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...