20 things...

20 things every woman should do before she gets married...
1. Live by herself for at least a year. {Not quite, but I’m not living with D if that counts for anything?}
2. Live with someone else for at least a year. {After living in a sorority house I feel as though I’ve exhausted this one. Try 50 girls in one house. I know how to share.}
3. Recover from a broken heart. {Semi…looking back I was a drama queen and don’t think I was in love to begin with.}
4. Have a vacation fling. {Nope- but I witnessed many!}
5. Take a road-trip with a group of girlfriends. {Havasu spring break 2006. What a trip.}
6. Relish sleeping in a queen-sized bed by herself. {Do so currently}
7. Learn to love her body. {A work in progress, but I’ll say I’m much more comfortable at 22 than I was at 18.}
8. Get her finances in order. {As of last month yes. I’ve always been pretty financially responsible, my parents did a great job and didn’t coddle me throughout college.}
9. Have sex with at least one person she’d never want to marry (or introduce to mom). {Ew, I definitely don’t think this is a must-do for women before they get married.}
10. Find reliable birth control. {Ha yes! Yaz girl. Although I must say can't wait to get off, I hate what it does to my body.}
11. Pay off as much credit card debt and student loans as possible. {Yes!}
12. Spend way too much on a something frivolous. {Too often}
13. Exorcise all past relationship demons. {Done done and done. I must say I have a hard time getting over his past relationships though.}
14. Travel somewhere exotic. {Nope, but did live in Europe when I was younger if that counts?}
15. Establish a strong circle of friends. {All my best friends.}
16. Forgive her parents for not being perfect. {Yup.}
17. Have at least one night she can’t quite remember. {Ha yes unfortunately}
18. Experience some really bad first dates. {Nope none come to mind.}
19. Find hobbies that fulfill her. {Yes love Bikram and need to find a studio here asap.}
20. Celebrate her 25th birthday. {Nope. Actually, I’ll barely be 23 when we marry. But I don’t think age really has much to do with it. Emotional maturity is really what matters and I know I’m ready to tie the knot. I know plenty of 23 (heck-35 year olds!) that haven’t reached that point in their lives yet.}

xoxoxoxo

less than 6 months!

It really seems so crazy to me that in less than 6 months D and I will be tying the knot! We got engaged March 27, 2009 which meant a long engagement (until after he finishes school- he isn’t allowed to be married while he attends) of 13 months. Which now looking back isn’t that long at all! I always hear of brides planning their weddings in under 6 months and that stresses me out! Maybe it’s because we don’t live in Texas (location of our wedding) it’s made things a bit trickier. Anywho- here is a list of things I plan on accomplishing before January 1:

-Finalize bridesmaid dresses
-Finalize MY dress (I really need to get moving on this one…)
-Finalize hotel blocking
-Find a florist
-Decide on ceremony music
-Finalize cake design

I’m very excited we have our engagement pictures on December 30th while we’re visiting his family for Christmas :) I found our photographer through one of my sorority sisters who got married last April and I just love his work. Visit his site here.

xoxoxoxo

a sephora spree...

D surprised me with the tea maker on Friday! Let me just say I LOVE this. I’ve been making tea for the past 3 days non-stop! I took the plunge this morning and only drank one cup of coffee, then I’ve been drinking tea all day and so far so good! They had a test sample of the mix I bought and I just fell in love with it. It’s the White Ayurvedic Chai and the Samurai Chat Mate. It’s a yummy chai and the rock sugar adds just the right amount of sweetness to it. I definitely recommend this and it would really make the best gift!

In other news, I went a little Sephora crazy last week (I absolutely love Sephora and will never shop at Ulta because of A) their return policy B) I had a friend that worked there and I should have written a case study about their poor management/customer service as my senior capstone- it was that bad! And C) Sephora points. Need I say more?). I received an e-mail that was $15 off any $45 purchase so of course I had to put it to good use. My Dior Iconic mascara is about to be done for, so I ordered the new YSL Singulier. I’ve heard this mascara works miracles so we will see! I also purchased the Make Up Forever HD Microfinish Powder (I’ve also heard great things about this- I’m over my mineral veil so hopefully I like this). I also purchased MUFE Matte Velvet and started using that on Friday- really like it so far, I’ve been using Bare Minerals for so long it’s weird to use an liquid foundation again but you really can’t beat the coverage.

