My Bridal Shower

This past month has been a whirlwind of activity, between my Birthday, Bachelor/Bachelorette parties and Bridal Showers it's been a fun celebration filled month.  By bridal party whisked me away to Charlotte for a bachelorette weekend where we had a great time hanging out and enjoying each other's company.  The following weekend my mother-in-law threw me the most fun bridal shower I've ever been to.  It was blast spending time with both sides of the family, getting to know one another better and playing super fun games (coming from someone who usually doesn't like shower games).

Bachelorette Cake Pops

Bachelorette Ladies

Bridal Shower Cake

Turkey Burgers With Orange Mustard Glaze

Guy Fieri is a master of combining unique flavors to make delicious meals.  The orange glaze mustard combined with turkey burgers sounded like a win-win to me so I had to try it.  It turned out to be the perfect light refreshing summer meal!

Personal Photo

Personal Photo

Personal Photo

From Food Network

OUR WEDDING: Invitations

One thing I firmly believe in is that invitations set the tone for any event. Kimili and I are really laid back and love to entertain, have a great time with family and friends so we knew we didn't want our wedding to be a stuffy uptight affair.  It was important to us that our invitations portrayed our personality and vision for our wedding.  With the added pressure of being a wedding planner, we wanted our invitations to WOW our guests.

Our first exploration into the wonderful world of invitations suite lead us to pockets, if you remember this post.   While we thought it was a pretty, cost effective invitation with a little pizazz because of the pocket folds and pretty ribbon embellishments, it just wasn't the direction we wanted to go in.

From Cards and Pockets

The next invitation suite we were eyeing we saw on Bella Figura.  I really liked the first photo below, Kimili thought the font was a little difficult to read.  Looking at it now, I can agree, so our happy medium is shown in the second photo.  The thing that really drew me to this collection was the letter press calligraphy, once we figured out the price, Kimili quickly shut this option down.

From Bella Figura

From Bella Figura

After a lame attempt at designing the invitations myself, I stumbled upon Do-de-line Design Studio's website via Southern Weddings (I believe), and our design inspiration was found!  See the entire invitation suite here.

From Do-De-Line Design Studio

Now we had a direction, but no conceivable way of how to accomplish this fun, whimsical, sophisticated invitation that we absolutely loved.  At this point the invitation process was becoming a bit overwhelming for me.  Enter Kimili's cousin (who is a graphic designer and does this professionally) after a few e-mails and a meeting, here is what we came up with, hope you love it as much as we do!

Design: Jaxn Design Haus 

Printing: UPrinting

Envelopes & Solid Envelope Liner: Paper Presentation

Calligraphy: Classic Calligraphy

Envelop Liner (Stripe):  By Invitation Only 

Personal Photo

Grilled Chicken Salad with Feta, Fresh Corn, and Blueberries

This chicken salad recipe is perfect for your next summer gathering.  Though I haven't tried it yet, I couldn't wait to share it with you!  My eyes were glued to the TV while watching The Pioneer Woman make this meal one Saturday morning.  Find the recipe here and tell me what you think!

From Pioneer Woman

OUR WEDDING: Checklist Update - 1 Month

OOOHHHHH EEEMMMM GGGGEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!! 1 Month to go!!!! Where has the time gone?!?!? In exactly one month today, Kimili and I will be celebrating our union along with our family and friends! We are super excited and can't wait for our big day!

Photo from Alexa's Photography - Engagement Session

Last month we:

Scheduled final walk through with venue

Ordered items for candy buffet

Finish last few DIY projects

Begin pre-marital counseling

Finish paying final balances

Finalize reception song list

Meet with our ceremony officiate

Wedding gown fitting

This month we ABSOLUTELY MUST:

Apply for marriage license
Meet with vendors one last time
Final walk thorough of venue
Enjoy Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Enjoy Bridal Shower
Final Dress Fitting
Update Registry
Finalize Guest List
GET MARRIED!!!!

Sliced Steak with Parsley-Caper Sauce and Broiled Tomatoes with Bacon-Bit Breadcrumbs

Yum-O!  That's all I have to say about this recipe for Sliced Steak with Parsley-Caper Sauce and Broiled Tomatoes with Bacon-Bit Breadcrumbs from Rachael Ray.  It was something a little different than what we normally eat, but it's good to switch things up every once in a while, and this meal was a sure fire hit!

Personal Photo

Personal Photo

Personal Photo

Personal Photo

Personal Photo

Young House Love

As of late, I've been totally enamored in the Young House Love Blog, it's about a a young couples journey through DIY projects that make their house a home.  If you're slightly addicted to HGTV, as am I, then this is a blog you definitely need to check out!

From Young House Love

From Young House Love

From Young House Love

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Fourth of July!  We hope everyone enjoys their day in a safe and fun way!

From TLC

Revelry House Fourth of July Party

With the fourth quickly approaching and plan's being made on how to celebrate this patriotic holiday, I thought it was only appropriate to share this nifty party in a box for all you last minute planners.  Revelry House is a new company that specializes in themed parties packed neatly in a box that arrive on your doorstep, how awesome is that.  Take a peek at their festive fourth of July options.

From The College Prepster

From The College Prepster

From Revelry House