Registering for a Honeymoon

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Now that we have registered at a few stores I am being asked by some people if we plan to register for our honeymoon.  I had never really thought of this or known people to do this, but when I looked online I was shocked to find out people do this all the time.  I just cannot decide if this is something I would want to do.  On one hand it would be so great to have some of it paid for since David and I are paying for the honeymoon ourselves, but on the other hand I find it weird to ask people to pay for my vacation.  I think a great gift for a friend is getting together with a group of people and buying the couple an amazing excursion, dinner or spa treatment that they didn't ask for, but is it weird for me to personally ask for it?

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Another problem is there are several websites, I would have no idea which is the best one.  I don't want someone to buy a honeymoon gift and then the money actually just end up in my PayPal account, that defeats the purpose.  I really would only register for things we would actually plan on paying for ourselves.  For example, we plan to get a couples massage whether it is a gift or not, but I do not need to register for random excursions we wouldn't want to buy ourselves.  I think it would be great to minimize our costs, not spend what we plan to spend and then get even crazier gifts on top of it.

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So now I ask all you out there your opinion.  Would you register for your honeymoon?  Do you think its a smart idea or a tacky one?  Do you have any advice if you did it or a website you used and liked?

I would love some help!!

P.S. here are some pictures I use to dream about our honeymoon in order to get through these winter storms.

Weekend Recap

Well, this weekend was one I won't forget for a very long time.  The entire family came together to celebrate Spencer's first birthday and it couldn't have been more relaxing and fun.  We got Spencer two different gifts one was the Burberry sweater he is wore to his birthday party, and the second was more on the sentimental side.

Let me give you some background.. when my sister and I were kids our mom woke us up every birthday with this special song playing.  It would play in our rooms, in the car and all over the house on our birthday.  She did it up until we left for college.  In the song "Captain Zoom" came all the way from the moon to wish you a happy birthday.   He would say "Happy Birthday to Traci today!" I just loved it and it really brought back how special you feel on your birthday.  So I somehow found a website where they still sell these songs and had one made for Spencer.  When I gave it to him let's just say there wasn't a dry eye in the room.  Now Melissa can carry on this tradition for Spencer just like our mom did for us.

The birthday party was held at the Friendship Circle  where my sister is extremely involved.  Before the party took place we got a full tour, and boy was I impressed.  I will explain more about the Friendship Circle another day, because now I am just dying to share pictures from the PARTAY!

I mean, how cute is this face?  Hope you all have a great week:)

Happy Birthday Spencer!!

Happy first birthday to my teeny tiny nephew, Spencer!  I love you so much and can't wait to celebrate with you this weekend.  It seriously feels like yesterday we were in the hospital waiting for your arrival.  Even though you were a few days late, you came in enough time that you missed having a leap year birthday and we can now celebrate EVERY year.

You were the most precious new born and now you are such a big boy!

I will be back monday with a recap of the rockin' first birthday party!

Weekend Recap

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I kept very busy with plenty of celebrations.

One of my best friends, Nicole, got engaged.  He proposed in the most crazy sweet way and then we all celebrated Friday night.

 I have no pictures but Saturday night I had a wonderful dinner with some great people and then I went to bed early so I could get up for a 7:15 am Barre Bee Fit weekend boot camp.

After an intense boot camp I went shopping with my Mama and showed her some of my favorite items at Bloomingdale's home that we registered for.  This is the Michael Aram Molton Collection and I am a bit obsessed.  As you can tell if you checked out my registry.

Sunday night I got to meet my new baby cousin.  Can you even handle her cuteness?

In other news, Sunday marked six months until the wedding.  I am overwhelmed because that means we are now in the 5 months and some days.  YIKES its coming up quickly AHH!!

I Dream of White... Kitchens

So I just got back from looking at a house I absolutely love.  I don't love it in the state it is in currently, but I see so much potential.  We are going to go back to look at it tomorrow and if David loves it as much as I do we are hopefully going to put a bid in on it.  Timing may be an issue with our August wedding, but for right now I am in my dreaming phase.

