the night in.

Pay off all debts.

Follow my fashion inspiration.

Make a house a home.

Happy New Year to You and Yours!

On Christmas Eve we received one of the best gifts ever!  Our engagement photos arrived and I am so excited to share a few of them...

We got started a little late this year with putting up the Christmas decorations since we took our trip to Disneyland right after Thanksgiving.  But, we finally got everything up and the house definitely feels very Christmas-y now!  I put together a video of us putting the tree together... watch all the way until the end for some silly outtakes.

P.S. Nick is not in the video because he was at work that night.  The people in the video are his sisters and dad. :)

P.P.S Watch the video in HD!!!

Last Thursday we left for Disneyland to take our engagement photos and enjoy the holiday season at the parks.  Let me start off my saying that this trip was one of Murphy's law... everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.  But, in the end it all worked out.

Thursday morning, Nick and I packed up my car and hit the road around 4am with his family following shortly behind us.  The forecast was calling for rain in Anaheim, which left me slightly worried... and my mouth was in pain from a wisdom tooth that had decided to jab its way through my gums the night before.  I've felt this pain before from my other wisdom teeth but it usually went away after a few hours.  To top it off, I realized that in the rush of last minute packing (which is so unlike me) I had forgotten to grab my glasses off the nightstand.  This left me to fend with one pair of contact lenses for the weekend.





The day was fun.  A little chilly and drizzly with intermittent mouth pains when I would try to eat.  This was a real bummer since the food at Disneyland is half the fun.  Upon returning to the hotel that evening, I realized that I had left some important daily medication (I'm sure you ladies know what I am talking about) at home, which made me even more upset.  What else could I have forgotten?  Also, would my mouth ever stop hurting?  There's only so much Advil a 105 lb person can consume in one day!






Friday was the day of our photo session.  I was a ball of nerves as the slight sprinkles of rain turned into torrential downpour.  Nick and I headed back to the hotel to get ready.  I had 40 minutes to organize our stuff and tame the frizz ball on my head into something decent looking.  Just as we were about to leave our hotel room, I received a phone call from our photographer saying that if the weather did not clear up we may have to cancel the shoot (the rain would make the camera lens foggy and the lighting would not be right due to so much water).  I was freaking out, but could only accept what mother nature had given us that day and hope for the best.  We hopped in the car and I then discovered... dun dun DUN... I had chipped a nail!  This was a surprise since I had just gotten a gel mani one week ago and those thing are usually rock solid on me for about 4 weeks!  The polish was still on, but hanging on by a thread.  By this point, we were running late and Nick had to drop me off in the Downtown Disney parking lot so I could head over to Sephora to have my makeup done.  With my heels and dress on, I popped open the umbrella, held onto my huge pink tote as tightly as I could and trekked it out in the rain while Nick went to park the car in Mickey and Friends.
Sigh.

Luckily once I got to Sephora, everyone was super accommodating and helpful!  I temporarily fixed my nail with some clear polish, one of the women who worked there graciously offered to re-curl my hair and set it with some spray (since my hair was literally flat and awful looking by the time I arrived).  Jose, my makeup artist worked diligently for 35 minutes to make my face camera ready.  I have never worn so much makeup in my life... I mean, I would not go out in public like this everyday but I have to admit that it looked amazing from a distance and I'm hoping even better on camera!  While all of this was happening, Nick was rushing around to get us a locker at DCA to keep all of our stuff in and pass off our car keys to his family members. He finally popped back into the store when my makeup was about finished.  I asked Jose to touch up a few spots on Nick's face and he went to town, giving Nick a mini makeover that looked completely natural in the end.  It was seriously such an awesome experience and I will be sending a compliment over for Jose today.

Finally, it was time to meet up with our photographer!  The rain had let up a bit and we met Brooke, her husband and two adorable children in front of DCA.  Our shoot began at the front of the park and we worked our way around.  I did not expect it to be so much fun after all of the hectic moments that had led up to the shoot, but it really was!  Brooke was amazing, friendly and made us feel so at ease in front of the camera lens.  We moved over to Disneyland after a quick outfit change and took photos in front of the most magical locations!  The rain began to come down a little more near the end of the session, but we pushed through it (thank goodness for the lone umbrella that Nick and I purchased on a whim Wednesday night before leaving).  I am literally chomping at the bit to see how the photos turned out!  I also cannot even express how lucky I feel to have found Brooke's work on Pinterest, so we could book her for our photos.

