Category Archives: Our Everyday

Girls Trip to Waco

Raleigh Family Photography 

 

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cell phone images from our trip

I just want to start this post by saying that this was a super quick trip. We have all been friends since we were fourteen years old. It is hard to get everyone all together, but so worth it when we do. It all started over a conversation we had over brunch several months ago, when we were all able to get away for a minute and just hang out. We looked at the dates several times and finally decided on Wednesday – Friday. We were planning around not being there during the weekend since it would be busy, and there was a big Baylor game and a three day weekend, so we wanted to stay away from all of that. So that I got to do carpool Wednesday, we left later that night. We got there late Wednesday night and stayed in Austin. The next morning, we were up earrrrly. I mean crack of dawn. I think we left Austin around 6:15 in our rental car for Waco to try to avoid Austin traffic and also get to Magnolia Table before the line got too crazy. There is one highway that takes you straight from Austin to Waco so it was an easy drive. Let me tell you though, there is a pretty intense roundabout when you get off the highway and try to get to the restaurant. We were all in tears we were laughing so hard. It took a few tries, but we finally figured out how to actually get into the Magnolia Table parking lot. The girls dropped me off out front where you check in, which was good, because a few minutes later there was a really long line. The inside of Magnolia Table is just so pretty so we, of course, spent several minutes oohing, and ahhing. Ashley and I had been doing some paleo eating recently, but that all went out the window for this trip. We ordered everything – lavender and lemon donuts, chocolate croissants, pumpkin and zucchini bread..yum, yum, and more yum. I also had this amazing lavender latte that I’m still pining for, and the breakfast tacos, delicious! I didn’t think we needed to eat anything else the rest of the trip, ha! (but did we eat so much, yes!) So, if you are at the restaurant, it has it’s own gift shop. If you want anything at that gift shop, you have to buy it there, because they do not sell the restaurant gift shop items at the silos or online. The restaurant also closes early, so it’s best to just get it while you are there.

    After our amazing experience at the restaurant, we headed to the silos. Just so pretty, love it, love it. We spent some time walking outside looking at the garden and meandering before we went into the store. The outside area is nice because there are a lot of shaded picnic tables and the food trucks frame the outside of the area. (There was one food truck that just sold different types of sweet tea in mason jars, yum!) Because we went on a Thursday, it really was not that crowded. The store was probably the most crowded of everything. (I think we actually bought more at the restaurant gift shop.) It was bigger than I thought it would be after reading online, and it was fun to shop around and see all the pretty displays. We all ended up with a little something. After shopping and sampling the food trucks (I really don’t know how we ate anything after our breakfast) we went to the bakery. The line was out the door and down the street a little bit, but the line moved really fast. The cupcake, oh my, amazing! I am pretty picky about cupcakes, but this was DELICIOUS. And probably the fact that I had not been eating much sugar before this trip, everything tasted amazing. We all got a few cookies, (which I highly recommend)so we snacked on them the rest of the trip. The chocolate chip and silobration cookies were delicious. This was a super fun girls trip, and we were all so glad we had the chance to go. I seriously enjoyed every second. We drove around Waco a little bit, and also went by and saw Chip and Joanna’s farm. If you go to Waco Thurs-Sat right now, they are also having a warehouse sale, too, at the first Magnolia location. (see more info here) I don’t think the silos or restaurant are open on Sundays, so if you are planning a trip, you will want to plan around that.  Thursday evening we spent on South Congress in Austin, shopping and eating tacos, and on Friday, we headed home. (Super quick, but super fun trip!)  Overall, it was such a wonderful girls weekend! If you’re planning a trip, feel free to email me with any questions!

Friday Favorites

Raleigh Family Photographer

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I had to start off this post with talking about the big news for this week – Holiday Minis Booking! We have already sold out of many dates, so if you are thinking of getting on our calendar, contact us ASAP. It’s going to be such a fun fall, and I cannot wait!

So I’m not sure if they are open yet, or maybe really soon sometime in August, but I’m super excited to check out the Morgan Street Food Hall.

I love following the #debtfreecommunity hashtag on instagram, and my favorite follow lately is @nottodaytarget And if you follow the hashtag for #debtfreecommunity, there are so many inspiring stories and you just want to clear your amazon cart immediately.

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So excited that one of my favorite bands in my younger days, Weekend Excursion, is probably having a concert soon according to their facebook page. Found out they actually had one in Raleigh earlier this year, and so so sad that I missed it.  This is a Greensboro band and I grew up loving their music. (I mean, that violin, though!)

So interesting things on netflix I have watched this week while editing – 1. Undiscovered Disney Parks. This has to be filmed in the early 2000s because of the paper fast passes. The fun thing about it is you get to see inside Club33. 2.Amazing Interiors. I haven’t finished watching this yet, but wow there are some intense houses. My husband’s Carolina room is nothing compared to this guy’s Cubs basement which is really like a full blown bar.

