The Dress

Because Sweeter proposed to me so close to Christmas, most of my Christmas gifts were wedding books, magazines, to-do calendars the whole shabang! It was great!

I opened up a magazine and I was flipping through all of the wedding gown spreads and gawking over table settings and flowers. I flipped to a Priscilla of Boston spread and my eye was immediately drawn to a woman wearing this gorgeous backed dress.

I went to the website and to my surprise, there was a trunk show. I called up my mom and my Friendoodle and we went to the salon in Downtown San Francisco. Nicole was my consultant and she was amazing. We walked into the salon and I told Nicole that I saw the most beautiful dress in a magazine and I wanted to try it on.

She told me to find the dress as well as any others. I found it and while my Madre, Friendoodle and I combed the racks and found others.

We went back into the changing room and I tried on about 13 gowns. Nicole told me not to try on the dress I came in looking for as my first dress so I could give the other ones a chance. They were all gorgeous!

Here are a few that I tried on {you will have to wait for the actual dress until a later post :-)}:

to tea-cup like...

 

I am not the biggest fan of the 1 sided thing...

so beautiful...just not for me!

so I loved the bodice of this!

not so much of the open front...

too much stuff on the top

I am not the biggest fan of the beads

not the most flattering...

I loved the top on this one, but the bottom was too floofy...haha

 I loved trying on all of these dresses!

They were all so beautiful!

The best part was watching my mom during the entire process.

She was glowing and so happy and excited for me!

Wedding dress shopping was a blast and I almost want to try on more dresses...even though I already have mine :-)

Have a fabulous day!

Wedding Countdown: 6 days!

Some Friday Love

1. Do you and your spouse go to bed at the same time?

We usually do...unless I need to go to sleep crazy early. If that is the case, he will lay in bed with me until I fall asleep :-)

2. A question for the ladies...What kind of facial hair do you like on your man?

None...haha And Sweeter can't have it - no arguments her!

3. What's the worst vacation you've ever taken?

I don't think I have ever had a bad vacation...

4. What's the first-ever blog you followed?

That is a good question....I started blogging because I would read Tracy's Blog at Then I Got to Thinking. She and I rushed the same sorority in college and were in the same pledge class. We became friends and when she graduated she moved away and I wanted to read how her life was going.

Yeah, I think her blog was my first :-) Thanks, Tracy, my retreat pal!!

5. Do you enjoy amusement parks?

I do. Sadly, I have not been to one in a very long time...

Happy Friday to you all!!

9 more days! 

Sweeter and I will be off to the Bay this weekend for Graduation and another Bridal Shower! 

Woohoo! 

September 8th

So I was reading Allie's wedding day blog post {I know..I'm late..}

I found out a couple of things.

<1> She and I share a birthday

<2> We share our birthday with the Virgin Mary.

So I text my mom...

Me:   "did you know that the virgin mary's bday is sept 8?

Mom: "thats a nice fact seeing as you were conceived by immaculate conception"

hahaha! I laughed out loud...at my desk...as work! haha!

I hope you all enjoy your Thursday!

Wedding Countdown: 10 days!

Beetle Orange!

How many of you play the beetle game?

You know, the car game where you punch everyone in the car and scream out the beetle color before anyone else does?

So I love this game!

I love it because I have made it into my own unique nice game!

I am not a violent person, not in the slightest, and I am relatively mild tempered.

I made up a beetle game that you all should try!

There are 2 versions.

Version 1: With your honey

When you see a beetle, call it out, be the first in the car. 

Now, the reason you want to be the first to call it is because the person who didn't call the beetle must kiss you and give you a compliment. 

{ie. you are beautiful.... you have the best kisses... you are so great at spotting beetles :-) etc}

Repeat

Version 2: With your friends

See above

Minus the kiss :-)

Oh and there are 2 rules...

Rule 1: Assess the situation...if the driving situations are dangerous, save the kisses for when you are in a safer spot

Rule 2: No calling the same beetle twice! No exceptions!

Tada!

It is a very uplifting game and it definitely gets everyone involved!

