Celebrate Oktoberfest at City Tap House

It's nearly Oktoberfest at City Tap House and they ain't firkin around. This weekend, September 30 through October 1, the Fort Point beer paradise’s patio area will be transformed into a German beer garden mirroring Theresienwiese. To fill your (many) steins, there will be a tap takeover with over 15 German-inspired draughts available and Jack's Abby Craft Lagers will be custom-building a gravity cask that will be poured at the bar. We're not 100% sure what that is either, but we're excited to find out!

The kitchen will also be dishing out some specialties from Deutschland including a German Sausage Sampler with knockwurst, kielbasa, bratwurst, stout mustard, curry ketchup, gherkin pickles and a pretzel roll ($14); Potato Pancakes with apple compote and savory chive crème fraiche ($9); and, Beer-Braised Pork & Sauerkraut Fritters with hefeweizen mustard ($18). To wash it down, order up one of these specialty brews (and don't forget your antacids)!

• Berkshire Brewing Company's Oktoberfest 
• Victory Beer's Fest 
• Narragansett Beer's Festbier 
• Samuel Adams' Oktoberfest 
• Jack's Abby Craft Lagers' Copper Legend 
• Two Roads Brewing Company's Ok2oberfest 
• Peak Organic Brewing's Hop Harvest Oktoberfest 
• Banded Horn Brewing Co.'s Oktoberfest 
• Idle Hands Craft Ales' Brocktoberfest 
• Harpoon Brewery's Flannel Friday 
• Boulevard Brewing Company's Bob's 47 
• von Trapp Brewing's Oktoberfest 
• Sierra Nevada's Oktoberfest 
• Weihenstephan USA's Fest Bier 
• Long Trail Brewing's Harvest Ale 
• Yuengling Brewery's Oktoberfest 
• Brooklyn Brewery’s Oktoberfest 
• Down the Road Brewery’s Henzelmann's Festbier

With over 15 German-inspired Oktoberfest beers on draft, food specials, and even a Steinhoisting Competition - you won't want to miss this epic event! Join City Tap House this weekend and devour the details of a firkin' good time! Cheers!

Wedding Wednesdays: Bridal Parties that Sweat Together, Stay Together

This post if for our fit-fanatics who are about to say 'I Do'. If your bridal party likes sweating as much as you do, consider treating them to a fun class or two. Check out these epic workouts for all the ladies in your life heading down the aisle. You go girls!

SoulCycle

Spinning not only burns tons of calories, but with killer playlists and disco lights, you'll feel like you just hit the club—with the added bonus of exercise endorphins. Book a private room and you can choose the songs and decorations. So fun!

From $30 per class, from $1,000 for a private class, Soul-Cycle.com.

305 Fitness

In these classes, you'll dance and tone with dumbbells as a DJ spins the hottest tunes. Book a private one for you and your besties to learn a choreographed dance. Maybe you'll even bust it out during your reception!

From $24 per class, from $350 for a private class, 305Fitness.com.

Rugged Maniac Obstacle Race Series

The ultimate friend face-off: Get a group together for some major competition as you cover 3.1 miles of obstacles, including mud slides and monkey swings over a swampy pit. You'll never feel closer to your girlfriends than while you're dragging them through the mud.

Prices vary, find a location near you at RuggedManiac.com.

Electric Run

Grab your girls and dress in head-to-toe glow-in-the-dark apparel for a neon nighttime 5K (don't forget your bridal veil and sash though)! Enjoy light shows and music along the course, plus a massive postrace dance party. These are always a good time!

Prices vary, find a location near you at ElectricRun.com

Trapeze School

Fly high with your best buds! Learn how to hang upside-down, flip onto a trampoline and even swing from one trapeze to another like the pros. You'll have a wild time and definitely break a sweat doing it!

From $50 per person for a private class, TrapezeSchool.com.

Bridal parties that sweat together, stay together! Wrangle up your fit fam and devour the details of the perfect workout before heading to the altar!

