Happy New Years Eve!!

I can't believe it's already New Years and it will be 2009 in less than 24 hours. New Years Eve is my favorite holiday...I love dressing up and just celebrating for the evening. It seems like my NYE plans get less and less exciting each year as I get older though. A few years ago, my BFF K and I literally threw a party at her house for over 100 people. It was insanity!! What are we doing this year??...having a quiet dinner in and watching the ball drop. I will probably be in bed by 12:30am. Oh well, I'm still excited to have a nice low key night and ring in the New Year with my close friends and wonderful fiance! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Also, exciting news on the wedding front...we mailed out our Save the Dates today!!! AHHHH! It's really real now...no going back! So people should get them next week! We did it slightly early because the wedding is on a holiday weekend and I wanted to make sure people knew the date in plenty of time to make plans. Jake only complained a very little bit about helping me with the "arts and craft" project (as he called it) of lining all our envelopes and stuffing them. We actually managed to line 185 envelopes (EDIT - yeah, we only lined 85. Totally a mistype! We would be rockstars if we could line 185 envelopes in an hour...hahaha) in just about 1 hour! I was impressed with his work ethic...haha! I captured the moment on film...Doesn't he just look so happy and excited?? And the finished product, complete with our beautifully lined envelopes (we used the same navy polka dot paper as I used for the bridesmaids cards)
Ignore the ugly white marks for all the names and stuff. Love!!!

Christmas Recap!

So I'm definitely bummed that Christmas has come and gone. It always goes by way too quickly...all that preparation for 1 day! My Christmas was fabulous though, so I can't really complain!

Jake and I decided this year we were going to be a little bit selfish and have a relaxing Christmas without having to worry about running all over the place to see everyone. So Christmas Eve we went to his parents house and did presents and then Christmas day, we literally slept in until 9am, opened our presents to each other, laid on the couch, made a leisurely breakfast and then finally got ready at like 1pm. My parents came to our house to do presents and then we all headed over to my aunts for dinner. We were home from there by 7:30pm and back in our pj's!! Last year we literally went to like 4 different houses on Christmas day and we just did not want to do that again. I wish we could do it like this every year, but I think people would get upset. Oh well.

I was a very lucky girl this year and I got some wonderful presents! Jake's parents got me this amazing black velvet blazer from Banana Republic, new cute pj's from J.Crew and some fun stocking stuff. I also got a digital photo frame (which I asked for to use for wedding pictures next year!!), some new cookbooks, several new cute sweaters, some exercise clothes, new black cashmere gloves and a huge pan that matches our pots and pan set. My parents gave us a whole set of fireplace accessories...a screen and tools for the fire. We haven't had a fire at our house yet because we didn't have a screen, so we were really excited! We also received BEAUTIFUL Waterford Crystal toasting flutes to use for the wedding, from my aunt!Those aren't the exact ones, but they look very similar to that. My aunt also had the bases engraved with our names and the wedding date. To be honest, I am not a huge fan of cheesy flutes or other wedding stuff like that, but I am so in love with these because they are so classic and perfect! We have them stored away for the next 9 months till we get to use them!!

Jake and I weren't supposed to spend alot on each other, because we're trying to save money, plus we just bought a big TV for the house this fall. Of course, he broke that rule and bought me these!!
Marc Jacobs sunglasses! I did not expect that at all! I always just buy cheap $10 sunglasses from Nordstrom because I always break and lose my sunglasses. Jake has been bugging me basically since we met that I needed to invest in nice sunglasses because it's better for my eyes. We happened to be at the sunglass store a few weeks ago and I saw these and liked them, but obviously I wasn't going to buy them for myself, especially right before Christmas. I had no idea he would go back and get them!! I am totally obsessed with them, and I can definitely tell the difference in the quality. Looks like I'm hooked!

So it really was a wonderful holiday! Back to work tomorrow for me...boo! Jake is off all week until next Monday. Can we talk about how jealous I am??

And just because she's the cutest puppy ever, here's a picture we took of Spencer Christmas morning, wearing a festive bow. Obviously Jake is standing behind me with a treat, which is the only way she would behave! Hope everyone had a great Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! I'm so excited to have a few days off and spend time with my family. I'm working until noon today, and then we're off to Baltimore to do Christmas Eve dinner, presents and midnight church service with Jake's family. Tomorrow we're having my parents over for Christmas breakfast and then going to my aunts for Christmas dinner. We haven't seen any of my extended family since we got engaged, so I'm excited to share the details with all my aunts, uncles and cousins!

