A sneak peek at my Cabo suitcase...

With any vacation that I go on, I'm probably going to buy a few new items to wear. But for our wedding & honeymoon, I'm DEFINITELY going to buy a few new items to wear! I'm been searching high & low for summery skirts, tops, sandals... you name it! When we're in Mexico, it's going to be the hottest time of the year - like up towards the 100's - And I'm perfectly okay with that! Here are some items that I'm going to be taking with me in just a few short weeks... (ahhhhh!!):

Coach Sunnies | Floppy Hat | Floral Skirt | Black & White Stripe Suit | Kate Spade Bag | Target Tanks | Creme Wedges

Okay, so I've actually already purchased everything on this list except for the Kate Spade bag, I'm still working on that one... :)

Whey Bar & OX

We're always early, Luke & I. A few Fridays ago we picked up our marriage license downtown & then headed over to OX for dinner. The restaurant doesn't open until 5pm, and it was 4pm. Lucky for us, there is a bar next door where you can grab a few drinks & snacks while you wait. The best part is that you can put your name on the list while you're waiting with your beer(s).   Once we finally got into the restaurant, we could hardly contain our excitement. Seriously, we were like kids in a candy store. I was running around snapping photos of everything (typical) & Luke dove straight for the beer list & food menu (also typical) :) Trying to decide, but there are too many yummy choices. You're served fresh baked bread with homemade chimichurri.  If you're lucky, you'll receive a few samples of the coconut curry bisque, compliments of the chef...  (I kid! I'm pretty sure they give this to everyone...) Spring Onion, Blue Cheese, Potato & Poblano Empanada - and - Fresh Clam Chowder, Smoked Marrow Bone, Spring Onion, Jalapeño   Now this chowder... I have to say that I was a little skeptical to try bone marrow, as I've never had it before. But Luke talked me into it. I'm not lying when I say this is one of the best soups I've ever had. Ever. It's going to be real hard to go back to a traditional clam chowder now. The Asado Argentino Grilled Short Rib, House Chorizo & Morcilla Sausages, Skirt Steak, Sweetbreads, Fried Potato, Green Salad   OX most definitely caters to the meat eaters.  And while I'm typically not the biggest meat eater (I usually stick with chicken) I found everything to be mouthwatering & amazing. Through the duration of our meal we kept saying how great everything was & how we didn't want to stop eating! But, since I'm not a fan of being uncomfortably full, I stopped pretty early on - which meant we had a lot left to take home with us :)
  (all photos are iphone photos. don't even get me started on how upset I was about forgetting my dslr at home...)   - Photos © Holly Carman -

My Bachelorette Weekend

My bachelorette weekend was one that will go down in history as one of the best weekends of all time. My bridesmaids (Heather, Kaitlin, Gina & Abby) went above & beyond with all the planning & preparations. They picked out an awesome house, planned all the meals, all the activities, planned a full day of wine tasting... there wasn't a single detail that was left out of place (they even made sure we had plenty of penis straws & penis balloons - a must for bachelorette parties). We even had a night in watching Magic Mike, that was accompanied by plenty of mimosas & lots of cheering from the ladies.  Every moment was better than the last. New friendships formed & existing friendship got stronger. It was really & truly the best. I couldn't be more thankful for the relationships that I have with each & every one of these ladies. Unfortunately there was another bridesmaid that was supposed to be there, but she ditched out on the weekend. I'm not going to re-hash old events, but I will say that I learned a valuable lesson of letting go of what you cannot control or change.
In the end, this weekend was perfect & I'm always going to remember how amazing it was.

The most beautiful girls, inside & out.

Also, I didn't get the no-squatting memo... wah.

a moment in my day

When I saw this topic listed, I instantly knew which moment I wanted to write about. There was a moment in my day from a few months back, in January. 

We were flying into San Francisco, one of my favorite cities, on a Saturday morning. We woke early & took the light rail from downtown Portland all the way to the airport, a good 45 minute ride. I was anxious for the few days leading up to our trip & especially the morning of. You know those excited nerves that you get before a trip that you're looking forward to? Yes, I had those :) There was something specific that I was waiting for, too, something specific that I couldn't wait to experience.

I was actually waiting for this moment for months & months. I would even bug Luke about it occasionally okay, often :)

I was waiting for the moment that I could look down & see the Golden Gate Bridge from the plane.

Sound silly? Probably. But that's okay.

It's something that I've always wanted to see from up above, but never had. Every time I've visited San Francisco, I've always driven there, so I never got to see the city from the sky's point of view. It was one of those little bucket list items that I was going to get crossed off my list. It was also the perfect way to start what turned out to be a fantastic weekend in my perfect city. (I just wished the picture could've turned out a little better...) But don't worry, that moment in my day was everything I hoped it would be.



But don't worry, our friends drove us to a viewpoint to snap a much better photo :)

what I'm most afraid of

(source)

Every morning I'm afraid I'm going to wake up with a giant zit on my nose. I'm even more afraid that I'm going to wake up with a giant zit on my wedding day.

I'm afraid that my wedding day is going to go by too fast. I'm also afraid that I won't get to spend enough time with everyone that is traveling in for the big day.

I'm afraid of the dark. It's sad, but true. I think things hide in the shadows. Everything is just creepier in the dark.

I'm afraid that Gracie is going to escape the back yard & get hit by a car in the street. There are some times (eh hm, many times) that I find her wandering around the neighborhood because she found yet another way to sneak out of the backyard.

In many situations I'm afraid to put myself out there. I've always been more on the reserved side.

I'm afraid of loosing someone close to me. I can't even think about loosing anyone close to me, the tears will start flowing. I'm afraid that since I'm so close with my family I might not recover well if something were to ever happen to one of them.

Basically I'm a big scaredy cat :)

What are you afraid of?

This is what I do

If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question, 'what do you do'?

I am so happy to answer the question of "what do you do" with a response other than my job. When you're asked this question, you automatically think of answering with your job. I like my job, but in no way does it define me. My job isn't a reflection of who I am. When I get home each evening I make a deliberate decision not to talk about work & and push my focus to my personal life. When I get home my focus is on Luke, the puppy, my family, my friends... all things that I'm happy to answer the above question with :)

So without further ado, this is what I do...

I keep a smile on Luke's face. 
Seriously, I might be the silliest person on earth - Luke is always laughing at something I'm doing. 
I'm most likely saying something ridiculous here... 
It's probably safe to say that one of the things we do best together is laugh. 

I have way too much fun with some amazing friends. We take trips together, tailgate together, go on pub crawls together... you name it - they make life so much fun. 

I share a lot of love with an awesome family. The awesomest (is that a word?) family. We compliment each other almost too good. We have the most fun & make the best memories together. 

I keep my passion for photography alive any moment I have. I snapped the photo below while in a moving car... Any opportunity to snap away. 

a different kind of Cinco de Mayo

Our Cinco de Mayo this year was a pretty quite one. Sunday is our day of relaxing, so there were no margaritas for us today. We did venture over to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants for a burrito though :) If we were more up to it I would've loved to try any of these fun recipes below... they all have a fun twist on some classic Cinco de Mayo ingredients!

 Honeydew & cucumber margarita popsicles | Tequila soaked watermelon wedges

Key lime grilled shrimp | Mexican pizza

Strawberry salsa | Guacamole with mango

And because I'm following along with the #BlogEveryDayInMay challenge, I wanted to include some of my favorite blog links to stick with the theme today... linked below are just a few of my favorite food blogs!

Smitten Kitchen | Joy the Baker | Sprouted Kitchen