happy halloween!!

Can you guess what Bella is dressed up as this year?

She's ME!!! Didn't the pink hoodie and diamond on her left hand give it away?! Ok, maybe this isn't my most original idea ever, but I have been sick for a week now, so all of my motivation has gone completely out the window. But she looks cute just the same! And since I have been so sick our Halloween plans are now pretty much limited to the couch in our living room.

In better news though, I just wanted to give a HUGE

CONGRATULATIONS
TO JESSICA & CHRIS!
One of my oldest friends and her husband found out today that they are having a baby GIRL!! Yaaayy!! I have know Jessica since middle school, and was there when she and Chris got together in English class back in high school. I have had the pleasure of watching them grow as a couple, get married, and finally get ready to welcome their first child! I know they will both be great parents, and Jessica will be a wonderful, beautiful mother! So congrats guys, we love you and can't wait to meet your little gal!!
Bella wanted to say Congrats too, even if she's got her mean mug on..

sunday random pic

Ok, so it's not completely random at all.. but whatever it's my blog and I do what I want! On to more important things...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIAN!!

That's right, Bri officially is super duper old man today. It's the big TWO-SIX people. And even though Bella is looking miserable in this picture, she really is just as excited about the birthday celebration as we are. Her photo shoots are rough these days, she won't sit still to save her life, and by the time I got this picture even the treats we were bribing her with were starting to bore her. And right after this she tried to eat the signage, so sleepy face was the best of the bunch. I also will not be posting pictures of the fabulous cupcakes I made in honor of Brian's old age. Not only did he start eating them immediately after the icing went on, but the red icing needed more food coloring then I thought to be the right shade, so it ended up being a little runny, and not really photograph material. Hey, even Martha has her mess ups! At least that is what I tell myself..

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!! Love love love!!

Just call me Martha Stewart!

Or maybe just a wanna-be. But this is what I did this week...


Bridesmaid Shanny wasn't feeling so good :( Pink cupcakes will cheer anyone up!

It was my coworker Tracy's Birthday. I was in the Halloween spirit!

Brian has also requested cupcakes for his birthday on Sunday. I have big plans for the boy who likes icing :D

Did I mention Brian and I will be celebrating our very first Thanksgiving together this year? We have spent it together before of course, but this one is OURS, all alone, our very own turkey and all. So this is my bible to help me pull it all off:

SURPRISE!!!

We are engaged!! Well, you already knew that of course, it's really old news these days, but we did get to officially celebate with a surprise engagement party recently thrown by my parents! Granted this all went down two weekends ago now, but I have finally suckered everyone into sending me the pictures (surprise means I didn’t know I needed to have my camera with me). And despite the fact that most of the pictures are not so hot I will still share them with you all anyway.

I must say though, we were really VERY surprised. There are no pictures of our shocked faces though, because when we walked in, and I looked around the wall into the dining room of the restaurant, I saw my brother, realized what was going on and proceeded to hide. Behind the wall, and then again behind Brian. I don’t know why, I was just so shocked, and momentarily confused, I guess I didn’t know what else to do with myself. We were just supposed to have dinner with Dawn (my sorority big sis and bridesmaid) and her boyfriend Paul, and there were both Brian’s parents, and mine, and half of our wedding party! Shocked doesn’t cover it. We were AMAZED that they were able to pull such a thing off!

Not only was the party fantastic, but then we got to follow it up with a wonderful weekend with BOTH of our parents here. We took Brian’s parents to see the Jefferson and the cathedral, both of which they had never been to, and since my dress came in a few weeks ago, both mothers got to come with me when I tried it on for the first time! My dad was gone for almost all of Saturday to Northern Virginia to play in his yearly Texas Hold ‘Em tournament, and for those who have not had the pleasure of hearing him brag, he was the reigning champion from last year. He walked away with a flat screen HD television this year, and we all anxiously waited to hear what he might end up with this time! He made it pretty far, but only ended up with 6th place, and not nearly as great of a prize, but he still beat his entire regular poker group, so it’s still bragging rights just the same!
Enough of my blabbering and on to the pictures!

Our present from my talented bro.. it's Bella!!

My beautiful girls, missing a few who were very missed!

Goobers. Luke and brother.

Me & Mummy :)

My fam!

My NEW fam!

Once again we were reminded how lucky, and blessed we are to have such wonderful family and friends. Thank you all for such a wonderful party and a fantastic weekend!

Wonderful News!

Well it has been quite busy in our house the past few weeks (yes, I realize I am making it a habit of typing an excuse as to why I haven’t posted in so long when I start EVERY post..)

