JJ Starling

Thanksgiving 2015

November 30, 2015 by JJ Starling

Happy Holidays, yall! Ahh, I finally feel like I can say that. I know October has a holiday and November has a holiday but, I just never truly feel quite right using that phrase before December. I guess it’s kinda like how I don’t put on Christmas music or put up décor until December. I’m just weird I suppose. And actually I did listen to a couple Christmas songs this morning on the radio but it’s 11/30 so that’s close enough, right? Some of you are like “ummm you’re about a month late!” ha!

You may have caught that photo on IG (@jlynnjustad) I decided to post it here too because some people don’t have IG (gasp, I know) and also I just love it. This was one of my favorite moments from all of Thanksgiving day. We snuck out before dinner to take some photos and just roam around the property. It was such amazing weather! A few people have said Andre resembles Luke Wilson and I can kinda see it, but I feel like I can really see it in this photo. Luke Wilson just happpennnss to play in one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time, The Family Stone…which I’ve already watched three times. HA! A little Jlynn trivia for ya.

So anyway, the whole day on the 26th was fantastic really. I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving with family and/or friends as well!!! We had both over at Andre’s parent’s house and it was a lot of fun. My sister in law Kristen wasn’t able to make it so that was pretty sad. They doesn’t live close so I usually only get to see her during the holiday days so my glass of wine was not as full without her. Even though she wasn’t there I still had an awesome time with everyone who was able to make it!

Family photo before dinner! Fun fact- there are 8 people in this photo! ♥

We kept it pretty low key this year in terms of action but the food was amazing. It was just the Justad crew for dinner (minus a few who we missed dearly!) then a few family ~~friends~~ joined us after for dessert and tea after their first course. We did our usual half Persian, half standard American Thanksgiving food complete with pumpkin, apple and pecan pie…none of which I baked (sorry bucket list). Every bite was delicious. I had leftovers at least twice a day for three days. No complaints over here!

worst photo of the outfit, best depiction of me

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! Here we are. Full speed ahead into the end of 2015. What in the heck happened. Beam me up Scotty cuz I’m pretty sure I’m in the twilight zone.

Tell me all about your Thanksgiving!!! Leave as lengthy of a comment as you would like or a link to your own blog post about your Thanksgiving shenanigans! Or if you don’t live in the U.S…what did you do on November 26th this year? ;P

November 3rd- The Dress

November 18, 2015 by JJ Starling

The story of my dress is one of my favorites from this whole experience.

First I want to give a shout out to Ms. Sandy at Beautiful Brides in Wilmington, NC. She is SO wonderful and helpful and is a wedding gown, seamstress guru. Anyone ever heard of a little movie called A Walk to Remember? The wedding scene at the end, Ms. Sandy was the brains behind Mandy’s wedding look even making the veil herself! She’s awesome. I’ve had so many friends (and even a cousin!) find their gown there, I can’t count them on one hand.

Now on to the story…

I went to 3 different bridal shops and Ms. Sandy’s was my last stop. I was with my dear friend Alicia when, after trying on a handful of dresses, I was going to call it a day. I wasn’t really anticipating finding “the one” that day for some reason. I tried on a bunch of gowns I loved on the hanger but didn’t feel right when I put them on. In a tale as old as time, before leaving, Alicia convinced me to try on a dress that wasn’t what I was looking for. At all. The color was a little more on the true white side than I had wanted, and it was strapless. I was looking for something champagne I thought, but definitely NOT strapless. No way. No.

So here I am trying on this gown (with a straight across neckline…hello small chested…not working…) and I walk out and I just felt it. I felt it, but something was holding me back. Ms. Sandy clipped it in the back and in the front creating a sweetheart neckline (because that was totally possible with the designer) and I just knew. This was it.

It was so random and not what I was looking for at all, but it was it. I remember not even really knowing why. I knew I felt like a bride, like a woman even, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what was sealing the deal, especially since some family members didn’t think it was the right choice. Talk about heart wrenching.