We’ve been working on a big project at our house over here, giving the boys’ playroom a big overhaul + planning a big lego table. I’m super excited about it and will post pics soon! Most of the overhaul is minimalizing. I feel like with kids + toys, it’s a constant struggle with the toys. My boys only play with Legos + Cars right now, so trying to donate what we can.

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Rebecca Keller is a Raleigh Newborn Photographer featured in My Little Peanut, Let The Kids Dress Themselves and several other blogs.

Friday Favorites

Holden Beach Family Photography

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This has been a busy week of editing, planning, and scheduling. Ericka and I are finalizing everything for fall, tracking down places + props and working on a lot behind the scenes.

A few favorites from this week…

The In My Feelings Challenge. I started watching one on facebook which led to a million and now I can’t get the song out of my head, ha! The Will Smith video is probably the best (see here)

My hair is oily in my scalp and then super dry. Especially during the summer. I tried Aveda’s Dry Remedy  this week and it’s absolutely amazing. Looooove it.

Ebay for toys. So my son is one of the biggest lego builders on the planet. He loves reading the magazine, visiting the Lego Store (we were just here two days ago during our last apple camp trip, nothing is new) and spends hours building and rebuilding. One of the things about lego is they stop selling sets and then you can’t get them. He’s currently all about The LEGO NINJAGO Movie + all things Lego Ninjago. So I introduced him to finding sets to buy with his allowance on ebay, which is amazing. You have to hunt, but you can find discontinued sets or even regular sets someone has opened and put together and then taken back apart for so much cheaper than buying new at the store. He now loves spending his one hour of ipad time on ebay. Love it.

My sister in law brought these  to the beach a few weeks ago, and my boys brought them home after a shopping trip with their Mimi. What a cool summer toy at the beach. They are super cute – see a video of them here.

The Tanger Outlets in Mebane. I am still driving food back and forth for my dad every week from the amazing Lemon Tree in Wake Forest. He is doing awesome. He’s recovered really well from his surgery + he is driving and back to work. Just eating a low sodium diet can be tough and Stacey from The Lemon Tree really works with the diet to make amazing meals. My mom and I have been trying to meet to make the drive a little easier since I pick it up at 2pm on Thursdays which can be tough driving around Raleigh’s crazy traffic. Yesterday on the way home, I had to take 147 to go around traffic to 540, then got off on 70 to Westgate to Leesville to Norwood…ha…all to avoid as much 540 as possible. Thankful I married Michael with his amazing map brain so I knew about all of these alternate routes. All that to say we met at Tanger this week and I was pretty amazed at the outlets. I feel like they’ve added a lot of great stores.

Piper’s Tavern’s Brunch. We tried their brunch Sunday and I thought it was really reasonable and delicious.

Sharing images from the beach because I’m already ready to go back. I heart summer + will be so sad when it ends! Harrison had a fun time splashing in the ocean and playing in the sand before I took these – ha!

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To learn about our 2018 mini sessions, sign up for the newsletter here.

As Seen in People Magazine + The Bump

Raleigh Maternity + Newborn Photographer

Maternity Newborn | Shopping

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Rebecca Keller is a Raleigh Newborn Photographer featured in My Little Peanut, Let The Kids Dress Themselves and several other blogs.Because we chat a lot about our personal lives on the blog, we may receive commissions from affiliate links in articles.

Friday Favorites

Raleigh Sunflowers Family Photography 

Raleigh Sunflowers Family Photography 4.jpgP I N this to pinterestA few previews from our Sunflower Minis at Dorthea Dix Park! So many more to share!

If you follow me on facebook or instagram, then you probably already know that one of my favorites for this week is the SUNFLOWERS. Thank you City of Raleigh for planting them in a spot where we can all enjoy them this year! The first night of our Sunflower minis Ericka had to drag me out kicking and screaming, because I could have just stayed and photographed the sunflowers all night – ha! I may have been back a few more times, too. Ha! Our second round of sunflowers minis was also an amazing night. If you haven’t seen them yet, you better hurry! I’m not sure how much longer they will be pretty and blooming. I might try to go just one more time before they are gone…

The Apple Store’s free camps. Owen signed up for camp this week about making videos + has another one about robots coming up. He really loved it + learned so much. Another nice part of the camp was that they had a class for the parents at the same time during on one of the days. Owen has now made several videos + his enjoying his new hobby.

Laurelbox. I found this website when looking for something to send a friend going through a heartbreaking loss. I love all the thoughtful boxes that you can send + the encouraging verses and jewelry.