Fall-ing Hard for These Autumn-Inspired Iced Coffees

You know it's fall when your alarm goes off and it's still dark outside! But if you live in New England, you also know September and October can be abnormally warm. Not only is it hard to decide what to wear, it's also hard to decide if you want your coffee hot or iced! For now, we'll keep our morning pick-me-up cold but embrace the flavors of fall. Check out these perfect iced coffees to get you through autumn!

Dark Roast Almond Milk Latte with Sea Salt and Cinnamon

Ingredients:

Dark roast coffee

Almond milk

Ground sea salt

Cinnamon

Ice cubes

Instructions:

1. Pour dark roast coffee over ice.

2. Add a splash of almond milk until desired creaminess.

3. Add just a pinch of sea salt and mix.

4. Sprinkle a dash of cinnamon to garnish.

Cacao Mocha with Coconut Cream

Ingredients: 

Coffee

Whipped coconut cream

Ice cubes

Cacao powder

Instructions:

For the whipped coconut cream:

1. Start by refrigerating a can of coconut milk overnight as well as a metal mixing bowl so that they are both extra chilly in the morning.

2. Pour the coconut milk into the mixing bowl and beat until the coconut milk turns into a cream.

For the iced coffee:

1. Begin by adding a spoonful of cacao powder to the bottom of your glass.

2. Pour coffee over ice and mix the three ingredients together.

3. Top your cacao mocha off with a dollop of coconut cream and you’re ready to enjoy.

Ice Blended Coffee Protein Shake

Ingredients:

Chocolate or vanilla protein powder

Coffee

Ice

Instructions:

1. In a blender, add together one scoop of protein powder, a handful of ice cubes, and your iced coffee.

2. Blend until smooth and creamy.

Taste all the flavors of fall while keeping cool during the warm autumn months and devour the details of your perfect pick-me-up!

Monday Mashups: Escape to INSCAPE

Feeling like your team's productivity is low on the field or in the office? Consider taking a break from the daily grind and engaging your inner peace. What are we talking about exactly? INSCAPE Meditation and Relaxation studio in New York City!

INSCAPE delivers immersive meditation and relaxation experiences by merging tradition, modern thinking, and of-the-moment technology. Their experiences reduce distractions through movement and breathing, and using guided meditation and sound, to facilitate optimal meditation and relaxation and foster reflection. INSCAPE's mission is to inspire and empower you to connect with your best self, find balance and live life to your fullest potential.

When you connect with yourself, you connect with everything around you. Their NYC studio is a quiet space away from the distractions of everyday life. The intentionally designed 5,000-square foot studio offers fully immersive audio-guided group experiences for meditation and relaxation. INSCAPE honors the traditions of meditation while infusing modern design and technology delivered through multi-sensory experiences using light, sound, scent and inner reflection.

The INSCAPE space is a blank canvas for group events, meetings, parties and product launches and is the perfect place to boost productivity, achieve calm, heighten focus, unlock creativity and celebrate together. Bring your team back together with the art of meditation and devour the details of an INSCAPE experience today!

MIT Great Glass Pumpkin Patch

You won't find Charlie Brown here but you will find some great blown glass pumpkins! These creations are stunningly beautiful (and last much longer than a real pumpkin)! The Great Glass Pumpkin Patch at MIT is an annual installation of over 2,000 handmade glass pumpkins, created by artists from the MIT Glass Lab. Proceeds from this event benefit The MIT Glass Lab, where the MIT community can learn and practice the art of glassblowing.

The Great Glass Pumpkin Patch came to MIT in 2001 after a residency in the Glass Lab by 14 members of the Bay Area Glass Institute (BAGI). The Bay Area Glass Institute (a non-profit corporation located in San Jose, CA), was founded in 1995 by San Jose State graduate Bobby Bowes and MIT alumnus Mike Binnard.

Every week or so, beginning, intermediate, and advanced students work together for a few hours in teams of six or seven to produce pumpkins for the sale. Production for the October event continues steadily throughout the year in order to achieve their goal of 2,000+ pumpkins.

Stop by the Kresge Oval on MIT's campus this Saturday, September 23rd to see for yourself! The event runs from 10am-3pm. Your perfect pumpkin is waiting for you!

Devour the details of fall and celebrate the season with the help of MIT's Great Glass Pumpkin Patch!

