to come.

Not a day will go by when I won't think of her. Knowing that she is now with my Grandfather in Heaven is re-assuring. Rest in Peace Grandma. I LOVE YOU!

Life Lately

A few weeks ago I wrote about getting into a new routine and waking up earlier. I can honestly say I am now in the habit of waking up at 6:30. It took about a week for my dogs to get into the new routine and they now seem to think I should get up even earlier. :/ What have I done!!? Just kidding, the extra time has allowed me to be more productive in my day.

My husband and I went to an art auction recently held by the St. Augustine Yacht Club. We may have been the youngest people there but we still enjoyed ourselves. Dee won bought me a gorgeous painting from Lee White for our anniversary, 8 years together. :)

I had been to livestock auctions as a child with my Dad, this was a teensy bit different. The lack of hay and alfalfa scent, the patrons attire, and the wine that replaced the hot chocolate I used to drink at the livestock auctions were the biggest differences. The auctioneer still talked way to fast to understand, items were corralled to the front for viewing and then auctioned off, or passed over.

It was Dee's first time at an auction and he is already talking about the next one.

Have you been to an auction before? Do you like them or would you rather stick to eBay? 

5 Rewards to Help Establish a New Habit

Last Tuesday I woke up a half an hour early to make time for a bit of writing before work, the product was my post Eating Meat Again, and a better day overall. I felt like I had already accomplished something when I got to my full time job and it put me in a better mood. I would compare it to a runner's high after a morning gym session.

In an effort to turn this into a habit, I've been trying to come up with an enticing morning routine for myself. It apparently takes 21 days to establish a new habit so I'm thinking if I can make it until March 1st I will reward myself. At that point it should be an established habit.

No I did not master this with my Keurig, Kookaburra Coffee in St. Augustine is the best at waking me up.

5 Rewards Under $10 to Help Establish a New Habit:

• Bubble bath with the good stuff.
• New fancy bottle of nail polish, Salley Hansen's Miracle Gel lasts a week for me.
• FroYo, a bit of a splurge at $7 plus.
• Cute stationery from Target's dollar section.
• A designer cupcake; northing gets me moving like knowing dessert is in the near future. ;)

I am a morning person, but considering it takes a lot of effort for me to get moving at 7:00 a daunting 6:15 is intimidating. With my Keurig ready and my laptop charged I'm starting at 6:30 and plan to bump my wake up time earlier within a week.

How did you establish a new habit with yourself?

Eating Meat Again

After three years of no red meat, I had my fist steak on New Years Eve. After watching some really gruesome and eye opening food documentaries I tried vegetarianism for a month, that turned into a year, then I added in fish for a year, then chicken for the last, and now I'm back to meat. Full circle.

Blue cheese burger time!

If you are a vegetarian or vegan yourself you are probably wondering why I went back to the meaty ways, where as if you are not I can almost guarantee you are cheering me on for coming back to the "real food." All of these changes were for health reasons of my own and the decisions were made after digesting new bits of information each time. The initial two, adding fish and then chicken back in  were because I was trying to work out and the vegetarian diet just wasn't cutting it for me. I know there are those of you that make it work, but it just wasn't something for me.

If I wanted to be waif-like, not work out and just eat vegetables and the occasional tempeh it might have been fine. But I needed to run and I despise protein shakes and tofu doesn't really do it for me. The best tofu recipe I found was for a dessert, Tofu Pudding. My problem with protein shakes is that they all taste chalky to me - even "the good ones." I also noticed that whenever I was choking swallowing them down I would breakout like crazy. Definitely not something I was okay with so I added seafood back into my diet.

When seafood still wasn't giving me the energy and stamina I had hoped for I added chicken back in.  I wasn't running marathons here either, just three miles max.

Now I'm almost 29 and it's time to start thinking about growing our family. Lack of meat, lack of iron... you can Google it if you care to. And I'm not going to lie, I really wanted a filet smothered in blue cheese. I am just over a month in to having pork or beef three times a week and I feel fine. A little fuller feeling the morning after having one of the two, but no stomach aches or anything. I am still being conscious about what I eat. Always going for the grass-fed, free range options, and limiting how much meat I do eat.

Note that I have not had my blood-work done so I have been making all of these changes off of just knowing my body. I have had a few people ask how the transition back to eating meat has went so I wanted to write it out for any others considering doing the same and looking for a reference. I am not trying to tell any of you to change up what you eat, nor am I asking to be chastised by the vegetarian gang. Just simply telling how eating meat again has affected me.

Have you made any major changes in what you eat? 

I will still being eating vegetarian meals a 

couple times a week, do you have any good recipes to share? 

Perhaps your best way to prepare tofu?

Linking up with OrgJunkie

Life Lately

A couple months ago I signed up for a 10K, was all gung ho, and even went out and bought a heart rate monitor for my training. Three weeks from the race I downgraded to a 5K. Here's why- LIFE! I know excuses, excuses... new opportunities came up though and my time had to be redistributed. If you are a regular reader you know I have a full time job in addition to my blogging which sometimes makes it difficult to find real free time, and waking up at 5 AM to go run is not something I'm willing to do. I applaud those of you that do.

