BB's Bachelorette Party!

What can I even say about this night? I had a blast.

We started the night at Carolyn's house with drinks, mini-desserts (which I have every intention of making until I had a vision of me sitting on my kitchen floor covered in flour and crying), games, gifts and super fun girl-talk.

We played the toilet paper wedding dress game....I still think we should have won! :)



The Bachelorette all ready to take over Downtown



Ashely, one of my favorite gal pals



The Bride and her maids



Me and Ashley with Kingsley....the most profound cab driver EVER

Throughout the ride he had amazing quotes such as:

"Everyone deserves fun...life is one."

"You're asking questions because you want to know more, not because you're dumb"

"When you get married....gauge marriage like you gauge stock, what you put in is what you get out."

"be careful what you name your kids, it becomes them"

"In America, you think people who talk to themselves are sick, maybe they have no one else to talk to."

"Men are the television and women are the remote!!!"

The truth about tequila:



The Bachelorette in action



Sharisse kicking another bachelorette party out of OUR v.i.p. section...they were totally trying to crash, not going to happen



Sharisse and I somehow convinced this adorable gay man that he not only needed to go on a rickshaw ride with us but that he needed to pay for it.


It was an epic night...and now that we've celebrated the end of Carolyn's singledom we are ready for the wedding!!! 63 more days til the Beeb walks down the aisle! Can't wait!!!

And as for THIS weekend...I'm taking it off! After two weekend in a row of Bachelorette parties I told J that we are staying in, not spending ANY money and doing absolutely nothing. CANNOT WAIT.

What are you up to this weekend?

one hundred.

no big deal, but.....

i am getting married in 100 days!















(this one is for you JJ)

Yup, just 100 more days until this guy is stuck with me FOR-EV-VERR.


Wahhhoooooooo!
Can. Not. Wait.

Wedding Wednesday: First Dance

So, me and J's "song" is technically "With You" by Chris Brown. To this day I get goosebumps when I hear it because it reminds me of when we first started dating and when we were beginning to fall in love.

However, thanks to Chris' little anger issues we no longer feel this song is appropriate for a first dance.

Thankfully, there is another song that makes me tear up every time I hear it. From the first time I heard "Your Love" by Tim McGraw (I'm a little bit newer to the Country scene), it made me think of J. The first line of the song is, "Dancing in the dark, middle of the night..." which could not be more perfect because the exact moment I knew I was in love with J was when we were slow dancing, in the dark, in the middle of the night in his kitchen with no music. See, I always yelled at J for not dancing with me when we went out (I'm a dancing machine) and so one night when it was just the two of us, he asked me to dance. It was the most romantic thing EVER and it was then I knew he was IT.

Since, I have become an avid Country fan and Tim McGraw is by far my favorite!!! You may recall that J took me to the Tim concert in May.

When it came time to chose a song for our first dance, this was the first and only song that came to mind. Then, we'll just have to make sure to put "With You" on our must-play list!

What was/is your first dance song?

The Choice

I just finished reading "The Choice" by Nicholas Sparks and I loved it. It's classic Sparks--romantic, tragic, and really good. Each friend that I've explained it to, I've ended up ruining the ending....so I turned to nicholassparks.com to find you all a synopsis:

"Travis Parker has everything a man could want: a good job, loyal friends, even a waterfront home in small-town North Carolina. In full pursuit of the good life -- boating, swimming, and regular barbecues with his good-natured buddies -- he holds the vague conviction that a serious relationship with a woman would only cramp his style. That is, until Gabby Holland moves in next door. Despite his attempts to be neighborly, the appealing redhead seems to have a chip on her shoulder about him...and the presence of her longtime boyfriend doesn't help. Despite himself, Travis can't stop trying to ingratiate himself with his new neighbor, and his persistent efforts lead them both to the doorstep of a journey that neither could have foreseen. Spanning the eventful years of young love, marriage and family, The Choice ultimately confronts us with the most heartwrenching question of all: how far would you go to keep the hope of love alive?"

It was a really quick read and I loved it. Check it out y'all!!!

Who else loves Nicholas Sparks? Which of his books is your favorite?

