Friday photos...engagement style!

So I've already mentioned that one of the most important things to us about our wedding day includes the photos we'll take away and have forever. :) We haven't made decisions on food, finalized decor, figured out music, etc., but we found our photographer and I'm thrilled with our decision to use Ace Cuervo. :) Thankfully, Ace had some availability on Veterans' Day when we were off work, so we were able to do a little session in the fall foliage for some pics to use for Christmas cards (if I get on my a-game soon that is..haha) and for our engagement party invite! :) 

Honestly, I really hoped we'd get at least 4 or 5 images we liked a lot...but I love at least 20+ of the ones he took! Awesome! If you're my friend on Instagram (Ok_Jax), you know I posted outfit options and asked people to vote...haha... Well.. thank you if you voted, buuuuut I ended up not going with either option. I decided if I was that unsure, maybe I should just go back to the drawing board. I thought "What would I wear if Eric and I were just out any regular fall day?....Sweater and boots. Done." I went to Banana, found an awesome little white sweater (for half off!) and boom! Engagement pic outfit was born. I guess I over-thought it a little bit. 

I'll stop ranting now and just show you some of my fav photos... :)

 Gracie had issues sitting still...

 ...but she finally locked it up when we started walking. It was funny though b/c she really wanted to walk on Eric's side, so he finally just took the leash. High maintenance little fur child. :)

:) Happy weekend, friends! Big game for TU tomorrow in the conference championship! Send positive thoughts of blue and gold our way!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

It's been awhile since I've done a WILW post, so thought I'd mention some randomness I'm digging... :)

1. Aussie 3 Minute Miracle. Okay, so I'm currently loving the Davine's line of products my stylist recommended (specifically, I use the Momo line), but I've noticed my hair getting dried out with this cooler weather and the heater kicking on a lot more. And Davine's is kinda $$, so I thought I'd read up on some other products to see if there was a cheaper fix I could use one a week or something. I read really good reviews about the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle and my friend loves Aussie stuff, so I thought why not! I mean.. it's 3 dollars. Worth a try, right? So glad I did b/c I really like it! My hair is SO fine, but I also dye it so I have to be careful what I put on it. I don't want to weigh it down or strip the color. I used it once and noticed a big difference in how soft my hair felt after I styled it. I also had less flyaways and no static! Plus, it didn't weigh my hair down! Since my hair is so fine, I just plan to use it through the winter once a week or so, but I really like this product! Just if you're battling winter dryness, too. :) 

 2. Shea Cashmere from Bath and Body Works. This stuff is at my desk at work and in my handbag. Affordable, moisturizing, not overpowering (the scent is actually light and pleasant). Love this stuff, especially for dry winter skin. (I didn't realize I was blogging about two things for winter dryness when I started this. Sheesh. Maybe I just need to drink more water..haha). I love the Aveda hand lotion, but it's kinda $$, so this is a great alternative. :)

 3. Glee Christmas music! I love the Glee Christmas album and am so glad it's time to start playing it again! :)

 4. Okay, so if you've been reading awhile, you know I'm a sucker for ANY holiday makeup sets. When I had my makeup done for our engagement photos (coming soon!! I just have to pick up the DVD!), I ended up purchasing the MAC eye palette she used. Perfect combo of winter sparkle with a pretty bronze-plum color for more drama. I dig.

MAC 

5. Half marathons! Okay.. I'm actually not loving them yet, but Eric has talked me into signing up for one in the spring. How far can I run now? Oh... maybe 2 miles...if I'm being chased by wild dogs. (Seriously). So this should be interesting. But, I have to admit I've always wanted to do a half. I've never really cared about completing a full marathon, but a half sounds like an awesome achievement for this non-running blogger. Needless to say, this should be interesting...

6. Safe Haven. Okay, so when Ashley and I were at Twilight last week, we saw a preview for this. I thought it looked interesting and I got on a bit of a Sparks kick last year, so I know I like his writing. Bought it and am already almost done. I used to LOVE historical fiction and true crime type of books. Lately, I've been a sucker for lighter, fictional reads. Weird how your reading tastes can change, right?

What about you? What are you loving?!

Thanksgiving Weekend Recap!

I had a great Thanksgiving weekend and as usual, the weekend went by way too quickly!