Fast forward to a few weeks later…I hadn’t even mentioned to Andrew that I put my order in for my dress and while flipping through wedding magazines together (he’s amazing) and showing each other things we liked/didn’t like, he stopped to point out to me a dress he liked. “This is my favorite dress I’ve seen so far” he said.

It was almost identical to what I had chosen.

Although it was a different color (more of a silvery and a different type of fabric) the neckline was the same as what I had changed mine to (sweetheart), there were folds in the fabric at the top just like mine, there was an embellishment in the center right below the bust, there was gathering in the fabric to the side with an embellishment there as well… the similarities were insane.

My heart skipped a beat. It was in that moment that I knew why I had chosen what I did. It all made sense and I knew I had made the right decision. I was totally at peace about it all.

Soon though, my thoughts turned definitely to “he knows! He’s seen it! He had to!” but I didn’t bring it up until after the wedding and to this day he swears up and down he had never seen my gown until the moment I walked down the aisle, and I believe him.

Looking back at these photos, it really does all make sense. The gown was simple, yet full of character and that’s exactly the kind of style I think I embody in wardrobe, as well as personality. I absolutely love this dress.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any of my bridal portrait photos to show you because there were some intense things happening in the days leading up to the celebration day so I never received a hard copy of those photos. The only ones I have are the ones I was able to print literally the day before the wedding and they are all in storage at the moment while we sort out our moving situation. I do however have some solo shots of me in my gown from the day of the celebration and they are beautiful and I love them.

Photos of the dress were taken at the our venue, photos of me were taken at the Graystone Inn which is a few blocks away. I chose to do photos of the girls there because it has a beautiful old world vibe and I wanted that in keeping with the theme of the wedding celebration. We walked there after getting ready :) All photos are by Amy Leigh Photography.

I mentioned in my “choosing a venue” post that one of those photos contained a sneak peek of my official bridal photos. You couldn’t really see it though so I thought I would include this, which is a pretty clear photo of one of my official bridal portraits. They were so beautiful. Hopefully I’ll be able to share them with you one day!

Where did you take your bridal portraits or what have you always imagined for them?! I’d love for you to share :)

Catch up on the wedding series here:

November 3rd- A wedding series

November 3rd- Choosing a date

November 3rd- “Engagement” photos

November 3rd- Choosing a venue

November 16, 2015 by JJ Starling

A little background story to begin….

Shortly before Andrew and I started dating, I was involved in a production of a show called Once on this Island with a theater group I was a part of (TechMoja) when I lived in Wilmington. The show was being performed at the local Community Arts Center (CAC). The CAC is also referred to in our town as the Hannah Block Historic USO Building. It’s known as the CAC to locals and the USO Building to tourists because it was actually a traditional USO building in the 1940’s. Service members would come there for fun events, it was like a town dance hall, but they also did other things there. Today, it’s used for summer camps for kids, art shows and theatrical productions among many other things.

So, I invited him (along with some mutual friends as to not seem too eager) to come see the show. I didn’t think he would come but when he text me a few hours before saying that he was coming, I about lost my shit backstage.

I don’t typically get nervous before shows, I just get super hype and excited. Not this day. I was SO nervous my cast mates were asking me what my deal was because my behavior was so out of character. No pun intended, I swear. That’s when I started telling my friends about a guy named Andrew.

I may not have given his name away right then, it was still a little early (Spolier alert: We got married at the courthouse 3 months later..), but all my friends could tell there was something special about him and so I had to admit it to myself as well.

I saw my friends outside after the show and I was so happy to see him there. Little did I know, he hadn’t even come with the others. He came on his own. He wasn’t sure there would be anyone else there that he knew, but he wanted to come see me anyway.

Fast forward to after our courthouse wedding, discussing where to hold our public ceremony. I was having a hard time because we didn’t belong to a church and all the beautiful churches we had in our town, we couldn’t marry in because we didn’t belong to that church. Ugh. ANYWAY– I was really discouraged because I had always envisioned a beautiful old style church wedding.

One night in stressing over this dilemma, Andrew had the idea to have it at the CAC. When I ask him why, he told me that was where he was the first time he realized he loved me. Talk about the Walk to Remember moment I always dreamed of! I cried of course and that was where our the decision on a venue for our public wedding ceremony was made official.

