Season Finale

I can't wait to watch Lost tonight! I heard we find out something big . . .

After tonight, I am not sure what I am going to do on thursday nights . . . maybe finishing up my wedding plans :)

At first sight . . . or how I met Fiance

I recently got an alumni update email from my law school. I found out that my law school is renovating their law library and they are getting rid of the old carrels. This made me sad because this is where I met Fiance. The above picture isn't my law school but the desk is very similar to the one I had.

At my law school everyone could get a desk in the law library. Most people did this and it was your desk for the whole school year. I didn't have one my first year, but I decided to get one my second year. I remember walking with the librarian and she showed me the available carrels. We walked for awhile and then I found my carrel. I don't know what it was, possibly fate, but I just knew I was supposed to have that desk.

I have to admit I was a little excited (okay a lot) to see that the desk next to me obviously belonged to a guy. There were old mugs, notecards strewn across the desk, plus a random mix of highlighters and pens. Clearly, this was not a woman's desk. I hoped that he wasn't already taken.

It was a couple of days, until I met my new neighbor. I still remember the night I walked to my desk and he was there with his wonderful smile. I still remember what I was wearing. I had on jeans and a very unflattering black fleece. I didn't know yet that he was going to be my husband, but I did know that I trusted him almost immediately. He took off his ear phones and introduced himself. He was funny and happy.

After that first meeting, I started going to the libary a lot. My mom asked me why I was spending so much time at the library. "Why didn't I study at home anymore" and "did I have a new library boyfriend." I would secretly get mad when I went to the library and he wasn't there. I knew he had been there because my Sour Patch Kids were quickly disappearing.

Fiance told me about a Halloween party (my favorite holiday) and that was the first time we hung out outside of the law library. I invited him to have drinks with me and some friends and that night he asked me out on date. I was so excited. I really, really, really liked him.

Our first date was on November 11. Ironically its my sister's birthday and it was my Granddaddy's birthday as well. I couldn't believe how easy the conversation flowed. It was so fun and I didn't want it to end. I remember thinking that it was the best date I had ever gone on. We became serious very quickly. Fiance later told me that he knew who I was before that first night in the library. I guess he had seen me and he asked one of his friends (now one of our groomsmen) who I was.

I am so lucky. There is nothing like love in the library.

Please feel free to share how you met your significant other/fiance/husband . . . either in a comment or on your blog!

PS - that was definitely not my best semester in law school despite the amount of time I spent in the library ;)

Royal Wedding

Well, I wonder if a magazine will pay Fiance and I $975,000 for the exclusive right to photograph our wedding? Just kidding. My future mother in law told us that's what happened with the Queen's eldest grandson. The wedding looks lovely. Here are a few pics:

*** All photos are from the Associated Press ***

Prince Harry is totally cute. I used to think William was the cuter of the princes, but now, definitely Harry. I know I might be in the minority here, but I don't get the Brits and their hats. The butterfly ensemble just looks weird to me.

The happy couple . . . the tiara was on loan from the bride's mother in law.

I think this is the "official" wedding photograph. I read that the queen had no idea the pictures were being sold. I think its kind of sad, but I can't say that I blame them.

I'm proud to be an American

(Pentagon flag from 9/11)

I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day Holiday. If you are serving our country, if you have a family member who is or has served our country, or if you have friends serving or who have served - please thank them for me. I am so proud of all of our service men and women who courageously serve our country. I thank them for protecting our freedoms and for risking their lives on behalf of all Americans.

I am off this weekend. We have our pre-marital counseling on saturday and then I think we are heading to the beach. Perhaps a little cook-out too. Have a great weekend!

New Home Ideas - the Master Bedroom

Thanks to Le Petite Blog and her tip about My Home Ideas, I have found lots of good ideas for my little brother. I am kind of going room by room. I am trying to stay away from too many floral prints and the typical feminine colors. I will leave that for whoever his future wife is - hee hee.

I think for the master bedroom he should paint a blue or a bluish green. I found a bunch of these colors that I like. I am drawn to these colors because I feel like they are calming and not over-whelming. They also feel like a beach house to me - which I like since its Charleston after all.

