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!

Things I love: Beauty Edition

I'm not a huge product person when it comes to beauty products...I tend to find stuff that I like and stick with it. Here's my daily product list:

Hair --

I cannot live without my Chi. I became a Chi believer when my old roommate L had one and I borrowed it one night. I haven't looked back since. My hair is naturally wavy (but not a good wavy, a very gross wavy) and the Chi makes it super glossy and perfect after I blowdry. It really is amazing and definitely the best hair straightener I have ever used. I have the pink one (obviously)

I swear by Neutrogena Anti-Residue Shampoo. I use is 2-3 times a week to keep my hair from looking flat and weighted down. You can't use it every day because it will dry your hair out, but it's perfect just a few times a week. The day I use it, I can always guarantee a really good hair day!!

Face --

I'm slightly embarassed to admit that my daily skin care routine is Proactiv. I don't have acne, but I do get an occasional breakout and Proactiv has been amazing at making my skin perfect! It changed the texture of my skin and made it softer and less oily. I especially love the toner. I've been using it for 2 years now and I will never go back!

This is seriously a miracle product...Smashbox Photo Finish. I got my make up done last year at Smashbox for a party we were going to (just for fun) and she used this as the base. I bought it on the spot because I was totally obsessed. I don't wear foundation, but I can wear this alone and it helps make my skin look like it's glowing. I also wear it underneath of my next product...

I think I've talked about this bronzer before, but I'm seriously in love with it. It's Physicians Formula SPF 20 Bronzer. I hate creamy foundations, but I'm also super pale most of the year. This bronzer gives you just enough color and since it's a powder, it doesn't feel heavy at all. It's also SPF 20, which is always good. I just use a huge brush and put it all over my entire face and neck every day. Love!

Lips --
I love this C.O. Bigelow Mentha Lip Tint, from Bath and Body Works. It's super minty, so it makes my mouth feel really fresh, it has just a tiny hint of color and it's super shiny and glossy! I love the tube because it's easy to apply. They have a whole bunch of flavors, but the mint is definitely my fave!

This is my all time #1 obsession item. I will seriously buy like 5 packs at a time. I only like the royal blue kind, because it is slightly tingly/minty and has SPF 15. I constantly have at least 2 in my purse, 2 in my car, 1 next to my bed and several all around our house. It's slightly frightening how much I love this stuff. I slather it on before bed, which Sailor Boy thinks is so super sexy...haha. If I was ever out of these or they stopped making them, I seriously would probably die. ahhh...I can't even think about it!

So those are the beauty products that I cannot live without! What do you use every day?

Free Shopping

I was at my parents house on Sunday because my mom and I went to a neighbor's house for a jewelry party and Sailor Boy and my dad were watching the Ravens game. While I was there, I got really cold so I went into my old bedroom to see if I could find any old sweaters I could throw on. I started looking around my closet and dressers and I found SO much stuff that I forgot about. I haven't lived at home for 5 years and I thought I had taken everything, but I managed to find 3 pairs of jeans, several sweaters and a jacket. All the jeans are amazing...including 1 pair from J.Crew that still have the tags on them!! I can't believe I left all this stuff and didn't remember any of it for so long! So it feels like I had a great shopping spree without spending any money? Don't you just love that?!?!

Also, I'm feeling super motivated this week because my BFF K got me a 2 week guest pass to her gym and I have gone for 3 days in a row now! We even got up super early this morning and went before work...plus I gave Spencer her normal 30 minute walk after I got back from the gym! It just shows me how badly I need to join a gym and get back into this routine. I forgot how much I really do enjoy it...I used to be OBSESSED with the gym when I first graduated from college. Obviously that stopped a few years ago, but I really think that I can get back into it if I just join and start going.

Have a fabulous Tuesday!

Crafty Friday!

I'm not a super crafty person. It's not that I don't want to be crafty, it's just not really in my blood. My mom HATES crafting, so I didn't really grow up doing too many crafts, except at school and at like summer camp. I'm trying to get better about it, but I usually have to stick to pretty simple projects or else it usually comes out pretty horrible.

