Love at The Parker

If any of you know me well, then you probably know that my absolute favorite hotel in the world is The Parker in Palm Springs. I went once on business and fell head over heels in love with this swanky, 60's-inspired, Jonathan Adler-decorated heaven. It's flashy - It's classy - and I would seriously move in if I could. I've been back once with Mason (that's him above at the lemonade stand), and me and Brianne are thinking of having our last pre-wedding sisterly get-a-way there in June.

So, as you can imagine, I get really, really excited when I click on one of my favorite wedding blogs and see the title "Palm Springs Wedding," because I'm always hoping - with fingers crossed - that it's going to be at The Parker, and today was my lucky day.

Check out the images below (taken by Viera Photographics) and head to Style Me Pretty if you want more (and seriously, if you're ever in need of a little flash and a little class and a whole 'lotta heat - make yourself a reservation at The Parker ASAP).

Very Carrie Inspiration

Was checking out the newest Sex and the City 2 trailer when I came across the above picture of Carrie's bedroom from the set (after she gives her apartment a little make-over). Isn't it just the cutest thing you've ever seen? I never really paid attention to what it looked like in the first movie, but I'm totally digging the brown/blue combo.

I believe I mentioned that Mason and I are considering staying put in my current apartment after we get married (it really is a great place not easily abandoned), and while we're still considering that, we've also decided to open up the search to include houses to rent in the Santa Monica area (not something easy to find in our price range). We both LOVE the idea of a yard of our own, so we figured we'd give it a shot. We've got bbq's and patio furniture on the brain these days. I'll keep you updated on the search.

Better

While I'm so thankful for the people who love me and forgive my flaws, I can't help but wonder if I'd be a better person if they made me pay.

Good Habits

Even when the work week is just one day shorter, it feels like so much more. Today is my Friday, but I have so, so much to do between now and the start of my four-day vacation.

Lately I've been getting into Flylady - have you heard of her? She's all about helping you keep your home organized and stay on top of your life, and her #1 piece of advice is to shine your sink every night, because a clean sink makes the whole kitchen feel clean. I started with a deep clean the other day and have been maintaining, and I must admit, it does feel nice.

Every month she posts a new "habit" to build into your daily routine. April's habit is to "make your bed." I've been doing pretty good with this one, too. (Which is making Cajun happy - he prefers to do his lounging on a freshly made bed.)

Why does it always seem harder to create the good habits than the bad ones?

I hope you all have a great weekend. I'll be soaking in the sun and fun and country music in Indio, but I'll be back Tuesday with plenty of pictures and a story or two.

Fun Filled

What. A. Weekend.

There was Twilight and froyo (with heath bar crumbles!), bowling, fabric flowers, a trip to Walmart (and the purchase of the cutest wicker fedora), a little cleaning, live music, a double celebrity sighting, and the ACMs - almost hard to believe so much fun could fit itself into two days.

(Did I mention Mason and I take bowling very, very seriously? Don't believe me? Check out our game faces.)

I'm happy and excited this week because Stagecoach is only four days away. It'll be my fourth year, and this time we're renting an RV. I always get so, SO excited right before it gets here...

Newly Discovered

Today has been a good day, partly because it's Friday and partly because I stumbled upon two brand new wedding blogs. Check these babies out when you get a chance for some real wedding inspiration from some funky, fabulous brides:

Ruffled
Green Wedding Shoes

Tonight my plan is to work on a little DIY project I've got going on for my dress (I know, it's Friday night - the life of a bride is sooo exciting), and this weekend I plan to soak up a little sun, eat some watermelon, possibly get a haircut, take some pictures for the birthday list (I've been working on it, I promise!) and do some much anticipated sleeping in.

I hope your weekend is fabulous. See you soon.

A Warm Welcome

When I realized we'd actually be lucky enough to have out-of-town guests at the wedding in Texas (LOVE all of you who are traveling!), I knew I wanted to do a little something special to welcome them to my home state and thank them for making the trip. After seeing tons of cute welcome bags on the web, I added yet another (very fun) project to my list.

