A Fishing Town with a Drinking Problem

 I'm pretty sure the tourist department of St. Augustine Florida needs to give me at least a couple thousand doallars. For real, I'm singing that tiny town's praises every chance I get. Proof here, here and here. What's not to love? Being the oldest city in the U.S. located near what happens to be one of the most beautiful beaches, it has everything.
Inner coastal salt water river with oyster beds, manatees, dolphins, and all together adorable "drinking town with a fishing problem" charm? Yes. Gorgeous Spanish architecture ? Si Señor! Historical (haunted? see orbs in photograph below..spooooooooky) downtown with one of the oldest cemeteries in the nation AND a haunted lighthouse? Ehhhh I'm not too into being scared shitless, but if you are...this is your place. Ponce de Leon's supposed Fountain of Youth? Who doesn't need one of those?

Pirate history! Sea turtles! Gorgeous Spanish Moss! HUGE thunderstorms!

And finally the most beautiful un-commercialized beach. That's right. No high rises, no Señor Frogs, no ass wangs trying to sell you stupid Rastafarian-style hats.

Everyday a tidal pool forms when the tide goes out. It can get about 3 feet deep or so, and becomes this sort of wading lagoon for people who aren't necessarily wanting to deal with the Atlantic waves. I did lots of wading there. And I didn't want to come home.

A Little St. Augustine Get Away

What happens when a Golden Girl & a carton of Tropicana O.J. have a baby in a Boca Raton Retirement home?

Answer: This tropical 2 piece realness. 

Jonathan and I just returned from a relaxing get away in St. Augustine, Florida, which as you know if you follow along, is where we got married 2 years ago. I stumbled upon this little number in the first thrift store I stepped into for a whopping $3.50, along with many other goodies I'll be posting to the Etsy store today! 

Every time we go to St. Augustine we can't help but entertain the idea of dropping everything in our lives and just moving there. I could shoot weddings and portraits and sell vintage online, and Jonathan could paint (although it's a small town, St. Augustine has a booming art scene), get some part time job and we could gig out together (there's high demand for singer songwriters at the restaurants, cafes and bars there too). We wouldn't be rich, but we'd live near our favorite beach and live simply. 

But we always opt for plan B, which is get rich THEN buy a summer home on the beach. And alas! We materialize back in LA with all the other little fishies. 

Back to the grind. 

I know I'm not the only one with escapism fantasies like that. What are yours? 

Apparently this jumpsuit made me feel so sassy i did this pose. I guess the Golden Girl was Blanche. 

Sorry I'm not sorry. 

Alright, I'm a little sorry.

For real tho, what's this face?

I certainly look proud of myself. Pretty sure I've been making this face since I was 4. 

Tropical Realness: Thrifted (Similar)

Bag: Dooney and Bourke

Shoes: c/o Charlotte Russe

Blog Dump.....WEDDING EDITION

I've posted some about preparations for this...most important day of my life, but I don't think

I've posted the final product. So here it is. I'm not sure of any other way to do this than

to unload ALL of these on you, so prepare thine self. 

I'm so happy with how everything turned out. It took so much hard work, brainstorming, and

a lot of help from my friends and mother. Every detail was exactly how I dreamed it. I remember

the morning of my wedding day, looking at how everything came together, and I felt like

I was in a movie. I couldn't believe it...and we did it all ourselves. 

Not to mention I married my best friend in the universe. 

We premade everything in Texas, and either shipped it to the house we rented in St. Augustine

or packed it up in our cars and drove it there. Paper chains, Lanters, the Table Cloths we fringed

for hours, the fabric banners....all of it.

Dorothy Gautreaux did such an amazing job photographing it all. Being a photographer myself

choosing my photographer for my wedding was one of the hardest aspects. Sister has it goin on.  

We used fishnet to do collages of photographs of us. Weddings are vain, whatcanyado?

The flowers were done by Karen at 57 Treasury

Salt Water Cowboys catered. We decided to go with Southern Seafood. Cheese Grits, 

Stuffed Shrimp and Ribs, Potato Salad etc....we had to show our NY friends we can

do it right in the South. We served everything family style, so there were

no long buffet lines. The boys that served were reeeal happy when we gave them 

cases of extra beer. They earned it. 

Jonathan made our alter. He bought 3 pillars, distressed and stained them himself, 

then simply attached  the fabric banner we made. We plan on saving this banner 

and using it as a window treatment in a nursery, when ever that day comes. 

Each plate was hand picked at garage sales and thrift stores. And the shells were 

bought at shell shacks and taken from collections my family has gathered on 

our past trips to this very beach.

My wedding day meal = dayquil and grapes

Best of all: Jonathan wrote a song for me, and taught it to our friends. They surprised me with it

at the reception. There was ugly crying.

Jonathans Pants and Vest: J.Crew

Gown: Lowe's Bridal

Catering: Salt Water Cowboys

Cake: Nothing Bundt Cakes

Photos: Dorothy Gautreaux Photography