Cyber Monday!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all had a wonderful 4 day weekend and ate bunches and bunches. We sure did! Plus we saw Twilight and New Moon. We caught up with old high school friends at the local bar and we watched a LOT of football.

We tried to stay away from the BLACK FRIDAY madness, but we found ourselves at the Coach outlet at the last minute to try to get that 20% off everything deal. Don't worry... we only had to wait in the velvet roped line to get into the store for about 10 minutes (!). Can you handle that? I almost couldn't. J was actually much more patient than I was (and he got an Xmas gift out of the deal so it was worth it) but he makes such great faces...

How many of you are cyber shopping away right now? Not this girl. I'm prepping for our upcoming weekend in Palm Springs by "cyber shopping" for a great Coachella Valley florist and hair stylist to check out in person.

PS: How do we have the exact same phone but his takes pictures of a 300x better quality? Also, we are taking our engagement pics in 2 weekends and I AM STOKED about the location we picked. I can't wait to tell you all about it...

That's All She Wrote on Autumn

As of this past Saturday night football season is O-V-E-R folks! Not only does that mean I get my fiance back, but it also officially marks the beginning of Christmas season! So long autumn, hello winter.

During the season we had a weekly salute to fall (not marked by our calendars but by The Football Schedule) by sitting on cold stadium benches, wrapped in many blankets, loosing our voices screaming and drinking many-a-soy-chai.

But! We have not yet properly saluted the non-football fall. So here you are. I give you, our non-football fall-wrap-up. (Notice J is wearing his coaching gear in nearly all of the photos. He is such a good fiance making time for dates either on his way to practice or from.)

Confession: We get a little impatient about our seasons. Maybe being from LA will do that to you, but regardless, J and I like to start celebrating early. That's why this year around September 15 we were like, there must be a pumpkin patch or apple orchard we can stroll through somewhere. We were wrong. But we found some goats. And they were hungry.

October gave us an actual excuse to go out and party for our friend Manu's birthday. We went to a fun bar in West Hollywood and caught up with friends. It was magical. Also, there were homemade cupcakes. Mmmmm.

We have a really kick-butt pumpkin patch pretty much smack-dab between our 2 work locations so we met there after work one day to find our perfect pumpkins. Look how big this patch is! There is nothing that feels more like fall (besides football or Thanksgiving, obviously) than drinking a warm beverage and strolling through the patch holding hands. I went for a little mama pumpkin, and J got a big papa one.

Pumpkin pie is fall, right? Well, we live right near the beach, so one LA Autumn night J took me to the beach with our boy Teeny to watch the sunset. It was definitely the highlight of the past few months. The beach is one of our favorite places to be, where J proposed to me, and just beautiful and peaceful anytime of year. It was great to have a relaxing night with just the two of us (or three of us).



This picture of Teeny cracks me up because he is petrified with fear of the water. He is such a good boy. Too adorable...



What's the deal with getting older and all of our best friends moving far far away? We had the good fortune of having two of J's best friends in town a few weeks ago and we had a great time catching up with them. These two are groomsmen and we just don't get to see them enough.



Our friends Dave and Erin were able to come to the last game of the season with J's mom and me and we had such a blast. It was definitely a nail-biting way to end the season with the Bowl game going into double-overtime! We lost by one point... but Jon got free t-shirts and a medal!

Through the fall, we had a lot of good football nights and a lot of non-football fun, too. All in all it seems like this season flew by and now that time in general is flying by! It will be March before I know it.

Happy Thanksgiving! I am so grateful for you my amazing friends and family. I truly can not wait to spend some quality time with you all in 4 short months!

4 Months and Many Emails

People... the moment has arrived. The moment of "holy crap how is it already the holidays? Our plans aren't even coming together yet there is so much to do and it will never all get done and after the holidays it's already time to mail the invites and that means its all real and about to happen. I'm going to explode" is upon me. You know what happens now? Emails. Lots of emails.

Also, staring at this bouquet is really helping. It's so amazingly beautiful.


It's all going to come together perfectly, right?

Let's Up Do This

With straight hair, it's so much harder to find a soft, romantic wedding hair style. Alsmot everything out there involves some form of curls. And understandably so, they're so pretty and feminine. But, alas, I'm till searching for the perfect "me" hair style for our big day.

I have had some luck though. Check out this beautiful braided 'do with a side bun. I love this look, I don't know how well it would hold up for the length of the night, but I think it's very soft and relaxed but still elegant. I am kind of loving this, but also a bit afraid of how dated it could look in a few years.



