alaska bound!

Tomorrow is the day ladies! I am flying out for the weekend to spend some time with my father in ALASKA!

I couldn’t be more excited to see him. You know how little girls are always either Daddy’s little girls or Mama’s little princesses? I was always a DLG. Even at 22 I still am. I leave bright and early tomorrow and will return Monday evening (as you know, I live in Maryland- these are LONG LONG flights I will be embarking on). I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures! And just as an FYI- I googled Anchorage weather this morning- and its going to be in the low 30’s while I’m there. Um yeah. Freezing!

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

As for the rest of today, I need to pack (I leave really early tomorrow, definitely should have started that before tonight), go to yoga and clean the house a little. All accompanied by a bottle of wine :)

xoxoxoxo

your new favorite websites & 100 days

I actually just came across this one a little bit ago- it was posted to roomie Katie’s twitter. She’s having a rough time (hates her job and commutes 90 minutes EACH way…gotta love DC) and one of our friends send her the url:

1000 Awesome Things

Is that not the cutest site ever? I just want to keep reading! This is the post that was tweeted to Katie which I just love.

The next one is a long time favorite of mine- 1001 rules for my unborn son.

I don’t even know how many times this website has made me tear up (something that happens quite often!).

In other news- I’m still out of a debit card. Womp womp. I have my credit card back- but I have a hard time buying things on my credit card and ‘immediately’ paying them off. I.E. takes me months.

The best news of the day you ask?

ONLY 100 DAYS UNTIL OUR WEDDING! I’m excited to be in the double digits :)

xoxoxoxo

Tuesday Top Two & Venue Sneak Peek!

I’m starting to play along on Tuesdays!

Top 2 TV Shows

#1- BIG LOVE. I don’t even know how many times I’ve talked about Big Love on my blog. I just love this show. Fascinates me really! I literally sat down one Saturday and watched the first 3 seasons back to back to back! ITS THAT GOOD!

#2- This one was a toss up between Bridezilla and Intervention. I hate to miss an episode of either. But- since lately the episodes of Bridezilla have been far too over the top (ie fake) I’m going to go with Intervention. Because you really just can’t fake some of the stuff that goes on during those shows!

You guys should join in on the Tuesday Top Two- it is such a cute idea from Taylor over at Jimmy Choo’s & a Baby Too.

Okay. And nowwwww… a sneak peek of our ceremony/reception venue! We’re getting married in a winery (fitting, no?) and I found this photo online- the room is decorated EXACTLY how we will have it for our big day:

xoxoxoxo

sure way to halt spending

My debit card had a bit of an incident this past week.

Someone in India was making charges on it! Luckily, I caught the pending charges in time and didn’t have to deal with the fraud department, making a claim, yada yada. To make it even weirder, I also had pending charges labeled “Slumber Party” (looks like someone was trying to have a little bit of fun at my expense, how rude!).

SO while I am really happy the charges didn’t go through and drain my robust bank account (um yeah right)- I’m now stuck without ANY MONEY until my new cards come in (we cancelled my credit card too- albeit I should prolly leave that trouble maker cancelled…).

This all happened last Thursday morning- so for the past 4 days I haven’t been able to spend a DIME. Thank the lord for my overly generous roommate lending me money- and of course D picking up my tab because he is quite the gentleman. Honestly this has been SO HARD. I live, sleep, eat, and breath shopping. I catch myself 10 times a day thinking of buying something- then realize I can’t. Maybe it has been a good thing my funding has been halted- I need to really create a budget and stick to it. I have a bad habit of wanting something and immediately buying it- without thinking of savings, budgeting, etc.

I blame it on online shopping. Really. It’s just so convenient, simple and quick that I can’t stay away. ESPECIALLY wedding online shopping. To be honest blogging makes it even worse- I get to see the cutest of the cute things day after day after day. Maybe an intervention?

ALSO: Make sure you head over to Alanna's blog HERE and enter her Stella & Dot giveaway :)

Happy Monday!

xoxoxoxo

Typography Love

How cool are these?


I am loving the Chicago print. I wish they had a Denver or Dallas one- I'd definitely buy one of these babies. I thought about buying the Washington DC one...but turns out its my least favorite print :/

Find them at Ork Posters.

xoxoxoxo

love surprise deliveries!!!!

