GIVE30A Fiesta – Social 2.0

April 25, 2021

So we had our GIVE30A Social 2.0 this past weekend and it was a fun one! I had such a blast planning this and it was so beautiful to see all of the joy in the room! It is my greatest joy in doing events, the opportunity to practice hospitality, so thank you GIVE30A for giving me that opportunity to work with you!

We are still in the baby stages of GIVE30A, a charity that has a plan to mobilize our community to give back with all we’ve got. We are building this community by bringing everyone interested together once a month, for a strategic social, with the goal of executing our ideas, together.

Our goal is that our intentional conversations would birth ideas, bring specific community needs to light, and also facilitate the resources to meet them. This past weekend we learned of a charity called Sanctuary Friends Network, who gifts all inclusive vacations to families battling cancer. This is just one example of the beautiful things that come of these nights!

Another blessing from these evenings is the new friendships and connections made with like-minded people! It was so fun to have The 30a Local Family with us and getting to know them as friends! If you want to learn more about the story behind GIVE30A take a listen here on the 30a Local Family podcast! Making friends with people who think beyond themselves will bless your life more than you can imagine, so we hope you join us!

We played some fun games and this sweet winner was thrilled to beat all the adults in the room! As you can see, these nights are filled with joy, and beautiful things are coming from these times of fellowship! We want God to do all He wants with and through us at GIVE30A.

We are excited to get active and start making these dreams come to life! The creative things we’ve discussed to bless those in need are just the beginning, but we need you! If you are local to 30A and know of needs, we want to hear from you! In fact, that’s our greatest need, to learn of the needs in our community and around the globe, so please be in touch! Please send info to connect@give30a.org.

Oh, shout out to Kurt Tobias, owner of Choona, for taking all of these amazing shots from the night!

Thanks to our amazing vendors! We enjoyed the beautiful space at The Grayt Room! We had delicious local eats to compliment our fiesta thanks to Macho Taco + Graze30A!

Stay tuned for our next social, and ways you can join us at GIVE30A in our giving adventure! Xx Cortney

GIVE 30A Launch Party

March 21, 2021

Some of you know we recently moved to 30A, and when people asked what our biggest prayer request was for our move, we said: COMMUNITY! Well, it didn’t take long to find it! The 30A local community is thriving with entrepreneurs and ones with big hearts! I truly feel at home with the creative and business community because their mission is bigger than themselves!

To give you some context, when I began my blogging journey a little over a year ago, I reached out to this beautiful, Jesus-loving 30A photographer on Instagram: Little Miss Creative! I told her I would love to collaborate and shoot with her on my next vacation to 30A, and she was up for it! We created some fun stuff, and that’s how it all started! She told me her husband owned a company called LIVE30A, and I tucked that contact away in case God had plans for us to come down one day!

Well, come to find out, it was HIS plan, and Jon at LIVE30A helped us find our beach dream house in 30A! Not long after moving down, I was invited to join together with some new friends to host the first GIVE30A Social! I was all about making new friends, using my passion of hospitality and event planning, and creating a space to inspire others to give back!

So, that’s what happened! Together with Jon Lyons of LIVE30A, Fantasia Lyons of Little Miss Creative, Jaysa of Avenue 117 Design, and Carly of Graze30A, we pulled off a fabulous night! Bob Goff even made a surprise call in to share some wisdom and encourage us on our unchartered path here at GIVE30A! Thanks to the local vendors Grayton Seafood and Graze30A for the local eats, Clay 30A for our succulent decor and our hosts who let us beautify their office space for the evening! Photography credit: Little Miss Creative.

As a result of this event we were able raise the funds to provide 10 tons of food to a group of starving and malnourished in Nicaragua! We were also able to bless a local family who suffered from a home fire, with immediate needs and provision. Thank you to all who gave! Follow along on Instagram @GIVE30A to find out about our upcoming socials and ways you can join the giving adventure! Xx Cortney

california | travel

Best Beaches in La Jolla, California

July 24, 2020

What I love most about the beaches in La Jolla is the variety of terrain. They are so unique and beautiful, and only minutes down the road from one another!

