Sunshine & Raindrops ~ A Beach Bridal Session, A Building Project, & One Very Busy Weekend

- I snagged a big blousey top for $4 at a thrift store with an adorable print and whipped it into a quick scarf. Some of the ends are a little ragged, but I thought it would be a great summer accessory.

- In April of last year Ryan and I started a 1000 piece puzzle. And a couple months later we found ourselves packing up all of our belongings to move to our little yellow house, so we boxed up the puzzle as best as we could while maintaining the segments we had managed to put together already. 10 months later, I finally dug the puzzle out of our very cluttered guest room and decided that we need to finish the stupid thing. And amazingly, we made a huge amount of progress in one evening. We still have a few hundred pieces to go, but the basic idea of the puzzle has finally taken shape. Now I know... 1000 piece puzzles of baked goods covered with sprinkles, gumdrops, and m&ms are not for the faint at heart. Also, puzzled that sit for 10 months collect a good bit of dust.

- Saturday I drove up to White Stone, VA to meet up with my lovely June bride for a bridal session at her parent's home, where the wedding is taking place as well. Wandering around their gorgeous backyard and beach got me so excited for the big day. And I wish I could share a peek of the gorgeous images we got during her session! But we'll have to keep those tucked away until the week after the wedding.

- While I was off driving through Virginia's Chesapeake Bay region, Ryan and his dad were busy moving our shed to a new foundation and building a beautiful deck off of our back door. We'll have to wait a few weeks to stain it, but we're so excited to have it finished right in time for Memorial Day. And we couldn't resist eating our Sunday lunch out there.

- We wanted to accomplish so much with this weekend that we forgot to take time to rest. We absolutely enjoyed everything that we did, but we packed the past few days so full of activities that we were barely home at all on Sunday. Fortunately, next weekend there is much less on the calendar and we'll try to keep it that way.

- Another new discovery was that the mall has very limited hours on Sunday. Now we know... Sunday is not the best day to have a few links removed from a watch if you have a lot of other things to do and limited time to hang around waiting for the stores to open.

- Sunday was also the preview party for the styled shoot I did in March. I'm very excited to see it published soon and finally be able to share all of it's beauty here on the blog!

- The Amazing Race finale was the perfect length of time to swap out my nail polish for Essie's Your Hut or Mine. I'm notorious for chipping, smudging, or otherwise destroying at least one nail whenever I paint my fingernails, so the only way I'll even attempt it is if I can sit very still in front of the TV for at least 45 minutes.

Sunshine & Raindrops ~ Strawberries, Show Homes, and Sunburn

- We tried another pad thai recipe this week and were much happier with the result. Unfortunately, the thai noodles get mushy if they sit too long, so leftovers are a no-go.

- I spent all day Friday on the golf course photographing a fundraising event for our church's seminary. And now I'm sporting some really nice sunburn lines on my arms. If this actually ends up tanning, I'm going to need a lot of beach days to fix it.

- I made a strawberry yogurt cake as part of our Mother's Day lunch. But I almost ruined it by not letting it cool long enough before sliding it out of the bundt pan. With all those yummy fresh strawberry chunks inside, it wasn't as structurally sound as a regular pound cake would have been. But when you're pulling it out of the oven at 10 pm, what else are you going to do?

- We finally got some strawberry plants into our little garden. We put them in a little late, but hopefully that will just mean that ours will be ready after the local fields have closed.

- Saturday we toured the Richmond Homearama houses. There were a couple that I really wasn't that impressed with and two that almost disgusted me with their grandeur (Seriously, there's a master bath and closet that's as large as our entire 2nd floor!). But the Young House Love show house was definitely worth the trip. I seriously could hire them to decorate our little yellow house. I love everything they do. The only thing we would have changed about their house is the height of the light fixtures. My 6'3" husband seemed to think they were all hung a little low.

Sunshine & Raindrops ~ Graduation, Gardens, & Google

- Did you know Google wishes you happy birthday? I mean, obviously they already know everything there is to know about me... I just find it a little creepy when they remind me about it.

- Our garden bed needs one more load of dirt and it will be officially ready for plants!

- The major "sunshine" of this weekend was our friend/fake brother Jon's graduation. And the major "raindrop" was his immediate move clear across the country. I'm still trying not to think about it.

Sunshine & Raindrops - Ryan's Birthday Weekend

- I love it when coupons have no minimum purchase! I'm a member of DSW rewards and somehow I earned enough points for a $10 coupon, even though I've bought maybe 4 pairs of shoes there over the last two years. Unfortunately I didn't find any shoes I couldn't live without, so I walked out with this cute little wallet. On sale plus my coupon, so I only spent $2.08.

- This weekend was another really yummy one. I had one of the best pizzas of my life, burgers on homemade pretzel buns, and chocolate birthday cake turned into cake balls. So good.

- Ryan's birthday happened to coincide with his office spa day, so Friday was definitely a wonderful and relaxing day.

- After waiting a week to order my new lighting equipment (since apparently the company takes a nice loooong break for Easter), I finally have my new one light set up. I'm excited to add this to the CGP lineup, because it is so crucial in tough reception lighting situations. And if rainy wedding days keep us trapped inside, it's awesome for that as well!

- I was so excited to go yardsaling again on Saturday, but I didn't find a single thing. Hopefully I'll have more luck in the coming months.

I just started the 100 Happy Days challenge and you can follow along on Instagram @caitlingerresphoto.

Sunshine & Raindrops - Food, Fashion, Flowers, & Festivities!

Our little yellow house has been getting a little bit of love lately. We planted some flowers and a couple of rose bushes in the front flower bed and we're gearing up to start a little garden in the backyard. I'm so excited for fresh (and free!) produce!

What better way to welcome spring than with an epic Easter party. I can always count on Chelsea to throw the best themed parties and her adorable carrot and egg themed spread did not disappoint!

Ryan and I don't have the best luck with cars. Fortunately the two that we have right now are fairly new and very reliable. But that was not the case with our old car. It seems that any time we have any car-related appointment, it takes absolutely forever. Choosing a Saturday for car maintenance did not help, and that certainly won't happen again.

In spite of a few "raindrops" this weekend, I've been overwhelmed with feelings of how blessed we are. Saturday morning brunch with the ladies from my Sunday School class is one of my favorite times of the whole month. There's nothing better than surrounding yourself with people who love you and who love Jesus.

Homemade goodies are the best. Over the past two weeks I've made homemade chicken stock, pizza dough, bread, granola, granola bars, and zucchini bread. And while a couple things need a few kinks worked out, I'm happy to have more nutritious versions of the foods we love to eat. And going crazy in the kitchen is a nice way to force myself to take at least one day off.

I've been craving pad thai and sushi lately. Move over, Italian food. I have found a new love. We're hoping to find a cheaper Thai restaurant so we can enjoy it more often. And it's definitely time for another sushi date night.

If you've been following along on Instagram (@caitlingerresphoto), you've seen that I've been asking a lot of fashion advice lately. I'm testing out a couple of new trends, like cropped pants and patterned pants. I usually jump on the trend towards the end, so we'll see how long I can pull of these looks without looking "so 2012."

Last week, I added another CGP bride to the 2014 calendar. I'd love to get 3 more brides for this year, and I'm excited to start filling up by 2015 calendar!

And probably the best news ever... tax season is over on Tuesday and I get my husband back!