BIRTHDAY!

Happy birthday to my Maid of Honor, to the girl I will be a Matron of Honor for, to my big sister, to one of my best friends.



Jess, I'm so proud of you! You have always been a free spirit and that is something I so admire because I could never be so spontaneous... but it's something I wish I could be. But now you are all grown up and in law school (and doing AMAZING) and it's wonderful to see you find the world you belong in, with the person you love. I can't wait to help you plan your beautiful day and to have you next to me on mine.

I love you! :o)

Weekend Recap

Friday, we went out to celebrate the birth of one of my best friends, Valerie. She and I were just talking about how we have celebrated a DECADE of birthdays since we became friends. How crazy is that? 10 years of solid friendship. We've gone through a lot together: high school, first loves, heartbreak, prom, homecoming, AP exams, graduation, summer parties, college, sororities, roadtrips, relationships, my engagement, and getting ready for my wedding. She and I have both changed a lot, but we've always put effort into our friendship.

So this weekend, we celebrated her 24th birthday!

Yay, birthday!

We went to High Desert and drank beer and ate green chile cheeseburgers and it was amazing.

Love. 

Birthdays are the best.

Saturday we spent DEEP CLEANING our house.We did a big spring clean of our dressers and drawers and closets and found a ton of stuff to donate or throw away. It was amazing lol.

Sunday was spent getting ready for the OSCARS! WOO!

How was your weekend?

OSCAR NIGHT!

I've mentioned before that Fiance is a MOVIE FAN. Like, a real fan. So of course, the Academy Awards is a Very. Big. Deal. to us. And it's tonight! We are very excited!

Here are my guesses:

Best Picture: I'm guessing Argo, though I wish Zero Dark Thirty would win. I also would love Silver Linings Playbook, but that's the dark horse in my opinion.

Best Actor: I think it will go to Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln, but I would love for Denzel to take it for Flight, too.

Best Actress: I REALLY WANT Jennifer Lawrence to win for SLP. Also wouldn't mind Jessica Chastain for ZDT.

Supporting Actor: Team Robert De Niro for SLP, his first great role in a while. He was AMAZING. Another great performance was Christopher Waltz for Django.

Supporting Actress: I hear Helen Hunt was great in the Sessions... I wanted to see it SO BAD but our movie theater in this small town didn't bring it. BOO!

Animated Feature: I'm hoping Wreck-It Ralph, but also loved Brave.

Cinematography: Team Life of Pi! Great book, great movie. That rarely happens.

Directing: IT SHOULD BE Kathryn Bigelow. She got TOTALLY gypped. ZDT was amazing and she deserves a nom if nothing else. But I think it will go to Old Faithful Steven Spielberg.

Those are the big ones. Tune in tonight to see if I'm right!

Geez

Geez. How have I not blogged anything since February 15?

Oh yeah, we went to Phoenix and then when we came back, I twisted the CRAP out of my ankle at the end, so then I was recovering and being sad about it. Oh, and I came back right into a big project at work (cue overtime). So there's that.

Let's recap.

We went to Phoenix on Thursday night (Valentine's Day). We like to make that drive at night, when there isn't anyone on the road but us, and we take turns taking naps if we are tired. We left around 10, and got into Phoenix around 3. We listened to a Harry Potter book on tape on the way, which is the best way to travel, of course :o)

Friday was spent eating at Oregano's and then planning our beautiful wedding before heading to our menu tasting, which was INCREDIBLE.



We tried a ton of stuff... swordfish, steak, pot stickers, asparagus, garlic mashed potatoes, gold scalloped potatoes, ahi tuna, chicken on a crostini... it was all SO GOOD. We had a hard time narrowing it down, but we did!

Saturday we tried on my DRESS! It was way too big (I've lost about 15 lbs since I bought it), but it's just as beautiful as I remember. We tried it on with my mom's veil from 1983 and it looks beautiful with it. I'm so excited.

Saturday night, we went to our first hockey game and it was a BLAST. We had a great, great, great time. The crowd was excited and they had a lot of music and fun games. It was really really fun. We can't wait to go back!



Go Coyotes!

Sunday we shopped until we dropped and got ready for our second set of engagement photos with our actual photographer for the wedding. I can't wait to see the photos! Here's a teaser:



Monday, after the photos, we headed home to this little face:



HE IS TOO CUTE!

This is getting long, so I'll wrap it up. I'll recap Val's birthday later :o)

Happy Saturday night!

BRB

GONE TO PHOENIX BRB! :o)

Getting Back

I'm having a hard time getting back into being healthy. I took a break for the holidays (I know, I know... forever ago) but I've maintained my weight since then (actually have lost like 3 lbs... weirdly enough). But it's been SO NICE not to worry about every.single.thing that goes into my mouth or about scheduling my friend time around my workouts.