WINDANSEA BEACH is where we lived for most of our time in California. It is also our number one beach recommendation for La Jolla, California. It is intimate, stunning and the sunset is different each day! We made it a family goal to watch the sunset everyday we were in California earlier this year.

Windansea is also very family-friendly and the perfect place for family picnics, family work outs or just a good old-fashioned beach day!

Surfing is also very popular at this beach! There are surfers, of all kinds, out here catching waves at all times of the day, sunrise, midday, and especially at sunset.

The infamous Windansea Surf Shack is hard to miss! It has such a fun history and is an iconic spot for all kinds of photo shoots! I don’t think I was ever at this beach and did not see a shoot happening!

If you ever get the chance to be in La Jolla, California Windansea Beach is not to be missed! It was steal your heart, that’s for sure!

MARINE STREET BEACH. We found this cute spot for sunset on night on a family walk, and it was breathtaking from Marine Street Beach, one of my favorite memories for sure!

BOOMER BEACH is a beautiful place to watch the sunset, it’s just near Scripps Park. My hubby and I walked down here one night after a date at La Valencia Hotel, and it was such a romantic way to end the night enjoying the sunset together.

WIPEOUT BEACH is another one of our favorites! In fact, we took family pictures here and they are some of my favorite we have ever had taken! This beach is a very private beach because it’s very small and it takes a little hike to get down there to the sand. We would pack picnics and come enjoy this little piece of heaven before the tide came in. It disappears by sunset because the tide washes it away each day.

Wipeout Beach is great spot for surfers to practice on smaller waves. We had fun watching some try to learn while we picnicked.

LA JOLLA SHORES is another popular beach for families! We didn’t spend as much time here but this view of the shores from the Birch Aquarium is to die for!

If you get the chance to do La Jolla, I hope you visit all of these beaches while there! Southern California is like no other, so I hope you get the chance to experience it in person one day! xx Cortney

california | travel

Best Date Night in La Jolla, California

July 23, 2020

The La Valencia Hotel, also known as The Pink Lady, is such a great date night spot in La Jolla. It is right downtown so there is a lot to do within walking distance, including the ocean view!

My hubby and I chose to go for the live music one evening. We ordered a charcuterie board, with a few other appetizers and cocktails. It was so much fun just relaxing with a beautiful ocean view, live jazz and tasty bites.

This hotel is a beautiful Mediterranean style hotel, and is famous for it’s pink color and has been an iconic destination since 1926, for many of the Hollywood Elite. I really didn’t know much about it until researching for our date night, but it was the perfect place to go enjoy a romantic time, and we did feel like we had been transported back in time.

After tapas, cocktails, jazz and the sunset, we decided to head to our favorite gelato spot: Bobboi Natural Gelato. We came here nearly every week when we lived in La Jolla. I certainly loved that fact that we could get delicious, vegan gelato! Our favorite was the chocolate and pistachio combo.

We were in La Jolla for the winter months, so the temperatures dropped at night and it was the perfect way to end our date night, hand in hand, under the stars! It would be a great place to stay for a getaway for sure, but if you’re local or staying in a home, like we did, it’s a great date night spot! xx Cortney

beauty | brands we love

Summer Beauty With Elate Cosmetics

June 19, 2020

Summer is when I wear the least amount of makeup, so I love to have my summer makeup look as natural as possible! Elate Cosmetics was so kind to send me the start to my very own beauty capsule from their recently launched Flourish Collection! They are a fresh line that has been featured in Vogue, Bazaar and Elle, to name a few!

They promote capsule beauty, which means they encourage their buyers to buy what they love, and keep things low waste. Their products are made with bamboo, which makes them both beautiful and recyclable.

I love the bamboo, as I love the beach and neutral colors are my go to! The natural bamboo design was actually one of the first things I noticed and loved about the products! Then I found out they are a sustainable, vegan and ethically sourced cosmetic line! Having all those features in a makeup line is sure to bring me joy!

The most impressive product is possibly the refillable bamboo capsule! I have been looking for a nice, durable and beautiful compact — that works! They design the eye colors or powders in recyclable aluminum pans, that are magnetized and adhere to the palette, it’s brilliant!

