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2/29/12

wedding wednesday


i'm sososo excited because in about two weeks, randy and i are going to look at possible venues for our wedding!

there's been a lot of talking so far, but not a lot of doing - so i'm excited to cross this very important task off of our list!

here are some of the places we're considering:


the padua hills theatre, claremont, california

this venue is just so unique! a little off the beaten path and definitely filled with character. as you'll see below, most of our focus is on places that are ranch-y or a little farm-y, but i think this place will surprise us. plus i've never known anyone who has gotten married in a 1920s theater before!


rancho las lomas, silverado, california

this place is more of a mission-style ranch. it has a very old california feel to it with beautiful spanish architecture. this is where the woman behind one of my favorite wedding blogs, the loveliest day, tied the knot. and there's a bright red english-style phone booth on site. how can you beat that?!


strawberry farms golf course, irvine, california

this venue is the perfect combination of randy's and my styles - a barn and a golf course all in one place. i can definitely see myself dancing inside of the gorgeous bright red barn during our reception. i do think this place is quite pricey though (we'll soon find out) and it was #1 on my list until i found this next place..


camarillo ranch, camarillo, california

oh. my. gosh. dream venue right here! they have a ranch house. they have a barn. they have a gorgeous lawn. i think it's going to be very hard to convince me to get married any place else after we visit camarillo ranch (i say this with the sincerest hopes that the real-life ranch lives up to my tip-of-the-top expectations..)


please do share if you know of another gorgeous ranch/farm-style location in southern california. we've still got time to adjust our itinerary!


2/28/12

23 before 24

i had an engagement shoot a few days ago<3

the timing couldn't have been better, because randy was out of town and i was feeling a little lonely, so it was the perfect thing to occupy my time for a couple of hours.



another exciting thing is that because of this shoot, i am able to cross another item off of my 23 before 24 list!

item number 10 is to land my first paid photography gig.

2/27/12

lemon water


somehow i happened upon this post by lauren conrad about lemon water, and i think i'm going to start drinking it!

according to miss conrad:
  1. It’s a natural energizer! It hydrates and oxygenates the body so it feels revitalized and refreshed.
  2. It’s cleansing. According to NaturalNews.com, the citric acid in lemons helps maximize enzyme function, which stimulates the liver and aids in detoxification.
  3. It aids in digestion. Not only will this killer combination relive indigestion, it will also help flush you out.

2/26/12

easy sundays


it's been a little lonely around here with randy being gone and all, but i'm going to enjoy my lazy sunday with the oscars, a bottle of wine, and daydreams about picking him up from the airport tomorrow<3

2/23/12

mexico

randy's leaving me today :(



calm down though, it's only for a short trip to mexico.


but i shall miss him mucho!

2/22/12

wedding wednesday


so for today's wedding wednesday, i'm going to switch it up a bit..

i had seen this 'boyfriend tag' going around facebook, and thought it would be fun for randy and i to do!

here are randy's answers about me:


1. she's sitting in front of the tv, what is on the screen?
teen mom or beverly hills housewives
(this is true)

2. you go out to eat, what kind of dressing does she get on her salad?
cesar
(true for a cesar salad, but if it's a garden salad i'll get vinegrette)

3. what's one food she doesn't like?
barbeque
(true)

4. you go out to eat, what does she order?
pasta
(sure, among other things)

5. what size shoe does she wear?
9 or 8 1/2
(more often 9)

6. if she was collecting anything, what would it be?
nail polish
(haha, sadly true)

7. what is her favorite type of sandwich?
caprese...?
(while those are delicious, my favorite sandwich is turkey & brie cheese from this place called olives)

8. what would she eat every day if she could?
cereal
(absolutely)

9. what is her favorite cereal?
cheerios
(right again!)

10. what's her favorite music?
indie
(i also enjoy some hip hop/rap and pop)

11. what's her favorite sports team?
san francisco giants
(thanks to randy)

12. who's her best friend?
lilly
(hahahaha, but yes. but if we're talking people, i'd say carmella)

13. what's something you do that she wishes you didn't?
mess with lilly
(totally)

14. you bake her a cake for her birthday, what kind of cake is it?
vanilla.. but an oreo cookie cake is pretty good
(haha, he's saying this because carmella made me an oreo cake for my birthday. it would have been cute if he'd said funfetti, because we used to make funfetti cakes together when we first dated)
*we just made a funfetti cake together again on valentine's day!

15. did she play any sports?
no
(i danced in high school, but apparently that doesn't count..)

16. what's one unique talent she has?
painting nails
(haha, thanks babe..)


here are my answers about randy:


1. he's sitting in front of the tv, what is on the screen?
sports, either a game of some sort or espn
(true)

2. you go out to eat, what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?
balsamic vinegrette
(true)

3. what's one food he doesn't like?
mushrooms
(true)

4. you go out to eat, what does he order?
pasta or steak
(true)

5. what size shoe does he wear?
10 - 10 1/2
(actually 9 or 9 1/2)

6. if he was collecting anything, what would it be?
games on his iphone
(i guess so, i was collecting something i'd pick baseball cards)

7. what is his favorite type of sandwich?
philly cheese steak
(eh.. turkey club maybe? meatball?)