Bartaco. We just tried the restaurant recently. First of all, it’s beautiful – all the lights are in baskets, but the best part for me was the photography. There’s a lot of really great photos everywhere, but I was admiring how they had a huge image blown up that was obviously high high ISO with lots of grain, and it was just beautiful. I was just so happy to see that image and love inspiring art. Just a disclaimer that everything is small portions so it was a fun meal with friends where we continuously ordered, but we weren’t prepared for how small the portions were.

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We’ve been saving up to go on vacation, so I’ve found a lot of Dave Ramsey hashtags on instagram to be encouraging. Love scrolling through hashtags and reading encouraging stories.

So I found The Mysteries of Laura on Netflix. (Of course, Michael thinks its boring and terrible) It has the guy from Sweet Home Alabama in it and Debra Messing, and it keeps me entertained while editing. I’m always up to recommendations for things to watch while editing.

Not going to Build a Bear was definitely a favorite this week, ha! Not going to miss standing in a crazy line!! And we definitely do not need any more stuffed animals!

Girls Breakfast in Greensboro. Spending time with friends is such a struggle with the busyness of kids and life right? I was really thankful this week for a small amount of time with some of my best friends. We’ve been friends since we were fourteen…a long time. It is never easy to make the time, but it’s always so worth it. Like when I woke up to go, it was storming and I was like, nope. HA! (I hate storms. like with a passion. But, to be fair, I drove through some seriously intense terrifying storms in high school and after that, I just kind of hated them forever) That being said, there’s always obstacles to getting together with lifelong friends.Make it happen!

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To learn about our 2018 mini sessions, sign up for the newsletter here.

As Seen in People Magazine + The Bump

Raleigh Maternity + Newborn Photographer

Maternity Newborn | Shopping

______________________________________________________________

Rebecca Keller is a Raleigh Newborn Photographer featured in My Little Peanut, Let The Kids Dress Themselves and several other blogs

 

Friday Faves

Holden Beach Family Photographer

A few favorites from this week…

If you have any early reader, I highly recommend the Usborne for Kids Very First Reading Box Set. I was gifted this by my sister-in-law, and Harrison has looooved reading these books. They are similar to the You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You books that I love so much. (There are a lot of those on amazon) The boys have also loved reading How to Babysit a Grandpa with my dad going through so much lately. They think this book is hilarious, and it’s a pretty cute book. (He is doing really great now. Wow, what a journey it has been the last few months!)

Target also has some great sight word puzzles in the one spot this week. One great thing about back to school coming up is all the neat educational stuff that will be out there.

I tried a few new spots at Holden Beach – the Ahora coffee cafe, super yum! Betty’s Waterfront restaurant reopened with new owners and it’s awesome. And…I tried the veggie taco (and I added shrimp) at The Cove. Super yummy. Another new fave is the Bagel Dock Cafe in Shallotte. After going to NYC so much the past few years, oh my, I am hooked on bagels, and these are delicious. My dad and I were laughing about how when we first started coming to Holden there was one restaurant. I just love Holden so much, and love that it really can’t get much bigger. Also, if you want your favorite ice cream at Beaches-n-Cream, you can order it a few days in advance. Awesooome.

So if I had to describe my personality, it would be that I am an over preparer. I think 5 1/2 years of teaching elementary school totally changed that about me. (Planning every minute of every day and even extra activities ha!) I know I stress Ericka out with how I want to over prepare for our mini sessions…So along those lines, I’m totally taking 300 bags to the beach, and you don’t even want to see how I pack for Disney, but I have been trying to to tone it down and become more minimalist. (which is really hard for me not to pack every sock I own when going on vacation) Good article here for those of you who also have this problem.

It’s summer, and we’ve already been to the beach, and you would think I have read all these amazing books, but I honestly have not liked anything on all these recommended summer reading lists. (Send good suggestions please!!) Most of the time, I just make myself keep reading and finish the book. Oh, but I did like the book Crazy Rich Asians which is coming out as a movie in August.

Seeing my boys just light up playing in the ocean. Harrison just loves the waves so much, and giggles and giggles. And I was thankful to squeeze in a few days with one of my BFFS. We have been friends since college, and it was so so great to see her. Friendship has always been important to me, and I’m so thankful when I get time with one of my buddies. It is one of those things that can be really hard to make time for, but I’m just so grateful when it happens.

I’ve been in more of a minimalist mindset, especially since Corinne helped me declutter stuff I didn’t even realize I needed to declutter last September. (PS she is amazing. Not only is she phenomenal at organizing, but at decorating, too. See her website here) We’ve also been focused more on challenges lately like the no spend month which can be tough but also fun. Type Dave Ramseyinto Pinterest and all kinds of amazingness pops up to read. With our Disney annual passes this year, I’m always looking for ways to save so that we can go back.

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