DIY Succulent Planters
7.31.2015

When we were in California, I of course had to stop in my favorite Anthropologie store (in Carlsbad at the Forum)! I obviously couldn't leave without buying a few small things to satiate my Anthro cravings (the thirst is real y'all), one of which being the gorgeous little distressed silver pot below. I've been wanting to do a succulent centerpiece for our kitchen table for quite some time, but I was holding out for the right pot. Well, this was it. So pretty and only $14! And it comes in gold if that's more your thing :) It goes well with our decor and I love that it has rustic glam vibes.

I'm no expert on house plants, but I do have quite a few of them and have been generally successful so far. I really want a huge fiddle leaf fig next! We just don't have the right spot for one in this house though. But with succulents, it's generally recommended to put them in a pot that drains, as they don't like sitting in water. So, I'm taking a bit of a risk with putting them in this pot, but I think I took the right precautionary steps, which I'll outline below.



I bought succulents with this pot in mind and spent an embarrassing amount of time in the Lowe's garden center choosing which plants to buy! I am so indecisive. Ultimately the plant on the left didn't make the cut space-wise. I still need to find a home for him!



From the research I had done I found that having a thick layer of rock in the bottom of your succulent planter really helps with drainage. I also bought specific potting mix that is quick-draining! You can't quite tell from the picture, but I filled up between 1/3 and 1/2 of the pot with rock. I bought some cheap aquarium gravel at Wal-mart because it's small and white. More on that later as well!



And then the aftermath of scooping in very powdery soil around very prickly and delicate little plants. I put a small layer of soil on top of the gravel, and then placed the plants with some of the soil that came in their individual pots, filling in with more potting mix as I went. I found it was really hard to get soil in the crevices with gloves or without getting pricked, so I ended up 'shoveling' it in with a plastic spoon and it worked perfectly!



Then I finished up by covering up the soil with another layer of the gravel! I used the plastic spoon again for this so that I could fill it in between the plants really well. The smallness of the gravel allowed me to nestle it in, and I love how the white makes the pot look clean and crisp. You can see a couple of photos up that I also potted a bigger succulent in a classic terracotta pot, which I actually love the look of (in addition to their cheapness).

The number one tip for succulents is to not water them much! In fact, two weeks later I still have these outside by our front door so they're covered from the rain, but can enjoy all of the heat and indirect sunlight. They're loving it! I figured I'd might as well not mess up their flow until it starts cooling off, even though I made them as indoor planters/decorations and really want these little cuties making my house look cooler.

I hope you enjoyed this post! I know it's a little different for me, but I'm looking forward to including more lifestyle and home/decor posts as time goes on and as our house gets more finished.

xo,
Jacy


Here are some of my favorite pots and planters I found online! My pot is linked through the first photo :)

Midi/Maxi Dresses
7.30.2015

For some reason this summer all I want to wear is dresses! Even with it being as hot as it is right now, I'm kind of dreading wearing jeans when it cools off in the fall and winter. Dresses are just so much easier (and comfier)! I tend to be really inspired by the style in places I visit, and every time I visit California I just feel like my style is 'at home' there... Lots of sundresses, neutrals, earth tones, breezy cotton, stripes, white, distressed denim...and minimal, slightly bohemian style. It's like all of my favorite fashion things wrapped up in one place!

I've bought dresses more than anything else this summer and am especially loving midi and maxi dresses at the moment. You can slip one on and your outfit is nearly complete! I purchased this simple midi for $7 (go order it right now!), and really really want this boho maxi, this midi in the stripes, and this off-the-shoulder maxi.

Click the images to shop! Most of these are well under $40 (6 are even under $20!), but a few are in the $50-70 range.  
Anyone else going a little dress crazy this season?


xo,
Jacy

Simple Summer Outfit
7.29.2015

Tank: H&M (a great loose-fitting tank for $10 that comes in several colors) | Shorts: H&M (they do stretch out, so they're great if you want a looser-fitting cutoff)
Hat: Target | Bag: H&M | Sandals: Steve Madden (very similar)
Earrings: Kendra Scott | Bracelet: Margaret Elizabeth | Lipstick: MAC 'Vegas Volt'

I don't know about where you are, but it's SO hot here right now. When we went to the Royals game on Sunday, neither of us thought we had ever sweat so much before. It was actually quite disgusting (TMI? Sorry :)). I typically like being outdoors, but I sweat so much over the weekend that I'm perfectly okay with being in the AC all week. This humidity is cray.

I keep seeing certain Midwest and Southern bloggers wearing sweaters and pants in the dead heat of summer and almost want to laugh because it's so unrealistic. I know I know, they're doing fall previews, but still! It's July and it's hot hot hot! So, today I bring you a super simple outfit for looking cute in the heat. I'm a real girl living in the dead center of America, so I always want to be real with you. Sure, there are some blogs I read and love knowing that I'll probably never have their lifestyle. But my favorite fellow bloggers are those that I feel like I could be best friends with, no matter how big or small their blog is. That's what I want this space to feel like! I post what I'm actually wearing and what I'm actually living, and I hope that resonates with you too.

