Only 60 Days...

Until our wedding!

AAAAHHHHHHHHH!! 

I have to admit, I'm starting to panic a little bit. Mainly because in the next 60 days, I will be going out of town for Chris' cousin's high school graduation as well as my nephew's graduation so I will be losing about 2 weeks of precious time. We have done a lot, but there is still so much to be done! I am also getting very anxious about forgetting something. Since we are transporting everything from Georgia to Rhode Island, there are a lot of things I could (and will) forget. I know there are stores up there and we will have about 3 days once we are up there to see what we are missing and go out and get them. 

Chris and I went to Rhode Island last month to meet with our vendors and we were really happy with all of them. We had an engagement session with our photographer and were relieved to see that she is very easy to work with and made us really comfortable. I'm excited to see what photos she captures at the wedding. I also had my makeup professionally done and I was so impressed with how I looked. I know NOTHING about makeup, but she really did an amazing job and I felt really good about myself! We tasted our dinner menu and everything was delicious! We picked our wedding cake design and flavors. I'm excited for that and for Chris' groom's cake. I'm keeping the design a secret, but I know he will love it! I chose the flowers for my bouquet and think it will be really pretty. So I feel really good about all of those things...

One of my main concerns is the music. We did not hire a DJ so we will be doing all of the music ourselves. I have no idea where to rent the equipment we need and I'm also worried about the flow of the reception being awkward since we won't have a DJ to guide us. BUT, I'm also not willing to shell out $2,000 for that service so that's how we ended up here. Did any of you do your own music? I have read that a lot of brides have chosen this route, but I can't find a lot of details about how to go about it successfully. If any of you have any advice, I'd really appreciate it!

I guess the only other thing I'm worried about is getting all of the DIY stuff done. I am so sick of the computer and printer. Also, I spent all of this money on Avery labels and I can't get the stupid things to print correctly. The alignment is all messed up. It's really frustrating. I'm sick of ribbon and tape, card stock and glue. I never want to go to Michael's again.

I mailed the invitations today so next week, I will share the design of those and how I made them. I was happy with how they turned out, but am worried that they are going to get destroyed by the post office. Hopefully they arrive to the guests undamaged. Fingers crossed.

In unrelated news, Chris and I are going to the Hawks/Pacers Playoff Game tonight! It will be so nice to get out of the house and not think about the wedding! Go Hawks!

Wedding Progress!

Thank you so much for all of the engagement love! Chris and I are very excited to take this next step in our lives together. We are planning a very small and intimate wedding this summer in Rhode Island, with 40 of our closest family and friends. We have secured the reception tent, the caterer, the officiant, the photographer, and most of the ceremony and reception decorations. There will be a few things to take care of when we arrive in Rhode Island before the wedding, but other than that, we are feeling very good about how much progress we've made!

Here is a picture of my gorgeous ring! Chris did a wonderful job. I think it's a perfect fit for me because it's classic and vintage looking. I love that!

One of the first things I did was pick my dress! I think that's supposed to be wayyyyy lower on the priority scale, but I was so excited to go with my mom and I ended up making my decision pretty quickly. Of course I can't post a picture of my final choice, but here are a few that I said no to before finding the right one. The first three are from David's Bridal and the last one is the Maggie Sottero Karena Royale.

  

We also sent our save the dates. I liked the idea of going with the state theme because it is a destination wedding after all. 

And here is the first decoration I bought for the wedding. I am going for a "vintage & rustic" casual wedding like pretty much everyone else in the universe. At least according to Pinterest. But hey, there are a lot of good ideas on there that I like so I don't mind that I'm kind of inspired by the current wedding trends.

My mom and I have really been having fun going antiquing and looking for vintage decorations. There are so many good ideas out there! One large piece of furniture we'll need is a display to hold the glasses for drinks (yes, I'm doing mason jars but I feel that's fitting for me since it represents the South) and here are a couple of really good ideas I saw in the antique markets.

