Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Mission accomplished!!

My husband is a general contractor - right now he is working like a mad man to complete a 3 month job in 3 weeks. He's been working loooong days and getting home anywhere from 8:30pm - 11:30pm. Not my idea (or his) of awesome. I should be used to it because this happens during the last week of every job he does and really it's not that big of a deal, I'm just way too needy and have too short of an attention span to be home by myself all night, every night!
But, he's done it again...tomorrow is opening night. Woo Hoo!!!

Why am I telling you this? Because I've found the silver lining of being a lonely housewife.....I get to spend hours and hours cooking and baking and use all of our fun wedding gifts!!
Oh and I'm totally kidding about being a lonely housewife ;)

I think in my last post I mentioned that I had a new goal - to cook 2 -3 new dishes every week. And so far week one has been a great success!! I've tried 6 or so new things and it's only Wednesday!

Monday:
  • Pasta night. I have dance class and my husband is supposed to make dinner...
Tuesday: 
  • Dinner - Chicken caesar wraps, nothing new
  • Dessert - I made 3 new recipes. Warm chocolate pudding cakes (in our new Gordon Ramsey ramekins a wedding gift), caramel sauce and mint flavored whip cream
Wednesday:
  • Thai food!! I have never eaten or made Thai food thanks to a peanut and seafood allergy. But tonight I'm making chicken satay (with fake peanut butter!!) and pad thai. I haven't tried it yet, but my fingers are crossed! 
  • Dessert - I got a super cool cake pan the other day. It's a giant donut cake pan!! So I tried a new cake recipe :)
Thursday:
  • I pre-made dinner tonight to save some time tomorrow. Shepherd's Pie!! A favorite around our house. I usually top it off with garlic mashed potatoes, but tonight instead of roasting the garlic by itself I made roasted garlic with rosemary (thanks for the idea Haylie Duff  http://realgirlskitchen.com/everyone-should-know/ side note: check out her website, it's pretty cool!). I have a feeling it's going to be delicious!!
What are your favorite recipes?

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Domestic Daydreaming

I haven't checked yet, but I could be a millionaire!
Well that is if we won the lottery tonight....Chances are slim, but someone has to win right so why not me and my husband?
The reason I'm thinking about it is because I have a plan should for when we win.
I have decided that when we win the lottery, I am going to work part time at my current job and spend the rest of my time cooking and blogging about it. My super successful cooking blog/website will naturally lead to me having a cooking show.....Yeah...
There are many things in my life that bring me great joy. My kitchen and cooking/baking are near the top of that list. So why not go with it!

So since I'm still working full time at my job, I will start small - my new goal is to make 2-3 new meals per week. I told my husband this and he looked so sad. He's a tried and true, go with what you know kinda fella. He likes his comfort food - pasta, shepherd's pie, meatloaf etc. Don't get me wrong, those are some of my faves too, but I'm all about trying new things.
It's not so much the eating new things part I enjoy, it's the cooking part - the creating, learning something new and of course the finished product. If it sucks then I try to figure out how to fix it for next time (if it gets a next time!) and it's good, then that's a bonus and we decide if it's worthy to be put in the keeper pile.

All of that being said, I need to go plan our menu for next week.
I hope to have some yummy pictures for you next week :)
Keep in ind, I am not a chef. I am totally self taught and just have a total love for food, my kitchen and being a domestic housewife.
xoxo

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

In my last post I mentioned how I hadn't blogged for a really long time. I think I even said that my next post would be all about our wedding....well I've been sick for the last 5 days and don't have the energy to re-live the week leading up to the wedding, my dress, the day of and our honeymoon. But I just want to say it was the BEST. DAY. EVER!!!!!

So in place of our wedding, here is my TOP 5 list of favorite things this week :)

1. Being a Mrs.
I love being married. To those people that said things don't change when you're married - You are crazy!! Ok, enough gushing here's a few pictures of us from our wedding:




2. Bangs!
I had short blunt bangs for many many years. I needed a change so I grew them out into side swept bangs.  Then after the wedding I decided it was time for me to have bangs again. So I got them cut. Now when it comes to my bangs, I'm super picky. I hate letting people cut them. But I decided to let my amazing hairdresser cut them. He originally cut them to my eyebrows and when I said shorter (above my eyebrows) he kinda freaked out....he was worried they'd be too short. I told him that my friends and I use to cut our bangs to see who could have the shortest  bangs without standing up - so I was good with short. He kind of thinned the ends a bit which is weird to me, but I've since made them more me. Below is a picture a sent out to my girl Darcey after I got them cut (that's just what we do). So please excuse the messy bedroom, the dorky self portrait and my bad eyebrows ;)

3. Tea
I just love it. I think I'll go make some now!


4. New Girl
It's sooo good! I can't remember the last time I've laughed so hard at a tv show.
My husband said that if a show was made about me it would be New Girl.
If you haven't seen the show, watch this clip and you'll see why it's so good! Our favorite parts are between 1:39 - 1:55ish

 5. HALLOWEEN!!
Do I really need to say anything about it?

Thanks for reading!
xoxo

Sunday, October 09, 2011

It's been awhile....