Eric and I started out Thanksgiving with lunch with my madre at Ti Amos. I really wanted to get a family photo before we started our day, so we self-timed it like pros. Eric set it to take 5 photos and I just sat there smiling the whole time like an idiot while he- unbeknownst to me- made funny faces and even kissed my head (below). He's a keeper. Just saying.

My momma and me after lunch. :)

Ti Amos had quite the Thanksgiving spread- I was really impressed! With full bellies, Eric and I hit the road to OKC to visit Eric's parents in their new house! (They just moved to OKC this year from Tulsa). They already had Christmas lights up! Super adorable, right? :) 

Irritated with myself that I failed to get a pic of the family, but we had a great time with his parents, uncle, sister and brother. :) We had an amazing Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday night, including a pie/dessert for each person in attendance. YUM. #Ineedtohitthegym

After dinner, we all went to see Skyfall. I think it's probably my fav Bond movie to-date! I've heard people call it darker than some of the others, but I really liked it... Maybe I'm just dark.. haha.. 

We stayed Thursday and Friday night in OKC before heading back on Saturday. With his parents' move and lots of stuff going on lately, it had been awhile since we'd all just been able to chill out together. It was a really good time. :) 

Exploring OKC and doing a little Black Friday browsing.  

Eric was outside and decided to be a creeper outside the window. Yeah.. that's me sitting in the living room...haha... Sheez. *eye roll* 

Oh! I almost forgot! Eric, his brother and I went to lunch on Black Friday and ran right into Kristin Chenoweth! So cool! She was so adorable and super sweet. I was fighting every internal urge to wasn't going to ask for a photo, but we were near each other by the soda fountain and the words just spilled out of my mouth. haha... She didn't even look slightly annoyed.  I already liked her, but that makes me like her even more. :)

After getting back to Tulsa on Saturday, Ashley and I went to see the finale of Twilight! 

Admittedly, I wasn't as into it as I used to be when we headed into the theater. I mean.. I read the books forever ago and I really just wanted to finish the series of movies. I've also been annoyed by the mere mention of any Kristin Stewart drama in the news lately. Anyhoo, it was SO.GOOD. I think it might have been my favorite movie of the series. Plus, it probably helped that we went a week after it opened and therefore weren't subjected to the adolescent screams throughout the theater when Jacob/Edward took of their shirts. That always made me feel old and pervie...haha.. They changed some stuff from the book, but I actually LIKED what they changed! That said, at one point, we heard the whole theater collectively gasp at something that was EXTREMELY different from the book!

Today, Eric and I decided to put up the Christmas tree! We inherited Eric's parents' tree when they moved, so I was really excited to put it up! It's a gorgeous, big, full tree...much different than the one I got at Target last year that's about my height...

Anyhoo, turns out that we had to trim our tree...quite literally.

Please note Eric's the tv blocking the fireplace mantle. It's not a working fireplace, but still.
So much for stockings on the mantle...*shrugs*

After a trip to Lowe's and some metal sawing action on Eric's part, our tree looks fantastic! So excited to have Christmas living with Eric this year! I can't wait to post some photos when it's fully done!

I hope you had a great holiday and are gearing up for Cyber Monday...er... wait.. I mean.. the work week. ;)

Sunday Social

While I wait for Eric to finish doing some stuff so we can decorate the Christmas tree (!!!!!), I thought I'd post a quick Sunday Social! :) 
This week's questions are all about 4's... 
1. Name 4 jobs you've had in your life. 
* customer service rep at the mall (I got to clean rental strollers and sell gift cards. And I wore a santa hat. Be jealous.) * lifeguard/swim lesson instructor  * attorney * communication manager 
2. Name 4 movies you could watch over and over. 
* You've Got Mail (Bouquets of sharpened pencils!)  * Love Actually  * How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days  * Shawshank Redemption
3. Name 4 places you've lived:
* The Chi Omega house at TU * A renovated old home made into cute apartments in downtown area * East Tulsa (where I grew up and went to high school!) * with Eric :) 
4. Name 4 things you always carry with you. 
* Lip Gloss (usually more like 5 or 6 of them) * iPhone * hair tie (almost always on my wrist) * wallet
5. Name 4 places you've been on vacation.
* St. Lucia * Barbados * London/Venice! * Maui 
I was going to include some photos, but Eric's ready to put up the tree and is attempting to start it alone. I need to go intervene...haha! Happy Sunday, friends. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! 

Thankful.

