TGIF! Five Favorites!

1. Play for Keepsake Bag. One of my favorites this week is coming from Modcloth. Sometimes they're hit-or-miss...but I'm currently loving this handbag. It fits EVERYTHING and Apollo even fits in it. Not to mention, they have ridiculously clever little names for all of their things. I swear I need a separate closet for all of my handbags. It just might be a problem...but a really good-looking one.

2. Spinach & feta wrap from Starbucks. I seriously could suck down two of these guys, but I DO practice some self-control. Since Starbucks had the really DUMB idea of changing the reduced-fat turkey bacon sandwich, I've had to switch to a new one. (Yes it sucks that bad). However, the spinach and feta wrap is absolutely delicious and I'm never looking back. The nutrition facts don't make me want to hit the gym afterward for four hours straight either. At 290 calories, I'll take it. Small victories.

3. My dress. Yes, I'm going to talk about it again and again until May 2nd. It's killing me that I can't post any photos of it. I feel like a fricken Disney princess in it and I just want to walk around and do everything in it. Go to work, sleep in it, make my Starbucks runs in it (wearing a bib of course) and even go for my morning runs. I'll just need to have it bustled a little more for that...

 Source

4. Brookside Dark Chocolate Pomegranates. Dying. The blueberries are to die for too. You can easily trick yourself and think that you're eating healthier WHILE eating chocolate at the same time.

5. Headlines Like These: Drunk College Student Smashes Through the Walls of A Spa and Eats All Their Hot Pockets. (Find the story here). Seriously, I couldn't have laughed harder. But really? Their packing their fridges full of hot pockets at that spa? I think I would bust through a wall if there were some Thin Mints on the other side.

This weekend I will be doing....get ready for it....MORE WEDDING PREP THINGS! I know you're shocked. You know you're a bride-to-be when you get excited over little epiphanies you've had over some DIY projects you can do for things that will save you some major $$$. According to an article I read, (find it here) the average wedding costs $30,000. Now I find that to be crazy sauce, although it does depend on where your venue is. It really does determine the rest of your budget. I'm splitting the wedding costs with my parents and I couldn't even imagine spending that much on ONE DAY. Now if it were a weekend extravaganza, I may be more open to the thought. I did however get some bride weepy eyes going on as I'm getting handfuls full of RSVPs back. Of course not everyone can go to the wedding. That's a given. HOWEVER, there are some people you just kind of maybe assume that they'd go no question? Well, I thought wrong and I'm trying not to be crushed about it. Maybe if the reason was a better one, I wouldn't be so hung up over it, but I'm a bit hurt. I feel like I should call up Carrie Underwood so she can write up some kind of angry country song about it. I feel like they could even still show up a little later to the reception. But OH well. Life will go on.

In more wedding news, we've found a replacement officiant in record time! *cheers* Josh and his guys are going out for their bachelor party this weekend and nope, I don't want to know ANYTHING about it. Not one thing. The less I know the better. I can't wait until MY bachelorette party with the ladies in a couple of weeks! To say that this girl needs a night out to party the night away would be an understatement. Hand me a drink, play some ridiculous beats and let's do this.

Linking up with Darci, April, Christina, and Natasha today!

What is everyone else up to for the weekend??

Love, Laughter & Wine

 Friday night was the start to the weekend and I couldn't have been more exhausted and stressed. So what does my future hubs do? He makes me an ice cream sandwich cake and gets Frozen for us to watch. Yes, this man opted to watch a Disney movie with me AND made me a cake. Best future hubs EVER.

Although my weekends are jam packed with wedding events and planning, I'm loving it. ESPECIALLY when I get to see all of my favorite people in one day. Saturday was my second bridal shower that two of my aunts hosted for me at an amazing French restaurant, L'Eiffel Bistrot & Creperie. All of my bridesmaids were there and while I wanted to just talk to everyone, I HAD to rush on over to my family who traveled from Minnesota. I rarely get to see them so it was basically like Christmas all over again. Crap, if it snows again don't blame me for saying that...

I had way too much wine (of course) and the food was to die for. I'm a salmon snob.

