See ya later 2013...

These photos really do speak 1,000 words...and they are just some of the highlights from our 2013. 

Here's a *quick* recap of some of the best moments:

NYE up in the mountains in Big Bear with the Boulder crew/many bike rides to Farmer's market from our CDM cottage/surprising Lindsey with all of the DGs for St. Patty's in Denver/weekend getaways to San Diego/many many fun times with nephew Easton/camping at the beach with the Chicas/Brother's birthday at rooftop in Laguna/camping at the River in Arizona/best friend's bachy wine tasting/best friend's wedding!/renting a duffy boat with the fam/GETTING ENGAGED!/the start of Wedding planning/Kenny Chesney & Eric Church concert/Shan&Sage's Baby Shower/Fabulous trip to NC with my mama/Meeting Lyla and seeing Chels/Fam Girls Weekend in Cape Cod/Thanksgiving in NC with the Limoges/Merritt fam/the arrival of Sage/Christmas Eve & Christmas with my family!

Now onto the year of our wedding...hello 2014!

A Little Escape

As evident by my lack of blogging over the past couple weeks, things have been pretty busy around here! Between Christmas and wedding (some very exciting things going on in the wedding world...more on that later this week!) I just haven't been able to get myself to sit down and take the time to blog. But, this weekend we were able to escape all the craziness and head down to La Jolla for a quick little trip.

We went on a walking brew & food tour around the downtown area.

Apparently San Diego is the micro-brew capital of the world--anyways we got to sip some good beer out of cute little cups, eat some yummy food and see some great views. It was a short but great weekend!

Five on Friday

Happy Friday Friends!

[1] Engagement Pictures
I was practically jumping up and down in excitement when they arrived (okay, I actually did). I'm so happy with how they came out from the outfits we chose to the setting and the style of our photographer. He is so talented and now I'm even more excited for him to shoot our wedding!

Eric Boneske Photography

[2] Bed
Yes, one of the things that is making me happy this week is our new bed. Our new bed--that my fiancé designed and crafted himself (all in a weekend!). Who needs Pottery Barn anyway?

[3] Annual Christmas Party
We're having our 5th annual Christmas party this weekend. One of my favorite things of this season! This year i'm going to attempt to make one of the traditional Christmas cookies!

Shortbread Cookies

[4] Baby
One of my dearest friends added a lil babe to her sweet family last week. She is too adorable and I'm so happy for them. There's nothing like the sweetness of a newborn, especially one of the chicas! I can't wait to cuddle on her more!

[5] Musical Moment
I know I'm a few weeks late on this one, but this song gets me so emotional! Although it's a very sad story, he makes it beautiful--as always. It makes me happy, and really makes me remember to embrace every moment every time it comes on during my commute.

Thanksgiving in NC

I can't believe it's already come and gone, but we had a blast on our trip to NC. Most of our time was spent visiting and eating, eating A LOT! Aside from some rain the first day we got there we really lucked out with the weather. It was nice and chilly, but sunny most of the days.

We took our engagement pictures on Friday evening, and the setting couldn't have been more gorgeous. It great meeting our photographer and having this time together. I can't wait to see how the photos come out--this was what the sky looked like that evening:

After taking our pictures we headed to Alex's grandmothers house for an Oyster Roast, so much fun!

On Saturday morning we woke well before the sun rose, to go duck hunting. It sounded like a good idea the night before, but let's just say this is one thing I can check off my bucket list and won't mind not doing again (at least at the crack of dawn). But, it made for some really great pics since it was so beautiful out there!

Until next time Wilmington...

Off to Wilmington

This week it's really starting to feel like the holidays, and tonight Alex and I are headed to Wilmington and I can't wait!

I love seeing how excited Alex gets to go see his family, and I am looking forward to spending time with them, too. We're taking our engagement pics on Friday (not sure of the location but hoping it looks something like the third pic above, although it will probably be cloudy, which is fine with me!) and on Saturday I'm taking him to the venue (second pic), and I know he's going to love it :)

Now if I can just fast forward through this work day...