Using two ladders with boards between them:

Using shutters with boards between them (I think this is awesome!):

One other thing I'm really excited about is using a window frame to transfer a love quote on to serve as a decorative focal point in the tent.

Okay, I feel like I've shared too much! I want many of the details to remain a surprise for my guests so I'm going to try to keep most of it to myself until the big reveal after the wedding! I may share some of the DIY crafts I'll be working on over the next couple of months. I have a huge to-do list!

HONEYMOON QUESTION: We were initially set on going back to Hawaii since we really loved our vacation there a few years ago, but it's looking like that won't happen. First of all, plane tickets are $1,000 each and the timeshare doesn't have much availability for our desired time. We are now looking into a trip to Jamaica and possibly at a Sandals resort. I'd like some honest feedback on Sandals if you have any or if you have any other recommendations in the Caribbean, I'd be happy to hear it! Thanks!

Exciting Updates!

Hi friends!

Happy 2013! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and new year. We had a great Christmas at home with my family and then traveled to Florida to see Chris' side for New Year's! 

I know I haven't posted in a couple of months which I guess is becoming the new normal. I keep saying I'll be better, but I'm going to stop saying that. I mainly post for my own benefit so that years from now, I can look back and see what I did on my 25th birthday or where I was three Thanksgiving's ago. I have decided to look at my blog as a personal diary and not a public blog. I do love all of my readers and if you are willing to put up with my sporadic posting then I'm happy to have you here! (And if I'm going to be honest with myself, my life has been pretty uneventful since moving back home...)

Moving on...

Chris and I adopted a precious puppy on Thanksgiving weekend. Her name is Abbey Rose! She has been such a handful but we love her more than anything. She has been taking up a majority of our free time and we are acting like "parents" now. I can't remember the last time we went out for more than 2 hours alone! Ha! This picture was one of the first I took of her. She has grown quite a bit, but she's still pretty little.

I guess the biggest piece of news to share (and the real reason I'm writing this post!) is that Chris and I are engaged! He asked me in Savannah, GA on New Year's Day. It was our 3 year anniversary!

We were in Savannah for a day trip on our way down to Florida to see Chris' family. Everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) knew for over 2 months that Chris had a ring and was planning to propose. The whole trip to Florida was mostly so his family could throw an engagement party and celebrate with us. It was so much fun and really nice! 

I am in major planning mode since we have set the date for June 29 of this year! I had been "pinning" wedding inspiration like crazy since October, but it's different when you actually have to make decisions about design and style. But I'm enjoying getting things in order and hopefully things go smoothly and I can avoid becoming a bridezilla :)

My mom and I went shopping for a dress last week and that was fun! I know that should be way down on my list of priorities, but I really couldn't resist. Currently I'm torn between an affordable David's Bridal gown (less than $500) and a more expensive but GORGEOUS Maggie Sottero gown. I keep telling myself it's just one day and I'll never wear the dress again so I should go with the more financially sound choice, but then I look at the picture of me in the Maggie and I'm like....OMG I HAVE TO HAVE IT! 

I'm telling you...Bride Problems!! Ha! I'm so excited to finally be able to say that I'm engaged. It's been a long time coming!!

Weekend Trip to Asheville, NC

Last week we went to Asheville to celebrate Chris' birthday. This was our second trip there (we went in June and of course I was too lazy to blog about it!) and we had even more fun this time! Some highlights included Chimney Rock, having dinner with Chris' cousin Al, and visiting Biltmore Estate. I thought I'd share some pictures from the trip!

We chose to eat at LAB when we arrived on Sunday night. We shared the flatbread pizza and oh my goodness, was it delicious!

Chris' birthday was on Monday and we spent the morning opening presents before heading to downtown Asheville. We ate brunch at Tupelo Honey Cafe. That place is so good! We spent a couple of hours shopping/walking around town before hitting up Pisgah Brewing and Wedge Brewing Company. Chris chose to have sushi for dinner and we hit the jackpot at Wasabi. We shared a sushi boat and it was AWESOME!