After the food, we ordered dessert...nothing could have prepared me for it either. I wish I could have grown a second stomach for it...I could only eat a third of it! Helloooo long distance run tomorrow.

 Wine AND this dessert...I didn't even know what to do with myself. It's times like these where you just forget about logging anything into MyFitnessPal.

 

 During lunch and dessert, there were a couple of games, one of which I definitely got a kick out of. Out of a whole list of Facebook statuses, everyone had to guess which status was posted by me or Josh. 

After dessert and chatting with my favorites, it was gift time. I must say, everyone outdid themselves. I am so blessed to have the most thoughtful friends and family. One of my bridesmaids painted this for me! Stunned.

 

Once again, everyone insisted on playing the ribbon game and counted how many I broke...luckily there was only one that I couldn't untie and had to cut....dang it!! You can see how excited I am about this whole situation. 

Bags are good...that means, no ribbons. I swear, my fam and friends want Josh and me to be the next Duggar family.

Oh and might I add that Josh and I are now stockholders in Starbucks and BP now? Josh might be screwed with his stocks in BP since they're spilling oil all over the damn place, but Starbucks?! Hellloooo retirement! Go ahead entire high school population, get your matching Starbucks fraps! I'll no longer eye-roll at you. You're helping a girl out.

After all of the gifts were unwrapped and set aside, I could hug and thank the hell out of everyone. I love my bridesmaids more than anything and this is actually the first time they could all get together at once! #bigbridalpartyproblems.

The best thing about all of these ladies is that they are all unique and awesome in their own way. I met each one at a special time in my life and I can't wait until I say "I do" with them beside me! I can never get enough time with my family from out-of-town too.

My cousin also had these amazing shirts made. If you don't already know, I'm obsessed with pandas (who isn't?) Team Emily for the win.

The back of each shirt is unique too with their role in the wedding and relation to me. I'm in love with these shirts and I'll be wearing it for the next 32 days. It goes well with a blazer right?...Yes, that's what I thought. Totally will.

After the bridal shower epicness, I went over to my Aunt's place where we had quality family time. Oh man it doesn't get any better than this. We celebrated my aunt's and my grandmother's birthday as well which meant more cake...and spiced rum on the side. Damnit, let's add on another mile to that run in the morning.

Team Emily- with some missing of course.

 After I said goodbye to my Minne-SO-ta fam, I headed home, unloaded everything and hit that pillow so hard. On Sunday, I definitely kept my promise to myself and hit that pavement hard early in the morning. It was glorious. The sun was shining, it was warm and holy shit...it felt like SPRING. After my run, I worked my behind off until it was time to meet Josh and his fam to celebrate his mom's birthday at Kyoto...one of the best Japanese restaurants EVER. It's the type of place where they cook right in front of you and try to flip things into your mouth...in which the food always just ends up hitting me in the face....After that seven-mile run earlier, my body was screaming for protein. Hellloooo shrimp dinner.

 

Josh's parents are also wine aficionados, so we shared a bottle of "Kung Fu Girl" wine...it's a type of Riesling and I just had to try it. Definitely a fan.

It was the perfect end to an amazing weekend. 32 days until this guy is stuck with me forever!

 

Also, the Mindy Project comes back on this week...and I feel like it's the most underrated show EVER. Does anyone else watch it??? I'm obsessed and can't wait to see it!!!

 

Happy Hump Day!

Hey everyone! It's time for the Hump Day Blog Hop with Liz at Fitness Blondie! I am so lucky to be co-hosting with this beautiful blonde this week! Link up and mingle with some new bloggers!! I tip my coffee mug at you this morning, Liz! :)






I'm pretty dang exhausted for today to be a Wednesday though. After finalizing the invitations (for the billionth time) and sending them all out, I feel like I'm slipping away into a coma mid-day. Prepping these invitations have called for some late nights. Josh and I estimated that we'd invite about 170-175 people to the wedding....BAHA yeah no...it ended up being a total of 195 after I figured I'd get a head start on the place cards. I about fell off my exercise ball (it's more entertaining sitting on it than on a chair for hours). 195 PEOPLE. @$#%. How did this even happen? I know how it happened...I don't know how to say, "no you're not important enough to be invited to the wedding so suck it." I'm so beyond happy with how they turned out though. I added a lace detail and tied the response cards, directions and invite together with a ribbon in my color. Oh but because there was a "bump" in each invite because of the knot, the fricken people at the post office said I needed to add another stamp...I swear my wedding has my bank account by the balls.