The Choice

credit

I just finished reading "The Choice" by Nicholas Sparks and I loved it. It's classic Sparks--romantic, tragic, and really good. Each friend that I've explained it to, I've ended up ruining the ending....so I turned to nicholassparks.com to find you all a synopsis:

"Travis Parker has everything a man could want: a good job, loyal friends, even a waterfront home in small-town North Carolina. In full pursuit of the good life -- boating, swimming, and regular barbecues with his good-natured buddies -- he holds the vague conviction that a serious relationship with a woman would only cramp his style. That is, until Gabby Holland moves in next door. Despite his attempts to be neighborly, the appealing redhead seems to have a chip on her shoulder about him...and the presence of her longtime boyfriend doesn't help. Despite himself, Travis can't stop trying to ingratiate himself with his new neighbor, and his persistent efforts lead them both to the doorstep of a journey that neither could have foreseen. Spanning the eventful years of young love, marriage and family, The Choice ultimately confronts us with the most heartwrenching question of all: how far would you go to keep the hope of love alive?"

It was a really quick read and I loved it. Check it out y'all!!!

Who else loves Nicholas Sparks? Which of his books is your favorite?

BRITNEY!!!!!!!!

Aside from the night I got engaged, the night of the Britney concert was the best night of my life. I have seriously never had so much fun! We started at the Eagle Street Grille (which is right across the street from Excel). The restaurant played nothing but Britney the entire time and it was the perfect way to get pumped up for the show.


me, my bestie and my sissy



Pre-Britney shots (my mom joined us for dinner and cocktails before the concert)

After we were all riled up it was time for the show! We got to our seats just in time for Nicki Minaj!

Our seats weren't the greatest, but we were in the building and we were as happy as could be. Well, then a lovely little lady came up to us and offered us an upgrade!!! Apparently, there were some extra tickets leftover from the radio station giveaways and we were lucky enough to get three of them!!! To say we freaked out would be an understatement! We actually RAN (in heels nonetheless) to our new seats holding hands. Yes, we were once again 13 -year-old girls.

see how excited we were?!


OLD SEATS:


NEW SEATS:

Quite the improvement if you ask me!!!

Nicki Minaj absolutely killed it! She was AMAZING and I am officially obsessed!


After Nicki, the big screens displayed a countdown until Britney. It was awesome because you knew exactly how long you had to run to the bathroom or refill your beverage. Besides the finale, the coolest part of the show was when the countdown finally got down to a couple minutes everyone in the crowd started to get rowdy, then with exactly 1 minute left on the countdown all the lights went off and all you heard was, "It's Britney bitch!" and everyone went CRAZY!!! It was seriously so awesome and I get goosebumps just thinking about it.

The show was incredible from start to finish! The set was awesome, the costumes were awesome, the dancers were unreal and Britney....well Britney is BACK! She looked amazing! I've seen her three times now and I think this might be the best show (otherwise, it's tied with the Dream within a Dream tour).

I took about 300 pictures, but I'll spare you from having to see them all.

After the show we were much too wound up to go home, so we went back to the Eagle Street Grille where we stayed out way too late and drank way too much. My sister is friends with one of the bartenders there so we drank all night and our total bar tab for the three of us was $18....can't beat that!

It was a perfect girls night out and I will remember it forever!

Fun Friday!

I am linking up with Jen today because I am SO excited for this weekend!!!!

This weekend is my BB's BACHELORETTE PARTY!!!!!!!!!


We have some great stuff planned and I know it's going to be a BLAST!

I found these ADORABLE invites on Etsy and just had to share them with you:

AREN'T THEY SO CUTE?!?!
Hopefully they've set the tone for an awesome night!

The Bachelorette

Last weekend I got to celebrate the "last fling before the ring" for my friend Alisha. Alisha is getting married on September 10th and is marrying on of J's best friend's (and one of our groomsmen), Seth.

Alisha is an amazing girl and I am so glad Seth found her. She is a an absolute blast to hang out with I am pumped that I now have a lifelong friend as kickass as Alisha.

For her bachelorette party we all met up for dinner and gift giving at Cooper in the West End and then ventured next door to Toby Keith's "I Love this Bar" for a knee-slappin' good time.


All the girls at Cooper



Me and the adorable Bachelorette



The girls! Sharisse (married to J's best friend), Alisha (marrying one of J's best friends), Carolyn (my BB) and me! :)



Not happy to be taking another shot



shots



lemon drops!



