Friday, May 30, 2014

5 on Friday!

OH hello there Blogland! Let's see if I can blog more than just on Friday next week... wish me luck.

Without further ado, let's do a little Friday 5!

one // Work is awesome right now. I told you guys that I got a promotion and I'm in the running for a second one. I'm trying not to jinx it, but I've been given a lot more responsibility over the last few weeks and I start a great opportunity this week where I'm helping lead brand new agents and teaching them in their first 2 weeks on the phones. This is an awesome opportunity that I am so excited about! And I'm really excited to help this group of people really succeed!



two // Tomorrow's plans! Tomorrow our friends are coming over to spend the day by the pool and grill out for dinner and I cannot wait! We live less than 5 minutes apart and we barely see each other so we finally planned something and I'm pumped.

Totally what ours will look like ;)
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three // Our Save the Dates are out! I was quite behind on this because I could never find the time to sit down and address them all so my mom finally just stole them from me and did them all and sent them out yesterday!

four // We are 142 days out! October 19 is going to be here before we know it and I seriously need to get my butt in gear. But all the fun stuff is still to come - wedding shower, Bachelorette party, rehearsal dinner, and then of course, the whole getting married part. I can't wait!



five // I think I'm getting my hair done next week and here's my hairspiration. I like the lighter red on the top left, but I'm afraid my dark hair won't take it. So that's why I have the bottom ones that are a darker red. When I head over to Alchemy, I'm going to ask what they think would look best on me! Opinions are always welcome :)



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Friday, May 23, 2014

Dear Leslie

Dear Leslie The College Graduate -

You are about to embark on the biggest year of your life. Are you ready? Take a nap, enjoy May and get ready to be go full speed ahead.

Let me go ahead and give you a little sneak peak at the next year of your life..

You're about to move into your very first apartment of your own in a city you've never lived in before and start your very first "grown up" job in the real world.

Zuko loved our first place together. 
After a few months of paying an arm and a leg for a teeny apartment, you're going to move in with your precious boyfriend who you adore. You guys are going to get an awesome apartment that's going to make your commute to work even easier. And about a month later, that hottie is going to propose to you! 

Celebratory drinks and dinner the night of our engagement!
No, I'm serious. Your boyfriend who was scared to even call you in girlfriend for almost a year for fear of being too attached and not wanting to do long distance is going to propose, you're obviously going to say yes, and you two are living happily ever after. Soak it all in!

Then, right about the time you're over your job, exhausted and unhappy, and job hunting all over the city, you're going to get a promotion that makes you love your job again and makes you feel fulfilled. You're going to double your work load and lose your normal blogging time, but it's all going to be worth it. 

And then in the middle of all that wedding planning, proving yourself at work and trying to get the next promotion at work, you and that hottie fiancé are going to buy a house

Yep, you heard that right. Almost a year after graduating high school, less than a year at your first job and halfway through your engagement, you're going to purchase an empty lot and decide to build a house. All within 4 days. 

But really, guys! Sunday on a spur of the moment idea, we started driving through neighborhoods in Charlotte to enjoy the nice weather. We've been mulling over the idea of a house but we hadn't gone to the bank to see what we could afford or toured any other homes so this was all for entertainment. 

Next thing I know, we're touring empty lots, looking at floor plans and comparing prices in a few different neighborhoods around us. Tuesday morning, we're meeting with a realtor, picked a lot, picked a floor plan and put down a deposit on the prettiest little lot I ever did see. 

Thursday morning, we head to the bank to get the a-okay that we're good to go and we can get all the pretty things we want in our house and still afford it all! 

Obviously, it's grass right now and there is a long process to build a house, but we should be in by Thanksgiving! So wedding mid-October and house mid-November. On top of our crazy work schedules and hopefully at least one more promotion in our future before then... 

Let's do this!


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Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Why I'm Marrying Him

Everyone thinks their husband/fiancé/boyfriend is the best ever and I'm sure you guys have some great ones but mine is by far the best ;)

As much as he hates taking pictures, he lets me take them whenever we're doing something fun that I want to document!


He loves Zuko. As much as he hates to admit it, sometimes. He really loves that guy. For example, over the weekend Zuko broke his water bowl that we keep on a side table and he's been trying out a bunch of different options so Zuko will have enough water and will stop pushing it off the table! 

Yes, you've seen this before but it's honestly one of my favorite pictures of these two!

And here's the main reason I felt compelled to write this post today - 

May 4 was my birthday and we were at a wedding for the weekend. Needless to say, there was no birthday celebrating for me. Sad panda. The next weekend (this past Saturday) we had mentioned going out with friends but I ended up getting so sick and his parents invited us over for a Mother's Day cookout. 

I didn't get out of bed Saturday until after 1p because I felt so sick and absolutely did not want to go. He kept telling me once I was up and showered, I'd feel better and I was getting so mad that he wouldn't let me out of going. 

He leaves to go pick up a card for his mom and I finally got up to shower. Afterwards, I still didn't feel better and I was falling asleep sitting on the couch when he walks in and sits these in front of me. 


I assumed it was because I didn't feel well. Regardless of the reason, I was blown away. Christian has never brought me flowers in the last 4 years. None. He much prefers taking me to dinner or a movie instead of "wasting" money on flowers. His words, not mine. And not always my viewpoint either. 

After dinner at his parents, he walks out a big giant cake with sparkly candles on it. And I didn't get a picture because I was so surprised. 