This is the way the house hunting has been going for me, I find a place I put all my eggs in one basket and then someone breaks the entire basket as well as cracking all the eggs.  But.. I really enjoy going into everything I do with full force.  The kitchen needs so much work in this house to get it to where I would want it to be.  ALL white with dark wood floors. I don't know where I got this obsession, but MAN am I obsessed.

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The last one is probably David's dream kitchen, but honestly I love the look and feel of all of them.  Now I just need to find our home.... wish me luck!

Have a great weekend:)

Registering

David and I started to register this past weekend, and I still think I am recovering.  OMG is it hard.  We are having a huge wedding so we are being told we need to register for an upwards of 400 items.  400 items!!! It all just seems so crazy to me because we literally live in a teeny tiny apartment and I have no room for the stuff I currently have.  Luckily we are looking to buy a place, but that is not going as well as I would have hoped so we may be stuck in our place another year.  So I apologize to any visitors we may have in the next year.. you may be sleeping among the boxes.  

Aside from my anxiety about where to put everything, I just really don't know what I really need and I really can't believe we get all of this just because we love each other!  It is all just so crazy and exciting at the same time.  We have, however, gotten the hang of it and I am starting to finally be excited about our plan.  I figure I may as well share our experience with all of you, because I think it would have been helpful for us if I had a game plan going into it.

I think I had been told to go scout out what you think you want at ALL of the stores you want to register at before I begin.  We really didn't have time so we didn't follow this rule and I am so thankful for that.  My first piece of advice is DO NOT DRAG YOUR MAN ANYWHERE BEFORE YOU BEGIN.  David is actually really into picking everything out, but honestly it is such a tiring process nobody needs to "scout" it out before.  Just go in and point that gun at anything that interests you.  

Another important tip is to focus your time and energy on the items you will use the most.  We literally took over an hour to decide on our dinnerware.  We are very lucky and have inherited  my Grandma's china so we have decided to only get a large set of nice everyday dishes and  a small set of casual plates and bowls.  These sets are expensive so you want to make sure you really know what you want.  David and I had NO CLUE what we wanted.  We have similar tastes as far as decorating our home, but I have found myself wanting more traditional timeless items and David has been wanting more modern.  

With the help of our amazing lady at Bloomingdales we have decided on two different sets that can be mixed and matched perfectly together.  I would have never even thought about this or ever come up with this, so it was crucial that we asked for help.  

Michael Aram "Cast Iron" / Bernardaud "Ecume"

By getting 8 sets of each of the above we are able to mix and match making it more modern when we want it to be and more formal when the timing is right.  If we are entertaining 16 everyone will have the same Bernardaud charger and then from there we can play around to make our own custom table. 

Once you decide on dinnerware I promise you a lot of the pressure is off and then the fun begins.  Just go around and add anything you could possibly want.  When you get home you can go online and adjust.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

Happy Valentines Day to everyone!!  Today, I started my day off with one of the most intense workout classes I have ever taken.  I signed up for a Strapped class at Barre Bee Fit and seriously pushed myself harder than I thought possible.  When the instructor started the class she said something that really motivated me..."Be proud of yourself on Valentines Day for focusing on the most important relationship, the one you have with yourself."

Whenever New Years comes around we make these goals that really are unattainable.  So we pretty much set ourselves up for defeat.  By the time Valentines Day rolls your goals have usually fallen to the waist side and you are back to your old ways.  When I was single and going through a horrible breakup  Valentines Day was the scariest day of the year.  It was like the one time where the whole world laughs at you for being alone.  I wish I could look that Traci in the eyes and say, just work on you and the rest will come.  Pushing myself today this hard left me wanting to be a better all around person in so many areas of my life.

So today, on the day that is so focused on love just remember you also need to love yourself.  Whether you are still looking for Mr. Right or you are sure you have found him, giving yourself a little attention will only make all your relationships better.

All of the girls burning it out this morning via

LOVE YOU ALL!!