I can see really loving this for travels, as it’s so light! I love that you can get several sizes, and the coolest thing is that it is reusable. All you do is re-fill or change out shadows and bronzers, or whatever you use in your beauty routine!

Elate was so gracious to send their Creme Revealer concealer (mama always needs that!), Origin Eyeline liner, and their Essential Mascara. Both the liner and the mascara are created for sensitive eyes and they are also water resistant. The Creme Revealer is their concealer and it is also made with jojoba oil and carrot seed oil, to brighten those dark circles!

They just launched their Flourish Collection, with four new Sheer Lipsticks, and they sent me two of them, Perk and Lively! They have two more playful colors and I hope to try the other two very soon! The two I picked are great natural and neutral colors for an effortless and natural makeup look for summer, my favorite vibe!

These lipsticks have moisturizing shea butter (a natural SPF), mango butter, jojoba oil, Vitamins A, E and F. They are so smooth and nourishing, and feel as amazing as a chapstick! They aren’t the least bit drying, which I love the moisturizing aspect in a lipstick! You can also use them as a blush!

They also sent me EyeColour Refills in four beautiful colors! They are basically shadows. I cannot wait to try a natural daily eye, as well as build a smoky evening eye with the colors they sent: Ethereal, Gifted, Cinder and Lithe. These eye colors have organic jojoba oil and bamboo extract and are colored with natural mineral pigments.

Lastly, I could not forget bronzer, for that wash of summer color! They so generously sent their Sunbeam Bronzer made with natural mineral pigments, fruit and veggie extracts and jojoba oil.

I love their aesthetic, so natural, neutral and beachy being made out of bamboo! I also love that they have a passion for stewardship of the earth, with their low waste mission as a company! Vegan and cruelty-free is also a huge star for this brand! I really love that their products are made with very natural ingredients, ones that promotes the health of your skin and body.

I will be creating a summer beauty look soon with these products, to show how I use them. Head over to their gorgeous site to check out all their beautiful products and use my friends code: CORTNEYG15 for 15% off (limited time)! Stay tuned as I hope to try more and share more about my favorite Elate products! Have fun creating your very own Beauty Capsule with Elate this summer! xx Cortney

healthy living | recipes

Spicy Summer Salad with Tessemae’s

June 5, 2020

Summer salads are a favorite in our house when the weather warms up! Our bodies crave cool and fresh foods, and with long days at the pool and fun with friends, I love to have quick and healthy options for the family! Thanks to Tessemae’s for sending us some of their delicious options to create some easy and healthy summer recipes for the family as part of their #HomeHabit campaign!

For this Spicy Summer Salad we used Tessemae’s new Habanero Ranch and it was divine! We love a little or a lot of spice in this family, and this salad was loaded with fresh, healthy veggies, greens and protein!

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Spicy Summer Salad Recipe

organic power greens mix (chopped)

1 can organic black beans (rinsed)

organic mushrooms (chopped)

organic bell bell pepper (chopped)

organic carrots (chopped)

organic cucumber (chopped)

organic cherry tomatoes (chopped)

Tessemae’s Organic Habanero Ranch to taste

Tessemae’s is one of our favorite brands for healthy dressings, marinades and mayos! Their products are gluten free, dairy free, organic, paleo, keto, no sugar added and they use cage free eggs! It’s our favorite brand for the best quality condiments for delicious, healthy recipes! Happy Cooking! xx Cortney

brands we love | lifestyle

Boho Picnic: Dreamiest Date Night Ever

May 19, 2020

Dates are few and far between for my husband and I as we have two little ones, family is far, and his job has him traveling around the globe. So when we get a date, it’s a treasured time! This past weekend we snuck away to a local garden and set up a beautiful bohemian style picnic, just the two of us. And it was a total dream!

After picking the perfect spot on the grass, he began telling me the story of where he got our picnic blanket. He told a wonderful story of his travels and where he picked it up for me on the other side of the globe. I loved that he opened up to me in that way, especially at the start of our date.

I was so excited to get pretty and put on a dress, being that we have been home and not going many places with the whole global shutdown. This dress is from our latest trip to 30A, at a great boutique called Indigo.