And amazingly enough, we could hold both the ceremony and reception there! We decided on a classic wedding theme as we knew we wanted our colors to be black and white and pulling inspiration from the 1940’s memorabilia that decorates the CAC. Our “theme” became just “black and white 1940’s dance hall affair”. Although we didn’t do much decorating because I loved the memorabilia that already decorates the space, we had all black and white decorations, black bridesmaid dresses, and black and white suits for the guys, complete with a full jazz band at our reception (but we’ll get into that later!)

It could have been a more perfect location and I love that it was him who decided on such a key element in the planning process!

The E.O.A was a club Andrew and his friends had in high school where they collected change from various other students after everyone had bought their lunch. Hence, this inside joke. And yes, I made that sign myself ;)

We made the programs ourselves

Hey, engagement photos!

Our guestbook was a calendar for guest to leave their birthday…even though I’ve been terrible about sending out cards. Sorry yall! Also, there’s as sneak peek of my bridal portraits ;)

The rest of the space will be shown through the ceremony photos! How did you choose your wedding venue? Or have you always envisioned something specific for your big day?!

*All photos: Amy Leigh Photography

Catch up on the wedding series here:

November 3rd- A wedding series

November 3rd- Choosing a date

November 3rd- Engagement photos

November 3rd- “Engagement” Photos

November 13, 2015 by JJ Starling

Ok so if you’re up to date on this little wedding series (don’t worry if you’re not, this is only part three and you can catch up at the bottom!) you know that the word engagement is in quotations because when we took these photos, we had already been married for a little while. You also saw a sneak peek of these photos on our ever so awesome save the date magnets. It was probably hard to tell from the photo of the photos, but….our photos were pretty awesome as well. I just said photo 1000 times.

Ok back on track!

So listen, Andrew and I are pretty silly people. We can be serious like any other pair of well-rounded young adults venturing into actual adulthood, but the day we took these pictures…was not one of those times. We had already chosen a somewhat vintage style as a theme for our wedding celebration (being that our colors we knew would be black and white) although we hadn’t completely nailed down all the details or venue.

I knew I would want pictures of us to put up around our cocktail hour area but a traditional photoshoot (although I love those and they are always beautiful) just didn’t seem like it was a fit for us. So, after some careful deliberation…we decided the best route was to dress up in a gown and suit and walk around a local arcade and mini-golf spot (Jungle Rapids) pretending to be spies at a classic country club event.

We had so much fun, and the photos turned out exactly the way we had hoped. It was amazing and I wouldn’t trade this photoshoot for the world. These photos portray us as a couple perfectly and I will cherish them forever. Unfortunately, we have moved a thousand times (that’s coming to an end here soon, yay!) so the hard copy of these photos is somewhere over the rainbow and all I have are what I’ve saved to the computer from forever ago so they’re mismatched in size and an incomplete set. There were more than I’m able to post today (we actually used them to make a calendar for our guest list) but hopefully I’ll come across them and can post the others eventually. These are still great though and I hope you enjoy!

Everyone says I look cross eyed in this pic but I’m not a model&my man looks so good that idgaf I’m still posting ;)

BTS selfie!

So there you have it, our “engagement” photo session. Even though you can tell I’m baby Jlynn because you can only see one tattoo, I still love these photos with all my heart and still keep some framed and up around the house. Hopefully I can find the others at some point and post them but I hope you enjoyed these because I was super stoked to share them!

*All photos by Kellie Gibson Photography, with the exception of the BTS selfie, that was me. k love you!

Catch up on the November 3rd Wedding Series!

November 3rd- A Wedding Series

November 3rd- Choosing a date

November 11, 2015 by JJ Starling

As you know if you read the “wedding” tab above (or this post), Andre&I eloped on December 7, 2011. Yep. You read that right. Pearl Harbor day. You don’t think about those kind of things when you decide the night before to quit worrying about what other people will think and just go get married already.