8. what would he eat every day if he could?
steak
(oh yeah)

9. what is his favorite cereal?
he's not allowed to eat cereal because milk upsets his stomach
(smart start)

10. what's his favorite music?
house music, like on the jersey shore
(ehhhhh.. hip hop and house)

11. what's his favorite sports team?
san francisco giants
(yes)

12. who's his best friend?
andrew
(no.. alaina?)

13. what's something you do that he wishes you didn't?
yell, and hit him
(yes)

14. you bake him a cake for his birthday, what kind of cake is it?
a pie because he doesn't like cake
(ice cream cake)

15. did he play any sports?
football and baseball
(and golf)

16. what's one unique talent he has?
being a good car salesman
(sure)


2/21/12

tips for saving money successfully

i am a horrible money saver. terrible. before i got engaged, i had zero savings.

but today? i have $1,243 in my savings account. in 2 months. not. too. shabby.


here are some helpful things i've discovered while on my savings 'journey..'

1. have a goal, and make it an important one
i know this one makes sense, but it's the truth. if you reallyreallyreally want something, you'll save for it. i want a nice wedding, so i've been an awesome saver. while it's great to save for 'a rainy day' or 'for the next 10 years,' vague goals don't make you feel as bad when you pull from your savings for a new coach bag or a new set of golf clubs. but if you're putting yourself further away from your dream home or sending little randy to college, you'll develop a sense of desire for those things that will help keep your sticky fingers out of the cookie jar.. i mean savings account.

2. be realistic.
one thing i would do before is try to save too much money. for example:

say i would get paid $500 dollars.
if i had $200 in bills, that leaves $300.
i would put $250 in my savings account,
which would leave me with $50 for two weeks until i got paid again.

obviously, you can't survive on $50 for two weeks with gas, food, extras, blah blah. so pick an amount that will realistically allow you to be comfortable in between paychecks. if your checks are pretty consistent, transfer the same amount into your checking every pay period. it's even better if you have direct-deposit, because then you've got no excuse and you might not even realize that the money is gone. but again, if you still leave yourself enough to get through until your next check, you won't need to pull money from your safety account.

3. treat unexpected money like it's invisible
you check the mail and there's a card from your aunt who lives in minnesota wishing you a happy groundhog day. surprise, there's a $25 check inside. put it right into your savings account and forget you ever checked your mail that day.

4. even if it's not unexpected, put any extraneous money right into your savings
this includes: birthday money, holiday cash bonuses, inheritances, being repaid by a friend who borrowed money from you 3 years ago, tax returns, finding $50 in a purse you took to vegas last year, couch change..

5. start saving visually
it's true these days that there's an app for everything! i use one called wedding savings. you input how much you would like to save, the date you started saving, and your deadline. it then shows you how many more days you have left until your goal, how much you've saved vs. how much you have left to save, and how much you need to save per day and per week to meet your goal. it is the most rewarding feeling to update the app every 2 weeks and see how my savings is growing. while a wedding maybe isn't the reason you're trying to save, i'm positive they have generic savings apps you can download.


happy saving!

2/20/12

99 tiny stories

"Today, exactly 10 months after suffering from a severe stroke that nearly killed him,
my dad got up from his wheelchair without any help for the first time,
and slow danced with me during the father/daughter dance at my wedding."


somehow, i happened upon this post on this blog and i knew i had to share it with all of you.

if you surf around the website, you'll see tons of inspiring things and wonderful reminders, including how to inspire people around you, things to start doing in your relationships, simple truths.. it goes on and on.

the 99 tiny stories to make you think, smile, and cry post is just breathtaking. i will be literally sobbing after reading 10 stories - because they're heartbreaking, inspiring, wonderful, amazing... things that truly will make you think, smile, and grab for the tissues.


2/18/12

finger foodz

i was trolling weheartit.com the other day, and found the weirdest little series of photos..









have to have one??

they're here on etsy!

2/16/12

vday celebration/23 before 24

i hope you all had a fabulous valentine's day <3

i get quite festive
 even though a lot of people hate 'v-day,' i think it's a nice time to tell people how much you care about them, even if you're not in a romantic relationship.

however, i am in a romantic relationship, and i'm gonna tell you about my valentine's day - so v-day haters, click away while you can!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

when i had left for work that morning, i sneakily rigged a giant ass reese's peanut butter heart to be poking out of randy's underwear drawer so that it would shock and surprise him when he got ready. needless to say, it did.

randy came and took me to lunch in the afternoon, which he usually does on his weekday-day off, but it was fun being all giddy about it being valentine's day.

when i got home, he presented me with a whole box full of my favorite kind of chocolate from see's - bordeaux. i hadn't had any in a very long time, so luckily i still like them!


we ended up making dinner together, even though i'd planned on doing it on my own, but things got hectic as it got later and later. we made spaghetti, because that's the first meal randy ever cooked for me. sappy, yes, but it was cute. then i baked a funfetti cake, because when we were dating we made them together a lot. in fact, for our first valentine's day, which wasn't even a month after we became 'official,' we both got each other a box of valentine's day funfetti cake mix. weren't we disgustingly cute?



anyway, the point of me telling you this isn't to make the singles hate valentine's day even more..

remember my 23 before 24 list?

item number 15 reads, "make randy a fancy schmancy dinner for our 4 year anniversary," which was on january 27th.

unfortunately, i didn't get to make randy anything fancy or schmancy because i had lots of work travel both before and after our special day, which totally burned me out. so i'm kind of turning that list item into "make randy a disgustingly sentimental dinner for valentine's day."