FALLING IN

i have a confession…i had two pumpkin spice lattes before september even started. the starbucks near my house launched their psl one week early, so how could i not?

i’m a complete sucker for all things fall. i really like summer. loooong days in the sun. tanned skin. picnics. sitting on our deck eating dinner. but when the weather starts turning, i get really, really, really, excited for fall. we’re not really having the indian summer as we usually always have here in victoria and i’m not too sad about it. (yet our weather has been out of whack, yesterday started all rainy & cold then got super hot then when i went for my run was all foggy & sunny…)

fall inspires me more than any other season. church life, fashion (hello sweaters & boots), writing, home decor, photography (our first dslr will arrive this week..yaaaay!!!), baking (all pumpkin everything), cooking, getting fit (seriously!)…the list goes on. 

what about you? what season inspires you the most?

stay gold my lovelies,

s.s.♥.

ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND

what

a

weekend!

as you know, james & i celebrated our one year anniversary on saturday. (still can’t believe it’s been a year!!!)

we had a pretty low key weekend planned but james (the romantic) had some surprises up his sleeves.

(from left to right)

1. saturday afternoon cuddles under our hbc towel at amy’s lakeside home.

2. saturday night dinner at zambris.

3. ok so funny story about our wedding cake. we had this incredible cake made by our good friend rachel (rachel~cakes). i have an insanely sweet sweet tooth. so my requests were cream cheese icing & chocolate. james requests were chocolate & peanut butter. so rachel went above and beyond and made the most moist delicious cake EVER. well the wedding comes and the day goes by in an absolute blur. it’s like 10pm and we’re dancing up a storm when all of a sudden i remember the cake! james scrambles to get some sort of eating utensils but the caterers have packed them away. he does manage to find a knife and some napkins, so we slice a few pieces and eat it with our hands and it was soooo good. like soooo good. so good that we can’t stop talking about it for months and months. so james secretly hired rachel again to remake the cake and with a little help from his friend (thanks lukas!), he managed to surprise me at zambris with it. it tasted even better than i remembered. (pretty sure i’ve gained five pounds from eating the cake too..ha)

4. on sunday we headed to the oak bay beach hotel. they let us lounge poolside before our room was even ready. seriously love this place. it felt for a few minutes that we were back in mexico. i highly recommend this hotel. they upgraded us to an ocean view room and our room was flipping huge with the most comfortable bed and incredible bathroom. five stars indeed.

5. james surprised me with the bottom ring!! i am absolutely in love with it.he had a little J ♥ L inscribed on it. i love dainty jewelry and dream of over the years stacking up teensy rings on my ring finger. 

6. the gorgeous view at the hotel!

7. he makes my heart beat real fast.

8. i think we’re going to make real good looking babies. ;) (not pregnant, just saying.)

we got home monday and james jumped straight into music (ahhh so pumped for his set during the you&her launch!) and i am slowly getting back into my hermeneutics course (oh dear Jesus, help me!).

& the celebration won’t stop because tomorrow it’s my BIRTHDAY! i seem to always be out of town for my birthday, so it’s kinda insane that i’ll wake up and go to work!

stay gold,

s.s.♥.

ONE YEAR

the best day of my life happened three hundred & sixty-five days ago. that was the day i married james peter liira. in front of God & 200 of our friends & family we read our vows, exchanged rings & kissed made out as man & wife!

every single part of that day makes my heart sparkle but my absolute favourite moment was when james completely surprised me on stage at the reception. he called me to the front and sang a song he wrote for me. 

our first year has had its ups and its downs but God has remained faithful to us and i am surer than ever that marriage is God’s gift to us humans. i am soooooo beyond thankful that God gave me james.

james peter liira. i love you more now than ever before. so looking forward to what God has before us. every day is an adventure with you.

grow old along with me, the best is yet to be :)

xo,

s.s.♥.

see more photos here.

all photos by ameris check out their website to see more.

WEDDING DAY MAKE-UP

on saturday, james & i will be celebrating ONE YEAR of being MARRIED. just crazy, i know! it’s going to be a chill weekend spent mostly in town and at a hotel i’m dying to stay at. so excited to celebrate with my best friend :)

well it’s currently wedding season in my town. we’ve been invited to 8 weddings/receptions this year from june-november! from september to november we have 4 weddings. i am beyond thrilled because i looooooove going to weddings.

so in honour of all these future weddings and my own anniversary around the corner, i thought i’d share my wedding make-up.

i did my own make-up because i only ever do my own make-up. i worked for clinique & various other cosmetic lines in the past and i absolutely love doing make-up. because my life is so crazy i don’t advertise that i work in that arena but when it comes down to it, i actually really love to do it (just barely have the time to!) i’ve been fortunate to work on insanely beautiful beautiful brides in the past (chelsea, mandy, emy, tiffany & catrina!)

my favourite bridal look will always be a smokey eye and light lip. that’s what i do on most brides and it’s what i did on myself.

here’s what i used to get my look:

face-

1. la base pro primer (lancome)

2. teint idole ultra 24h foundation (lancome)

3. mineralize concealer (mac)

4. mineralize skinfinish natural powder (mac)

5. multiple duo blush/bronzer (nars)

tip- prep your skin! you want to start on a clean palette. on special occasions, i always use face primer to make my foundation last. 

eyes-

1. eyeshadow primer potion (urban decay)

2. naked 1 & 2 eyeshadow palette (urban decay)

3. 24/7 glide-on eye pencil (urban decay)

4. fake lashes #34 (mac)

5. hypnose waterpoof mascara (lancome)

tip- always, always, always wear fake eye lashes on your wedding day. they’ll make your eyes pop in your pictures!

lips-

1. prep & prime lip (mac)

2. subculture lip pencil (mac)

3. coral bliss lipstick (mac)

4. fake lashes #34 (mac)

tip- prime the lips then cover your entire lip in liner before you apply your lipstick. this will help your lipstick stay on much longer!

hope you found this helpful!

-s.s.♥.

all photos by ameris

HOME SWEET HOME

we’re baaaack! after three plane rides (5 hours, 12 hour & 15 minutes) we arrived back in victoria yesterday afternoon at 4:30pm. i slept like a baby last night for 12 straight hours (probably why i’m still awake right now)! i was very happy to get home. india was very incredible but very different culturally and very dirty. i stayed in the shower last night until the warm water ran out and it was just bliss.

i have so much to share with you! and i will in due time. i’m going to get back on my (hopeful) blogging schedule of 3x per week. life’s getting busy as always with fall on it’s way. this weekend we’re celebrating our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!! then it’s major music time for james and major hermeneutics time for me but i promise, i won’t leave you hanging!

ok i have a full day at work ahead of me so i better get to bed!

sleep tight, 

s.s.♥.