I know they always say that you can expect about 15% or 20% of people not to show up, but still. Yikes. To make me feel better, I took a break and started to write thank you notes to all of the wonderful ladies that attended the bridal shower on Saturday. I got the cutest thank you cards from Papyrus. Too bad my handwriting is absolutely horrific. I've been professionally trained to write things down at lightening speed which means I've had to sacrifice the quality of my penmanship over the years...to sum it up, you'd think I was a doctor. Too bad I don't have the salary to match! Womp.

This might take awhile....

In other news, I must address the Kimye Vogue cover, being in the industry. Yes, I am deeply ashamed of Kim Kardashian's premiere on the cover of Vogue and I'll make sure that issue somehow lands in Apollo and Luigi's litter box. She can grace the cover of US Weekly or In Touch all she likes, but Vogue? Let us mourn the magazine's esteemed reputation. I'm sure a lot of people are tired of hearing about it, but seriously...WHAT has she done to make her worthy of a spread in Vogue?! Oh yes that's right..it MUST be because of that amazing hit single she had back in 2011, "Jam Turn It Up" and because of her appearance in that short feature film she starred in....hmmm...MOVING ON. Laugh it up Naomi.We all know what you were thinking during that interview. You want to rip Kim's extensions out.

Source

In more uplifting news, I've been keeping up with my workouts, eating properly and feeling awesome. Whenever I feel like I'm about to fall off the fitness wagon, I make sure to regroup and focus on my goals. Subscribing to some health and fitness magazines is a great way to do that too. It keeps fitness and maintaining a healthy lifestyle in your head. HOWEVER I do feel that if you deprive yourself of what you love TOO much, you'll go overboard and find yourself on your kitchen floor eating out of a tub of ice cream or inhaling a family-sized bag of chips...or in my case...drinking Starbucks beverages. I've cut back significantly and my skinny vanilla lattes are cals that I can easily burn off throughout the day. You just have to choose your battles wisely....and in my case, this bride-to-be just needs her skinny lattes...in moderation of course.

What is the one thing you must have that isn't so healthy??

Showered with Love

On Saturday, my future mother-in-law threw me an amazing bridal shower! I'm seriously so blessed to be marrying into such a loving and caring family. After getting some work done in the morning, I got my hair done and slipped into my dress and glittery rose gold flats that I'm totally in love with.

The shower was Paris-themed (my favorite place ever) and I was obsessing over everything that she made down to the Eiffel Tower cookies! Oh and that's a cupcake cake next to the cupcake display. Say whhaattt??? Amazing.

The cupcakes were infused with strawberries and they were absolutely delicious and flippin' adorable. 

And did I mention that she also made a specialty drink?? Josh and coined it "Wodka" since it was a mix of pink moscato and vodka. Holy crap, it's amazing and exactly right up this bride's alley. The boys stayed downstairs in the basement for the most part and Josh made an appearance a couple of times. I obviously just loved the wodka a little too much. Who needs a glass?

This bridal shower was for Josh's side of the family and it was great spending so much time with all of the ladies and totally indulging in my favorite veggie pizza that Josh's mom makes. To die for. She is SO very thoughtful.

I'm personally not a fan of playing games, but they organized two that were really fun! One was a quiz about me that each guest had to fill out to see how well they knew the bride. It was a lot of fun and of course my sister won that game. After the winner was announced though, we called Josh up to answer the questions to see how many he got right. It was confirmed that he definitely knows his bride! 

Next, it was time to open the mountain of gifts! I don't know about anyone else, but I always feel uncomfortable opening presents in front of a lot of people. I never want anyone to think that I like another present over what they got me because of my reaction. At this point, I felt a little less anxious though. Thank you, Wodka! Everyone was SO very generous and I never knew I would be so excited over a cocktail mixer and shiny new ice bucket. #Signsyourgettingold. Josh's cousin got us this beautiful personalized frame and coaster set that I'm obsessing over.