Wedding Wednesdays: Five Details for Your First Dance

Every first dance is special. All eyes are on the bride and groom. It's the first true celebration as man and wife after the 'I Dos'. Consider dressing up the dance floor to make this memorable moment even more magical. Check out these five details for your first dance!

Traditional with Initials

Celebrate joining together in holy matrimony by featuring your initials center stage!

Sparkle the Night Away

If your reception is outdoors, instead of a sparkler send-off, consider flooding the dance floor with these flashes of light!

Shed Some Light

Create a waterfall with some string lights that surround the dance floor for a glowing effect!

When You Feel Like You're On Cloud 9

Be on cloud 9! Fill the dance floor with smoke for a genuinely romantic moment.

Let's Dance

The last dance...and the first dance under these magnificent lights! A true showstopper!

Devour these five details for your first dance and create the perfect atmosphere to boogie on down with the one you love!

Best of Both Worlds Breakfast

You know what they say, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But we all know dessert is everyone's favorite. Get the best of both worlds with this perfect breakfast pudding recipe! It's a little tart and a little sweet, plus super simple to make. You'll definitely want this for breakfast every day!

Strawberry-Raspberry Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding

Ingredients: 
Makes 4 servings

1 cup vanilla almond milk
2 Tbsp chia seeds
1 Tbsp Greek yogurt
½ cup raspberries + ¼ cup raspberries for topping
½ cup strawberries + ¼ cup strawberries for topping
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 Tbsp coconut shreds (optional)

Instructions:

1. In a blender, blend your almond milk, Greek yogurt, strawberries, raspberries and vanilla extract.

2. Pour mixture into separate bowls or jars (we like to use mason jars that have screw-on lids), and whisk in the chia seeds and coconut shreds. Let sit in your refrigerator overnight to allow chia seeds to absorb the liquid and create a pudding-like texture.

3. The next morning, remove your jar and top your chia seed pudding with additional strawberries, raspberries, coconut shreds, and any other topping you’d like (maybe even some dark chocolate chips)!

Nutritious and delicious! You can't go wrong with this breakfast-dessert blend. Try out this recipe and devour the details of the best of both worlds every morning!

Monday Mashups: Visual Note-Taking at Events

For us, it wasn't until college that it was acceptable to take notes on a laptop in class. Now, even middle school students are utilizing iPads and tablets to transform lessons into visual representations, preparing them for the technologically advanced world we live in. More and more planners are finding this useful at large events in the form of visual note-taking. Visual note-taking, also known as graphic recording, is a process of representing ideas with drawings. Not only does it create a colorful, eye-catching way to capture content from a meeting or event, it can also help your attendees better process and retain complex information. And there are many ways to incorporate these graphics into your event that go beyond the standard whiteboard on an easel.

Here’s a look at how some planners are using visual note-taking before, during, and after their events:

As a Mural

At the Chicago Theological Seminary’s 2016 conference, Ink Factory created a 7- by 20-foot mural illustrating content from sessions. Eye-catching to all passerbys.

As a Keepsake

For a party to commemorate Chicago Trading Company’s 20th birthday, Revel Global Events hired Ink Factory to create a custom 5- by 10-foot light box covered with lightweight acrylic. During the event, artists drew images on the light box to represent key moments in the company’s history. After the event, guests received small Plexiglas versions of the artwork as a gift.

As a Stacked Display

In the atrium and trade show hall at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, Kingman Ink created display towers from the boards of visual notes taken during Content Marketing World sessions. Attendees could take photos on the displays to reference later.

As Promo Items

After an event, visual notes can be turned into promotional items, such as this mug, set of notecards, mousepad, and more from ImageThink.

As Wall Art

Following its 2015 conference titled Selma at 50: Still Marching, the Chicago Theological Seminary transformed graphic recordings created by Ink Factory into wall art for its office.

Remember more than just words with these visual takeaways! Find what works best for your next event and devour the details of note-taking with these creative ideas.