I mean, who really wants to get punched while driving!?

We all would rather get sweet smooches!

Have a great day!

And enjoy playing my version of the Beetle Game!

HIking

Sweeter and I went for a hike this weekend. 

We hiked to a couple of beautiful waterfalls (not a lot of water, still beautiful!)

As you can see the hike was impromptu...we were not dressed for it...at all!

We had a blast!

I woke up the next day without a voice because I had such bad allergies!

We had such a great weekend!

Looking forward to the next 2 weeks!

Wednesday we have our last Salsa Dance class and Date Night!

Saturday we are driving to SF to see my best friend graduate from college!

Sunday I have another Bridal Shower and I get to see 3 of my Bridesmaids!

Next Wednesday, I fly up to SF to start all of the wedding festivities!

12 days!

Couple Wedding Shower

The last weekend of April, my mom threw Sweeter and I a Wedding shower.

We had a blast!

We played a few games, ate delicious food and spent time with people that mean a lot to my family!

Game #1

Sweeter got panties to enjoy

That was probably my favorite picture of the entire night!

The menu

Catered by my lovely mother

Drinks

Homemade Lemon Drops
Beer and wine

Heavy appetizers Menu
Sliders
Chicken and beef skewer with a peanut dipping sauce
Artichoke dip
Cheese platter
Veggie platter & dip
Mini fruit kabobs

Dessert
Coconut cupcakes

Everything was amazing!

Thanks Mom!

 When we arrived, we got pins on our shirts and were told not to cross our legs. 

If you caught someone crossing their legs, you took their pin and did your best to collect them all.

I lost pretty early on in the night :-)

The 2nd game:

Sweeter and I sat back to back and had one of each of our shoes in front of us.

My Mom and Dad read out questions and we had to pick up the shoe of who did it.

i.e. Who is a better cook - then each of us had to grab who's shoe that went to

The Line Game:

Since I had done this at the bridal shower that my Bridal Party threw for me, my mom decided to have Sweeter open the gifts and record what he was saying.

At the end, my mom read off what he would "say" on the night of our wedding.

We had a blast!

Thanks to all of my family and friends for making this whole process special and amazing!

Santa Fe Chicken Salad

Sweeter and I made the yummiest Santa Fe Chicken Salad!

We searched a recipe for the dressing and found this recipe.

{I am not sure that it the exact one from Cheesecake Factory because of the nutritional value...seems too healthy to be Cheesecake Factory (haha).}

We seasoned the chicken with the Chili-Lime Rub from Williams Sonoma and we let it sit over night. {We got a set of rubs from Williams Sonoma as a gift}We cooked the chicken on the grill pan and the chicken turned out delicious and tender; Sweeter is great and cooking the meat! We can't wait to have a place that we can have a BBQ!

It was surprisingly delicious! Just what we wanted! :-)

3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 bunches cilantro, (rinsed well, most of stalky ends trimmed off) finely chopped

{We didn't use all of the cilantro that the recipe called for. We used about 1/2 - 3/4 of a bunch and it was plenty. We also didn't use canola oil. Just left it out.}
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoon wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon cumin
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup olive oil

PREPARATION:

Drop garlic cloves and ginger through the feed tube of food processor while motor is on. Mince well. Add the cilantro and process until finely chopped. Add spices, lime juice, vinegar, honey, and parmesan cheese. Process until well mixed. With motor running slowly pour the oil through the feed tube. Let process one more minute.

Additional Tips: To make the salad you will need slivered mixed greens, shredded grilled chicken breast, corn kernals, rinsed black beans, bell pepper, chopped tomato, shredded cheese and toasted tortilla strips.

NUTRITION:

55 calories, 5g fat, 1g carbohydrates, 1g protein per tablespoon.
Show more nutritional data (including Weight Watcher's Points ® and diabetic exchanges)

Buon Appetito

Seating Charts

How did all of your married ladies plan out the seating charts at your wedding??

I want to mix and match his guests with mine but I don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable...

How did you do it?!

This is one daunting task!