It's crazy to think that this time next year, we will be married! We're just going to relax and enjoy it. We're also taking a much needed wedding planning break until after New Years. I have an appointment for January 5th at a boutique in town to try on wedding dresses! Ahhh!

Merry Christmas!

Accessories

So I started thinking alot about my bridesmaids dresses over the weekend. I still love them, but I think they may need to be "accessorized". I'm just worried that the yellow dress by itself is really bright and loud. My mom suggested tying ribbon around the waist of the dresses, or a sash of some sort. That let me to find these:

The J.Crew flower belt! Everyone always talks about these belts and how fabulous they are. (I know Kerry is a huge fan!!) However, since the girls are wearing yellow, the sashes would be in navy like this:

Obviously they have been sold out on the J.Crew website for months, so I turned to my new best friend...Ebay. I managed to find 3 belts from 3 different sellers, all ranging from 14.99 to 29.99. They were all "buy it now" and all had free shipping!

Again, they were so cheap, coupled with the fact that we got the dresses for so cheap, that the belts will also be part of the girls presents. The belt can definitely be worn again, so I'm really excited about this! So here's the look I'm going for with the dresses and flower belt (obviously in different colors)

I'm so excited! I think it really dresses it up a lot and makes it really fun. I just wish I would have ordered one for myself! Hmm...maybe I'll have to double check on Ebay and see if I can find one more!

Yikes

So far today I've eaten an entire package of chocolate peppermint bark, 5 white chocolate truffles, a handful of chocolate covered pretzels and a granola bar. January 1st diet is in the works!!

Huge Sigh of Relief!!

So we just got our first catering quote from a caterer we met with on Monday for the wedding. This caterer is definitely my #1 choice, but after we met with them, I was SUPER nervous that the quote was going to be ridiculous. Well it was MUCH more reasonable than I though...and considerably less than the number I was estimating in my head!! Maybe it's just because I'm in the industry, so I know how much everything costs, but I was so excited! And it includes a bunch of upgrades that I wanted, like a fun signature drink, super cute linens and chiavari chairs! Now convincing my dad that this amount is actually a really good price may be a little more difficult!

Miracle on 34th Street

Any Marylanders will know about this...I don't think it's as well known nationally as it is in the state. But I thought it would bring a little holiday cheer, I know going to visit this street always puts a smile on my face...

34th Street in Hampden, which is a small neighborhood in Baltimore, is famous for it's VERY over the top Christmas light display. It's all row houses and every single house on the street does super crazy lights. I think they've been doing it for over 60 years. Literally, I believe it's written in your homeowner's agreement when you buy a house on that street that you have to participate and go all out on your lights. It attracts hundreds (maybe thousands) of visitors each year that drive and walk through the street. Alot of the houses actually let you walk through them, because they'll set up very elaborate displays even inside the house.

They start putting up the displays in the fall and work on it non-stop to get it ready for the Saturday after Thanksgiving, when they always have a kick off when everyone turns their lights on at the same time, which signals the start of the season. They leave them up till usually right after New Years Eve, so there's plenty of time for tons of people to come visit. It seriously is something you have to see to believe and appreciate! Some of it is tacky (there's a tree made from hubcaps), but it's just so many lights and displays, you can't help but love it!

We went up one time when I was a little girl and I was in complete awe. Since Jake's family lives up in Baltimore, we've now gone up the last 3 years together and it's somewhat of a tradition. We'll visit it again this Saturday, after we leave his parents annual Scrooge Party. I can't wait - every year it gets a little bit different! Here's the official website for the street: http://christmasstreet.com/

If you live close enough to visit, I highly recommend it! It will definitely put you in a festive Christmas mood!

Would you be my...

As soon as we got engaged, I knew the girls I wanted to be in the wedding. Jake and I discussed the bridal party and decided we wanted to keep it small, just 3 on each side. On Jake's side it will be his brother (best man), his closest cousin and his best friend. On my side, it will be my best friend K (maid of honor...actually matron since she's getting married in April), my best friend C from college, who now lives in Florida, and Jake's sister-in-law, J. We waited a while to ask them, since we wanted to get details worked out.