Oktoberfest at NSB

Night Shift Brewing Oktoberfest is back for the 3rd year running! Their spacious parking lot will be transformed once again into a traditional German-style beer garden, complete with brass bands, food vendors, communal drinking tables, and lawn games. So grab your friends and wear your best lederhosen! You won't want to miss this event, Saturday, September 16 at Night Shift Brewing!

They'll have six awesome German beers available in cans and on draft, alongside all of their other non-German-but-still-awesome offerings for attendees to sip on:

• Oldenburg: Märzen-style lager - the yearly Oktoberfest release!
• Storm & Drive: German-style schwarzbier - dark, roasty, and mysteriously drinkable
• Krusch: Kölsch-style ale - crisp, clean, and ever so kruschable
• Village Lager: Zwickelbier-style lager - hazy, light, and approachable; a perfect stein beer
• Pfaffenheck: German-style pilsner - a zesty and floral mainstay; brewed traditionally
• Furth: Hefeweizen-style ale - fan-favorite German hefe; notes of banana, clove, and spice

NSB Oktoberfest steins will be available while supplies last! $25 for a stein and your first pour, $12 for subsequent pours. We'll cheers to that! Here's what else to expect:

• Six hours of music from amazing local musicians
• Sausages, pretzels, and more, all made fresh by some friendly food trucks and pop-ups
• A communal Oktoberfest stein toast at 1PM to kick off the celebration!

Looking to get a little more out of your Saturday? For the athletically inclined or those that need a challenge before drinking, stop by the Idle Hands Craft Ales Oktoberfest & Inaugural 5K for a little morning exercise! Finish the race and stop by to cheers with a NSB beer or two.

In the event that there is a line to get into the Night Shift Brewing taproom, they will be hustling to let folks enter as their legal capacity allows. Staff members will be able to give a rough estimate of the wait time, and they'll monitor social media for any questions about the length of the wait. To the dedicated NSB patrons, take note the NSB hall pass system WILL NOT be in effect for this celebration!

Join us this Saturday for the 2017 Oktoberfest at Night Shift Brewing and devour the details of some epic German brews (and great food too). Cheers!

Wedding Wednesdays: Five Steps Towards Finding the Right Wedding Officiant

To create the right kind of wedding ceremony, you have to select the right officiant—or officiants— and will need to have a clear understanding about what to expect in your work together. This also makes day-of so much easier when you're focusing on a million other things. Get to really know your officiant! The more you feel comfortable at your wedding, the better.

1. Find someone you feel truly comfortable with. Seek someone who makes you feel so at ease on so many levels that you can relax on your wedding day, knowing you will be taken care of. You want the person who facilitates and guides this important milestone in your life to be someone you both feel confident about; someone who makes no judgments about your union and whose only concern is providing you a ceremonial experience that is all you want it to be. It would be wonderful to work with a wedding officiant who is caring and willing to get to know you.

2. Be clear about what is in the ceremony. The couple should have input into the language, readings, and rituals in the ceremony, and should have final approval of the wedding script. Not every officiant works that way but at the very least you should be assured that there will be no surprises or unwanted preaching.

3. Be clear on the officiant’s ground rules. If an officiant is representing a specific faith and is not able or willing to adapt a ceremony, you must respect that. Unless he or she specifically agrees, you cannot expect that person to represent anything other than their own faith. Be clear, from the very start, what the officiant can and can’t do. This includes whether the officiant can even take on an interfaith or same sex wedding, if this is the case.

4. Make sure your officiant can sign your license. Every state has different procedures for clergy. In New York City, for example, an officiant must be registered with the City Clerk’s Office—even a justice of the peace or a judge from another town—for at least 24 hours before they can sign the license. Don’t assume, always ask, if the officiant is fully prepared to make the ceremony legal in your state.

5. Put things in writing. Weddings are stressful. Couples are new at asking these questions and conversations may not be remembered in full. This is why it is extremely important to have a clear agreement with the officiant, so you know exactly what to expect.

Say the best 'I Do' to your significant other (and the right wedding officiant too) and devour the details of a calm, cool and collected wedding ceremony!