It seems like forever since my last post....I guess that's cause it's been awhile. Like a couple months I think!
I have a really good excuse for ignoring my blog - I got married!!! Yep, the day finally came and I am now Mrs.B.
It was an amazing day!
My next post will be 100% wedding & honeymoon related. Unfortunately I don't have time blog about my wedding today (it's Thanksgiving and I have to help my mom prep dinner AND the Montreal Canadiens are playing the Winnipeg Jets! GO HABS GO!!!!!)
It's a long weekend, so hopefully that post will come tomorrow!!

Happy Sunday!!

P.s. Is anyone else obsessed with Keeping Up With The Kardashians?? Are you watching Kim's wedding??
I love my guilty pleasures!

xoxo

Saturday, August 06, 2011

1. LUCILLE BALL - 
 Happy Birthday Lucy!

 She is the whole package! I love love love love her!

2 & 3. Baking and cooking -
I LOVE baking and cooking!! There's something so fun about being in the kitchen and creating yummy things. It's funny because I get bored with things so fast and future hubby likes to stick with the tried and true. But he is pretty good about trying eating whatever I put in front of him.
I don't what it is about cooking and baking that I enjoy so much.  Maybe it's that I secretly want to be a 50's housewife? Or that every time I am in the kitchen I pretend I'm hosting my own cooking show?
All I know is that I planned on making pink lemonade cupcakes today but I slept in...I might still have time.

4. Bridal Magazines -
Now I don't like all of them, but I really like Brides & Wedluxe

They are both really good. Brides may be a little better though. Wedluxe is beautiful but kinda expensive for what you get. Plus I think it's aimed more towards people with $50,000 and up wedding budgets, which isn't me!

5. Saved by the Bell
I don't think anything needs to be said about this one :)

Have a good weekend!

Saturday, July 30, 2011

My 5 faves

I'm going to start this by saying, I am not proof reading this post. I will check spelling and that's it!!

1. Last Weekend - July 23 & 24 2011.
One of the Best Weekends EVER!!
I had my surprise shower! It was amazing, my best girl Darcey did a killer job. It was a 1950's New York, Mad Men theme and everyone had to bring a food dish from the 50's. Awesome. I got so spoiled. Thanks Darcey - love you!!
And, I had my first wedding dress fitting!!! I went to visit my seamstress and it's coming together beautifully!

2. Reading.
Yep, I'm a nerd. I really like reading, but I need to read books that capture me quickly. I am a very creative, imaginative person and there's always something going on in my mind. So, if I can't create the story in my head, then I'm screwed. I typically tend to read "chick lit, you know the stories - girl moves to the big city to get her dream job, has to fight for it, falls in love with the dreamy head honcho, goes through all sorts of crazy things, does embarrassing things and then the story ends with a they lived "Happily Ever After". For example, Confessions of a Shopaholic (see #4). I believe in happily ever after and all that jazz, so how could I not love books like that?
I started reading a book called Barney's Version by Mordecai Richler last September, yes September 2010 - I'm still 34 pages in....it's a hard read! I'm really interested in it, but I just can't get into it. That leads me to #3....


3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett.
A co-worker to me about this book turned into movie. It sounded really interesting to me. 
It's set in the early 1960's in Mississippi and is told from the perspective of three women - 2 maids and 1 college graduate that doesn't understand why the maids get treated the way they do. That's an extremely short/awful review (review is a strong word!), but check it out if you want a longer more detailed plot summary.
But I pretty much haven't put it down since I got it.

4. Shopping.
Hi, my name is Amanda and I'm a shopaholic. 
Just kidding it's not that bad. I'm actually very responsible with my money and don't waste it. I just really like shopping. The end.


5. Cereal.
I LOVE cereal! I go through phases where I tend to...for lack of a better word, obsess over certain foods. For instance, awhile back I ate fake peanut butter and jam sandwiches everyday for almost a month, then I got sick of it and moved on. My Our (my fiance is on board with this too!) new love - cereal. We just can't enough!!
His favorites - Captain Crunch, Froot Loops etc.
My faves - Mini Wheats (but only Blueberry and Cocoa) and Raisin Bran.

Yum! I think I need to go have breakfast!!


Happy Weekend to everybody!
And to my fellow Canadians, have a safe and fun long weekend!!

xoxo

Friday, July 22, 2011

Top 5 part 2

Last week it was so easy to do my Top 5 list of things I like. I think I did it on Tuesday....This week has been a rough one (lots of family stuff going on) so it's been hard to find lots of cheery things!
But that's life right? With the good comes the bad.
Enough of that!

Here's this week's TOP 5:

#1 -
Golden Girls!!!!
I LOVE the Golden Girls - they're the best. I'm actually watching them right now. Sophia is my favorite! I also like it when Stan comes over to visit and when they open the door he says, "Hi! It's me Stanley." ha ha ha ha ha!
Ok......

#2 - Songs with whistling.
It seems that there are so many songs right now with whistling in them. It's awesome and summery and makes me happy!

