We are finally back! Wow, it feels like we haven't been in our apartment in ages.. probably because we haven't. The past few weeks have been pretty packed full with hoping between San Fran, the west side of Michigan and Maine. All in all though I would have to say that we got a fair amount accomplished. We got an apartment, landed an adorable ring bearer and got to see family. Now it is time to step back into real life, unfortunately, which means packing and cleaning pretty much non stop. I can't believe that in about 3 weeks we will be moving across the country. It definitely has all been coming real lately. I put in my final shift this weekend at my current job (I am jumping for joy while saying this). and D only has about 3 more shifts left for his (another yay!)

I had mentioned in an earlier post that I had found some amazing b.m. dresses a couple of weeks ago. Bad news was that they were out of them online and in most stores. Oh well at least we still have plenty of time to find some different ones. J. Crew is definitely the top contender right now. I want dresses that my b.m.'s will love and as most brides today, I want them to be able to wear them again. It isn't really a tall order but it is definitely at the front of my mind which is why J.Crew is coming out in the lead.

Here are some of my favorites right now. (all of these would be in navy)

J. Crew

J. Crew

I love the idea of doing navy dresses with kelly green heels but I also want to include flip flops for the ceremony considering it will most likely either be on sand. ( Plus then they can use them at the end of the night for sore feet!)

I apologize for being MIA these last couple of weeks. As I said in my last post, d and i were in San Fran last week looking at apartments and from there we had one day to relax and then we headed right back out to Maine.We figured out on Wednesday that in the last 8 days we have slept in 7 different places...

Good news is, we found an apartment! It was one of the lowest priced that we had looked at and also had the location we liked the most with the most amenities. We move in June 24th so now we are just busy packing up and visiting with everyone before we leave.

On a wedding note, I had found bm dresses but have recently realized the aren't offering the color I had wanted online. Once we get back home I am going to try and track them down in stores in the area. Hopefully they will have all of the sizes i need. If not, we will just have to keep on looking.

Sorry for such a short post, I promise I will start posting more regularly when I get back home. Have a great holiday weekend!

Emgagement Pictures!

D and I had our engagement pictures taken this past Thursday! We couldn't have asked for better weather or photographer, Amy was amazing and I definitely encourage you to stop by her website or blog to check her out. I will post some of the pictures as soon as I get them but until then there is a teaser post over at Amy Carroll's Blog so check it out!

We are both so excited that everything can finally start moving forward! Once we get the pictures back we will be able to decide on which image we want for our save the dates!

I am heading back to Holland tomorrow for Mother's Day and then on Monday D and I are heading to San Fran to check our apartments, Hopefully by Thursday we will have put down a down payment on something so wish us luck!

Sorry for the lack of posts this past week. I am officially done with my undergrad degree and have been enjoying my free time lately. Last week D and I headed back to Holland to scope out some ceremony locations. We have three top contenders and now it all comes down to 1.) availability and 2.) Price. Our top 3 locations (in no particular order)

Camp Blodgett







Camp Geneva




(image is from another wedding taking place on the beach there)

Ventura Pines







While in Holland we also went downtown and got to experience the tulips before all of the tourists got there. Thankfully all of the vendor stands were already up so D and I were able to get our yearly "greasy goodness" lunch of corn dogs(for me), onion rings, and grilled sausage (for D). Later that night I also got a caramel apple which was amazing! It wasn't the best time for the yearly meal seeing as engagement pictures are coming up on Thursday but oh well, it was too good to pass up :)













After downtown we headed to the beach

our date :)




Next week I have to head home once again to get my hair cut and nails done for our pictures on Thursday. I also need to find some new jeans but unfortunately the place I usually go to at home was out of the style and size I needed in 7's. Now I have to head to royal oak to find them :(

Have a great Sunday!!

I'm officially done with my undergrad tomorrow! We have commencement and then a senior gala right afterwards and after that I think my family will be going out to eat to celebrate. I am so glad to be done with school for a while! I am planning on going back for my masters in business once D is finished with dental school, I figure it will be of more worth to me than a masters in interior design. I guess we will just have to see how things pan out.

Today has mostly been spent relaxing. After exams last week and D parents visiting this week I am exhausted. While D's parents were here we went to Chicago though which was amazing as always. It was their first time down there and I think they really liked it as well.



There isn't much new in wedding news. Right now I am just trying to find a ceremony location which is harder than I would have though. We are looking for a beach location on Lake Michigan somewhere between Holland and Grand Haven. The hardest part is that to get anything to have to rent a cottage with it as well or deal with a large number of people that could possibly be around (for the public locations). I really just want something easily accessible that doesn't cost much (or anything) to rent for a few hours. You would think that Michigan having the longest fresh water coastline in the world this would be a very easy task but it definitely is not. All of the area in which I am looking is either privately owned (so a house/cottage would have to be rented for a week) or public (meaning lots of people around...). If anyone knows of anything in the area I would be happy to have the suggestions!

Ok, I'm off for more relaxing :)

Im finally in the homestretch. I only have 3 more exams, all of which I will be done with by tomorrow :) On an even better note, I got a few things for engagement pictures this past weekend when my parents got back from their cruise.

I got this in navy and I think I am going to wear it with a white skirt



I got this in white and I am going to pair it with jeans and a cute pair of shoes. What do you think, heels or flats??


I also got a cute shirt with the number 22 on it and a sailboat simply because it is my favorite number and we got engaged on my 22nd birthday!

Thank you Mom and Dad!!


To my readers; I was wondering what all of you were doing for your bridesmaids? I had thought it was fairly typical today for bridesmaids and groomsmen to pay for their own attire. Does this still hold true? Is anyone else doing it this way? Anyone helping their BM and GM out with their attire or even paying for all of it?

I'm Back!!

So I am officially back! After a week and a half of insane stress levels accompanied by being sick, it feels so good to have almost all of that over with. I still have three more exams and a project due but I'm not really too worried about those.

The next few weeks are going to be a whirlwind of actives. Here is my list of things I am doing & need to do over the next couple of weeks.

- finish studying for exams
-graduation (yay!!)
-Trip to San Fran to look for an apartment
-Trip to Maine to visit D's family
- My brothers Graduation & open house from high school
- Work :( (unfortunately I have to add that one in there)
-Engagement pictures
-Make our save the dates
-Find a ceremony location, florists & baker

Ok so that isn't all of it but I think you get the idea.

On another note, vineyard vogue had a post the other day about changing up her blogger page. I have been thinking about the same thing for a while now but can't seem to find anything. I can make my own banners but I'm just no good with HTML. I also visited the pyzam site and found nothing! It may be just me but I am past the point of 14yr old myspace layouts. I don't want a hurly or abercrombie logo or some shadow of a naked girl on my page.. There were a few cute polka dots and striped but I want something different & unique. Any ideas for me??

I'm so glad to be back, the break was just what I needed :)

Have a great day!