Two Treats to Get You Through Fall

If you're like us and crave the flavors of fall, we've got two treats for you! These recipes are sure to cure your sweet tooth. A pinch or two of cinnamon goes a long way during these autumn months! Add these ingredients to your grocery list and get ready to treat yourself to the flavors of fall!

Chai Coconut Caramel Shortbread

Ingredients

Shortbread Layer:

• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/4 c flour
• 1/4 tsp salt

Caramel:

• 4 bags chai tea
• 1 3/4 cups coconut milk
• 3/4 cup corn syrup
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar

Instructions

Shortbread:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a stand mixer, beat the coconut oil, sugar and vanilla until completely combined, about one minute. Add in the flour and salt and mix on slow speed just until everything comes together.
3. Line a 9″ pan with parchment paper and spray the tops and side of the parchment with cooking spray. Crumble the shortbread into the bottom of the pan. Press firmly with your hands until the shortbread covers the bottom and is an even layer.
4. Bake the shortbread layer in your preheated oven until the top is a light golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Take out of the oven and set aside until the caramel is ready.

Caramel Layer:

1. Place the coconut milk and chai in a saucepan set over medium high heat and let it come to a light boil. Take off the heat and let sit for 10 minutes.
2. Take out the tea bags and toss. (Make sure to squeeze any extra milk out of the bags).  Add in the corn syrup and salt and bring the mixture bag to a light boil and stir until the salt is completely dissolved, about 4 minutes. Once the mixture is smooth and together, remove from heat and set aside.
3. In a separate saucepan, add the sugar and water and whisk until combined. Place over medium high heat and cook, without stirring, until the sugar is a nice amber color, and reaches 310 degrees.
4. Immediately, gently pour the caramel into the chai spiced milk. Be careful—the mixture might bubble and crackle!
5. Place the saucepan (that now has all your ingredients in it) back over medium heat (yes, one more time!) Stir your caramel until all the clumps have disappeared and it is smooth.
6. Raise the heat to medium high and cook until the caramel has thickened and reaches 245 degrees.
7. Pour the caramel over the shortbread layer and let it set and cook completely.
8. Once you’re ready to cut your bars, make sure to oil your knife before cutting! This will help the caramel to not stick to the knife.

These treats are known for melting in your mouth. The perfect bite of fall!

Spiced Apple Cider Snow Cones

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups spiced apple cider
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• Plenty of ice cubes
• A pinch of cinnamon
• Cinnamon sticks, for garnish
• Rum or whiskey, optional

Instructions

1. Mix equal parts sugar and cider in a saucepan over low-medium heat. Simmer until liquid reduces by half. Set aside to cool. (Note: If you allow your mixture to simmer for too long, it will reduce further and become overly sticky. You want it syrupy, but still thin enough to easily pour over the ice.)
2. Using a snow cone machine or ice crusher (a blender will also do in a pinch, but won’t have quite the same texture), crush enough ice to fill four small glasses. Pack the ‘snow’ in tightly, and form a rounded snowball on the top.
3. Pour your simple syrup over each mound of ice. Sprinkle with a pinch of cinnamon and garnish with a cinnamon stick. Add a shot of alcohol to each glass for a spiked version. Enjoy!

These two treats will definitely have you fall-ing in love with autumn! Grab your ingredients today and devour the details of these delicious recipes!

Monday Mashups: The Beauty of a Dog Lover

There are so many of us dog parents out there! What's not to love about our precious pups? We even pamper them more than we pamper ourselves at times! See how beauty brand Urban Decay played up to just that for this #MondayMashup!

In celebration of last month’s National Dog Day, Urban Decay hosted a luncheon for some furry friends—and their owners—on August 23 at the London West Hollywood hotel. Hosted by the hotel’s new doggie mascots, Winston and Churchill, the daytime event also highlighted the beauty brand’s cruelty-free policy and its commitment to end animal testing. We love that!

The pooches in attendance received massages from Two Hands Four Paws (a canine physical rehabilitation center in Los Angeles) and gourmet doggie treats by dog food delivery company SnapWag, as well as professional portrait sessions. Plus, fresh doggie lunches were prepared by the hotel's chefs. Each dog was also given a customized dog bowl filled with water to accompany their meal.