#3 - My new radio!!
I had to move desks at work and my new spot is so quiet (and kinda lonely) so I got a radio. I'm the kind of person that NEEDS to have background music. I always have music or the TV on. So I got this wonderful little radio last night and now I can listen to my favorite radio station 100.5 The Peak (http://thepeak.fm/) while at work.
They play such good variety of music! And it's work appropriate. For the most part ;-)

#4 -Ximena SariƱana
This ties in with #2 and #3 - I actually fist heard her on the peak ^  and the song I heard has whistling in it!
Here's her website: http://www.ximenamusic.com/
And there's a video for her song Different on the main page - love it!

#5 - My friends!

I love them so much. They have been so supportive and caring during all the stuff that I've been dealing with.
And look that - this ties in with #1 the Golden Girls!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Top 5

I've decided that every week I am going to do a top 5 list of things I like.

# 1. Nail polish. I seriously cannot go to a store without looking at nail polish. I never have naked nails. i just can't do it. My usual color is red, but I am currently obsessed with the Sally Hansen salon effects.

 #2. All things nautical - stripes, boats, anchors, art, sailors, the ocean. I love it all. Especially this dress....
http://www.thefashionpolice.net/


#3 - September 3, 2011 - Our wedding day <3
#4 - Zooey Deschanel - She is by far one of my most favorite singers and obviously has a great sense of style. I wish I could pull of her bangs. Unfortunately I can only do short Bettie Page bangs or long side swept. Maybe I'll have to try them again this fall.

This is actually ties in with number 4. It's a relatively new (I think) website that was started by Zooey Deschanel and 2 of her friends - Sophia Rossi and Molly McAleer. It's awesome. I could tell you about it, but I think it's best if you just go check it out :)

Hope you enjoy!

Saturday, July 02, 2011

Summer....are you finally here??

Yesterday was the first day since the official first day of summer that it actually felt like summer. We have had a rough spring and start to summer - part of the fun of living in Vancouver, BC. I really don't care though, I love Vancouver.
Maybe it was due to the fact the yesterday was Canada Day. I love 3 day weekends especially when I get paid for them :)
In all reality, I think this is what made yesterday feel like summer:
Granville Island's False Creek Raspberry Ale. DELIGHTFUL!!!
If you can find it, I highly recommend it!!

That's all I have to say today - I have to go get ready for NOFX tonight!!

Friday, July 01, 2011

I have fallen in love....

with this website:
http://emmalinebride.com/
It is AMAZING!!! Seriously check it out! It's full of so much pretty stuff - weddings, shoes, cupcakes. What more could you want??!!

Well I just had to share that :)

Friday, June 24, 2011

Old lady talking cake on a Friday night??

I just read something funny on a wedding forum, it said - something like, "I remember when my Friday nights used to begin at 11 pm, not end."
I laughed a little, actually a lot when I read that. We (me and the future Mr.) often have that conversation. When we first started dating, we were out every single night. Now 3 years later, we sit at home on a Friday night watching Sex and the City and American Dad marathons playing Tetris and blogging. Oh, and making a Saturday To Do list. And you know what? I wouldn't change it for the world :)

Speaking of To Do lists, I'm actually looking forward to tomorrows list - it involves shopping!!
It's one of the first weekends in soooo long that we can just do what we want. So, because we're getting married in just over 2 months, we thought we better do some wedding related stuff.  That's where the shopping comes in. We're heading to this wonderful store called Dress Sew. It's this huge fabric & notions store that has everything! We're going to get ribbon and "pearls" for our cake (I'll get to the cake in a minute). We met with our cake lady a few weeks ago and decided on everything.
Our cake lady is great! She's been friends with my mom since they were  little kids and makes cakes as a hobby and because it's a hobby, she only charges for supplies - we're getting an amazing deal on a 4 tier cake :)

Cake time!!

After searching through a bunch of pictures, we came up with a few that we liked pieces of. Here they are:
#1

#2

#3

#4

#5
We really liked the designs of the first 4 (minus the swirly designs, bows & fruit etc). We liked the polka dots (for lack of better words) and the pearls around each tier. And picture #5 we liked the design and the ribbon (minus the flowers).

Our cake:
  • It's going to be 4 tiers with 4 delicious flavors:
    Tier #1 (bottom) - chocolate with chocolate cream filling
    Tier #2 - Vanilla with buttercream filling
    Tier #3 - Lemon with lemon custard filling
    Tier #4 (top) - Rice Krispies!! This is something that the Mr. joked about. We then decided it was an awesome idea! We're going to take it back to the hotel with us after the wedding :)
  • The cake will be covered in white fondant
  • She's going to put charcoal ribbon around the bottom of each tier and then pearls (fake of course!) around the ribbon - like pic #5 except they won't be icing
  • And then she's going to put the pearls randomly all over the cake
I think it's going to be beautiful!

But I think our cake toppers will take the cake - wow that was cheesy and bad, even for me....
The cake toppers are a surprise just because they will be so awesome!

