Real Weddings: Lisa and Adam's Rehearsal Dinner

This weekend could not have been a better time.. like there is no possible way.  The wedding and all of it's events were so full of love and happiness you couldn't help yourself from just constantly smiling.  Lisa was one of those brides that really acted like herself throughout the entire process.  When she wasn't getting ready she was in the corner doing Zumba with the girls, I mean talk about a happy bride. I am going to split this recap up into two days since I have so much to share with you!

OK.. so how freaking amazing does she look?  I can't stop telling her / showing everyone who will look.  I am obsessed.  Also, how pretty do my roomies look?

Yeah. My bow bouquet looks good.  I showed you all how to make it here if you remember.

Oh just some of my favorite people.

My favorite part of the night.. our speech.  I will share more details on it later this week, but look how happy our bride was.  Yeah we rocked it. (Thanks Sobel for capturing it for me!)

Be back tomorrow with more wedding fun!

My Best Friend's Wedding!

OMG OMG OMG OMFG  tomorrow is my best friend's wedding!  She has been dating Adam since he asked her to homecoming freshman year of high school, and tomorrow she will finally call him her husband.

Lisa, I couldn't be more excited and honored to stand by your side as you marry the love of your life.  This weekend is going to be epic and I can't wait to look back on it for years to come.  My only complaint is that I will not be able to call you Siderballs anymore... so I guess Silverballs will have to do.

Love you.

Oh.. just the first picture we ever took together as freshman roomies.  

Happy Anniversary!

Today, David and I have been together 4 years.  I cannot believe how far we have come.  This day is so special because it is officially our last anniversary as a dating couple.  This is the last time we will celebrate on December 13th.

Love you so much, Davie, and can't wait to change our celebration day to August 24th!

Oh What a Night

Last night was such a great time.  My friend Courtney went all out and had us all arrive at a secret location for a special activity.  Since I am sneaky I figured out beforehand we were going ice skating.  For those of you that don't know, ice skating used to consume my entire life.  I skated before school, after school and in high school even instead of gym.  I had a pretty bad injury when I was 13, but it really didn't affect me.  When I got to high school I was juggling too many activities and I decided I needed to pick poms or skating.  I went with poms and really never looked back.

I don't think I have been on the ice in probably 10 years.  Naturally, I brought my own skates to the activity.  I don't know if I had taken the wrong pair from home or what, but when I put them on and noticed they were from 1998 (there was artwork on the bottom that was dated 11/98) I really felt old.  However, when I got the skates on and stepped out on the ice it really felt like I had never gotten off.

You have to remember this is like the most beat up ice ever and there are hundreds of people trying to skate all around me, but I did make my way to the center a few times.

Anyways, it was such a fun night and I really enjoyed sharing with the girls!

Weekend Recap

I would SO love to fill this post with the pretty pictures I took on my phone to recap this weekend, but someone STOLE my phone from me on Saturday night!  So sad and now I have to spend the Hanukkah gelt I got on a new phone.  UGH!

Other than that I had a great weekend.  Friday, we went to dinner with friends and had a much needed relaxing night.

Saturday day I spent some time working on our speech for Lisa this weekend.  I am thinking  I am going to have to share it on here it is that good!

Saturday night we celebrated the first night of Hanukkah (luckily I posted this on facebook so I was able to share it!)

Sunday, we relaxed all day and had a family holiday party.

I plan to get a new phone today.. sorry David I apologize for snatching your upgrade.

Tonight I have a friends holiday party and I am so excited to find out who my secret Santa was!

Bridesmaid Speech Tip #1

I am currently busy making what we (and when I say we I mean my college friends) think is the best bridesmaid speech ever.  It is consuming my brain so I figured I would share some tips with ya'll over the next few days.

Winter Rehearsal Dinner

Can anyone else believe it is already December?  The fact that it was 68 degrees here yesterday doesn't help, but also for me time seems to be flying by.  I really cannot believe Lisa is getting married next weekend.  She had an eighteen month engagement (like we are having) and the big day is around the corner.  I truly cannot wait to stand by her side.  However, I need to figure out what to wear to her rehearsal dinner, and then I can be fully ready to go.