To make a picnic like this successful, you need lots of bags! And those I have! I have a straw bag fetish, that’s for sure. A picnic, beach, and pool lover can never have enough in my opinion. This particular bag is very special to me, as it was given to me by the owner of the beautiful restaurant The Table Farm Bakery, as a Mother’s Day gift! I love this bag, and have gotten so many compliments on it! It’s my new favorite.

My hubby helped set up a very simple charcuterie board, really just items from our fridge, and he then poured the Prosecco, and we toasted, to us! After some amazing conversation about life and dreams and hopes, we dove in to the book we are reading together right now. It’s a marriage book and truly one of the best we’ve ever read. It’s called Rocking the Roles and it has facilitated such incredible conversation for he and I lately. It was the perfect touch to this sunset picnic.

We are definitely best friends and so time together is most definitely cherished. We have always been encouraged by amazing couples to take time for one another. Our calling hasn’t really allowed ample time for dates, but now that life has slowed down and we have the opportunity with our favorite nanny home, we can make these dates happen and we plan to weekly until life changes again.

We continued snacking, talking and just enjoying time together. As the sun began to set, we got closer and spent some time just being. It was glorious.

And, it’s not a date without lots of laughter for us! It was so nice to be free, relaxed and have fun as a couple!

After the sun went down, we just snuggle and watched the stars, and talked about how important romantic time together is for a marriage. We prayed too and thanked the Lord for His faithfulness in our lives. I cannot wait for our next picnic date! I forgot how beautiful simple things can be. I would definitely put this date on the top 5 in our whole marriage. So grab your hubby and find a pretty spot and share a beautiful evening of conversation and togetherness, under the stars. xx Cortney

brands we love | fashion

Backyard Hangs with Indigo Swimwear + Minnidip

May 5, 2020

We have been getting really creative over here with this new quarantine life! With homeschooling a part of our normal routine, even before quarantine life, we relied heavily on daily adventures to the country club, to get our daily dose of vitamin D and get all the wiggles out! But with the country club pools being closed due to the circumstances, we have had to get creative with our littles — and Minnidip has helped us do just that! They have the cutest new Adult Kiddie pools to make a pop-up pool party any place! We love our new That’s Banana Leaves Luxe Inflatable pool — it fits 3 adults!

I am super excited to live in my new Indigo Summer Collection! Their new Del Mar in Ribbed Olive suit is made with the most comfortable and soft material! I am going to be living in this one all this summer! I may need it in every color!

The girls love their new Elle in Adventurer suits, and I do too! Indigo is definitely our favorite swim brand for littles. Made with amazing, recycled material, and they fit so well.

This little suit has a green and black detail, with a precious little elephant, so it’s especially popular with my toddler.

I love that we can match and color coordinate with the new mommy + me line with Indigo Swimwear.

I’m also obsessed with their new Coverup Resort Collection. I am wearing their Beacon Tunic in white, and it’s so gorgeous! It’s linen, with a beautiful fit and it’s incredibly flattering and comfy!

The Del Mar suit in Ribbed Olive has adjustable ties in the front and the back, with is amazing for all body types! They also made this suit with fuller coverage, so it’s more cozy for the mamas but still super sexy!

I am also in love with their new Solana Sarong in Beige! You can wear it around the waist as a coverup or around your whole body for a dress like feel, which I love! This is a must-have for beach lovers and all your summer travels! It’s easy to toss in a straw bag, and I can even use it as a blanket for the babe in case she wants to catch a nap on any sunny adventure we may be on!

Be sure to watch out for my Mother’s Day giveaway with Indigo Swimwear on Instagram! We will be giving away the Del Mar suit for mama, the Adventurer for the babe, and the Beacon Linen Tunic to one of my lucky followers on Instagram! Don’t forget to shop with my friends code: CORTNEY for 20% off your summer swim wardrobe needs. Xx Cortney

brands we love | lifestyle

Garden Party Inspired by Old World Romance

April 27, 2020

I am over the moon to be a part of a few select elite lifestyle influencers/creatives, who were chosen to create content for Grace Rose Farms! One thing we all have in common: our love of flowers! This is truly one of the most exciting opportunities for my blog journey, thus far! Especially with them recently being featured in Martha Stewart Living and collaborating with brands like Shop Terrain and Anthropologie!