I included this one because it just felt very man-bedroom-type. However, I am not crazy about it.

Wedding Headpiece

I just ordered this little number from the Veil Shop. I wanted a little something for my hair and I think this will be perfect. Its no secret that I love pearls!

Mission - Decorating a Bachelor Pad

My adorable little brother just bought his first house!!! I am so proud of him. We were talking last night and he needs some help decorating. The house is in Charleston, SC. He said he wants a "southern, low country, vibe." To give you some background on my brother . . . what can I say? He is a charming, mid-20's, southern gentleman. He loves all your typical "man things" and he is comfortable enough with his masculinity to wear pink shirts. He enjoys golf, boating, fishing and all sports. He is on the market ladies and he is super cute plus he is a homeowner! ;)

I can't wait to head down to Charleston. My brother went to college there and I went to visit him a couple of times. I haven't made it down there since then. I think Fiance and I are going to visit in June.

So, with that in mind, do ya'll have any suggestions or color themes? I am posting some pictures of his new place and then in my next post, I am going to post some ideas that I have found. Feel free to chime in on either post!

PS In case you all were wondering if my brother cares that I am posting pictures of his house - he doesn't . . . I ran this idea by him last night!

This picture (below) is his great room. This leads into the kitchen. I love the staircase by the fireplace.

Here is the family room.



The kitchen. I love the countertops and I think the cabinets are beautiful.

Another angle of the kitchen:


I think this is the downstairs powder room:


A guest bedroom:

Another guest bedroom:


Guest bathroom:

Master bedroom:

I LOVE the master bathroom. The soaking tub is so nice.

My weekend update

Hey Ladies! I hope you all had great weekends. Fiance came to visit me. We had a lot of fun. On Friday, his brother Joe (remember the one from my wedding dream?) came over and we ordered pizza, I made a salad, and the boys watched basketball. I kind of watched but mostly worked on my wedding binder.

Saturday morning, we were up early . . . not by choice . . . some of my lovely neighbors decided to have a yard sale at 7:00 a.m. We had already planned to play tennis, but we just ended up playing a lot earlier than originally planned. Then we did some shopping . . . here is where it gets exciting - hee hee

There is a TJ Maxx in my town, but I had never been in. Well, we went this weekend and look what I found!!!!! Finally some Lilly. I was begining to think Lilly at TJ Maxx was an urban legend.

I have been wanting something to wear while I get ready for the wedding. I'm getting ready at my parents' house and the professionals are going to come to us. I think this little wrap will be perfect!

Finally, I realize this might not be as exciting as the Lilly, but it was for me. I found a Jones New York suit for $30. When you wear a suit to work everyday, finding a navy, wool, pinstripe, skirt suit for $30 is exciting. I'm a dork . . . I am okay with it.

The Bridal Purse

Well, Target cancelled my order for the cute little purse I had bought online. I guess they ran out and Issac decided not to make anymore for them. So I have been looking. What I really want is this.

What I don't really want is to spend $98 on it.

I have been looking around and I found a bunch of less expensive purses at The Dyeable Shoestore. I might just get a dyeable purse and then stain it myself. My sister did this with her wedding shoes. She and my aunt used tea and they turned out really well. Here are some of the ones I like. Which ones do you like? (I know we all like the J. Crew one - hee hee).

Monograms

I am looking at some tote bags. Of course, I want it monogrammed . . . duh :) But I don't want to get my current monogram because that will change in four months. So my question for my lovely readers - is it bad to just get it monogrammed with my new monogram? Do I have to wait until after the wedding to use it? Am I weird for actually thinking about this?
I want the large one of these for the beach and the honeymoon.

Cool Fabric

For any of you who sew (or have a nice Mom to sew for you) . . . I found a good fabic site. Its the Smocking Bird.

(Picture from Ebay . . . too bad I am not a size 2)

A while ago, the J. Crew outlet had this really cute sundress, but unfortunately I didn't buy it. I have seen it around though and always loved it. I found the same fabric on this website! Can you tell I'm excited?? I don't know if its the exact same fabric, but it looks close enough. So now I just need to find a cute strapless dress pattern.