I need to start looking at a routine that will stick with me in the long run. In 2012, I worked out six times a week pretty religiously. Seriously. Usually three times a week, I did an hour-long work out, and the other three I did a half hour. But it was still ALWAYS something I did, except Sundays. This is not really a reasonable expectation for me in the future, especially when I have babies. I want to find a routine that I can keep up, guilt free, and that will make me feel good.

Any ideas?

PHOENIX!

I know you're probably getting sick of seeing that city in my blog (you blog reader, whoever you are...), but I can't help it. Phoenix is my FAVORITE city in the world and I can't wait to move there. Until then, we will continue traveling there every few months to get our fix of Oregano's, Lolo's Chicken and Waffles, Sprinkles, and In n Out! :o)

We're heading there this weekend to visit with Fiance's mom and to get a TON of wedding stuff done. Roommate is sick, so he'll be here at home with the dogs anyway all weekend, so it's a good time to get away! We are heading out Friday morning and spending the afternoon with Fiance's mom (hopefully with some Oregano's pizza involved...).

At 4:30 pm, we have a planning meeting with our wedding planner at the resort to finalize as much as we can (cake cutters, toasting glasses [we are using the toasting flutes my parents used 30 years ago!], timelines, etc.). Then at 6:30, we have our tasting! We are going to be tasting appetizers, the intermezzo, the salad, a filet, swordfish, and all the sides to decide. I'm excited about this part, clearly, lol.

Saturday, I have the fitting for my WEDDING DRESS! The last time I was there, it was July and I've lost about 18-20 lbs since then, so it will be interesting to see how it looks on me now! I'm SO excited. Plus, we are going to try to get my mom's veil set on a comb (and that will be my something old!). I'm stoked. Saturday night, we are going to a hockey game! I've always loved D2: The Mighty Ducks and Miracle... so much so that when people hear how much I love those movies (my best friend Valerie, too!), they always assume I'm a hockey fan. I can't really watch it on TV because the puck gets lost on the screen to me, but I hear it's WAY more fun in person. Plus, it's right by Fiance's mom's house. YAY!

Sunday is an open day to spend with Fiance's mom. I do want to go to Trader Joe's to pick up some coconut oil (I hear it's a miracle worker for hair growth, weight loss, health, cuticles...) and some peanut butter dog biscuits for my puppies, but no plans other than that (besides Sprinkles. Because, duh).

Monday morning we have our engagement photos! We already got some done with my friend here in LC, but our professional photographer for the wedding wanted to get some done so she can feel us out for the big day. I'm excited!

Another quick lunch at Oregano's or Lolo's, and then we're heading back home!

I'm SO EXCITED! Wish me luck!

Growing Out

My hair, that is!

I always wear my hair long, so for my wedding, I wanted my hair LONG LONG LONG. I've been doing pretty good at growing it out!



I trim often and use a lot of conditioner. But I heard recently that you can use coconut oil to help your hair grow out... and I really want to try it. Has anyone here tried it?

Broken Computer

I'm sure you expected me to be all over this blog with the Baltimore win in the Super Bowl last Sunday, and believe me, I wanted to be. But alas... my computer broke. Sad face. Luckily, Fiance is a techie, so he is in the process of fixing it and I'm working on a half-working computer. Whew.

So let me get all my football madness out now.

THE RAVENS WON THE SUPER BOWL!!!! NOBODY THOUGHT THAT THEY COULD, BUT THEY DID! THE RAVENS ARE THE BEST IN THE COUNTRY, BETTER THAN THE BRONCOS, THE PATRIOTS, AND THE NINERS! GET ME SOME!!!!!!

Okay, there we go.

But really, I was SO STOKED! I've been a true-blue Ravens fan for about seven years now, and I have watched us go to playoffs after playoffs and then go home sad. I keep thinking that we still have another week of football and then I remember... WE WON! :o)



Not doing much other than freaking out over football. I went to dinner last night with two of my best friends, Blairre and Adriana, and we had SO MUCH FUN. We were at Texas Roadhouse for three hours, drinking and laughing and eating. It was so so fun. It was such a good reminder that even though I have such a wonderful Fiance, it's good to take time to go back and visit with the friends that have been there for me since I was just a teenager, before he even came into the picture. It's especially nice because Blairre and Adriana are both married (and mamas), so they understand how my life is and what it's like to have a fiance/husband. They are two of my favorite people :o)

Other than that, just working working working. We're heading to Phoenix soon to go to a fitting/tasting/engagement photo session! It might be our last chance to go before the wedding, so I'm hoping to get as much done as possible!

I'll be back soon!