You also don’t think about them when you wake up in the morning and just get out of bed and head down to the courthouse, in love, and excited to start this journey of life together as husband and wife. Nope. You don’t think about it until it’s sinking in on the ride home that you’ve just married the man of your dreams…on Pearl Harbor day. Only one of the most tragic days in American history. But it’s ok! Because in that moment you will also decide that this just means that at some point, you should go to Hawaii together to pay your respects to those who survived and lost their lives on that day. Fear of flying? We’ll tackle that later.

So, with all the excitement of being married and keeping it a secret for a couple weeks (so fun!) there is little time to think about a ceremony including your friends and family because you’re too busy trying to figure out how to tell them! Once that’s completed, the shock and joy and excitement of planning a celebration that will include all your loved ones, the white dress, the walking down the aisle begins and all that finally begins.

If you’re wondering about whether or not to elope, it was the best thing Andrew and I have ever done. It was perfectly imperfect. It was all about us. I would recommend it to anyone. Whether or not you want to have a ceremony afterwards is up to you!

We chose to do one because whereas the marriage itself was all about us, we still wanted to celebrate that with our loved ones and share in the joys of the walking down the aisle, mother son dance and partying with all of our family and friends. We wanted cool weather but not cold and a Autumn vibe of sorts so November 4^th became that day to look forward to!

Then after realizing that was daylight savings time day and we would be losing an hour of daylight we would need for photos… November 3^rd became that day to look forward to!

Our save the dates! (and a sneak peek of our “engagement” photos!)

*As you’ll find in a future post, magnet save the dates are my favorite purchase from the whole wedding planning process and I’ll probably talk about how awesome of a decision they were 1000 times over this series*

How did you choose your wedding date? Was it a special date or one that just worked out best time wise like ours?!

November 3rd- A Wedding series

November 3rd- “Engagement” photos

November 3rd – A Wedding Series

November 9, 2015 by JJ Starling

So last week marked the 3 year anniversary of my wedding ceremony! (Not to be confused with the day Andrew and I actually got married.) So to mark this momentous occasion, I decided to turn the details of our wedding celebration into a little series on here I’m just going to call “November 3^rd”.

That’s the day Andrew and I decided to put on this little shindig and it was a wedding that went down in history books some would say. I’m assuming that’s because of the liquor bar.

There were ups&downs and things I wish I would have known or at least thought about before moving forward so hopefully you’ll find some things in this series about my wedding that might help you out, or at least make you laugh and say Oh God what was she thinking.

In the next couple of weeks I’ll share some stories, some do’s&don’ts, and (of course) a heck of a lot of photos.

I can’t wait to re-visit this event and share with you all!

My favorite shot of the day, Amy Leigh Photography

November 3rd- Choosing a date

November 3rd- “Engagement” photos

Movies I’m stoked to watch this holiday season

November 6, 2015 by JJ Starling

*I don’t always make blog post graphics, but when I do, they’re super precious*

As you probably already know if you’ve been hanging around this space for a bit…summer is my jam. It’s my all time favorite season and I have a hard time letting go every year.

But, even though summer is my absolute fav, a week or so ago (before Halloween! Can you believe it?!) I caught myself getting excited for some of my favorite holiday movies. So, I thought I would share in the excitement of all the others out there heading full speed ahead into cooler weather and warmer drinks (just not pumpkin spice lattes…). I mean, it is the first week of Novemeber!

Some of these are classics, some are just ones I really enjoy watching every year…over and over again of course! I’ve also added drink selections to go along with these movies to help set the vibe.

Via

1. Happy Christmas

Beverage to enjoy while watching: Grapefruit Rosemary Mule Ok going to be honest, I haven’t had this yet but when I found the recipe I knew I wanted to try it and I feel like a Moscow Mule of some sort would pair really well with this movie because they are kinda hipsterish right now and I totally feel like a hipster when watching this.