Last week, I decided I just couldn't wait any longer, so I started working on the cards that I mailed each girl, asking them to be in the wedding. I'm not a huge fan of those traditional cards with the picture of a dress on the front, so I decided to get crafty and make my own cards. I headed to the new Paper Source that just opened in Annapolis (PS - totally obsessed! I could spend hours in there!) I decide to make personalized cards with each girls name on the front and then tie in the wedding colors in a classy and simple way. Here's what I came up with:

The letters are black sparkly stickers (they look weird in that pic, but I promise they are not crooked in real life). To bring in some of the navy, I decided to line the envelopes in a fun print:

I love how they came out! We will actually be lining the envelopes for our save the date's in the same navy polka dot paper! The girls all loved them and now I have a fabulous bridal party! YAY!

Because I'm OCD and slightly neurotic, I started looking at bridesmaids dresses before I even asked the girls. I was originally thinking just a plain navy dress for the girls, something timeless that they could wear again. I HATE all standard traditional bridesmaids dresses and I refused to even consider them. That led me to, of course, J.Crew. I stalked the website and sale section, looking for all their navy options. Let me tell you, there is not much. Without spending $350, they really didn't have many navy dresses at all. I also started thinking about how the wedding is outside in early September and it will most likely be HOT.

J.Crew makes a fabulous beach dress, which is a lightweight embosessed cotton seersucker. I actually own this dress in a few colors and love it. Since the wedding is before Labor Day (by 2 days), I feel ok with the girls wearing seersucker! I checked the site to see if it came in navy, but unfortunately, it doesn't. However, it does come in a pretty fabulous shade of yellow, called Sour Lemon! All the sudden, my entire plan of navy was out the window! I decided to order one dress, just to check the color, style, etc. It came and it was perfect! A little brighter than it looked online, but it's really a great shade of yellow (sometimes yellow can be iffy).

Then I started thinking about the girls and how different they are, in personalities and body types. J.Crew actually makes this dress in 3 different styles...a halter, strapless and then a shift dress that buttons up the back. After checking with the girls, it turns out they each wanted a different style, so it was perfect! K will be wearing the halter:

C will be wearing the strapless:
and J will be wearing the shift:

Umm and can I tell you the best part about this dress?!?!?! It was on sale (since it's last season) for $29.99 and $39.99!!! (some styles were cheaper than others, not sure why). I ordered all 3 dresses for the girls and I paid a total of $202.00 plus shipping!!! I decided since they were so cheap, I would just buy them the dresses as part of their gifts! AHHHH!

So I'm so excited about the dresses and they won't need any alterations! Now I just have to find my dress...

Saving the Date

On Monday (in between Christmas shopping), I headed over to the graphic design studio where my friend A works to work on our Save the Date cards. The company is actually doing the save the date's as a gift to us, which I think is so generous and lovely! After a few rounds of trial and error, here is the final design we decided on yesterday...

I absolutely love it! The yellow border is actually yellow cardstock, and then the white card goes over that, so it will be 2 layers of paper. Sorry I had to blur out all the important stuff, but our last names are actually in lowercase (like the "maryland"), so it looks really cool I think. It's simple, classic and exactly what we wanted. I knew I wanted to play up the date somehow and I love what they came up with. They will go in white envelopes that I'm going to line with green and white polka dotted paper. I'll take photos of the actual cards and envelopes as we're getting them ready to mail out - we're aiming to send them out right around New Years. With the wedding being on a Holiday weekend, we want to make sure people get them in plenty of time.

And now that Sailor Boy's real name is out there (Jake), I think I'm just going to start calling him that - since he will be my husband and all, I guess I should stop referring to him as a "boy" hehe. Since Jake is off from work for the entire week between Christmas and New Years, he will be a busy guy with stuffing envelopes and writing out addresses for these cards!!

I have also been playing around with my new obsession, Etsy, and I found something absolutely adorable to accompany these Save the Dates....custom stickers for the back of the envelopes! I used a fabulous Etsy seller, LadyBugLabels, and she created the cutest custom labels for us. I was superstitious about using an "E" on our save the dates (our new last initial), so I had LadyBugLabels make us navy blue and green stickers that just say "K&J" that we will stick on the flap of the envelope. She had them designed and sent me a proof all in the same day, and they were perfect! When they arrived, I was even more impressed...the were packaged in cute little tins and she even added some extra labels to the order "just in case". And the price was great - we got 4 sets (which is like 168 labels) for $30.75! Here's the labels...

