4 Month Countdown

Well, today marks 4 months until the wedding. Just 120 days now stand between me and a planning-free lifestyle!

I'm going to preface this post with: This is not intended for anyone specifically and I am not trying to be ugly....

Now, with that said: *Approach Soapbox* Here goes...

Wedding Planning, YOU SUCK! People say that this is supposed to be a marvelous time in your life and that it will all be worth it. Well, when people say that about pregnancy, I get it...you get a HUMAN BEING out of the 9 months of carrying, planning, etc. I understand that planning a wedding is not quite as physically daunting, but for the past 12 months, mentally and emotionally, it's putting me through the ringer. I do know that the day will be amazing...all 5 hours of it, I'm sure, but I don't know that I'll look back and say "wow, that was totally worth it all." Stay tuned as I'll be sure to write a post about it at that point, but like I said, I just can't imagine those words coming out of this mouth. I feel as if this has turned into Bride vs. Everyone.... All I want is for everyone to be happy, but wait a second...isn't this the one day in a woman's life that is supposed to be 100% about her? I'm writing all this down so that if I have a daughter I remember to come back and read what I felt at this time.
I pulled out my back this week (true story) and I did it from bending over backwards for everyone else (that part's just me being dramatic!). Really though, I feel like as if I am going out of my way to please my friends, bridal party, parents, in-laws, venues, vendors, dogs, cats, random strangers walking down the street....you name it! And I'm SO.OVER.IT!!!!!!

*Step down from soapbox*

Whew - thanks! Needed to get that off my chest! I resolved this week to just say ok to anything and everything. From here on out, I don't care what goes on the tables, what goes in the envelopes, what the bouquets are made of, what the people wear, etc. I'm just going to breathe, smile and remember that I am going to marry my best friend and go on a fantastic, adventuresome and relaxing honeymoon with him. Now I DO know why people take honeymoons now! That, you definitely deserve!

Little sisters, friends that have yet to get hitched and any random man and/or woman reading this....I have two words for you:
DESTINATION WEDDING!!!!!

Coulda, woulda, shoulda! ;)

Now for a little update:

1. We put an offer in on a house, but someone else beat us to it. :( But, we're going on a marathon hunt on Sunday with our realtor and I'm looking forward to it. Everything happens for a reason, so that just means there's an even better place out there for us! Hopefully the kitchen is just as amazing!!

2. Lisa's Likes: I came across a pretty cool website a week or so ago...it's called http://hungrygirl.com/. It's a website full of yumm-o healthy recipes and tips. I just love it and hope to make some of the recipes soon!
Going right along with healthy options, pinterest has given me a couple of great recipe options as well.... I made these two last weekend and they have both been fantastic, quick and super healthy breakfast options.
     ~1. Green Monster Smoothie: So Yum!!
           - 2-3 bananas
           - frozen mangos, peaches, pineapples
           - 2-3 cups spinach (I haven't tried other veggies yet but I hear carrots & cucumber work too!)
           - 1/4 cu. greek yogurt (optional)
           - 1 cup fat free milk (optional)
           - ice and water as needed for desired consistency
        Blend them all together and voila! You have a green monster. It's nutritious and delicious. Don't                 be concerned...if you add berries, nuts (another option I've heard used) or certain veggies, you'll get a         brownish monster. It should still be just as yummy!

I freeze them and pop it in the micro for about 1 min in the AM and have a delish breakfast! They're also great if you're craving ice cream or sweet treat!

     ~2. Egg McMuffin's (Not the McD way, but the clean way!)
          - egg whites
          - any seasoning and veggies you want (I used pepper, garlic, sea salt, spinach and onion)
        Mix egg white beaters with your veggies and seasoning. Spray down your muffin tin or use cupcake liners and then pour in mixture. I baked at 350 for about 20 minutes. Use the toothpick test to check if they're done: place toothpick through middle and if it comes out dry, you're good to go!

I don't even know where to begin with how fast, yummy and healthy this is!

3. We have some more engagement pictures...here's just a few...

Until next time.

Love,
Lisa

Wedding Cake Woes

   

     



Who knew that the one thing I'd wind up having a mini-breakdown over would be cakes. Really?!?!? Cakes?!?! I don't even like cake that much, so why has the decision of selecting a cake design been SOOOOO difficult?

I believe that there are too many options and unless it is completely plain or completely outlandish, I like them all! A blog with every kind of cake you can imagine: http://design-wedding-cakes-pictures.blogspot.com/2011/10/global-cake-blog.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DesignWeddingCakesAndToppers+%28Design+Wedding+Cakes++and+Toppers%29

First of all, shapes:

You've got your round cakes, your square cakes, you hexagon cakes, your flower shaped cakes, your heart shaped cakes and/or your mismatched no rhyme or reason shaped cakes that are supposed to be "trendy". Sigh…

 

After shape comes decorating and the list here is endless. I won't waste your time or mine by going through every option, but whew – there are a lot of options. Textured, not textured, plain, ornate, piping, fondant, buttercream, blah blah BLAH! Stop the madness! Ha.