The rest of the trip went by in a flash... we were so exhausted from staying at the parks from open until close almost every day we were there.  Saturday morning I put my right contact lens in only to have it literally burn my eye ball and turn it bright red.  Nick came to the rescue by running down to our hotel gift shop and bringing me eye drops so I could look (and see) like a normal person again.  This was the real cherry on top of my Disneyland trip ailments though.  Haha.  My mouth also still really hurt for the remaining two days and it hurts as I am typing this.  I went to the dentist this morning and found out that I need to have all four wisdom teeth removed.  *Sad Face*  But, at least the pain will stop after that!  I then have braces to look forward to... er- yay?

Anyway, I will post the engagement photos here as soon as I can get my hands on them (4-6 weeks)!  I think the overall lesson that I learned this weekend is that there is definitely always a bit of sunshine even on the most awful days.

Life has been incredibly busy recently, not only because of the recent holiday, but also the fact that we are going to Disneyland this week to take our engagement photos (finally)!

Here are some quick shots of our Thanksgiving eats... Nick woke up at the crack of dawn to make dinner which is pretty amazing in my book.

Although we are still unable to set a date for the wedding, I've been looking for some ideas on the internet.  I can't decide if I will make them or purchase them... I guess it will depend on how much money I will actually save versus the time and effort they will require.  I'm only slightly crafty, so it could be a risk!

Here are some of my favorite save the date card ideas...

So, I'm about to purchase this shirt right here...

Remember when you were a kid and it felt like the days lasted forever and milestone birthdays were ages away?  Well, it would seem that it's the exact opposite from about the age of 21 and on... I can't even remember what I spent my 22-24 years doing.  There was college, South Korea, more college and work.  Now, in my "mid-twenties" (argh- that just sounds bad), I am terrified that this wedding planning, the wedding itself and everything thereafter will be one big blur!

So, I'm trying my very best to bask in each day- even though I am always looking forward to the weekend.  Viewing each day from a childlike perspective is more difficult than one might think since work, deadlines and bills are the main focus of each week.  But, taking a minute to really savor daily experiences is going to be one of my goals for... well, forever.

Last night, Nick and I had Thai food for dinner followed by yummy dessert in the form of ice cream sandwiches!

Today Nick and I went shopping for our engagement photo outfits.  Little did I know how difficult it really is to complete this task!

We (ahem-I) decided that we would do one dressy and one "casual" outfit.  Nick's dressy outfit was easy to put together... dark denim, white dress shirt, grey vest and skinny textured tie.  It looks great!  Me, however, well... finding something took many hours of online perusing since Nick has little to no patience while we are shopping in store.  His motto is, "Women go shopping, men go buying."

Anyway, I finally found this simple black dress from Topshop.

Awkward:

Over the past few weeks we've been looking at photographers for our engagement shoot at Disneyland.  There are a few things we know we want from the session:

• Photos taken when the parks are decorated for the holidays.
• Classic photos in normal clothing at Disneyland.
• 1940's inspired photos at DCA (to go along with the current theme on Buena Vista street).

Seriously, every time I think about the fact that we need to book our engagement photos by next month, put down our deposit for our venue and save enough to move by the end of December... all I see is $$$$$ (all while suffering heart palpitations and the panicked thought that we are going to have to move our wedding to 2014).

But, in all seriousness, that might actually be what happens.  Nick has a potential job opportunity that would take him to a different city for 6 months... I would probably have to stay here since my job is here and we would need both career incomes for the wedding.  This means that we would have to push the wedding back since moving it up is out of the question due to finances.  The uncertainty is so stressful, but we literally have to take it one step at a time.  His second interview is this Monday.  I'm doubting we will know for sure what our future will look like until the end of this year.

Regardless of the fact, our engagement photos do still have to be taken in December.  We are planning on going to Disneyland to take them and I want the Christmas decor in the background.  So, my questions is...

How much is too much to spend on engagement photography?

The photographer we are considering is amazing!  But, as the saying goes... you get what you pay for, and she costs a pretty penny (not to mention the fact that we need to purchase admission to the parks, hotel and food for both her and us)!  The other photographer we have spoken with costs $150 less, but her work falls into the great, but not out of this world category.  Is it worth the extra dough to get what we want?

My Maid of Honor and one of my bridesmaids came with me when I tried on dresses (see that post here).  Ariella, my bridesmaid, was awesome at capturing my "emotions" as I came out in each dress.