I highly recommend LadyBugLabels if you need label stickers for anything - she has them for baby showers, holidays, weddings, anything! I think they will look so cute on our envelopes...I can't wait to see the whole final project come together!!

So that's the fun wedding project we've crossed off our list at this point...I do have some other fun projects to share soon - bridesmaids dresses!

Gifts Galore!

I started and pretty much finished my Christmas shopping on Monday and I am so happy and relieved to cross people off of my list. I just have a few more small gifts to buy, mainly for Sailor Boy's stocking. I usually don't know what I'm getting for people until I'm at the store, see something and realize it would be perfect. While I was at the mall, I got alot of inspiration for gifts for anyone on your list. Here's some if anyone still needs some ideas...

Pottery Barn:

Monogrammed Candlepot - $25.00

I bought two of these as gifts and I may go back for one for myself (maybe with my new initial - or is that bad luck??)! They are a good size and come in a cute black and white striped jar with a lid and the scent (amber vanilla) smells really good. They come in a cute little box...perfect for hostess gifts and secret santa presents as well!

Set of 9 embroidered Reindeer Napkins - on sale for $42.99

I am a fan of giving holiday themed gifts for Christmas and I got this set of napkins for my aunt and uncle, who always host Christmas dinner. They are very nicely embroidered and super cute - each reindeer is doing something different!

EMS (or really any other outdoor store):

Petzl Headlamp - $34.99

This is nerdy, but a few years ago Sailor Boy gave me a headlamp for a camping trip we went on and it has seriously become my favorite thing EVER! I use it when our power goes out, to walk Spencer in the dark, etc. It's amazing how much having a hands free light really does help. I decided my dad needs one of these this year. Great for any outdoor type guy!

Crabtree and Evelyn:

La Source Hand Therape Hand Cream - $11.50My mom swears by this stuff, so I always get her a new tube every year. It's super thick and rich, and apparently makes your hands super soft. Great stocking stuffer!

J.Crew: (I couldn't do a Holiday present post without this store!!)

Flannel PJ Pants - on sale for $29.50

La Petite Blog did a post about these yesterday, but I wanted to emphasize these as a perfect gift! We are getting a pair for Sailor Boy's sister in law, I'm getting some for most of my girlfriends and then I may just need to get myself a pair too! (so I don't feel left out!)

Enamel Bangle Bracelet - on sale for $9.99 to $19.99

We are also getting Sailor Boy's sister in law a few bracelets from J.Crew. They have tons of colors and different sizes. I love pairing them with jeans and a sweater or dressing them up for evening with a cute fun top and skirt!

Happy Shopping!

Deck the Halls

We Christmas-tized the house this weekend! Sunday was literally the COLDEST day of the year and that's the day we went to pick out our tree. I felt so bad for the guys at the tree lot, they must have been dying out there all day. But I absolutely love our tree! Last year, in our tiny apartment, we had to get a tiny tree. I was taller than our tree last year and I'm only 5'4". This year, our new house has super high ceilings, so we were able to get a huge big tall fluffy tree!

I promised Sailor Boy I wouldn't go crazy with buying new decorations this year, since we are short on storage space and our house really isn't that big. I have actually kept that promise and the only thing I bought was a new tree skirt because our old one was for our tiny tree and it wouldn't even fit around the new tree. Tree skirts are so expensive, I had no idea! I found one I LOVED at target and when I looked at the price, I just about had a heart attack...$49.99!!! WHAT?? I stood in the aisle for a good 15 minutes debating and when I realized that all the other ones (that I didn't love) were $39.99, I bit the bullet and got the $50 one. I figure we'll have it for a long time, so it's sort of an investment in Sailor Boy and I's future life together :-) hehe.

Here's some pics of our fabulous tree...Yes, those are PRESENTS under the tree! I went from not having any presents bought, to being pretty much done and I have most of them wrapped! Ahh, the beauty of being off on Mondays. I get so much done!

Here's the rest of our decor...My Pottery Barn knock off centerpiece that I made from supplies found at Target for half the price.
Our fireplace mantle. I went simple and just did lighted garland, a nutcracker, a lantern and then the stockings. I hate our stockings...we need new ones, but I'm going to wait until next year to get us some...to celebrate our 1st Christmas being a married couple! Our stocking holders are actually frames and we each picked out the picture of the other person for their frame. Of course, we both picked a really embarrassing funny picture. Classy.
This is actually my favorite part of our decor. Above our front door, we have these 3 windows with a ledge and so we stuck these glittery snowflakes that I have up there. It's cute because you can see it from outside or inside. Ok, I will admit it...this was actually Sailor Boy's idea and I love it! Maybe he's a keeper after all.