I already have plenty of ideas on what I want to put in the bags, including, but not limited to (don't worry - I'm not going to completely ruin the surprise for any traveling blog readers):

-a few bottles of St. Arnold's beer (brewed in Houston - and gooooood)
-a stamped Texas postcard (for sending home to family and friends)
-some candied pecans (Groves is home to the Pecan Festival and lots of pecan trees)
-a map of the area (every tourist's must-have when visiting a new place)

I love the little note attached to the "Welcome to Colorado" bag in the photo above - totally planning to use it for inspiration.

Nesting

I know it's normal to "nest" before you have a baby, but what about "nesting" before a wedding? Because Mason and I are waiting until we tie the knot to move in together, I find myself getting really, really excited about decorating our first place (which actually might turn out to be my current place minus my sister - but still, it'll be "our" first).

In my younger days, I had a serious thing for bright, bright colors (I'm talking pink walls here), but nowadays, I find myself turning to grey over and over again. I like the way a room looks when a cool grey is mixed with pops of color here and there. I'm thinking grey bedding with brown walls, grey walls with orange pillows, green walls with grey rugs - the options are endless!

In fact, I'm thinking I may need to subscribe to a good home decor magazine - or better yet, find some really great home decorating blogs! If you know of any, send them my way.

(And totally loving the pillows above, by the way - ran into those on Etsy - my newest obsession.)

It's a Group Thing

I was reading about current wedding trends in the latest Brides magazine, and was interested to find that under Photography, group photos of all the wedding guests is a new trend. I've seen this a lot on the wedding blogs I read (like the one above from Style Me Pretty and the one below from 100 Layer Cake), and I love it.

I asked my mom if she thought it'd be possible for the photographer to catch all of the guests at some point when the light is still nice to snap a group shot. She suggested immediately after the ceremony, after the wedding party walks back down the aisle, but before everyone heads into the reception.

I'm excited. I think that's definitely a photo worth having.

Keep Calm and Carry On

Sometimes, it just seems like the universe is trying to tell you something - and in my case, it seems I need to "keep calm and carry on."

Two weeks ago, I saw the photo above on 100 Layer Cake, and thought my-oh-my, how cute. Then, last weekend, I saw a print very similar to the one below lounging languidly outside an art store in Venice. It was blue and in a gold frame just like this one, and I gasped and said I must have that print one day.

Then, if you can even believe it, I spotted it again last night as I was walking into the courtyard of my apartment building. I looked to the left and into one of my neighbor's kitchens only to find this very print - in green - hanging above the sink.

It's always weird when stuff like that happens, and in my case, it's great advice that comes at the perfect time.

I did a little research and found out the print was actually a propaganda poster made during the beginning of World War II, but never used. You can learn more about it here if you're interested. In the meantime, keep calm and carry on - I know I sure will.

Saturday Night Crafting

Happy Tuesday, everyone. I hope the weekend was good to you. As planned, my Saturday night was spent creating the cutest wedding shower invites. (I know it's not customary to help with your own shower invites, but since my MOH is my sister AND my roommate, I couldn't resist lending a hand.)

Before I jump into the DIY details, let me start with our inspiration for the shower (which will explain the wording you see in the photo above). Just as the wedding will be laid back, fun and a bit nontraditional, I really wanted the shower to be those things as well, and with travel from LA to Texas to consider, it was important that we be as creative with timing as possible. So, we decided the shower would be held at my parents house on the Thursday night before Memorial Day weekend. Instead of the traditional shower (cake, mints, punch, bride in a chair opening gifts for hours), it'll be more of a social gathering with drinks and finger foods and plenty of mingling - perfect for catching up with people I haven't seen in a long, long time. I'm extremely excited to see how it all comes together!

