2 blogs in one day! (I've been bored)

I just ordered some paper lanterns to decorate the backyard/reception site!

I ordered some 10", 18" and 24" with the intention of doing 4 groups of three (one of each size for each cluster). I purchased them in white, sunshine, light green and watermelon. I think they'll be so cute and I hope I can find a way to decorate with them after the wedding.

Turn Here

Here's my latest wedding related craft project:

Save the Dates!!!

Most of the save the dates should have been received by now, so for you fellow bloggers who won't be receiving one...here it is for your viewing pleasure:



I'm so in love with these things and I can't wait to see what the invitations will be like!!

P.S. I know I've mentioned it in a couple other previous posts, but my friend Christina designed them. Isn't she amazing? If you want to see more of her work then sign up to find the love of your life at match.com (she's a graphic designer for them).

I almost forgot to write about our wonderful trip!

I've been occupied this week trying to help Christina find a bridesmaid dress. I think we've found a few options so now I can relax and tell you about our trip to California. We're always so busy when we go out there, but our time is always filled with fun activities and visiting friends and family. Here's a day by day recap of our mini vacation:

Thursday:
Arrived in Santa Rosa around 5:30. Frank picked us up and we drove to Kelseyville. We stopped at Angel's before heading to the house and had dinner. Angel's is a mexican food restaurant and it's delicious. Then we headed home and visited with the family for the rest of the evening. We also got to meet the newest addition to the Totorica household:

This is Sky. She has 3 legs and a little nub. She's the cutest thing in the world and I couldn't put her down. Jake's family has recently started a collection of crippled pets. They also have a little dog that has leg problems. He's adorable too.

Friday:
This was a very busy day. We went out on the lake, went to Juliann's talent show and then went to see The Lost Boys (more on them later in the post), Tonic and Gin Blossoms. We were really tired though so we left after tonic. Here are pictures from the day:

Saturday:
We drove back down to Santa Rosa, had lunch with Jake's grandma, and then went dress shopping for Jenna and Juliann. We found Juliann a super cute dress, but the two malls we went to were very lacking in the green dress department for Jenna. No worries though, she found one online that's really cute. That night we had tickets to see .38 Special, Styx and REO Speedwagon, but that didn't go quite as planned. Some lights fell down or something and the show was canceled. So sad :( It turned out fine though because we went to see Papa Charlie and Grandma Brown. Papa Charlie's stories are MUCH more entertaining than a concert. Trust me on this.

Sunday:
This was a fabulous day as well. Jake and I snuck away to run some errands and then we just went driving around Lakeport and surrounding areas. We happened to stumble upon a craft fair. I almost peed my pants. I heart craft fairs. One day I'm going to have my own booth to set up at these things. I almost peed my pants again when I saw that they were selling sno cones. I heart sno cones as well, but for some reason they are impossible to find in Las Vegas. Weird, huh? You think they'd be a big seller in these parts. I'm assuming it's too hard to keep the ice cold here so that's why you don't see the little stands on every corner. Come to think of it, I think they replaced sno cone stands with smog check stands because those are all over the place and are the same size as your typical sno cone stand. That evening we had some wonderful bbq food and then went to Jake's friend's house (actually his friend's parent's house). When Tim invited us to come over for the bbq we figured it would just be his family at the house, but no, they were actually throwing a big dinner party. So obviously we had to eat again. Darn, you know I hate that. We had a great time.

Monday:
We flew back home, but before we left we met the Bastian's for breakfast. This was a lot of fun. They have been friends with Jake's family for a long time and their son, who didn't make it to breakfast, is the lead singer of The Lost Boys. Remember this name because you will hear them on the radio one day. Seriously. They're amazing!! Remember how they opened for Gin and Tonic on Friday night? Well on Saturday night they opened for Journey in Sacramento!!! No, they didn't open for a band that was opening for Journey, they went on RIGHT BEFORE JOURNEY. How awesome is that??? It was great having breakfast with the family and hearing all about the band and just getting to know them. They're a lot of fun so I hope we get to hang out with them more in the future.