All this talk of cake, makes me want some!!!!
Yummy!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Adventures in Being Engaged - Part 1

I’m pretty sure 90% of my blog posts either start or end with an apology – "sorry if  it’s all over the place or sorry, that was all over the place". So to keep the tradition going….I’m sorry about my rambling, especially if you’re left scratching your head wondering what I'm talking about or how it's possible to get so off track☺


Oh, and it's a long post.

So here's Part 1 -

So my dear boy and I recently celebrated our 6 Month Engagement Anniversary (AmanDave (yes, that's our names combined) tidbit - we celebrate everything and by celebrate I mean make jokes about it, but still mention it because it's cute and important. I know, we're ridiculous!)
We’ve been engaged 6 months…that’s crazy. What’s even crazier is that we’re getting married in just over 2 months!!
Being engaged has been awesome.
It’s weird because even though we were 100% committed to each other before getting engaged, now it’s like it’s really for real. We’re both ready to take the next step and start our own little life and family. It’s exciting. 
People always say that things change when you get married and of course I believe them, but it’s hard to know what they’re talking about until you’re there. If being engaged has changed us this much I can’t wait until we’re married.

*Insert any cheesy clichƩ you can think of! *

Wedding Planning:
Planning our wedding has been so fun!
It was our goal to be stress free and have fun while planning.
We got engaged December 17, 2010. It was great timing because we were both about to start our 2 weeks of Christmas Holidays.
Before New Years Eve, we had our venues and photographer booked and my dressmaker was already thinking about my dress. By April, we had all the big stuff done – caterers, DJ, flowers, favors, candles, center pieces, hotel, wedding rings, hair & makeup, people to marry us etc.
So many people made fun of us (mostly me!) for getting things done so early. But now, as we sit waiting for the day to come, we have very little to do. So….Mission Accomplished – stress free ☺

The people marrying us are actually dear friends of ours. I’m excited about that because I really wanted someone we knew and felt comfortable with to do the deed. To me (actually both of us), the ceremony is the most important part of the day.  It’s really what the day is about. Telling all of our friends and family that this is it, we’re in for the long haul.
Here’s a bit of info about our friends - they are in their early 50’s, have been married for 30+ years, have 4 kids, 5 grandchildren and are so ridiculously in love….it’s almost sickening! They are the epitome of marriage “role models”.
I know that sounds dumb, but it makes sense in my head ;)
 
Before they marry us they require us to do pre-marital counseling. We were totally OK with the idea of pre-marital counseling. We’re big talkers, we’ve covered pretty much every subject possible. So why wouldn’t we want tips and tricks on what to expect and how to deal with the hiccups that come with marriage?
So far it’s been great – a big learning experience for both of us.
After our last session, we were just chatting with them over coffee. We were talking about the wedding and our priorities.
I mentioned that I’m beyond excited for our wedding and can’t wait to be married and be D’s wife.
I explained that all the details are just that, details.
K (the wife of the operation) made a really interesting comment that I found to be so true. She said, “You’re not in love with romance, you’re in love with D and that’s great.”
And I agree, it is great!

On that note....what was the most important thing to you on your wedding day?

xoxo

Sunday, June 19, 2011

It's been so long!

I just realized that it has been FOREVER since I've blogged!!
I'm not really sure why - maybe I've had nothing interesting to say, or maybe because I've been busy. Or maybe it's a little of both.
I've actually really missed it, so this week I'm getting back to it.
xoxo

Stay tuned......

Saturday, May 07, 2011

NAILS!!!

It's been awhile since I've blogged!

Lots has happened over the last couple weeks -
  • Most importantly - this week I was offered a permanent full time position with my company! I've been covering a mat leave that was supposed to end in August, but everything fell in to place and a position came open. I've worked my ass off to get this job, it's pretty much my dream job :-)
    I accepted!
  • Also - we started our gift registry
  • We went through our "TO DO" list to see just how much we have left (it's actually not that bad!)
  • We finalized our menu & invitation wording
  • We set up a date to start our required pre-marital counselling
  • Tomorrow we have a meeting with our photographer
  • We have a design for our centerpieces and ordered what we need for them and the list goes on and on and on!YAY!
  • AND....the bridesmaids attire has been selected and the girls love the dress! They are so cute! Kinda want one for myself ;-)

Bridesmaid dresses! They are getting the same colors as the picture!



So with all that out of the way, my topic of the day!
Minx Manicures!
http://www.minxnails.com/
I've wanted one for so long. When I first discovered them, I wasn't able to find a place around here that did them. I think there are a few salons now that do!  I'll have to do some more research!
Basically they are like stickers/appliques for you nails that are supposed to last up to 10 days - Major bonus for me because I end up painting my nails every 3 - 5 days! I'm pretty hard on my nails I guess....
I was looking at a magazine the other day and saw that Sally Hansen (and Sephora) makes their own version of Minx manicures. So of course I had to try them. I was pleasantly surprised. Once you get the hang of putting them on it's easy. I applied them Tuesday and they still look good!
Here's a crappy iPhone picture (the design is a little gaudy, but I like them)

Have any of you had a Minx Manicure before?
What about a shellac manicure?