I am thankful for so many things...for family...for friends...for love...for health...for a good job.. I am beyond grateful to have so many blessings and be surrounded by so much positivity and love. Even during any less-than-awesome days, I have food on the table, a roof over my head, friends/family I can call... I am blessed.

Tomorrow's Thanksgiving will be spent first with my mom and then with Eric's family in OKC. Both gatherings will undoubtedly be filled with laughter, great food, and the clink of glasses as we cheers another Thanksgiving together as a family. :)

I hope that your day tomorrow is spent with loved ones- whether friends or family (or both!)- and you have an oustanding Thanksgiving. I know I say this every year, but it's true so I'll say it again... I am thankful for many things, including this blog and all of you.  I will be raising a glass to all of you from Oklahoma tomorrow. Thank you for reading, supporting, commenting, commiserating, sharing laughs, and becoming my friends. :)

And Snoopy.. I am definitely thankful for Snoopy. But, I mean...who isn't? :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Venezia!

We're still in the process of moving all my stuff from my old computer to my new one, but I was able to transfer some pics on a thumb drive to upload a few. :) 

I took over 700 photos in Europe and I'm sure that's no surprise to you. ;) Picking some of my favs was really hard, but I realize the highlight of your day is not looking through 300 photos of my vacation, sooooo I tried to narrow. :) I landed in London on Wednesday and Lauren and I took off for Venice on Thursday afternoon, so I thought I'd just do one whole post dedicated to Venice and maybe one or two dedicated to London. 

We spent Thursday afternoon-Saturday morning in Venice and got to experience SO much! We arrived, checked in to our fabulous hotel right on the Grand Canal then immediately set off to explore. We grabbed a couple of cokes (fending off my jet lag) from a local cafe and were off to take in our first views of Venezia! That night, we enjoyed a fabulous dinner right off the Grand Canal with a view of the Rialto Bridge. The next morning, we explored the local market, St. Mark's Basilica, Doge's Palace, Frari Church (breathtaking), St. Mark's Campanile (the bell tower), and every adorable little street in between. We had fabulous food-from local pastas to gelato to espresso to wine. We even got to experience a real Venetian flood! Photos to follow, but it was actually a really cool experience that I'm glad we got to have.

The photos recap our trip better than I ever could in words, so here goes...

Postcard views in absolutely every direction. 

Our fantastic hotel, the Foscari Palace. 

St. Mark's Square

Playing paparazzi during this couple's romantic gondola ride. 

Little cafes line the adorable stone streets. While many modern storefronts take over street level, a quick glance above them reminds you of the amazingly charming and historical architecture all around. 

Good morning from the Rialto Bridge!

This was the view in almost every direction on every little pedestrian bridge...approximately every 500 feet. Impossible not to be blown away. We often didn't even know where to look first because we were so in awe of everything around us!

Venice is very small, but the streets wind, turn and criss cross! Lauren's navigation skills saved us. I was snapping photos nonstop while she actually figured out where the heck we were going... haha... 

Crowded St. Mark's! I was standing in front of St. Mark's Basilica facing the place where I'd stood the night before to get the night photo (above) :) Also, note the bench-looking things. We were so oblivious, we thought those were for a presentation or something. No. Those were set up because Venice was about to flood (we had no idea) and folks walk on them when the water rises! 

View above St. Mark's from the bell tower 

It's raining; it's pouring! 

Awesome little restaurant where we had the BEST server who brought us lots of wine...which is probably why we didn't realize flood sirens were going off overnight...haha...

Well worth the 10 euros in order to keep my pants dry en route to the water taxi/airport :)

Walking down the street to the water taxi! See- people are walking on those concrete things!

Flood? No big deal in Venice! Everyone just keeps on keepin' on. This is NOWHERE near as deep as the flood can get. Google some pics if you're curious! It's crazy! 

Yeah, that's someone's door. 

I think I fell in love with Italy...flood and all. I want to go back and see Florence, Pisa, Rome, and so much more. I've already been talking to Eric about a potential one year anniversary trip and we're not even married yet...haha... (We'll probably do a beach for our honeymoon, but that's still TBD). Sure, Venice was touristy in some regards... I mean if you don't run a gondola, restaurant, shop, or hotel, there probably isn't much for you in Venice in terms of work. So, of course it's packed with tourists. But, the history, people, architecture, food all just make it so easy to look past the rest of the tourists and feel like you've just stepped back in time to one of the most beautiful places in the world. I'm so thankful that I got to visit Lauren and that she and I were able to do a little side trip to this fabulous city!