With the shower theme in mind, we wanted invitations that were fun and unique, but still represented the overall feel of the wedding. We started with a booklet of solid colored, post card sized squares (available at most craft stores). Since these were pretty thick, we used them as the base for the invitations.

Next, we bought a bunch of different, patterned paper and printed the wording. We cut around the words and punched holes in both pieces of the invitation and tied them together with ribbon.

Because we had a variety of different colored paper and ribbon, each invitation is unique.

With both of us working together, creating the invitations went pretty fast. Brianne made brownies, we made an assembly line, and in a couple of hours, we had them snuggled in their envelopes.

What do you think?

Worrisome

I have some worries on my mind lately. Mason tells me I worry too much. I don't necessarily agree. I think it just seems that way because there are a lot of worrisome things happening lately. I'm hoping everything will level out soon. Perhaps a sunny weekend will help.

Yesterday my sister, Brianne, came to my office and we had a snocone break, courtesy of the shaved ice truck. Today I'm wishing for more of the same.

I hope you all have wonderful weekends. Wedding shower invitations are on my (and my MOH's) to-do list - going DIY all the way. Will surely post photos when they're done.

In Other News

I got the news today that I was not selected as a Wedding Bee blogger. Unfortunately, they have TONS of brides applying and are only able to choose a few. I'm a bit bummed, but I'm actually looking forward to being able to post about something other than the wedding here.

Don't get me wrong - I'm sure you'll continue to see plenty of wedding posts - but I'm happy that I can now combine them with posts about the whatevers and whenevers of life. Thanks for sticking by me through the many (MANY!) wedding posts. I owe ya one.

So, in other news, spring time has finally arrived here in Santa Monica, and I've got the pictures to prove it. Burgers in the sun, toes in the sand and a little Skee Ball make for the perfect afternoon.

Maid For You

I made a big decision today - a decision that will for sure land me in bride heaven - or at least win me the undying love of all of my bridesmaids. You may have guessed it by now: I've decided to let them pick out their own dresses!

Why, you might ask? Mostly because I've tried my hardest to choose a dress that all 3 of them would love, but I keep coming up empty handed. It's important to me that each of them feels fabulous and confident and happy on my big day, and I came to the conclusion that they'd be better at choosing their perfect dress than I would.

So, I gave them some guidelines (golden yellow/at or above the knee) and sent them some links to check out (to the dresses pictured above), and I'm confident they'll each make a really great choice.

I've noticed a trend in non-matching bridesmaid dresses lately, and I must say, I like the unique details it gives to the wedding party - and pretty, happy bridesmaids make for pretty, happy pictures, right?

Check out the photos below and let me know what you think about my decision!

Thoughts? Opinons? Likes? Dislikes?

Wishing It Could Last Forever

While checking out what's new on my favorite wedding blogs, I came across these images (and the one above) from a beautiful New Zealand wedding, and suddenly, I was struck by a true feeling of panic. Not the kind of panic that comes from having too many things to do or feeling behind or overwhelmed, but the kind of panic that jolts through you when you realize that something you really, really love will be over soon and there's nothing you can do about it.

I know I have my moments of wishing I could elope to Vegas, but those moments have been few and far between, because underneath it all, I am truly, truly enjoying planning my wedding.

I LOVE thinking of really great ideas, and I LOVE seeing those ideas come to life, and I LOVE daydreaming about what the day will be like, and I LOVE browsing all of the fantastic wedding blogs out there.

Today it suddenlty hit me that I won't always be the bride planning her wedding and that one day (soon - we're talking 3 1/2 months from now), I won't have a real reason to browse wedding blogs and look for ideas. Sure, I can still look, but won't that only make me sad that my one and only wedding day is over?

What do you think? Is this normal pre-wedding behavior? Or is this how wedding planners/coordinators/photographers are born? Because I'm totally critiquing my talents and wondering if there's anything (anything!) I could do that would make fabric flowers and tissue paper poms a part of my everyday... forever.

On that note, I'll leave you all with wishes for a lovely Easter weekend!