This past week has been absolutely crazy. Last weekend as i mentioned, S & her boyfriend Chris came out to visit. It was so much fun and so good to her again! I think we just about killed them with all of the walking we did! We definitely got to see a lot and it was fun to be a "tourist" in our own city.  In wedding related news, this weekend I found a dress I loved! I am still waiting on the pictures to see how it reads in those but it fit wonderfully and will hopefully fit even better in a few months :) I wish I could post pictures on here but D checks in every once in a while so I can't on his request :)

After they left d & i pretty much crashed in order to get some sleep and get back into work mode. Work was crazy this week., we had a huge deadline for a project which meant coming in early and staying late pretty much every day. At least we get today off  (our last free Friday of the summer) and Monday for the Holiday! 

This weekend will be spent with D just hanging out. It is his birthday coming up so Today we are just going to walk around and see some more of the area around us. Tomorrow I have to bake him his cake and get ready for the events planned for Sunday :). And Sunday well, it will be spent celebrating.

Nothing new is going on for wedding planning right now. With the crazy week last week and the even crazier one coming up I just want a weekend to relax and spend with D. Next week I get to go on my first business related trip to Arizona! I am excited about the trip but not about the weather, 102 degrees and sunny every day I am there. I am not a heat person, hence why I love living in a city that has an average temp of about 65-70 every day.

I did however make a list of all of the things we still need to do for the weekend. It looks daunting yet do-able so we will start cracking down on that in a week or so hopefully.

In bad news my beloved fish, Moe, died this week. It was so sad, Moe wasn't your ordinary fish, he was a South African chinchilad (sp) and I had had him for 3.5 years! Up until about a year ago I had thought he was just your average goldfish who happened to get pretty big. Not the case though! He had such a great personality, he loved decorating his tank (a fish after my own heart) and would move the stones  and plants around weekly. He also always came up to the tank glass whenever I came home to tell me about the adventures of his day (or so I liked to believe). When your apartment complex (and fiance) won't let you have a dog you do what you have to do, and Moe was the answer.

Anyways, we are off, I hope everyone has a great Holiday weekend!

Oh and if anyone has any recommendations for good D.J.'s or bands in the West Michigan area let me know!

This is going to be a short and quick post because this weekend I will not be able to post. My best is coming into town along with her b/f, our friend. It will be a whirlwind weekend filled with catching up, sight seeing, and just having a good time. One thing I am super excited for though is that I get to go wedding dress shopping! Yep, that is how amazing this girl is, even on her three day vaca. she is willing to take some time out to help me look for a dress. I literally cannot wait to see both of them tomorrow morning!

Other good news, my last post about feeling restless must have been heard. I get to go to Arizona in a few weeks for work! It will be my first trip with work and I am looking forward to every minute of it :)

Tonight will be spent cleaning, getting food prepped for tomorrows pre-game cookout and baking. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Restless

I have been feeling very restless lately. I don't know what it is but something about moving out here and seeing and living in a new city has made me want to do it again; this time in NYC, Connecticut, Chicago, Paris, Australia, or London. I have this craving, the need to explore the unknown, and dip into something so unfamiliar it scares me.

The great thing about where I am in my life is that I have little holding me back. I am young, I don't have kids, a house; really there is nothing tying me down right now. I do have a job I like in a field I love; I am definitely thankful for that blessing. Another great thing is that my career allows, and even encourages my restless spirit. The more I know and see of other cultures, architecture, lifestyle, and style the better my designs can be.

I am also truly blessed to have an amazing fiance with the same kindred heart, restless spirit, and youthful soul that I have. 

These feelings haven't just recently come up, like it may seem from reading this. I have always had this deep desire inside of me to explore, ask questions, and experience new things. In middle school I went on my first trip out of the country, I went with extended family (aunt, cousins, etc.) to Mexico and loved it. The next trip I went on was freshman year in high school to Jamaica. I fell in love with the culture, the food, the atmosphere, everything. I loved cliff jumping, snorkeling, and getting a home cooked meal on a private island by locals who couldn't speak my language. In college I had the undying urge to visit Europe. I wanted to experience the history, the art, the architecture, the food, and the people. Taking the conservative route though I stayed with my program and finished in the usual 4 years. Although I know it wasn't in the cards at the time, I always wished I had just bit the bullet and gone. I wish I would have let myself be a little less logical. I wish I would have taken out the loan and not thought of how it would turn out, how much I would owe, or how much longer it would take me to finish my degree. (Don't get me wrong though, I am glad I finished in 4 years and now have a good job).

I would like to say that something will definitely come out of these feelings but I can't guarantee it.

Now on to the wedding related business:

Invitations!

I have been searching and searching lately for inspiration for invitation. Unfortunately my research has been coming up short. D &I have pretty much figure out the style we want; simple, classic, fun but from what I have seen we will most likely be designing our own. 

Another thing I have been looking at is the different styles of printing available. My number one choice right now is letterpress but obviously that comes with a price. It isn't the most expensive way to go but it definitely isn't the cheapest either. I have been trying to figure out the cost/benefit ratio between the different styles and also between doing them ourselves or paying to have someone else do them. In S.F. there is a place called,"the center for the book" it is actually pretty close to us and it is a letterpress and printing studio. They offer classes and printing time so you can learn the art of letter pressing and then in our case make all of our own paper products. In order to be able to use the machines on your own you have to take 3 classes. The classes are only 4-6 students/session and are usually 3 hours or so long. They go over the terminology, the process, everything. I would love to learn how to letterpress but I want to make sure it is going to be cost effective for us to go this route. We have an appointment tomorrow at an invitation store in downtown s.f. tomorrow to get some ideas on styles we like and pricing so hopefully I will then have a better idea of whether it will be worth it or not. If I did take the classes i could always use it in the future to make Christmas cards, Birthday cards, other peoples invites, etc. which would definitely be nice.