Josh and I were beyond spoiled! Well...mainly me since I don't know when he'd use the Kurig (hell to the yes). Josh's mom put together the most adorable honeymoon tote for us and another gift set adorned with Paris things of course. I'm not obsessed...what are you talking about? 

Now for the hilarious part. So to preface what is about to happen, while Josh and I were registering for things, he came across this frog bathset meant for kids. I was like, wait what? That's ridiculous. He fricken loved this thing and he absolutely insisted that we add this frog towel/ bathset to the registry. I relented...now fast forward, Josh's mom calls Josh upstairs to help unwrap the last gift....and yep, you guessed it. It was the damn frog bathset. He was elated.

 After we all had a good laugh, it was dessert time! Cathy busted out a chocolate fountain with strawberries, pineapple, preztels etc. HEAVEN. The take home cookies were also adorable! 

I'll say it again, I am SO lucky to have such an amazing mother-in-law. I also only ended up breaking THREE ribbons while unwrapping the gifts. MUAHAHA. Apparently breaking any ribbons represents how many kids you will have. I can deal with three...but that is my fricken MAX. I absolutely can't wait until I get to see my family from Minnesota for my bridal shower part two next weekend! All of my bridesmaids will be there as well. I can't wait! There's nothing better than surrounding oneself with your favorite people.

39 DAYS. To quote Ke$ha...tick tock on the clock!!!

This bridal shower definitely left me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. With my bride anxiety taking over a lot lately with the planning, it's time like these that make me feel SO good about the wedding day and ensures me that whatever happens it'll all work out perfectly! One step closer to tying the knot!

Also, the invitations are all sent out! No turning back now!!!

 

The Bride vs. The Dress Fitting

So yesterday was International Happiness Day, an emotion that completely overcame me a whole day early on Wednesday night when I had my dress fitting. You can pretty much say that I was biting my fingernails and eating light throughout the whole dang day so I wasn't bloated to the max come 7p.m. Yes, I had to have my dress fitting at the END of the day!! GAH. If you can avoid it, I highly suggest going to a dress fitting as early as possible!

Let me preface by saying that back in November when my dress came in, it was so tight I had to inhale as much as I could so the consultant could zip it up....I couldn't breathe and she had to unzip it partially halfway through the appointment so the effing zipper wouldn't break. I about died.

Source

Granted I felt bloated to the max, but I felt like the world had just ended when she said, "oh no worries honey, we can just let it out." My face contorted in a way I never thought was possible. Has anyone else experienced a wedding meltdown? LET OUT my Enzoani gown?! NUH UH lady!

 
Source

By the time my appointment came around, I wanted to run into that bridal boutique and try on my dress!! I walked in and was greeted by the woman who is in charge of my alterations. She led me to my fitting room that had my dress waiting for me...I swear there was like a white light shining down on it, it was so heavenly. It's moments like these that get me even MORE excited for the big day. I can't wait for Josh to see me in my dress. I hope to knock him off my socks. Unfortunately I can't divulge any info on the dress since he may be reading this, BUT it's absolutely perfect and fireworks go off in my head every single time I see it. 

One last wave of anxiety passed through me and then I stripped down, stepped into the dress...and BOOM she zipped it up with no problem! SAY WHAT?? And I can breathe?! Pardon me while I do my flippin' happy dance and run a victory lap! Not only did it zip up, they'll have to take it IN.

 

 Source

When I initially went to my trainer in tears because my dress didn't fit, I told him all about my daily workouts and while I didn't realize it before, I was lifting heavy weights and bulking up. I had to lay off the heavier weights and do higher reps of lower weights. Between switching that up, getting rid of more of those yummy empty calories that come in the form of wine glasses and Starbucks cups, and making sure my water intake is where it needs to be...SUCCESS. I'll be doing these moves for the next six weeks.

Source

Tomorrow my future mother-in-law is throwing me a bridal shower and I am SO excited. Now I get to practice not spilling stuff all over myself while in a white dress. Maybe I should wear a bib? Happy Friday!!! Can I get a Hallelujah?!