I'm on the hunt for something (other than gels/acrylics - they always hurt my finger and I pull them off) that is going to last prior to the wedding!

Have a good weekend!

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Now I'm sure we all saw this coming....

Everybody's "thoughts" about Will & Kate's wedding. 
I have to say I was shocked by how many people criticized the way Kate looked on her wedding day. People were actually saying that she looked plain and wore her hair and makeup like she does everyday. Really?
I thought she looked lovely. They both did. More importantly they looked so happy!
A lot of people on the wedding boards that I visit started topics like "What bothered you about the wedding?", "Who looked better Kate or Pippa?", "Why did Kate look so everyday?"

I found it funny because the topic of how I'm going to look on our wedding day has be a hot-ish topic amongst some of my friends and me.

One of my friends was bugging me about getting contacts. I heard it all. Why would you want to hide behind glasses? Why don't you want to show off your beautiful green eyes? Blah....Blah....Blah!
I am most comfortable in my glasses - I wear them all the time. I hate not having them on.  I admit I almost got caught up in doing all the things I didn't want to, (getting contacts, wearing my hair and makeup in a way that wasn't me etc.) but then after talking to my future hubby, it hit me. This day is about US. Nobody else but us. And, on our wedding day I want to be me. I want to look like me, act like me , just be me. Sure I could stand to lose some weight, get contacts, and wear princess hair and makeup, but why? When I look at our wedding pictures I want to see the girl that my fiance fell in love with. I want to see Dave & Amanda.
I really don't want to spend one of the most important days of my life looking like someone I'm not. Plus I can almost guarantee that if I wore my hair and makeup in a totally different style than normally then by the reception I would have re-done it myself ;-)
When I explained it that way to my friends, I got lots of apologies. Ha ha!

So yeah, that's about it....

For those of you that cared, what did you think about the wedding?

Thursday, April 28, 2011

My new guilty pleasure....

I had such good intentions to blog over the long weekend (the sweet sweet long weekend). I had so many thoughts running through my head, but the weekend was so busy and every time I had a chance to post, my mind went blank!

So today's post is all about my new guilty pleasure....Will & Kate's wedding. Yes, I'm on a first name basis with them.
Our wedding is only 4 months away (crazy!) and I'm getting so giddy and feeling extra excited! We always joke about how the royal wedding is stealing our wedding thunder. Yep, we're dorks ;-)
Back to Will & Kate - I'm looking forward to the fashion. Kate's dress, the guests, what the Queen will be wearing. I'm sure the clothes will be amazing!
But Kate's dress....Are there "rules" as to what style of dress she has to wear? Does it have to have sleeves? So many questions!!!

Imagine the stress she must be feeling! Getting married to royalty in front of thousands billions of people and having it all on TV. I hope they enjoy their wedding. I'm sure they're both so happy that they don't even care.

My aunt made a good point the other day. She asked if I was going to be watching the wedding. Then made a comment about how it's nice to have something world wide to be excited about especially while so many bad things are going on. Good point!

I admit I wasn't fully hooked until this evening when I "accidentally" started watching the made for TV movie about Kate and William. I LOVE made for TV movies, wedding movies and movies that have happy endings!
Tonight was date night with the Mr. so I had to PVR the rest of the movie. But I told him I had a movie for him to watch when we got home. Ha ha!

So....are you excited??
What are your thoughts on the wedding? Are you gettign up at 2am? Do you care?

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Half way there. Already???

I apologize in advance if this post is all over the place! There's a movie being filmed outside of our apartment and a 6:58am the loud trucks started to roll in - it woke me up and I'm tired!!!

This weekend is the first weekend in about 2 months that my fiance is off. He's a contractor and does mill work. A lot of the jobs he does are in bars, restaurants and pubs in Vancouver. Well a few months ago he got his first huge job as a general contractor. So that means he has been working 7 days a week/10-15 hours a day. Gross!
That meant a whole lot of not seeing him. So what I would do is make dinner for 10+ people and deliver it to them. I hate eating alone! Plus I knew if I wasn't feeding them, all those men would go hungry. And mostly, it was nice to spend 10 minutes with my Mr.
 I know his crew (his workers, the painters, sound guys etc.) really well now. We all became this great little family.

So the job is done and we have the weekend together. We are both excited!!!

I think today we are going to look at wedding rings/bands!

I'm not very educated in diamonds. Stuff like size and cut aren't important to me, before getting engaged I never looked at rings or had a "dream engagement ring".
The fact that Dave spent months researching rings and found the perfect ring for me is amazing. When it comes to fancy rings, he knows what I like better than me. Ha ha!
I would've been happy with a ring from a vending machine.
Shhhhhh! Don't tell Dave ;-)
I can't find a very good picture of my ring on my finger, but here it is:






Wedding bands - I have a couple ideas in mind.