(The Smocking Bird)

Shoes

I already have my wedding shoes and I love them. However, if Fiance were 5 inches taller and I was 2 inches shorter . . . these are what I would be wearing. I love them, but I don't know how comfortable they would be later on in the night. For any interested brides - they are on sale now at J. Crew for $69.99 with 20% off.

Audrey

My parents gave me Audrey Style when I was in college. I really love this book. Even though I have had it for quite awhile now, I still look through it fairly regularly. The author is an excellent writer and the book has a lot of good style tips in it. I can't remember if Audrey Style was written before Jackie Style or not. They are both great books though. My personal favorite part of each book is the section where she goes over "whats in their closet." She highlights some of their signature styles and the pieces that made their style famous.

Today, while I was looking on Amazon, I saw that she has written a new book about Audrey, What Would Audrey Do. Yes, I have already ordered it. I am really excited for it to get here. One of the reasons I love this author, Pamela Keogh, is because she discusses Audrey as a person, not just a fashion icon. Of course Audrey Hepburn was beautiful, a talented actress, and a fashion icon. However, she was also a very caring person with a beautiful soul. She dedicated so much of her life to helping others. I am looking forward to this read. I will keep you posted.

weekend re-cap

I had a wonderful weekend with my Mom. It was the perfect girls' weekend. On friday, Mom arrived shortly after I got home from work. We had some wine and then headed out for pizza. We came home and tried watching Becoming Jane, but honestly, I was so bored that I had to turn it off and we watched HGTV. I probably should give it a second chance but I've already mailed it back in.

On saturday,while I was still sleeping, my sweet Mom went to a yard sale and picked up some lovely silver holloware for me. Its nice to have a mom who is an early bird! After that we ate a quick breakfast and headed to the fabric store. Check out my Mom's blog for pics of what we got. I am super excited. After the fabric store we went to this tiny farmer's market - it was amazing. As soon as we walked in - we were in heaven.

We topped off the day with a little boutique shopping. I picked up a new Molly B dress. Its a simple white linen shift with a grosgrain belt. It will be great for summer. Then a trip to the mall and of course, Target.

For dinner I made (with Mom's help) London broil, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob. On sunday, we went to mass and then I made my Mom a Mother's Day breakfast before she headed back. All in all, it was a pretty fabulous weekend with my fabulous Mom!

Happy Mothers Day

. . . albeit a bit early. I hope you all enjoy your weekends! I especially hope all the moms out there have a lovely and relaxing day on Sunday! You deserve it!

My Mom is coming to visit this weekend! We are going to this HUGE fabric store tomorrow and getting stuff for my veil. I think tonight we'll take it easy and maybe walk to one of the restaurants up the street from me.

I also picked up the bridesmaids gifts today! I love them and I think my girls will too. I'm not going to post a picture of what I got because I want it to be a surprise. I think one or two of them peek at my blog occasionally :)

I was at Bath & Body Works to pick up a little something for my Mama. I don't usually shop there (its kind of out of the way) but I was at the mall and I wanted to get something for Mom. They have the handsoaps on sale 5 for $10 - which is cheaper than most at the grocery store. So I am stocked up for awhile!

Again, I hope you all have great weekends. Yay for fridays!

I'm dreaming of a white wedding . . .

Have any of your brides out there started having dreams/nightmares about the wedding? I had one a few weeks ago. However, I now seem to be having them with greater frequency.

A few weeks ago, I was really on Fiance's case about picking out tuxedos. I had this dream that it was the day of the wedding and I was getting ready to walk down the aisle. One of Fiance's brothers came up to talk to me and I asked "Joe, what are you wearing?" He is very laid back in real life and he was in my dream too. He said "oh this, yeah Fiance just never got around to picking out tuxedos so we just picked some up at the thrift store. They're cool though, don't worry." Fiance and I picked out tuxedos the very next weekend.

Then the night before last I dreamt that my mother had decided to move the wedding up to this weekend, without telling me. In my dream I was at a hotel in Vegas and we were going to have the wedding there. My mom kept asking me if I was "so excited" and "wasn't this a great surprise." I, on the other hand, was freaking out because my make-up person wasn't there and two of my bridesmaids said they "couldn't make it this weekend." In my dream my little sister was telling me "it will be okay, we will just have to use whatever make-up is in our purses."