This is the movie that actually inspired this post. I was just thinking about how I’m really pumped to watch it again. It came out last year and we just decided to watch it at random really. I want to say it was on Netflix? I like Anna Kendrick so I’m sure she was the pull for me to watch it, but it’s the little boy who steals the show. I mean, he is just adorable. It’s an indie film shot in a way that makes it look kinda old school-ish? Not sure that makes any sense at all but you’ll understand if/when you watch it. Because I’m assuming you hold my opinion in really high regard.

The story follows a girl who moves in with her brother, his wife and their young child during the holiday season because she’s a screw up and yada yada. It’s not really exciting, it’s just a sweet little story about some people who care a lot about each other who end up learning more about themselves from spending time with one another. It’s warm and fuzzy without being over the top at all. I highly recommend it for a chill night.

Disclaimer: I guess I should warn you that my husband in fact does not enjoy this movie. He did love the little boy but other than that he thinks this is the most depressing and boring Christmas movie ever. Which, some people are depressed around this time of year so maybe it will cheer them up. He did not want me to include this movie on this list but I told him to get his own blog.

Via

2. Elf

Beverage to enjoy while watching: White Russian I’ll have to post my recipe as we move further into the holiday season but this one from A Beautiful Mess sounds so yum I can’t wait to try it!

Obviously, right? Like this wasn’t going to make the list. If you’ve been around since last year, you know that one of our traditions as a married couple is to decorate our tree and home all in one day followed by milk, cookies, and Elf! I don’t usually like to dip my cookies in alcoholic beverages so I’ll do a half (if that) glass of milk with my few cookies then follow up with a White Russian for the duration of the movie.

I can’t drink too many though because they make me feel super full super fast, I’m not really a big milk person anyway. That and a hangover from these is pretty wicked so…you’ve been warned! As far as the movie goes, if you haven’t seen it yet…I’m sorry about the coma you’ve been in these last 12 years but you should totally check it out.

Via

3. This Christmas

Beverage to enjoy while watching: Hot Toddy For this particular movie I would suggest (and want to try for myself!) the Hot Apple Ginger Toddy. This movie is set in a warmer climate so you won’t see snow but it’s got those cool, jazzy holiday vibes so I felt a brown liquor was appropriate.

I love this movie. I just love holiday movies centered around family drama because we all have it! Every family has issues of some sort whether they be big or small, many or few. And if there’s tension anywhere, the holiday season is typically the time we all feel it because we’re all around each other, right? Even though it’s a time to focus on the love we all have for one another, it doesn’t always start out that way and can get a little messy. I always hope for everyone though that if that is your family, it turns out alright like it does in this movie.

It even ends with a soul train line. I mean, how much more family fun can you have?! This movie will certainly make you smile, laugh and even groove a little bit. I love movies with good music. Also- I just want to point out that Chris Brown was in this movie before he went a little nuts. Ha! He seemed like such a sweetheart back in the day. Oh well…

Via

4. The Polar Express

Beverage to enjoy while watching: Hot Chocolate of course! Bailey’s optional.. ;) I’ve had this hot chocolate recipe pinned forever and I’m finally going to try it this year!

This movie is a part of another holiday tradition we have. We always have hot chocolate and watch The Polar Express on Christmas Eve. Unlike Elf, we will watch this many times before that night but it’s just a special way to almost say goodbye to watching it. Or ‘until next time’.

Christmas Day and every day following always feels like everyone is in such a rush or geared up for the changing of the year. Christmas Eve is such an important night to me because it’s where we just slow down for what feels like the first time in a while and the last time for a while (or at least until we get into the groove of the new year). This movie might even be my all time favorite to watch during the holiday season. I always feel so moved by it.

Via

5. The Family Stone

Beverage to enjoy while watching: Your favorite glass of wine!

I love- love, love- this movie. It’s older (2005) but I still feel like I come across a lot of people who have never seen it. It’s another dysfunctional yet functional family story with some sadness sprinkled in. Although it might cause a tear or two, the ending leaves you with hope still, and I love that. This story is certainly a little wild but I’m sure something similar has happened in real life somewhere in the world.