I originally thought I wanted a gypsy set wedding band. But as I started to look a little more I wasn't sure. I don't want anything flashy - it's just not me. I want something simple and classic.   
Gypsy set
I kind of like this one. But it may not suit my engagement ring?
I think this may be the winner - I'll have to see what they look like together!
 Thoughts???


Last night the (future) Mr and I went for dinner to the place where we got engaged. I guess we're  half way there....We've been engaged 4 months and are getting married in 4.5 months!
Like every other engaged or married person out there, I LOVE telling the story of how he proposed. It's so us!
It was December 17th - my last day of work before 2 weeks off for Christmas Holidays! I called Dave to see what was going on. He told me he was doing some shopping at Metrotown (a huge mall in our city) because he had been at a flooring place across the street. My response...Are you buying me presents? Lots and lots of presents??? I was joking because Dave never shops early for Christmas. He's a December 24th kinda guy. I assumed he went there with plans to shop, would get frustrated and leave.
So anyways we planned to meet at our usual Friday night hang out.
Dave arrived and yes, he was acting weird, but I knew he hadn't been feeling well. He ordered a ginger ale and not beer (I should've known something was going on!). Dave asked where I wanted to go for dinner. I said let's just go home and order in. He insisted we went out. He asked if I wanted to go the Keg (a fancy steak house) and all these other nice places. I said no to all of them. I thought a little and said, Let's go to Swiss Chalet. Dave loves it there and I figured that if he wasn't feeling well, then comfort food would be perfect. He asked if I was sure I said, "Yes sir!"
So off we went to Swiss Chalet....
We got there and it was very busy (little did I know that it would turn out to be a good thing!). They put us in this private corner booth and left us alone. Now Dave and I have had this silly tradition since day 1, whenever the two of us go out for dinner we pretend it's a first date or job interview - we chose job interview.
We went through the whole process and I asked what the benefits of this position were. His answer - that I would get to love him forever. Ha ha!
Then he said before I offer you the position I need to know if you'll marry me. And he pulled out the ring.
What? Are you serious? Yep that was my response....Followed by YES!
And about 10 minutes later our food came!

It turned out the he hadn't been looking at flooring. He went to the mall to buy my ring....that day!

I was SHOCKED. I had no idea at all. It was funny because all the girls at work were asking if I thought he was going to propose over Christmas. I said, "There's no way Dave is going to propose at a time when it's expected (Christmas, Valentines Day, our anniversary)".
He showed me!

It was the perfect proposal :-)

What's your story?

UPDATE:
We ended up getting our wedding bands today! We went to look and get ideas and left with one less thing to do!
I think the picture below is it. I can see it in my head, but once I went to the website to look at it again, I wasn't sure.
  Dave got his too. Again, totally different than what he thought he wanted. His is so nice and looks good on his finger. It was such a sweet event. We get to pick them up next weekend.
The one sucky thing, I sent my ring to get polished and cleaned and won't have it back until next Friday or Saturday. Boooo! But on the plus side it will look pretty again!

Saturday, April 09, 2011

Wedding question of the day....

Gloves or no gloves??
My mom asked me the other day if I was going to wear gloves. My response - hmmmm....I hadn't thought about that.
I've  actually been thinking about it lots lately.
I think it would super cute! I'm not talking long to my elbow or above gloves, but the cute short ones. I wore some to grad (scary fact...I graduated almost 13 years ago...Holy crap!!!!) and when I look at my pictures, they stand out a look great! I think so anyways!
My wedding dress has a vintage feel to it as did my grad dress. I think I can pull it off.
If I do, I'll have to think of some clever way to take them off at the ceremony to avoid looking awkward of course ;-)

Check out some pictures I found and let me know what you think.
My dress is being made as we speak, and I don't want to post the picture that inspires it, but think of a vintage, 50's style dress.
Most of these pictures are from http://ruffledblog.com/

LOVE these gloves!!


So...Gloves or No gloves??

Monday, April 04, 2011

Wedding update

5. More. Months!
Yep - only 5 more months. 152 days. Less than half a year and we're getting married.
Crazy!
It's funny because 5 months seems kinda long, but it's not. I pretty much know that these next few months are going to fly by.

So this past week has been somewhat productive. I use the word somewhat loosely ;)
  • Our favors arrived and they are amazing! I know I've posted a picture before, but I just love them. 
I was so impressed when I opened up the box - they were packaged nicely, they are quite big and the color is great. And we got them for a reasonable price too - bonus!

  • I met with the florist on Saturday and gave my deposit. I saw some of her work and it was awesome! Our flowers are going to be so nice!
  • But with the good comes the bad.....I found my wedding shoes on Zappos. I needed (yes, needed) to have them. They were soooo pretty. They arrived and I picked them up on Friday and when I went to try them on, they were way too narrow :( I couldn't even fit my toes into them. Bummer. Oh well - I guess I just have to go shopping!!
I know I've posted a picture before, but here it is again...
  • We also picked our first song
  • And I've started looking into invitation wording. I thought that would be a simple task, but I'm finding it to be kind of tricky. We want something simple, not too wordy, but cute and quirky. I don't know what we did before google!