I hope you're having a great week, and as always I truly appreciate you reading my little space on the Internet!

xo,
Jacy 


Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip
7.28.2015

^^ As my friend Sarah was taking the previous shot, Trey hopped in and said, "Here, I'll be your personal wind machine." He is a dork...
All photos taken on my iPhone 6+
Dress: H&M (online in different colors/prints than mine, but on sale for $10!) | Sandals: Steve Madden (similar) | Sunglasses: Karen Walker


Since we drove to California and needed to get from San Francisco to San Diego anyways, we planned an entire day to drive down the coast on the Pacific Coast Highway, also known as Highway 1. I now know why it's such a famous road trip because it was breathtaking. It honestly felt like we had to be in Europe because the scenery was so unique. We didn't drive all of the PCH that day since we hopped on south of San Francisco and then cut over to the 5 somewhere in the middle of the state, but we got to spend several hours on it and saw some of the most famous lookouts.

The first handful of pictures were taken at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve (I'm linking the Google image search to show you how amazing it is), which has stunning cliffside views and lots of trails. We spent way longer than planned here because we kept hiking and hiking to discover new views. Some of the trails and lookouts had people on them, but then sometimes we would have cliffs completely to ourselves. We also hiked off of a trail and got probably 100-200 feet away from sea lions sunning themselves on a secluded beach. It was amazing! The only downside to this adventure was that I was stupidly wearing a sundress and sandals - ugh.

We then continued down the coast as a heavy fog rolled in, which you'll notice in my photos of the Bixby Bridge and at a couple of lookouts near it. This hindered our views quite a bit, but it also made for a really interesting vibe in photos. We hiked up this crazy hill on a tiny dirt path overhanging the highway and I was scared to death! You can see how narrow it was in my two photos of the bridge, but it was worth it because we got such great shots of the bridge and surrounding terrain. Fortunately, the sun came back out for the last bit of our drive and we stopped at a few more lookouts before heading to a faster route to San Diego.

Along those lines, I will warn you that it takes a long time to make it down Highway 1! It's incredibly curvy, plus you can't drive super fast on the curves and with all of the traffic, so it just takes so much longer than you would expect. You also have to factor in all of the times you'll want to stop for pictures and to take in the views, which you should absolutely do. I also didn't have any cell service for a few hours, which made it feel like an even more foreign experience.

All in all, it was by far one of my very favorite days of our trip, and it was an incredible adventure I would highly recommend experiencing for yourself someday!

Thanks for reading!

xo,
Jacy

Pom Poms
7.27.2015

 Tank: J.Crew Factory (also love this & this) | Shorts: June & Beyond Boutique (pom pom shorts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
Hat: Sole Society (identical) | Sandals: Steve Madden (similar)
Bag: Kenneth Cole (old; just bought this bag) | Earrings: Kendra Scott
Bracelet: Margaret Elizabeth | Lips: MAC 'Vegas Volt'

I bought these shorts a few months ago but waited and waited to shoot them because I was saving them for California. After all of that waiting I wasn't able to shoot them on vacation, so here I am wearing them in small town Missouri. Oh well! I still love them and how they can go from casual/sight-seeing to a night out with a simple swap of accessories.

Our anniversary weekend was absolutely amazing! In our typical fashion we didn't do a normal relaxing, romantic weekend and instead did tons of fun things. On Friday we drove to St. Louis and went to the [free] zoo before going to the J. Cole/Big Sean concert, which was soooooo good. Then on Saturday we drove across the state to Kansas City (one of our favorite cities!) and shopped at the Plaza, went to Boulevard Brewing Co., and then went on a little date night. Yesterday we slept in, got room service (which was heavenly) and went to a Royals game. It was a lot of driving and a fairly packed weekend but we had so. much. fun. I love that occasions like Valentine's Day and your anniversary give you the excuse to block off some time and go do something fun and different! We've been talking about going to a Royals game together for at least 3 years and finally went! I just love going on little trips with Trey and spending time together doing fun stuff. Being married is the best thing in the world because you get to hangout with your best friend every single day!

If you want to see our wedding photos and read about our first year of marriage check out my posts Part 1 and Part 2.


xo,
Jacy

Wedding Photos & Our First Year of Marriage
7.26.2015


Photos by Jo Johnson Photography
(I can't recommend Jo highly enough! She is so unbelievably talented and great to work with. She is currently located in Northwest Arkansas and Southwest Missouri, but is able to travel anywhere, so please don't hesitate to reach out to her if you're looking for a photographer!)
All other wedding details linked in this post

I can't even process how fast this year has gone by! Our wedding was one year ago today - July 26, 2014. This past year has been the best one of my life so far! I can say that with absolutely no hesitation. Life is pretty amazing when you get to live it with your best friend.

Trey and I have very different personality types, but share many common interests, so we complement each other really well and also enjoy doing a huge variety of things together. During our engagement we would get remarks/unwanted advice that marriage is really challenging, especially the first year when you're transitioning. I'm so happy to say that we have not found that to be the case whatsoever! In a world where you hear so many negative remarks and jokes about marriage, see people getting divorced right and left, and see the media and movies portraying marriage so negatively, I just wanted to share what a positive experience marriage is when you're with the right person. Marriage has been wonderful to us, and I can't imagine my life being any other way.

Trey is such a positive and gifted person. I seriously want to burst with happiness and pride when I think about him and see him! I'm blessed and lucky to call him mine.

We have been really really blessed in our lives so far, and can't wait to experience what lies ahead together. As for this weekend, we are currently having a blast on a little 3-day getaway!

Thank you to everyone who has made this year so great, and thank you so much for reading my blog and giving me this platform to share not only my love of fashion and styling, but also my life and things that are important to me. If you'd like to see photos and read about our wedding day, everything is in this post!

Happy Anniversary Babe!

xo,
Jacy

“When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”  

BLOG DESIGN BY MARCH17.DESIGNS