That pretty much concludes our vacation. Hope you enjoyed.

The Ceremony & Reception Site (aka Jake's Parent's house)

We're back from our fun filled trip to California! I'll write later about our wonderful time, but for now here are some pictures of where our wedding will take place.

So pretty!!

We'll stand under the arch to exchange our vows.

The tables will probably be set up here.
The indoor pool is off limits for the wedding so please leave your bathing suits at home.

The chicken coop/art club building :)

I predict some beautiful wedding pictures will be taken right here.

The pumpkin patch!

I'm so excited that we're getting married here. It's one of my favorite places in the world (besides MY parent's house in Texas, but TX is toooo hot for a wedding).

That's all for now! Gotta go rest up before work tomorrow.

I promise you'll laugh out loud!

GO HERE NOW!

Sorry....

about the lack of blog posts this week. I'll be back Monday or Tuesday with plenty to write about! I'll leave you with a picture of my child to hold you over until then...


She likes to get in the bathtub when it's still wet after a recent shower. She also likes to sit on the side of the tub between the shower curtain and the shower liner. She's adorable.

Tiger Jam 2009

The night in pictures:

Me & Christina before the show



Paramore

Tiger Woods



NO DOUBT!!
They're back and still amazing!

The drummer

They played their old music videos during the songs!

Gwen

The end.

I'm already tired just thinking about tomorrow...

Here's how my Saturday will be spent:

1. Hair appointment @ 9:00
2. Post Office
3. Grocery Store
4. Pick up contacts at Optical Gallery
5. Bridesmaid dress shopping with Erin!!
6. Start addressing envelopes for Save the Dates!!
7. No Doubt Concert!!!! (My friend from work won tickets on the radio)

I'm soooo excited for all of these things (well I guess I could do w/out 2-4).

Speaking of the post office, I have to give my little rant about the new stamps. I fell in love with these stamps a few weeks ago:

I didn't buy them though because I knew that postage was going to be increasing. Today I went to look at the USPS website and found that this design is not available for .44. Ugh...I found one that's not horrible, but definitely not as cute as the one I originally wanted.

Now, I can't REALLY complain about the USPS because one of my favorite people in the whole world is a postman so he more than makes up for this faux pas they've committed. But really, don't they know that the packaging of my save the dates and invites needs to be just as cute as the actual product? Oh well...I guess the card design is somewhat fitting seeing as how we live in Las Vegas and all. I'll try to learn to love them.

1,2,3,4....

1,2,3,4 is a song by the Plain White Tees. I LOVE this song and swore up and down that this was the song I wanted to play as I walked down the aisle. However, Jacob kept insisting that we pick something else. I had the hardest time understanding this because I knew he really liked the song too. And, although he's given his opinion and input on all things wedding related, he hasn't said NO to anything I've really wanted. So what was his problem with playing the song as I walked down the aisle? The "problem" is that he wants to perform it for me at the wedding! Yes, that's right, I AM the luckiest girl in the world. I think he originally wanted to surprise me with this, but neither one of us are good at keeping secrets like this from each other and I really wasn't about to let up about the song ;) So Jake will sing and play his guitar and his uncle Dave has agreed to accompany him! Here is the music video:

Happy Mother's Day!!

Jake and I have the best moms in the world. Seriously. We are so lucky to have been raised by moms that gave us wonderful childhoods and who continue to love and support us in every way possible. We are also so lucky to each acquire a new mom in a few months. I must say though that both of our soon to be mother in laws have treated us like their own children since the first time we met them. And to be honest, the only reason we're even getting married is so that Jake can have my mom's chocolate chip cookies and I can have his mom's spaghetti sauce for the rest our lives. Thanks for being the best moms in the world. We love you!