In addition, the outdoor space was filled with dog beds and toys for afternoon playtime, while the swag bags included custom branded leashes, tennis balls, bandanas, and even poop bags in the brand’s signature purple color. The invited owners, who were a mix of beauty bloggers, influencers, and media, also received gift bags containing human-friendly Urban Decay products. How awesome is that?

Way to go Urban Decay! We love your thoughtfulness and adore your passion for pups as well. So next time you're making plans to pamper yourself, be sure to pamper your pooch too and devour the details of your beauty routine while doing so!

Be A-maze-d at Connors Farm

Guess what's back, back again? The most epic corn maze on the North Shore, that's what! This Saturday, September 9th, Connors Farm will kick off fall with another incredible seasonal adventure; this time paying homage to Bentley Warren, a local race car legend! Check it out!

Connors Farm was established in 1904. The Connors family had followed in the foot-steps of generations of farmers who had been farming the land for over 300 years. Connors Farm began as a "truck farm" meaning that all of the crops grown at the time were trucked into Boston to be sold wholesale. Years later, the family decided to try selling the corn on their own by creating a small roadside stand on part of the property. This soon became a tremendous success and people from all over the North Shore came to buy Connors Farm corn.

Today, Connors Farm is still a working farm. The farm includes 140-acres of land which is used to grow crops such as corn, tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, squash, pumpkins, apples, peaches, cut flowers and many other types of produce. It also makes use of eight greenhouses for a variety of uses. The farm is one of the largest farms in the area protected by agricultural preservation restrictions, meaning that the farm will remain as open space in perpetuity.

The formation of incredible corn mazes began back in 2008. As you may recall, we blogged about this amazing farm last year because of their tribute to Charlie Brown. Check out the schedule and admission prices before planning your fall activities and trip to the farm!

Where:
30 Valley Road(Rte. 35)
Danvers, MA. 01923
For directions, please click here.

When:
Opening Date: Saturday, September 9, 2017
Closing Date: Monday, October 31, 2017

Operating Hours:
September 9th to October 31st (Farm Stand & General Admission)
Open 7 Days – 8am – 6pm

General Admission Weekends (and holidays):
Kids ages 3-64 - $13.99
Seniors 65+ - $12.99
Ages 2 and under – Free (with a paying adult)

General Admission Weekdays (Monday-Friday, not including holidays):
Kids ages 3-64 - $9.99
Seniors 65+ - $8.99
Ages 2 and under – Free (with a paying adult)

Find us down at the farm, navigating our way through this one-of-a-kind maze and devour the details of a fun-filled fall with us starting this Saturday, September 9th!

Wedding Wednesdays: 4 Steps to Finding Your Wedding Colors

Choosing your wedding colors can be a challenging task. Think about it! How long does it take you just to pick out your nail polish color? We know! Us too! For weddings it can be even more daunting. But no need to feel blue (color pun intended)! These 4 steps to finding your wedding colors are just the trick to have you feeling mellow yellow on your big day (oops, we did it again)!

1. Get Inspired by Your Setting
First things first: location. Have a color palette in mind as you start your venue search. Think about what colors you'd like to use, and whether you'd want to prioritize finding the perfect venue or having your perfect color palette. If you find a venue that you love, but it doesn't work with your colors, you'll want to switch up a hue or two so you don't bust your budget on trying to cover up or distract from the fact that it doesn't match. Venues like converted warehouses, lofts and tents are all blank slates, meaning you can really add as much or as little as you want to carry out your vision for color and style. If you've already found the perfect venue, use the space to help you come up with your color scheme. The colors of your reception space and its surroundings, whether it's the vintage bejeweled chandelier in the dining room or the view of the ocean, can spark an idea. And that way, you won't have to work against a clashing color palette and your colors will enhance what you love about your venue. Easy as pie (also a clever color combo)!