15 days until Christmas!

Holiday Tag!

Red and White Preppy tagged me to list 6 random Holiday things about myself...

1. When I was 7, my great uncle took me to see the Nutcracker Ballet in Baltimore and I have been obsessed with it ever since. That same year, my parents got me a set of nutcracker ornaments and I begged them to let me keep them out even after we put all the Christmas stuff away. I love the story, the music, the dancing, everything! Every time I hear a song from the ballet, it brings back such great memories!

2. In my family, we always take turns opening gifts and go around in a circle (oldest person starts and we go down by age) so everyone can see what everyone else gets. I have a huge family on both sides, so this can take quite a long time, but I love it and I wouldn't ever want to change that. Sailor Boys family is NOT like this at all...they all get their gifts and all rip them open at the same time and no one shows each other anything that they got. It's chaos, followed by shouts of "thank you". I hate this. The first year we spent the Holidays together, I sat with my gifts while everyone else was opening them because I was so confused as to what was going on. After everyone else opened, then I slowed opened all my gifts one by one. I'm such a brat!

3. We always eat beef wellington and asparagus for Christmas Eve dinner and it's so good. My mom has the best recipe and I crave it all year, but we save it for Christmas eve. My mom also always makes egg and cheese casserole and homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning after we open our presents. YUM!

4. When I was younger (like 10 and 11), I used to sneak and open up some of the presents my parents would put under the tree before Christmas. Yes, I would unwrap them, look at them and then attempt to "re-wrap" them so my mom wouldn't find out. And apparently I thought I did an excellent job, but I know my mom always knew what I was up to.

5. Growing up, my mom and I would always bake about 28436462 dozen cookies, and we would have tins and tins of them for the entire month of December. We would give some away as gifts as well. My favorite were the peanut butter ones with the Hershey Kiss on top. I don't really bake at all anymore. I really need to get better about that.

6. My favorite part of Christmas is opening stockings! We save it for last and I love seeing what kind of fun little treats that my mom put in it. I would always get new chap stick, a pack of gum and a new book.

I tag these 6 people --
Seaside Prep
Positively Preppy in Pink
Nautical by Nature
More, More, More
Prissy Southern Prep
Prepadelphia

An Award and Some Wedding Stuff...

Two of my favorite bloggers recently left me an award and I have taken my sweet time responding :-) Sorry ladies! Both The Pink Tutu (who happens to be my wonderful grandlittle from my sorority) and Positively Preppy in Pink (who also attends the college that I went to and is currently studying abroad in London...how fabulous!!) left me this award:Thanks so much ladies! As for my 5 obsessions right now...

1. Christmas!! I can't wait to decorate the house this weekend and get our tree!

2. Weddings...yes, this is an obsession all the time, but it's definitely on my mind now more than ever. Currently, I'm getting excited for wedding dress shopping with my mom after Christmas!

3. My new Sedu Ultrapower Hairdryer. Umm...everyone NEEDS to own one of these. I plan on doing a whole blog post about it's fabulousness. My hair has never looked so good!

4. The chilly weather and being able to wear cute sweaters and fun winter accessories...I love me some scarves and gloves!

5. J.Crew. Basically I want every single thing in the catalog...amazing!

I tag anyone who wants to do this too!

Now onto my #2 obsession...we have gotten alot done in a short period of time regarding the wedding! The date is set, we booked a photographer yesterday (who I am absolutely obsessed with!) and everything is falling into place. We also decided on colors! My wonderful friend A, who happens to work in graphic design, made me a bunch of monograms (with our last initial) for the wedding, using our colors. Here's my favorite one:

I just wanted something plain and simple, and I love this! Obviously I'm a big fan of polka dots, but I didn't want something super girly. We'll probably use this monogram on our programs, menu cards, etc. So our colors are navy blue, lemon yellow and lime green. I think it will look really fresh and fun for a late summer wedding. Guys in khakis, blue blazers and either green or yellow ties and girls in navy dresses with white, yellow and green flowers. Since our wedding is 90% outside (ceremony on a lawn, dinner under a tent and then dancing inside), I think the colors will go nicely and be strong enough to stand up to all the greenery and nature.

