Pretty Littles

i dont know what i am going to do when this wedding is over... is it going to be weird when i am still saving images like these to my screen saver??? hmmm... good thing my future doesnt read this. or anyone else for that matter. :)

so gorgeous... images found on style me pretty and once wed.

96 days to go

... And I am for sure freaking out a little. Not about getting married to my favorite guy around, just EVERYTHING else. Our pictures. The band. The Food. The Parents. The flowers. The "fun factor". The "oh my god all of these little details that the bride worked on and put thought in to for a year are just the most incredible, cute, thoughtful little ideas" ideas. Basically just everything. On my to-do list- get some pics like this of us.


And feel as relaxed as these two lovebirds look...


Cutie Patootie Wedding via Once Wed

I also want our ceremony to be warm. Like this one, below. I am crossing my fingers that my yuppy family loosens up and lets us have a relaxed, loving day where their hatred for the outdoors, sunshine, and (gasp!) LAWN (!!!), can be put aside for four and a half hours.

I would loooooooooooooooooooove to get a moment like this with my new hubby! Pretty please Big Sur, Sunshine goddess, and McClure Pictures. Thank you. I want to make us a sign like this:
And I want hugs like this every day. Every second of every day. That looks like it feels good. Whataguy.


All of the above via the website that could get me fired if the IT department looked at how much time I spent on it.

Long Post- Probably because we got a lot o sh*t done...

**UPDATE: Of the 9 things that we had to do this last weekend- we did 6! Pretty good! We did not get baby sitter referrals because we decided we are not doing this (if you want to bring your kids to the wedding- you have to watch them! What a concept!). I didnt get around to hair and make up- next time. And cake- apparantly you have to be pretty exclusive to get Michelle from Big Sur Bakery to make your cake. Good thing we ARE and our amazing day of/all around best help ever, Cheri is going to git-r-done. **

Happy Monday!


We just returned from another great weekend in Big Sur! The weather was heaven! We got so much done and I think we were both able to take a spoonful out of our stressed out cup and add a spoonful to the excited cup! Aside from the fact that I feel like our wedding is going to be a ZOOOOOOOO (300 people- fml), it is going to be so special.

We raced up on Friday morning to meet Cheri at the site… ahhh…Ms. Point 16. You are a very special lady. Cheri is so rad- she makes me feel so calm about everything. There really aint a thing to worry about when you have a woman like her on your team. I walked around the site and got giddy and took pics and fantasized about our day.

We then proceeded to reward ourselves for a job well done at Fernwood Tavern, aka “The Dog” (mind you, we were rewarding ourselves for very little- driving to Big Sur and making it to Point 16 by 2pm? Hard work you two! Go celebrate! We are so stupid.) . I have been “dieting” so I rewarded myself with hot wings, a salmon quesadilla, and a buffalo burger and fries. Oh, and about 15 glasses of Pinot Grigio, a jack and water on the rocks, and a late night shot of well tequila with our new "friend" Ben. Needless to say, I spent the night in the bathroom. You got me again, Big Sur! I still love you though.

Saturday morning we had breakfast at the Big Sur Bakery. OH. MY. GOD. It was heaven. Go there. Now. And have the breakfast pizza. Yum. And if you are hungover like I was, have two mimosas. Yum yum. After breakfast we drove up to Carmel Valley (he drove, I slept) to meet with John from Paradise Caterers. They are making the feast for the rehearsal dinner. A cute little BBQ if you will… even though it is at the SICKEST art gallery ever! I think my man was getting a little jealous on the way back because I would not SHUT UP about how nice and thoughtful and caring and accommodating and charming John was. But its true- he is! I heart him mucho! image via my blackberry. We were dumbfounded when we walked down the path to find this. Seriously, I was like pissed off at how pretty this was.

Sunday before heading south we met our awesome florist, Kate Healy and cranked away all of the (really really fun) details! The flowers are going to look awesome! We are so stoked! She is another lady that makes me feel so calm… I don’t have a worry in the world (aside from the ridiculous and embarrassing size of our guest list, the fact that we don’t know where to have the stupid brunch the day after the wedding, we have about 100 people too many for the rehearsal dinner, my sister and I are in (another) fight over her worthless husband, I don’t have anyone to do hair or makeup for us bitches, the “rounds” that I have been daydreaming about may not happen, and I am the most awkward person on the planet so I am still staying up at night worrying about having to be charming and sweet and funny and pretty all weekend).




Lovers.

I am in love. This is EXACTYLY what "we" want. I think it may even make my mother happy :)
I swear- I can check flowers off of my list because momma has made a decision! They will look so good against the navy dresses we picked out for the maids- and our tan bodies! Hot! Hot! Hot! Who knew flowers could turn me on...



image via Style Me Pretty.

Dear Diary

I was having lunch on the grass with one of my best girlfriends yesterday and we somehow got to talking about blogs… she had mentioned that at one point she had attempted a blog of her own VanNuysHousewife. She said she ultimately stopped the blogging because she was tired of trying to be witty on the internet when she was the only person reading it. I was chuckling to myself thinking- no one knows that I started this silly little project, and unless I tell friends, no one will ever read it.