As a bridesmaid I always recommend wearing something you love to the rehearsal dinner.  Remember, you get to pick this dress so have a little fun with it!

1  Plenty by Tracy Reese  Dress / 2  Malene Birger  Necklace / 3  Yves Saint Laurent   Clutch /         4  Commando  Tights / 5  Barneys New York CO-OP  Ankle Boot 

Blogshop.. The Aftermath

If you are a blogger and you have not taken Blogshop yet, I suggest you sign up in a city near you immediately.  I am talking RUN to their website.  It was one of the best learning experiences I have ever had.  I feel I have a whole new outlook on blogging as an art form and I cannot wait to show you all my new techniques.  Not only did I learn a ton, I also met so many amazing people that had so much advice to give.  

If you think I have been slacking lately on the posts, well it's because I had so many ideas and I was just waiting to learn a little bit before I used them.  Be prepared to learn even more on what it takes to be a professional bridesmaid (in a much more appealing way)

Because honestly all I ask is that you....

BLOGSHOP

I am about to pack up at work to head to the airport for the fourth and final weekend in a row.  It has been a crazy November, and I am looking forward to being in Chicago this coming December (at least for a few weekends).  Today I am off to Miami by myself.  I have never taken a trip anywhere alone and this should be super interesting.

You may wonder why I am heading to Miami alone, let's just say it is a weekend of self-improvement.  JK, that may be true but really its a weekend of blog improvement.  I am heading down there to take a course from BlogShop.

I have tried to teach myself Photoshop, but when I came across this course designed for bloggers I really couldn't pass it up.  I was telling a friend this morning this is the first time I am personally paying for a class just because I want to learn, not because I need too.

So I am really looking forward to enhancing this blog for all of you, and giving myself some much needed down time.  I didn't even pack clothes to go out in even if I happen to make a few friends in the class.

(Don't worry I am staying at my parents condo in Miami where I have like 3 dresses and a pair of heels in case I change my mind, oh and I also threw in a clutch just in case)

But really, I plan to take the class and just sit on the balcony and relax.

I promise to not only bring back pictures, but if I really learn as much as they say I will, I plan to have a pimped out post for Monday (as well as too many selfies).

Secret Santa

With the holidays around the corner, I am on the lookout for the perfect gift to get my secret Santa.  Last year all my high school friends got together and played a little secret Santa and it was so fun we decided to do it again.  I think my favorite part is that we get to use the website elfster.com.  It is such a cute website that allows you to select items you may want and it also randomly assigns who we have for us.

I have been thinking what to get my girl for a while and these are a few top runners.  The best part is all of these items come from some of my favorite brands and they are each under $100.

Diptyque / Laura Mercier / Kate Spade / House of Harlow / Asos / L'Occitane

P.S. if you are one of my friends in the Secret Santa group and you like any of these please comment below.

P. P. S. Happy birthday Kimberly xoxo!!

Thanks!!

Powerball... What Would you Do?

All this buzz about the Powerball today really has me thinking... what would I really do if I won.  So here is my pledge to myself if I were to win tonight, or ever win the lottery.

• Pay my parents back for EVERYTHING they have ever done for me with like 900% interest (I am assuming David would want to do the same)
• Start a huge trust fund for my nephew Spencer
• Take my Mom and sister on a shopping spree.. we are talking Bal Harbour Mom and Melissa 
• Buy everyone of my bridesmaids the bag of their dreams.. Birkins are permitted.
• Buy one of those mansions right on my street that is about the same size as my 20 floor apartment building
• Purchase a Range Rover for David and a Bentley for me 
• Donate to the Chicago French Bulldog Rescue 
• Donate to the Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
• INVEST

So there you have it that is what I SAY I would do if I won the jackpot.  I am sure I would want to do so much more, but all you ever hear is how fast everyone spends it.  I bet my blog would change a little, but I would hope my life and the people in it would stay the same.  

What would you do?  

How amazing would my post be tomorrow if I got to say okay, so I won!!

lol a girl could dream.