And now for the weekend recap:

Friday night was my b-day celebration with my friends. We went to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner with all of our significant others and then we lost the boys and went to NY, NY to partAy. We started at Coyote Ugly and that was...well, an experience to say the least. Here's how Coyote Ugly works. They have kind of a ring leader that is in charge of getting the crowd all excited. She stands on the bar and picks people from the crowd to come and dance on the bar. There was this one girl in particular that ended up on the bar and she thought it would be a great idea to take off her shirt and dance around in her bathing suit. Um...NOT a great idea. Now, I feel bad for saying this, but she was not the most attractive person in the world and her inebriated state made her dance in an unattractive way as well. I felt embarrassed for her. I told Jake about this girl the next day when I gave him a recap of the night and then, later that day we saw her walking around at Mandalay Bay. No joke. Anyway, after Coyote Ugly we went to Rok. It was ok, but it was pretty small and the layout wasn't the greatest. We only stayed about an hour and then called Erin's boyfriend to pick us up. He then took us to Taco Bell, thus making the night wonderful.

Last night (Saturday) we went to see The Lion King! It was spectacular! It was just like the movie with a couple new songs. The costumes were amazing and we had a great time. I think it was extra exciting because it just opened a few days ago so it's still brand new. Here's a picture of us:


Okay, that's all for now. I must stop being lazy.

My Crate & Barrel Goodies Arrived!

You might remember from my b-day post that my parents got me a gift card to Crate & Barrel...and these are the fabulous things I picked out. I purchased the plates, napkins, pitcher, table runner, and two eco-friendly grocery bags (not pictured). I love all of it!! Thanks mom and dad! Also, here's a picture of what the table runner came in:


I think this needs to be incorporated into the wedding is some way. Maybe to hold cards in? I'm not sure, but it needs to be used because the colors are perfect. Perhaps I'll also bring the table runner along and put it on the gift or cupcake table!

Last Dance

"A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes"

Perfect.

Wedding Music

I think the music is what makes or breaks a wedding. I know this isn't applicable for everyone, but it is for me because I LOVE to dance. I'm not good at it at all, but once I get a couple of drinks in me I'm magnetically drawn to the dance floor. I'm actually really excited that we're using my ipod instead of a DJ. I already have a lot of fun music on it from my marathon training (another event that music can either make or break), I like that I'm in control of when the songs will be played, and I like that nobody will be able to request the chicken dance. I think music is also really important for the ceremony/first dance because these are the songs that will take you back to the big day for years to follow. So here's what I have in mind for our wedding:

• The wedding party will walk down the aisle to: Better Together by Jack Johnson
• I will walk down the aisle to: a guitar only version of Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles
• Jake and I will walk back down the aisle as husband & wife to: Keep on Loving You by REO Speedwagon

***I realize the ceremony music is completely random, but these songs are perfect for us***

• Music for cockail/appetizers/dinner: mixture of Jason Mraz, Jack Johnson & The Rocket Summer (Melanie and my sister are probably the only people who have heard of The Rocket Summer, but trust me, he's great)
• First dance: Moment of Truth by FM Static
• Reception Music: mixture of oldies, 80's, 90's and some current songs, with a few country songs thrown in

I currently have about 3 hours of reception music, but I want to have about another hour just to be on the safe side. Any suggestions for some fun dancing songs??

The Big 2-5! (caution: this post consists mostly of me bragging about my fabulous life)

I'm officially old. Ok, maybe not "old", but it's definitely a grown up age. The past year has been absolutely wonderful and I was a little sad to see it go, but I know the next year will be equally as wonderful. I think this past year was probably one of the best years thus far. I ran my first 10k, half marathon and full marathon, went skydiving, got a promotion, and got engaged to my very best friend. These are all big milestones on my list of "things to do before I die" so I feel like I accomplished a lot. Here is a recap of the wonderful day that was spent commemorating my 25th year of life:

First, I woke up early because Jake had to take his friend the the airport at 5:20 this morning. He made me stay in the bedroom until he got home though because he'd decorated before going to bed the night before. So when he finally got home, I walked out of the bedroom to find this:



Totally Cinderella themed! AMAZING. The Cinderella on the cake even lights up!! We ate some cake for breakfast and opened presents. This is what I got....

From the in-laws:
A picnic set!!

