The Year of Outfits

You know all those super helpful wedding budget calculators out there? Well, I have yet to find one that includes a category for Engagement Outfits. All you brides out there, don't be fooled, you don't get to skate by with JUST a wedding gown. Oh no, you need outfits for your showers, your bachelorette party, your rehearsal and groom's dinner, your farewell brunch, your engagement photo shoot and your honeymoon! And if you're like me and have SEVEN weddings this summer you will need outfits for those weddings, those showers and those bachelorette parties AND to top it off if your BB is getting married and you are lucky enough to be a bridesmaid you'll need extra special outfits for her shower(s), bachelorette party, and rehearsal dinner, not to mention some bangin' shoes to go with your bridesmaid dress. Ummmm.....pretty sure my outfit budget is going to surpass the entire wedding budget (OK, maybe not, but I don't know why I'm just now realizing that I need all these clothes!)

In preparation for what I am now calling The Year of Outfits, I have started to get some ideas for things I would like to wear to all of these super-important events taking place throughout 2011. First up will be our engagement shoot (in early April) so I suppose these outfits are the most pressing. I know I'm going to do three looks, one of which will be a dress. I have a "dress" look in my mind but I'm debating with myself if I should do it for the engagement shoot or save it for the rehearsal dinner. Keep in mind my wedding is in November so my showers will take place late summer and fall, my bachelorette party will be in the fall and my Rehearsal and Groom's dinner will be November 4th....so I need season appropriate outfits. As for the other SEVEN weddings, four of them are Spring/Summer and three of them are in September/October.

For our engagement shoot I'm thinking I want to do some combination of the following items:

Really Skinny Pants by GAP

Open Stripe Cardigan by Khloe
*I just got a sweater similar to this from Len Druskin, so I'm thinking of saving it for the shoot.

Ribbed Cowl Neck Sweater by Ann Taylor
*But in black or white, obviously!


Skinny Leg Eva Curvy Fit Jeans by Express

Jessica Simpson 'Anne' Boot from Nordstrom

Steve Madden Caryssa Pump from Nordstrom

This is the dress look that I can't decide if I want to use for our Rehearsal/Groom's Dinner or for the Engagement Shoot. I want to do is a dress like this:

Lauren by Ralph Lauren 'Carrie' Ponte Knit Sheath Dress
from Nordstrom

or this:

Essential Knit Long-Sleeve Dress by BCBG

with these:

Steve Madden 'Snobbie' Sandal from Nordstrom

THOUGHTS?!?!

As for my Bachelorette Party, I'm not a fan of wearing all white anytime besides my wedding day, but if I were going to do it it would be for my bach party. Here are a few dresses I LOVE for my last fling before the ring!

Calvin Klein Pleated Bodice Stretch Satin Sheath Dress
from Nordstrom

One Shoulder Mesh Drape Dress by Arden B.
*This one is my fave!

Lauren by Ralph Lauren 'Sheila' Sequin Trim Jersey Dress
from Nordstrom

For the Farewell Brunch, the morning after the wedding, I want to wear something casual and comfortable. I'm thinking probably the jeans I buy for the engagement shoot with a top like one of these:

Open Sense Cardigan by Ann Taylor


Variegated Stripe Dolman Top by Arden B.


Hooded Zig Zag Tunic by BeBe

BCBG Striped Turtleneck Sweater by BCBG
*I am in LOVE with this!

Then of course there are dresses for my showers, my friend's showers, my rehearsal/groom's dinner, my BB's rehearsal/groom's dinner, and all of the weddings.........

Suzi Chin Maggy Boutique Beaded One Shoulder Stretch Satin Sheath Dress
from Nordstrom


Satin Mini Sequin Dress by Arden B.


Tiered-Tulle Dress by BCBG

JS Boutique Embellished Matte Jersey Dress
from Nordstrom

Striped Sateen Dress by BCBG

One Shoulder Hammered Satin Sheath Dress
from Nordstrom


Suzi Chin Maggy Boutique Burnout Bodice Stretch Satin Sheath Dress
from Nordstrom

Sequined Bustier Dress by BCBG

Donna Ricco Ruched Ponte Knit Sheath Dress
from Nordstrom

and because I work at a Bridal Salon part-time and have a plethora of bridesmaid dresses as my disposal, here are a couple I would considering getting (with my discount!) but I would change colors, well, not on the black and white one.

Alfred Angelo

And finally, my favorite part of every outfit....THE SHOES! Here are some of my favorite shoes that I would LOVE to get to go along with all my new outfits.

