Beach Vacation 2021 & Family Photo Tips

 

Greetings! 

When I was younger my family used to go to the beach every year. I loved that tradition

 so much that I knew I wanted to adopt it for my own little family. Three years ago the tradition began for us and its held firm ever since.

Where We Stay

 I can't remember how I stumbled upon it but I found this amazing resort in Hilton Head, SC called Palmetto Dunes. I am obsessed with it! The grounds and landscaping are immaculate. They have tons of communities, hotels, condos and amenities. From onsite bike rentals, restaurants, convenient store, canoe rentals, tennis, pools and beach access. It is perfect! Each time we have stayed here I purchased our lodging through Vrbo.com previously known as Homeaway.com. Very similar to airbnb. The process has been seamless from start to finish. Hands down the best experience with booking was with our most recent rental. The owner of the condo is who I had the pleasure to communicate with and she was so hospitable and accommodating. The condo was updated and spotless! I highly recommend this property. 

What We Did

This trip we basically took it easy the entire time. We spent a lot of time on the beach. The tide was pretty low most of time which was perfect for Langston. On Sunday we did a family photo shoot with an amazing photographer named Rodney. I got so lucky because about 2 months prior to booking the trip I went online searching to Hilton Head photographers. I found Rodney  with One Moment One Shot Photography on Instagram! Yes, Instagram! I can hardly believe it myself. His work on Instagram and his website is breathtaking. His booking process was so easy too. Correspondence with him the entire time was professional and quick. Because we were familiar with the Palmetto Dunes property and because of how beautiful it already is there it was a no brainer to do the photos right at the resort.  This made everything very easy for everyone. Rodney was even able to do our shoot early to dodge the rain! I will definitely be booking him again in the future!

Tips and Tricks for Family Photos

1. Timing 

    I try to book all of our family photo shoots at least 1 to 2 months in advance. This gives you time to prepare your wardrobe, gather inspiration and it helps your photographer as well. Also the time of day you pick for your photo shoot is key for several reasons. First and foremost if you have a child or children in your shoot you need to make sure it is not during their cranky time or nap time. This is going to save you so many tantrums y'all! There is nothing a toddler hates more than changing clothes or posing when they are exhausted. If your doing photos in nature the time of day is important in regards to lighting. 

2. Picking a photographer

    Do your research! Extensive research. Many photographers specialize in certain types of photos. Studio, family friendly, portrait, maternity, etc. Its up to you to select a photographer that specializes in the photos you want. Ask them questions, check their socials and website. Even check yelp for reviews. There are a lot of scammers out there so be careful. Professional photos can get very pricey so just be careful that the  price you pay is going to deliver the quality it reflects. 

3. Find Inspiration 

    I get lots of inspiration from Pinterest. I literally just searched "family beach photos" and take note on the wardrobe, the poses and the scenery. There is no new idea under the sun. Some photographers even ask you if you have inspiration photos you'd like to share with them.

4. The Wardrobe

    Stay away from matchy matchy outfits! For a studio shoot I think matchy matchy family photos can look nice but for a natural setting I think its best to stay away from every person in the photo wearing the same exact outfit. Cohesive colors? Yes! Even the same color in different hues looks awesome for outdoor photos. I usually pick about four different outfits for myself. Then I run them by my husband so he can pick something out for himself and our son. Luckily, I am the most difficult to style so this makes the process easy. If you are doing more than one look for your family photos its best to try to pick two contrasting looks. A dressy and casual look or dark colors and bright colors, etc. Keeping it simple is something I like to keep in mind as well. This applies to everything. Outfits, makeup, hairstyle everything! Keeping it simple also makes changing clothes between looks quicker and easier. A lot of times different colors and patterns can be a distraction in the photos anyway. 

5. Recruit Some Help

    Pretty much every family photo shoot we have done I have been able to have either my mom or my sister come help us. This is going to be life saving if you are taking photos with children, pets or a large party. For this photo shoot my sister was a God send. She was able to not only get Langston dressed for me but she also made sure he didn't get sand everywhere prior to shooting. She was able to be make him simile, distract him when he wasn't in  the photo and change his clothes when it was time for the second look. Mamas this is going to make your family photo shoot that much more seamless. Again one to two months notice should allow you time to recruit some help from a family member or friend. 