5 on Friday {Thankful Edition}

In the spirit of the season I decided to do things a bit differently today. These are all pretty cliche, but nonetheless true~this year I'm thankful for:

[1] Alex
I'm incredibly blessed to be looking forward to taking on this life journey with a man who gets and appreciates me in the way he does. Over the years I've learned it really isn't always going to be "Notebook" perfect, but what's important is learning to support each other in those challenging times. It's certainly much easier to have a good relationship when there aren't many responsibilities and tough decisions, but when life happens I think that is the true test. And I can honestly say I wouldn't rather have any one else by my side to figure out this crazy thing called life-hence why I said "yes"!

Sunset on Oak Island on one of the first trips I took to see him :)

[2] Family
Right now we are so lucky that our entire immediate family lives within 5 miles of each other, literally. Some people would see this as crazy and are completely okay with living thousands of miles away from their family. I, for one, thank God every single day that we are able to be in this chapter of life with our family so nearby. I know it may not be like this forever, but it's pretty amazing we're experiencing it right now!

[3] Amigos
As I've grown older I've seen some friends come and go, and I'm definitely thankful for those, near and far, that I can count on to be there when I need them (to laugh or cry). When I was younger I felt like I always had to be doing something, but I've learned that with true friends you can have just a good time grabbing a coffee as doing something "fun"! I love this Winnie quote (he was my favorite when I was little!)

[4] Airplanes
As much as I'm thankful for my family that's right here, I know it's difficult for Alex to live so far from his family. And I, too, wish we lived closer to them, so I'm happy we live in a time that we can just hop on an airplane next week and arrive to his family so quickly (well not that quickly).

[5] Career
While I certainly don't define myself by my job, I am definitely thankful I'm able to do something I enjoy (most of the time) at a company that has great people and great values. This year especially I've learned how lucky I am to be in the position I am right now.

A Christmas Craft

Since I'm a sucker for cute wrapping/packaging, this year I decided I wanted to put a "crafty" touch on our gifts. I still love the "natural" color mixed with traditional red and green; and lately I've been loving all things silver and gold so I decided to mix all these to make these simple gift tags. To get me in the mood I put some Christmas pandora on...nothing like some Mariah to get you in the spirit, right?



I cut out the circles, then embellished with some stamps, and silver, gold and green stamp pads. You have to look closely but I embossed a few, but since the stamp designs are so small with not much space in between the lines it's difficult to emboss and keep the detail (if you've ever embossed you know what I'm talkin bout!)

Now I just need some gifts to wrap...

Weekend in Pictures

As with most weekends lately, this one flew by! But of course lots of fun was had. Friday night was spent just relaxing, and on Saturday we headed up to LA for our "Friends-giving." The food was delicious and it's always a good time hanging with that crew.

Sunday, I finally got around to a little Christmas crafting (more on that later this week), and spent some quality time with Chel and E at the park, which always makes for the best days! To top it off we had a yummy dinner with a couple of delish appetizers like the "football snack mix" you see above that Chel whipped up...yes that is homemade carmel drizzle that is sticking it all together...goodbye weekend, see ya on Friday!

FiveonFri

[1] ^Fresh & Clean^
I've been wanting a refreshed design for this little blog here for quite some time now. I finally was able to come up with one that I'm pretty satisfied with, but still have some work to do! I wanted something that looked simple and clean, but still has some fun in it!

[2] Yummy Chicken Parm
I'm always in the search of healthier recipes that still taste delicious. I made this one this week and boy was it yummy! The flavors in it are so rich, but way healthier than your traditional parm. The fiancé loved it! It's a little involved for a week night, but totally worth it. Recipe here

[3] Christmas Wrapping
This year I've decided I want to make really cute wrapping for our gifts. I'm hoping this weekend I'll have time to do some crafting and can make some cute embellishments, like these ones from the container store:

                            

 

[4] Friends-Giving
Tomorrow Alex and I are heading up to LA to celebrate a "pre-thanksgiving" with some of our closest friends. I'm excited to cook, eat yummy T-giving food and spend some quality time! I'm very thankful that we're able to spend this time all together :)

via

[5] Freakin' Friday!
This may be cheating, but really and truly today I'm happier than anything that it is finally Friday. It's been one of those work weeks where I felt like Friday should have been on Wednesday...

          

The Perfect Planner

When I was younger, I would look forward to school registration every year, when we would get those free planners with our school mascots (dork alert!). Apparently nothing has changed because each year I hunt for a cute (and functional) planner.