I also decided that since I posted the wedding date, I can't post exactly where the wedding will be, for fear of internet stalkers. I may post a few pictures that I took of the venue, but I have to keep it a little bit private. But after the wedding, I will post all about it!

We're meeting with my friend A's company on Monday to design the save the dates, which I'm trying to get out before New Years since the wedding is on a holiday weekend. I want to play up our date (09.05.09), since it's sort of cool looking, on the save the dates. Hopefully they can come up with something unique and fun!

Yay Weddings!

Christmas Meme!!

I stole this from Barefoot in the Park (who stole it from Red and White Preppy!)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping Paper. I love wrapping presents! Random, but I love Ikea for christmas paper...they have really good prints and it's cheap!!

2. Tree--Real or Artificial? I grew up with an artificial tree because my dad is allergic. Now Sailor Boy and I get a real tree, which I think is the greatest thing ever...I love picking out a real tree and dragging it home.

3. When do you put Christmas tree up? Usually a few weeks before Christmas, I think we're going to go this Sunday to get one.

4. When do you take the tree down? Typically on New Years day.

5. Like eggnog? Yuck...NO!

6. Do you have a nativity scene? No, but I'm actually currently searching for one right now. Any suggestions would be great!

7. Favorite gift received as a child? My bike when I was 10.

8. Hardest person to buy for? Probably Sailor Boy's parents. I'm still stumped this year!

9. Easiest person to buy for? my parents

10. Worst Christmas gift? A few years ago, my aunt and uncle got me this pink purse. I think they thought because it was pink, I would love it. But it had a super long strap and was totally NOT me. I felt really bad, but it totally got donated to Goodwill.

11. Mail or email a Christmas Card? I have to admit, I can be a slacker about christmas cards. We're going to try and mail them out this year though.

12. Favorite Christmas movie? Love Actually, Home Alone, It's a Wonderful Life. Sailor Boy's parents throw a "Scrooge Party" every year a few weeks before christmas, where we all sit around and watch the original "A Christmas Carol", so that's become a favorite one of mine as well.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Typically by early December...I need to start doing it a little bit earlier so I don't get so stressed out!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes, I will admit it.

15. Favorite food to eat on Christmas? Every Christmas morning, my mom makes egg casserole and homemade cinnamon rolls. YUM!

16. Lights on tree? of course...I prefer white lights, non-blinking.

17. Favorite Christmas Song? Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree.

18. Travel during Christmas or Stay home? We stay home....all our family is close.

19. Can you name Santa's reindeer's? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, & Rudolph

20. Angel or Star on Tree top? We have a star and then I usually put some ribbon coming down the tree off the star.

21. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? We usually spend Christmas Eve with my dad's family and open our gifts then with them, then on Christmas morning, I go to my parents and open gifts with them. It's always a little bit more difficult splitting the holiday with Sailor Boy's family too, but we make it work.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The crazy ridiculous lines and traffic at all the stores.

23. Favorite ornament? Last year, my mom wrapped up some of my old christmas ornaments from growing up and gave them to me to put on our tree. I found one that was a clay christmas tree that I had made and decorated in kindergarten. I love that one.

24. What do you want for Christmas this year? I haven't actually asked for too much this year. I need some new black gloves, a new black coat, a few random kitchen things.

Happy December!

Wow, can you believe it's already December? Craziness!!

We had a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving holiday. Ate way too much (we ended up eating 2 dinners...one at my parents and one at Sailor Boy's aunts) and it was really fun to show everyone in both families the ring and tell them all the engagement story! Then we headed down to VA to the River House for the weekend with some of Sailor Boy's family and we had a great and restful weekend! Highlights of the weekend:

-- Finding out that Sailor Boy's cousins wife is pregnant with their first baby during the "Thankful game" at dinner! Yay for babies!

-- Shopping all day on Saturday with Sailor Boy's mom and aunt at some cute boutiques near their river house. And I'm very proud of myself for resisting the urge to buy anything for myself...but I did get some christmas presents!

-- Showing Sailor Boy's mom my "inspiration notebook" with all the ideas I've started collecting for the wedding and having her get so excited!

-- Roasting marshmallows and making smores on Saturday night with Sailor Boy's parents new firepit that they got for the river house. Ok, I admit...I ate 4 smores! ACK...wedding diet is non-existant!