Steve Madden 'Minnii' Pump

BCBG Generation Fatima2


Steve Madden Sinful


Martinez Valero Myra Sandal


L.A.M.B Prissy



Nine West Nicefit


Chinese Laundry 'Haylie' Pump

Alright, enough blogging, I need to go find a fourth job so I can pay for all of this!

Addressing Etiquette

I'm at the point of wedding planning where we're tightening up our guest list. We're making all of our final additions and subtractions and going over the list with each family (future MIL, I know you're reading this....be expecting a call) to make sure there's no one missing. Once the list is 100% complete I get to start the daunting task of collecting addresses. Thanks to Christmas cards I have pretty much all of our immediate family in my book, but some of my friends are constantly moving so I need to track them all down.....fun.

Anyways, weddingwire.com (my obsession) has an awesome "Guest" tool that is super helpful for entering and keeping track of guests, their addresses, phone numbers and e-mails (if you need them). On top of that it has a "Invitation" feature where you can write how you choose to address the guests envelope and it automatically adds the address below the names. So, when it comes time to do the invitations I will have all the information right there and I can easily move from guest to guest. I have been starting to use this "Invitation" feature (because why not?) and it's already bringing up a lot of questions in regard to addressing etiquette. I figured all you wonderful blog friends could help me out with this.

Here's what I know:

Married couple:
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hanks
123 Green Mile Road
Hollywood, CA 90210

Married couple with children:
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hanks and Family
123 Green Mile Road
Hollywood, CA 90210

Unmarried couple who lives together:
Miss (or Ms.) Rita Wilson
Mr. Thomas Hanks
123 Green Mile Road
Hollywood, CA 90210

Single man:
Mr. Thomas Hanks
123 Green Mile Road
Hollywood, CA 90210

Single woman:
Miss Rita Wilson
123 Green Mile Road
Hollywood, CA 90210

Professional Title:
Doctor, The Honorable, Reverend, Professor and Mrs. (or Mr. if the woman has the title)
Thomas Hanks
123 Green Mile Road
Hollywood, CA 90210

Married couple who both have professional titles:
Doctor Thomas Hanks and
and The Honorable Rita Wilson
123 Green Mile Road
Hollywood, CA 90210

Same sex couple:
Mr. Brad Pitt
Mr. George Clooney
11 Oceans Drive
Hollywood, CA 90210

Single woman with children:
Ms. Rita Wilson and Family
123 Green Mile Road
Hollywood, CA 90210

Couple not living together:
*Same format as "living together" but address and send it to who you are closer with or add "and guest"

*Children over 18 receive their own individual invitation
*DO NOT abbreviate addresses or titles (this is a mega pet peeve of mine)
*Invitations should be handwritten

OK, so here are my questions:

*How would you address an envelope to a single woman with just one child? Is it still "Ms. Rita Wilson and Family"???

*Do you address "Save the Dates" formally?

*I don't have to put "and Guest" on the STDs to my single friends, right? I want to wait until the invites go out because not everyone is getting a guest and I want to make the final call as late as possible.

*Should you hand stamp the envelopes?

*Can the return address be printed instead of handwritten?

Thoughts on Thursday: Movie Edition!

As I've mentioned at least a million times, I am obsessed with the Academy Awards and every year I try to see as many of the nominated movies as I can (see how I'm doing over there on the right side of the blog). With less than a month until the big day I have a lot of work to do. I have spent all of my free time this week packing in movies. Here's what I've seen and what I thought...

*Last Friday me and the fiance met up with my BB and her fiance for dinner and to see True Grit. I liked it. It wasn't my favorite movie of the year but I thought it was really well made and both Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld did an amazing job. True Grit is nominated for 10 awards, and I know for sure they'll win at least a few of them.

*On Tuesday, I saw Blue Valentine. This was a tough one. The acting was AMAZING, Ryan Gosling definitely got snubbed! It was a really gritty and really real potrayal of a relationship. I definitely appreciated the way Derek Cianfrance (the director) decided to tell this story. But, because it was so real it was hard to watch. I liked it, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone getting ready to walk down the aisle.

*On Monday I rented Winter's Bone. I didn't like it. I thought it was slow moving and overall boring. The lead actress, Jennifer Lawrence, did a great job and I think she deserves her nomination....other than that I was underwhelmed.

*I also rented The Kids are Alright. I loved this movie. Do I think it deserves a Best Picture nomination? NO. Do I think Annette Benning deserves a Best Actress nominations? YES. Do I think Julianne Moore's performance was even more Oscar-worthy? YES. Do I think Mark Ruffalo deserves his nomination? Maybe not.