My girl Rachel McAdams is a part of the cast among so many other greats. I suggest this movie for a cozy night in with the gals or your partner. Either one works because it’s got a very cozy and laid back vibe…which is why I suggest your favorite glass of wine- as well as pjs! Yes, I feel like people should watch this movie in their pajamas. A fireplace would be nice too, but if you don’t have that then light some candles and pile the blankets on the couch. Disclaimer: Even though I do it (because I’ve seen it so many times) I wouldn’t suggest watching this movie alone for the first time. You’ve been warned.

And now for my honorable mention…..

Via

Honorable Mention: Dumb&Dumber

This is another one my husband didn’t want me to include because he says it is not a Christmas movie but as I have mentioned before I kinda feel like it is so……..he can get his own blog ;) I feel like you can just crack open a beer and watch this whenever you need a laugh or the “holiday blues” start to get to you. This movie always reminds me not to take myself too seriously and sometimes I think we could use that reminder during this always crazy time of the year!

I hope you enjoyed my list of holiday movie favorites! Let me know if you watch any of them paired with the drinks and what you think if it’s your first time!! Any new holiday movies coming out this year you want to see? My Diane Keaton loving heart can’t wait to see Love the Coopers! What about you?!

Halloween 2015!

November 2, 2015 by JJ Starling

You guys. You know how I am usually terrible at preserving the moment in picture? Well, I am on fire here lately and I have a bomb of Halloween 2015 photos for you to prove it! After some bumps in the road, we followed through with our plans to do Halloween in my hometown of Wilmington and it was a blast. We brought one of Andre’s best friends from highschool, Justin, along with us and got to spend time with some of my friends as well.

I spent much of the day putting together Andre’s costume. Mainly just tracking down a Hawaiian print shirt and making his mug shot sign. He went as H.I McDunnough from one of our favorite movies, Raising Arizona. If you haven’t seen it, you should. It’s Nicolas Cage gold. Holly Hunter is in it as well and is amazing of course.

I went as a 70’s disco queen and literally felt like I was living out a past life experience. I loved my costume so much that I want to wear it out again sometime. Ha! I’m not exactly sure where I got it but I do know it’s an authentic outfit from the time. I want to say I got it from my grandmother but it could have been someone else’s grandmother. I got the costume from someone’s grandma, possibly mine, not sure. ANYWAYYYY I had the shoes, borrowed the arm bangle, got the earrings from Claire’s for $1. The wig wasn’t too pricey so all in all, our costumes were pretty cheap.

The night wouldn’t have been expensive overall if I wouldn’t have dropped my phone at the very first bar we went to! After the getting my shattered phone screen fixed the overall price of the night will go up about $150. Oops! Lesson learned, trust me!

That aside, everything else in the night was perfection. A few friends who were going to a bonfire in lieu of the downtown bars still met us out for drinks and bar food before the night kicked into high gear.

70’s disco queen, Catwoman and Wonder Woman!

It was still fairly early (for downtown party time) when we finished eating but we wanted to skip out on waiting in line forever for the place we knew we wanted to start the night out in, so we just headed straight over from dinner. After a quick 2 minute walk, we were the first ones to get there which may be lame to some but this is my FAVORITE time to be there. I love having all that space on the dance floor to boogy without being shoulder to shoulder and to take photos. It’s so fun!

SKB as Medusa with an amazing headpiece she made herself! And Justin as…well, you get it ;)

Solo on the dance floor!

Once it started to fill up it was still fun as the energy was good awesome. People were dancing, asking to take photos with Justin, just having a good time all around. It was here we met up with my sweet friend Kristi Ray! She was dressed as a Unicorn with her horn made out of a decorative mini Christmas tree and headband she put together herself. It was awesome!

Before we left we hung around on the second level of the bar for some more mellow music and photo opportunities of course! This is where a girl spilled a drink all over me but it was totally cool because…I’ve been that girl. Guilty. I was about 6 tequila shots deep at that point so I was literally giving zero fuvks, I was having too much fun!

Vision.

Photo taking began to decline at this point as more drinks were consumed and more friends joined in on the fun. We left here to find our friend Hal who brought his new roommate James along. We all made our way to a new bar and met another friend, Jenna, who joined in on the festivities after she got off work. I was so glad she made it out with us!