Look what was just dropped off at my doorstep:

I am just in LOVE with this kitchenaid stand mixer. This is a wedding gift from D's VERY generous uncle & family. While no I don't exactly know how to use it- I cannot WAIT to learn! Its just so pretty and reminds me of my great grandmothers kitchen (I picked the chrome color for that very reason). My mother said its a definite must have in the kitchen.

D and I are putting away all of our wedding gifts for after the wedding. I just like the idea of saving them until we live together and can use them all together. Are you of you doing the same?

Happy Friday to everyone! I went to a 9AM yoga class earlier and am going to go with D at 5PM, then dinner with Katie @ D's friend tonight at the Chart House. I LOVE seafood. D has watch this weekend so he can't join us (but he hates seafood so the restaurant wouldn't suit him anyway). I need to get on these thank you notes so everyone have a great weekend!

xoxoxoxo

thursday thoughts

Random thoughts for today:

1. I HATE that I’m not a natural blonde and how FOUL my roots look right now. I also HATE that a typical hair appointment for me costs around $200 in this expen$ive city. And my hair grows so quickly if I don’t want to look like white trash I need a touch up every 6 weeks. Every 6 weeks? Are you kidding me?

2. We have the cutest pregnant lady in our office. I just want to eat her up she’s so cute. Makes me want to have a baby now. Kinda (relax D).

3. Hi, my name is Ali and I am so out of shape its embarrassing. Jillian Michaels did me dirty. Sweating, panting, you name it. That’s good though, because when I started to sweat it reminded me of middle school/ high school gym class. Circa 2004. Meaning that’s how long it’s been since I’ve sweat like that (besides my Bikram , which is a different kind of cardio/sweat in my mind).

4. I bought a few of my bridesmaids gifts yesterday! VERY exciting! Its getting closer! It makes me feel so good to check off boxes so early out, that way I’m not slammed the last few weeks. I’m working with my invitation designer, Anita again and I can’t rave enough about her ya’ll need to check her out!

5. For those of you that asked, here is my rehearsal dinner dress I was talking about that I am absolutely obsessed with:

xoxoxoxo

rue la la jackpot!

I've never made it to rue la la lilly sales when they still had stuff actually worth buying. I'm always a day or two late and never find anything I really want. NOT THIS TIME LADIES. At 11AM ET Monday morning WHAM I was there! Picked up this beauty:

I'm thinking it will be perfect for D's graduation week/various weddings this summer/work when this damn snow finally melts. I've never worn a salmon color, but this was just too cute to pass up.

Also! I found that BCBG white halter rehearsal dinner dress I was swooning over :) I had to buy an 8 (only size I could find) but after I get it tailored it should fit perfectly. Even better- the ruffles are so big and my chest is so small (womp womp) I won't have to wear a strapless bra with it. I HATE wearing strapless bras because they always find a way to peek out/ride up/fall down/what have you. Nothing ruins a strapless dress more than a strapless bra peeping through.

Well an update to my last post.

I DID have a piece of cake. BUT it was strawberry shortcake and I ate the strawberries and 3 bites of cake and threw it out. Could have been a lot worse. Also, I didn't get to start the Shred last night because I didn't get home from yoga until 9PM. Katie and I were going to try and do it together, but our schedules just don't work. I'll do it when I get home after work & before yoga.

I'll let you know how tonight goes!

xoxoxoxo

french.fry.fatty.

Lets talk healthy habits.

So this marks the 4th week I have been attending Bikram yoga classes. On average, I would estimate I go 4 times a week (some weeks I go 7 days other I go 2…just depending on work/life/how lazy I feel that particular day).

You would expect to see SOME results in 4 weeks, yes? Especially from this intense hot yoga class that burns nearly 500-800 calories a session. I’ve toned up a little bit, but I haven’t seen much weight loss- which is really what I’m going for here. I AM getting married hello!

Well today I really thought about it and I think I know why. While my main meals during the day are ‘healthy,’ I am a notorious snacker and treat eater. Take today for an example, I was picking up Burger King for my coworker, and while I didn’t order anything for myself- I contemplated snacking on some of her French fries. Um no. OR the other night when D was eating 5 guys- I told him I didn’t want anything but then proceeded to eat ALL of his French fries (See a trend with French fries here? Ew I do). Or today, at work we’re having a release celebration and serving cake to the entire program. Normally, I’d think it was fine to indulge in a piece (strawberry short cake..omgggg) because I ate a healthy lunch.