I knew I wanted to create something incredibly magical, and I knew just the creative to collaborate with to make my vision come to life! One of my best friends, Mandee Dieguez, founder of Casual Collective, was the other half to my not-yet-born creative duo! Of course, with her love for design, styling and all things pretty, she was ecstatic to join forces and make something magical together!

We knew we wanted to create an old world romance feel and make it seem as if we had been transported to a European hillside garden. To do that, we chose a local garden in order to provide a private and serene environment, with the sounds of nature as background for the intimate experience we hoped to create.

The elements we chose to guide us were earthy, simple, organic, and natural, featuring stunning heirloom roses, antique woodwares, vintage glassware and candlesticks. We found ourselves lost in the moment, as we built this dreamy vignette together. For Mandee, her gifts for styling and staging just blossomed; and for me, it was an effortless dream to take this project from vision to production. I had a blast creating and shooting this magic with her!

The centerpiece and inspiration for this shoot was one of the Grace Rose Farms heirloom rose bouquets. They are the most breathtaking roses I have ever experienced, truly. Their roses are organic and non-toxic, and both hand grown and farmed.

The other unique attribute of the Grace Rose Farm roses, aside from their stunning aesthetic is their incredible fragrance. I have never smelt a more heavenly rose, or flower for that matter, in all my life! Gracie and her roses are perfection, and her team is a delight to work with!

Another elegant brand we choose to feature was local sugar artist Grace Filled Baker. She provided the gorgeous and tasty macaroons, that added such a feminine touch. She even designed them with gold foil detail specifically for this shoot, to compliment the bouquet!

And of course a shoot with Mandee wouldn’t be complete without her curated, vintage homewares from her brand Casual Collective.

After styling and shooting this beautiful scene, we felt it only appropriate to enjoy the fruit of our labor. As creatives we were able to see our vision come to life beyond what we had imagined, and it was magical — especially as golden hour arrived! We sipped champagne as girlfriends, and dreamt about our future potential, as the sun set.

Ps. If you want to bless that special Mom for Mother’s Day, order some roses for her from Grace Rose Farms fast, because they are almost sold out! Use my referral link to order and use code CORTNEY10 for 10% off your order!

Stay tuned for giveaways with Grace Rose Farms, Casual Collective and Grace Filled Baker — coming soon! xx Cortney

brands we love | lifestyle

Grit & Grace: The Perfect Special Occasion Gifts

April 14, 2020

Grit & Grace is a beautiful coastal chic gift company out of Charleston. They are a sustainable brand as they repurpose oyster shells, and other beach side treasures. They are also eco-friendly as they recycle 10 oyster shells for every one Grit & Grace oyster sold. You can read more about the importance of recycling oysters and how it impacts the ocean’s ecosystem here!

They so graciously gifted me their signature Oyster Jewelry Dish, which can be used as a ring dish, shown above. I love using it for my wedding and engagement rings.

It can also be used for a beautiful table setting accessory, for salt or sugar. I love all things ocean so I was thrilled to collaborate with a chic, fashionable and sustainable brand like Grit & Grace.

I am also a gift-giver! Gift-giving is one of my love languages, and so I am always looking for gift ideas for loved ones. When I discovered Grit & Grace, I not only wanted some of her pieces in my home and wardrobe, I couldn’t wait to gift them! I actually got the Oyster Dish for my sister as an engagement gift, and she loved it!

Their studio also has several jewelry options, which I adore! They have Charleston-inspired jewelry, as well as oyster-inspired jewelry. Featured here are their Angel Oak Earrings. Which would make an amazing gift, for graduation coming up in May, or Mother’s Day! They deliver the gifts straight to your loved one, with the most beautiful packaging. They also offer hand-written notes for a special message, depending on the occasion.

I love the versatility of the brand, it’s ocean-inspired aesthetic, and the fact that it’s a small, creative, female-owned brand! I am always excited to work with beautiful and sustainable brands, so hop over to their site and do some special occasion shopping for graduation and Mother’s Day coming up! They were so kind to share a friends code with me! Use code: CORTNEY for 20% off your entire purchase! You will love anything you choose from them, for yourself or for a special someone! xx Cortney