-- Starting and finishing knitting a scarf for my dad for Christmas, since I had so much extra wonderful quiet time at the house. Check another Christmas present off the list!

Now I'm in super Christmas mode! We're waiting another week or so to go get our tree, but I'm DYING to start decorating the rest of the house!! Goodbye fall and Hello Christmas!

09.05.09

We have a date! YAY! It's really real and official now! September 5, 2009, the Saturday evening of Labor Day weekend. Since we're down a hometown wedding, we thought it would be good to do it that weekend, since all our friends will be here and our family isn't traveling more than 30 minutes. We just have a few out of town friends, and I hope they will use it as an excuse to come to Annapolis for a long holiday weekend!

Our internet at home is down, so I can't load any pictures of our venue yet (I took a million when we visited this weekend). I figured once our internet is back up at home, I'll do a big long post about the place and all the other details we've worked out so far (yes, I've booked a whole bunch of vendors already...it's the OCD and planner in me).

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow! I love Thanksgiving because it's just about the food! I'll definitely be eating my share of turkey and stuffing!!

We're heading down to VA to Sailor Boy's River House on Friday for the weekend, so I'll be back next week with tons of wedding goodies!!

This is hard!

Finding a venue is proving to be really difficult. Yes, I know we have only been engaged for 1 WEEK, but I'm anal retentive and I won't be able to relax till I find the right place. The thing is, I can cross a place off my list without even visiting it. I've emailed about 382646287 places and after I receive their packages and information, I can give it a quick "yay" or "nay".

I'm also super picky about customer service and timely responses, because I know I bust my butt to give my brides great customer service, so I expect the same in return. If I email you, and 4 days later, you finally email me back and you are not very helpful...I will not be getting married at your venue. Sorry.

We have crossed the OBX wedding off of our list, because I just feel really bad asking ALL of our friends and family to spend so much traveling and staying for the weekend in this economy. As much as I think it would be amazing and so fun, it's not the right time for us to do that. We are now leaning towards a wedding where we live, as all of our friends are here and our family is all close (within 45 minutes). It just makes the most sense to keep it local and have our family travel a short distance to get here. Plus, we do love our town!!

We're visiting 3 places this weekend and I'm really hoping we just walk into one and I instantly know it's the right place. The one we are seeing Saturday afternoon has the most potential, as it's super local, we can bring in our own caterer and alcohol and we can do whatever we want as far as decorating, etc. That's important to me, since I have so many great contacts and vendors that I can use. So keep your fingers crossed that we fall in love and book it!

Just a tiny bit of inspiration that I found this morning for my bouquet:

(from The Knot)

Love the texture and the orchids and hydrangeas! I love white bouquets...so clean and simple!

Obsessed

Ok, I swear this will not be turning into a wedding blog, but I had to post about this wedding dress I found today. Yes, it's too early for me to go dress shopping, I just think this is the most beautiful, classy and classic dress.

You can click on it to make it bigger so you can see all the gorg detail on the dress!!! The material is to die for...ahhh! The price tag for a Ramona Keveza dress MAY just be like my entire wedding budget, but at least I have this picture of what I LOVE to use as inspiration when my mom and I go shopping!

Wow

Thanks for all the wonderful sweet messages! I feel so loved in blog land...hehe.

So I know I'm not supposed to be planning yet, but I can't help it! I'm a planner...it's what I do. We've started looking into venues and I'm seriously getting worried...I think because I do this every day, I'm just being way too picky. We're starting to visit some places this weekend, so I think that will help because looking at a venue's website just doesn't cut it.

Does anyone have any thoughts/suggestions/stories about destination weddings? We're seriously considering a long weekend wedding down in the Outer Banks, NC because that's where I've gone to the beach every summer since I was born and Sailor Boy goes down to Hatteras alot for fishing trips with his friends. I just want everything to be simple, easy and laid back! I don't want anything fancy or over the top and I feel like the Outer Banks would be perfect for a simple wedding. Get married on the beach and then go back to a huge house and have the reception around the pool and deck of the house = perfection!

Don't worry...I'll probably have 28464628 other ideas before this is all over!

PS - The Pink Tutu....you are absolutely adorable and amazing and I love you! I'm going down to FLA in February to see Colleen and we MUST get together! I miss you so much!!

AAAAHHHH!!!