This year, since we have many important dates and planning to recount I want to be sure to get a really good planner. Yes, I try and keep track of everything in my phone calendar, but I am definitely a more visual person and it helps me to write everything down. I'm on the lookout for a nice planner, and would love if it zippered so I can stuff important papers/cards in.

Good news is I've found that perfect planner, bad news is it is way out of my price range. But seriously how great is this? Maybe it's just me, but this screams "let me help you get organized!" to me.

via

It has everything I want/need. I love that the pages are refillable and I could use it each year, but it is a huge investment that I'm not ready to take. If anyone has any less expensive alternatives they've seen PLEASE send my way. I have checked all my go to places and can't find one :( They are all too "business" looking. HELP!

Engagement Pics Planning

In just a few short weeks Alex and I are headed Eastward to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family. While we're back there we figured we might as well get some wedding stuff done, since we're already making the trip. I'm excited to tour the venue with him (since my mama was with me when we chose), but we are also taking our engagement pics, so I've been on the lookout for different styles, settings, poses (yes, i'm a weird!), and most of all outfits that I like. I want them to be classic (since we're going to have them forever).

Yesterday, I finally stumbled upon a dress that is very close to what I imagined, so I decided to purchase it! I'm thinking we'll have two outfits (or maybe just me...not sure how A feels about wardrobe changes!). This dress will serve as the more "fancy" one, and then I'm still on the lookout for a more casual one.

Of course some of these pieces are way out of my price range, but that's why they are "inspiration!"

Dress/Bangle/Green Necklace/Green Blouse/Blue Blouse/Gold Necklace/Crystal Necklace/

I need to find a good statement necklace for the navy dress, but I love the classic feel and the simplicity it has (with the fun back). For the "casual" outfit, I'm thinking something like a button down blouse with a necklace and cute skinnys.

If anyone knows of good shops/sites that have affordable pieces within this realm, send them my way!

The Colors

It's Monday and back to the grind, ugh, but I am happy to report this weekend was a successful one! I'd been going back and forth on what colors to choose for our wedding, but I kept gravitating towards the more neutral tones. I realized that in order to move forward with any more planning we had to choose at least the color scheme we [or I :)] wanted. So, yesterday I set out determined to come home with our wedding colors. After a couple stops, I finally succeeded. I'd wanted a light peach color, but still loved the stark white, grey and gold. First I wasn't sure we could have them all, but then I put some different sheets together and realized it could work (and got confirmation from my sis and my SIL). So, I guess you could say we have a "color palette" rather than "colors."

I wanted to choose colors that I won't get sick of looking at over and over, and that are subtle enough to not "go out of style" and classic enough to be timeless. I know not everyone may agree, but for me they do just that! They'll go great with the beautiful lush green/natural setting our venue provides. I'm so excited to get on with planning...and so is the fiance! When I showed him our colors for "approval", he said "great, so I can wear a peach or a white suit?"...he's so funny, isn't he?

As you can see I love the softness of the lacy style and textures. I'm sure we'll be incorporating a lot of that, too! Not exactly sure what we'll do with the flower stamps, but I love the simple elegance they add. Now here's to hoping I don't change my mind on these between now and the big day!

Girls Weekend 2013

I had not planned on taking a "break" from blogging, but what can I say life got ahead of me for the past couple o' weeks! Most recently, a trip back East was occupying my time. For as long as I can remember my mom, her sisters, and her mom would go away for the weekend in the Fall for a "girls weekend". When we were younger I think it was so they could get a break from us, but now since my cousins and I are older, us "girls" are now invited! This was my second year going, and we stayed at the same house in Cape Cod both times.

The weekend was spent visiting, eating, walking around cute little Cape towns, and even a surprise Engagement Party for me and my cousin, Emily, who is also getting married next year! It was so sweet, my aunt cooked a feast and had the cutest décor and fun games for us to play. We had absolutely great weather, the perfect fall temps!

Cousins

Our Home for the Weekend!

The Whole Gang! 4 generations =)

Easton was the only boy allowed =)

Love our mama!

The cutest pumpkin around!

Picking up our "baby" cousin (who is also the tallest...)

Love my sista!