 I joked with him that there were only 6 candles on it and I wasn't turning 6. His explanation was that the other sparkly candles were ugly so he used all the nice sparkly candles because he knew I would like the sparkles better. He also got my perfect cake: 3 layer chocolate cake with fudge between the layers and thick chocolate icing! 

Come to find out, as we were leaving his parents, he felt bad because we're not really going to get to celebrate my birthday at all - wedding, Mother's Day, I work this weekend, next weekend my brother graduates from high school and then the month is pretty much over. 

As small as flowers and a cake may seem, I was blown away because he's always been so against buying flowers (even though he knows I like them) that he went out of his way to buy me flowers and cake just to make me feel special and loved. 

And I can't wait for 100 more years being spoiled by the sweetest man I know. And don't worry, I'll be spoiling him, too! 


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Friday, May 9, 2014

The Perfect Sick Day

Over my jam packed weekend, I started getting sick. It started with the sore throat and losing my voice on Sunday and slowly but surely, I started feeling better. Until yesterday.

I woke up yesterday and felt like a truck ran me over and then I spent almost 10 hours working.

And this is what I felt like I should be doing all day:





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And I would give anything to be doing these things today, too. And if I could spend some time cuddled up with my fiance while he brings me that soup, that'd be even better. But we haven't seen each other since Monday and I'm off to work until midnight! 

And yes, this was my sneaky way of complaining because I'm a grown up and can't lay out of school when I'm sick. 


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Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Wedding and Birthday Weekend!

As you may can tell from my silence since last Thursday, we had quite an eventful weekend. Mom arrived Friday night and we headed straight to bed so we could wake up early and to the beach!

We had a little snag in our plans when the handle in our shower got stuck and we had to turn off the water in the apartment so it made getting dressed quite difficult. Luckily, the maintenance man was here in 10 minutes and had it fixed in 20 minutes. But, we left later than planned and it took a little bit longer to see this sign:


But once we got there we met my grandfather and my uncle and his girlfriend (they live in Hawaii) for lunch in the hotel lobby. There were floor to ceiling windows with the most gorgeous beach view! After lunch, we checked in and got to see the view we'd be staring at for three days. 


Every room in the hotel has a beach view from the front and a wonderful view of the marsh (is this the right word for it?) outside the bedroom window and down the hallway. 
Just ignore the roof and big truck.. 
Before getting ready for the rehearsal, we had some drinks by the pool bar with my uncles but sadly, it was pretty cold and we had to give up and go upstairs to get ready. 

The rehearsal dinner was at a restaurant on the river called The Pilot House. If you've ever seen One Tree Hill before, it was at right across the river from the River Court! It was a lovely evening of everyone getting to know each other and we got to spend a lot of time visiting with my uncle and his girlfriend since we rarely see him and we've never met her before. 


Christian and I were sharing a suite with my mom and there was a living room/kitchen and then a bedroom with two full beds.. #aca-awkward. So we got quite creative and Christian and I pulled the other mattress out and laid it on top of the worst pull out mattress I've ever seen and it ended up being pretty comfortable. We also slept with the door open so we could listen to the ocean all night. It was awesome! 

Sunday was the wedding and my birthday so we started the morning by sleeping in and then laying out on the beach for a couple hours! 


We got caught up laying out, eating lunch and getting ready that we were almost late for the wedding! Luckily, we weren't the only ones and the bridal party was a little behind, too. So I was able to snap a picture before the ceremony started!


Here are some scenes from the reception!

Big picture - Bride walking to her chair for the garter
Small, top right - my grandparents and all their kids
Small, top left - garter removal
Small, bottom right - mother/son dance with my grandmother
Small, bottom left - Christian trying to catch the garter

After the reception ended, Christian and I got into our comfy clothes and headed down to the beach for a walk before my birthday officially ended. I absolutely love nightly beach walks so it was a perfect way to end my birthday and spend a few minutes alone with my man. 

Sadly, Monday we had to leave the beach so I made sure to go up to my grandparents room and get a snap of their view. They were on the 7th floor and the corner room. Where we had walls, they had more windows and could see the end of the island and the next island over - gorgeous!

Their bedroom window!
On the way out, we ate lunch with my family on the Intracoastal and watched boats come in and out and it was delicious! I hated having to leave them because I don't see them very often, but the next time we see my uncle will be for my wedding so the weekend kind of kicked my butt into gear and I need to get to planning ASAP!


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Thursday, May 1, 2014

Birthday Wishlist!

I thiiink I mentioned yesterday that it's my birthday week and I haven't even gotten to decide what I want for it. I'm usually pretty simple and don't really ask for much. I'm more concerned with getting to hang out with my friends and do something fun together.

Example. 
That doesn't mean I wouldn't love to have any or all of these things in my possession come Sunday morning, though...

Suit // Float // Suit // Coozie 

This is my summer wishlist - I've pinned quite a few bikinis in preparation for the honeymoon since I want to splurge and get a really nice one! Both of these have been pinned for that exact occasion so if I could get them early, that's cool!

And I reallyyyy need that float for the days I plan to spend on the lake with my family and Christian. And that drink holder.. yes?

Outfit // Shirt // Flats (H&M) // Sandals // Shirt

That whole outfit. I'm actually going to try to recreate this in different colors since I don't have any of those things. But, I just love the way the navy and green look together! 

And I always want some sort of Harry Potter shirt or NC shirt for every single holiday and I've yet to get one. I think that's a sign that I should probably just buy them myself. 

Shoes. I'm a girl. I always need new shoes. Duh. Sadly, those H&M shoes are sold out online :( 

I don't think any explanation is needed for this one. Although I guess it'd be a better wedding present? Whatevs. 


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