I bought this cute set from Zara online and it turned out perfect. Also there were tons of black ants crawling on my feet in this photo. Watching all the ANTM in high school paid off lol.

Rodney understood the assignment y'all! With the photo package we purchased he edited 30 photos! Turn around time for edits was about 1 week. 

 Making memories with my family is one of my absolute favorite things to do. Time is precious y'all! Spend quality time with ones you love, put your phone down, work can wait. Play in the sand, take the photos, and relish in the memory of it all. 

"A strong black family is one of the most impactful forms of resistance."

Love, 

ALW

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Family Fun Weekend! Toddler Approved!

 
Starting off summer with a bang over here!

 We went all out for a family fun weekend for Langston. 

First stop was a Monster Jam show in Greenville, SC! Langston is obsessed with monster trucks and monster jam so we knew this was going to be an awesome surprise for him. The Monster Jam show was in a small arena so be sure to wear your mask and your head phones to conceal the loud motors of the trucks. Langston gladly wore his the entire show. I bought these for him from amazon. They had good reviews and worked well. The show started on time at 1pm, had a 20 min intermission and ended promptly at 4pm.  It fell right in the middle of Langston's nap time. He got a little sleepy and wanted to sit on my lap but he stayed awake the entire time. We packed snacks and sandwiches and ate in the truck right after the show. Save your money! The prices of the snacks in the arena were obscene as always.

This show featured six trucks! Two of which are Langston favorites. Grave Digger and Scooby Doo.

Adults need ear coverings too!

Next we headed to Atlanta. We purchased a CityPass to get into the aquarium and the zoo at discounted rates. I highly recommend purchasing entry this way to save money. Due to Covid each venue is operating at limited capacity and ask that you reserve a time slot prior to arriving. A week prior to our trip, I went to our City Pass email confirmation and from there I was able to select which attractions we wanted to attend along with date and time. Entry was into the Zoo and the Aquarium was quick and easy. They did temp checks, mask checks and metal detector checks as well. 

Sunday we had breakfast at Highland Bakery. It was soooo good! After that we headed to the Zoo. I am not a fan of zoos. I was not thrilled about going but I wanted Langton to see some african animals. The vibe at the zoo solidified my feelings on going. The animals seemed so unhappy. Most of the animals were either sleep or avoiding all human contact. I was hoping Langston could feed the giraffes but there was a line of parents getting refunds because the giraffes wanted no parts. It was just sad. The only lively exhibit were the pandas. Two baby pandas were wrestling which was exciting for Langton to watch. 

After the zoo. We took a little nap at the hotel then woke up and went to the Botanical Gardens. Entry to the Botanical Gardens is not included with the City Pass. On this Sunday they had live music and a bar. One of the best parts is the children's garden. It had a play area, tree house with a slide and a stage. Langton loved it. He kept calling it a secret garden and pretending to look for treasure. 

The Botanical Gardens were beautiful! Almost breathtaking! We walked around a lot. I wish we would have stashed some snacks in the stroller. They have a snack stand and a restaurant in the gardens but the food was very expensive. We definitely could have gotten away with bringing a few snacks as they did not check the stroller at the entry. 

Langston loved the children's garden! 

For dinner Sunday night we just ordered some take out and called it a night! I was pooped! At 20 weeks pregnant all that walking had my pelvis a little sore. I was glad to just shower and eat in bed.

Monday morning we headed to the aquarium at about 11am. Langton really loves to watch octopus documentaries on youtube to he was super excited to see sea creatures. We saw every exhibit at the aquarium. The best ones were the sharks, otters and Langston loved being able to touch the sting rays! The only thing we did not get to see was the dolphin show. 

How cute are these two!

Later that afternoon I met up with my friend at the park.  Langston and her son were able to play for about an hour, then we headed to our dinner reservation. 

We ate at a restaurant called Grana. The ambiance and food was amazing! I ate every bite of my mafalde pasta! Sooo good! Highly recommend but be sure to make a reservation. They are pretty popular. They indoor and outdoor seating and a beautiful rooftop terrace. They also teach you how to speak italian in the bathrooms. 

Langston had a blast the entire trip! I'm sure I'll be hearing about for weeks lol. 