I still feel like I'm letting myself down, but then again at least I'm running a race at all. I could just bail out entirely and not even run the 5K... don't worry though I'm doing it even if I only have an eleven minute mile average. Oh well, I'm not on the couch and I'm doing something. Right?

A photo posted by Meaghan A. (@justmeaghan) on Oct 10, 2014 at 4:29pm PDT

Onto the business that is life. St. Augustine Social gave me three full blown articles to write for their first print magazine over the last few weeks. {Insert excitement here} So cool! I got to interview a few people around town and had fun weaving everything together into the articles. I can't wait to hold the magazine that my first print pieces are in next month. :)

A photo posted by Meaghan A. (@justmeaghan) on Oct 10, 2014 at 4:50pm PDT

Follow me on Instagram @justmeaghan.

Fall Fashion Swap

Saturday I held my second clothing swap with a handful of friends. Everyone brought at least five fall/winter items, either clothes or accessories which were then hung up and put on display. Each of us had 5 tags to label our favorite pieces. If there was more than one tag on an item we stuck the names in a hat and pulled for the person who "won" the item.

Serena brought some Jamberry samples with her and showed everyone how to apply them to their nails. The accent nail of choice was definitely the ring finger. Seeing all the different designs on a nail and not just on the sheet made a difference. I ordered this black floral Sweet Nothing Nail Wrap. It looks perfect for fall and I can't wait to get them in! There are so many different Jamberry prints available, Jamberry even has a Pumpkin Spice Nail Wrap- hah!

Kelsey, Ashley of Sailor's Omen and Serena getting their Jamicures on.

We tried to keep all the food in theme with fall. Baked brie and apples, sangria, red pepper cheese dip, and pumpkin spice chai cookies filled the table. 

In the first swap this past spring we were accompanied by Serena's adorable son Milo, this time new mommy Lauren brought little Melody for our girls day. She was a happy little lady and not phased at all by the dogs.

Lauren  with baby Melody.searching for some new pieces.

Kelsey and baby Mel.

I have a Jamberry party open if you want to join. Serena says they can last up to two weeks, I have a set on now and I'll update you with the outcome soon. If my new set comes in before that I may be changing them sooner though. ;)

Have you been part of a clothing swap before? Would you hold one yourself?

Happy National Coffee Day!

My brand new Ashley Brooke Designs mug I picked up this weekend! #motivation

Happy National Coffee Day! How many of you are chugging PSL's this morning?

Coffee is my best friend on Mondays. I would be lost without my cup of joe at 8 AM while attempting to get my head back on straight for the work week.

Over the weekend I was able to attend two blogger events, Blog Fete in Orlando and a Denim Dinner hosted by Fab'rik in Jacksonville. I love meeting other like minded bloggers and being able to share tips and what has worked for us. More on those two later though.

Happy National Coffee Day and Happy Monday, meh. I hope you have a productive and caffeinated day. ;)

Love Your Mother Eco Fashion Show Recap

This past weekend was the Love Your Mother Eco Fashion Show put on by Panache. I had the privilege to model for my friend Michelle Dorminey's collection called Electric Metal. All of the designs she made were made from cords, soda can tops, wires, and lids. There are some more detail shots of my outfit in this blog post.

(Left to right) TJ, Tonya, Michelle, Shannon, me and Nicole

Here's a peek at what it was like to be a model behind the scenes for the event.

Over muffins, mimosas and fruits Michelle got us prepped for the show.

Getting my silver leaf lightening bolt touched up. Yes, it is just like the gold leaf you hear about in many DIY projects, and it was affixed with Elmer's glue. How cool is that?!

Instead of doing five models' hair AND makeup on the day of the show, Michelle prepped wigs for all of us. Crazy, wild wigs with electronic pieces as part of the headbands.

Crazy cool hair right? :)

This collection was made from old VW marketing material and made by Juliana Koutouzakis, the creative director of the whole show. These ladies looked so awesome

Our group just before taking it to the cat walk.

Dee brought his drone out and caught some images of the show from the sky. Thanks babe! :)

That's me on the big screen!

Rocking my eco fashion recycled get up like it was Versace!

DJ Applesauce and a bit of the crowd from above.

Of course it started to sprinkle right when our group was up. Luckily it didn't last long at all.

The Record has a compilation of photos from the event on their Spotted site. Definitely check that out to see more of the outfits from the Love Your Mother Fashion Show!

Image Source

As a fashion blogger I had such an awesome time modeling for this show, but I'm ready to be a viewer at the next one. Does anyone know of any fashion events coming up in St. Augustine or Jacksonville?

Busy with Writing, Wedding Planning, & Modeling

Sitting here this Saturday morning sipping my caramel latte from Kookaburra I'm thinking about how awesome this month will be. There's so much excitement going on right now, and the month is sure to fly by.

For starters, I've landed another writing gig! St. Augustine Social contacted me with an opportunity and I've signed on as a contributor for their magazine and site. I'm excited to be working with another publisher writing about St. Augustine. Stay tuned on my social media accounts to see some of the blog posts I write for them.