Last night, my BFF K invited a bunch of us over to help her with her first crafty wedding project - making cute liners for her envelopes for her save the date cards, which are going out next week. She is using adorable light pink envelopes and then got navy blue print wrapping paper to make the liners. The end result was AMAZING, but I have to admit, I was pretty lost while we were working. They gave me the task of "tracing" because I think they knew it would be hard for me to mess that one up.

I'm sorry I don't have any photos to go along with this, but here's the general idea:

1. Take one envelope as the sample and cut it apart to start to make the template for the liner. K's envelopes were sort of a weird size and shape (they were long and skinny, with a rounded flap) so this was a crucial step. I think it would have been much easier to use a square envelope.

2. To make the template, you measure the envelope, cut the side flaps off, and then we cut it down by 1/8" all around, so that it would fit perfectly into the envelope. Honestly, this was the part I didn't really pay attention to, because I knew it was outside of my crafty range. The girls fiddled with the pattern and tried it a million times. Basically you have to keep trying it in the envelope to see if it fits and keep trimming until you get it perfectly. Sorry that was so un-technical! Once you have the basic template using the envelope, we made two more using thick cardboard.

3. Using the cardboard template, I traced the pattern onto the sheets of wrapping paper, putting them as close together as possible, so I could get as many out of one sheet as I could. My personal best was 19 liners from one sheet of paper!

4. Then, using an exacto knife, K trimmed all the liners out. This is where the 2nd cardboard template came in handy, so she could cut while I was tracing. It's easier to cut with an exacto knife around the pattern with the thick cardboard as your guide.

5. Once the liner itself is done, you stuff it into the envelope to make sure it fits. Carefully crease the envelope so that the liner now matches up perfectly with the envelope. We just used glue sticks to attach the upper part of the liner to the flap.

6. Not completely necessary, but we then used magazines to press the lined envelopes to make sure they were perfectly creased and lined (sort of like pressing flowers between thick books)

And voila - adorable lined envelopes, waiting to be stuffed with the save the date cards! Again, I think this would have been more helpful with pictures, but oh well.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I love fall weekends, they are so relaxing to me!

Also, special shoutout to my sweet and adorable grand-little from college, Amy, who found my blog last week and left me a cute message!! I miss you Amy - hope you are having fun down in sunny Florida!

Physical Challenge!

Yes, Sailor Boy and I were Double Dare contestants for Halloween. Not super original, but I thought it was really funny. The best part was it was SO comfortable...wearing a baggy sweatsuit might not have been the most flattering thing, but it felt like I was wearing my pj's all night. I made our costumes (I ironed on the Double Dare logo) and then we collected random props - the goggles, kneepads and the cup on the helmet with the red line on it. We also had a whole bunch of red flags (that's what I'm holding if you can't tell) in our pockets. All night people were reminiscing about the show. Remember Pick it? Where you would climb in the big nose to find the flag? And the ice cream sundae slide? I always wanted to be on that show when I was little!!

VOTE!

Happy Election Day! I can't believe it's finally here...I feel like it's been a long campaign! I haven't talked much about the election on my blog, because I like staying sort of neutral. I definitely have a preferred candidate, but I think your choice in who you vote for is a private, personal decision, so I won't be sharing it.

This is actually my 3rd time voting in the presidential election...which I think is so crazy!! I voted in 2000, when I was technically still only 17 and I did an absentee ballot because I was down at school in North Carolina. I remember sitting on my bed in my dorm room and staring at the ballot for like an hour before filling it out! I got pretty into the election in 2004, but this year, I have been obsessed and reading everything I can find on both candidates. I think it's so exciting to think about such an historic election, and how it's going to affect our country so much.

I went before work this morning to vote and I was surprised that my voting place was not super crowded. The news had made it sound like all polling places were crazy, but I lucked out and I was in and out in under 10 minutes. I'm proudly wearing my "I voted" sticker...which means I'll be hitting up Starbucks this afternoon for my free coffee! For anyone who hasn't voted yet, remember to get out there and exercise your right to vote!