This is fine. I started this little blog, which is actually only a journal (since no one will ever read it), as a way to gather my thoughts. I have twice lost my email group that I sent to myself with all of my genius ideas and pictures. I am also incredibly bored and unsatisfied with my job- so it is a great way to kill and hour, or eight, a day. Is that bad? Well, since I am the only one reading this- thus the only person who can answer this- hell no it isn’t bad- your job freaking blows.

I really did start this as a way to stay organized for the wedding though… for example- here is what I would like to do to my hair for the rehearsal dinner. I think it is fabulous and ridiculous and I also think the only time in my life that I will be able to do something like this. BAM! Who's the bride now?
from ruffled.

I think this is so soft and earthy and just oozes pretty summer bride. I am going to be very simple on my wedding day so this will be my "statement" that will set me apart from all the others at the rehearsal (or at least you will be able to see the top of my head through the swarm of people we are going to be surrounded by the whole time- this makes me very uneasy). AND- I have one batshit crazy friend who will probably show up in a bridal gown so this wil help people tell who is who from afar.

Bouquet

Is it bad that I would forfeit serving dinner at my own wedding for this bouquet? I made a committment to have in season flowers at our wedding- but these make me want to change my wedding date to spring... ahhh peonies, I am going to have to stop looking at you. Goodbye forever.

Would it really be so bad if I cheated just a little. I'm about to get Bridezilla over some big peonies.

Both from ruffled.

Show, Don't Tell...

When we were initially deciding where to get married- we knew a few things immediately:

We wanted to be outside
We wanted warm weather
We wanted the ocean close by- preferably in clear view where we could see it, smell it, touch it
We wanted to be able to include all of our family and friends, which is approximately 297 people.
We wanted to have a Jewish ceremony- but we also wanted to be married on a Saturday afternoon.
We wanted to get along while having all of the above.

As it turns out, we got every single thing we wanted. Big Sur is magical. Anyone who has never been there- should go (tomorrow!)- and anyone who has been there would agree with me. It is hard to describe. I wanted to get married in Big Sur since the first time I visited- before I ever met my dream man. It turns out, my future also had a connection to Big Sur- it just solidified it for both of us. Our first weekend together there, one of our many roadtripping down from Olympia, WA to Venice, CA, was the first time he told me he was going to marry me. I remember what I was wearing, what he was wearing (birthday suit!) and what the tent cabin smelled like. We have stayed at that campground since, and each time is as fun as the first. It is one of the most magical, stunning, inspiring, sexy places I have ever been.

Now that I have bragged about how lucky I am to be getting hitched in Big Sur- let me say- IT IS HARD FLIPPIN WORK TO PLAN A WEDDING IN BIG SUR FROM SANTA MONICA!

Although the idea of a cookie cutter wedding where the venue had option A,B, or C is my nightmare- now I see why so many couples and families (oh yeah, we have two Jewish mothers involved) go this route. To think that you can just sign a contract and show up! What a relief! BUT! Having a wedding that represents HE and I- well, there was never really any other option. Big Sur is mellow. This is part of it’s charm. I like to describe myself as mellow- but I don’t think I am, at least not “Big Sur mellow”. Our caterer and florist are two awesome women! Cheri Gladstone- our caterer, coordinator, day of master, is rad. She is brief, smart, and honest. I wish I was more like her, even though she scares me a tad. Her food looks incredible is all organic, local and YUMMY! Our florist, Kate Healy is also a bad ass rad woman. She is a local and picks flowers from her backyard for the centerpieces and bouquets. Both these women have made the experience, thus far, pretty cool. There aren’t 10 page contracts, they respond to emails when they feel like it, they know what’s up- basically they keep me in check. The part that scares me is when they find out I cant make a decision for the life of me, and that I have anxiety up the wazoo- but for now- I am a mellow Big Sur bride, who gets to marry the best guy in the best place surrounded by the best family, friends, and vendors!! When I took my first Journalism class, I was told the number one rule of being a proactive journalist and person was: SHOW, DON'T TELL. This is my half assed attempt to show my thoughts- baby steps to the final result. Below are my ideas, i.e. the only due diligence I have done thus far.

1. An outdoor lounge- halfway between the bar and the dance floor-

Both images via http://www.classicpartyrentals.com/

2. A lantern ceremony once the sun sets; all lanterns are 100% biodegradeable and 100% amazing! The chinese lantern ceremony is a representation of hope, good blessings, and prosperity...

Images/lanterns via here , and it was brought to my attention at august and everything after

3. Vows- We are writing our own. We are both going to cry. I am going to look awful in the pictures of our ceremony. We have both just thought about the wedding and almost cried (he) or completely bawled (me). I think we are going to request the Rabbi to read our promises for us, to keep it under control and to keeep me from snotting . I am also going to need to keep it simple (the list of things I love about him is pretty long (and growing!!) so I will spare are all of my hungry and thirsty family and friends), and most of all- make them OURS. I don't want to go too crazy quoting Kahil Gibran or lyrics by every artist I have listened to since getting my first walkman. I guess having too many things you love about your man is a good problem to have.

4. Flowers!!! We want flowers that are in season (!!), local, and of course- pretty. Our florist is awesome and she will make these things happen for us… here are the ones that got the stamp of approval from my future hubby*.

all floral prettyness found here...

* future hubby stamp of approval goes something like this- looks up from cards, "yep, looks good", and back to playing solitaire. Whatever, I'll take it...