So I guess things are slowly coming together.

And on that note....time for bed!

Good Night!!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Spring has sprung!!!

Spring is officially here! I think in the past week and a half we had 2 days of sun. Hey, two days is two days...I'll take what I can get! I'm totally the girl that wears capris and skirts without tights at the first sign of sun.
But my favorite thing about spring? Cherry Blossoms!!
The trees are in full bloom and look amazing! I always imagine Dave and I riding our cruisers down the street as the cherry blossoms fall on us. We're on our way to have a picnic of course ;)
A picture of my street would be a good right here ------->
But I don't have one :(
Maybe tomorrow!

I made my first spring wardrobe purchase the other day. Well about 2 weeks ago.
I never shop online -  I hate not being able to try things on. But I saw this dress and had to have it! When I finally got around to buying it, it was 60 or 70% off. Score!! Another reason why I don't shop online is because I hate waiting for it to come! Maybe tomorrow it will come....

So now to complete the outfit I need a new pair of red heels!

I also kind of want a pair of nude heels.
Like these (minus the skulls)

What's on your spring wardrobe wish list?

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

"Big Girls Need Big Diamonds"

I chose the title of this blog for a couple reasons....Well it started out as one reason, that being, "Big Girls Need Big Diamonds" is one of several famous quotes that the beautiful Elizabeth Taylor once said.
As I'm sure everybody knows she passed away this morning.
There are many more deeper things she has said, but that one makes me laugh a little (we'll get to that later!)
Elizabeth Taylor was so lovely. Of course I didn't know her, but from what I've read, she did great things for AIDS related charities, she spoke her mind and she was very passionate about what she believed in. I admire passionate people who aren't afraid to speak their minds.
One thing that sticks out in my mind is that Elizabeth Taylor once said that she would rather be remembered for the humanitarian work she did over the awards she had won or the movies she made. Beautiful!

When I started to look for wedding dress ideas she was one of the first people I googled. Seriously she was a professional bride - 8 marriages!!

Rest in Peace  Dame Elizabeth Taylor:



Even when she was older and sick she still looked amazing!

There had to be at least 1 wedding picture and why not from the 80's??!!

So the second reason why I named this post "Big Girls Need Big Diamonds" is because it totally makes me laugh. Here's why. When future hubby bought my engagement ring he was dealing with this amazing woman - 10 pounds of makeup, bleach blond hair, tonnes of jewellery (I got to see when we went to get my ring sized ;) She asked what size my finger was, he had no idea (neither did I) but he said something like "Oh, she always says she has big fingers."
The lady's response, "Big fingers need big diamonds"
Every time I read the title, I think of her saying that. In all reality, it's probably only funny to me and Dave....

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Mr & Mrs

Every now and then our tiny 1 bedroom 750 square foot apartment looks like a bomb has gone off. Right now it's at that point. It's messy. Not cluttered or unorganized, but full blown messy. Of course I'm not proud to admit it, but it's the truth.  We have both been so incredibly busy that cleaning is not a priority. Over the last few weeks it's really started to bother me. Maybe it's the fact that it's spring and I'm excited to be able open my windows & blinds and let the sun in or maybe I'm sick of us living in something that resembles a frat boys dorm. Ok, it's not that bad!
Then it hit me today that maybe I'm starting to nest.
In a few more months, (ok, about 5 1/2) we're getting married. I'm going to be a wife. I'm going to have a husband. We're not kids anymore...we're grown ups and taking the next step in our lives and I'm more than ready! It's a pretty great thing to realize that. It just feel right.
Is this something that that all engaged/soon to be married couples think and feel? I truly believe being married will feel different, in the best way possible.

Now, this picture/article kind of ties into everything I'm thinking about today.
 I know there's a chance this may be fake, but could you imagine if it was real? I'm all over the whole domestic 50's housewife thing, but come on. I grew up in a very old school house - my mom stayed home and took care of the kids and the family business, while my dad went to work.
From a young age, I knew if I ever got married, my marriage would be different. I'm stubborn and independent, what can I say?? ;)
That last sentence totally contradicts my statement about "being all over the 50's housewife thing". But it makes sense to me. I can totally do it - I can work a full time job and be successful at it, have a tidy house, make delicious suppers and raise a family. I already know how I'm going to do it. I wish that I had some great world changing secret but it's actually quite simple....marry someone that you know is going to help you. Simple right??!!
I think so! Finding that person can be a challenge, but once you do find them, easy peasy!

Sometimes I tire myself out when I re-read my posts. So I apologize if my crazy ways tucker you out too. I just have so many thoughts - one thought leads to another and then another. You get what I'm saying right?