Some super exciting news.....

WE'RE ENGAGED!!!

Sailor Boy COMPLETELY surprised me on Friday night....I literally had no idea it was coming and I am still in shock!!

Ok, details....

I had plans for a while to just have a low key girls night on Friday evening, we were going to sit around and drink wine and gossip. We were meeting at my BFF K's house at like 7:30pm (she's been in on this for over a month, so she knew it was happening that night, but she had to keep up the ruse of a girls night) So I get home from work on Friday and he's like "we should go grab dinner before you head over to K's". Completely normal and very nonchalant. So we head out and go to this little cafe in downtown Annapolis that we both like and eat at quite frequently. He was acting so calm the entire night, I had absolutely no idea.

After we finish eating, we were both stuffed because we got a huge piece of chocolate cake for dessert. Sailor Boy (again, super calmly) is like "hey, we should walk around downtown for a little bit". Now, the weather was not exactly good on Friday night...it was cold, windy and slightly rainy so I was kind of leery about a long walk in the cold rain. But I agree and we start walking. Again, I still have NO idea and he's not acting weird at all. We walk and walk and at this point I'm sort of shivering and I have my hood up on my jacket. We finally get down to this little tiny waterfront park and it was actually really pretty because there was all this fog out on the water and lots of boat lights.

All the sudden (it was seriously like slow motion) he stops me and says "hey wait a minute" and the next thing I know, he's down on one knee. At this point, I'm like "what the heck are you doing???" He starts going on about our relationship and how he wants to spend the rest of his life with me and I'm still thinking that it can't be real so I'm sort of backing away from him and starting to freak out. Then he pulls out the most GORGEOUS ring from his pocket and I was like "oh my god, this is really real". I think I finally said yes after we were both crying/laughing/hugging/freaking out. It seriously still felt so surreal...like an out of body experience...haha.

So we just stand down in the park, in the rain and cold, for a few minutes while I calm down enough to comprehend what just happened. There had literally been no one around at all and all the sudden, this couple walk down the street with their baby and dog. I was so excited and giddy, I yelled out to them "We just got engaged!!". I just had to tell someone!! So they come over and congratulate us and it's sort of funny.

We start walking back to the car and I'm still like jumping up and down and laughing hysterically and crying. I called my parents while we were walking and of course they already knew (he had gone over on Thursday night to ask permission) and they were so excited! Then we called Sailor Boy's parents and brother and everyone was so excited!!

Of course, we were so excited, we forgot to take any pictures in the park right after it happened. But Sailor Boy was like "well we need to go over to K's house now because she's probably been dying waiting for you to call". Well there was a whole welcoming crew waiting for us at K's house...a whole bunch of our friends were there to congratulate us with champagne! So we were there for a few hours, just celebrating, taking pictures and telling the story a million times!

Onto the pictures...Obligatory posed ring shot in K's very pink dining room.
Still a little bit freaked outWe drank SO much champagneA few pictures of the ring....I can't believe he picked it out by himself (we literally never even talked about rings)...it's perfect and exactly what I would have picked.

After we left K's we headed home to just relax and enjoy being engaged. Spencer was very excited for us...
I am definitely still in shock! It's been a whirlwind weekend already, visiting friends and our parents. We're just trying to take it all in before the wedding planning starts! I refuse to do any planning for at least 2 weeks...I just want to be a happy engaged couple for a little while!!

YAY!!!

Pumpkin Overload!

Does anyone else LOVE eating all things pumpkin flavored this time of year? I can't seem to get enough pumpkin!!

Trader Joe's has a few seasonal pumpkin things you can only get this time of year and I've been stocking up.

Their pumpkin butter is so good! I put it on everything and I've even started stirring some into my greek yogurt to sweeten it up and then using that with crackers as a snack. You apparently can use the pumpkin butter to make pumpkin pie and pumpkin soup. The pumpkin bread mix is really good and super easy to make. I made muffins last week and I can't stop eating them!

Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks. I recently learned that they actually sell this year round, you just have to ask. However, I will only drink it in the fall because that way it stays special!!Pumpkin Roll...my fave Thanksgiving dessert!! So yummy and really pretty too. This year I may attempt to make it myself.

I think I'm just in the mood for Pumpkin stuff because I really love Thanksgiving! It's such a great holiday because there is no stress or obligations...it's a holiday completely surrounded by food! Yum!