I'm not made for this.

I'm in Denver and it is COLD.

I'd kill for a 60-degree California winter right about now.

But it's been worth it to enjoy some quality time with the fam :)



My big sis is getting married in June, on top of a mountain, so we took a trip up there to see the spot. IT. WAS. FREEZING. With the wind chill it was about 15 below. which is just not right.

photo evidence:


LOVE this picture of Heather and the two men in her life:

So... my sister and I are polar opposites. I'm obsessed with planning all the little details of a wedding, and she would rather elope. Somehow she talked me into being her wedding planner. Which means... two weddings in 5 months. Am I crazy? yes, obviously.

If you live within 50 miles of Denver, Beatrice and Woodsley is worth a special trip. The brunch is amazing, but you will probably pee your pants over the decor. I wish I had taken more pictures, but I felt like I might get escorted out of the place. Like I was in a museum or something.

Heather, Me, and our Mama

Remember my shoes? I brought them with me all the way from California so I could go back to the Priscilla of Boston salon and try them on with my dress!



Curt reads this blog, so in order to keep the element of surprise I can't post more dress pictures on here. But check out my posts on Wedding Chicks and I'll share the love :)


I also experimented with my hair. I've been going back and forth on whether to attempt DIY-ing it on the day of the wedding. I think it turned out ok, but even this quick little trial run stressed me out! I feel silly spending money to have it done when I'm fairly capable of making it work, but I definitely don't want to feel rushed on the day of the wedding. Thoughts?? Anyone know a talented but affordable stylist in the Orange County or LA area??


I'm definitely going to order a custom hairpiece via here, here, or here (for reals, Etsy makes me so happy I could cry). This is just something they had at the salon, but my piece will probably be pretty similar. I'm loving the tulle and netting combo, but I think I want a slightly bigger piece of netting so it falls across my face a little bit. I've even considered making a visit to the Millinery Supply in LA and buying the materials so I can try to create it myself. But my lack of craftiness scares me. a lot.


Hope you're all enjoying the holiday season with the people you love the most!! This is the last Christmas that Curt and I will spend apart... I'm so excited to spend next Christmas as a newlywed :) But for now, I'm freezing my booty off, so please send warm and toasty thoughts my way!

Counting My Blessings

1. My mommy got a new job! Her first interview in over 20 years and she nailed it! Go hot mama!

2. I got a new job! Details to come...

3. Going to Denver tomorrow to visit my mom and sister (and her new fiance!) for the holidays... and it looks like a White Christmas is in store :)

4. Six people were laid off at Curt's work, and Curt was not one of them. Of course my sympathies and condolences go out to those who unexpectedly lost their jobs... at the same time, I'm so grateful that Curt does not have to deal with the pain of finding something in this economy (because, I just dealt with it. It ain't pretty.)

5. I'm officially a college graduate! The diploma will take a good 5 or 6 months to show up, but that's fine with me. As long as no one makes me write anymore 15-page research papers.

6. Christmas trees. LOVE them.

7. We met with our mentor couple last weekend and they are awesome and so much cooler than we expected.

8. I'm healthy.

9. I'm happy.

10. I'm marrying the man who was made for me. In less than 10 months. ohmygod.


Stay tuned for pretty pictures from my adventures in Denver!

Pretty Maids All in a Row

I just sent the final contract for the bridesmaids’ dresses!!!

I’m so excited to see them all together… I can’t believe we have to wait till April!

So here’s the story with my BM dresses… Originally, I was just going to have each girl pick out any knee-length dress in some shade of plum or eggplant. Easier said than done. There were not very many options in that color, especially not in the price range we were aiming for. Plus, once I picked out my dress, and we decided on an evening wedding, I realized we would need something elegant and classy for the girls. The bodice of my dress is satin, and I thought, especially for the sake of the pictures, that it would be nice for the BM dresses to be satin as well. (I guess I might as well give in and show y’all my dress. Everyone except my future husband has my permission to click here…. Isn’t she lovely? *sigh*)

Back to the story… Over the summer, I started working at Bella Bridesmaid, an adorable little boutique in downtown La Jolla. There are locations all over the country, and I highly recommend them if you are still looking for Bridesmaids dresses! The La Jolla location carries some incredible designers, including Jenny Yoo, Coren Moore, Vera Wang, and Priscilla of Boston. But despite having so many lovely dresses right at my fingertips, I was still planning to have the girls find dresses from a department store or something in order to cut down costs. I just couldn’t ask my sister and best friends to spend upwards of $200 for a dress. Fortunately, my employee discount was far greater than I had imagined! I ended up getting the best of both worlds… the perfect dresses, at wholesale prices. My bridesmaids are loving it :)

I told the girls they could pick any knee-length Priscilla of Boston or Melissa Sweet dress in Satin or Silk Charmeuse. I decided on a deep purple color called “Fig,” and it’s exactly the shade we’ll be using in the invitations, decor, etc. And it looks great on everyone! I couldn’t be more pleased with the dresses that everyone ended up picking… and no one fought over a particular style!