So all of that being said, I should finish cleaning so we too can have the kind of place where our friends can "pop" in for coffee :)

Happy Sunday!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

To Do VS. Done

We bought a dry erase board the other day to help get ourselves organized and see what's left to do for the wedding.
We decided to have to have 2 columns: TO DO & DONE. I was shocked when I saw how much stuff was on our To Do list. (here's a crappy picture taken on my iPhone)

Yeah....We thought we were ahead of the game - oh we're so naive!
But we do have all the big things done like catering, my dress, shoes, venues, hair & makeup. And today we ordered our favors :)
Yep, two peas in a pod salt and pepper shakers! I have been in love with these since my brother got married 3 or 4 years ago. He really wanted these but his fiance wouldn't let him they chose something different. So brother will finally get one!
These are silly and cute and quirky - that's pretty much me and Dave.

Well, my Martha Stewart Weddings magazine is calling me :)

Good night!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Made for TV movie/life?

Wow...what a weekend! It's Wednesday now and I'm fully 100% recovered!
I started writing this last night and at that point I was almost recovered....yes almost! Apparently I'm old and recovering is not as easy as it used to be.

I really did start writing this last night, unfortunately some major drama occurred and I lost all my inspiration (and my mind). Everything is good now and really that's all that matters!

When I started to read over what I had written last night it made me think about being in school and having to write a "My Weekend" or "What I Did on Summer Vacation" essay.
Then it hit me....I have never actually done that. I always wanted to, but in real life it never happened.
I guess that's more of a made for TV movie kind of thing.
Maybe to most people those are boring topics, but I was always the kind of kid that was super animated and dramatic (not a drama queen, just dramatic!). I loved telling stories and lived in a fairytale world. Everywhere I went I made up stories for people I met and saw.
And really, not much has changed - I still make up stories for people I don't know, tell giant tales, try and get people to laugh and still live in a Happily Ever After World :)


So here it is.....
My Weekend!

Just kidding ;)
The weekend was so long ago.

Today my mind is on our wedding. Flowers in particular.

Here's the story -

On Saturday afternoon I was at home hanging out and hoping to watch some bad/awesome Saturday afternoon movies.
The Wedding Planner was on....score!!! I've always thought that  Jennifer Lopez movies were made for Saturday afternoons.

Oddly enough, as I'm watching it my mom calls. I could tell something was up cause she was being kinda quiet. Soon enough I found out....My mom is a travel agent and she is part of this wedding networking group. Basically she recommends photographers, decorators etc. to her clients that are getting married and in return the other professionals recommend her for travel.

So she's at this meeting and the chair of the committee is talking about this flower shop that has recently stopped operating. Long story short, it's the flower shop that we had planned on using. And by planned on using I mean we had already had an hour meeting with them, worked out arrangements and left a deposit. I was bummed because I LOVED the place and the lady was awesome. She totally got me. She filled in the blanks, she finished my floral sentences, she was my flower soul mate. Ha ha ha! No really....
It's been a dream of mine to open my own flower shop since I was about 5 (thanks to Janet on Three's Company!).

So yeah, that kinda sucked :(

The plus side is, that we have lots of time. But I really really really wanted flowers from them. Boooo!

*Update - I talked to the floral director of the place today. She told me a little about what was going on. The flower shop is a non-profit organization and at this time their funding has been cut and they have no grants. The plan is to re-open in the next few months. They truly do amazing things! One of which is that they help unemployed women get back on their feet and put them through floral design school. And their work is beautiful!
So anyways, the director and the lady I met with are still going to do the wedding flowers if we're interested. They have rented design space at their wholesalers and will be doing contract work to do the wedding flowers.
I'm kinda excited that it may happen....It's something to think about for sure!

So flowers.....*sigh*
Our flowers are going to be pretty classic/vintage  - 3 shades of white roses with vintage brooches incorporated. Something like these:

 I found this on http://www.angelahubbard.com/
Kind of like this, but with a vintage brooch on the ribbon 


Again, kinda like this bouquet, but white roses and ivory ribbon

Friday, March 11, 2011

The dress hunt continues!

I am always on the hunt for the perfect dress. I LOVE dresses! I have 2 that I wear regularly. Only 2...it's quite sad actually....I am really picky when it comes to buying clothes, especially dresses. I can only wear certain styles - classic, straight, kind of 50's style (not poofy or circle skirt bottoms, more like pencil skirt bottom).
My seamstress, (I call her mine because she made my maid of honor dress last year and she's making my wedding dress!!!!) said it best, dresses that poof out make me look stumpy! It's true!
Pencil skirts/pencil dresses make me feel good! I like dresses that accentuate my waist and cover up my wobbly bits ;) I am also particular about length. I have very muscular calves, thanks to 20+ years of highland dancing, so if dresses hit a certain length it looks all kinds of bad!

So, I have several reasons why I need some new dresses:
  • My Wedding Shower
  • My Stagette maybe?
  • Rehearsal Dinner
  • Gift opening maybe?
  • Bar openings - my fiance builds and does bar/pub/restaurant renos, so we need go to the openings and I have to look good right??!! That makes me sound so important. Trust me I'm not!
Here's some cute dresses I like. Most of them are from www.polyvore.com



www.modcloth.com 

I love the shape of this dress and the fact that it's plaid!
Vivienne Westwood



Gucci   
Hoss Intropa





 


Rodarte


So question of the day - what's your favorite style of dress? Do you like dresses?