Super cute lead singer of the band that was performing


We had such a blast! It made me so excited for my BB's bachelorette party (which is THIS WEEKEND!) and super duper pumped for my bachelorette parties which are just right around the corner!

Wedding Wednesday: Outfitted

Alright chicas....911. We're half way through July which means summer is in full swing, which also means my year of weddings and wedding related events is officially a "GO." I have successfully dressed myself for the first three weddings of the year...

...and now I'm stuck.

I have SO much fun stuff coming up (I seriously get so excited I shake) and I need to look the part. In a perfect world I would be out shopping for a fabulous new outfit for every little thing, but like most girls, I don't have that luxury. So...I dug deep in my closet and found some stuff I haven't worn in years (thank you sorority formals and fraternity date parties) and some new stuff my grandma has recently bought me. THANKS GRANDMA! And yes, you should be jealous...my grandma has awesome taste! With the help of my darling fiance/photographer I will be giving you girls a virtual fashion show in hopes that you can help me figure out what to wear to what. Please excuse the wet hair and no make up! Here's what I'm thinking. Let me know what you think, PLEASE!


July-BB's Bachelorette Party (must wear black)

I can't decide between these two...I'm leaning slightly more towards the all black dress simply because it's a little longer (don't want any 'oops' moments while busting a move) and because I have more cute shoe options with the all black. But, it's also pretty boring. THOUGHTS?


August-My First Shower! (poolside...but not a pool party, think happy hour by a pool)

The first floral dress is super comfy and cute, but it's too big, so I'd need to have it altered. Plus, this is a pretty casual affair, so it might be a little dressy. If I don't wear the middle dress to my BB's bach party, it might be a good choice. BUT, I think I'm leaning towards the third look. The skirt is new (from my g-ma) and I love it. I would wear it with a sparkly white tank from Express (not that generic beater I have on in the pic) and I'm thinking I would wear these Target flip flops:

THOUGHTS?!


August-My Bachelorette Lake Weekend (night out in a small town)

I bought this first dress specifically for this occasion....it's beachy, casual and comfortable but it's still cute and it's white for the bride-to-be. BUT, I clearly did not try it on before purchasing it and had no idea about how see-through it is. So, I really need some help in the undergarments department if I'm going to wear this.


September-Friends Seth & Alisha's Wedding


The first dress is one of my faves! It's BCBG and I originally wore it to my very last sorority formal. The second dress is brand new (from g-ma), it's a Jessica Simpson. I love it but I'm wondering if it might be a little too formal for the wedding. The next dress is that same one I've considered wearing to everything else...maybe this is the perfect event for it. The last dress was one I wore as a bridesmaid in my friend Brianna's wedding last spring. I love it, but as I was typing this I realized the wedding colors are very fall (red and orange) so I think a giant pink flower will hardcore clash. THOUGHTS?


September-Bachelorette Party (downtown Minneapolis)
I GOT NUTHIN'. I will most definitely be buying a new dress for this event! I want something sparkly! Something like this:

September-My Second Bridal Shower (hosted by my lovely Auntie L)

This is really the only dress in the running right now. I really like it! It's a new one from my grandma. My only concern, the shower is going to be sometime in September, is that color OK? I was thinking of wearing nude pumps with it.


September-BB & Jake's Rehearsal
Again....got nuthin! It's going to be a casual, the ceremony rehearsal is at a park downtown St. Paul and then dinner is going to be a BBQ. It's going to be fun and chill and I can't wait. Maybe if I don't find anywhere else to wear this, I can wear it there.



October-My Third Bridal Shower (hosted by my amazing Bridesmaids)
I think this shower might need to be another new purchase. It's going to be mid-October, so I definitely need to dress for the season. I want to wear a dress, so I'm thinking something along the lines of one of these BCBG dresses or this b&w White House Black Market dress:

My biggest concern is the season. I don't want anything too summery.


November-Wedding Rehearsal/Groom's Dinner (remember, it's November in MN...could be chilly)
I know for absolute sure that I am wearing these shoes:

I got these in NYC for my mom's wedding last summer and I LOVE them! Now I'm trying to decide between these two dresses:

Both of these dresses are new additions, courtesy of my grandma and I love them both. I absolutely love the one shoulder dress, but I'm wondering if it's too summery for November? I think the black and white dress might be more appropriate for the time of year and for the event. What do you think?


Whew, I know that's a lot......but, READY. SET. GO!