Marrying McAfee | Mr. & Mrs.

I've been slacking a little this week on blogging due to feeling a little under the weather after a super long, super fun work weekend. But yesterday marked four months of being married! And hopefully CJM will be a fully licensed pharmacist by the end of the week. It really is still a very exciting time in our lives, and I'm loving it.

After the wedding ceremony and family pictures, my groom and I took some time by ourselves to regroup, focus, and take some pretty pictures with our photographer, Ari. Here are a few of my favorites: 

Have a wonderful Wednesday!
P.S. I have a could of "Being the Bride" spotlights lined up for the coming weeks. If you'd like to be a part of that feature, email me at piperellice at gmail dot com.

August Recipe Review

August has felt super busy for me. The hubs, affectionately known as CJM in my phone and now here on the blog, has/is taking all three of his tests for the Georgia Board of Pharmacy this month. I've been out of town for work one weekend, another to visit my family, and just overall really work focused. Needless to say, my recipe adventures this month have slacked a bit. I've been craving comfort foods {think pork chops + black-eyed peas + sauteed spinach, or meatloaf + green bean casserole} and less adventurous.

via

My most exciting attempt came early in August with this wonderful, most amazing, bright and zingy Cilantro-Lime Black Bean Shrimp and Rice bowl. You're going to want to add this to your regular rotation. It is DELICIOUS! Easily the best thing I've cooked thus far in the marriage. I loved the large amounts of garlic and lime that brought this dish to life. I used just regular long-grain rice, not Jasmine, and it was perfection. Otherwise: don't change a thing. It's absolute perfection.

Switching gears from a perfect recipe, to one that is open to interpretation: one Saturday after shopping at the local Farmer's Market, we came home and made low carb pizzas using a low carb tortilla. I saw this inspiration on one of my favorite blogger Erin's Snapchat one day, and thought that might fulfill that pizza craving we get when trying to eat healthy. I loved it. We made four pizzas, two regular and two "white," with the low carb/high fiber tortillas from the grocery store. A jar of pizza sauce plus pepperonis and lots of cheese for the regular, and a mix of ricotta, mozzarella, garlic, spinach, olive oil, grape tomatoes, and grated parmesan for the other. Bake in the oven on 425 for 5-7 minutes until it gets bubbly in the middle. The crust is really crispy, and the flavors taste just like take out. Hits the spot!  

Be sure to check out my Lemon Oreo Truffle recipe from earlier this week here!

Sip & See Shopping Spree

Last night, I hosted a "shop my closet" event with a few friends. My mom actually came up with this brilliant idea, and it gave me the opportunity to get rid of a few things that I didn't love any more but others would!

Setting up an event like this is easy: clean out your closet {I did the take everything out and look at each piece one by one. Only put back the ones that you absolutely love/fit you/are in good condition/etc.}, invite your friends to do the same, grab some goodies, and pick a date! I borrowed a giant retail clothing rack from a friend, CJM helped organize all the non-hanging items, and I displayed some pretty goodies on the dining room table. It was so nice to be able to use a lot of my wedding gifts for the first time!

I used Canva to design my electronic invitation {it's also a great place to design blog graphics, too!} and blasted it on Facebook. I picked up a few napkins that coordinated with the pineapple summer-y theme of the invitation, and of course lots of pink treats! 

Have you ever hosted a "shop my closet" event? What made it successful for you? 

Lemon OREO Truffles

 In preparation of the Sip & See Shopping Spree tomorrow {come shop my closet, details here!} I decided to make a few sweet treats for my guests. I've recently discovered the lemon flavored OREOs, and oh my goodness, they are amazing. I can actually just eat the recommended serving size of two {measly} cookies because they're the right amount of sweet and tart to truly cleanse your palate.

After tasting them, I was reminded how delicious the regular "vanilla" OREO truffles were that I made last year for CJM's birthday--they tasted just like cake batter, dipped in chocolate and covered in sprinkles! They were delicious. So why wouldn't the lemon ones be just as good?

OREO truffles are one of my go-to baked goods because they require no baking, three main ingredients, and just a little bit of time! I used two packs of cookies because I wanted to make a lot of truffles, and found that two bars of cream cheese were a little too much for me; I like my truffles just a bit drier. I also will share my pro-tip for working with white chocolate: Gulf Wax. My great grandmother always melted a bit into her dark chocolate dipping sauce for peanut butter balls at Christmas to make them shiny, and I've found that it thins out the sometimes difficult to work with white chocolate.

Lemon OREO Truffles
Makes roughly six dozen

2 packages of Lemon OREO cookies
2 8 oz. bars of Cream Cheese
2 bags of white chocolate chips
1/4 bar of Gulf Wax
Sprinkles, optional

Using a blender or food processor, pulsate the cookies, creme and all, until completely ground. Mix ground cookies with two bars of cream cheese {or a bar and a half if you prefer a drier mix} using a stand mixer. Roll tablespoon size balls of mixture, placing on wax paper. Refrigerate dough for ten minutes if not rolling well. Freeze for 15 minutes. While freezing, melt chocolate and wax in double boiler on stove. Once melted, dip individual truffles into white chocolate and place back on wax. Top with sprinkles immediately. Store in the refrigerator up to a week, or until you devour them all...whichever comes first!

Pinterest has a lot of other fun flavor combinations of OREO truffles that I can't wait to try, like peppermint at Christmas! Share this recipe with your followers by pinning the image below!

Marrying McAfee | Family

All Photos by Ari Merritt Photography

After our wedding ceremony, we waited for guests to clear the courtyard so that we could take our immediate family and full bridal party portraits. I'm incredibly thankful to have all of these pictures of our families, and those so very special to us. Our bridal party has become like our extended family as well! We also took special pictures with Christopher's grandfather who married us, and our sweet friend Emily who gifted us with her beautiful voice during the ceremony.

These pictures are going to make excellent Christmas gifts for our families this year! 

My mother's side of the family 

My father's side of the family 

Christopher's mother's side of the family 

Christopher's sister & husband; my matron of honor

The Reese Family 

Beautiful Emily, our singer. Read about her wedding here! 

Our wonderful bridal party! Not pictured is Christopher's best man Elijah, who was deployed overseas.

Sip & See on 8/23

Local friends! Come shop my closet next Tuesday evening! There will be treats and drinks and lots of pretty things that need a new home. Wide variety, and great prices! Some items still have tags or have been worn just a few times. Hope to see you there! 

Black Transitional Dress

Can it be fall yet? Last week had just the slightest bit of a cool down, and it's got me obsessing about fall clothes, football, and all things pumpkin {at Hobby Lobby...no PSL for me!}. This weekend I went home to spend some time with my family while the hubs worked, and my mom and I did some major fall clothes shopping. PSA: Mud Pie has some of the cutest things for fall! I will definitely be scooping up some more.

After I did my major closet clean out a few weeks ago, I realized I didn't have a lot of transitional pieces. A lot of summer, and a lot of winter, but not a lot that looks appropriate in September when it's still hot in South Georgia but I'm ready for a more seasonal look. I found this super soft, super comfy black swing dress at a local boutique, The Boutique at Frills. I paired it with some black wedges from last year that are super comfortable and work for summer or fall; similar pair, here. My white acrylic link necklace was a steal from TJ Maxx, but Baublebar has a similar style in a fun pink color.

When it cools off some more, I'll pair this dress with a denim jacket and black booties. Maybe even a blanket scarf and riding boots later in the fall. Until then, it will be wedges and Jacks in an attempt to keep cool!

P.S. I chopped about six inches off my hair last week, and I'm loving it!