D and I stopped by Barnes and Noble yesterday and I picked up this book for us:


We only read about 20 pages last night but we loved it. The first chapters talked about wives respecting their husbands and husbands loving their wives, and how couples are constantly going through cycles but if you always have love (for the wife) and respect (for the husband) your partners needs are fulfilled and you can conquer anything. I’d definitely recommend it for couples who are interested in improving their relationships and learning new techniques and theories how to do so. I’ll update you as we get further in the book!

xoxoxoxo

happy friday!

Look what my adorable/crafty roomie, Katie made for me:


LOVE my Christmas gift for my bestie/MOH Megan:



AND D's parents' gift came yesterday, love it framed (sorry for poor quality!):


Happy Friday have a wonderful weekend!

xoxoxoxo

did I miss something?

Why is it so hard to understand.

As a married man/woman you are allowed to sleep with ONE person.

I don't know if I'm immature/naive/crazy but does it seem like infidelity is becoming more and more common? Or are people just getting caught more? If you're contemplating straying from your marriage you certainly owe it to your partner to say something before you act on it.

My thoughts are with Elin and their two children.

xoxoxoxo

tea? yes please!

I kid you not I used to drink 7 cups of coffee a day. Insanity I tell you. I’ll go ahead and say it- if I haven’t had my coffee I’m straight up mean. Rude. Cruel. Fun for no one. So at the beginning of the summer I started curbing my addiction, and now I’m down to 2 cups every morning (I’m still hoping to get that down to only one). In the process, I started drinking more tea. I used to think tea tasted gross and reminded me of stale watered down coffee. But, once I started getting a little more adventurous (thank you Yogi tea) I found I actually really like tea. So, I introduce you to…..

Your perfect office accessory. How easy and fun is this? You just put in the loose leaf tea and hot water, and voila a perfect mug of brewed tea.

I REALLY want to try the MateVana flavor, they boast its ideal for coffee (addicts) drinkers:

“A deliciously smooth herbal tea that is perfect for coffee lovers. It does contain caffeine, but many people have a different reaction to this stimulant since it is blended with the other natural xanthines found in Mate (theophylline and theobromine). Together they create energy without jitteriness or addictive tendencies. This tea is also a wonderful diet tea, since it curbs hunger. MateVana does contain nuts.” YUMMY!

Also, I want to start using their rock sugar just because it looks so cool AND it is supposed to taste much better than regular sugar in your tea:

“Our all natural sweetners are a better way to add a touch of sugar (or honey) to your tea. White sugar affects the taste of the tea and often masks the complexity of the drink. However, our unprocessed rock cane sugar or natural honeys simply add a touch of sweetness without changing the taste of the tea. Try one out and see what you think. You just might dump the white sugar all together!”

xoxoxoxo

christmas gifts!

Happy Hump Day everyone!

Today I’m going to share a few of the Christmas gifts I’ve purchased for the family!


First, my parents: I found these awhile ago on Etsy (shocker I know) and just love the one that says ‘Family is Forever’ on it for my parents, I love all these signs/plaques they have on Etsy and my mother may have everything- but she doesn’t have one of these!

For D’s parents, I found this print and just loved it. D always sings that verse of the Texas anthem so it fit perfectly :) The seller was great and she already has sent it out, once it arrives I plan on finding a nice frame for it at Hobby Lobby maybe in black or even a gold?



For my twin brothers I’ll probably just get them iTunes gift certificates, they like to buy movies and songs on there and they’d appreciate that a lot more than clothes/cologne/or any of the other ideas I had brainstormed.

I am still looking for D’s sister, she is pregnant and due in June (her due date is actually only a few days after our wedding!) so I thought about getting her something baby related, but since we don’t know the sex it’s a little hard to pick something out.

xoxoxoxo