This look is another version of the side bun but again, with curls. Very simple and definitely more classic. This is actually my stepmom's cousin's daughter. :) Isn't she a gorgeous bride?



For a bit more drama and pizazz, there is this final look, which I lurve. Especially with that big beautiful rose, yum! I'm not sure how a veil would fit into this number, and I would have to see the look on me, but I just think it is so romantic rocker. Lovely.


Speaking of veils. I have mine all picked out, and no you don't get to see it until the big day, BUT, I was thinking... What do you do with the veil after the ceremony? I know most people ditch the veil because it's party-time and all. But, you only have that one day to be super bride! What says bride more than a veil?!

So I looked into partyesque veil alternatives, and I came across the amazing website Tigerlily. Seriously, be warned, do not follow the link to this website unless you are planning to buy something for yourself or as a holiday gift. They have everything. Tiaras, jewelry, hair pins, veils. You will want something. I have never really been attracted to the idea of a bridal tiara, but they have such amazing earthy looks that I'm actually considering a hair vine or comb. Also, I am loving this very sweet and tiny mini-veil for a reception veil switcheroo. Isn't it adorable?


Wouldn't it be cute tucked into the side of a simple bun or twist a-la-Cameron here? Who, btw, has a very pretty light blond hair color that I am eyeballing the heck out of...

JetBlue One Day Sale Today ONLY

Stop what youre doing! It's a one day SALE! GET ON IT!

Want to plan a last minute holiday get-a-way? Today only, JetBlue has cRaZy prices on airfare for travel December 2-16 and January 6-28.

Sounds like a good time for an extended holiday. Thanks Meeks for sharing.

Ahhh, Men

A few weeks ago Jonathon had a bye, meaning a beautiful oasis in a sea of never-ending Saturdays and Sundays (and Mondays, Tuesdays... you get the idea) consumed with pig skin. Ahem, anyhow, we jumped at the opportunity to go on a suit hunt on his weekend off. We didn't really find what we were looking for, but it did help to narrow the search and to decide what looked best and what should be avoided. Like this:


Not only was that suit enormous to the point of comedy, the grey wasn't really doing much for J. I think we decided he looks best in the deeper charcoals. He really liked this Tallia suit (also not the right size) in a sand color, but a) the company was going out of business so b) they couldn't order a vest to go with the suit... But the man wants a vest!


One thing we did discover, Allen Edmonds. Jon really wanted to try on some wing-tips and he liked these, but I think he is now leaning more towards split-toes, which are much dressier.


Since Tallia wasn't going to be making a vest anytime soon, one options was to choose that tan suit and have a different colored/patterned vest. Neither one of us really loved that idea, but I did come across one groom that really pulled it off.

Remember this farm wedding? Well the groom wore a nice tan and grey suit-vest combo. It's a bit of a more casual look for sure. Maybe it only works for a fall vineyard wedding since its nubby wool. Definitely not desert elegance, but maybe in a different material? What do you think?

I've been thinking a lot about what J will look like on the big day, can you tell? He hasn't had a chance to be as involved in the plans these past few months with it being football 24/7. But now there is only one game left in the season and you better believe I am excited for it to be over! Anyhow, one thing he is rather particular about are boutonnières. We both thought this was simple and clean and a nice use of succulents.

Finally, I just think this is ridiculously precious. I know that my little brother the ring bearer would look beyond cute in anything he wears but especially with an antique toy turned into a bout. How precious is that old school linen suit and orange bow-tie! YES.

Holiday Card Swap

Tis the Season! I am in love with Christmas. It is one of the world's best things ever.

The fiance and I have been celebrating since Nov. 1 and we plan to celebrate through January. It is just the best. We make some people nauseous with our carol singing and reindeer sweater wearing, but we so don't even care. This year J and I get to feel the full joy of the season by going to NYC for Christmas and words can't even describe my excitement. I am putting my order in now for a white snowy Christmas wonderland... Please, Santa?

How cute is this Holiday Card Swap from Brooklyn Bride? If I were feeling industrious and not planning a wedding I would definitely participate. Maybe I still will...

We went to B&N yesterday to check out this years card selection. It was rather disappointing. You know what really ruins Christmas cards? The words "Happy Holidays." The card is green and red, there is a sleigh and some candy canes on the cover, we all know what it should say.

I think we may make our own picture cards this year. We were hoping to have our engagement photos done by then but maybe I'll just dug up a cute pic.

Stay tuned for my Autumn rap-up post and for much more holiday magic coming to your favorite blog soon.