AND tickets to this concert when we go to visit for Memorial Day weekend:

I'm soooo excited about this. You don't even know. Let's just say that an REO song will be an important part of our wedding day. That's how much I love them.

From my parents:

A Crate and Barrel gift card! Sorry, no pictures, but I ordered SEVERAL items last Sunday and they are due to arrive by Wednesday. I'll take pictures when they get here.

From Jake:


A waffle maker!! This is one item I was talking about putting on our registry before we were even engaged! My mom got one not too long ago and loves it so she's going to send me yummy recipes. I'm so glad I don't have to wait until September to make waffles. Oh and he also got me the sweetest card ever. He makes me feel so loved. Not even just on my b-day, but pretty much every single day. I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

After cake and presents Jake took a nap and I went to LVAC to use the elipitcal machine while watching Man Vs. Food (my favorite show) and then to TJ Maxx where I found this for only $8:


Finding pear things has become an obsession. They seem to be growing in popularity right now (or maybe I'm just noticing them more). Once I got home I woke Jake up and we got ready for our day of fun. This is what I looked like:

Ok, I didn't really wear the princess gear out in public, but I did think about it for a brief second.

First we went to look at wedding bands. This was not so fun though. Jewelry salespeople are worse than car salespeople and it's annoying. Also, I decided I'm not going to get a wedding band. My ring is too beautiful to have another ring trying to steal it's glory. Actually, what I plan on doing is waiting until we have lots of money and then I'll get something made to custom fit it. Until then, I'm fine without anything. I actually have a right hand ring that's a band of small diamonds and emeralds that Jake got me a few years ago that will work just fine on my left hand if I don't feel like wearing my engagment ring for some reason (I can't see that happening though).

After the jewelry store we went to buy running shoes. This was disappointing as well. I go to this really cool running store to buy my shoes and we have a friend that works there. She gives me like a 40% discount every time, but she wasn't there today so I paid full price. We actually knew the girl that was there, but I guess she doesn't like us enough to give us a discount. This is sad b/c my shoes are ridiculously expensive. I love them though (this is my third pair of the exact same shoe). Oh well, at least they'll last longer since I'm only running short distances these days.

Thinking about running made me hungry so we went to get some lunch. We decided to go to The District (an outdoor mall) to eat at Panera and walk around. After we ate we went to Anthropologie. So I love this store and I've been in the store about a million times, but have never purchased anything except for the failure of a wedding dress. And that was purchased online so it doesn't even count. The reason I never buy anything is b/c it's sooo over priced, but today I found a dress that I fell in love with and Jake convinced me to buy it so I could dress up for my b-day dinner. Here's the dress:

On our way back to the car we passed by Williams-Sonoma and I noticed something in the window display; a green cake stand! I had to go in and have a look. I couldn't resist. When I started looking for cake stands for our wedding I told myself I wouldn't spend more than $10 on a single one. Well that went out the window when I saw this one. It's perfect though and I'll probably use it as a centepiece on our dinner table or something. Here it is:
It's actually much cuter in person and the green is brighter and is pretty much the same color as the paint in our living/dining room. We came home after that purchase and rested for a little while before getting ready for my b-day dinner. This lady at work told be about this sushi place a few weeks ago and I've been dying to go there. It's a buffet of sushi!! It's called Todai and it's at Planet Hollywood. Here's a picture of us after our delicious meal:

We decided to walk around the Miracle Mile shops after our dinner and we came across another kitchen type store and I found this for only $8:

Adorable, right? Now I need to go buy honey to put in it and all the ingrediants to make waffles. Once we returned home, we checked the mail and I had another b-day present. It was from my grandparents and it's two tickets to see this next weekend:


I'm so excited!!! I'll give you a full recap of the show next weekend after we see it. Well, that's about it for my awesome birthday. Please don't be too jealous. If it makes you feel any better, please know that during my 4 yrs of college my b-day was always during finals week and then my first b-day out of college was spent ALONE in Utah b/c I was helping at a store out there when I worked for Old Navy. The past two years have definitely made up for the 5 years of having not so wonderful birthdays though!

(Sorry this post is ridiculously long)