My real problem is when I go forward 2 steps I sabotage myself and go back 3. NOT ANY MORE! From today forward I’m going to be mindful of everything I eat- from snacking on candy in the office to how much sugar I put into my tea. I’ve got to change something, because what I’ve been doing obviously isn’t producing any new results!

In other news but still health related: I caved and ordered the 30 day shred! Only $8 on Amazon- I couldn’t afford not to! Katie and I are starting tonight- I’ll let ya’ll know how it goes!

**I know I'm jumping the gun here...but dear jillian...get a grip...20 pounds in 30 days?**

xoxoxoxo

Valentines Re-Cap & ALASKA news!

Happy Monday!

Hope you all had an great Valentine’s Day! Dan and I hung around the house most of the day, we went grocery shopping and then to a Hibachi steak house for lunch :) I ordered the chicken and scallops- VERY YUMMY! I hadn’t been to a Hibachi steak house in years so it was cool to go back! For V-Day I got Dan a pair of Hunter Wellingtons in navy- he was just so jealous of mine that he had to have a pair of his own.

And for my gift- he really went ALL OUT. My dad took a promotion in Alaska a few months ago, so my mom is still living in our house in Idaho and he’s up in Alaska by himself until they sell the house/get everything situated. Well I haven’t seen my dad since LAST March (the week Dan asked to marry me actually) and I miss him a TON. So Dan bought me a plane ticket to go visit him! I’ll be in Alaska at the end of this month! It will be a short trip- 3 days- but I am thankful I get to go and spend time with my dad!

OH- and my invitations came! THEY ARE AMAZING! I took pictures but will upload and post them later- I couldn’t be happier with the quality and price of them! I took D to Paper Source yesterday and we got all the supplies for our envelope liners- a really pretty black and white damask looking pattern! I had never been into a PS before- but dear lord I have been missing out! Everything in there is beautiful. I walked out and told D I need to get a job there!

For any of you ladies that are Lilly Pulitzer fans like I am- don’t miss the LP sale on Rue La La today!

xoxoxoxo

ALOHA!

yup thats right- we're moving to pearl harbor, HAWAII!

I'm beyond excited right now- its so funny because Hawaii was the last place we thought we'd be able to go! D was so cute, he called me right before he went up to the board to select his port and he was screaming "san diego or hawaii, san diego or hawaii?!" I was so shocked I kept saying both locations! Last night was spent drinking wayyyy too much wine (and some amazing cheesy artichoke dip..oopsie). We will likely be moving right after the wedding in June, but I'll keep you all posted!

**also- I've seen a navy wife blogger on here living in hawaii but I can't find her now :( if any of you know her blog please pass along to me so I can stalk shamelessly!**

Happy Friday & Valentines Weekend :)

xoxoxoxo

my new style staple

can you tell I'm already letting myself go?

tonight is the night! we find out where d will be stationed for the next 2ish years! very excited! i am so proud of him and excited for his career to begin!

xoxoxoxo

bored bored bored

SNOWED IN AGAIN. Getting some serious cabin fever.

What would you be??

If I were a month, I’d be June. My wedding month/D's bday month & I LOVE summertime.
If I were a day of the week, I’d be Sunday. Sunday mornings to be precise.
If I were a time of day, I’d be 7:00 AM. Weird huh? I'm a morning person through and through.
If I were a planet, I’d be Neptune. Its such a pretty blue!
If I were a sea animal, I’d be a monkey.
If I were a direction, I’d be South.
If I were a piece of furniture, I’d be a chaise lounge. If a piece of furniture could be sexy, it would be a chaise lounge.
If I were a liquid, I’d be a cute little can of Sofia champagne.
If I were a gemstone, I’d be a pearl.
If I were a tree, I’d be a cherry blossom tree. Yes I cannot wait for cherry blossom season in DC.
If I were a tool, I’d be a can opener? Ha I have no idea. Not keen on tools.
If I were a flower, I’d be a pink peony.
If I were a kind of weather, I’d be a balmy 80 degrees.
If I were a musical instrument, I’d be a piano.
If I were a color, I’d be light pink.
If I were an emotion, I’d be twitterpated.
If I were a fruit, I’d be a strawberry.
If I were a sound, I’d be a Michael Buble album.
If I were an element, I’d be water.
If I were a car, I’d be new BMW 7 Series. However. I could never drive a car that nice- I'd be a nervous wreck!
If I were a food, I’d be some of my roomie's baked mac and cheese. AMAZING. SINFUL even.
If I were a place, I’d be Vail, Colorado.
If I were a material, I’d be cashmere.
If I were a taste, I’d be a piece of cheesecake.
If I were a scent, I’d be Vera Wang's Princess.
If I were an object, I’d be a blackberry.
If I were a body part, I’d be eyes.
If I were a facial expression, I’d be a big huge silly grin.
If I were a song, I’d be anything by Owl City.
If I were a pair of shoes, I’d be a pair of Tory Burch Reva Flats. In black. My love.

