Something I've Been Thinking About...

The posts that I most enjoy sharing with you are the ones where I've photographed people. Like Brevyn, or Leah, or Brevyn again.

I love taking the pictures, I love editing them (because let's face it, you need good photography but it's the Photoshop love that takes a picture across the finish line) and I love sharing them with you guys on here and on Facebook and getting feedback.

I'd love to get more practice with portrait photography, so if you'd be a willing subject, let me know. Free of charge, no obligations on either part. In the end, hopefully I get some good practice with shooting and editing and you get a few nice pictures for free. A win-win for both parties.

I'd love to do children, senior pics, families (maybe you need a good Christmas card picture?), but if you have other ideas I'd be open to that too. I'm not trying to make a career out of this, and I do have a full-time job, so if for some reason there's a ton of interest I may not be able to get around to everyone.

Obviously anything in the Holly Springs/Raleigh/Durham area is game, but if you live in La Grange or Kinston I'm there about twice a month (even more around the holidays) so that would work as well.

If you're interested, leave me a comment here or email me at megancdawson {at} gmail {dot} com.

Fall Decorating

I had way too much fun this weekend getting our house spruced up for fall.

For me, it's always a little hard to know when exactly to decorate for fall. The end of September seems fall-ish but if you buy pumpkins then, they'll barely make it to Halloween, let alone Thanksgiving. Case in point -- my mom bought me a mum for my birthday and by the beginning of October it was dead as a doornail. (Ok, that might have more to do with my lack of gardening skills than the plant being purchased too early, but whatever.)

I had scoped out the pumpkin options at WalMart but decided to wait until after our Mexico trip to make my purchases. But instead of WalMart, we found a cute little pop-up pumpkin patch in the parking lot of our local Harris Teeter. It wasn't exactly a trip to the country, but I still felt better about buying locally and supporting this family-run business (the teenager manning the stand was super friendly and helpful). And even though I expected the prices to be a bit higher than WalMart, they were actually matched pretty much dollar-for-dollar.

Plus, I got the deal of the century on a new mum. I wasn't planning on buying another mum, seeing as I'd already killed one. But as we were leaving the guy said "oh and all of our mums are on sale for $5." I said "all of them?" He said yep. "Even this huge one on display out front (that's twice as big as all of the other ones and is actually probably worth more like $20)?" I had him then. He said yeah sure, why not. I told Lee to pay the man before he changed his mind and he said "yeah you really are getting a good deal on that mum."

So here's what our front porch looks like these days:

And our dining room centerpiece:

I also decided to get my craft on after some inspiration from Pinterest. I came up with this fall picture frame wreath (and bucket-o-twigs) for our hallway:

The frame is a cheap $5 WalMart frame (ideally I would have had one lying around to reuse, but I didn't). It was black, so I primed it with white spray paint primer before painting it orange (with cheap craft paint and a paintbrush).

I scavenged pinecones from the backyard (Sugar chewed up the first round of pinecones I had found and carelessly laid on the patio table, so I was NOT a happy camper to have to go back into the woods again. Lee did find it amusing though that I was actually out-of-doors.) The pumpkins are real ones. And the W is a wooden letter from AC Moore painted with craft paint and hot-glued onto the frame.

This was easy-peasy but I so enjoyed getting to flex my crafting muscle a little bit and finding a way to make it all come together nicely. And we never got around to hanging anything above this hallway table after we bought it so I like that that area has a little more going on now. Now I'll have to figure out something to put there for Christmas and then something permanent for the rest of the year.

So what do you think? And when IS the right time to decorate for fall? (I saw whenever you feel like it!)

Adventures in Babysitting

My sister and I got to babysit this little turkey nugget this weekend:

We had tons of fun going to dinner, shoe shopping at Target, applying lots of Chap-Stick, reading books and naming all of our body parts. You know, all of the things that cousins do when they hang out.

And I like to call this series "what Brevyn does as Megan tries to get ready for church":

Can't wait until the next time I get to snuggle her!

Excellence Playa Mujeres

We celebrated our three year anniversary last week in Playa Mujeres, Mexico.

We spent our honeymoon at Excellence Resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico (about 30 minutes south of Cancun) and absolutely loved it. As soon as we left, we knew we wanted to get back one day. So we planned our three-year anniversary trip at another Excellence resort. This time we decided to try out their Playa Mujeres location, which is about 30 minutes north of Cancun.

Although we didn't think it was possible, we loved Excellence even more this time around. The two resorts were remarkably similar (same restaurants, bars, and general setup) but this location was just a bit newer and nicer.

Excellence is an all-inclusive resort, so the only thing we had to worry about was what drink we were ordering next and what restaurant we were eating at that night. We couldn't even be bothered to leave the resort, because we were too busy sunning by the pool, swimming in the ocean, lounging on our outdoor bed and eating and drinking obscene amounts.

Oh, and did I mention that we got upgraded to a "swim-up" room for free? (Meaning you can actually walk out your door and into the pool.) And as return guests, we were gifted with some Excellence swag (polo shirt, hat and beach bag).

But by far the best thing about Excellence is the service. You are literally waited on hand and foot. Maria, our poolside waitress, knew our drink orders by heart. We didn't go to a single restaurant without being greeted as Mr. and Mrs. Wade and having our chair pulled out for us and our napkins placed in our laps. Our room was cleaned twice a day, including turndown service and restocking the free minibar daily. Needless to say, it was not an easy transition back into the real world.

So let's dive into the pictures shall we? But first, a little tour of our room:

If only every day could be started with mimosas:

My favorite drink is the "Excellence martini." I had waited three years for this drink and was so excited to finally have it in my hands:

Lee's ceviche at Agave, the Mexican restaurant:

Best nap spot ever:

These iguanas decided to oversee our nap:

One night, we stumbled upon the "1001 Nights" themed dinner on the beach. Middle Eastern food served right on the beach, complete with hookah lounge and fire show.

Chef at the beach grill showing off for Lee:

Anniversary dinner at Spice, the Asian restaurant, on our last night:

We LOVE the Excellence toiletries, so we may have hoarded them a bit. Our loot all lined up when we got back home:

We were sad to see our trip end, but glad to see Sugar and get somewhat back to normal. Hopefully we'll be able to make it back to Excellence for a third time someday.

(If you're looking for a fabulous vacation, be sure to check Excellence out. And no, they are not paying or perking me to say all these nice things about them. I just love them that much.)

ECU vs. UNC Football Game

Lee's brother-in-law had three extra tickets to the UNC/ECU game in Greenville on Saturday night, so we were more than happy to put them to use.

We had a delicious tailgating spread, it was a night game which is always fun, the weather was perfect football weather AND Carolina won, so it was a perfect night (for me at least!).

The men manning the grill:

Jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese and sausage:

Sausage dogs, pasta salad, chicken wings and baked beans. Yum!

Yes, this is two Double Stuf Oreos and peanut butter stuffed inside a brownie. Ridiculousness.

ECU's "stripper pirate" mascot:

Even though I was one of about 3 Carolina fans in a sea of Pirates, everyone was civil for the most part and we had a great time. Thanks for being such a great "tour guide" Greg!