The Dress

I realized today that I never actually posted pictures of me in my dress when I finished up my dress venture story. Let's pick up where I left off... so I am in my dress, crowded by all the other girls in the shop who were trying to take advantage of the Black Friday sale going on and was really, really lovin this dress!


After trying on a couple of others, I got back into the dress and was unsure if I wanted to get it. I loved it, but there were so many others I loved too!
I went out in to the show room (can you see the other girls? yeah, this picture doesn't even do justice to how many were there that morning! And my tummy, ick!).
The sales person, Sam, was so sweet and not pushy at all and showed me which bustle might look best.

Because of the sale, I only had an hour and a half time slot and I pretty much rock-paper-scissored my decision and bought the dress! The dress is a Casablanca, Style 1902. A few months had passed by, in which I definitely had a wondering eye, so while one of my bestest and bridesmaid was in town, we took the opportunity to go try on the dress and I was thrilled that I was still happy with my purchase (and look, I could actually zip it up this time)!

Almost seven months later and 14 pounds lighter (hey, I first tried it on the day after Thanksgiving), I felt like a princess in my dress!
Today, I got this package in the mail and as I opened it up
my eyes slightly welled up
remembering the happiest day of my life.
PS - Husband won't let me display it by the fireplace. Boo.

Oh the memories

I was a huge Saved by the Bell fan growing up and admit I am the proud owner of all 4 seasons on DVD. So you can imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon this photo:

check it out here

The Bride's Cafe Feature!

Hey! Long time no talk! Mostly because I wouldn't have been able to keep my lips sealed about it, but now that it's published - grab your cup of coffee and check out the cafe today!

photo by Jenny Jimenez

I love Janie, she is so so sweet! And I can't say enough about how awesome Jenny is!! I can't wait to get the rest of the pictures :)

Etsy Finds

Received my Etsy Finds email this morning and these are a few of the many items featured today that I loved:

can be found here

seen here

found here

totally loving this

Necklace I spotted on etsy. I think I would get an "S" for my esposo muy guapo.



find it here

Girls just wanna have fun!

My girls totally spoiled me for my bachelorette party! For months and months, any time I asked what we were doing, the girls said we were going camping. Throughout that time, the story elaborated to include tents, woods, etc. Ha!

SIL and I met up at one of my bridesmaid's house after what could've been a huge disaster (I left my debit card in the ATM earlier that afternoon, but luckily a friendly banker turned it in for me!).

There was yummy food and lots of drinks:
We played some fun games: And then we headed out to our first destination. And yes, they brought along tents, sleeping bags, and any other camping gear you can think of!

I was then blind-folded (which is a slightly bad idea after a glass or two of wine):
And we arrived at the most BEAUTIFUL hotel where my girls had my bed made up with fun things:
Where I opened up embarrassingly saucy gifts:
And then we prepared to leave for dinner:
but not before making sure I was properly dressed:
We arrived at the sushi joint, where I was the only one who didn't order sushi* but a good time was had by all:
and then we walked to a bar where we had our first drink:

and decided to head back to our rooms for some quality girl talk!

After some great convos we headed back to the bar:
Where we danced

and laughed

the rest of the night away!Thanks girls for throwing me the BEST bachelorette party I ever could've dreamed of! All of the thoughtful details throughout the night meant so much and definitely didn't go unnoticed! I'm so blessed to have you all in my life! kisses!

*I've never had sushi before and was being a chicken that night about ordering some. After I tried some off of the other girls' plates, I thought it wasn't too bad and have since been back with husband and am happy to report that I LOVED IT! So - thank you girls for opening my eyes to a whole new world!

all photos by my bridesmaid and dear friend Andrea

Raspberry goodness; thank you very much!

I finally got around to using the last of our raspberries our awesome neighbors gave us and made these delicious crumb bars. I followed the recipe, with the exception of using raspberries in place of blueberries, as well as adding 1 tsp. of coconut extract to the middle layer. Yum, yum! Also, I've been working on these babies:

Pump Up the Volume

Pump Up the Volume

Got this in my Daily Candy - and she is awesome.

A beautiful bride, a handsome groom

Earlier today, I was reminiscing about one of the most beautiful weddings I've witnessed to date. There was love; there was laughter; tears of joy and lots of dancing! I remember this day like it was yesterday - a day I will cherish forever, when one of my best friends married the love of her life!

photo by Jeff LaPlante

If you have some time, go and check out their post and slideshow. Yeah, it was as beautiful and awesome as it looks.

Raindrops on roses

I was tagged by A Girl in Pearls & A Boy with Toys to list a handful of my favorite things (love following along during your wedding planning! If I can lend one piece of advice - when your day comes, enjoy it because it will go by in the blink of an eye!!).

So here are the rules: Tag and link back to the person who tagged you. List six little things that make you happy. Tag six bloggers and let them know they're “it".

I think SIL said it best: I haven't really garnered many followers so I think I'm going to skip the tagging other bloggers part. If you read this and you're inspired to make your own list, please do so. I'd love to see a few of your very favorite things!

And with that, ready, set, GO!

1. Home life with my husband and babies:

2. The life long girlfriends I've picked up somewhere along the way:

3. Enjoying a glass of wine:

4. Dancing like no one is watching:

photo by Jeff LaPlante

5. And last, but very certainly not least - the ones who would give up anything and everything for my sister and me:

Candy Apple

My partner-in-crime and I went to Williams-Sonoma yesterday to pick up a meat grinder attachment for our new KitchenAid mixer and while we were there, I spotted this lovely new 90th Anniversary mixer:

Isn't it beautiful? The sales associate told us they got it in a week and a half ago or so - about the same time I purchased ours. I wished I would've swung by here then so I could've purchased this beauty. I can't say the thought didn't cross my mind to return the one I already have (and have only used a handful of times, ok maybe more than that). Since I used a coupon though, I'd end up having to pay full price on the one at WM... so I guess I'll just have to drool over this one.

Pretty, Pretty Peonies!

Our flowers were ordered from Bridgewater Gardens and I was very impressed with the quality of peonies and how well they held up! Highly, highly recommend them - great service and they smelled and looked incredible! Here are all 8 dozen the day of the wedding along with 3 of my 5 girls!