XOXOXOXO

girl cush

I guess you could say I have a little bit of a girl crush.

We all know Carrie Underwood is my #1, but Amanda Seyfried is a close second.

My obsession with Big Love started this girl crush. I just find her so cute and a great actress. She seems personable and reminds me of a lot of my friends.

See her in Big Love, Dear John (which I haven’t seen yet but my roomie said wasn’t the best….boo), Mama Mia, Alpha Dogs, & of course….Mean Girls ("Oh my God, Karen. You can't just ask people why they're white...")

In other news, another one of my purchases came from etsy! I LOVE the Keep Calm & Carry On signs I’ve seen around, but this one is perfect for D & me.

*also perfect for you Alanna!*

xoxoxoxo

14 Day Love & Respect Challenge

For those of you that don’t follow Wifey in Training you should because she’s so cute.

I was reading her post yesterday about a 14 day Love & Respect Challenge she found at the Women’s Marriage Ministry.

It is a 14 day challenge to help strengthen your relationship with your husband (in my case, fiancé but never to early to start right?) and it sounds so so cool.

Read about it here and join in on the challenge! Really- what do you have to lose?

Lesson #1 - Tonight or tomorrow when your spouse comes home, greet them at the door. Don't yell from another room. Physically meet them at the door. Let them know that you missed them today. (even if you didn't) I have started doing this with Adam & he absolutely loves it. Honestly, so do I. I feel much more special when I feel that everyone is happy to see me. If this is not possible to do it this way due to your schedules, then be sure to make him feel like you missed him & you are happy to see him when you are face to face.

While D and I don’t live together- I’m learning from this lesson what I can. I need to work on showing him how excited I am to see him, and that I miss him when he’s not around. I think sometimes I take him for granted (ahem I know I do). This weekend, he walked from the Academy to my apartment (roughly 2 miles each way) because his car was stuck and he wanted to spend the day with me. He had frost all around his face and he was FREEZING the entire time. If that’s not true love I don’t know what is!

So I invite you all to read the Women’s Marriage Ministry blog and take from these lessons what you can- like I said before- what have you got to lose?

Happy Tuesday :)

xoxoxoxo

Make it STOP!

Okay. I’m from Colorado and I know snow. In all my 8 years attending school in CO (high school and college) I remember having a whopping 2 snow days. I’ve also lived in Alaska- and I NEVER remember having snow days up there. In fact, one day I remember it was -30 degrees and we STILL went to school. Crazy I tell you.

But this snow in Maryland, it is an issue. This weekend we were pounded with about 2 ½ feet, and we’re expecting 12-18” tomorrow afternoon into Wednesday evening. Wind. Ice. Gross. Sure we can plow, but where are we going to put the snow?

I give you my parking lot Saturday morning:

xoxoxoxo

Blurb Guestbook Love!

As mentioned a few posts ago, I ordered our guest book from Blurb. I was a little worried about the quality of the pages- but after googling blurb books, I decided to give it a shot. And boy am I glad I did! This book turned out PERFECT.

I ordered 22 pages for about $65. So worth the money! I've heard that if you order books through photographers, they run into the hundreds of dollars! This was actually a pretty fun project, and I recommend it to any of you brides that are looking for an alternative to the traditional guest book. As you will see, I left various blank pages for guests to sign and write notes.

xoxoxoxo

San Diego, Jacksonville or Norfolk?!

Okay so not sure how many of ya'll know but D is in the Navy. He graduates in May (we marry 7 days later in June) and then he reports to his port at the end of June/early July. Well, we find out THURSDAY night where that port will be! It's a little confusing how it all works (his entire class is ranked on a variety of things) and then they pick in order of their class rank.