*This weekend I'm excited to finally see The Social Network and Toy Story 3 and I'm hoping I can maybe squeeze in one more nominated film as well!

Now head on over to my BB's blog:
Life, Love and Puppyprints
and play along with "Thoughts on Thursday"

Wedding Wednesday: HONEYMOON!

Our honeymoon is booked! But, it wasn't the glamorous experience I was hoping for (planning it, not the honeymoon itself).

First of all, the coffee shop. As is it now there is no possible way J and I could leave for a week. We work 98% of the time and with one part-time employee it's just not possible for us to take off. But, who knows where we'll be come November. The hope is that business is booming and we have more employees allowing us to get away for the first time in almost 2 years. We decided we couldn't let the unknown come between us and our honeymoon. We want to spend our first week as a married couple in paradise and we just couldn't wait until November to figure out if we could do it.

We have a regular customer at Coffee Buzz who has her own Travel Agency. She is THE BOMB. If you are looking for a GREAT, experienced, fun, and affordable travel agent get in touch with Meg from Amera Travel. She seriously is amazing. AND, she offers travel protection, which we got so that we can cancel for any reason, which will come in handy depending on how Coffee Buzz is doing!

Originally, J and I wanted to go to Hawaii. Oahu to be specific. We met with Meg and she put together three trips for us, two to Hawaii and one was a wild card she thought we would enjoy. The Hawaii trips were incredible and we were pumped, then we saw the price. The wild card trip was to an amazing all-inclusive resort in Negril, Jamaica. For less than the trip to Hawaii we could go to Jamaica and have EVERYTHING included. We mulled it over and decided that the Jamaica trip would make the most sense with our budget. Hawaii was just going to be too expensive. But, something was holding us back. I don't know what it was but something about Jamaica just wasn't making me jump for joy. So, I talked to Meg and she put together a couple more trip options for us. After talking to a lot of friends and family who have traveled we decided that for our honeymoon we're going to RIVIERA MAYA in MEXICO!!!

We're staying at the El Dorado Royale for 6 days and 5 nights!

"A Conde Nast Traveler Readers' Top 100 Hotels in the World and a AAA Four Diamond Resort, El Dorado Royale is an adults-only destination that provides the ultimate in service in the ultimate setting.
El Dorado Royale offers an escape like no other. All the luxuries you can imagine, combined with personal attention to your every need, make this an ideal location for especial getaways, romantic weddings, honeymoons and anniversaries."

We're staying in an Ocean Front Suite

Complete with views of the Caribbean, access to the white sandy beach, a personal suite Jacuzzi., 24 hour room service, bathrobes and a daily stocked minibar (key!)

How amazing are those personal jacuzzis?!

The resort also includes seven restaurants, thirteen bars, thirteen pools (with swim-up bars!) and a spa!

We are also hoping to do some fun activities while we're there like swimming with dolphins, snorkeling, getting a couples massage and going to a tequila tasting. All of which we registered for on our honeymoon registry (more on that later.)

I AM SO EXCITED! I don't know how I'm going to wait this long to go!

A Quick Note About Friendship

I am so lucky to have a lot of friends, but I am extremely blessed to have a few REALLY good friends.

2010 was a monstrous year for me, I opened a business and got engaged. I have always thought that extreme excitement or a massive struggle brings people closer or tears people apart, and after 2010 I know this to be true. 2010 was filled with both extreme excitement and massive struggle for me and when I look back there were three people who stepped up. People who have supported my coffee shop, who have offered to help, who have listened to me complain or rant or cry, but who also praised me when I was excited and proud. These are the same three people who cried when I told them I was engaged (one even cried when I showed her my wedding shoes....because she got it. I'm getting married and I'm wearing amazing shoes, she knows what a big deal that is.)

These friends love me for me, and they know me. They know every little thing about me, and they love me anyways. After a falling out with one friend I really doubted myself, felt bad about myself and dwelled on what had been said and what went wrong. These friends made me realize that I am a good friend, a really good friend. We all make mistakes and I would be lying if I said I haven't had a fight or an issue with all of these three woman. The difference is we treat each other with respect and we know how much we really need each other and we worked through it.

These girls mean the world to me and if I didn't have them to make me laugh, hold me when I cry or gchat with me for the entire day I don't know what I would do.

I guess I just want to thank these women for being there for me when I need it and more importantly when I don't. You're just there. Always. I love you for that!