Silliesssss

We stayed out until riiight around 2AM (before the clock switched back!) and then decided it was time for pizza! The cab got there before we had a chance to order so Hal stayed behind with another and brought a couple of pies back to our house. A few more friends joined for drinking games and we all hung as long as we possibly could.

I would say it was a very successful Halloween night! It was a lot of fun being able to let loose in my hometown with some of my very favorite people. I hope everyone had a safe night with people they love! Since it took us FOREVER to decide on what to be this year, Andrew&I already have our costumes planned out for next year…and it’s going to be epic.

I hope everyone had a happy Halloween! Any festivities you’d like to share?! Tell me a fun story from your night or leave a link to your blog post in the comments! I love reading about fun!

Until next time….

Ghosts of Halloweens past…

October 28, 2015 by JJ Starling

The end of October is quickly approaching and I don’t even have my costume figured out yet. That my friends, is a scary thought! Over the years, Halloween has become one of my most favorite holidays and it’s always been a dream of mine to have an annual epic Halloween party but I think Andre and I need to get some things settled first before we do that…like I don’t know…decide where we want to settle?!

My epic annual Halloween party will eventually happen I’m sure, but one thing I already love to do every year is dress up! To be honest, over the past few years I have reused costumes out of laziness because I’ve either been working or unable to really do anything but this year, Andre and I BOTH are off work and it’s 3 days before Halloween and neither of us have decided on anything officially. We are slacking for sure. So while I ponder today what I will dress as this weekend, I thought it would be fun to share a few moments from Halloweens past…

This first photo is circa 2007? I’m pretty sure I was a junior in high school and I’m pretty sure my parents had no clue I was dressing like this. I got ready at my friend Blaine’s house who was the “good” to my “evil”. We were also Angel and Mimi from rent I think the next year but I couldn’t find that photo unfortunately! and yes I was wearing little dance shorts under that tutu…as if that makes the costume any less scandalous. ha!

Part of me can’t believe I’m posting this.

Next up is I believe 2009? Yea, I’m pretty sure. I went downtown to an 18 and up club with my friend at the time who dressed up as a bunch of grapes. It was a pretty clever costume with a million balloons pinned to him. Everyone loved my costume and some girl convinced me to go out for the costume contest but of course it was one of those “all the people you know scream for you” kind of things so when it came time for people to cheer for me…my friend was literally the ONLY one who cheered for me and it was an epic.fail. Even though he&I haven’t spoken in years, I think about that hilariously embarrassing moment and laugh still to this day. I have yet to enter another costume contest. ha! I did meet another Cleopatra on the way back to the car though so we snapped a photo together.

I had the jewelry&shirt, got the skirt&wrap at goodwill and bought the wig&headpiece. I’ve used it again a few times!

And last but not least…last year. This year was particularly fun because it was the first I spent with Andre and his friends together. We went to Charlotte for the weekend and just bounced around a bar crawl they were having. It was a blast although it started off kind of rocky. Leave it to me to leave my ENTIRE makeup case at home and have to go to target to rebuy literally everything. It was so frustrating. But once all that was worked out, it was a great time. Andre and I don’t always do couples costumes but on occasion we will. This particular year we didn’t go full out but when he decided on The Cat in the Hat, I went with just a regular ol kitty cat using clothes I had in my closet and some $7 cat ears. Of course add the price of my makeup and it was like a $110 costume. Is that another epic fail? Even if so, the night certainly wasn’t!

Andre n friends

I’m super excited for this weekend and can’t wait to see everyone’s costumes! Have you chosen anything yet?!

Life lately…

October 26, 2015 by JJ Starling

Well helloooooo there!

I’ve gone pretty much this entire month without updating here and I kinda hate that but kinda don’t because I know how absolutely crazy this month has been for me and sometimes you need to just take a step back on some things to more intently focus on others and that’s what I’ve been doing. I suppose I could have mentioned I would be away before just seeming to disappear off of the face of the earth but to be honest, I haven’t really been able to see much in my life beyond a foot in front of me.