But there is good reason for this! Brian started his new job!! He is official a General Care Representative at the T-Mobile call center here in Richmond! I can’t tell you how lucky he is to have landed this position. We know from my experience already that T-Mobile is a fabulous company to work for, great benefits, great pay, and vacation time (YAY!), so when the SunCom call center was bought out by T-Mobile it only made sense for him to apply, especially because the building is literally right next to our house! He has walked to and from work every day, and even come home to visit Bella for his lunch break (hello less gas money!) so it has really worked out well. He will be in training for the first 8 weeks, but so far so good!


Since we are both loyal employees maybe they will let us borrow this for the honeymoon???!!



I have also been fairly busy with work, and my wedding obsession is growing still! We actually celebrated our pre-wedding 13 month anniversary! It is hard to believe we only have 13 months to go, it seems like just the other day everyone was telling me I had plenty of time – we were still 22 months out when we got engaged! Well time sure has flown by! I have accomplished quite a bit, although some days I feel more like I am planning to plan instead of actually doing things. Some things I have done though:
- Booked the church (Richmond’s Sacred Heart Cathedral)
- Booked the reception site (The Jefferson Hotel!!)
- Picked out and purchased THE DRESS!!
- Picked out and purchased bridesmaid dresses
- Ordered Save-the-Dates (which are still being assembled and will be going out shortly)
- Picked out invitations and a calligrapher
- Planned about a million DIY projects!

The Jefferson Hotel, becasue, well its just beautiful!

Looking at it in a list like that I realize it does not look like much. But I swear it is! The details I am getting together keep my up at night and make me very excited and finally Brian also seems to be getting in on the excitement, instead of just seeming bored with looking at different flower options. I’m pretty sure the tastings will still be the best part of planning for him!

I also had a chance to visit with an old coworker of mine last week. It was just a quick lunch, but it was long overdue. I have known Kristy and her husband Rick for a few years now, went to their wedding, got to visit their first daughter Olivia in the hospital right after she was born, and now am happy to say they are expecting their second child! They are such a wonderful couple and really deserve all the happiness in the world! The reason I mention this is just because I HAD to post this picture… isn’t she the CUTEST!!


I hope everyone is well! Have a great weekend!!

A week of remembrance..

Granted, I am late, but really is anyone surprised? This last week has been a tough one, a week that I generally dread every year, and get through slowly with lots of tears.

Just like most other Americans, Brian and I spent some time on September 11th remembering where we were and what we were doing when we heard about the attacks on our country seven years ago. He was getting ready to go to class at JCC, and I was walking into a computer lab in high school. It always surprises me to share these stories with people who were not in a closer area to the attack, the way my family and I were. Brian, and other friends who were not as close to DC as I was were all of course devastated, but looking back, I can really remember an all out fear. After the attack on the Pentagon, and watching reactions of students in my school whose parents worked there, followed by my frantic phone calls to find where my dad was, and the evacuation of all major buildings near me, I look back and remember being down right scared. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families whose hearts remain heavy this year as they remember their lost loved ones.

As for my own particularly heavy heart this week, that comes mainly from the anniversary of the loss of my sorority sister, and good friend Mary Elizabeth Brooks. This September 13th was the second anniversary of losing MEB to leukemia. I was honored to know such an amazing human being, and while I doubt that I will ever understand why such a strong, and beautiful human being was taken from us so soon, I try to continue to remember how blessed I was to have her in my life, if only for a short while.

So I apologize for my lack of posting, and I promise I will write again soon. Hopefully with a better outlook and maybe even a wedding update (because yes, I am becoming obsessed!!) With that being said, I would like to send our love to all of you (maybe only two or three of you! Ha!) who read this. We love you all and after such a week we are definitely counting our blessings and realizing our wonderful friends and families top that list!!

Not much new..

Well it’s been busy here at our house recently. I am still running around like a chicken with my head cut off between school and work, and Brian is still waiting (very impatiently at this point) to start work. We still have our fingers crossed, and hopefully everything will be settled by the end of the week.

I have also seemed to throw myself into wedding planning full force. I’m not sure what kicked in, but it’s almost like I woke up one morning and decided I needed to get to it! So I have been scouring the internet and pouring over all the magazines again for ideas and inspiration, and as a designer at heart I have decided to do this all myself, and make our big day as unique and fabulous as possible. Brian has been hanging in there with me, listening to my ideas and thoughts and at least pretending to be interested!! Also, today I got the phone call that my wedding dress has come in!! Obviously they will be holding it until I need to get alterations and things done, but they did say I could go visit it if I would like! As always, if anyone in interested in more wedding details, our wedding website can be found here, and will be updated as more details become available. :]