You know when you're sitting at home watching Say Yes to the Dress and the bride on TV comes out in an elaborate gown, looks in the mirror and everyone in the room cries?

Yeah, me neither. *cough cough*

No, but really.  I thought that I would feel this way last Saturday when I found "the one".  14 dresses in, I had found plenty of "pretty" dresses that looked great... but nothing really striking.

Remember that first dress I have posted here?

It feels like Nick and I have looked at a million wedding venues already, even though it's only been 6.  Here are my thoughts on the ones we have checked out so far...

1. Victoria's Wedding Chapel
I was actually immediately turned off by the name at first, but decided to go look at it because the photos looked great and my best friends brother works there.  The sales person who took us on a tour of the property was very friendly and funny.  We did not care much for the chapel, and the gazebo area was nice.  However, I did not like that the gazebo area did not offer much of an aisle for me to walk down.  The reception room was amazing!  A separate room for the buffet, large dance floor and photo booth.

2. Red Rock Country Club
The day we visited, a wedding was being set up.  This was not your average wedding... based on the Hollywood props, color changing dance floor and ornate rental furniture it was difficult to gain a sense of what the venue would look like normally.  Our tour was quick, and everything was nice.  The ceremony site did not thrill us, although the website photos looked great it was much different in person.  We determined that it was out of our desired budget.

3. Emerald at Queensridge
This venue is at the very top of our list because it is absolutely beautiful, from the bridal suite, ceremony site and reception hall- breathtaking.  The all inclusive package brings everything full circle, however there are about a million upgrades that bring the picture together.  This is where it becomes difficult.  Custom lighting?  $500.  Photo Booth? $800.  CD of photos from photo boot?  $250.  Chair sashes?  $6/each... the list goes on and on.  Of course we don't need these things, but the reception room basically requires them to provide ambiance.  It is still an option, but we know that our budget will break if we choose it.

4. The Grove
We visited this venue at 9am on my birthday.  I expected to be blown away.  I mean, look at the website photos!  Yes, the gazebo ceremony site is wonderful.  Yes, they allow outside vendors (except for food and alcohol which is standard).  However, the reception room is dowdy and you must walk through the not so appealing public restrooms to reach the bride and groom rooms.  It was a nay for both of us.

5. Wild Horse Golf Club
I emailed the events coordinator, Elena, for a quote and she promptly responded.  However, the quote exceeded our budget by leaps and bounds, so I thanked her for the quote and told her that it was out of our reach.  She quickly responded that the packages can be customized and we should come down for a tour to see what could be done.  So, we did.  Although the parking lot butts up against some not so appealing apartments, the club house is far away enough to forgive this.  I liked how it did not look like a snooty club house, but instead had a warm, old house feel to it.  The reception hall is nothing special, but it's a canvas that can be dressed up.  The ceremony site is right next to the club house.  Simple, clean and pretty.  The main reason this location is a "finalist" for us is really because of Elena.  She has truly been awesome and indulged me in the million questions I have been asking her!  This might be a winner.

6. Ventano Italian Grill & Seafood
I had not considered a restaurant as an option, but one of my co-workers told me that her son got married at Ventano a few years back and it was amazing.  On a whim, Nick and I had lunch at the restaurant and we loved the food!  I asked to see the banquet room and our server took me on a tour, explained what the ceremony (on the patio) would look like and put together an information packet.  He told me to call on Monday to get more information from the event manager.  Everything about this place is great... except I'm a bit worried about the space.  The banquet room is supposed to fit 110 comfortably, but the room was set up for about 45 when we looked at it and looked a bit squished.  Plus, at this location, we would have to put the wedding together ourselves (from DJ to photographer) which could be a bit too much.


I'm a little burned out from looking at places, but it feels like we need to decide now, considering all of the expenses and the fact that we want to secure our date.  Hopefully, this week we will be able to make up our minds and move on to the next task at hand!

Wedding dress shopping commences this Saturday!  My MoH will be in town, so we are taking the opportunity to hit three dress shops in one day.

Here are a few styles I plan to try on...

Today I turn 25.  2-5.  Wow.
It's strange to know that time has flown by so incredibly fast!  I am now a college graduate, with a real job... planning a wedding.

It's been a running joke for the past week at work that I am a bridezilla in the making.

I'm really not and they're just teasing me which I don't mind.  I find it endearing... I even found this posted at work in my honor...

I sent out my bridesmaid invites last week.