Love, 

ALW

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Powder Room Remodel

Hi Everyone! 

Quarantine, yes we are still in quarantine, got me again. I decided to remodel my powder room. Power rooms don't get enough love. I mean, its not like tons of people are visiting but when guest come over the powder room is one of the most used rooms in your home. I decided to spruce mine up a bit, and by a bit I mean a lot. All credit goes to Anna Mae Grooves. Her entire home is lovely! She is lovely too! I've been loving her content lately. I saw her powder room remodel and had to do mine too. 

Lets jump right in! 

Here is what my powder room looked like before. I liked the shelves, so I knew I wanted to keep those. But the oval mirror and light fixture had to go. 

I went with my go to, Target for the shelves and mirror. I purchased the light fixture from Shadesoflight.com This was my first time using that site and they have a ton of inventory and decent prices. 

I used thumbtack for the shelf and light fixture install. I have used thumbtack a lot and I have never had an problem with the handymen or the app itself. 

I knew I wanted to do something to the walls but I didn't want to be bothered with paint. Initially, I picked out 2 different peel and stick wall paper patterns from amazon. They have some good options. I also saw several that I loved on Chasingpaper.com . Then I stumbled upon Anna Maes' Instagram page and fell in love with wall decal concept. I searched Urbanwalls site and was blown away! They have some amazing decals and peel and stick wall paper on their site. I am also obsessed with their Instagram and pinterest page. 

Cons to using the decals:

1. The decals on urban walls site are kinda pricey. I waited until they had a sale and was able to get a coupon code from their online chat as well. 

2. Their shipping is also kinda slow. I know....first world problems. They are made to order so mine took about a week and 2 days to arrive. 

3. When your decals arrive they come in long sheets. You have to cut each image out of the sheet. I found this time consuming and quite tedious. Take your time though. The cut out does not have to be super concise but you don't want to cut any of the decals either. 

Pro tip: Because all of a sudden I am a pro right? lol place your decals on the wall before putting your fixtures back up. I'll tell you why, just keep reading.

I used painters tape to stick the decals in spots to get an idea of how it would look before committing to sticking them down. 

To adhere the decal I used paint smoothing tool, I have no idea what it is called, but it worked well. The Urbanwalls instructions recommended a credit card for smoothing. Had to ask my husband to help since I'm so short. 

Next, I knew that the faucet, towel holder and tissue holder would have to be swapped out. Initially I purchased a gold faucet and tissue holder you see above from amazon. It ended up being the completely wrong color of gold. It was hideous and did not match the brassy gold mirror frame or light fixture. I ended up retuning it at Kohl's (they are an amazon hub so you can return your items there if you have on close to you). 

I went with a dark brass colored faucet, towel holder and tissue holder. I also switched out the light switch and outlet for brass colored set I found at Home Depot.

Somebody was supervising my every move. 

See how the decals are coming out from under the fixtures. This is key. It makes the decals look more like wall paper when you apply them before your fixtures. 

I did the same thing here. I love how it looks. 

Here is the final product! I really like how it turned out. I may swap the shelves out for some darker colored wood shelves I already have. I think it may make the dark brass fixture pop more. What do you think? Have you tried peel an stick wall paper or decals before? I love this because its less permenant. A little heat from a blow dryer and they peel right off! So cool!

Stay well,

ALW

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Simple Mess Free Christmas and Kwanzaa Arts & Crafts

 Happy New Year!!!!!

I wanted to share some super easy holiday arts and crafts activities to do with the kiddos!

For Christmas, I wanted Langston to make something to give to his dad, uncle, aunt and grammy. 

We used items we already had around the house. We created two cute little reindeer and christmas trees. 

Christmas Tree Art

Supplies...

-cardboard
-construction paper
-paint or marker
-mini candy cans
-hot glue gun

 Instead of cardboard we used these wood boards from an old puzzle. I drew a struggle tree on the board and Langston used paint markers to decorate the tree. You can also have older children glue colored cotton balls, noodles or candy canes on them.

I love these paint markers. They are pretty much totally mess free and non-toxic.

Reindeer Art

Supplies...

-cardboard

-markers or paint

-googly eyes

-candy canes

-hot glue gun

Cut your cardboard into a triangle. Langston colored in the nose red. I applied the hot glue to the eyes and candy canes and allowed him to press them on to the cardboard. He really enjoyed making these. You could also apply string to the top a turn your reindeer into an ornament. 