 

After "pinning" a variety of different cakes throughout the past week or so (and the above pictured don't even scratch the surface of the variety I looked at), I flipped back through yesterday and not one said "Pick Me". I enlisted the help of my mom – some things we agreed on, some we did not, but she has given me full creative lead on the cake and while, nice, I also felt it was a burden as I had only narrowed 150 million choices to about 150 thousand! So, after filtering a few more yesterday throughout the day and after flipping through some magazines at the grocery store last night (as if the millions of online options weren't enough to send me into cake insanity), I decided to ask B…

The option hadn't really occurred to me before because we know what the Groom's cake is going to look like and I figured as long as he liked the taste of the Bride's cake, he probably wouldn't give the style of it a passing thought. I was almost even a little surprised when he didn't seem defeated at the suggestion (ahem) of browsing through some cake design photos online last night! It actually really helped and we knocked a few styles out of the running rather quickly and with that we scanned through another few pages of pictures on theknot.com and "ahhhhhh" (heavenly voices singing), there it was… Ok, well maybe it wasn't quite that obvious, but after zooming in on the picture, I decided with a couple of tweeks, I do indeed think it could be all we've ever dreamed of in a cake. (I have a flare for the dramatics seeing as how I don't think I've ever dreamed of cake in my life, with the exception of the past few days, as this task has overwhelmed me…). Ta Daaaaaaaaaa!



Like I said, they'll be some changes, but this is the gist of it. Sans all the flowers! Too much for me!



The only other consuming thought in my mind right now is trying to figure out what on earth we're going to wear for round 1 of our engagement session. We're breaking it up into 2 mini sessions for scheduling purposes, which is a-ok with me (especially since it gives me more time to come up with more outfits/ideas for the next session) and the first is on Sunday morning. Wish us luck – mainly because the kiddos will be in round 1! Eek, I hope they cooperate. Correction: I hope Timmy cooperates…Chloe is perfect! :) P.S. Have I mentioned my awesome photographer? http://ellmanimages.blogspot.com/

I'll hopefully be posting again sooner than later regarding my recent DIY adventure! Pinterest is great fun and it has inspired some original ideas of my own, so I'll post pictures and a tutorial of some sort soon!

Happy Jers-day! Ahh Yeah!

Ahhhh Yeah!

And a happy day for me too, since it's my Friday! Woo Hoo! Off to H-town tomorrow for some baby-making celebrations (Don't read into that the wrong way: Mary made a baby and celebrating with a baby shower)! ;)

P.S. Ags....thoughts on the divorce with the big 12? hmmmmmm. We'll make Arkansas look good! ;)

Food For Thought

And in today's world of texting, emailing, facebooking, twittering, etc., this can also be applied!

Happy Monday!

Catching up on Everything but "THAT"

"That" being...wedding talk. I am wedding'd OUT right now!!! I spent a large portion of yesterday doing wedding stuff and then went to the Dallas Bridal Show with my mom and two sisters today. So - I'm going to doing a little wedding detox before thinking about it again...at least for a day or two! ;)

So, in other news I'm also planning a baby shower (or 2). Mary's first baby shower is here in the DFW on Saturday. I'm super excited because I got one of the best presents she's going to get. Mary - I know you'll read this...and no, it's not on your registry, but I hope you love it (and I'm pretty sure you will!!). Still working out a few last details on her Houston shower at the end of August! I'm pretty excited about it and can't wait to see how it all comes together. It's nice to have a distraction from the wedding planning.

I think I'm going to start a new topic when I blog. It'll be the "new cool thing" of the week or month or whenever I find something cool. I REALLY need to come up with a catchier nickname for it, but for now we'll go with "Lisa's Latest Likes." I already mentioned instagram a week or so ago and the latest is Pinterest. Website: www.pinterest.com. You download the application to your bookmark tool bar and then when you're browsing the internet and see something you like, be it an arts and crafts project, a fun date night idea, a DIY project, wedding decoration ideas, etc. you can "pin it". It saves the picture to your page and you can follow others and browse the pictures they've pinned and then visit the websites if it strikes your interest. It's harder to explain then it is just to go look at the website, but I'm a little addicted now and it's a GREAT way to share ideas! There's also a phone app for it! What did we do before smart phones?

SYTYCD: Just have to say that I'm loving the direction it's headed. Melanie and Sasha are phenomenal and there's no doubt they'll be the top 2 girls with Tad and Marko most likely being the top 2 dudes. I'm about 98% positive Melanie is going to win though. She's incredible! Why is reality tv so addicting? We're also sucked into Master Chef right now too. Definitely entertaining, but I can't say that I'm quite as invested into who wins that one.