2. Think Seasonally
Just like your wardrobe, your wedding color scheme can be inspired by the time of year you're saying “I do." Think about the shade(s) you want to use to bring out the season in your color palette. Rosy pink is perfect for spring, while a brighter coral is a summer staple. For fall, a rich fuchsia pairs well with other jewel tones (our favorite), and blush or powdered blue and silver are a pretty wintry wonderland combo. Don't shy away from colors you love though just because of seasonal color “rules," which have pretty much gone right out the window with wearing white after Labor Day. Light pastels and barely there hues can work for a fall or winter wedding. The trick is to concentrate on texture, and maybe even bring in a stronger accent color. Viola!

3. Set the Mood
Your wedding colors can also help create the vibe for your wedding day. If you're going for a lot of drama, then a dark or jewel tone palette, like ruby red and black or emerald and gold, is a better choice than, let's say, light pastels. Think about the style and atmosphere you want to have, whether it's relaxed or nostalgic, and what colors put you in that mind-set. Keep calm, cool and collected by setting the mood with your color palette!

4. Consult the Color Wheel
You don't need a degree from art school to pick your palette, but there are some basic principles to follow. Typically, colors that go well together are ones that are opposites because they pair a cool and warm (examples include orange and sky blue and turquoise and coral). Other color pairings that work are “neighbors"—they're similar to each other and share a primary color (think: sunshine yellow and melon orange or fuchsia and blush). A classic way to build your color palette is by pairing a bright, saturated color with a neutral, like violet and gray or blush and gold. The visual pairing, whether opposite or neighboring, is pleasing to the eye and perfect for an "I do."

Let your true colors shine through and devour the details of your wedding palette with these 4 steps to finding what best suits you!

The Big Reveal: Apple iPhone 8

We're just one week away from the next iPhone release and we can't think of a better post to share! After four long years, we (anyone with access to the news and social media) get to catch a glimpse of Apple Park, colloquially known as its “spaceship” headquarters: the giant, circular building in Cupertino, California, that the firm started building in 2013. The September 12th event is widely expected to feature the release of the next iPhone, a decade after the OG was introduced by Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs.

To have the 10th anniversary phone debut at an Apple theater named after Jobs brings the product full-circle. Cook and the rest of Apple (and much of the world) head into the event with big expectations. Having decided to give the latest iPhones — the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus — a smaller-than-expected makeover (i.e. removing the headphone jack), the pressure is on to deliver something spectacular with the next models. Apple insiders expect the company to show off a 10th-anniversary model of the iPhone that is substantially redesigned, with an edge-to-edge screen and no home button.

Apple is also expected to announce a refresh for the Apple TV set-top box, which may gain support for ultra-high-definition 4K video. The firm may also offer an update of its Apple Watch. With so many new offerings, we can guarantee what will be on your loved one's Christmas lists this year! September 12th can't come soon enough. Get ready to update your iOS and devour the details of the iPhone 8 release with Apple and users across the globe!

Kick Off a Fun & Fit Fall with the Tone It Up Tour

Fall is in full effect! Kick off the season with some fit and fabulous fun at the Tone It Up festival, Saturday, September 9th. Tone It Up hosts and founders, Karena Dawn and Katrina Scott, are known for their fitness and social media movement. Their beach-set workouts and rose-tinted recipes have helped sculpt millions of people into the healthiest version of themselves!

Starting this month, they’re taking TIU on the road, hitting 15 U.S. cities for what they’re billing the “ultimate fitness festival.” It will of course include exercise, but also beauty stations, a braid bar, jewelry making, and rosé. Where do Dawn and Scott plan to set up shop? None other than our favorite weekend spot, Lawn on D.

In addition to Dawn and Scott, celebrity trainer Jillian Michaels and instructors from CorePower Yoga will lead workouts while a live DJ keeps the sweat session/party going. According to the tour’s site, each stop will also have activities tailored to the respective city. The fit-focused event runs from noon to 5PM so be ready to get sweaty!

Admission to the fitness bash costs $110 (food and rosé are not included). VIP ticket holders get a VIP bag and access to areas called the Rosé Garden and Beach Babe Lounge, plus a meet and greet with either Michaels ($220) or Dawn and Scott ($260). All of our favorite fit goddesses at one event? Of course you can count on us being there! Join us in kicking off a fun and fit fall by devouring the details of the Tone It Up Tour, this Saturday, September 9th!