It's OK Thursday!

 

It's Thursday. Not Friday. WHY? WHY? WHY do shorter weeks seem LONGER? I think people try to cram 5 days of work into 4. I'm just saying. (I was off for Veteran's Day). And while I LOVE bank holidays, it also stinks that we only get Thanksgiving day off (not Friday) and Christmas Day off (not Christmas Eve). Blerg. First world problems. Anyway, moving on.. I'll take my holidays where I can get 'em.

 

It's OK that...

 

* While I miss my macbook (the new one arrived and we're in the process of formatting everything), I'm getting some outstanding sleep since I don't have my laptop to occupy my pre-bedtime hours. (Damn you, Pinterest!)

 

* Since I don't have my laptop and we don't have cable, I've been purchasing single eps of my favorite shows that I miss on our AppleTV so I can stay current (Revenge, Hart of Dixie, etc). Eric will be glad when I can watch Hulu for free again.

 

* Gracie dog was in some of our engagement photos! :)

 

* I'm already way too excited to stuff my face with turkey and all the goodies that come with Thanksgiving.

 

* I refuse to wear tights b/c they're just too complicated in the morning before work. Bare, pasty legs are where it's at, people.

 

* I've taken a bubble bath-complete with wine and a girly magazine- almost every other night for the past week. Baths in the winter are just perfect, I think.

 

* I'm really excited to decorate a Christmas tree with Eric for the first time this year! :)

 

* I'd be totally lost if I couldn't express myself in noises instead of words a lot of the time.

 

* I wear flats in to work (I park far-ish away) and change into heels when I get there. Those heels often stay under my desk all week because I'm too lazy to carry them home. Whatever.

 

* I think Christmas lights make everything feel a little more magical. I just love them. I always mentally cheer when I see a house with its lights still on in mid-January when everything else has gone dark and somewhat winter drab.

Wedding!

So, even though I seem to somehow mention something about the wedding in my other posts, I haven't really done a post about wedding stuff all alone yet.. sooo.... here we go!

First, THANK YOU so much for all your feedback about the honeymoon registry! Seriously, that made me sigh from relief that it worked for so many of you. And thank you for the recommendations on the companies you used! That helps a ton, too! I think that's probably a route we'll pursue, along with a regular registry for guests that prefer the traditional gift route.

We have plenty of time, but here are some things we've either already decided or are leaning towards. :)

COLORS:

I saw this bouquet on Pinterest and just fell in love. I have every intention of using it for my color inspiration. Thankfully I have friends who are much more design-oriented than I am that can help me integrate these colors beautifully. (I also plan to copy this bouquet, too. Gorgeous, right?!)

PLACE:

Inside/outside at the beautiful Garden Center mansion. We walked in and both exchanged a glance like "Yeah, this is where we're getting married." :)



PHOTOGRAPHY:

We're using Ace Cuervo and I couldn't be more excited! If you've been reading awhile, you know I'm completely and totally a little obsessed with photos. I think they're the best way to document experiences, memories, etc. And it's not just about the pictures. It's about the memories and feelings they evoke when you look at them, ya know. Anyhoo, I've had several friends use Ace and I've stalked wedding photographers' blogs for a couple years (I'm creepy. It is what it is). And he's always been my favorite. Meeting him in person just solidified that further.

Excited for our upcoming little engagement session this Monday if the weather behaves itself! :)

Speaking of...

I had NO idea what I wanted to wear...until I saw a friend's photos in gorgeous bright blue. I loved them. I started a quest for a perfect bright blue dress. Randomly, I stumbled on this one at Gap this week when I was meandering around Utica Square at lunch.

Cute, right?! I'm thinking possibly a gold belt. Not too thin, but not super thick either. I don't want to overdo it so if I do a belt, I probably will do a simpler necklace. Probably nude heels. So I'm on a quest for the perfect belt this weekend.

I also have a casual jeans/blouse outfit for some fall foliage pics.

We have some ideas for music, food, etc, but haven't really talked much about them. And the dress? Well, if you follow my pinterest board, you know the kind of style I like on paper. Lace. V-neck. Low-ish back. Simple silouette. But, I've heard that reality can be much different and to stay open to trying on different styles. I need to make an appt to go look at dresses at least once before Christmas, but I just haven't done it yet. :)