Lisa's Bachelorette Party

Okay, so I really can't believe it took me this long to post about one of the most incredible weekends I have ever had.  It was one of those bachelorette parties where everyone was just so genuinely happy for the bride and couldn't wait to celebrate her.

For those of you that don't know my friendship with Lisa let me explain.  She and I went to camp together for six years, but it wasn't until we were put in the same cabin as co-counselors that we really bonded.  We had the best summer ever and we promised we would stay close.  She was planning on going to Tulane and I was planning on going to Wisconsin, so we really didn't see a future as that good of friends.  Well, about three days before the college acceptance deadline I called Lisa to see if her sister had any recommendations on who I should live with at Texas, I explained I decided to switch.  Lisa just happened to be in Austin that weekend and decided she couldn't miss the opportunity to live their for four years and had changed her mind THAT day.  So with a little bit of fate and a whole lot of luck, Lisa and I began our college journey together as roommates and best friends.

The weekend was so special because almost all of her best friends and bridesmaids were able to attend.    There was a little bit of college reminiscing, but most importantly we kept the focus on our main goal, making sure Lisa had the best weekend ever.

Since Lisa has gone out in Austin hundreds of times her sister wanted to make sure we spiced this weekend up a little bit.  So we went line dancing!!  We dressed the part and prepared to get in on the action.  I have never been line dancing but when we got there all it was couples going around in circles.  Don't worry we just inserted ourselves in the middle and took care of business.

We knew we wanted to have a "planned" activity and we knew there were a bunch of places we wanted to visit while in Austin.  So we decided to rent a party bus and hit all our favorite spots.  The weather was beautiful so we made sure most of them were outside!!

 After the party bus everyone went back to the hotel to rest up and get ready.  We got our hair done at Blo (my favorite blow dry bar ever!!) and then hurried back to decorate.  Rather than just getting the traditional decorations we decided to develop hundreds of pictures of us with Lisa through the years.  The next few pictures are her reaction, but honestly they only semi depict the moment.  It was pretty unreal.

We then showed a video Stacy made with Adam that just showed us once again how adorable the two of them are together.

Lisa gave us each a pair of Hanky Pankys with our initial on them.. how sweet is she?

Then the final surprise for this portion of the night arrived with some Champs courtesy of Adam:)

 It only seemed appropriate to have dinner at the restaurant we went to whenever we wanted to celebrate an occasion.  Thank you Siders for an unforgettable meal.

 I have mentioned before that seeing the Spazmatics perform at Cedar Street was a staple in our college lives.  The fact that they were playing and we got in not only for free, but VIP and they gave us free champagne, only made the night even more surreal.

 Our final destination was Pete's Piano Bar where we bribed the guy the big bucks ($10 in Austin is like a real lot of money to give to someone at a bar to make things happen) to get our girl on stage.

What better way to end the weekend with an obsessive amount of Queso?

At Trudy's - Home Sweet Home

 I apologize for such a long post, but honestly I didn't want to leave any details out.  I cannot wait to celebrate more with Lisa AND ADAM December 15th 2012!!

**********

Happy Thanksgiving everyone I will be back on Monday with a recap and hopefully a little richer (I am going to Vegas Friday!!)

A Walk Down Wedding Lane: Becca and Matt's Wedding

I hope everyone enjoyed the pictures of the rehearsal dinner yesterday!  As promised I am back today with the wedding recap!!  It was such a beautifully executed wedding and seriously not a single detail was missed.  I think the room key with their picture on it may have been my favorite touch!!  Hope you enjoy the pictures and mazel tov again to Becca and Matt!!

How great is this room key.. I mean come on!

Go ahead and breath.. I know it is just so stunning

Game time!

Only 4 more weddings left as a fancy:)

Does Becca not look like a super model? SO BEAUTIFUL!!!

Gordon and Andy are my two best guy friends from UT, they happened to be from St. Louis and the reason I met David!  (note to self and 413: when playing Catchphrase and someone hints where Andy and Gordy are from the answer is "St. Louis" not "316L")

Still not over the dangling chandeliers, they are a whole other level of beautiful.

Hope everyone has a great day :) Congrats again Mr. and Mrs. Weiner!!