Among our choices are:

• San Diego, CA
• Jacksonville, FL
• Norfolk, VA

Honestly. I don't have a preference- I am just excited we will finally be living together (no, we don't live together now he still has to live at school) and finally be MARRIED. I am just excited to know and be able to make plans & start looking forward to something (weird I always have to be looking forward to something...).

But here is the kicker: I haven't been to ANY of these locations. D has been to San Diego and LOVED it. That is our first choice just because he fell in love with the city and San Diego is closer to both our families (mine in AK, his in TX...yes Alaska.... that's a whole different post!). But, I've heard wonderful things about Jacksonville (plus the warm weather...who can beat that?). Next- Norfolk. I moved to Annapolis, MD in July and have LOVED living on the east coast. I definitely wouldn't mind a few more years here...

Of course there are a few other locations that are available- in Japan, Washington and Hawaii! We haven't given these much thought- but they're always a possibility we could call one 'home' in July! If you have any opinions on any of these locations please share!

Happy Weekend!

xoxoxoxo

Thursday Thoughts

1. Is anybody else really obsessed with modcloth.com? Honestly, I've only ever ordered one dress off their website- but I find myself perusing through their dresses almost DAILY. I'm searching for bridal shower/bachelorette/rehearsal dinner dresses and its almost become an obsession with finding the right dress! Modcloth has great prices on really unique pieces.

PS: if anybody knows the dress # or where I could find this white BCBG ruffle halter dress I would love you forever:



2. Bikram yoga is going really well. Some classes are better than others (aka I want to die more in some, only a little in the good ones). I keep seeing this 101 day Bikram challange online- and I wish there was something like a 30 day challange starting soon. I need something/someone to keep me accountable. I've been going 4-5 days a week but lets get real I have the time to go after work everyday I'm just lazy! I keep telling myself the membership is really expensive so I'm wasting money if I don't go and that usually works. I will say its just like any other exercise- the hardest part is getting in the car and driving over to the studio. Once I'm in the room I don't have to think about anything, I just listen to the instructor for 90 minutes.

3. Thank goodness its my Friday! This was a long week and I'm happy its over and done with.

Welp thats all for today folks! I'll leave you with one of my favorite pictures of me and my D-man...


xoxoxoxo

yet another snow day

Don't get me wrong. I love Maryland. Love the east coast. EXCEPT. When it snows.

People here freak out like its dooms day when we get a few flurries. Last time the snow hit people gas stations ran out of gas and grocery store shelves were wiped clean. E-mails sent out immediately reminding employees of the snow policy. Oh. And don't even get me started on their driving.

This is what I woke up to today:

**Ugh can you even see that? HATE my bb camera!**

Forecast says to expect 20-36 inches of powder this weekend.

Safe to say this will be another weekend spent on the couch.

Not that I have annyyyy problem with that :)

PS: Happy 50th birthday to my AMAZING father!!!!!!

xoxoxoxo

etsy rave and invites!

Just a short review about my invitation designer!

When I started looking for invites I got really frustrated really quickly. $1000 for an invitation suite? That I’m not even all that crazy about? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Thus, I put off the whole invitation ordering for as long as possible. Then, I my obsession with etsy kicked in and I knew I would ultimately order my invites from a designer on the site. I fell in love with Anita’s designs (specifically this monogram design) in her shop 2BSquared designs.

Anita was wonderful throughout the whole process. I’ve heard horror stories of brides ordering through a designer and the designer just not ‘getting it.’ Definitely not a problem here- she took my vision and ran with it. I am so in love with my invitations and their price- I couldn’t be happier. I wanted something very simple and traditional, and she hit it right on. I am also having her design programs and possible table numbers all incorporating our monogram (obsessed much?). Anywho, if you’re looking for a vendor to design your invitation suite make sure to talk to Anita- I know you won’t be disappointed! I was just so happy to realize you don't have to spend a fortune on invites that look like a million bucks.

A preview of our invites, although they don't look nearly as pretty with all the smearing I had to do :(

xoxoxoxo

Hunter Wellies!

Look what I got to wear to work today!

*please excuse the poor quality, blackberry cameras are awful!*

They finally came in the mail this weekend!! They’re SO comfortable I’m seriously in love!

Plans for today/tonight: book airline ticket home to CO for bridal shower/bachelorette party in April, e-mail invitation designer to finalize designs, yoga 7-8:30, and catching on on the Big Love episode I fell asleep half way through last night!

Happy Monday :)

xoxoxoxo