Here they are!! The third dress down is shown in the correct color, so you just have to use your imagination and try to picture them all in that lovely shade of purple. The last dress is the one my mommy picked out, and she decided on a beautiful gray-blue color called “Slate.” It will match my FMIL’s dress perfectly!

style #MS107

My Older Sister/Matron of Honor (she’s getting married this May… my poor mom!) will be wearing this gorgeous dress. The sash will be a silver-gray color to match our color scheme.

style #MS223

My BFF/Maid of Honor (we’ve known each other since we were 3 years old!) picked this saucy little number. I love it! And it has pockets!!!

style #MS128

Curt’s younger sister is tall, thin, and gorgeous. This dress looks amazing on her!! This is what the “Fig” color looks like… I can’t wait to see all the dresses together in the right color!

style #PB214

I met T in fourth grade when we auditioned for The Wizard of Oz (she was Dorothy, I was Glinda the Good Witch, and the aforementioned BFF/Maid of Honor was the Wicked Witch of the West!). The three of us were inseparable in Middle School and Junior High. T got married in June and I was honored to be in her wedding. She picked this beautiful dress, another one with pockets!!

style #MS114

And this one was K’s pick. Without K’s help, Curt and I might have never started dating!! She acted as our intermediary during that awkward “Do you think he likes me?!” stage, and she persuaded Curt to (finally) ask me out… she was probably sick of us flirting all the time :)

style #1422 (Vineyard Collection)

Last but not least, my mom’s dress!!! She found a really cool vintage brooch to wear at the bottom of the V-neck. We might also try to find a pretty wrap or bolero for her. Anyone have a good recommendation?

I’d love to hear your bridesmaid dress stories!! Did you have a hard time finding the perfect color or style? Did you change your mind during the process? Has anyone had to wear a bridesmaid dress they hated??

Got a Case of the Mondays??

....Yeah, me too.


Turn that frown upside-down!


You could go for some classic internet humor by visiting I Can Has Cheezburger...

But why limit yourself to just kittehs? Cute Overload has pages and pages of adorable animals!

Maybe some good music will put you in a better mood. Visit Wing's website and listen to her rendition of "Dancing Queen"! (Scroll down to the bottom of the page)

Cheeky vintage-style T-shirts, oh my! Thanks Palmer Cash!

Cake Wrecks. Quite possibly the funniest blog in the universe.

And this is a wedding blog, after all, so I'll leave you with some wedding-related humor...

Engagement ring coffee mug via Mrs. Green Tea on Weddingbee

Choreographed Dance set to a Timbaland song? Sign me up! (Thanks Miss Powder Puff!)

And finally, the most amazing Wedding music video EVER. This is GENIUS, people (via The Broke-Ass Bride).


Brian & Eileen's Wedding Music Video. from LOCKDOWN projects on Vimeo.



...Are you cured yet?

Try This.

I've been quite the expert procratinator the past few days. Anything to keep me from writing those dreaded final papers...


But I discovered an amazing food combination last night, and I have to tell you about it.


Grab a handful of peanut butter filled pretzels (I love the ones from Trader Joe's)

source.

Then make yourself a cup of hot chocolate. I prefer to make mine the old fashioned way, with cocoa powder, sugar, and milk mixed together in a saucepan... and whipped cream on top, naturally!

source.

Something about the deliciously salty-sweet combo was enough to put me in a good mood long enough to get some work done!


Does anyone have a sublime food combination that I might be missing out on? Share with me!!

Swoon.

source.

I must be really emotional today... I got a little teary eyed when I saw this picture.

I want my whole wedding to have the feeling that's captured in this image. Simple, charming, a little retro, and so full of love. (And hello, she's wearing a short dress and colorful shoes!!! How could I not love it?!?)

Can't wait to see more pictures from this real wedding on Once Wed tomorrow!

A Green(ish) Wedding

On top of all the other lofty goals we have for our wedding, we also want it to be environmentally friendly. Or at least, within reason.

I’m the same way about life, really…. I recycle whenever possible, take my own bags to the grocery store, and fill up my reusable water bottle every day (I won’t use the Wedding Chicks blog as my personal soap box, but if you’re interested, I’d be more than happy to give you my spiel on bottled water…) I’m no treehugger-extraordinaire, but I think small personal efforts can really add up! So Curt and I are going to try to incorporate “green” elements into the wedding wherever possible.

The first green element was actually really easy: It’s our venue!

The Marvimon House was built in 1924 (by an Italian racecar driver!) as one of LA’s first automobile showrooms. The current owners totally renovated the building a few years ago and now it’s an amazing super-loft that is available for all kinds of events…

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I can’t even tell you how many countless hours we spent scouring the internet for a venue. The Marvimon House made all the searching worthwhile. The moment we stepped inside, and talked with Sherry and Miguel, the wonderful owners, we just knew. Go to the website and check out the rest of the pictures… I guarantee you’ll be blown away :)

Not only is the venue perfect for us, but it happens to be green! Score!

According to the website:

“Marvimon is GREEN because…

We’ve reinvented a centrally located, nearly abandoned, 80-year old building that is convenient to a variety of public transportation including the Gold Line and Union Station. We limited the impact from demolition and construction by using as much of the existing structure as possible. Our design reduced the building’s original footprint by 40%, converted that area into a permeable, living oasis, and created an ideal environment for productions, events, and ceremonies. We even salvaged the lumber from our demolition and recycled it to make Marvimon’s rustic tables and benches.

Our strategically located oversized courtyard doors and skylights are passive lighting, cooling, and heating elements that minimize energy usage throughout the year by taking full advantage of our sunny, breezy southern California climate. Marvimon [went] solar during 2008 and will begin generating more electricity for the grid than it consumes annually.

We increasingly encourage and support green events and introduce our clients to green planners, stylists, and other resources. Marvimon Productions diligently recycles.

Finally, Marvimon’s multi-use nature lowers its environmental footprint—one building performing as three or more: production studio, gallery, event space, residence, etc…”

I’ll share more of my semi-green ideas and tips with you in the near future! Is anyone else aiming for a green wedding?