Over this past month, I have been smack in the middle of a job transition…or two…and things probably won’t officially calm down until – well… maybe 2016! Ha! I wanted to say middle of November but by that time, Holiday season will be in full swing and I don’t think anyone calls that time of year any word associated with “calm”. Not saying it’s bad, just fast paced with family gatherings and other events and whatnot.

So! I say all that to say that for those of you who venture here to see what I’m up to, I apologize for leaving you on the edge of your seat for so long but there hasn’t really been much to update other than the job stuff and I can’t even really update on that because I’m still in transition. BUT! When I’ve settled into my new routine, I would love to share and can’t wait to honestly :)

I have missed my blogging buddies, too! In addition to putting a blogging binder together and trying to figure out a course of action to keep this space updated more regularly (which made me realize how much I really have been collecting to share here!), I’ve tried to catch up on reading and commenting and all that a little bit last week but then went pretty much a whole ‘nother week without really having time to read any at all so I’m beginning to feel like I’m forever behind in seeing what’s up with everyone else too…non-blogging friends included! Hopefully as my new routine continues to iron out over the next couple of weeks I can get back to what feels on track with all of that.

There hasn’t been much time for extracurricular activities lately but that all changed this past weekend with a trip to my hometown! I got to visit Wilmington Friday-Sunday and it was amazing. I had a wonderful car ride there with my sister in law, checked a bunch of things off of my to-do list (like go see my Chiropractor! I refuse to change!) and even though things didn’t go exactly as planned, I got to spend time with some family and friends as well. Andre wasn’t able to join me on this trip but I still made the most of it and had a blast.

Friday after running my errands I went to visit a friend at the beach. The ocean, plus random fireworks obviously equals magic. Then I went downtown with my girlfriend Hayley to a trap music party. It was fun dressing up for the event and then continuing to bounce around from place to place dressed up. I didn’t know I would need a costume so I had to get something earlier in the day which ended up being a t-shirt that said “THIS IS MY COSTUME” and a pink wig. It was a big hit though!

I look like a tiny little alien creature and my friend looks like a voluptuous goddess with mermaid hair.

Selfie session…

The best of times!

Saturday I attended my very first Greek wedding with my friends Sarah and Patrick. Our mutual friend Alexii married her long time love Alex. Fairytale status right?! You may have seen my multiple posts on IG (@jlynnjustad). I don’t typically post there every day but I updated multiple times that night because I had SO. MUCH. FUN. They certainly know how to throw a party. Sarah performed a belly dance routine and it was amazing. Even with the back of her top popping open at the end of the song! Ha! Oops! After we decided to head out of the reception (that was going till 2am!) we found ourselves downtown before retiring for the night.

The crew otw!

The ladies

Beautiful ceremony

helping SKB get ready for her performance!

Bffs!

The crew part 2!

est. 1996

Sunday I caught up on some sleep, went shopping for something I super excited to talk about in a couple weeks(!!) and spent some time at my grandmother’s house with my precious cousin, planning her Sweet 16 birthday party that is quickly approaching. It was so sweet to have dinner with them and chat about all the fun times to be had in celebration of her sweet ~~little~~ life :)

I love when I get to go back and visit my hometown even though it feels different every time, especially when Andre isn’t with me. I’m thankful though for every opportunity I get to go back and see as many of my loved ones as possible. Even though everything didn’t go as planned, I had so much fun and hope to see those I couldn’t see this time, next time!

I’m hoping to be able to update more frequently now…heres hoping. Ha! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend as well and you know that I love you tons and am sending you lots of good energy!

The Starling's Journey

Author: JJ Starling

Thanksgiving 2015

November 3rd- The Dress

November 3rd- Choosing a venue

November 3rd- “Engagement” Photos

November 3rd- Choosing a date

November 3rd – A Wedding Series

Movies I’m stoked to watch this holiday season

1. Happy Christmas

2. Elf

3. This Christmas

4. The Polar Express

5. The Family Stone

Honorable Mention: Dumb&Dumber

Halloween 2015!

Ghosts of Halloweens past…

Life lately…