For Kwanzaa instead of giving gifts for each of the 7 days and principals we decided to do arts and crafts for each day. Langston got way too many gifts for Christmas so we skipped out on gifts for Kwanzaa this year. 

Supplies

-construction paper

-markers or crayons

-glue stick

-hot glue gun

-beans

-macaroni noodles

For day 1 of Kwanzaa-Kuumba we created links to chain. We used Kwanzaa colors and wrote each principles for each day. Since Langston is only two years old  I used it as a good opportunity to review Kwanzaa colors and their meanings.

Ujima fell on a daddy duty day. My husband drew the principal Ujima on cardboard and let Langston color it in. It's simple but still a very good activity for toddlers. It helps develop fine motor skills, it boost confidence, and it gives them time to concentrate on one small task (less screen time).

On the last day of Kwanzaa we created a caterpillar named Imani-Faith. 

This one was a huge hit. I simply cut a circle for each letter for they Day 7 principal. Clued them together and we used black eyed peas for her eyes and macaroni noodles for his smile.

All of these can be easily tweaked to suite your child's age. I also think these are a good alternative to gifts for Kwanzaa. You could even have them give their art to their friends or family as gifts. 

Happy New Year!

Stay safe,

ALW

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Boredom Strikes Look Book

Hi Everyone!

I was a little bored and I convinced my husband to help me shoot a lil look book! I can't lie, I have still been doing some online shopping and just wanted to share some cute date night outfit inspo. I have been a bit paranoid to actually go on a dinner date due to Covid. But we have had a few movie date nights at the house. Did I wear any of theses fits? No, but hey I'm a work in progress.

I am thinking of doing a staycation at the beginning of September for my husband and I.
So if you see these looks again, just mind your business! lol

Look One: 
These shorts were designed by one of my favorite bloggers Sai De Silva. She designed these shorts with Amazons' The Drop campaign. Basically, Amazon got a bunch of fashion influencers, youtube personalities and bloggers and had them create pieces for their site. I think its a short 2 day limited edition sale, so the shorts are no longer available. I purchased two pieces from her drop.
-Black body suite
-High waisted paper bag shorts
-Simple black sandal

These black and white heels are from ASOS. They literally take a simple black and white fit up a notch! I love them but they are sold out ladies. Sorry!

This wig is from a youtuber named Terri. I used to watch her weaver hair reviews years ago. Now she makes amazing quality wigs for a pretty reasonable price. 

Look Two:

I really love this top. It is from Urban Outfitters and I saw another one of my favorite bloggers Nikki with it on. I just had to have it too. Reasons it's a must have; You can dress it up or down, it is the perfect matcha green color and it has every cute detail a shirt could have. It is cropped, wrap around and has puff sleeves! I will take every color please! Honestly, Nikki could wear a trash bag and make it look bomb. I love her style so much! Check her out! 

-Green puff sleeve criss cross crop top

-Grey denim mom jeans

-Clear funky heels

These jeans run a little big. I plan to get them altered. I recommend sizing down.

These shoes are about 2 years old. I got them on clearance at Nasty Gal. I love that site! They have cute quality clothes, great prices and they are always having a sale. 

Look Three:

I purchased this dress from Pretty Little Thing. After this purchase I vowed to never purchase from them again. The quality and price point appears to be that of Forever 21 but every time I receive items from them they are Citi Trends quality at best. I have received items from them with holes in them and with threads hanging. Take it from me and don't waste your coins sis. 

-Mini Dress

-Nude Clear heel

If you are part of the itty bitty titty committee then just throw on some pasties like I did. 

One thing I can appreciate bout this dress is that it comes with a black slip sown into it. I guess PLT got that right at least. 

Look Four:

This look is a little relaxed to me for a full on date night. I would wear this out for drinks or maybe even a concert. I think the little peek-a-boo detail turns a simple white crop top into a sexy one! This entire outfit is from Nasty Gal and I love it. The pants again are a tad bit too big and long but such is life for a petite gal.

-White Crop top

-High wasted black jean

Personally I love the under boob cleavage. For small chested girls like me cleavage is hard to come by. lol

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