I had another dream last night, but now, of course, I can't remember it. It was wedding related though because thats what inspired this post. Oh well, if I remember it I will update the post.

Have any of you had funny dreams? Or do any married ladies remember any wedding dreams? Please share!

White House Wedding

I saw this on a news site. I think its such an adorable idea for the Bush wedding. I am not sure if its a favor or a gift. It looks like a Christmas ornament though.

100 things

I have been working on a 100 list for my 100th post. I finished it up today, so I decided to post it early.

100 things

1. I am one of four children
2. I hate talking on the phone
3. I don’t really like voicemail either
4. I ran cross country in high school
5. I ran track too
6. I have one brother
7. I have two sisters
8. My fiancé is one of four children as well
9. I don’t want to drive a mini van when I have children
10. I need to learn how to drive an SUV
11. Fiance is convinced that once I test drive an SUV, I will not want one
12. I love to buy new pens
13. I especially like brightly colored pens
14. when I was growing up, I always wanted to be a lawyer
15. I used to play dress-up and pretend that I was a lawyer going to court
16. I had a pair of pink pleather high heels and I thought it was just what I would wear when I became a lawyer
17. my mom named me after herself; I think this is funny
18. she told my dad she was going to do it when he was dropping her off at the door to the hospital
19. I am addicted to seersucker
20. I still remember when I bought my first seersucker dress; it was from Ann Taylor Loft
21. I waited tables on and off for almost 8 years
22. I was in a sorority in college
23. I hated middle school
24. high school was better
25. I lived for college
26. I have been planning my wedding since I was 7
27. my sister and I used to beg my mother to buy us bride magazines at the grocery store
28. When I got engaged, my Mom told Fiance that all I needed was him
29. sometimes, okay a lot of times, I make up cheers for Fiance
30. he says I missed my calling as a cheerleader
31. I love to read
32. I used to love the Babysitters’ Club books when I was little
33. I would call Walden Books to find out when the newest one was coming out and then my mom or dad would take me to get it
34. I was really excited to rent the movie
35. Sadly, this was when I was in high school
36. what can I say, I love happy movies
37. I will go to the movies by myself if there is a movie I really want to see
38. I actually like going to the movies by myself
39. but not on Friday or Saturday nights
40. I heart chick-fil-a
41. my favorite movie is Sabrina, with Audrey Hepburn
42. I like old movies
43. My little sister and I used to beg my mom to rent Gidget for us
44. even though we had seen it 20 times
45. I once watched Billy Madison 6 times in a row with that sister
46. it became more hilarious the more we watched it
47. at least in our minds
48. my sister and brother then decided to only talk in “Billy Speak”
49. my favorite color is pink
50. I hardly ever wear black now
51. when I first graduated from college, I wore black all the time
52. I thought it was very chic
53. when I was growing up, we would have pizza for dinner every Friday
54. pizza is my favorite food
55. I love dresses
56. I am tired of the excuse “I’m so busy”
57. I lived in my sorority house my senior year of college
58. my sorority house was downtown
59. after we went out we would sit on the porch and rate guys who were walking home from the bars
60. we would race home at last call to do this
61. the first time I ever heard “Bust a move” was my freshman year of college
62. the only foreign country I have ever been to is Italy
63. I would like to have an apartment in Florence one day
64. I would like to have a Vespa there too
65. when I was little I used to day dream about being a lawyer when I was grown-up
66. I used to think about the cute little house that I would have
67. and I used to get excited because I would be able to buy whatever barbies and candy I wanted since I would have so much money
68. I used to think that I would have a room just for my barbies
69. when I was little I was convinced that I would never get tired of playing with barbies, then almost overnight I found that I wasn’t really interested in them anymore
70. even though I always wanted to be a lawyer, I didn’t know if I could do the whole law school thing
71. Legally Blonde inspired me to go to law school
72. I figured if Elle Woods could do it, so could I
73. I am not joking about #72
74. If there was ever a movie about my life, I would want Reese Whitherspoon to play my part
75. but I would be okay with Drew Barrymore too
76. when I was little, my mom made all four of us kids do swim team
77. I loathed it
78. but now I am grateful that I know how to swim
79. one time, I decided that because I was so mad at my mom for making me do this, I would simply not get in the pool when the gun went off for my race
80. my mother came up behind me and threw me in the pool
81. she was quickly forgiven however because she was holding a Krispy Kreme donut at the finish line
82. Krispy Kreme donuts were the only good thing abut swim meets
83. Fiance is my favorite person
84. I love talking to him
85. he thinks I am smarter
86. I think he is smarter
87. I hate restaurants that have pepsi instead of coke, sometimes this factors into my decision of where I want to eat
88. I take at least two showers every day
89. I like being clean
90. when I was little, I would not use a public restroom if it was too dirty
91. I used to be afraid of public speaking, now I actually kind of like it
92. when I was little, Halloween was my favorite holiday
93. my mom says that I used to get more excited about Halloween than Christmas or my birthday
94. I get seriously annoyed when a man cuts in front of a woman or lets a door close on a woman
95. I grew up thinking that all men were gentlemen. Probably because my dad is and my grandfathers were.
96. I have a few good friends
97. I would rather have a few really good friends than several okay friends
98. I have a good family
99. I have an amazing future husband
100. I am happy