Exciting things coming up this week:

Brandon's best friend James is moving back to Dallas. So excited for him and pretty excited about seeing less super hero movies! ;)
Also - Brandon's bday is a little over a week away. I am SOOOOO ecstatic about what we're doing, but it's a secret, so you'll have to wait until after his bday to find out what it is!
Nothing much planned, meaning I can get back into my normal workout schedule! Pushing the AM workouts again and although an adjustment, I'm enjoying having the evenings back!

I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream!

Or yogurt in my case. Today was national ice cream day. Who knew?! I'm not a major sweet lover, but boy oh boy do I love me some ice cream, or frozen yogurt. You know those ideas you come across where you think "Why didn't I have that idea?!?" I think that every time I go into a do-it-yourself frozen yogurt shop. The ones where you pick your flavor and your own toppings and they charge you by weight! Oh man, I'd be rich right now! In honor of national ice cream day, we decided to splurge a little and go for some froyo at one of our favorite's: Tutti Frutti. It comes second to Yogurt Mountain in Little Rock! So delicious! I top mine like a 5 year old with sprinkles, gummy bears and nerds. B usually just puts some sort of chocolatey candy topping in his. Ew. ;) He already mixed his up before the picture, but he had reese's pieces today. It was the perfect ending to a pretty great day and weekend!

I can't believe I'm writing 2 posts in 1 day, but I have a feeling it may turn into a pretty busy week and so I figured I'd finish getting everything out that I didn't have time to write this morning. 

First order of business: Harry Potter! We said a final and bittersweet farewell! :( I cried...like 3 times. There wasn't much emphasis on the sadder parts of the story, but I just knew that each scene was a step closer to the end. I really enjoyed it though and thought it was very well done. We decided to go see it in IMAX 3-D. Welllllll...apparently people were still waiting in line 2 hours early even on this Sunday afternoon so we were stuck in the front row. By the end I had a head, neck and back ache. And even with the constant chatter of our theater neighbors, it still managed to be fun. *On Soap Box* Can I just say that I have no tolerance for rude movie-goers?!? Oh man, not much irks me more then chatters, bag rustlers and phone users during a movie. *Off Soap Box*

As promised...some pictures from last night's girls night! We really did have a lot of fun watching and even participating a bit. Karaoke is never a dull time! Neither is any time spent with Shannon, Alina and Kelsey. Heather probably thinks my friends are nuts, but they kinda are! It's why we get along so famously! :) 

Heather and Me!

Was playing with my photo editor...

No telling...

Shannon and Me

Alina, Heather and Me

We need to get out more often! ;)

Wedding Planning Update: Mom and I are going to the Dallas Bridal Fair the last weekend in July. I'm pretty excited about getting some ideas and checking out some vendors. We have a deposit on our venue, but haven't signed the contract yet. Dare we peek at some other venues while we're there? Hmmm...maybe. ;) I love our place for the reception, but it really wasn't meant for ceremonies. We definitely want a one-stop shop though with all of the out-of-towners, so we'll just have to see what happens. Colors are picked, centerpieces picked and I got my shoes for the big day. OMG - I am in love with them. :) I'll be telling all the details about the bridal party soon too, so stay tuned! 

That's all for now! Sweet dreams and I hope you all have a fantastic week! :) 

So You Think You...Have a Voice?

Huh??

Time to make a confession. I have a guilty little pleasure...or two. The Voice and SYTYCD. Oh how I loooove summer time talent shows! Growing up in choir, theater and dance, I just can't help it!

America got it right on the voice. Javier Colon (pronounced "cologne", but what an unfortunate spelling!) was crowned the winner. Go team  Adam! I was very happy that Dia Frampton was a very close second. She'll go far in her career, but I'm ready for Javier's first album. Mmmm...I could fall asleep to his voice. Ahem, sorry...got lost in thought there for a moment. ;)
He's not bad on the eyes either though.

I am a little sad that the show is over until next season though. It means I don't get my weekly dose of Adam Levine.

I mean...whoa! ;)

So - I must say that The Voice > American Idol! Like, by far! Not that I've watched AI in about 4ish years, but The Voice is definitely a better concept! 'Cept for Christina... She is sadly a hot mess these days. Kinda minus the hot though!

Now - onto an even more exciting show. So You Think You Can Dance. LOVER it!! Great season so far too. However, it is always disappointing to me when one of my favorite and one of my least favorite dancers get paired together. This year, it's Miranda and Robert. Not only does Miranda look like she's from Who-ville and has a super gummy smile (pet peeve), I don't think she's all that fantastic. The judges just love her though. Robert on the other hand is charming, genuine and a pretty fantastic dancer! He makes me smile!

This is a very flattering picture of her...

Now - I think Melanie and Marko may be my all-time favorite couple! Both amazing, adorable and ridiculously talented. I'll just go ahead and admit (since I'm in a confession giving state of mind) that I am one of those that will never vote for these shows, but get mad when my favorites don't win. I know, I know... Anywho - here's a picture of Melanie and Marko...vote for them...for me! ;)