On Tuesday we drove about 45 minutes to Chimney Rock. We wanted to do Grandfather Mountain again, but decided that it was too cold and too far to drive. Chimney Rock was much closer and still worth doing.

Later that evening we met up with Al for dinner! He drove all the way from Charlotte to see us. We had a couple of drinks at Thirsty Monk before going back to LAB. We shared a bunch of appetizers and were so full. We hadn't seen him since Rhode Island so it was great to catch up and spend a few hours together.

On Wednesday morning we went to Biltmore. My brother gave Chris tickets for his birthday and we were both so excited to finally get to check it out. It truly is a beautiful estate and was all decorated for Christmas so it was extra pretty.

That pretty much sums up our trip! We headed home on Thursday morning, after eating breakfast at Tupelo Honey Cafe (again...hey, we like what we like!).

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I can't believe that we're already halfway through November. I'm so excited for Thanksgiving. My brother and his family are coming from North Carolina and of course Bill & Anita are coming down too. My mom and I have started baking pies and bread. I hope everyone is enjoying the start of the holidays! Let me know what's going on with all of you...I'd love to hear!

Dog Party!

A couple of weeks ago, my little [dog]brothers had a birthday! Naturally, I decided to throw a birthday party, complete with decorations, homemade treats, and favors for the guests (yes, I realize I have too much time on my hands!). Since it was Labor Day weekend, my brother and his family were coming down anyway and they brought their dogs so we were able to have a legitimate birthday bash.

I found the decorations at Party City and was really excited that I wasn't the only one throwing parties for dogs. There must be a market out there!

I used this Peanut Butter Delight dog birthday cake recipe, but used it to make "pup"cakes and topped them with the cinnamon frosting recipe (on the same page as the above link).

For the human guests, I made sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate dipped pretzels, and a delicious cream cheese pound cake with homemade caramel frosting.

*This frosting recipe tastes amazing, but looks like crap if you don't get it spread quickly enough. It hardens really fast and once it does, it will no longer spread properly.

Here is the recipe (from Anne Byrn's book, The Cake Mix Doctor Returns):

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Vegetable oil spray, for misting pans

Flour, for dusting pans

1 package plain yellow or vanilla cake mix (I used vanilla)

4 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese, softened (I used nonfat)

1 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used canola oil)

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs

1. Make the cake: Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325. Lightly mist two 9-inch round cake pans with vegetable oil spray, then dust them with flour. Shake out the excess flour and set the pans aside.

2. Place the cake mix, cream cheese, water, oil, vanilla, and eggs in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the ingredients are incorporated, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until the batter is smooth, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes longer. Divide the batter evenly between the 2 pans, smoothing the tops with the rubber spatula. Place the pans in the oven side by side.

3. Bake the cake layers until they are golden brown and the tops spring back when lightly pressed with a finger, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer the cake pans to wire racks and let the cake layers cool for 5 minutes. Run a long, sharp knife around the edge of each cake layer and give the pans a good shake to loosen the cakes. Invert each layer onto a wire rack, then invert it again onto another rack so that the cakes are right side up. Let the layers cool while you make the frosting.

Caramel Frosting

8 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup milk

2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Place the butter and brown sugars in a heavy medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the mixture comes to a boil, about 2 minutes.

2. Add the milk, stir, and let the mixture return to a boil, then remove the pan from the heat.

3. Add about 1 1/4 cups of the confectioners' sugar and the vanilla. Beat with a whisk until the frosting is smooth. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, but not so much so that it thickens and hardens.

4. Ladle the frosting over the cake layers while it is still warm. If you are frosting cupcakes, spoon the frosting on top while it is warm and it will set.

The last little detail were the doggie bags I made using brown paper bags and a dog paw rubber stamp. I filled the human guest favor bags with candy and cookies. The dogs got a stuffed toy and a bag filled with dog treats.

The party was a big hit! All of the guests were worn out!

Have you ever thrown a party for your pet(s)? It's fun!