Haiku Tuesday

I was very excited today when I pulled up One Fabulous Mom. I saw that she had decided today would be Haiku Tuesday. Its very funny actually because not too long ago, I decided to only email Fiance in haikus. What can I say . . . I was bored at work that day. So I wrote a little haiku for today - I hope the syllable count is right.

Invitation done

time is going so quickly

‘til we say I do

Bloggers - I need your help

I am trying to find *affordable* labels for our wedding. I plan to use these on the out of town guest bags and then on the cellophane bags for goodies at the reception. I am looking for a relatively simple design with our monogram. I am not sure though if I want to use our monogram prior to the wedding on the out of town bags - is that bad luck? Maybe just a wedding label.

Ladies - do you have any suggestions?

PS - I am working on a Haiku post. See One Fabulous Mom. I am very excited about this

Invites are on the way

. . . kind of. I just ordered the wedding invitations. Here is a picture of what they look like.

The invitations are very classic and traditional. The picture shows the actual invitation. Then I will have an inner and outer envelope. There is also the response card and response envelope. Finally, there is a reception card. I am very excited and I love my invitations. I ordered the invites from Reave's Engraving. The prices were very reasonable. This is actually the same company that my parent's wedding invitations were ordered from.

I decided to go with the thermography instead of engraving. Honestly, I can't tell the difference between the two. So, in my opinion, it wasn't worth the extra money to have them engraved.

The Preppy Puppy

I realize I may be in the minority here, but I personally love including your four legged friends in the wedding! Even if its just for a few shots while you are getting ready. I love this little pooch - I think the seersucker is adorable.

(Echard Wheeler Photography)

Jamaica - the Honeymoon

Sorry for my lack of meaningful posts lately. I am recovering from a sinus infection - yucky. One of my sweet blog friends - Kikibee asked where we were going on the honeymoon. I don't think that I have told you all. We are going to Sandals. Whenever I say to Fiance, "lets talk about the wedding" his standard reply is "lets talk about the honeymoon." We are both excited!


When we got engaged, one of the first things we talked about was the honeymoon. Initially, I wanted Fiance to surprise me - um, yeah, that lasted about a week. Once I started hitting those bridal magazines pretty hard, I decided I wanted more of a say in it. We both wanted to go somewhere relaxing and we didn't want to feel pressure to sight see. Just the beach and each other. Fiance did all the leg work and he asked how I felt about Jamaica. I was thrilled! Honestly, I didn't really care, as long as we could go to the beach. I have never been to the islands or Mexico or any place like that. I always wanted to go for Spring Break, when I was in college, but I never had the money.


So have any of you been here? Or any Sandals resort? Do you have any tips or advice? I am going to do some more research when it gets closer to the wedding. In the meantime, I have been doing a little shopping for the Honeymoon.

(this is a picture of what our room is supposed to look like, sorry its the best I could find)