Another option I have been curious about is the Gocco. I know many of you ladies have been going on and on about how amazing and simple these little guys are but I am so hesitant. I have never seen an invite or other paper product made using a Gocco and I have a fear it will come out looking like a rubber stamp. Does anyone have a Gocco in the San Francisco area that would be willing to send me a small sample of the work that can be done using one of these little guys?? I would love to be able to see an example before I went ahead and started bidding on e-bay for one! Thanks!

Now for some invitation inspiration:

Simple, close to our colors, love the rounded corners.

Polka dots, obviously this one was my choice haha

I love the 2007 graphic.

I like the simplicity and the corners but it needs something more, color, graphic... I'm not sure.

In other good news: We finally found a ceremony location!!!! We will be getting married at a family friends house on Lake Michigan. They have a beautiful lawn over looking the lake with a huge beach down below. It makes a nice middle ground between my need for barefoot and sandy and the practicality of elderly loved ones who wouldn't be able to get down the 50 or so steep, sand covered stairs to the beach.

And here is what I got to do last weekend :)

San Francisco Zoo :)

The little ones

I always get so excited looking at flower girl and ring bearer outfits. I don't think it hurts that we have the cutest kids in the world in our wedding. Here are D & I's idea so far of what we want the little gals and guy to be in :) (plus a few pretty pictures too)

flower girls:

ring bearer: 

I was also playing with these alternatives for the girls:

)

A pink tutu would be adorable and so much fun for the girls. (image found on TuTucuteBaby's Etsy shop. check out all of her adorable tutu's for little ones!)

and these alternative shoes for the little man:

little jacks! 

Now on to some pretty images:

This photo makes me so tempted to buy pink converse's just so i can take one exactly like this.

I wonder how many different shoes are too many for one day?? Heels for the shots downtown and entrance into the reception, ballet flats for dancing, converse for this picture, and maybe even a pair of pink or green heels so I can get a shot like this;

A few more before I make red velvet whoopie pies(hopefully they will turn out almost as well as Umpi's version) and head out to get plants for Moe's new 12 gallon tank! (yep, we more than doubled the size of his old one, lucky guy)

 absolutely perfect :)

 apple details; loving it

yes, please.

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! I am going to be spending mine relaxing and getting a few things done today and then tomorrow D & I are going to the zoo! (I loooooove animals, and zoo's, and aquariums.... you get the idea)

also, on Monday I will be starting my 2 week detox/ cleanse so wish me good luck! I will let you know how it goes :)

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday.

Happy Birthday Dad, I love you!

Wedding Traditions

D and I have been talking for a while now about traditions we like and don't like in terms of weddings. Although most we are pretty fair game with there are a few you definitely will not be seeing at our wedding. Jessica at Tying the Knot also posted about this recently so check out her blog for her views on wedding traditions that are on their way out.

The garter toss will not be making an appearance on our big day. Sorry to all of the fellows out there who love this part of the day.  I love that all eyes will be on us that day but this is definitely a moment that I do not want all eyes on us.  I definitely don't need the embarrassment and I feel some things should  just remain private.

The Glass Cling is something I'm still not 100% sure about. I love the idea of the guest playing an active role in your day but I want to eat! I think it is a cute tradition but definitely only in moderation. One idea we may go with is the donation route. Instead of having everyone cling their glass when they wanted us to kiss they would instead have to make a donation to a charity of our choice. once made, they could ring a bell signaling a kiss. This way it would hopefully limits people's clinging and promote a great cause. 

On another note:

check out Snappy Maps. They make custom maps for your wedding area and are very reasonably priced! 

Sweet Penelope: invitations you can print at home. pick out the design you like and you are sent the digital file for the template. This seems like a good idea for people who would like to do the invites themselves but can't find all the time needed or decide they want a part in creating the invites but don't want to do it all.

Bad News: Today my favorite pair of jeans ripped. (The other pair I have of the same style wore down really quick too but the sales associates told me it rarely happens and that if I could find my receipt they could send them into the company. Of course I couldn't find it though..) I hate it, I only bought them 2 months ago and they really wore down. I love how the fit but really paying 170.00 a pair is a bit extreme to me if they don't hold up for crap. I could understand it if i had had them for a long time or wore them all the time but I don't do either. I ended up writing in to the company so hopefully I will get something back soon in response. if not, I will be hiking over to Neiman Marcus to complain. Has anyone else has any issues with their 7's jeans?? 

Back to wedding news; I have started looking into wedding dresses lately. Nothing big, just looking through magazines to see the styles I like etc. I have basically been noticing a few reoccurring names popping up. Vera Wang, Vineyard collection, Melissa Sweet, and J. Crew. Here are a few images of a few I like:

Melissa Sweet; I don't think I would want to go the short dress route but if I did this one would be perfect!

The vineyard collection

J. Crew

J. Crew

Now I just need someone to go dress shopping with. This will definitely be the hardest aspect of the whole planning. I don't have any close friends out here yet and the person I usually get my opinions from is D, who obviously can't go with me :) Anyone want to fly out for a weekend to look for dresses with me??