St. Augustine Social

St. Augustine may first appear as a sleepy little historic town with a beach, but there really is plenty to do here for young, active families and individuals. With the growing number of young entrepreneurs in town, there are increasingly more ways to spend your free time. Our town is truly amazing—why do you think so many people visit and then move here, or leave town only to come back? I can't wait to reach other locals and visitors to get them more in the know of what's happening here.

Next week I will be traveling to Georgia to help a college friend with her wedding. She and her soon to be husband hired me on as their wedding planner. More than just the day of coordination this time, I've been using my experience with weddings to help them figure out all the little details. Neither the bride nor the groom has ever attended a wedding—this blew my mind but it's not the first time I've heard it. I've enjoyed working with them and can't wait to get up there to make their wedding day be one of the best memories they will have. I think about my own wedding all the time and how thankful I am to have had a coordinator. No matter the wedding size it's nice to have someone else handle the stresses that day.

How cute are these two? :)

Shortly after coming back from Georgia I'll be in a fashion show. Panache, a local salon and spa, is having their annual Love Your Mother Eco Fashion Show and I will be modeling again. The last time I was in this show was when I was working there in 2008 at the front desk. It will be fun to be back with many of the same designers again and see some old friends. All of the looks are made from recycled materials, the theme for our group this year is based around cords. Phone, internet, old computer cords, etc. I'll be sure to post some photos on the day of so follow me on Insta if you aren't already!

Backstage at the 2008 Eco Fashion Show. I'm second from the left with super short hair. Hubs is in the middle ;)

Well, back to Saturday morning life and too much caffeine running through my veins. I'm off to bark some more at my smallest dog  through the paper towel roll, he loves it. haha

Is fall a wonderful time of year or what?! What do you have going on this month?

Feeling Nostalgic

My best childhood memories are outdoors. Playing in the sand with Grandma making "hamburgers" and cooking them on a crisscross sand grill, taking walks around the farm with my Dad learning what the different plants and birds were, and picnics by a lake with my Mom feeding the geese. These are some of my favorites from when I was younger.

Kisses for my pony cocoa. You know you like that outfit. ;)

Growing my family in the future has me thinking about the memories I want my children to have. They will definitely be little surfer dude/dudettes with my surfer husband, but I also want them to know a bit about the country life. I am very lucky to have experienced both country and suburban life growing up. My Mom and Stepfather lived in a suburban area and had a condo at the beach, while my Dad and Stepmother lived on a 100 acre farm (in a town that at one point when I was younger had a population under 15) with a vacation cabin in the mountains. Talk about opposites.

Fishing at Dad's pond.

My kids will be taught about the native fauna. I hope that we will be able to take them to visit the mountains throughout their childhood. I don't see us moving out of St. Augustine with Dee's business here in town - woodsy vacations will have to do.

Apparently I thought this was a good #ootd to pose in. Hah!

What are some of your best childhood memories?

1 Year Anniversary Getaway to Orlando

This past weekend was my 1 year wedding anniversary. As usual time got away and we didn't plan anything big to celebrate. So over lunch at Sunset Grille on Saturday we came up with a quick getaway, and thankfully had a neighbor willing to care for our dogs. {You rock Kim!!!}

We arrived in Orlando Saturday evening at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress. This was a legit resort, not just a hotel with a pool calling themselves a resort. There were 2 pools with waterfalls, a water-slide, and a lazy river, we also had access to bikes, kayaks, hammocks and the tiki bar by the pool.

Our first night there we went to a taco joint on Universal's City Walk. It was awful — Taco Bell would have been better. Stale taco shells, bad meat, crappy chips and salsa... Overall we were not happy, at all.

The rest of our meals and time in Orlando made up for it though. The in-hotel restaurant Cascade was our breakfast stop before heading to a day of pool lounging. Dee had an Eggs Benedict with Crab (tons of crab) and I had a Zucchini and 3 cheese Frittata- Yummy!

We had an awesome time relaxing by the pool in the morning then took a break from the sun midday and I actually went to the gym! Weird right- gym on vacation? It was good though and I need to keep up my training for the 10K in November. I got in two miles on the treadmill and then headed back up to hubs. It was our anniversary trip after all...

Then it was back out to the pool and another Caribbean Colada for me. Someone please bring me one of those now, it was soooo good! A storm rolled in and cut our pool time short, but it was time for showers and dinner so that worked out.

Last time we were in Orlando we went to Hash House A Go Go for breakfast, the meals were MASSIVE! That of course was dinner, our true anniversary dinner- yes. Again the food was amazing and way too big. Dee went for another Eggs Benedict meal, with chicken this time, and I had Chicken and Biscuits. Our cocktails there were average sized, but the wide straw made it seem bigger and trucker status like the food.

The trip of course was not long enough, but it was nice to get away for a day or so and not worry about anything at the house.

Not the best photo but one of the few we took of the two of us.

I love you Didier Eduardo! I cannot believe a year has already passed since our wedding. Time really does fly when you're having fun!